1990LS400

I suggest that you forget about the official Toyota parts and get a complete kit off eBay or Amazon ... something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexus-Sirius-XM-satellite-radio-car-interface-kit-3-5mm-Aux-Input-SiriusXM-/391418017797?hash=item5b2254f805:g:1tIAAOSwQItUB273&vxp=mtr I'm actually "warming up" to SiriusXM during the two-month trial I'm currently in and am finding quite a lot that I like. We've had free trials on several new cars and used sat radio in rental cars and had never been happy with it in the past. I'll probably renew at $5/month during a promotion but I'm not willing to pay more than $60/year for SiriusXM stations and nav traffic.

You may had the water intrusion issue for which a recall was issued. Deterioration of the exterior lens surface coating is considered normal wear and tear and to my knowledge has not been covered under warranty or recall.

With labor rates at even independent repair shops typically exceeding $100/hour, $200 for a diagnosis sounds completely reasonable to me. I drove Lexus LS for 24 straight years and had numerous $1,000+ repair and service bills on them so $200 doesn't sound like much when we're talking about figuring out what's gone wrong on an LS. I suggest you call a towing company with a flat bed truck and have them take your car to a repair shop.

You could also use the Lexus Enform smartphone application to set the destinations you want before you get in your car. The "Saved Destinations" will be automatically transferred from your phone to your in-dash navigation system.

It's almost always quicker to manually click through these navigation systems instead of using voice commands and waiting for voice prompts. Plus, some functions are limited when using voice commands. I almost always program in where I want to go while vehicles are stopped, e.g. before I pull into traffic. If one navigates to the same locations on a regular basis, manually selecting from "previous destinations" speeds up the process immensely. On most navigation generations, it is possible to turn off or limit voice prompts - that can makes using voice commands faster.

The costs of running low miles and high miles cars equals out to some extent. A higher priced lower miles car "should be" more trouble free and require fewer repairs than a less expensive higher miles car. I think it comes down to your personal preference. If we were all "smart", we might be driving a Toyota Prius like my CPA wife does. It's a fascinating super reliable high tech / high economy vehicle with radar cruise control and automatic braking but nobody would call it fun to drive. Except for one rarely driven 2-seat zoom car and not counting the cars my wife has driven, I drove only three vehicles from 1979 until 2014: 1979 Mercedes sedan from new to 210K, 1990 LS400 from new to 183K, 2000 LS400 from 38K to 179K. So ... my method has been to buy fairly nice new vehicles or low miles used vehicles and drive them every day until the wheels fell off or they started requiring too many repairs or when I started thirsting for newer technology. Some people like to change cars often. We buy cars like we invest: "Buy and Hold". Only yesterday when I tried to get my wife to test drive a Tesla Model S as we walked by the Tesla dealership, she chided me about how much I have spent on cars during our 40 years together. I reminded her that it seemed that she enjoyed riding in them a lot and I reminded her of how few cars I've bought. What works for us doesn't work for everyone. Do what you want!

Please understand that Billy is the "pro" here and I'm just an amateur. Unfortunately, Billy lives in Texas and, as we all know, a Texan's first impulse is to whack whatever goes wrong ... dashboards, Afghanistan, Iraq ... you name it. I once offered to set Billy up with a newly widowed woman friend who lives near him. Billy's excuse was that he already had one wife and was hesitant to take on another. Our woman friend hitched up with another retired Texan old f_art so Billy's off the hook for now. I really liked the 2000 LS400 I had for 10+ years and might have kept it for occasional use if we had garage space for extra vehicles. Unlike Billy with his gazillion vehicles, my wife and I cut down to only two MPV-type vehicles and moved to "Geezer Village" in preparation for retirement. I've still got the "car bug" but was unable to persuade my wife to test drive a Model S when we walked by the Kansas City Tesla dealership yesterday.

My understanding is that only 95-up LS wheels will fit a 95-up LS400 or LS430. 90-92 15" wheels won't come close to fitting and I've never seen anyone try to put 93-94 LS400 wheels on a 95-up LS400 or LS430. You would be safe with any OEM LS wheel made to fit a 95-00 LS400 or 2001-2006 LS430 in 16", 17" or 18". There is no room for error when putting 95-up 16" wheels on a 95-up LS400 or LS430 - barely 1mm of clearance between the wheel and brake caliper and hidden stick on weights cannot be used to dynamically balance the wheels. Hammer-on weights must be used to get a true dynamic balance. Based on your photo, I think your aftermarket wheels look quite nice and make your LS400 look a bit more modern. Your car would, however, have a "plusher" ride with 95-up LS 16" wheels.

I suppose you could remove one of the other front sensors and see how it is attached. All I can tell you is there is a separate part number for each body color front sensor and that the "pad/cover" as you call it is not listed as a separately available part.

The body color part you see is an integral part of the sensor and is not, to my knowledge, available as a separate part ... or at least it is not shown as a separate part in the parts list which I just checked. Tell me the year and color of your LS430 and I might be able to provide the part number for the complete sensor if I notice your response. Sometimes used sensors come up on eBay. Many Toyota and Lexus models use the same sensors - getting the correct color is the hard part when buying them used.

James, If the Lexus dealer didn't understand what is going on you would not have been offered a no-cost replacement of the back window. Say nothing critical of them, accept their offer with grace and allow them to keep their dignity. They are being very generous. I have long told people to never have aftermarket tint applied over back window defroster grids but most people "know better" and ignore what I have learned. I've had only one back window tinted. When the tint failed after eight or so years, a tint shop recommended replacing the back window instead of having them try to remove the tint and its underlying adhesive. Lesson learned. So I'll say it still again: Never EVER have aftermarket tint applied over back window defroster grids unless you plan to "punt" the vehicle after relatively few years and don't care about the problems a future owner will have.

Yes, Billy. The speedometer in my 2000 LS400 stopped working for days at a time in the summer of 2013. A rap on the dashboard would no longer get it going. I had the same problem in the winter of 2013 when we were driving between Des Moines and Kansas City in an ice storm when I had the temperature set as high as it would go and the HVAC in defroster mode trying to keep the windshield clear - no amount of beating on the top of the dashboard would make the speedometer needle work. I had a Garmin GPS mounted on the dash of my 2000 LS400. It had a GPS-based speedometer which I used when the speedometer in the cluster wasn't working. If I had known that a company with an excellent reputation like Tannin could fix the problem at a nominal cost, I would have sent my cluster to them when the problem first started happening in the summer of 2012.

Come on, Flash. Have the dang cluster fixed. Rent a car for your wife if necessary. I wouldn't recommend driving the car without an instrument cluster. Forget "whacking" the top of the dashboard. The problem is only going to get worse until it stops working completely when even a "whack" isn't going to help. The sticking speedometer on the 2000 LS400 I sold in 2014 seemed related to temperature with the needle most likely to stick the worst when outside temperatures were above around 90 degrees or in the winter when I was running the windshield defroster at a very high temperature like when trying to keep the windshield clear in an ice storm. Tannin usually offers very quick service. Have them "rebuild" the speedometer too - it's going to start failing soon. Fed-Ex "overnight" your cluster to them and you'll probably have it back in your LS in less than a week.

I'll bet they weren't able to remove the adhesive layer of the tint. The tint layer is pretty easy to pull off - I've done it myself on side windows - but the adhesive layer is a completely different matter. It is difficult - maybe impossible - to remove the adhesive layer from a rear window without damaging the defroster grid. The only way I have been able to remove tint adhesive from side windows is by using a razor blade and plenty of ammonia based window cleaner. Ammonia based cleaner should never be used on a defroster grid. If you've got an offer of a free replacement rear window - take it! Rear windows are apparently fairly easy to remove and replace. I had the undamaged rear window of my first Lexus (1990LS400) removed during a collision damage repair and it went back in with no problem. And then just leave the rear window un-tinted regardless of if your ES has a rear window roller shade. No one will notice the difference. The only comments we have had about our side windows having aftermarket tint and our back window not having aftermarket tint have been positive.

I'm only explaining reality. I was surprised that the local Lexus dealer could not find a single white short wheel base LS460 with PCS and DRCC in a nationwide search in early 2014. I was flexible on everything except exterior color and that it had to have the equivalent of Safety System+. It's not just Toyota. In the same 2014 time frame, we special ordered a white Acura MDX SH-AWD with safety features equivalent to (really better than) Safety System+. We gave up on that and got our money back when there was a parts supply shortage that caused the delivery date to slip by several months with no guarantee that it would be built even then. I knew a guy - no longer "with us" -who had to wait almost a year to get his special order Mercedes S-class sedan built and shipped to Michigan and he was even a Unimog dealer. I eventually ended up special ordering a white Toyota Sienna Limited with the Advanced Technology Package (PCS, DRCC, VDIM, etc.), blind spot monitor and cross traffic alert and waiting for it to be built and shipped. It wasn't my first choice but I like it a lot - very Lexus-like with ottoman 2nd row and electrically reclining 3rd row. Maybe you could be more flexible. You could wait for your perfect NX or buy something else that has the features you want. Get that Mercedes GLC - that would be "educational" as this three-time Mercedes owner can attest. Dark color upholstery gets just as dirty as light color upholstery. One of the reasons I prefer light color upholstery is that I want it to be obvious when it needs cleaning - I don't like sitting on filth whether I can see it or not. I was retired once - didn't like it ... went back to work full time.

I have responded to your PM with a recommendation to checking the wheel speed sensor connections.

Have you gone through the bizarrely complex adjustment procedures? They start on page 385 of the "Using the Audio System" manual at http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM50B55U/pdf/sec_03_03.pdf Maybe you could try adjusting the sound for the "FRONT" listening position.

I have seen this problem only on Toyota and Lexus cars that have had their back windows tinted with aftermarket tint film. The imprinted defroster grids on vehicles made by Toyota are especially thick and almost always cause unpleasant reflections from the defroster grid when aftermarket tint film is applied. I will never again have a rear window tinted with aftermarket tint film - I have only the side windows tinted. Do you have tint film on your back window? If there is no aftermarket tint, be sure to clean the rear window and its defroster grid by following the instructions in your ES350 owners manual. Do not use commercial window cleaners. If there is aftermarket tint, use only a recommended cleaning agent to clean the aftermarket tint. I use "Solar Magic" liquid in a spray bottle and a soft cloth to clean the aftermarket tint on the side windows of our vehicles. Never use paper towels.

It took several days for me to be provided access to diagrams when I registered some years ago. Here is that diagram from www.toyodiy.com I drew an arrow pointing to the screw that to me looks like it might be inserted and tightened from the back of the right side of the glove box housing. You might also check for screws inside the glove box hidden behind small removable portions of the glove box panels. Sometimes small removable pieces like this are difficult to see and can be popped out only by using a sharp tool like a knife blade. And I do not know how much force will be required to remove the glove box after all the fasteners are removed. Sometimes a certain about of force must be applied with an appropriate trim removal tool in order to "pop out" interior trim pieces - can be a bit scary. I once slightly cracked the plastic surround for the radio and HVAC controls in a Toyota Camry we used to have when I missed finding a hidden screw.

Look at item #12 on the list of customizable settings in the document at the link I posted below. It is possible that a prior owner had this setting customized so that the switch between modes is not automatic. Lexus dealers and some repair shops are equipped to customized these settings. If you want to try to do it yourself, the Carista smart phone app might be able to do it. Carista requires a Bluetooth adapter that plugs into the diagnostic port under the dashboard. http://www.lexus.com/pdf/service/RX350_LPS.pdf If you have a Lexus dealer do this for you, you might want to review all the other customizable features and have the dealer do everything you want at once. Lexus dealers typically charge about one hour of labor to do this customization after the one free one that an original owner gets.

Looking at the diagram for a right hand drive 2008 IS220d on www.toyodiy.com , it looks like there is a screw on the inner right side of the glove box that is inserted from the back size. This makes me wonder if it is necessary to do some disassembly of the center stack (radio, sat nav) in order to remove a screw. I once removed the glove box from the 2000 LS400 I used to have and I remember it being more difficult than I though it should be. You could register on www.toyodiy.com so that you can see the diagrams but it has sometimes taken a few days for registrations to be processed. I'm not in a position to post an image of the diagram right now, but I can tonight when I get home - assuming that this old guy remembers!

The U.K. company my German friend found that provides metric instrument faces for U.S. specification cars is www.lockwoodinternational.co.uk I looked at the owners manual for the 2008 ES350 and I do not see a way to switch the display between Fahrenheit an Celsius. You could probably learn quickly to mentally convert Fahrenheit to Celsius instead of changing your car's instruments. I have been switching between metric and U.S. standard measurements all my life and doing so has become automatic. I "think" in metric measurements when I am in Canada and Europe and in U.S. standard measurements when I am home.

Wow, that is strange. That might be some sort of chemical stain that has eaten into the paint. Has any repair work been done on the mirror? Maybe the Lexus dealer would have an opinion about what could cause the stain. Maybe consult a detailer to see if he can help.

The only vehicles made by Toyota that I've seen where both miles can be changed to kilometers and Fahrenheit to Celsius are those with completely digital instrument displays like in the Prius. I once changed miles to kilometers in my wife's Prius as a joke to see how long it took her to notice. Have you looked in the owners manual to see if there is a way to change Fahrenheit to Celsius? I cannot change miles to kilometers in my Sienna but it is easy to change Fahrenheit to Celsius through a setup procedure in the multi-function display. A friend in Germany found a company in the U.K. that makes instrument cluster overlays for North American vehicles imported to Europe but I don't have their name handy. What country are you in?

Sorry, Billy, but others have found that this problem cannot be solved with "lube". Electronic components in the cluster begin to fail over time. People on Lexus forums have seemed to be very happy with cluster repairs done by http://www.taninautoelectronix.com/ and their prices seemed reasonable last time I checked.. You might as well have Tannin go ahead and "fix" your speedometer too. The speedometer needle in the 2000 LS400 I sold in 2014 started to stick in around 2012 but, like Billy said, a firm rap on the dashboard would often get it working again.