Rich Coleman

← Your shocks lasted 14 years, so stick with a winner like these other owners and use OEM. I save $40 on labor over dealer rate and use OEM parts by taking my 92 LS to Big O Tires here in Northern California. Hope this helps.

On my 92 LS, have been using Big O Legacy tires made by Goodyear with a 60K mile warranty. If anything goes bad, including flats, its free and that also includes free rotation every 5K. In our stock size, was out the door at $100 each this month [Nov 04] in the new Euro tread design and that included sales tax now at 8.75%. It did not include the 4 wheel alignment at $75. Big O is primarily out west and carries a full line of performance, SUV, and conventional tires and working their way East. Their service is excellent and they always give you a choice of aftermarket or genuine OEM parts. They also do the whole suspension thing and brakes and charge $75 per hour in this high cost of living area. I much prefer this one stop shopping over COSTCO who only sells tires and a $40 per hour saving on labor over the dealer while using OEM parts. Recent complete brake job, including new calipers in front with OEM parts, was $450. Hope this helps.

You might try Google search engine and enter the name of the tool and see what pops up. Am sure there are stores in New Orleans that specialize in automotive tools, such as any auto parts store. Have you tried NAPA? Good luck.

looks like i did not check this reply from you on time, regarding the ebay link. It has already sold. I may buy the new ones from Toyoto or Lexus, but now i am wondering if my problem is more than just air ride struts. Now the entire left side is the side of the car that is not staying aired up, and the right side is staying aired up. WTF. I would like to think i have a control problem more than a airbag going bad. Sometimes the airpump wont even come on. Has anyone ever tried to build these shocks. Or can you spray some marvel mystery oil in the lines to help seal out if thats the part that is going out inside the blasted bags. Is there a computer or something i can reset or some way to overide the pump so i can at least pump up the car manually. sometimes the pump runs and sometimes it does not. If there is some kind of A-Team short cut or Plan to get by with this until i can throw out some dough , that would be cool. Until then Later THE SNAKE ← Have read on this site a LS owner converted from OEM air shocks to conventional shocks at a cost of $250 each instead of $1,000 each for replacement. Though my 92 LS does not have air suspension, believe any good tire shop could do it. I use Big O Tires here in California who give me the choice of using OEM parts. For details, try search window in tool bar. Good luck.

Can you tell us about your experience with 303 Aerospace Protectant and why you use it? Does it do a better job than several Armor All Products? And, where can I buy some? Lot's of Kragen and NAPA stores here in the Bay Area of northern California, along with the major retailers. Thanks. Rich

I like Lexus of Serramonte for my SC 430. They always make sure I 'm satifisfied. They always do a follow up call to make sure eveything is ok several days afterwards. I am a FAA licensed jet inspector and I know quality work when I see it. ← If you're in the East Bay 680 corridor [san Ramon], for the past three years, I've been using using Big O in San Ramon for tires, shocks, brakes, tires, alignment, etc. They charge $75/hr and give the option of Lexus parts or aftermarket [OEM is always my choice]. On engine repairs, I use an independent repair owned by the local Honda dealer "The Service Outlet Acura Honda Lexus" who charge $85/hr and always use Lexus parts [also in Lafayette]. Both have shuttle service, guarantte their work and are excellent. For oil changes, I use the local Toyota dealer $30-30 minutes or its free [have collected twice] also excellent. For round the clock repair five days/week and open all day Sat and Sun, I recommend Magnussen Lexus Fremont who does it all for $115/hr and offers a free current model Lexus loaner for as long as it takes to repair your car [if repair is over 2 hrs] and also excellent.

Checked with upholstery shop locally and he charges $85 to re-sew or $160 to replace the bad piece. How does this compare?

its an excellent piece isn't it? when I first read it - I thought "thats a keeper" :D ← Very convincing case for using synthetic engine oil with two exceptions. Would like to hear any negative experience or precautions and, being lazy, would like to have seen cost comparisons between petroleum and synthetics over 20-25,000 miles including recommendations on special oil filters. If synthetics are better for the engine, how about transmissions and rear ends? Am interested in hearing from LS400 owners who have long term experience using synthetics [50-100,000 miles] in engines, xmissions, and rear ends.

It seems like we've all had problems with our leather seats. Does anyone know of or had experience with anyone doing leather seat repair in the Northern California area, ie Oakland-San Jose, Sacramento-Modesto? Thanks, Rich 11/3/04

What product do you recommend for cleaning and dressing down rubber around doors and sun roof? How about one of the Armor All products?

UPDATE Oct 29, 2004: Just talked with Sammy at Mikado Technology, 1435 Huntington Ave, South San Francisco [an incorporated city BTW], about repairing Time/Temp and Radio LCD displays [650-615-9966]. Since I live in the Bay Area, I wanted to know if I drove my 92 LS 400 over to their shop, would they install it. The answer was not only "yes," but if I would call ahead to ensure they were not busy, they could install it in 20-45 minutes for $20. And get this. Now, thanks to a little competition, they're charging $195 to repair or restore our LCD displays. So, if you're in our neighborhood with your favorite touring sedan, give 'em a call. How's that for service?

USING ARCO REGULAR: Bought my 92 LS 400 3 years ago [Aug 01] with 145K miles on it and put 15K miles a year of 50-50 freeway-town driving in the San Francisco Bay Area. At the recommendation of Lexus dealer Service Mgr. used Chevron mid grade 89 octane gas containing Techrolene and experienced no knocks, though he personally uses premium. When gas prices soared two years ago, switched to Arco regular [87 octane] and waited for the expected ping and nothing. Not once in two years has it ever pinged like 91 owners have told me. Having read all postings on this subject, including USA Today article, I'll take my chances on carbon buildup and not interested in more power or increased acceleration. Like other happy Lexus owners, expect to get at least 300K miles before trading off probably for a 93-94. Dislike Generation II's and hate III's. Anyway, if I don't get 300K will be disapponted, will post mileage results on this site, and the premium club will have a new member. Until then, agree with one owner who uses regular around town and premium for long trips through the mountains. My 5,000 mile maintenance schedule is simple: Toyota oil/filter change using Chevron 5-30 oil purchased by me as recommended in owner's manual since Toyota uses 10-30 in our area; Big O Tire rotatation; and 12 ounces of Chevron Techroline into the gas tank to keep fuel injectors clean. At 200,000 mile service, will have timing belt, water pump, and whatever else is included in this package at my independent Lexus repair who uses all OEM parts [$600-700], and maybe fuel pump and fuel filter depending on what he says. The latter two items are on my agenda thanks to Lexus Owners Club. Just calculated 10 months of gas mileage using ARCO regular 87 octane exclusively [Jan 04-Oct 04] at 19.8 mpg. Lowest was 15.9 in June [hot weather] and 24.1 in January. Without A/C, typical town/highway mileage is consistently 20 mpg ranging between 19-21. With a Lexus mpg rating of 18 town-23 highway, 20 mpg sounds good to me for the San Francisco Bay Area. How are you doing?

We call can run regular gas to make the cars run. To get maximum power and fuel efficiency, you must use Premium! it's a Lexus, not a Kia. You would laugh at the money "saved" using regular gas. ← ←