Niskus

There is one in Sheffield and he’s very good, but might be quite far for you. I got him to do my timing belt and water pump, and he (Dave) diagnosed another problem with the car (needs an ABS ring) so I’ll use him to get that sorted but then I might go with a more local Toyota garage. https://www.yell.com/biz/lex-tek-autos-ltd-sheffield-8221079/ Dave is a former Lexus Dealer mechanic but from the SC430 era.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202408303458779 Okay it’s the generation previous so it’s a grey import. Still, looks like a lovely toy for someone at just 5 grand.

Thanks guys, I did actually get ‘boot struts to follow’ in the invoice hand written by the sales man so I probably have something to stand on. I eventually got official ones from Lex-Tek and they weren’t cheap (£185 for the pair, 3rd party ones would have been cheaper). I might send the bill on to Elite Motors with a letter. Thanks for the advice.

I bought my SC430 from Elite Motor Company Croydon in April. I’d just say be wary with them. My car was cheap (£5995 for a facelift 2005 with high mileage) and I was promised replacement boot structs ‘in the post’ as the ones on my car where knackered. Of course they never arrived, and they stopped responding to my calls, emails and texts. It might be a good car, but go in expecting no come back for anything that goes wrong. Just my opinion of them.

Poor bugger, but that’s hilarious

Sorry dude I only just got this message now I haven't checked the forum for a little while. I'm guessing I missed your trip up to Scotland. I am currently using a radio adapter to use bluetooth from my phone which is working fine for now, but I will probably get a new sound system installed in the new year, not in a great rush to do so though.

I know they are already well known here, but I wanted to do a shout out for Dave at Lex-Tek Sheffield who replaced my timing belt and water pump on my SC 430 last week. They also cleaned the sensors which repaired a fault with my roof as it sometimes did not close or 'notice' that the close operation had completed. Price was good for all the work done and a lot cheaper than Lexus Dealers (£75 per hour at Lex-tek vs £130 per hour at Lexus) and I think for older / more classic cars like the SC you're probably going to get a better treatment from someone who worked on these cars from when they were new. I'm going back again in November for my MOT and to get an ABS ring replaced. Great stuff.

Me again. Are older pre-facelift SC 430 CD Units going to work plug and play with facelift models? There's no changes to the wiring loom or connectors I assume? One has popped up on ebay, but it is from a 2001 car: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166422102389 I understand that the older model CD Units will not have bluetooth, but that seems a moot point as the SC 430 bluetooth mod kit works with all models. https://www.sc430mods.com/product-page/2005-bluetooth-music-and-calling-adapter-with-mic @Glyn Jennings thanks for confirming that the mod kit just takes up one of the 6 cd slots with the player.

Has anyone installed one of these aliexpress units? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004865215232.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.4660jhOXjhOXxw&algo_pvid=a2f7c3e6-14e3-4178-b133-cebdd5d2c9a2&algo_exp_id=a2f7c3e6-14e3-4178-b133-cebdd5d2c9a2-0&pdp_npi=4%40dis!GBP!261.91!261.91!!!321.16!321.16!%40211b619a17125871324403374ec59a!12000035752418432!sea!GB!0!AB&curPageLogUid=8Ggf1CoEtSf1&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A

I did my first drive today with the roof down, so much fun 🤩

Thanks for the reply Bob. Yes, the brakes are most noisy at low speed from cold, so in slow moving traffic or when reversing. The CDs do eject when I’m SHIP mode, and it will then usually take a disc and start playing, it’s just a lot of faff as when that cd has finished playing I usually get the ERROR 4 when changing discs. I wouldn’t mind so much if the tape drive still worked but alas not. The front blown speaker is just on one side, it’s possible that the previous owner just had the volume up loud most the time and repeated stress has got to it.

Thanks Glyn, I wasn't aware that the SC430mod unit stops the ability to use CDs entirely, that is a shame. Still looks like a good product however, and saves whatever Lexus would charge for a new CD Unit - mine has gone bad.

Picked up my SC 430 from Elite Motor Company on Thursday morning. Drove from Croydon to Newcastle on Thursday, Newcastle to Edinburgh on Friday. I've also had a little blast around some local roads today. I had a little concern about water coming from the bottom of the engine bay but it turned out to be nothing to worry about - just the A/C condensation pipe working as expected. I'm impressed with the car. It's very smooth, very refined. For reference I have previously owned a 996 Generation 911 C2 and a V6 Hyundai Coupe which in some ways the SC 430 reminds me of but it is in other ways very different. It takes very, very little effort to go from 50 or 60 to 80 mph+ if you are not careful. Compared to a 996/911 it is very quiet even with your foot to the floor, but it is not as 'nibble' round the B roads which in fairness is what you would expect as the SC 430 is more a cruiser type of car than an all out sports car. The slightly poor (if I'm honest) turning circle reminded me of my V6 Hyundai Coupe, but you can tell the built quality of the Lexus is vasty superior to the Hyundai of the same age / vintage. I would prefer if the exhaust had more 'note' considering it is a V8, but I fully understand that was a design decision from Lexus to make the car as quiet as possible. I have been pleasantly surprised at the MPG (28 ish) on a motorway run which is actually the same as the 996/911 would do. I love the 'LEXUS' lights on the floor when you open the car in the dark. I find the hopelessly outdated sat nat adorable, and the seats and steering wheel feel great. I do have some niggles that I have spotted in my first 500 miles with the car: - The dreaded 'ERROR 4' message. I can it to bugger off by using the 'SHIP' mode reset but it's annoying as it always comes back. - The tape player sounds like my tapes are being played underwater (dirty tape head?). - I can't get a very good visual angle from the passenger side mirror, when I try move it electronically closer to me it 'springs' back to a middle / far away visual position. Is the motor bad, or is a clip behind the mirror glass possibly broken or something like that? - The passenger door foot level speaker (behind the fluffy cover) 'pops' during big bass noses which is annoying. I'm never going to enjoy Groove Armanda like this. I suspect that speaker needs replaced. - The brakes are fierce / work great, but they do make a squeak sound from cold that seems to go away once they have warmed up a bit. However, there seems to be a lot of life left on the pads so I don't know what's going on there. So, I'll get the brakes checked professionally when I get the timing belt and water pump done in a couple of months. I need to replace one speaker and the cd changer unit, and find some sort of fix for the passenger side mirror. All in all though, really not too bad for a car that has done 167,000 miles and is 19 years old. Looking forward to getting to know the car better and going on more adventures 😃

Does anyone know if there is going to be a SC 430 meet up this year or not?

Sorry for the bump - last two replies have been me so apologises if it looks like I'm talking to myself, but hopefully someone else will find this information useful. Lex-Tek Autos in Sheffield have given me a really good quote of £550 to get the timing belt and water pump replied using official Lexus parts, so I am going to use them.

Another nice red one ebay but it looks a bit like a scam - the seller has no ‘seller’ feedback only ‘buyer’ feedback and has started selling a lot of cars… hmm…. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355587290057?itmmeta=01HT5YDK1A0GWMR8CJK7XXEZV4&hash=item52caa773c9:g:ziwAAOSws7ZmBmI8

Just to knowledge share, Lexus Sheffield charge £650 for cambelt and water pump now due to increased costs.

Thanks Wizzy but if you don’t sell fitted cambelts and water pumps to a SC430 for less than £650 I ain’t interested.

Yeah that’s fair it might cost a bit from the independent sports garage, but I’d have guessed they would still be cheaper than a Toyota dealer. The Indy sports car garage charge £75 per hour, which is less than the £100 to £120 per hour most dealers tend to charge these days. You are right I could probably get it done cheaper, but given how essential it is to the life of the engine I’d rather not go with the cheapest quote possible.

Yes, there is a Toyota dealer at St Boswells that I phoned last week, explained what I needed, and they said they would call me back but they haven't. I do understand that the Toyota dealers have access to all the same service manuals and parts that a Lexus dealer would have so it's not a bad option. I have made an enquiry with East Coast Sports Cars who have been good to my Porsche 924 to see if they can do it. While on the phone they admitted they haven't much experience with the SC 430, they do service a number of luxury brands like Bentley, Maserati and Infiniti. They said they would let me know if they recon they can do it or not. Else, plan b would be Toyota St Boswells.

So Lexus Sheffield were polite in reply email but don't take booking yet for July which is when I'm 'in the neighbourhood' to get it done, so I'll probably find a local garage to do it. I don't see any Lexus specialists near me (Scotland) but I guess a competent indy garage that has seen similar era Toyotas would do. Quick question - I'm looking up kits so I can get my local independent garage to do it. I assume this is the right one? https://www.autodoc.co.uk/gates/13671360 I assume no special Lexus tools are required to do this job, so a standard (but competent) garage could do it?

Thank you, you can blame Vlad's fancy video on the Facebook group for making me want a Black model https://www.facebook.com/groups/2010606785672563/permalink/7317614948305027/

Yup I was looking at that one. I spoke to them, and the reason they jacked the price up is because they did the timing belt and water pump. Nice colour and reg number on it though. I tried to buy that grey 2008 model in Bristol that was only £8995 but just missed out on it. I also put a bid of £6750 in for this 2005 facelift but it ended up going for £7870: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335298335258 . I've also seen this one locally to me but £8995 feels too much for a pre-facelift model: https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1686651 . I ended up buying this one for £5695: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403177680656?sort=price-asc&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Lexus&model=SC&postcode=EH15 1BL&fromsra - I negotiated a little discount off the auto trader price because the timing belt needed done. It's getting serviced by Lexus Croydon next week and I'll be picking it up the week after. It is on the mileage high side (167,000) but a facelift model for less than 6 grand was too good to pass. So long as it's been looked after (16 Lexus service stamps) I can't see why this car won't do another 167,000 miles. Elite Motor Company are a Lexus specialist and so I think I'm in good hands.

Hi all, Sorry to bump an old post but I have just bought a SC 430 from Autotrader that last had it's timing belt done in 2014. I've fired an email over to Lexus Sheffield to see if they still honour the £595 cambelt and water pump replacement price for SC 430 Club members, I'll let you know what they say. £595 seems like a very good price, the kit on it's own seems to cost £120 to £200 depending on who you go to, obviously without any labour charges which the garage would charge you for if you cannot do it yourself.