GibletPH

Seemed to drive fine, I let the seller drive whilst I sat in the passenger seat. No abnormal sounds etc. Gearbox seemed to work fine too with kickdown etc. No clunks from that either. 

Went to view a local LS400 today. 

1999, 3 former owners. Existing owner has had it for nearly 2 years now. He had it serviced at the time of purchase and has covered a few thousand miles in it. 

Cambelt was done in 2006 at 58k so it’s due a new one. Bodywork is a tad tatty though.

Purpose of the car is for a ~6500 mile roadtrip across 2 weeks and 3 continents. Thoughts?

2 hours ago, The-Acre said:

I'm happy to view anything that's reasonably accessible from the Brighton area if that helps.

Thanks. I may take you up on your kind offer. I guess if I can’t find a LS400 or 430 then I’ll look at a GS instead, seem to be more of them available. 

I’ve been looking at the LS400s too but can’t seem to find anything relatively local. I do have a trip to London coming up next week so I’ll see if I can go view any on the way.  

Tis the law of sod sadly!

My roadtrip is around 6500 miles, the only thing that fits the bill for space and reliability seems to be the LS and the 430 has enough toys and is within budget. 

Now if only I could find one!

I’ve been after a LS430 for a few weeks now for an upcoming roadtrip. Managed to sort out some visa issues that were proving to be a problem so I need to move quickly on buying a car now. 

I have around £3000 to spend. Is it just me or are there fewer LS430s for sale at the moment? When I didn’t need one there were loads!

Bump. Looking to purchase one in the next week or so. Anyone tempted to part with theirs?

[Offtopic]The law change is daft. Like you say, JustEat have introduced a flat rate 50p “service charge” across the board for both cash and card payments. Other companies will be doing the same. I work in the same industry and know what the card charges actually cost. It would have made more sense to either force the banks to process the payments for a cheaper flat rate or get companies to publish their exact rates and only allow them to charge that exact rate to customers. 

As it stands it’s the consumer who will lose out more. The banks always win. [/offtopic]

Damn, I was secretly hoping you wouldn’t buy it so I could get it instead! 

Congrats. If you feel the need to flip it for a quick profit in the next few weeks then let me know 

2 hours ago, The-Acre said:

Have a word with Martin on Wednesday when he hopefully comes up to Yorkshire with mine, he may fancy taking a quick profit! 😉

I’m being serious when I say he could make a quick few hundred quid if he wants to. 

On the hunt for a clean LS430, have around £3000 to spend. Based in Leeds but happy to travel. Can I tempt anyone to part with their car?

17 hours ago, dendonc said:

Better take it off again, I only just checked its MOT history (10:30pm), it has no MOT, back to drawing board

Explains why the seller never replied to my message. For petes sake

2 hours ago, dendonc said:

Here's one sounds good & only 90k miles, £2,200.00, reads as if it's a private seller & no over the top sales patter at all.

http://bit.ly/2CLWk0X 

Cheers, I’ve added it to my shortlist. 

Strange. It was on for 1750 when I posted it. Ad then showed it for 3750 this morning and now it’s got the sorry you’ve missed it image up. 

Oh dear. Back to the drawing board!

I’m in the market for a LS430 for a roadtrip I’m planning. 

I viewed one locally which I’ve discounted based on the limited history and the price. 

I’ve spotted this one on eBay - https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/04-LEXUS-LS430-4-3-V8-FACELIFT-6-SPEED-AUTO-PREMIUM-PACK-LOOKS-DRIVES-SUPERB/302591768619 and it’s prompted me to start this thread. 

With just over 250k on the clock that seems to be one of the higher mileage examples out there. 

How well does the LS range wear mileage of that nature? Obviously it depends on the service history but is there anything major that I should be looking out for?

It’s strange how effortless it is to hit silly speeds in a modern car. I did a European roadtrip in a modified Evo X earlier this year. With nearly 500bhp on tap I found it fun to sit at 150-160 on the derestricted stretches of the autobahn.   

Should encounter a few derestricted stretches on next years trip which will hopefully be in a LS430. Let’s see what she manages to do!

Having reviewed the MOT history of the car I viewed yesterday it seems that the front pads were an advisory on the last MOT. That will explain the grumbling. It was only minimal mind. 

That’s pretty reasonable. The best I ever managed on my ISF was 28 MPG when I drove like a saint. 

What sort of mileage can I expect on a facelift 430 at around 80 on a long run? Both MPG and miles range. 

11 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

About an inch for the suspension, you really don't notice it much at all.

Thanks. For some reason I was expecting to be more than that!

The car reminded me of my old Honda Legend but with everything turned up to 11. Bigger in size, bigger engine, more toys and more performance. I definitely want one for my roadtrip! 

Went to go see it earlier this afternoon. Clean looking car, all panels etc seemed to line up fine. Interior was in good condition. 

The service history consists of an aftermarket document holder with 2 stamps and 2 receipts plus a MOT certificate. There is a sticker in the engine bay saying the belt was changed on 14/12/12 at 57k miles. 

Went for a short drive. Car drove well, no clunks or bangs. A light grumble from the front brakes when coming to a stop. 

The motor on for the steering column is goosed, it makes a noise but doesn’t do anything. 

How much should the suspension raise/drop by when you press the button? I genuinely couldn’t see a difference when I set it to normal and raised. 

Zero movement on the price. Was told it will come with a fresh MOT and any advisories would be addressed.

On 06/12/2017 at 8:44 AM, mrdoofa said:

I’ve been in touch with the seller of the £4,500 one. He said he only has service history from last owner which is 2 stamps, no bills or receipts, the steering wheel adjust doesn’t move in any direction although he said you can hear the motor running, no evidence of cambelt change and it’s at 107k.

That’s good to know. It’s still for sale and fairly local to me. I may try and view it this afternoon. 

I’m planning a 6000-7000 mile roadtrip in a few months and a LS430 fits the bill. 

Having owned a ISF I am familiar with both Lexus build quality and the price for parts when things go wrong! Is there anything I should look out for?

16 hours ago, Corrado said:

Beautiful car Gib, I guess you're not using it as a daily? I remember reading on PH you were interested in one when the non-existent Unity Oxford offer was withdrawn due to an error. Interested in your initial impressions?

It's a daily. Practicality be damned! Took me three attempts to get one. Unity, Thames and finally Chris Variava in Nottingham who had one left. 

Only covered 120 miles in it so far across a few days but initial impressions are as follows -

Looks - stunning especially in rosso competizione. 

Build quality - a bit mixed, there are a few rattles which may need further investigation.

Driving -  the steering is a tad twitchy and the engine is still being run in but it has a healthy amount of power below my self imposed 4000 rpm limit.

Every trip feels like a proper event. It's a mini supercar that sadly attracts a lot of attention but all positive unlike my Evo.

Getting back on topic, cracking choice. I've always had fun driving my brothers XFR. He's got a set of Mina backboxes on it and it sounds filthy! 

I'm still mucking about with 4 pots after the ISF went, the latest one is a little different - 

I do miss my ISF though, brilliant cars.