1990LS400

Is it AWD? A low speed "shudder" or vibration has been reported on this and other Lexus forums. You are not delusional - at least about this. Your dealer should definitely know about it but service writers at Lexus dealers - mine at least - can be notoriously clueless. Do a Google search on LS460 AWD vibration. I noticed the low speed shudder/vibration when I test drove an LS460L with air suspension in 2011 - weird on a brand new car.

See page 180 of your owners manual: "The XM antenna is not connected. Check whether the XM antenna cable is attached securely. There is a short-circuit in the antenna or the surrounding antenna cable. See a Lexus certified dealer."

Try one of commercially available kits that come with multiple grits of sand paper and/or buffing pads and appropriate clear coat for use on headlight lenses.

I FedEx'ed my 2000 LS400 Nakamichi head unit this afternoon to Factory Radio Service in Rancho Cucamonga CA to have them add an aux-in on a cable and a switch for it on the radio face - $85 not including $15 to ship it back to me. For an additional $10 they are going to replace the two backlight bulbs in the display. I'll post photos of how to remove the head unit when I get it back and take photos of the modifications. It takes me maybe ten minutes to remove the radio head unit but I've done it lots of times for a variety of reasons since I bought the car in '03.

Click the "More Reply Options" button and then the "Browse" button under "Attach Files". After you have the location of your photo in the little box, click the "Attach this file" button to upload it. Repeat as necessary to upload additional photos. No, I have no interest in another LS. After being completely bummed out from test driving an LS460L last year and finding that I liked my 00 LS far more, I'm thinking that my current LS will be the last one. As I mentioned to Paul this morning, I'm hoping my next primary car will be an off-lease Panamera, preferably a relatively modestly equipped V6 (white exterior, of course!) -- I'll let let somebody else take the big depreciation hit like I did on my current LS. Driving the little Smart Fortwo for a month while my LS was in the body shop reminded me how much I miss having a fun-to-drive car. We've got room for only two vehicles at this stage of our lives (i.e. geezerhood) and I'm thinking that a Prius v / Panameria V6 would be a great combo as we skate into the sunset.

Looks very nice .... ah, "Mercedes Silver" :whistles: ... the Audi style grill is even growing on me. I hadn't realized until I just now looked at the contents of the GS Luxury package that so many LS430 UL-type features had trickled down to the GS - rear audio and side window shades ... finally rear heated seats are available. I noticed that the Lexus Enform now includes Yelp which I consider to be one of the more useful applications. Is this beast RWD or AWD? AWD is all they seem to sell around here. Did you get PCS with Radar Cruise and any other fun stuff like Keep Lane Assist? Amazing technology. Not that I don't like driving but these cars are getting a lot closer to being able to drive themselves. This car is going to be great fun.

Whoops ... posted to wrong thread.

Mine looks exactly like this one and was dirt cheap when I bought it years ago at an auto parts store.

Per the attached diagram, it appears to be on the back side of the intake manifold.

Maybe ship your Nakamichi to http://factoryradios.../page.html?id=1 (near San Francisco) and have an aux-in added - their mod has gotten excellent reviews on car forums. I think the most expensive of their three aux-in options is around $75. If you want Bluetooth A2DP, then plug a Bluetooth adapter into the aux-in after it is added to your Nak. Or just plug your iPhone directly into the aux-in - might be easier if you have a charging cradle for your iPhone similar to what I have for my Samsung phone and like I'm going to buy for my wife's new iPhone 5 she is being "issued" by her employer next week to replace her Crackberry. I had planned to send the Nak in my 2000 LS400 by now to have an aux-in added but I'm busy with a more important project involving 4,000 pounds of porcelain tile (ouch!) - should have done it when my LS was in the body shop for a month. Only last night did I finally verify that the 3.5 mm aux-out jack on my Samsung Galaxy S3 charging cradle should work with Factory Radio's aux-in mod. If you want Bluetooth hands free for your iPhone, I highly recommend purchasing an inexpensive Garmin GPS. The now $199 Garmin 2595 I have mounted in my LS has an excellent Bluetooth phone feature and very accurate voice recognition for making calls with voice commands. Here is a photo of my Garmin/phone set up. When I get an aux-in added to the back of my Nak, I'll be able to hide its cable in the leather phone console where the phone's charging cable and the Garmin's traffic receiver are already hiding.

Have you tried other tape adapters? The research I did seems to indicate that many have a short life and high failure rate. Ebay seller Factoryradios in California can add an RCA jack to your radio head unit fairly inexpensively - the jack can be installed either on the radio face or on a cable that comes out the back of your radio.

The vent tube might be clogged. I cleared the tube on the Camry we used to have but don't know how it would be done on an LS. Here are general instructions: http://www.ehow.com/how_12031310_unstop-car-gas-tank-vent.html Gas doesn't spew from my 2000 LS400 no matter how fast I fill the tank.

Are the 04-09 RX plastic headlight lenses different in their basic composition than those used on other vehicles? The reason I ask is that I have never seen scratch marks or "cloudiness" on headlight lenses that have been properly wetsanded and clearcoated.

Thanks, Randy. I'm starting to suspect that the Kahtec "company" is just a guy running a business out of his garage - a worthy attempt at running a small business without the technical knowledge required to provide professionally engineered products. The address of the Kahtec "company" really is a modest house in what appears to be a declining Austin,Texas neighborhood. So ... another lesson learned and particularly the futility of trying to install modern technology on an older car.

Besides the "Brake" light being on, something like "check taillights" (don't remember exactly) shows in the information display and the bright red diode just to the left of the information display lights up. I can temporarally clear the warning message is the information display by pressing the steering wheel function button but the other warnings stay on.I could probably calculate the "strength" of load equalizer(s) that would eliminate the warnings and maybe find them but I'm rather PO'ed that the seller of the brake light kit doesn't provide more guidance or offer specific load equalizers in the cases they are needed. Since each of the two 921 high stop light bulbs are about 18 watts, my calculation is that the two draw ((2 x 18) / 12V)) a total of 3 amps. 12 volts / 3 amps = 4 Ohms So, I assume I would need one 4 Ohm, 36 Watt resister or something as close as possible. There is little space under the high stop light and I would be concerned about the heat a resister creates - don't know much about them but I understand they can get HOT.

Thanks. No life insurance needed ... followed the "buy term, invest the difference" method when young. I installed the Kahtec "Blinking Smart Stop Intelligent" module yesterday to make my center brake light flash rapidly six times when the brakes are applied and then flash rapidly three times every three seconds until the brake pedal is released. The product works as advertised but it triggers multiple instrument cluster warnings. The seller says a particular Radio Shack resister kit should solve the problem but neither the kit or resisters like in the kit are available at Radio Shack. I shouldn't have to search for parts to make this product work so I'll be sending it back and looking for a product that works "out of the box". It apparently works properly on many vehicles since I'm not finding complaints about it. A variety of flashing brake light systems are now on European market vehicles including those from Toyota. You can see one of these brake light systems at a number of points in this video of a European specification version of my favorite 4-door sedan - Porsche Panamera: My horn modification of last year may have helped avert yesterday's near head-on crash. The extra horns are from my previous 90 LS400, powered from the underhood fuse box and triggered by a relay. Do not try to power extra or higher power horns from the existing horn circuit - use a relay! The extra horns seem to do a better job of getting the attention of texting and cell phone using drivers wandering out of their lanes and holding up traffic.

I got my 00 LS400 back last Wednesday - one day short of four weeks after the rear got crunched. It looks great - substantially better than before the crash ... "after repair" photos are attached. All the bodywork behind the rear doors was either repainted or "blended" and re-clearcoated. All the minor imperfections are gone as is the one noticeable scratch that the car had when I purchased it in 2003. It drives as before although the damage did not extend forward enough to affect rear wheel alignment. I did a rather thorough inspection before accepting the repairs - doubt if many people bring their own rolling "creeper" and lights to inspect repairs under a car. The original repair estimate was about $5,500 and the final cost to the insurance company rose to $6,727. With last year's repairs after hitting flying road debris that numerous other cars also hit, and a windshield replaced with an OEM one after dump truck gravel took it out, this car has had over $12,000 in body work in the past 18 months. The bodyshop, owned by the Lexus dealer, inadvertently put chrome emblems on the trunk lid instead of the black pearl "Platinum Series" emblems that came on it. I like the chrome emblems a lot more - never liked the black ones - so I will leave the chrome emblems in place. The shop is providing a set of black pearl emblems in case I change my mind or a future owner wants them. I'm sure glad that is over! And then yesterday a woman in a LARGE SUV turned left into the turn lane I was occupying and headed right at me... guess she didn't know which side of the double yellow line to drive on. I slammed on the brakes (good thing no one was behind me), laid on the horn and she swerved just in time. Damn! But at least she then waved.

The Range Rover Sport is a face lifted LR3 which after griping about it for a couple of years, my neighbor just replaced with a ..... what do you think? .... a Lexus SUV. Let's hope that new Indian owner Tata will improve Range Rover as it seems to be doing with Jaguar.

There are instructions on the ClubLexus audio forum on how to do it by hacking into the CD changer cable but the following California company has gotten great reviews for their aux-in install and they give you several options on how it will be done: http://factoryradios.../page.html?id=1

What does "starting to go out" mean? If it is starting to weep a little fluid it could be years before it fails. How far out of the 4 year/50,000 mile basic warrenty is this vehicle? If it's close you might at least some break on the repair (if it is really needed - get a 2nd opinion) from Lexus corporate.

Ride carefully. I've seen little pain from car crashes during my life but horrible pain, hospitalizations and permanent disabilities from motorcycle crashes.

The Smart car actually has highest ratings from the IIHS (probably due in part to the eight air bags) except for the bumpers and head restraints which get the IIHS next to highest rating. By the way, the IIHS has a great mobile web page ( http://m.iihs.org/ ) for those who like to check safety ratings on the spot before they buy or rent a car. You might be surprised at the popular rental cars that have poor safety ratings. I've grown to appreciate this little bugger more and more over the past weeks. It's gotten easier to drive in automatic mode as I have learned to coordinate the gas pedal with the 5-speed automatic transmission which shifts more like an "automatic manual" electric clutch Porsche transmission than the fully automatic transmissions most of us are used to. The lightly tinted panoramic roof and untinted large side windows make the Smart feel very "convertible-like" - just begs to be driven with the windows down. The dual temperature heated seats in the Smart heat up very quickly - could roast a turkey (Lenore, you busy? ) on the high setting. I've been loving streaming Pandora and TuneIn Internet radio through the Smart's audio system - already looking into getting an aux-in installed on my LS radio so I can do the same. It's been fun being the butt of jokes and having people I work with "share" my parking space to needle me. The Smart is probably not the vehicle for someone lacking self confidence. I'm looking forward to getting my LS back - maybe on Tuesday - but I'm going to miss the Smart ... I had forgotten what it's like to drive something that is actually fun to drive.

I use a Crystal View kit to restore my headlight lenses - don't know why it wasn't covered in the Consumer Report article lenore mentioned. I would expect some other headlight lens restoration kits would work as well or better. Many like Crystal View have a clear sealer to use as the final step. I've restored the lenses on my 00 LS400 three times over the past five or six years and each time the lenses have come out looking like new. For some reason the curb side lens deteriorates faster than the driver side. One of the refinish jobs was after someone rammed the right side lens with a shopping cart. Here are before and after photos of the right side lens from September 2012. Edit: It took only about 10 minutes of work to restore both headlight lenses with the Crystal View kit not including a few minutes of drying time. It's easy to gauge progress through your figuretips - similar to wet sanding between coats of lacquer automotive paint. From my experience, PlastX works only if the lens finish is still intact. Once the lens finish has begun deteriorating, the only alternative that lasts is to strip the lens finish off either with sand paper or an abrasive compound and then to apply a new finish.

Boob or arm? This forum may have just reached a new low.

OK, now I remember. I wonder if that little door is part of the console shell and not available separately. I have a similar situation in that I tried to by a replacement black press-in insert for the console tray in my 00 LS - removing a phone handset left holes in the insert. Should have been a cheap part but it is only available with the entire fairly expensive leather upholstered console tray.