Howplum

The body shop have really gone to town on the dismantling. Presumably leaving the rear screen in is a question of expediency. Even removing the door external window trim is more complicated than most, necessitating removal of the glass first. Are those DHP 17" wheels? I see you have LED bulbs at the rear - are they better?

I intend to overhaul my suspension at some point and have been looking into polyurethane versus rubber bushings. There are pros and cons for each, assuming originality is not required. The polyurethane ones are easier to fit and potentially will last a long time, although there might be slight reduction in ride quality. For the polyurethane I narrowed my options to one manufacturer, Strongflex, who offer two hardness levels on most bushings. Their red bushings are 80 ShA and the yellow ones are 90 ShA. They do a front suspension kit for £155 which contains a mixture, which they say equates to the equivalent OEM items. They don't seem to offer the upper arm bushings separately. As for rubber, Febest seem to offer a comprehensive range, although they do require a press to fit.

The bushes are Febest, as sold be Amayama and others. The ball joints are unbranded, so possibly caveat emptor applies. Unfortunately product feedback on eBay isn't widely used, maybe with good reason.

You might find the handbrake cables will need work, or replacing, due to lack of use. I had to replace mine because the car had been off the road for two years, and the previous owner never used the handbrake, a common scenario with automatics.

If Amayama sell Febest and other aftermarket parts, would it be foolish to assume they are happy with the quality, bearing in mind they sell OEM parts? Discuss!

Another company's products I have used are from Nuera Products Ltd. As well as dyes and all the necessary potions they also do a flexible filler which I found useful when repairing the interior of an old Mercedes SEC. Ideally they will require a sample to be able to match the colour. This is the armrest after applying the filler to the corner: And the finished product: The seats also turned out well, although no filler was required:

I've just checked and the leather touch up dye I used is Scuff Master by Gliptone. The colour is Winchester Grey, which hopefully is the same as yours.

I have used renovation kits from a company in Leicester called Nuera Products several times on different cars and they worked well. My interior is also grey so I will have a look in the garage tomorrow and see if I can give you any more information.

Nope, wrong again ! If you search on this forum using the phrase "seat heater repair" (including the quotation marks) then my previous topic from a couple of years ago should pop up. I must admit I have not done anything about it yet though.

Maybe this will work: https://portal-diagnostov.com/en/2020/04/09/power-seats-lexus-ls-400-1996-system-wiring-diagrams/

It's a diagnostic procedure. I'll try again tomorrow.

I found this in my notes, which might help:

I found the wiring diagram for the front seats, but not the rears. Unfortunately it is in PDF format which doesn't seem to work if I insert it into this post. Obviously this topic has come up before and here are a couple of previous topics from this forum: https://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/topic/54490-heated-seats/ There are plenty of topics on the internet, but as far as I can tell from a quick search this morning no-one seems to have come up with a definitive solution where all four are not working. Of course, the fact that all four don't work doesn't preclude the possibility that one or more of the heating pads is/are faulty. Presumably the driver's seat is the first to go. LS400 heated front seats wiring diagram.pdf

Exactly the same as my car then. I have an electronic workshop manual so will see if I can find any clues. However, because all four are not working would make me think that's it's unlikely to be individual heating elements, unless we're really unlucky.

What wiring issue do you have? If it's non functioning heated seats then from what I've read it's common, and possibly not easily repairable. Hopefully there be information on the internet about seat removal and dismantling. I'll bet they're heavy though!

From memory the total mileage is also recorded on an EEPROM, as I discovered when I changed my instrument cluster. I was fortunate in having a friend who repairs computers so he swapped the component for me. Anyway, if you're changing the cluster it might be worth bearing this in mind.

I recently watched an episode of Wheeler Dealers when they had a heated windscreen made for a Porsche 911. This is the company: https://www.tynesidesafetyglass.com/ I seem to recall it wasn't too expensive either. Worth a try perhaps?

This company, MIJ Exhausts, advertise a stainless cat back system on eBay from £500, although they are a fair way from Norfolk. If you end up replacing the cats then no doubt the nuts securing them to the manifolds will be seized, necessitating some ingenuity in removing them. Non OEM cats are available, but presumably not to the same standard as the originals. If possible all fixings should be stainless as well, for longevity (unlike the originals). https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224557964475?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=8d8kaVw2Say&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=bPQ54hZdSAe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

In the diagram included within Colin's post earlier, which is the potential suspicious solenoid please?

I've just returned from a two week holiday, and whilst away connected a charger to the battery. The car now is behaving itself, so perhaps the issue was battery related.

Someone might end up buying it just for the engine, which hopefully is in better condition than the rest of the car.

Presumably joining the Cats Protection League isn't going to help!

DVLA are selling this number for £250. I thought about buying it, but decided against it. Definitely one for the Lexus LS400 enthusiastic.

Excellent. I did my buttons over two years ago and they still look good. I trimmed them in situ though.

That's the shift lock override button Malc. I tried that, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Anyway, it's something else to check, which I will do in a logical manner, instead of being in a bit of a panic whilst stuck in the middle of a manoeuvre in the road!