DruLS

I’m not from London so I didn’t know much about the ULEZ. But I went there recently to collect a friend from the airport and was shocked to find out my LS430 is compliant. Very clean cars for what they are.

Didn't have time to set up TechStream but I did plug in my Carista dongle and got these codes. So looks like a possible O2 sensor issue. To be fair I had these codes on my last car and it was down to an exhaust leak. I don't hear a leak but I best check before I start throwing money at it. I've cleared the codes for now so we'll see how it goes.

Yeah I have a TechStream just haven't scanned it yet, thanks for the offer though 😊It's running perfectly so I doubt it's anything serious.

My last LS430 was throwing codes for the CATs and the O2 sensors. They were actually fine, but as the exhaust was leaking it was throwing out those codes. Instead of going to Lexus I had a full stainless steel catback made up for it with a third cat delete. I used Tony Banks Exhausts in Leeds and they did a top notch job. Just over £500 and they did it in just a few hours. They stock cats too so might be worth getting them to fit their own if you need them, instead of trying to source and fund genuine ones. I imagine Lexus would charge more and a regular steel exhaust will be prone to corrode and rust again. They'll build it however you like so you can have it quiet as stock if you'd like. I opted to have it just a little louder. It was still quiet, especially inside the cabin but sounded just a little deeper and actually sounded like a V8 should.

That car was actually on my list of cars I was considering because it was in my price range. I never went to see it in person but it looks like it's in decent nick. In regards to it riding low at the back, they all do that so I wouldn't worry. Personally I'd try and find something with lower miles. Mileage isn't everything with these cars though. My 100,000 mile LS430 is in better shape then my 65,000 mile one. If it's been taken care of I wouldn't have any concerns with the engine or gearbox as they're bulletproof. My concern would be the air suspension. it's reliable as far as air suspension goes but I start to see them fail from around 160,000 to 200,000. Or course that can easily be fixed, but it would be very expensive.

So if you've been following my previous thread, you'll be aware that I unfortunately totalled my last LS after a few months of ownership, just after getting it all perfect. Well I'm glad to say I'm back in another LS430 and boy does it feel good to be home. So here she is in Black Cherry Pearl (looks less brown when the sun is actually out!) 98k with FSH. All Lexus dealers except for the last one which was independent. A few little issues as you'd expect, but nothing I can't take care of. The paint is in mostly great condition for it's age, and the undercarriage is much cleaner then my last one. And the alloys are mint. The steering column adjustment is broken, but who's isn't. The passenger seatbelt doesn't move up or down. I don't think the AC works like my last one. And it needs a cam belt service. That's about it really. It drives really well. Of course 3 miles after buying it this happened: But knowing these cars I'm not too worried. So I've just placed a massive order with Lexus Parts Direct. She's getting a full service, all new fluids, gearbox flush, diff oil change, new battery, new belts etc. Also ordered a full set of discs and pads but went with Pagid instead of OEM. I've used them in all my cars and liked them, my last LS had them and ECP had a 50% discount. Holding off on any LPG conversion for now. Due to change jobs soon so my commute might be less and make it not worth it but we'll see.

Introducing Alexa II. 2004 with 98k and FSH. Mostly Lexus with one independent. Has a few small jobs that need doing as you'd expect for a 16 year old car but nothing major at all. Pretty good paint work, nice and clean underneath. And of course, 3 miles into the journey home this happened 🙄 Still trying to arrange to purchase back my exhaust and LPG kit from the guy who bought my old one. Lord knows I need it. Otherwise it feels good to be back in one of these. I guess I best start a new thread now I have a different car.

Also if anybody is looking to sell their LS430 please let me know 😊

Got my eye on a couple LS430s for sale. Possibly not the best financial decision but I don't think I can stand driving this Lexus any longer. Hopefully they'll be an update soon with a shiny new car 😀

It wasn’t a hard enough hit to set them off. It’s just a shame it did a complete 360 and destroyed every panel on the car. Just picked up a little Mazda 3 today. Quite a nice little car, as long as I try not to compare it to the Lexus. Hats off to Lexus though this thing still drives fine. Tracking is a little off like.

Honestly the crash didn't feel that bad. I had no idea how hard the crash was until I stepped out. Gutted about the car but I'm just thankful I didn't hurt anybody. I went over the pavement but luckily it was late and nobody was around. This could have been a very different story. As much as I loved that car, it's just a car at the end of the day. Going to be picking up a Mazda 3 later today. I just need a cheap runaround for now. Low miles and full service history so I'm sure it will do it well. But after having an LS, every other car looks depressing. I'll start saving for another LS, and try not to crash the next one.

I don't really have the time, room or equipment to start stripping it down. It's already an eyesore on the street and I doubt my neighbours would like me dismantling a car on my driveway. I'm just going to sell it for salvage, somebody could make some money off the parts. It's just a shame the back got hit so hard, otherwise I could have fixed the front end myself.

I can't afford another LS right now, just need a runaround. But I'm sure I'll have one again in the future. This was the best car I ever owned.

Nobody hurt, just absolutely gutted.

Well, that was fun while it lasted. Think I hit diesel or ice or something, car is completely destroyed.

Wow you learn something new every day. That is strange considering they don’t even bother undercoating a lot of cars in Japan. I had a VW Bora imported from Japan. No undercoating like the UK models but 100% rust free.

That was my main worry as I didn’t want to ruin the car but I can confirm it’s still nice and quiet while driving normally. It sounds much louder on camera. There’s no real droning to speak of (very slightly at about 50mph but not bad at all). I don’t even think the car is any louder. It certainly idles more quietly without the leaks. It just sounds different under acceleration. It has a deeper, meaner sound without being too obnoxious. You can tell it’s a V8 now which is what I wanted. But while cruising normally it’s just as quiet if not more so inside the cabin It’s exactly how I wanted it so I’m very glad. I explained what I wanted to the guys and how I wanted it to sound, picked out the tips I wanted and they built a full system quite quickly. They did a fantastic job and now I don’t have to worry about that old rusty exhaust ever again (hopefully).

Thought I'd provide a better video somewhere I wouldn't annoy the neighbours. Sounds fantastic but still quiet during normal driving inside the cabin. Of course all this was filmed on my private road in Mexico.

Just had my new exhaust fitted by Tony Banks Exhausts in Leeds. The old one was shot anyway and needed replacing, so thought I'd go for something a little more sporty. They got it just how I wanted. It's not loud at all (actually idles quieter now it's not leaking) and just sounds a bit meaner. Also fitted my new interior LEDs. They're very bright. Only change I had to do was put the ones for the front vanity mirrors in backwards so they face the wrong way, otherwise they just blind you.

Hi everyone, I will soon be changing out the ATF on my "sealed for life" gearbox. I have an '05 facelift LS430 with the Aisin A761E. It appears most people simply use the "drain and fill" method to replace the fluid. While I've never done this on a Lexus, I did a fluid change on my old Volvo with a sealed for life Aisin box. While it was a completley different model, the procedure was mostly the same (i.e. drain, fill, repeat and then check the level with the check valve one the fluid is in a certain temperature range). Now looking at diagrams, it appears the A761E does has an internal filter I could change if I took the pan off. My old car didn't have this so I simply did the drain and fill. Would anybody recommend going the extra mile to change the filter or simply just replace the ATF? For reference, the car currently has 75,000 on the clock and as far as I can tell the fluid has never been changed. This is a preventative maintainence thing, the gearbox currently works absolutely fine.

First one to notice the different wins...... USDM syle side markers! Don't ask me why, but I've always been a fan of amber marker lights. I like the ones the US cars have, but they were not available here. I would have only needed the bottom bracket from the inside of a a US set of headlights where the indicator and marker lights are held. It's held in with two screws and could we swapped into a UK set. But I could only find full sets of headlights for lots of money. LHD headlights would have been useless so I'd be paying a lot of money for just the small part I wanted. So I took it upon myself to modify my existing headlights to look similar. As you can see, I also wired in some amber running lights into the empty section of the fog light housing. I'm still undecided on these. I took enough photos to do a write up / how to but I can't bring myself to do that right now. This took all bloody day. Taking the bumper off, headlights out, removing the lenses, moding the insides, re-sealing, re-wiring etc. I'm knackered, sore and dirty but I'm happy with the results. The camera on my phone makes these seem quite a bit brighter then they are, but in person they're just right. This is what the car looks like with just the sidelights on. They are all Osram LED bulbs. The ones in the headlights are white and behind amber reflectors. The ones in the fog lights are amber. I was originally going to use regular bulbs (which I actually prefer), but quickly realised that changing one of these bulbs would require taking the headlight apart again so opted for the longer lasting option. Also, because of the lower current draw of LEDs, I didn't have to use a relay like I was planning to. 3 of the bulbs still use less current than a regular bulb, so they're all just spliced into the original sidelight circuit. And this is what it looks like with everything going. I replaced the fog lights with a set of Osram Fog Breakers - yellow fog lights. If anybody is actually interested in a write up I can do that, but right now I think I'm going to take some painkillers and get in the bath 😂 But on a lighter note, I acidentally pitched my soldering iron and heat gun in a battle. The soldering iron won. Brand new she was, taken too soon.

Just don't get the ones I got! They'll be plenty of more suitable ones out there. I'm going to wire a PWM module in line on these to dim them down a tad.

Weird, it worked for me once then not again. It still works in Safari but no other browser. Can be found on my instagram instagram.com/p/B3z2WBOnsKR/

Starting with my lighting modifications tomrrow but thought I'd give my new LED indicator bulbs a go. Never tried using exterior LEDs on anything other than number plate lights before. I wanted something a little brighter in the hopes less people would pull out on me at round abouts. My God are these things bright. Too bright in fact, the video doesn't do it justice. You could direct incoming airliners onto the runway with these. I've ordered some PWM modules so I can dim these down before I put them back in. Other than that they're very good quality. Well built, no ultra-flashing, polarity doesn't matter just like with a regular bulb. But I can't be driving around with the equivilent of HID indicators 😂 IMG_1307.MOV

Braved the rain and my bad back to finish off with an oil change today and getting the undertray back on. My hat goes off to mechanics out there because today I'm sore all over. Couldn't do this everyday. But at least the car is happy! The good news is my ARB bushings are actually fine. Yesterday idiot me looked at the split that allows you to wrap them around the ARB and thought "Oh no, they're cracked!" 😂