ScousePaul

Love green 400's. You've done a spanking job on in the interior too.

The screen did work - just that the A/C on/off icon was greyed out. All other controls worked (though I couldn't change temperature). The odd thing was that a little while later they sprung back into life. Sill not blowing cold though, so back to the original issue... Have found a few threads on A/C not working - some simple regassing (though this was done in service very recenty), some a bit more involved (corroded pipes as Mark mentioned). May take it round to local Kwik Fit to start with. Always found them honest and cheap on these types of checks/fixes. Summer is looming! (though it's bloody freezing today...)

yeah I wish I hadn't read that thread recently... I'm going to stay optimistic though until I know otherwise! :)

Not much good car shows on TV these days but anyone else a fan of Harry's Garage? He posts some great stuff on YouTube. He founded EVO magazine, is clearly worth a few bob, and makes excellent very anoraky car videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIB5XXHNAWWzTOw6guIMYCg

I noticed that my A/C on the 430 wasn't blowing cold recently when we had that warm spell. The A/C was regassed just a couple of months ago by Lexus when I had it serviced - not sure if they test functionality at that time or not. Was going to get them to have a look, but then had a weird experience today where the A/C selection was just greyed out on the LCD screen. Couldn't enable or disable it and the temperature controls didn't function. After a short while though they sprung back into life. Still no cold air, but certainly something odd going on. Anyone come across anything similar? Suggestions for what to check before I get it looked at?

I didn't even know wrapping a car was a thing. Amazing! Is it durable? How long does it typically last?

It's funny with these big cars - I drive like that too mostly with the LS. Now and again I'll floor it just to remind myself that there's a 4.3 litre V8 under the bonnet, but most of the time I just enjoy wafting around. Am hardly ever above 2000 RPM.

Actually, I recognise that dealership from those shots. Same place I got mine. I trust Tariq and Ed looked after you well :).

Looks awesome! We should have a sub-forum for Silver LS430's there seem to be so many of us . You can't beat the quality. Looks like it has radar cruise too. Cool!

Congrats on your purchase @ste42 Always liked that colour on the 400. Bodywork looks good from this distance.

Those wheels are not to be sniffed at! I bet they go great in a straight (white) line.

Congratulations on your purchase! (I think it was of one of the world's greatest cars, but could have been a pasty ). Don't forget to post some pics :).

Just wanted to update this thread and report that Nigel delivered . Really appreciate that he took the time on this and helped a fellow Lexus junkie from the other side of the world. This literally cost about one twentieth what Lexus UK quoted (though admittedly, just a smaller part rather than replacing the whole handle, which is all they would offer). I'm posting a pic of the part here and do laugh all you like about my touch-up paint skills (or lack of them). It's just a quick dry fit for now. If it doesn't sand down well then I'll spray it. But anyway, thank you @NiceNige! [edit] this is the whole piece that Nigel provided btw. I just needed the top veneer which pops off (all too easily it seems...)

Looks great! Love that colour. My first LS was an LS400 MKIV. Still miss it. Enjoy!

I work in IT too and also from home . When I taxed my new LS430 recently it was after having a company car for more than 10 years. Couldn't get any insurer to honour any no-claims bonus so basically started from scratch. Got a policy for around £500 from Sheila's Wheels (they do blokes too). Live in a nice enough area but now have to start building my no-claims once again... Fitted into my budget, which is the main thing when looking at the whole car ownership package. [edit] btw my GH450h insurance is almost half that for both of us due to it being my in wife's name and so having lots of no-claims discount.

My experience when I had company cars was that it would turn up on the back of a transporter, and yes pretty much had the keys thrown at me. Was fun though as we used to get a dozen of them turning up at a time, so made a bit of a diversion from the office. I've only ever bought one car new, and it wasn't a Lexus. It was a Fiat Coupe turbo about 20 years ago and the "ceremony of the keys" was dire. Salesman basically trying to get me out of the showroom so he could finish for the night. Certainly put me off ever using that particular dealer again. First impressions matter! My interactions with Lexus UK have always been top notch for me I have to say.

No you're not being picky. You mentioned in the other thread you were paying £6995? You can get a fully sorted well looked after 430 for less than that. I did not too long ago. You were right to move on.

Looks nice. I'd be happy with mine staying that good in 100K miles time. Even has part of the door handle cap missing on offside rear - just like mine :). Thanks to a member here I've got a replacement cap turning up for cost price of around 10 quid + postage. Lexus UK would only sell the whole handle for around £250!

No major issues to deal with so far. Had a cap missing on one of my door handles, but thanks to the wonders of LOC I should have a replacement arriving soon - thanks @NiceNige! To me it drives like new. I had an LS400 for quite a while and it's a match for that in comfort, and I think betters it in interior design and materials. The exterior also holds up really well and paintwork still has a depth to it that belies its age. My thread from when I picked it up can be found here There are the usual things that get flagged to watch out for with this model such as air suspension, but I'm personally not going to dwell too much on that. I enjoy stepping into it every day and I'm sure you will too.

Congratulations Nick. I recently picked up an '05 430, same colour/interior, similar mileage and not dissimilar price. Was well worth it as far as I'm concerned.

Looks like a reasonable punt for anyone who knows their 400's and has checked out the usual fail points. In my other life I buy and sell classic guitars and 1500 quid wouldn't get half of a Les Paul . Remedial work is a lot less expensive in my trade though! If I'd seen this up when I was recently looking to get back into the LS world I'd have given it some serious attention.

White sedan man :).

Very informative video!

I bought one of these FM bluetooth transmitters for around 13 quid and it works well enough. Mainly use it to stream Spotify from my phone. The key is to find a nice clean FM channel. I wouldn't say it's CD quality but it does the job. Even so, I'm looking at getting a Vaistech device to fit behind the music system. I like to have what's playing showing and selectable on the big LCD and to be able to select tracks from the steering wheel. Was impressed with the little thing for the price though. Connect it to the socket inside the centre console and it's all very discrete and connects seamlessly.

When I changed jobs not too long ago one of the plus points was giving up my company Vectramobile and getting back into the sedate world of old school LS motoring :). You will miss it when it's gone!