chrisfs

Hi Steve. I hadn't seen your earlier post.

I asked Lexus if it could be fixed and guess what, they said it couldn't and it could only be cured by a new mirror, that'll be £400 thank you very much, sir!

So, like you, I just did the mirror fold and fold back thing each time I got in the car.

Chris

That is an ingenious approach, Rab.

The Series IV has automatically dipping mirrors when in reverse, but I guess the Series III didn't then. The switch to select right or left mirror, in the middle of the 4 way directional movement pad, needs to be in the right or left position, not centralised.

I know what you mean about the cost of the mirrors. About the only thing that didn't work properly on my 400 was the driver's side mirror which, when you started up, would set itself at a funny angle. When I found out the cost of a new mirror (I was quoted nearer £400!) I learned to just press the mirror fold switch and then back again, after which it stayed in the right place.

Chris

Another vote here for the 430 (perhaps not surprisingly, although Steve's story is a sad one. But it does stand out as being exceptional on here).

Actually my story is remarkably similar to Pete's: late 2000 model (so one of the first), 57,000 miles when I bought it, looks brand new, everything works, £12,000 from a non-Lexus dealer. Like Pete, I spent money on new Dunlop 270 tyres, boot struts and a new sat nav disc, all for around the same cost.

I previously had a LS400, sold it and regretted it for a year, so have come back to Lexus and it's lovely! Bought about 10 weeks ago, 4,000 miles so far, not a hint of trouble, drives smoothly and quietly (road noise apart, inevitably on British roads).

Driving tomorrow from Bristol to Nottingham and back to watch my son play rugby for his uni, pretty much looking forward to the drive!

Anything else you want to know, go ahead and ask.

Chris

chrisfs - Did you ever change your springs? What was the squeaking you referred to? (I'm just curious)

I think it was worn bushes, the suspension is quite low and there is not as much play. But I sold it a year ago, so didn't have to confront the problem in the end.

Chris

I also followed Pete's advice and it was a good move - thanks, Pete!

I had two older and mixed tyres on the rear when I bought it and replaced those with 270s (didn't bother about the Japan/Germany thing). Immediate improvement in noise, maybe handling too.

Paid about £105 each fitted and balanced for the 270s.

I initially left the front tyres because they were almost new but didn't like that they were Kumho's. Have just replaced those too for 270s. Immediate improvement in ride comfort. Slight disappointment that I didn't notice a noise improvement, in fact they might even be slightly louder/coarser. But it's hard to compare really isn't it, and as Pete says our roads are so crap and therefore noisy anyway my hopes are probably impossible to realise.

I agree, wish our motorways were like the French.

Chris

Oh, it made itself into a linky thing all on its own!

Clever little thing!

Found the earlier post:

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...=29205&st=0

Don't know how to make it into a linky thing. :)

The DHP guy is CDM and his first post on this was 25 Feb 2006 in this forum - topic title Dynamic Handling Pack.

And the tyre pressures are 33 all round, not that high after all then.

Chris

Steve

I used to have these. The Asymetrico's were the only ones I could find, they were good though!

But I'm sure I didn't pay anything like that price, I'm away from home now but will see if I can dig up anything at the weekend on what I paid. Think it was just KwikFit I went to.

Tyre pressures - you're right, it's not laid down anywhere. It's quite high, from memory 34 or 35.

Do a search because I had this conversation about two or three years back and the guy who was responsible for the DHP spec came on with some valuabe info - including the pressures.

Chris

I read somewhere that the Saab 9-5 has a problem with the timing chain at around 60k.

I'm not too sure how you mean that, Steve? Like any other car they need replacing periodically, and I believe it is at 60k (still some way off on mine) for these. But I have not heard of any special problem around that, what have you heard?

One of the great virtues of the Saabs, in my view, is their great reliability so it would be interesting to know if there is some doubt around that.

Chris

Nearly bought a Saab years ago as I do like them, but have never got close to owning one since, what's the 9-5 turbo auto like on petrol out of interest Chris?

To be honest Barney, I don't know! As with the LS, I drive it, I fill it up, I drive it again . . .

But I would say not too bad, maybe around 30-ish overall?

Chris

Another vote for a Saab 9-5 2.0 turbo auto. I had one before buying my LS400, was hugely impressed and always said I would buy another some time.

So when I sold the 400 at the end of last year, I did buy another and again was greatly impressed. Very smooth, well spec'd if SE, very reliable.

But not a Lexus which is why, having just returned to a LS430, I'm selling my Saab! Looks like a buyer coming with cash on Saturday but I've had to drop the price under £5k to sell (2001 but only 44k miles) and I can't believe how much car the buyer will get for that amount of money. But I suppose the same is true of the Lexy . . .

Chris

Not a very big problem admittedly, but does anyone else find the automatic cut off on petrol pumps cuts in far too easily on their LS430? I have to jiggle the pipe into all kinds of angles to get it to keep putting petrol into the tank and even then I have to keep the volume below maximum speed. Don't remember this as being an issue with the LS400.

Just wondered if it was only my car, or if there is a special technique to get round it.

Chris

Just to update on this. I sent my struts to SGS, they called back promptly and told me they had tried re-gassing but some gas had been lost overnight so basically it didn't look like being a viable option.

I trusted them on that and instead ordered two new struts from them, all in about £75 compared to £50 for the re-gas so not actually that much more.

The new struts arrived promptly and you basically just push them on the round metal nodes then slide the spring clip round to secure them. Even I managed to do it! The struts took me about 30 seconds, the clips maybe 3 or 4 minutes as a couple of them are awkward to get at.

Result: two working boot struts. Boot swings up easily enough when I lift it and looks like it will stay up there.

Thanks for the tip on SGS, Pete. I would endorse the recommendation, good and prompt service and reasonably priced.

Chris

The manual says it's for riding on rougher ground, gives a bit more clearance before reaching the suspension limits I guess. I think it only operates at relatively slow speeds, if you speed up I think it would return to its normal height.

The boot on my LS400 just opened an inch or so. Don't think you would really want it to swing all the way open, what about if it is raining or parked under something a bit low?

I was only joking really about the polish, Graham, but if you are on to something good maybe I should find out more. Will pm you back.

Chris

Hey Graham, I see you are just up the road from me, I'm in West Byfleet. And you have a silver MkIV LS400 with DHP, exactly like I had, mine was a March 1999. In fact it's not my old one is it . . ?

Had it nearly two years, lovely car of course, sold it last December with great misgivings and for no very good reason. Anyway as you may have seen from another thread, missed Lexy too much and have just acquired a silver LS430, early one from October 2000, very pleased so far (apart from the boot struts that is, naturally!).

Perhaps we should meet up and exchange polishing and refurbishing tips?

Chris

Thanks Mat - strut direct, lol, there really is a website for everything! But I think I'm going to try the SGS guys first.

And thanks Graham for the link, I think mine are fairly similar. But in the end, and for those who might need to know in future, it was even easier than that - I basically just pulled them off! Each end fits over a round metal projection fixed to the bootlid, similar to that you can see in the US pictures in Graham's link. There was a thin metal clip on each end of the strut, probably keeping the strut end tight over the ball end. I was able to loosen that just by inserting a flat screwdriver.

Would be interesting to know how much labour Lexus would have charged for the job. An engineer who (unlike me) knew what to do should be able to remove and install the pair in about 90 seconds, I reckon.

Of course, in a few days time I get to find out if I have damaged anything and won't be able to refit them . . .

I will report back on the results of the re-gassing and my refitting project.

Chris

Can anyone help please on how to remove and refit?

Thanks

Chris

Quick update on the tyres: I've put two new Dunlop 270s on the rear and left the nearly new Kumho's on the front. I may be making this up, but despite the lousy weather it definitely seemed quieter than before, so quite pleased.

And my new satnav disc has arrived (06/07 version). Not sure if I will actually notice any difference but I like the idea that it's not 7 years out of date any more. Though I did look up the area north of Birmingham and I couldn't actually spot the new toll motorway - surely it must be on there, anyone know?

Great advice here guys, thanks for your suggestions.

I'll try the re-gas option first and hope that does the trick (sounds plausible). Reckon I can stretch to £49.94 if I have to.

Are these things easily removed and refitted? I had a quick look just now and it wasn't obvious to me what to do, but I need to look properly in the daylight.

Chris

I'm not an expert, but I would have thought one 20,000 mile tyre and unused one on the same axle would not be a good idea.

Did a search but couldn't find anything. On the LS430 I've just bought, the boot is quite hard work to push open but the main issue is that it doesn't stay firmly in position. Was inspecting the boot yesterday and the lid blew down onto my back, which was not good.

I suspect the struts are worn and of course the only repair is likely to be replacement. Lexus quote £160 the pair plus labour.

Does anyone know of any other remedies? Might I get away with just one new strut? (The lid generally stays up, but will come down with just a little encouragement). Are there cheaper alternatives for replacement struts?

Thanks for any help.

Chris

Also by the way, we now have at least three Chris S's on this thread. Spooky! But you other guys can join in too, it's OK.

Well, I tried to post three pictures but so far I've only managed to get one up there. When I posted it, it backed out of the uploading program and it took me ages to find my way back in. Then when I tried to load another, it told me I've got all the albums I can have (one) and that I have reached my allowable album size. It's only about 50k! So I give up, you will have to imagine what the rest of it looks like, unless anyone has suggestions for what else I can try?

By the way I didn't do that pixellation thing on the number plate, is that a mistake? Why do people do that, am I missing something?

Thanks Barney. I have looked all over the site but can't see how to post images in a post, so I have put some up on my gallery instead, in my profile.

I bought the car down your way, from Bristol Motor Company. (I am based in Bristol during much of the week.) It is a late 2000 model so one of the earliest 430's. As noted above, it didn't have a full Lexus service history but they agreed for it to have a full 60k Lexus service at Lexus Bristol (who also talked me through the first four services, which they had done), not just the intermediate one it was due. I wouldn't have considered it otherwise but I see it as being back "on track" now.

As I hope you can tell it is in lovely condition. I had to visit our Plymouth office the day after I bought it so had an early opportunity for a 250 mile round trip and it performed just as you would have hoped. Those sort of journeys are what the Lexus does best, aren't they? I had great fun experimenting to see what all the buttons did on the way down, as I hadn't had much chance to read the manual by then. I haven't found anything which doesn't work yet! I feels like a definite upgrade from my 1999 LS400, which I loved but sold almost a year ago (still not sure why).

One early finding was that at motorway speeds the ride seemed more comfortable with the air suspension at Sports setting, even though at speed Normal is supposed to ride a little tauter anyway.

The one thing I wish, and I am being picky here, is that it rode a little quieter. Tyre noise is the issue (well actually British roads are the issue, but you know what I mean . . .). On "nice" stretches of road/motorway it is indeed almost silent but on other surfaces (most) there is more tyre noise than I would like. As part of the deal, it is having two new Dunlop 270's on the rear tomorrow where it currently has two more worn tyres of different makes! I am hoping that will help. The front has two Kumho K11's which I am not thrilled about but they are quite new. It is an open question in my mind that I might switch those quite soon for 270's as well.

Overall, as I think I might have mentioned - it's great to be back in a Lexus!

Chris