Glyn Jennings

Just had a frustrating morning. I saw these manuals for a 2004 on ebay today from the US for basically £143 + £30 postage, one set still remaining which I thought was a good price. So thinking I would go for them I go to purchase and confirm to buy and the price shoots up to £243 but not only that it says not in stock. I then have to request the seller to agree to cancel my order and now I have to wait to see if he does. On top of that my insurance is up for renewal on the RX and SC with LV and despite looking round I couldn't save much money so I have renewed. I thought I would do the right thing and tell them about the throttle controller and boy did that take some explaining as to what it did and after negotiating a discount of £40 on the renewal that negated the discount. Due to the combined policy going up this year by £230 whereas previously I have paid for the year up front I have now gone for monthly payments so that is another £78 (17%). So this year my insurance has gone up by just over £300 and they don't even take any regard to the fact I am having a Pandora Storm immobilizer fitted on the RX in a couple of weeks time before the renewal date. So for both cars I am now paying £950 which I guess in todays climate is not to bad. I did try Haggerty for the SC but they wouldn't insure it as it is parked in the road and Classic line and Adrian Flux were way above LV.

Here's some more variations on grilles and body kits. Some people spend serious money on their SC's Which Kit Do You Like Best? - Page 30 - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion The photobucket on the photos is annoying though.

Don’t feel bad or worry as it is nothing to do with you personally and you are more than welcome to this group. Enjoy your car as that is what is important.

Not wishing to get into a debate regarding Rich Walker but you will find there are people who think he is the best thing since sliced bread because of having had a good experience with him and others the exact opposite because of a bad experience which I can testify as being one of them. It’s the same old story if everything goes well it’s OK but if you have a problem he doesn’t want to to know and won’t acknowledge anything is wrong. Personally I think he is unpredictable and it is a fact he has been removed from most forums and groups because of this. In the end he had his own Lexusworld website shut down because of negative feedback being posted about him. I certainly would never let him near my car again and I wish I had never heard of his services. Unfortunately new owners like me at the time do not have any prior knowledge of him as some of the long standing SC owners do. To be fair he has bought and sold a lot of SC’s over the years and some have been good but some have not. Going back to your own SC it does seem you got it for a good price and with the mileage it is probably more likely to have the odd issue here and there but they are great cars an a joy to own so well done joining the club.

The SC is like any car if you get a good one it is a thing of joy. If you end up buying a troublesome one it will be a huge disappointment. Overall I think Lexus owners look after their cars well and are more likely to have their car serviced by Lexus. When you look at the high mileage of some examples and the age it is no surprise that some are going to be troublesome and change hands regularly. So the choice is generally pay over the odds for a lower mileage good service history car or buy a cheap one knowing it may need lots of work. I was willing to pay double the going rate for a low mileage one owner car that Lexus had done everything that need doing before I bought it. Doing this means I have a car that is a long term keeper and retains a decent resale value. Hopefully when you have your car repaired nothing else will go wrong and you can start to enjoy the SC again for what it usually is.

I am really glad you love your SC it seems if you take the plunge to buy one of these hidden gems and it is a good one it becomes a thing of joy. I also thought it was ugly in it’s early years not helped by the pie plate wheels. After going through several BMW’s I moved over to Lexus. All the BMW’s I owned were M Sport and I really enjoyed them and the service I had from BMW was great. The handling was second to none but you paid for it with the hard suspension and run flat tyres which now how poorly maintained roads are is a big downside. I subsequently bought my RX450h 2 years ago and love the comfort, the quietness and it is quite exclusive. I then started looking at the LC500 which I think is stunning but way more than I would want to spend on a second car. This led me to the SC430 and when I saw what owners had done to improve the looks I was sold plus I think the design has aged well. I was only causally looking at ones up for sale and saw mine and snapped it up before anyone else got a look in. I hadn’t even told my wife I was thinking of getting one. Eighteen months on I can honestly say it is my favourite of the 29 cars I have ever owned and will keep it as long as I am able to then pass it on to my two son’s.

Everything i have done to my car I can reverse back to normal in less than a day as I want to preserve it's originality. That's the reason I haven't done the grille so far. If I do it I will either source another grille to use however the chrome trim on the bonnet is difficult to find on it's own. Failing this I would try and vinyl wrap the grille surround in blue or paint blue over the wrap so it can easily be removed. However now I have chrome wheels the chrome on the grille does compliment them so I may keep it as it is. I am in the camp where you can improve the looks of a car to your suit your own personal taste but it may not be mine. I think the Lexus RC300h and RCF are a really nice design and if I didn't have the SC and an RX would probably buy one and leave it as it is.

I have often contemplated doing mine. Here are some photo’s. I personally like the the one on WIL 44 the best.

With all these RX’s and this week a GS-F stolen I have arranged for a Pandora Storm Canbus immobilizer to be fitted on my RX450h. I shouldn’t need to but it is better that than trying to find a replacement and arguing with the insurance company on my cars worth.

Some people would say I have to much time on my hands. Wheels now changed to Work Emitz. I just need to spray the car blue and it will be an accurate copy of my real one. I am not sure whether to change the exhaust or not.

This episode has made me bite the the bullet and arrange to have a Pandora Storm canbus immobiliser fitted on my RX450h. Only thing is my local installer is booked up until the 10th May and are a bit dearer the most. They do have an impeccable reputation though which I why I am using them.

That’s always the worry as to how far they would go to get the car. Hopefully the insurance will pay up quickly so you can find another one.

Thats very sad for you. Not exactly an easy car to sell on due to the rarity unless being shipped abroad. Hopefully you will get it back OK. I have been holding off having a canbus immobiliser fitted on my RX but with the amount of Lexus cars now being stolen I think I will now get it done sooner rather than later.

Juan Thornes the administrator of the Facebook Group Lexus SC430 Club UK posted this last month which seems like a good deal and might be of interest to someone needing this done. “Evening all! Lexus Sheffield after sales director Gary Hudson called me this morning to say that the £499 cambelt and water pump replacement including labour and coolant offer will have to end due to price inflation on parts and sundries. Good news!!! Lexus Sheffield will still offer all Lexus SC430 Club UK members the same excellent offer with a slight increase to £599. This £100 increase is still GREAT bargain. Take advantage of this wonderful offer and also book you SC or any other Lexus vehicle in for a service with Lexus Sheffield. Thank you all. Iooking forward in see you all at this year's workshop and car show in June. Best wishes. Juan.

The only thing I would add is when you prise the clip off the lower one try to hold it with a pair of pointed nose pliers at the same time as it would be easy for it to drop into the recess below where you will not be able to retrieve it. The ones I bought from China were also really tight to push on.

I bought a cheap CTEK Charger in Lidl last year reduced to £29.99 which then stopped working after about two months. CTEK sent me a replacement which is now fine. The bonus is the wiring is permanently connected to the battery and because I had the old cable I was able to join the two together so that it extends to come out of the front bumper so II can now connect it without even opening the bonnet or taking my car cover off as I only use it for 24 hours every 2 -3 week to keep the battery charged.

I would just do it for peace of mind. Why have that constantly worry in the back of mind that it might go at some point and it will be a very expensive job if it did compared to just doing the belt done. At some point you are going to have it done anyway so why not now unless you are not going to keep the car. Although if you were to sell it a new buyer would try and knock the price down if it hasn’t been done. Which means either way you don’t gain anything from not having it done. When I bought my 2004 car 18 months ago it had only done 7,300 miles yet Lexus still changed the belt because of the age of the car. They are also fitted new tyres and battery due to age. The radiator was changed as well but there seems to be some debate on the reliability of this on the SC.

There sometimes is some benefit in if it ‘ain’t broken don’t fix it’ philosophy. I worked for British Gas for many years and they also adopted this approach to save money. Customers on a service contract used to have a full service strip down carried out on the visit. British Gas then changed the wording to safety or performance check which no longer included striping down the boiler and is just a visual inspection and an analysis of the combustion products taken in the flue. The reason they did this was for financial reasons as it was a fact that every time a boiler was stripped down it increased the incidents of call backs because something on the boiler would fail within a couple of weeks purely because it had been dismantled. This was costing the company of a lot of money and also led to high customer dissatisfaction. Having said this obviously any safety related items should always be checked on a scheduled basis as well as lubricants and parts renewed that have a defined life cycle.

Already put this on Facebook but thought I would also put it here for a bit of fun. ”The management team approved my latest SC purchase and even checked the timing belt had been changed” “They must have been watching Toy Story as I caught them trying to take my car for a joy ride”

Hi Stewart your car is so clean and shiny, you must have put a lot of hard work into it. I have never seen a luggage rack on an SC before so that is a first for me. I really enjoy my throttle controller it stays on 3.9 all the time as you get used to using a light foot for leisurely driving and when not you fly.

For a standard Lexus wheel I always quite liked these. Lexus OEM Genuine 18" Machined Tourmaline Alloy WHEELS SET 08457-30815

I’ve always fancied a set myself but the cost has been prohibitive mostly from sellers in the US. I did obtain a lot of PDF files for working on the car but I guess the manuals would go into greater detail. Good luck Nick with your search.

Just seen this which is very sad. It’s people like John who make it such a pleasure to be in a group with a common interest. Condolences to his family for his loss. The Lexus community does seem to be made up of a lot of people like myself who are in their Twilight years who are a really nice bunch.

What bothers me about electric cars most apart from the high initial cost and the depreciation as they get older because people want the latest technology is charging when you go on holiday. Ever year I rent a cottage in Cornwall and by the time I would arrive in an electric car it would need charging. The cottage has no outside power connection and I am also led to believe if you charge via a normal 3 pin socket that can put a strain on the electric circuit causing overheating. The other alternative is to find a proper charging point. Bearing in mind the amount of cottages and other accommodation, the number people needing to charge their car in peak holiday periods is going to be phenomenal and that's not what I want when I go on holiday..