rich1068

Has anyone used Dension or Grom or whatever to get BT audio and calls in their pre-97 LS400? I've used Grom for the BT3 and Aux adapter in my IS and GS but they're both later cars and the Grom website doesn't list the LS400. I do have a spare harness I could try but I don't want to go to the bother of removing the head unit if it's a non-starter. Alternatively Dension do list the LS400 but the head units seem a bit off. Sorry for the poor quality but mine is this one. Any idea what sort it is? Any thoughts?

Today's little jobs were to sort out the virtually non-existent parking brake and see to a couple of patches of surface rust on the inner rear arches. Wheel off (with the help of a rubber mallet) and shoes adjusted Brushed out all the ******* that had gathered in the bottom of the arches Generous coating of Waxoyl. Sorry, forgot to take a pic with the wheels still off. But I'd quite forgotten how good Waxoyl smells! Job jobbed!

Excellent thread. You won't regret the 400h. It's a great car. At a bit of a loss as to why I sold mine.

Closely followed by removal, dismantling, refitting the aerial motor and then installing the new mast. Just the same as on the GS. Feed the drive cable in as someone else turns off the radio. Voila! Done.

And so the fun starts! Unfortunately a little late in the day for oil changes and plugs so had to content myself with the air and pollen filters...

Having no remote lock/unlock is driving me nuts so I'm biting the bullet on a new transmitter/fob. Hopefully the planets will be aligned and I can get it to talk to the car and avoid the £60 dealer charge on top.

Very much depends on condition and history but as you say, they're still not worth much. There are plenty of dreamers on eBay and AT but a mint low mileage one I still don't think is worth any more than £2.5k on a private sale. Some may disagree. Cambelt is a £300 touch so factor that in but I'd be concerned about previous history if it's due.

Thanks for that Q. I do want a quiet tyre. The ditchfinders that are currently on are pretty noisy.

Thanks but I've looked at their site before and my LS is pre-97.

Quatrac 5s seem to be a good trade off between performance (ie grip, not Nurburgring malarky) and price. Anyone any experience of these?

There seem to be one or two fobs for sale on the Bay from American sellers that are a chunk cheaper even after the carriage. Would anyone know if these fobs are compatible with UK/European cars?

This forum does seem to be a target at the moment. I've had a few. Might be worth admin considering a minimum number of posts before a member can PM.

Cheers Malcolm. Very pleased that I've now joined the Senior Service

Ordering parts...

It's a key with no buttons but I think has something in it for the immobiliser as the red light next to the ignition goes out when the door is unlocked. I assume there's a little transponder in it. The guy on eBay is selling the later 3 button keys.

Ah, so in my case the key needs to be activated by the dealer, the tummy rubbing would be for the remote if I got one?

I've been reading a couple of threads recently about replacement keys and fobs for the LS and other period Lexus. Mine only came with the master key which for the '96 MK3 is just a key, no buttons front or side. I would like at the very least a spare key (£35 cut from my local dealer) and possibly a fob for the remote central locking (a little more eye watering £190). Now as I understand it both then have to be coded to the car. My dealer can do both for half an hour's labour if I flutter my eyelashes at them but I'm confused about the insert key/remove key/pat your head/rub your tummy dances I keep reading about. Is this instead of taking the car to the dealer after you've bought the parts? Anyone?

Sounds ominous...

What a tale. But what a result! I'm in a similar situation. I have the master key but nothing else and I'm just starting on my spare + transmitter journey!

Makes my head spin. Similar issue with my LS400 so over there I go...

Ah, fair enough. I tend to assume everyone has the same terrible affliction as me. Autotraderitis. No cure.

Are you sure it will fail an MOT without what I assume is a secondary cat? I'm not familiar with the 450h but I know the 400h manages just fine. Beat me to it @Lager shandy!

Ring them in the morning for the reg. So long as it's done 1k+ miles each year I'd say you're good to go. For that money I'd certainly want a Lexus dealer stamp every year but there's no mention of what would be a good selling point. It's knocking on main dealer price and they insist on such things plus include a year's comprehensive warranty. But it looks mint and if it's as good as it looks I'd consider it a "new" car and have no problem buying it.

Not much of an update today. Bit tired. Ordered a new pen light because the original was missing. And some more carpet mats. The non-original ones that are in are not the right shade. Well, I placed an order but carmats4u actually send you templates for the foot wells and samples for colour. Rather good I thought even though it adds to the time taken. Nothing really planned for tomorrow, maybe some more cleaning. Friday the tracking will be done, the seller had new ball joints fitted and the steering is off. Saturday over to Dave's for what we hope is the anti-roll bar bushes. In hot weather the squeaking from the front is most un-Lexus like! One of those jobs I'd like to do myself but not at the moment. Then I'm just waiting on Russell at Lexus Sheffield to come back off his jollies and I can order the service bits. I had a look underneath the front this morning. Previous owner must have damaged a side at some point and they've trimmed it back about 3 inches. They've done the same on the other side to even things up! See below.