GFXdznr

Hi all,

I am the owner of a recently purchased '07 LS460 and am more active on the site in that specific model forum.

My wife has had an '01 GS430 for quite a few years now and I'm posting here as I need some help with her vehicle. Her door locks have not been working for quite a while. The master switch on the driver door needs replaced as some of the windows control toggle switches have actually broke off. I had the vehicle in for a bunch of minor services at a third party auto shop. When they looked into things, they told me they were unable to replace just the master switches on the door and they could only locate a unit in CA that was the entire door with switches for $800.

Second was they tested the electrical system and found power going to all the doors and the actuators were only working intermittently, and that they are indeed bad and would need replaced. However, when they reached out to Lexus, they only found 2 for the front doors at $800 each and to get the back doors are $400 each coming from outside of the USA. They actually said they would not do the job because of the cost as it is probably more or less what the vehicle is even worth.

One of their ideas was to contact an audio shop and see if generic actuators can be installed into this vehicle and then we would just have a separate remote to control the locks. Does anyone have any knowledge on if this is possible?

I could really use some help on how to go about doing these repairs or getting them done for a cost less than the quoted $3,200! It is only a pain because we have kids and every time my wife needs to unlock the car, she has to reach around inside the vehicle to unlock the doors, which is quite a pain with little ones who like to roam away on a whim. Also, when you go to lock the car you need to always go around to every door to make sure all the switches are in the locked position.

Thank you so much in advance!

kevin3344

I think there is a video on YouTube of a guy replacing one of the actuators on his 2GS. It's definitely a weak spot on our cars. Mine work intermittently but since I'm usually the only one in my car I haven't changed them out! It's just my daily driver to work and back. However, since you have kids that can be a pain. I don't think they are that hard to change they are just labor intensive. You might want to try that as opposed to going to a shop.

GFXdznr

Yes, I have viewed a couple videos and the look to be quite a pain, especially the front doors. Might have turn it into a month long project, one door per week! Finding time around here is like trying to a find a clean pair of matching socks in my daughters clothes when getting her ready in the morning!

nehinbin

I bought a GS300 recently and went through something similar; 3 out of 4 door actuators were bad and had to be replaced. Taking off the door panels and taking out the actuators isn't hard but can take some time. All you need is a Phillips2, 10MM socket w/extension, and a T30; a buddy and I swapped them all in an afternoon just by following Luxious Automotive guide off of YouTube. I bought a cheap aftermarket set for $40 off of eBay thinking I would save some money but those actuators created a host of problems. The OEM actuators are expensive online so I would suggest trying to find the parts from parted/salvaged GS either from Craigslist or a junkyard. If you are handy, you can just buy a set of actuator motors and crack open the OEM actuators to swap them out. This is what I ended up doing but it's quite a pain to open them. You can actually fix all your locks like this yourself for $10-$60.

supkp

I heard some of the CL members have good result from eBay seller "actuatorplus" http://www.ebay.com/usr/actuatorplus...p2047675.l2559

nehinbin

Solid seller with good parts; looks like you can buy an entire set of OEM locking mechanisms from him for $550. Purchasing the entire locking mechanism is more expensive but will save you time from opening actuators with bad motors and repairing/purchasing broken cables (these cables are commonly broken).

I found another listing for a locking set that may be of your interest:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/GS300-GS400...VZvfaX&vxp=mtr

You can follow these videos to replace the locking mechanism.

If you want to save money and go the cheaper but more work route, you can just buy the motors for the actuators for about $10-$25 and follow this guide.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...ators-diy.html

Hope this helps and good luck.

KyleH

iTrader: (1)

As others have stated this is a very common issue on these cars as they age, unfortunately. I replaced all 4 of mine. Same reasons as you have. Cost me a day or so of work and about $15 in parts. I did a write up with pics in the build threads. Good luck.

lexo98

iTrader: (2)

Why don’t you post in the classifieds under WTB want to buy and maybe in the regional forum where u live. Maybe someone can help. It’s not too hard to replace the motors. I probably have some motors and old actuators around here somewhere but I’m in cali