blake918

V Power is the high octane. ;) Around here V Power is 93 octane. At one Shell station in the middle of nowhere south Louisiana they have 94 octane. I start to get nauseous as V Power gets over $2.60. Luckily, it's only $2.20 now!

Just as a side note on the air ride incase a perfect LS comes along with it again, there are ways to fix them that won't break your bank account. Remanufactured struts are an option. They're inexpensive and come with an impressive warranty. OE struts aren't quiet as much$$ as rumor holds....the rears are $470/piece rears, and the fronts are ~$850/piece fronts. Conventional strut conversion is available for $800-$1k if you want to go that route. Good luck!!!

I'm all for new gadetry, but not at the expense of taking excessive amounts my attention from the road which iDrive does. The knob is clumsy and imprecise, and 600 menu options make for a really undistracting experience. I've grown to love the exterior of the big 745 also, but the interior(although roomier than any LS400/430) w/ iDrive is a deal breaker. I think the 645 is stunning, and there is a M variant....it's a shame that they put iDrive. You got that right!

This is a new thing to me...a gasoline sale at my local Shell station. I don't get it. I'm sure it's a marketing ploy since the savings are not that much....about $1.30 per fill up for me.). You don't have to use one of thier credit cards either. Any of you guys have this at at the Shell stations in your area?

Cheers to that!! Everyone I know makes fun of me because I like big, "old man" type cars. I relate it to them by saying it's like having a designer piece of clothes, but it's just too small. Then, they see my pov! I did find a temp solution to my legroom problem on the hwy. I wear flip flops or loafers so that I can slip them off/on easily, engage cruise control, and slip my right foot between the gas and brake for 100's of miles of comfortable driving. MB is where I'm going to be shopping in a few years. I drove a '03 S430 the other day. I thought I had died and gone to heaven....it's more comfortable than our Suburban. Ample had and legroom for a 6'4" guy like myself, and that 3 pointed star leading the way was just cool. I've always loved the tank like ride of MB too! I'll keep my LS too for when the S is in the shop! lol I drove a '05 LS430 when I drove the MB. The LS430 is very, very similar in dimensions to the LS400 from what I felt. This is just how it felt to me, I noticed maybe an extra inch in head and legroom. Not worth the trouble of trading, imo. Lexus claims really impressive dimensions for the LS430, but they aren't as spectacular in person. I made a thread in the gen. discussion about the differences in manuf. claimed dimensions. I was told by several that the dimensions they provide are hogwash, and from my experience, they are correct. Ex. the S class has 39" of legroom and the LS430 has 44". Now, with the seat all the way back in a S class, I can't reach the pedal whereas in the LS430 I could use some more seat travel as my legs are still bent. Smart Access in the LS is to die for though! I don't know what the new LS is going to be like.

At least Lexus is smart enough not to copy that distracting contraption. Lexus and the American lux makers are pretty much the only one's not copying. One thirty minute go with that contraption is all I needed to know that I never want to buy anything that remotely resembles that. The new S class is ugly in and out! Maybe it's better in person?.?.?.

I don't care for the interior or exteror. The wheel arches fore and aft are too much, and the overall shape of the car just doesn't flow all that well. From the looks of this side angle, it looks as though the trunk is a knock off of the 745's awkward looking design. And, knocking off a 745's interior, oh that was brilliant. They had an extremely tough act to follow with the '00-'06(?) S class, and sadly, they didn't impress me with this new generation. Hopefully, it's one of those "have to see in person" situations.

So does your LS. ;) Lexus calls it "intelligence" instead. I thought Lexus were a pita to service! They have nothing on Audi in that arena! I agree! I drove a 745('04) and 740('98) recently. They were nice cars and drove great, but they were entirely too complicated. I have nothing to say about iDrive. I couldn't even find the power lock switches on them; I felt like less of an idiot when the owner couldn't find the lock button either. I noticed on the 740 the OBDII port is in the center console in front of the gear shifter...easy access for frequent usage. lol

I paid only $50 at irontoad.com for a set of rears. ;) Shipping takes about 3-4 days. I've ordered a few things from them, and their services and prices are great! http://www.irontoad.com/Merchant2/merchant..._Code=1995ls400 Changing the brakes on the LS are sooo easy...takes 30-45min/axle depending on how fast you work.

We haven't taken the doors apart yet! I have the same looseness problem but just with the dark brown pieces by the glass. Mine doesn't rattle(just a little loose when I poke at it), but I think it was worsened when my car was hit. :(

I'm glad we did it! :) I was hoping that this service would lessen the lurch, but I had no such luck....maybe someday we'll figure out the root of this. However, the way that the transmission now feels is just superb. Every shift is nonexistant and super smooth; it's much better than before which is an improvement on excellence. The improvements made to the shift quality were well worth the time spent. I was glad to see a very, very minimal amount of dust(it doesn't even qualify as shavings because they were too small. lol) on the magnets, and my 5k pan drains paid off since the fluid was unburnt and devistatingly red. :D

What a relief to hear this! We changed the filter and cleaned the solonoids in the tranny this weekend....sounds like Bicol has inspired trans maintinance in the LS forum! After cleaning the pan and putting the 3 magnets(which were very clean) back in, we noticed that there was a 4th crevice but no 4th magnet. We searched high and low and never did find it. I guess it doesn't exist. That Audi's magnets are absolutely horrifying. :o

There's not a chance in hell I'd give that dealer a penny, and I'd have several pictures and what not ready for small claims to get them to fix your truck(since it sounds like they want to play hard ball). How did the truck manage to get from your house to the dealer in one, unmangled piece? Then, when the porter who should be driving at a snails pace(2-5mph) through their service garage destroys the rear end of your 4Runner? The mere suggestion that they want you to fix that ES is idiotic and absolutely rediculous. They are responsible for fixing your truck and the ES...100% fault on the dealer's actions. I've seen my car go flying back to the service bays on more than one occasion. I've been lucky since my car has come back in good shape every time. Don't let them get away with this....

I think it'd work on a first gen car too. All you do is hold AUTO and Recirc while the key is off. Turn the car on, but don't start it. The climate controller will beep and flash; then, any trouble codes will come up if there are any.

I would guess strut rods. My car used to do the same things-clunk when braking and hitting large bumbs, but drove beautifully otherwise. I had an indep Lexus shop change the 2 strut rods, and all has been well.

Here's the link to what all of those a/c codes mean: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...?showtopic=3794 Looks like you've got a project on your hands with all of those codes. lol Good luck!!

Welcome okwills!! ;) Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot us tall drivers can do(I'm also 6'4). There's a Lexus mechanic in Dallas that is willing to do seat position modification work. I spoke to him about moving my seat back about 5"-6", and he is fine with doing this work. I've also heard of some people getting upholsterers to remove some of the padding in the bottom seat cushion. I find that the legroom is more of a problem(I guess I have longer legs with a shorter torso.) than the headroom...my hair just clears the roof by micrometers. If push comes to shove and you just can't take it any more, sell the LS and buy a '00+ MB Sclass. The driver space in that line-up is just remarkable.

I'm baffeled as to how all of the miles rack up! I'm a student, and I walk 80% of the places I go aug-may. So far this year(the "LS year" which starts in mid March), I've driven 7k miles. Thanks, GS! The dynamat doesn't take too long. It's a little time consuming cutting everything to fit in the spot that you want it too, but it's nothing too excruciating.

Bicol, did you have the infamous P-->D lurch? And, if so, did the cooler and cleaning/replacement of the mentioned componets help? How long did everything take? Great work!

My a/c is silent and powerful!

Take a look ;) : http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...topic=15395&hl=

Bob, I have a perfect idle off of the freeway. I chose A. We've talked privately about what my car does a while back...if my ac is off, it'll idle arond 400, but it'll do that all day long with an unnoticeable idle, and it has never killed/sputtered/etc, so I thought A was a better choice. I've heard that adjusting a sensor or cable will correct my problem. My ac is on 99.5% of the time, so I don't see the point in repairing it. lol '95 LS 256.5k, built 3/95....maybe the build date is pertinent?

You are right, but you leave out the part that the dealer is paid for their services either by Lexus or the customer. The customer demands things; yall demand $110+/hour for labor. The dealer always comes out on top. My friend just had a grab handle on his Xterra replaced under warranty. The recipt showed that Nissan would be billed 1.5 hours plus the part for the job; that's insane! It takes maybe 5 minutes to do that, and they charged 1.5 hours...poor, poor dealer.

The '91 has 250hp. Performance modifications are going to be very limited since the LS is essentially a well built and engineered Town Car (in my mind at least). I have 256.5k miles on my '95, and she's never caused any trouble. I wouldn't let the mileage scare you. LSs tend to face only small, irritating problems like cracked bushings, a/c failure, quirky interior electronics(speedo needles and lcds), leaky ps pumps etc. Catastrophic failure of the engine/tranny is very rare.

Welcome and congrats on your new car! ;) You'll have to drive a little ways, but JP Importz in Garland provides excellent service.