aviator888

This is one of the reasons i prefer doing the cambelt myself. Yes it's not something i would call an easy diy job, but i know 100% it will be done properly. Never recommend anyone to go anywhere near Halfrauds or Kwik-Fit type of places if you care about your car.

Thanks for advice. How many miles on yours now? Any issues with engine or gearbox? Once i get all the parts in the car will have a few treats including: Cambelt, waterpump, radiator, fresh oil both engine and gearbox; spark plugs, air filter, cabin air filter, new cam cover gaskets both sides and sump cover gasket. Grooved discs with quality pads all around and some nice 18" alloy wheels will follow shortly. I'm planning to do most of the jobs myself except for gearbox oil change, which will be done by my local Lexus dealer. Another issue i won't be able to sort myself is the paint bubbling on the roof but i will deal with that after everything else is sorted.

Oils, filters and gaskets delivered today from Lexus Birmingham. Many of you may disagree on this, but i am using 5W- 30 semi-synthetic oil and not the fully synthetic. A friend of mine actually advised to use mineral oil lol, but i wouldn't be able to sleep at night if i follow that. Always used fully synthetic oil in all my cars, but due to the age and mileage of the SC, i see the reason and logic to swap to semi this time. Don't try this at home i am certainly not doing this due cost reasons.

Today i managed to glue back both door handle covers, remove the satnav unit for further investigation, disconnect the TPMS system (no more warning light on the dashboard) and temporarily fix both front speakers. Alpine speakers will be fitted as soon as i find a suitable model. Also took my daughter for a quick spin :) She loves this car as much as i do.

I agree.. the original ML speakers look indeed very very sad. Would you be able to provide me with the part number of the Alpine 6 x 9 you have fitted please?

Thank You for advice. Have you replaced the speakers on yours? I'm only trying to restore them because from what i know it's not easy to find an 8 Ohm replacement speakers..

Weather is good and i have a day off work so i'm at it again This means both door cards are off and speaker repair in progress. As suspected.. both 6 x 9 speakers damaged. Highly recommend take a good care when removing door cards. The plastic is indeed very brittle and brakes easily as i found out in process.

Thanks. At this mileage i wouldn't of touched anything else with a barge pole :D

Thanks :) Sent a pm

I bought her from well known dodgy car dealers who go by the name of "carswithnoreseve" lol. They tried to flog it on Ebay auction several times but with no luck. So i went over with some cash and a friend of mine, who knows cars inside out :) Even tough i consider myself competent enough in most cases, i highly recommend bringing someone with you when purchasing a car. The reason behind it is simple: You may miss important things in the euphoria and excitement. Your friend, if he knows what he is doing, will look at things from a different perspective.. he won't be buying anything and to him it's just another car. As soon as i walked in there, i wanted to turn around and run :D the place reminded me of car graveyard. But i think their pricing must be right as i was checking every detail of the SC, at least 30 people did the same thing to various other motors from Golf's to 911s and even CL600. So overall i would not say avoid them at all costs, but just do your homework and do not believe a single word without genuine paperwork behind it. Also their Ebay listings are full of "it" as traders usually do :D About price: including all the spending sprees for stainless steel exhaust, cambelt kit, oils filters and gaskets i have ordered, still got change left from £2000. With prices for LS430s being so ridiculously low i budgeted for engine/gearbox replacement worst case scenario but looks like this is not necessary for now :)

Older cars in dark colors are real pita to keep mint. Every single scratch is clearly visible.. Silver is the best in this respect.. no need to visit a car wash that often either. When i bought the car I checked under the carpets for rust/signs of accident repair and also measured the paint thickness all over the car especially the bonnet and rear quarters. All good there.. Now trying to find your tutorial about spare wheel fitting

This is how the boot looks like after almost 400k miles: Guess this nasty yellow thing should become handy in case one of the tyres has a puncture?! I need a space saver asap The boot space is very generous considering what kind of car this is.. I will also have to take the satnav unit apart to investigate why it struggles to read the discs. Tried 2 different map dvd's with no luck.

Deliveries have been slow this week due bad weather conditions lol. Still waiting for service parts to arrive, however i managed to replace the serpentine belt this morning. Used Gates 6PK2260 belt. Replacing it was literally 5 minute job. All you need is to remember how the belt runs and a 14mm socket with the long handle bar. Also removed a piece of air intake plastic to give me better access.

Thanks Bob King :) i tried the button and everything works as should.

Yes i very much like the layout, all the buttons are in the right place etc.. however it does not withstand the time as well as MK2 GS/LS does. The most annoying thing that many owners have reported (including myself) is the noises coming from dashboard especially when it's cold. Lexus is aware of the problem and they used to replace the dashboard clips under warranty for some lucky owners. Even the facelift 2008+ models the problem is still there. It may only be a barely noticeable odd squicky sound every now and then and most people would not even notice anything or simply turn up the volume. It simply isn't as well put together as for example LS430 or even my current SC. With stock exhaust it does indeed sound very modest and you could never tell there's a big V8 under the bonnet. I have plans not to keep it this way. Not the boy racer loud but it will be a bit beefier

Some thoughts about the car so far.. I took a huge gamble when i signed up for this but i have no regrets whatsoever @ 385k it's not only highest mileage SC430 it also beats everyone here by at least 238 000 miles. That's the distance between earth and moon if you like. Btw the logbook arrived today looks like the previous owner was a lady and she acquired the vehicle on 27th of May 2004. She must of been very keen on these shopping trips :D I really like the interior design of the SC which certainly has some nice retro touch to it. Coming from GS450h, this is like day and night. I have to say Lexus didn't do a very good job interior quality wise with MK3 GS and this was the one and only downside of the otherwise great GS model. Gadgets i miss the most are the rear view camera and awesome ML sound system of the GS.. way better than SC. Also a small word of advice to all SC owners.. do not try to race GS450h off the traffic lights. Ever. This will never end in your favor. Saying that, i can't wait to get the exhaust back boxes done and hear the rumble of the V8.. My old GS. Awesome car but not missed at all :)

Both cam cover gaskets bone dry. This was the first place i checked as this is where they usually leak. But thanks for the info as i will have to replace these gaskets anyway.

Update: Had the exhaust sorted this cold morning. Quite difficult to find a decent stainless steel exhaust company in East Midlands as first of all the prices are ridiculous and the ones i found seem to be fully booked for weeks. I'm not going to advertise here but the guys who did the job were very professional and helpful. FYI i have included a drawing of the SC430 exhaust system. Sections 5 and 7 were rusted trough on mine and i had them replaced. They cut off straight after the lambda senors and removed the last cat also. Once the cambelt and radiator are replaced, i will have the back boxes done too. The car has noticeably more power and i don't awake the neighbors in the morning anymore :) Prices as follows: Section 5: £150 Section 7: £300 Section 8: depending on the setup approx £350 Another option was to buy OEM parts from Lexus but stainless steel costs a lot less and comes with "lifetime warranty" lol. While the car was up on the ramp i had a good lookaround underneath. Common problem on Japanese cars is underside rust and this one is no exception. The oil leak is still there but it's very minor and i'm sure the new sump cover gasket will sort it. Radiator actually looks very fresh, but i will replace it anyway as i have done on all my Lexuses and i recommend all LS/GS/SC 430 owners to be aware, that the gearbox coolant is flowing trough it. Ideal solution would be to bypass the rad and have a separate oil cooler. I'm sure many of you have fitted these already.

Hi everyone. Yes the title sounds too good to be true and it isn't.. yet. Odometer reading as of this morning 385 552 miles but it's safe to say i'm on my way there Being a long time enthusiast, this is my 8th Lexus over the last 10 years. After selling my GS450h two weeks ago, i was looking for 3-5 year old GS450h F-Sport, but as you can see it wasn't meant to be. This is a MK1 model and i can literally say i picked her up for a song. There are lots of problems to sort out as expected with this age and mileage and i will keep you posted as i go trough the process. About the car: 2003 model, dark red with brown leather interior (which is what sold the car to me straight away). 385552 miles in the hands of 2 loving owners (not doctors :) Yes the mileage is ridiculous and considering that, i was actually looking for reasons to walk away no matter the price. But i couldn't find any :D Exterior looks a little bit tired: there's paint bubbling around edges of the roof, the dogs have eaten the passenger headlight washer and drivers door handle cover. Naughty dogs.. Interior is almost spotless. I have owned many high mileage cars between 100 and 250k before this is just unbelievable condition. Missing floor mats and i haven't yet figured out why the stereo cover panel isn't working. Is there a button you need to press? Roof works like charm and there's no water leaks. Both front door speakers blown. Will be looking to replace/repair. Satnav isn't working. It needs new exhaust from the front cat's onwards. This is probably the most expensive investment i will have to fork out as i won't be able to do this myself. Original back box and tail pipes look very sad too.. Small oil leak coming from the sump cover gasket, which i will sort as soon as the weather will ease off a little bit. Engine and gearbox are spot on. Oil looks clean, compression is good on all 8 cylinders and the spark plugs look like they have been changed not long ago. I have ordered a new radiator, cam belt kit with water pump, oil and all new filters. I will also have to get the tracking done, but the suspension and brakes in reasonably good condition :) I would love to fit MeisteR coilovers but considering the mileage this will be highly unlikely. Overall i would say despite all these problems, the way this car still drives just amazes me. I know i'm saving this car from the scrapyard and i'd like to think i'm doing a favor to the world :) Any advice much appreciated and special thanks to Neil E whose project thread is very inspirational. Very nice person to deal with too.

Very nice car, SE-L specs and best colour combination 7) If the dealers will not help, have a look around here there are several topics regarding satnav update for very reasonable price. Best thing to do is take a picture of your current disc and send it to http://www.satnavdvd.co.uk/lexus-25-c.asp see what they say.

You can pick up a genuine second hand mirror glass off Ebay £40-£60

The reason the sales didn't go so well for GS460 is obvious- 450h was available. It was cheaper, packed with exciting new technology way ahead of it's time, significantly better mpg etc.. Personally i don't see a problem, plenty of LS460 available with same engine :p

Spot on. This is not only problem with Lexus.. they all the same. Ridiculous prices for parts and labor (some dealers now charging £200 an hour). I found £2500+ bills in my LS430 service history- for air conditioning repair etc.

Thanks this is exactly the feedback i was looking for. I do no more than 5000 miles a year and although 300h is tremendously good value for money, in-line 4 would soon make me regretting for not biting the bullet and going 450h..