1990LS400

I doubt that many Americans understand the tradition that existed in the UK of modifying sedans to create estate cars and shooting brakes. But hasn't that tradition mostly died out with there being so many ready made estate cars available? Relatively few "estate cars" (station wagons) have been available in the U.S. since the U.S. went minivan and then SUV- crazy in the 1980s. Certainly the GS would make a nice estate car -- it has often been suggested that the GS would make the best wagon of all Lexus sedans and give the Mercedes E-class and BMW 5-series wagons serious competition. If you really want to carry your dog in your GS, there are lots of rear seat covers and accessories available that are specifically made for carrying dogs. And what about the Toyota Avensis that replaced the Camry in the U.K? I've ridden in an Avensis Estate several times and liked it a lot and wish it or something like it was sold by Toyota in the U.S. I've always been a huge fan of station wagons / estate cars. My wife and I went to buy a Camry wagon in 1998 but had to settle for a sedan since the Camry wagon was discontinued in the U.S. in 1996. Attached is a photo of that 1998 Camry wagon we really wanted to buy -- sold outside the U.S. as the Toyota Gracia.

I don't have a LS430 but I can tell you that there is a four page diagnostic procedure for the headlight leveling system in the repair manual set for my 2000 LS400. The diagnostic procedure requires a continuity tester, a voltmeter and an oscilloscope. On my LS400, there is supposedly a fuse ("PWR-IG") in the fuse box in the engine compartment that supports the headlight leveling system but I checked and can not find a fuse labeled that way. And there is a "height control sensor" at the front and back of the car -- these are known to occasionally go bad or get knocked loose. And the "actuators" on each headlight. And the ECU for the headlight leveling system -- supposedly behind the glove compartment on my 00 LS400. I guess the first thing to check would be that all the fuses are good -- you don't have to remove the fuses to check them. I did a search on several forums and found little information on headlight leveling system problems -- apparently the system is usually trouble free unless a car has been in a crash and improperly repaired. If you are a new owner, I would encourage you to find a good independent repair shop. I've been using the same indie Lexus/Toyota shop here in Kansas for almost ten years and the service and prices are way better than at the Lexus dealer. But I sometimes use the Lexus dealer too. These are very complex cars and many of the systems in the cars are way beyond what an untrained person can handle. A good mechanic who knows these cars can often quickly zero in on the problem and save you time and money.

Cindy McCain "normal"? She spent her younger years competing in beauty contests. She was born into great wealth and her personal net worth, mainly from inherited wealth, has been estimated at over $100 million. She and her hubby Johnny travel around in her private jet. She's bought and currently owns so many houses that her husband can't keep track of how many. Cindy McCain's wealth is far into the upper 1/10th of 1% of all Americans. Normal? We should all be so "normal".

I posted information about the 2001 LS430 customizable settings in this thread: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=50816 One thing you might consider is putting the year of your car in your profile so people can better answer your questions. As you can see in the attachment in the above thread, the headlight shutoff delay can be turned off or set to 30, 60 or 90 seconds. I suspect most people do what I do -- press the lock button on the key a second time to turn the headlights off immediately. Dealers and repairs may customize LPS settings at no charge if your car is in for other work. Normally, customizable settings are changed for free only at the first 1,000 mile service. Regardless, changing the settings can be done quickly. Consider analyzing the LPS list and driving your car a while to see if there are other customizable settings you would like to have changed. I don't have as many LPS choices on my 2000 LS400 as there are on the LS430 but the only setting I have changed is to increase the interior light shutoff delay to the maximum.

That's great news, G Alex. It's nice not to have to buy new headlights, isn't it. As you may have also found, Crystal View may not make worn headlight lenses look absolutely perfect from closeup, but the flaws that are left are not apparent from a few feet away. After driving about 200 miles at 70 mph, I noticed some streaks on my passenger side headlight lens that I did not notice immediately after using the Crystal View kit. I may refinish the passenger side lens before winter. The Crystal View rep I spoke with about the streaking said that it is particularly important to use a light touch when applying the two sealer coats and that one should not go over areas of a lens more than once when applying each sealer coat. Maybe I was too aggressive with the sealer applicator. Regardless, my headlight lenses look incredibly better than before I used Crystal View. I didn't take "before" photos but attached are "after" photos. The streaks I mentioned on the passenger side lens can not be seen from a few feet away.

tpeene, I also have an LS400 manufactured in 2000: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...m&album=131 Replacement of the timing belt and water pump every 90,000 miles on a U.S. specification LS400 of any model year is normal maintenance. The recommended interval may be different in your country. In July 2007, I paid $1,317, ex. tax, for the 90,000 mile service which included the replacement of the timing belt and water pump. The work was done at an independent repair shop. Also in 2007, I paid $582, ex. tax, at a Lexus dealer for the replacement of the front suspension strut bars. The strut bar bushings are often the first front suspension component that fails. I do not understand which portion of the "front suspension" you mean. Does the LS400 you are looking at have steel springs or air suspension? As you noted, the power steering pump on the later LS400 is much more reliable than on the early cars. I had the power steering pump replaced on the 1990 LS400 I owned several times with a rebuilt pump and I do not remember the replacement costing more than about $400. I do not know why the replacement of a power steering pump would cost $1800.

Hey billydpowell, I think the BBS style wheels on your gen 1 LS look great. Your car is a sort of "period piece" and perfectly exemplifies what was considered to be the ultimate LS400 look in the early nineties. Don't change a thing. It's perfect. I would have bought the silver BBS-style wheel option when I bought my first LS in 1990 but the option was too expensive for me. IMO, guys who put newer style wheels on older cars are just p1ssing into the wind. Us old farts know better.

A good site for TSIB information is the Auto Repair Reference Center (ARRC) which is available at most public libraries. I can get to ARRC from my home by logging on to my public libraries website with my library card number and password. I just now checked and verified that there are TSIBs on ARRC for the ES350.

Being the packrat I am, I still have promotional video tapes about the LS, GS and SC that were sent to Lexus owners in the early 1990s. One is "The 1993 LS400: The Pursuit Continues". It has a seven minute run time. I remember that one option it hypes is the first portable handheld phone available from Lexus. I remember that mainly because Lexus had a "fire sale" ($500?) on it's fixed phone system just before the portable phone system came out. Someday I'll have to see if I can connect our old VCRs to our digital TVs so I can watch them.

Driving up the coast on Highway 1 from San Francisco in a two seat convertible on a summer day, stopping at The Tides in Bodega Bay for lunch and to watch the birds.

The Americans and the English -- Two peoples separated by a common language. (George Bernard Shaw) A former coworker of mine at our Portsmouth office attempted for a while in the early 1990s to buy parts for each other's LS400s but we quickly learned that our cars were so different that it was pointless to try. If only I could have taught him the "correct" terms for bonnets, boots, and wings!

Well then, can you tell us which fuse you pulled and verify that the manual tilt/telescope control can still be used after the fuse is pulled. I'm generally hesitant to assume that RHD UK models work like LHD US models.

Yes, you are wrong.

Sorry, but I know little about these hand held testers. I remember checking the price on the diagnostic kit from Toyota ( http://toyota.spx.com/detail.aspx?id=100&g=1 ) quite a few years back but I only remember that it seemed quite expensive. The one time I had a customizable feature changed on my 00 LS (to lengthen the interior light shutoff time), the mechanic performed the task in a few minutes for little or no charge while I had the car in for other work.

On U.S. specification models, the auto-tilt/telescope feature can be deactivated by using a handheld diagnostic tester with an appropriate program card. Since I do not know the year of your LS, I will attach the related TSIB for the 2001 model year. 2001_LS430_LPS.pdf

Whoa Steve, watch that math! It is the 06's that will start coming off three year leases this fall. The 06's were first leased in fall 2005 and those leases will be expiring in fall, 2008. It should be easy to find an 06 LS with mileage under the common mileage cap for a three year lease -- 36,000 miles. That's a tough one. Do you want your customers to focus on your car and playing with the rear seat controls or listening to your presentation? What do the other agents in your area drive while showing real estate to clients? What does your average client drive? What segment of the real estate market is your focus? A rule of thumb around here is that one doesn't drive a car much different or nicer than what the average client drives - whether selling real estate or anything else. The agents we've used for several transactions drive identical full size Buicks but their target market isn't the $5-$20M home market in Mission Hills, Kansas either. I suspect that the agents we use wouldn't even consider driving a foreign car - they seem to be very careful in how they cultivate their image. I suggest that you discuss this question with experienced agents that have been around the industry in your area a long time. It sure is amazing how much the used car market has softened in the five years since I bought my 2000 LS400 in 2003 after it came off a 3 yr/36K mile lease.

Jim, I have a 2000 LS Platinum as well. We love the car. The link you provided apprears to be on an older model and ours seems different but you have me on the right path. Thanks The photos I posted on the thread I gave you the link for are photos of the rear window light module of my 2000 LS400 -- not an older model.

The bulbs are replaced after removing the housing in the back window. Take a look at this thread which contains descriptions of how it is done: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...937&hl=bulb The Search and especially the Advanced Search features of this forum can often be used to find answers to common questions like this.

My 2000 LS400 had similar pinstripes when I bought it in 2003. There were installed by the selling Lexus dealer instead of at the factory. I removed the pinstripes by carefully heating them with a hair dryer while rubbing the pinstripes with a damp soft cotton cloth and car wax. It took about one hour to remove the pinstripes. The steering wheel looks like it has been treated with a vinyl protectant such as Armorall. It is not normal for the steering wheel to be shiney.

I bought the two volume repair manual set from a Lexus dealer that sold them online at a discount. You might check Sewell Lexus: http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/parts.asp...98&pid=1395 One can sometimes find manuals on eBay. Be aware that the manuals are not particularly detailed. Most mechanics use https://techinfo.toyota.com

Would any of these 4 to 5 pole converters help? --> http://accessories.etrailer.com/search?w=5%20pole I've been happy with the products I've bought from etrailer.

It sounds like your Roman radiator is low on coolant.

The halogen headlight units and the HID headlight units are not the same. If you look on the lower right corner of the drivers side headlights lens you will see the bulb type - mine says D2R. Yours will say something else - maybe H4 or HB2. Also, I don't think your car has the autoleveling system that kicks in each time the car is started. Its an important feature for HID to keep from blinding oncoming drivers. Sure you can add an HID to any H4 light unit but oncoming drivers are not going to be happy. In fall 1997 I test drove, back to back, 98 LS400s with and without HID at an introduction event at a Lexus dealer. Except for the light of the HID being whiter, I found the coverage of the HID and H4 headlights to be about the same. The big benefit of the HID system is autoleveling which keeps your headlights from pointing at the tree tops with the car is heavily loaded. I recently posted information on how to refinish the plastic headlight lenses -> http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=50816 If your lenses are worn and cloudy, refinishing the lens surfaces will vastly improve light output.

The Skylink receiver appears to simply replace the garage door button mounted on the wall. It doesn't have anything to do with the garage door motor unit which contains the original receiver. I haven't seen dip switches on an opener motor unit or a garage door remote control since the mid 1980s. If your opener has dip switches then I doubt if it is a modern opener. My understanding is that rolling code technology replaced the old dip switch method which was pretty easy for thieves to hack. I've gotten to install a lot of garage door openers over the years. It's usually a very easy DIY project and simpler than tearing a Lexus apart. And if your opener doesn't have infrared safety sensors on either side of the door, immediately replace the entire door opener. It is usually not cost effective to buy the infrared sensors and add them to an existing opener. An acquaintance lost a beloved family pet when it was killed by a closing garage door last year - it probably wouldn't have happened if the door had the infrared sensors required by most current building codes. It could have been a lot worse -- an auto reversing door that reverses on pressure alone can kill a small child and seriously injure an adult.

Did you buy the car from the original owner? Lexus can usually identify prevous owners and your local dealer can contact them in your behalf. I know because that was done for me when my 00 LS came with only one key when I bought it in 03. My Lexus dealer verified that the lessee had turned in all keys when the three year lease ended. Oddly, the missing keys showed up after a few weeks -- standard procedure of the auto auction where my off lease LS was sold to the dealer I bought it from. That particular auto auction provides only one key to the purchaser so the car can be driven away and it then sends the rest of the keys by mail. I have no idea why it is done that way but maybe to ensure that all the keys don't get lost. My point is ... don't jump too fast. Maybe you can get the original keys.