Just got my first Lexus CT200h. Any tips or pointers?

[captainbeavus]

On 8/3/2024 at 11:52 AM, Herbie said:

Not on a CT but it's very easy on a 2018 RX.

Lens cover off > old incandescent lamp out > new LED in > lens cover back on.

Lovely. Just ordered a set from Aliexpress. Will give them a try. 

[captainbeavus]

Had a Cat Loc fitted too. Thinking AC regas next and then explore any other visual upgrades. 

[Herbie]

4 hours ago, captainbeavus said:

Thinking AC regas next and then explore any other visual upgrades.

Any particular reason?

The aircon is a sealed system and as long as there are no problems it should never need regassing. I've had cars for 15, even 20 years, and the aircon has been as cold as the day I bought it, without ever regassing.

You should use the AC all year round so that the seals stay supple and don't dry out and crack. I don't know about the CT but my RX has Climate Control rather than just plain old AC. You set the cabin temperature to whatever you want and the car will then mix hot/cold/conditioned air to keep it there.

If you really want to regas the system, make sure that you impress upon the company doing the work that you need ND11 oil rather than the PAG oil that conventional cars use. The compressor is driven by (if I remember correctly) a 500V 3-phase AC variable frequency motor and the motor windings sit in the oil for cooling purposes. PAG oil is conductive and it will break down the winding insulation and cause a leakage of electricity to earth, which for us, means the car body and a very real possibility of electrocution if the safety systems aren't working properly. ND11 oil, of course, doesn't conduct electricity.

[captainbeavus]

24 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Any particular reason?

The aircon is a sealed system and as long as there are no problems it should never need regassing. I've had cars for 15, even 20 years, and the aircon has been as cold as the day I bought it, without ever regassing.

You should use the AC all year round so that the seals stay supple and don't dry out and crack. I don't know about the CT but my RX has Climate Control rather than just plain old AC. You set the cabin temperature to whatever you want and the car will then mix hot/cold/conditioned air to keep it there.

If you really want to regas the system, make sure that you impress upon the company doing the work that you need ND11 oil rather than the PAG oil that conventional cars use. The compressor is driven by (if I remember correctly) a 500V 3-phase AC variable frequency motor and the motor windings sit in the oil for cooling purposes. PAG oil is conductive and it will break down the winding insulation and cause a leakage of electricity to earth, which for us, means the car body and a very real possibility of electrocution if the safety systems aren't working properly. ND11 oil, of course, doesn't conduct electricity.

Appreciate the advice. I'll leave it for now then as it seems to be okay. It's not ridiculously cold but it's okay!

Any tips on some easy mods that don't break the bank?

[diabolik]

Aliexpress has all sorts of cheap bells and whistles

[Poundy]

Been slowly getting my wife's 2014 CT back to showroom condition, If you intend keeping it for any length of time I would suggest getting the underneath lanoline protected. Before/after pics.

 

[captainbeavus]

On 8/7/2024 at 7:02 AM, Poundy said:

Been slowly getting my wife's 2014 CT back to showroom condition, If you intend keeping it for any length of time I would suggest getting the underneath lanoline protected. Before/after pics.

 

Looks great. How would I get similar results to yours? Any product recommendations?

 

Cheers 

[Poundy]

On 8/12/2024 at 10:55 AM, captainbeavus said:

Looks great. How would I get similar results to yours? Any product recommendations?

 

Cheers 

After costing materials and working out the effort needed to gain suitable access to everything without a lift. I decided to give it a local car detailer to do,  who offered me the option of a Waxoyl or Lanoguard. I went with Lanoguard as it's less sticky after application and more user friendly but there are varying opinions on which is the better product. The total cost for getting done was £160 at the time and a lot less than some application centres were quoting. I will most likely get it topped up every couple of years or so although it is only a 3k mile per year car.

[Daft Dave]

On 7/20/2024 at 4:42 PM, captainbeavus said:

Loving it so far (a week in). I have a 2018 Lexus CT200h in black. Luxury spec. 

Also my first post here!

Hi, I also have a 2018 CT200 lux, had it 6 months now and just love this car, recently I did a 350ml journey in this, most of it on Motorway and Dual carriageway set the cruise at 75mph and hardly touched the brakes or accelerator for most of the journey, the Automotive braking is a great feature with this car, I did this trip there and back in one day 700mls over 14hrs and was feeling pretty good after I arrived back home, this does live up to its name Comfort Tourer, overall I managed 54.9mls to the Gall, pretty good considering I was not hanging about.

So many members on this site advise to have them serviced by the dealer to extend warranties, for me this is just too high a price to pay and for one of the most reliable cars on the road today is this really necessary? take the Hybrid Batt for instance I see replacement Batts on eBay for £350 with warranty and it can be a DIY changeover, you have said you serviced your car by yourself by keeping the receipts for the new parts that would satisfy most buyers and I do wonder even if the book is stamped with dealer services as against services by independents will that give a great increase in resale value enough to warrant the cost of high servicing costs from the dealers highly unlikely?

Most of the Cars I have owned have been with me 10yrs or more and resale value was never much of a consideration to me.

If you keep this car like you did your last one until it is 20yrs of age it will have little of any resale value anyway, as for my self I am an old Coffin Dodger of 72yrs only driving little more that 3000mls per year and have no intention of paying 300 to £500 every year for servicing to have nice dealer stamps in the book, the resale value will be of no concern to me anyway more than likely I will be dead?

[Kaptkremmin]

I agree on most of what you say David, but having the Hybrid batteries test each year via Lexus or Toyota guarantees the Hybrid batteries for 15yrs you don't have to have a service, just Battery test , think it's around £58 or it was. Mines only a 2014 advance with 48000 miles now with full Lexus history,  love the car but it has to go, I'm a bit younger than you, but both me and the wife are struggling to get in and out of it.

[SB3]

On 8/19/2024 at 7:41 AM, Daft Dave said:

...

So many members on this site advise to have them serviced by the dealer to extend warranties, for me this is just too high a price to pay and for one of the most reliable cars on the road today is this really necessary? take the Hybrid Batt for instance I see replacement Batts on ebay for £350 with warranty and it can be a DIY changeover, you have said you serviced your car by yourself by keeping the receipts for the new parts that would satisfy most buyers and I do wonder even if the book is stamped with dealer services as against services by independents will that give a great increase in resale value enough to warrant the cost of high servicing costs from the dealers highly unlikely?

...

I had a Prius before my CT. It's hybrid Battery died when it was 1 year past its 10 year warranty. Cost £1600 to replace by Toyota. Shudder to think what Lexus charge for a CT Battery.

I don't believe it's really a DIY job, unless you're a confident mechanic.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, SB3 said:

I had a Prius before my CT. It's hybrid battery died when it was 1 year past its 10 year warranty. Cost £1600 to replace by Toyota. Shudder to think what Lexus charge for a CT battery.

I don't believe it's really a DIY job, unless you're a confident mechanic.

£1600 for a fully new Battery at Toyota, or a repair?

[Daft Dave]

9 hours ago, SB3 said:

I had a Prius before my CT. It's hybrid battery died when it was 1 year past its 10 year warranty. Cost £1600 to replace by Toyota. Shudder to think what Lexus charge for a CT battery.

I don't believe it's really a DIY job, unless you're a confident mechanic.

Check a You Tube of how this is done and you will see it is not rocket science, of course some skill is needed about the same as would be required to build an Ikea flatpack?

[Daft Dave]

7 hours ago, CT200NI said:

£1600 for a fully new battery at Toyota, or a repair?

SB you check out a YT video and you will see just how easy a replacement is from what I saw on one any Eejit could attempt this?

Nae bother tae a man 'O' a Celtic race.

Slangevar

Dave

[SB3]

Interesting conversation I had with a Lexus dealer when my Prius Battery was dead. He wouldn't offer me any more than scrap value for the Prius as a trade in. The Toyota dealer had offered me quite a bit more and the Lexus dealer said maybe Toyota knew they could fix it for very little and send it to auction, but the official fix is a whole new Battery. Needed the car, went for the new Battery (which was available next day) and ran the car for a few more years before trading it in for a CT - getting a reasonable price because I had the receipt for a new hybrid Battery!

 

[Guest]

15 hours ago, Daft Dave said:

SB you check out a YT video and you will see just how easy a replacement is from what I saw on one any Eejit could attempt this?

Nae bother tae a man 'O' a Celtic race.

Slangevar

Dave

Yeah it seems easy enough, but £1600 for a Battery from Toyota? Is that the case, even without fitting, that's a bargain compared to what I thought it would cost for the part alone. 

I don't believe in these 'recondition' aftermarket repairs on the batteries people go for.  Go genuine, or go home! 😉 lol 

[SB3]

38 minutes ago, CT200NI said:

Yeah it seems easy enough, but £1600 for a battery from Toyota? Is that the case, even without fitting, that's a bargain compared to what I thought it would cost for the part alone. 

I don't believe in these 'recondition' aftermarket repairs on the batteries people go for.  Go genuine, or go home! 😉 lol 

It was £1600 fitted, and they waived the diagnostic test fee - which probably told them which cell needed replacing!

Totally in agreement with you on aftermarket batteries, and I'd decided to hang on to the Prius for a few more years anyway. Eventually traded it in for more than the cost of the new Battery, 🙂

 

[Herbie]

2 hours ago, CT200NI said:

I don't believe in these 'recondition' aftermarket repairs on the batteries people go for.  Go genuine, or go home!

 

2 hours ago, SB3 said:

It was £1600 fitted, and they waived the diagnostic test fee - which probably told them which cell needed replacing!

Totally in agreement with you on aftermarket batteries

One of the members on here had an IS300h that he used as a taxi. It needed a new traction Battery and, being a handy lad, he did all the work himself. Imagine his surprise when he went to order the brand new traction Battery from Lexus, only to be told that there is no such beast as a "new" one!

The only item code in the whole Electronic Parts Catalogue pointed to a refurb unit and there is literally no item code in the EPC to obtain a brand new unit.

If you want confirmation of that just use the board search facility. He did a brilliant write-up of the whole process including the apparent inability to order a new Battery pack.

[Guest]

23 hours ago, SB3 said:

It was £1600 fitted, and they waived the diagnostic test fee - which probably told them which cell needed replacing!

Totally in agreement with you on aftermarket batteries, and I'd decided to hang on to the Prius for a few more years anyway. Eventually traded it in for more than the cost of the new battery, 🙂

That's a steal of a price... I thought £4,000 + then fitting on top.  Must make an enquiry with my local dealer just to see. 

21 hours ago, Herbie said:

One of the members o here had an IS300h that he used as a taxi. It needed a new traction battery and, being a handy lad, he did all the work himself. Imagine his surprise when he went to order the brand new traction battery from Lexus, only to be told that there is no such beast as a "new" one!

The only item code in the whole Electronic Parts Catalogue pointed to a refurb unit and there is literally no item code in the EPC to obtain a brand new unit.

If you want confirmation of that just use the board search facility. He did a brilliant write-up of the whole process including the apparent inability to order a new battery pack.

Toyota / Lexus definitely do provide them to dealer workshops as I remember watching a video of a master tech showing off the fancy / unique design of the special box Toyota designed to safely transport them, and how the box must be returned to Toyota after.  Whether or not they're willing to do that for an end customer who is not a dealer I don't know, but I have unfortunately found Lexus dealers do tend to make things up as they go along, such as Lexus Belfast saying they can't do an oil change on its own, but must be a part of a Major / Minor service package... bull**** according to Lexus themselves but they say the dealer can have their own policies. 

My advice to your IS300h friend, call around the dealers to find one who wants the work. If they all say the same, then fair enough 

I was recently told by a Toyota dealer they can't order the part or programme the TPMS part for a 'Lexus' car, despite it being the same part number, only for them to find that they can (and did) at their expense when I told them their only alternative was to pay to send my car (on a lorry) to Lexus Belfast, have them do it and document it, and bring it back (on a lorry) at their expense. Funny how dealers can be sometimes! 

[Herbie]

3 hours ago, CT200NI said:

That's a steal of a price... I thought £4,000 + then fitting on top.  Must make an enquiry with my local dealer just to see. 

Toyota / Lexus definitely do provide them to dealer workshops as I remember watching a video of a master tech showing off the fancy / unique design of the special box Toyota designed to safely transport them, and how the box must be returned to Toyota after.  Whether or not they're willing to do that for an end customer who is not a dealer I don't know, but I have unfortunately found Lexus dealers do tend to make things up as they go along, such as Lexus Belfast saying they can't do an oil change on its own, but must be a part of a Major / Minor service package... bull**** according to Lexus themselves but they say the dealer can have their own policies. 

My advice to your IS300h friend, call around the dealers to find one who wants the work. If they all say the same, then fair enough 

I was recently told by a Toyota dealer they can't order the part or programme the TPMS part for a 'Lexus' car, despite it being the same part number, only for them to find that they can (and did) at their expense when I told them their only alternative was to pay to send my car (on a lorry) to Lexus Belfast, have them do it and document it, and bring it back (on a lorry) at their expense. Funny how dealers can be sometimes! 

Hmm....similar, but not the same.

Dealerships are franchises and as such they'll each have their own foibles, but the Electronic Parts Catalogue is in use at all dealerships from Land's End to John O'Groats and all points inbetween. There just is no item code entry for a brand new Battery - without an item code it just can't be ordered.

Quote

Toyota / Lexus definitely do provide them to dealer workshops as I remember watching a video of a master tech showing off the fancy / unique design of the special box Toyota designed to safely transport them, and how the box must be returned to Toyota after. 

Whether a Battery is brand new or refurbed it will still need careful handling and transportation, which is where the fancy box comes in. It doesn't alter the fact that there's no item code for a brand new Battery in the EPC.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

Hmm....similar, but not the same.

Dealerships are franchises and as such they'll each have their own foibles, but the Electronic Parts Catalogue is in use at all dealerships from Land's End to John O'Groats and all points inbetween. There just is no item code entry for a brand new battery - without an item code it just can't be ordered.

Whether a battery is brand new or refurbed it will still need careful handling and transportation, which is where the fancy box comes in. It doesn't alter the fact that there's no item code for a brand new battery in the EPC.

So how are these dealerships ordering the batteries?  I’d imagine all of these hybrid health checks we all get every year to preserve the hybrid Battery warranty, at some point (maybe few and far between) do end up covering failed batteries or batteries that have been so problematic that Toyota / Lexus stepped in and just authorised an entire replacement, especially on relatively new cars etc.  

Perhaps such a replacement is a special order process and not a run-of-the-mill part order. 

[Herbie]

19 minutes ago, CT200NI said:

So how are these dealerships ordering the batteries?

Sorry my friend but you still don't seem to understand.

The car is built and leaves the factory with a brand new Battery and that is the only time in its entire life that it has a brand new one. If the car needs a replacement, the dealer will order it but it will be a refurb that arrives, not brand new. The dealers don't have a "secret" item code to get a brand new one - there is one item code in the EPC and that points to a refurb unit.

Only the factory has access to brand new ones and they are for cars in production, not to be sent out as replacements.

[stepheneric]

26 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Sorry my friend but you still don't seem to understand.

Herbie,  I admire your patience and perseverance. I would have thrown in the towel long ago   

[Guest]

On 8/22/2024 at 3:45 PM, Herbie said:

Sorry my friend but you still don't seem to understand.

The car is built and leaves the factory with a brand new battery and that is the only time in its entire life that it has a brand new one. If the car needs a replacement, the dealer will order it but it will be a refurb that arrives, not brand new. The dealers don't have a "secret" item code to get a brand new one - there is one item code in the EPC and that points to a refurb unit.

Only the factory has access to brand new ones and they are for cars in production, not to be sent out as replacements.

Herbie, I understand you’re saying there’s no EPC. But that doesn’t mean dealers can’t order a new one in.  If sites like eHybrid can manage it (see the sticker for a ‘part number) for various models, I’d say dealers can.  
 

If you’re taking a dealers workshop or parts counter at face value, then I don’t know what to tell you.  Recently had a Mazda dealer tell me that they can’t supply the genuine coolant …. They make it up as they go along. 
 

Sorry, but warranty claims on the Battery don’t allow Toyota to fit a refurb Battery 😳 can you imagine… 

[Guest]

On 8/21/2024 at 10:57 AM, SB3 said:

It was £1600 fitted, and they waived the diagnostic test fee - which probably told them which cell needed replacing!

Totally in agreement with you on aftermarket batteries, and I'd decided to hang on to the Prius for a few more years anyway. Eventually traded it in for more than the cost of the new battery, 🙂

 

Was yours a cell replacement or an entire Battery? This other guy reckons that Toyota can’t get a new one O.o - perhaps you know otherwise if you’ve had a new one supplied? Or was this documented as a refurb? Or cell replacement

 

Good to know because who knows if any of us will end up having to have this sad discussion with a dealer or specialist down the line