MikeLS430

Would be pretty wary of spending that much money on an Ebay car, call me old fashioned!

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How much was your dipstick? (and mileage, premium pack?)

Hi, I wonder does anyone know how to use the existing speakers of a 2001 LS430 for another audio device. Is there a Line-in anywhere?

I want to install a mobile car kit, a DVD player with TV, MP3 player, etc.

(It would be nice if the navigation screen had a Video-in somewhere too!).

I get 19-20 in normal use (mainly in town), I expected to get at least the stated average of 23.5 (my 3 series 2.5 BMW got 34mpg, on a stated average of 31).

On M25 I get 28mpg.

In pure town driving, I get as low as 14mpg.

I guess it's not only the engine size, it's also the weight.

Btw, I have it always on normal, instead of sport :)

abbey motorsports  are in surrey  :D

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Thank you , I will give them a ring, although they are not in Surrey, Oxted is in Sussex, about 45 mins away from me, I'm in Guildford.

I'm in Guildford Surrey and need fitted:

4 parking sensor set with camera on the rear bumper

Nokia 810 car phone (unit in the boot, aerial inside rear bumper, handset in armrest, screen on dashboard)

7" LCD screen either on dash, or in sunblind, with TV tuner and aerial

camera in front bumper

Sept 1998? Strange, as the LS430 came in UK on November 2000 (until then they were selling the LS400).

I own an LS430 X reg, and have test driven a few, and never seen one with parking sensors (until the new one came out on Nov 2003).

It's very easy to notice if a car has parking sensors, just look at the rear and front bumpers, you should see the 4 or more round detectors.

No, the LS430 from 2000 till 2003 does not have parking sensors.

The facelifted one (Nov 2003 upwards) has everything: 6 gears, front and read parking sensors, rear view camera, bluetooth, and is a bit faster and a bit more economic. Of course it looks better , has 18" alloys, etc.

I'm having parking sensors with rear view camera fitted to my X reg LS430 these days.

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Thanks Mike - I'ver never been so confused!

All the reviews of a 2000 plate LS430 I've read say it DOES have sensors. Lexus UK have now responded and say it does too, but that they can be turned off, so they think that's what happened. So now the dealer is looking for the on/off option Lexus tell me is there. Does this email from Lexus UK make sense? And how much is it to add the rear view camera option?

Quote:

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Thank you for your email.

The Lexus LS430 Series 1 (from Sept 1998) should be fitted with an

Ultrasonic parking system as standard.

I have checked and I can confirm that it is possible to switch off the

parking sensors on the LS430.

Please refer to the owners manual (Lexus Park Assist)

To the right hand of the steering below the auto mirror switch there is a

switch with a P with a triangle.

This switches the sensors on or off.

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Yes, there are lots of websites for parts, etc. But who is going to fit them?

I've seen other forum members talking about some amazing fitters they have in Manchester, etc, but what about someone near Surrey?

No, the LS430 from 2000 till 2003 does not have parking sensors.

The facelifted one (Nov 2003 upwards) has everything: 6 gears, front and read parking sensors, rear view camera, Bluetooth, and is a bit faster and a bit more economic. Of course it looks better , has 18" alloys, etc.

I'm having parking sensors with rear view camera fitted to my X reg LS430 these days.

I have a N/S door glass for an LS (92) model

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1992 LS400? I bet that isn't even double glazed. I've got an LS430 2001

On my LS430 on the passenger window, in the botton, center, there is a white semi-circle between the 2 glass panels. It's about 4 inches in width.

I talked to my local Lexus (Guildford) and they said the window needs changing, and they want about £260+£135 labour to do it.

As I just forked out almost £800 for an air-con pipe leak (which happened to be where the fuel tank is, they had to remove the axle and put TWO new pipes for £250(!) plus 5.5 hours work), I'm begining to doubt the reliability of my LS430.

Maybe I should buy an extended warranty, for £750, but was told by Lexus that it's just an insurance policy that doesn't cover wear and tear, and for any claim they have to phone and ask permission, etc.

Anybody's comments will be appreciated.

Hi, as many have, I'm considering replacing my 17" alloys to some fancy 18 or 19" ones (I've got an LS430 with the boring 17" ones).

My question is what differences should I expect?

I've heard that the handling might become more sportier but at the same time harder (the new LS430 has 18" as standard so I think maybe increasing to 19" won't be too much?).

In the past, some guy in my local Halfords told me that bigger wheels actually increase fuel consumption and also worsen acceleration(!) . If that is the case why do so many people want big wheels?

Any comments from your own experiences are appreciated.

I'm considering modified my Lexus from "standard manufacturers specification", starting with alloys, but all the nice and cheap insurance companies I know, don't even want to give an on-line quote if the car has been "modified from manufacturer's standard specifications".

What do you guys do? Who do you insure with, or do you just ... forgot to tell your insurance company?

hi mike, what year is yours?, does it have the new 6 speed box?.  B)

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No, I'm afraid it's the 5 speed one. The 6 speed one is supposed to be upto a whole 1mpg better! :)

Hi, I'm thinking of converting my LS430 to LPG, I was promissed 40% reduction in my fuel bill, cleaner engine, and friendly for the environment.

My local authorised LPG converter, charges £2100+VAT which is not too bad.

Has anybody LPGed their Lexus yet?

I usually get 19.8 or something on my LS430, very dissapointing!

The average is supposed to be 23.5

Doing the same routes, on my BMW I got 3 mpg ABOVE the average, while on the Lexus I got 3 below it's stated average. And I do drive economically.

Yes, I know it's ridiculous, my dealer asked over £300+VAT! for a 50 pence DVD disk.

These days one can buy a complete SAT DAV palm computer including the software for that money! Not just an upgrade disk! :tsktsk:

Good thing roads in the South East very rarely improve (!) I'm been using my Dec 2000 car's disk for a few months, and didn't find a single thing that has been changed!

I just went to http://www.prolex-uk.com but they don't seem to have any parking sensors at all. Any ideas?

Where did you have yours fitted? Do they display in the instrument panel or do they have a separate screen or just make sound?

Thank you for your help :)

prolex sell them michael, and Anees from this site has just had his fitted, he likes them to, and i must say thay look factory fitted to  :D

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Yep....as Gordon says I got a set. :)

I have the Veba ones that Prolex sell and they are flush fit. They do look factory fitted and seem to work well - but I've not played with them properly yet.

They look good on my car because its a dark green colour so the sensors are hardly noticable.

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and you dont clean it

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At 34, after several BMWs, made the big step and bought an amazing LS430 instead of my dream car a 7 series. It has amazing accessories which I love, but it doesn't have parking sensors

My local dealership (Guildford) said said they want over £600 for rear and same again for front!!

On eBay someone was selling a LS430 who said he paid £250 for his (from Lexus), I emailed him a week ago, but no answer.

Has anyone installed parking sensors?

Are there any independent Lexus garages in the South East? I searched the net without success.

Thank you for your help,

Michael.

Just talked to a specialist and he said it can't come from the instruments as those are way too tiny to cause that effect. More probable is that it comes either from a sort of solvent used in the production process of the car (and then you should immediately report this to the dealership) or, if the car isn't brand new, from the charcoal filter contaminated. This can and does happen if the car is left out in a warm, wet environment like public garages. Solution then is to replace the charcoal filter (easy) and have a special desinfecting spray used. Look for a specialist  in ACs to do this or it's just a waste of money.

Hope this helps.

Alain

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Thank you very much Alain. I had the car serviced just before I bought it, I will check if they changed the filter.

To understand my problem, I tried it one night, I sat in the car with my fiance, engine off and turned the instrument lights to maximum intensity. Looking at the bright panel in the darkness of the night, immediately my eyes started to hurt (surface stinging pain). We exchanged seats, and she didn't like the lights also, not as much as me (I'm the light sensitive one!). After a few minutes of this, I had enough, we went inside, I looked in the mirrow and one of my eyes was red and I had deep eye pain all night.

And yes, during the day it hurts to, even more, cause the light intensity is much higher. Unlike other cars the dimmer knob doesn't dim much, especially during the day.

Fluorescent lights do hurt me a bit, I know that, but not so quickly and to that extend. My thought is that the instrument panel and (fluorescent?) needles on the LS430 emit significant non visible light (ultra violet etc) that causes my problem. I've driven many cars in my life and never dreamed to have such a problem! I've never seen a car though, like the LS430 that needs to have lights on all the time to able to see the instruments!

I've seen an US website about replacing the LED backlighting of the LS400 with fluorescent, including the instrument needles! I wish I had an LS400 with the LED backlighting!

Thank you all for your help. I'm thinking of a few things I can do to address this problem the next couple of weeks.

Hi, after many years and many BMWs, I bought an LS430. I absolutely love the way it drives, the gadgets, the quality, but I have a huge problem:

Everytime I drive for a bit, my eyes hurt, especially my left one goes red and hurts for days if I drive for a couple of hours. I never had such a problem with any car in my life. But then again, I never owned a car with permanent STRONG lighting in the instrument panel; all other cars have a neutral dim controllable back lighting that comes on only at night.

Yes of course, I use the dim knob, I have it always on minimum, but it's still too bright! On my BMW I had the backlight always set on almost full, cause on the minimum setting I could barely see the instruments!

I read in some websites that LS430s probably use fluorescent back light and/or actual mini fluorescent tubes for the 4 red instrument needles. That would make sense for my problem as fluorescent light is not natural and can be bad for the eyes.

Can anyone please help me, does anyone knows about the kinds of lights used.

I'm going insane, I can't enjoy such a nice car, even have thoughts of selling it! My other half also get's annoyed by the backlighting, she said after some time her eyes feel like she has been watching a bright computer monitor for some time.