Dashcam

VFR · October 6, 2021

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

This is in fact, true.

A conventional car has a starter motor that draws upwards of 300A to crank the engine. If the battery is low then you'll know about it because the cranking will become slow and labourious.

A hybrid doesn't have a starter motor and the engine doesn't crank in the normal sense.

The 12V battery boots the computers and gets the car into READY mode, at which point you could drive off on battery power alone. When the hybrid system wants the petrol engine to run it energises MG1 and uses that to spin the engine up to 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it.

It takes about 20A to get the car into READY mode instead of the 300A or more to crank the engine of a conventional car, and with no starter motor you never get the slow and labourious cranking that would usually indicate a low battery.

Thanks for that Herbie.

So do you think then that the 12v Battery on my car could have seen better days ?

Herbie · October 6, 2021

2 hours ago, VFR said:

Thanks for that Herbie.

So do you think then that the 12v battery on my car could have seen better days ?

It is possible Brian but as to whether that's the cause of your problems or not, I don't know.

Being as you're going to Halfords in the morning anyway, it may be worth asking them to do a load test on it and see what the result is.

VFR · October 7, 2021

Ok Halfords done & simply refunded the cost and I then bought a Nextbase one (F&R)

Easy and pain free from the staff there so no complaints opened the bonnet to get the Battery checked but nothing in sight (LOL) so we peered under the covers but did not pull them as I think he was unsure it being a Hybrid so will most probably visit a Dealer for them to look as when I started the car prior to going to Halfords the engine fired up but was missing / hunting for 5 to 10 seconds so that needs looking at.

Herbie · October 7, 2021

1 hour ago, VFR said:

Easy and pain free from the staff there so no complaints opened the bonnet to get the battery checked but nothing in sight (LOL) so we peered under the covers but did not pull them as I think he was unsure it being a Hybrid

The 12V Battery is in the boot under the floor, next to the spare wheel.

Herbie · October 8, 2021

@VFR

Brian, since we swapped our Gen3 RX for a Gen4 I'd forgotten all about this. You may find it useful, you may not, but I just thought I'd put it out there anyway as it may help someone:

VFR · October 8, 2021

Interesting Herbie and thanks for that.

VFR · October 9, 2021

Update.

Called Lexus Coventry twice but service not at the desk will get them to call you back, never did so a little while ago popped back to Halfords to get the Battery checked over now I know where it lives (thanks to Herbie) and it turns out that it is in very good condition and the whole boot area under the cover is like new.

Nextbase 522GW fitted both front & rear and working fine, so it would seem that the BlackVue was indeed faulty so glad to see the back of that.

PeteTP · October 9, 2021

Great news VFR,

Thanks for the update. Glad it’s all sorted and you’re happy with the NB product.

PeteTP

Mincey · October 21, 2021

I'm not convinced it's worth an 80 mile round trip to get Lexus to fit a dashcam to my ES so I'm looking at local options, one of which is Halfords. A Nextbase 422GW front and rear plus fitting is £293. Nextbase will do it for £281. Club discount of 15% (£43.95) at Halfords takes it down to £249.05. Halfords are also close enough to go back to if they screw up. Decisions, decisions....

PeteTP · October 21, 2021

As child 3 always says, “it’s your choice”.

Hope it all goes well Mincey.

PeteTP

Mincey · October 21, 2021

1 hour ago, PeteTP said:

As child 3 always says, “it’s your choice”.

A wise head on young shoulders!

Mincey · October 25, 2021

I've just checked my car's history on the Lexus site and I was slightly surprised to see that it lists a dashcam being fitted as a repair when it was a few days old. Hmm. That's a question I will have to ask the young lady who sold me the car when she makes the phone call which was promised last Saturday to find out how I was getting on. As Lexus Leicester fit dashcams to their cars as a routine measure, I was expecting to find one fitted.

Herbie · October 25, 2021

27 minutes ago, Mincey said:

As Lexus Leicester fit dashcams to their cars as a routine measure, I was expecting to find one fitted.

Are you sure about that James?

If so then my flabber is well and truly gasted as this would be the first dealership I've ever heard of, of any marque, doing this at their own cost.

Mincey · October 25, 2021

39 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Are you sure about that James?

If so then my flabber is well and truly gasted as this would be the first dealership I've ever heard of, of any marque, doing this at their own cost.

My IS which was also an ex-demo car had one, as did one of their loaner UX's.

From the ES service history:

and from my IS's service history:

Herbie · October 25, 2021

The IS and the UX could have been done for their own purposes, ie, demo and loaner, so they wanted to have proof if a problem occurred.

Are you the first owner of the ES or is it possible that the previous owner had it fitted and they mislabelled it as a repair?

Mincey · October 25, 2021

20 minutes ago, Herbie said:

The IS and the UX could have been done for their own purposes, ie, demo and loaner, so they wanted to have proof if a problem occurred.

Are you the first owner of the ES or is it possible that the previous owner had it fitted and they mislabelled it as a repair?

It's an ex-Lexus Leicester car - I'm the first real owner of it. The guy who sold me the IS told me that they put dashcams in all their cars.

Herbie · October 25, 2021

1 hour ago, Mincey said:

It's an ex-Lexus Leicester car - I'm the first real owner of it. The guy who sold me the IS told me that they put dashcams in all their cars.

He may mean that they put dashcams in all the cars they use themselves, ie, the demonstrators and the loaners, not that they put cams in every car they sell to the public, which was how I interpreted your post.

Mincey · October 25, 2021

2 minutes ago, Herbie said:

He may mean that they put dashcams in all the cars they use themselves, ie, the demonstrators and the loaners, not that they put cams in every car they sell to the public, which was how I interpreted your post.

No I should not have implied that. As I understood it, he meant the dealership fleet cars - as you said, it would be pretty generous of them to put them in all the cars they sold! I don't think the lady from Leicester is going to ring me so I'll draft an email to her and find out what the situation is. There are no obvious traces of where a dashcam may have been, and why would they have taken it out or told porkies for the service history? I'm sure I'll get to the bottom of it.

Dippo · October 25, 2021

I can see the logic in a dealer fitting a dashcam to their demos and loan cars, but I can also understand why they would remove them before selling the cars as used vehicles - after all, a dealer is the person who tells you that options and accessories add nothing to the value of your part ex!

They would probably argue that you drove the car as a loan car, and not as a vehicle that had been prepped for sale as a used car, and that the preparation normally involves the removal of the dashcam.

Mincey · October 26, 2021

8 hours ago, Dippo said:

I can see the logic in a dealer fitting a dashcam to their demos and loan cars, but I can also understand why they would remove them before selling the cars as used vehicles - after all, a dealer is the person who tells you that options and accessories add nothing to the value of your part ex!

They would probably argue that you drove the car as a loan car, and not as a vehicle that had been prepped for sale as a used car, and that the preparation normally involves the removal of the dashcam.

It's possible - they may have had a change of policy since letting me have the dashcam which was already in my IS. I mentioned all this to my wife and she does not remember there being a dashcam in the ES when I had it as a loaner, so it looks like the service history has been maintained incorrectly.

Mincey · October 26, 2021

It's GDPR - all dashcams are now removed. What an absolute waste.

Herbie · October 26, 2021

1 hour ago, Mincey said:

It's GDPR - all dashcams are now removed. What an absolute waste.

How silly of them. All they have to do is take out and keep the microSD card and do a factory reset on the camera.

PeteTP · October 26, 2021

GDPR indeed. What a heap of charming nonsense. As Herbie implies, that really is not a credible reason.

PeteTP

Mincey · October 26, 2021

46 minutes ago, Herbie said:

How silly of them. All they have to do is take out and keep the microSD card and do a factory reset on the camera.

20 minutes ago, PeteTP said:

GDPR indeed. What a heap of charming nonsense. As Herbie implies, that really is not a credible reason.

PeteTP

I'm with you Pete and Herbie. I wiped the SD card in the cam on my IS when it took it back. Why go to all the effort of installing it, then ripping it out again. My ES is booked in later this week to have the Lexus camera fitted - I will ask them how long it will take "based on the fact that the wiring should already be there"....