Leaderboard

Apparently Colgates only provides protection for 24 hours and should be applied with a brush,spat out but don't rinse :)

Don't do that. The system isn't able to recharge the batteries in neutral. Park or drive are the only two positions the gear lever should be left in for any period of time.

I decided to bite the bullet and try using a headlight refurbishing kit to sort out my cloudy and pitted headlight lenses. It worked a treat - see attached before and after photos. It only took about 45 minutes. I used a sealant to finish them off, so the whole job cost me about £25. Just thought I would pass it on in case anyone else is wondering whether the kits work.

I'll use the Mrs's hand ;o)

The big change for the petrol model was the engine change from the 3.0l to 3.5l and a centre differential. For the 400h most of the changes were minor - hybrid badges on the rear doors, the stereo was revised allowing it to play MP3 files, the reversing camera overlays realtime guidelines linked to the steering wheel and a new acoustic windscreen to reduce in cabin noise.

The facelift was in 2006 however I think Daveace just meant he settled on a post-facelift RX, his particular one being registered in 2007.

Remember the aircon works off the batteries, its not belt driven like normal cars.

I put this in a post last week, metallic paint T-Cut, a sponge, and LOTS of elbow grease. I have used one of the kits before, I think that was £25 as well, and they do work very well, especially as they come with a polishing head to go in a drill. That saves a lot of the elbow work. First class job, looks excellent.

The rear motor doesn't get used that much unless accelerating quite hard so I doubt it is that. Could be the diff, a wheel bearing or maybe a brake calliper sticking.

I cannot say I ever notice that but it is possible. If the battery pack get too hot it will be used less. Make sure the vents by the passenger seats aren't blocked.

Yeah most likely it is. Way to find out - stick the car on a jack, manually rotate the wheels yourself and you should be able to tell.

Could it be a wheel bearing ?...

Thats thrown the cat among the pigeons again, a quick look on tyre leader shows the Nexen N'fera RU1 as being B for wet grip 71db for noise and only E for economy, the Hankook Dynapro HP2 RA33 shows same grade B for wet grip however a C rating for economy and a 70db noise rating, however the Nexens ar showing as only £69.49 with free delivery which costs 4 out at under £280 plus fitting. I dont know what the going rate is for fitting and balance if you supply your own tyres, will want alignment checking and adjusting as well. The Hankook are listed as Premium Tyres whereas the Nexen are listed in the third "Other Brands" category what's the difference? are you just paying for the name? Nexen SUI not RUI buddy .B for wet grip and B for economy.. ;-) ... unsure why they call them budget.? maybe because they have a better grip or economy rating ... lol ... or maybe they dont earn as much money off the sale ...> http://www.tyresonthedrive.com/search/choose/?collapsed=true Really is a bit of a no brainer then, at tyre leader I can order 4 of them for 277.96 have them delivered to a local garage where I can get them fitted for £15 a corner all for half the cost I thought it was going to be. :)

What tyres are on the rear? Tyres can make a humming sound. My Wife got Sunny SN3800's fitted to her Merc on the front to my horror, I gave her a good ol' shout as they make whirring, washing machine sort of noises the faster you go. Id expect the hybrid warning light to come up if it was to do with the hybrid system and the Check AWD light too if something was wrong. I imagine its either the wheel hub or bearings. This is the most likeliest. Any change in noise when turning? To check if its the transmission, accelerate until the noise gets really loud, stick it into Neutral and check if the noise is still coming.

If you do replace the tyres, the 2 good Dunlops would easily sell for £80+p&p on eBay! Don't leave em with ATS!

Please be careful having different tyre season types front and back (if that is the case) different grip levels between front and back in certain conditions is very dangerous. I would make switching the front two a very high priority before any hint of bad weather.

Thanks for that, of course we dont know what the previous owners did for the MOT, they may have bought used tyres to fit to the car if they knew they were just going to sell it, best just to concentrate on getting it resolved rather than speculate on what others may have done I suppose. I have rung a couple of places and while the Michelins seem to be special order they do seem to be available so will probably go for them. Having just depleted our savings buying the Rx and an SC430 within the last few weeks I would rather buy just two for now and replace the others (if needed) closer to winter. If there is any question over the condition of the other two from a safety perspective then I will replace all four. I have heard that the Hankook are a decent tyre, will be interested in hearing your thoughts on them in due course, especially froma noise perspective which is my main obsession.

Hi, The dealer does seem a genuine chap, we bought the car unseen based upon his description as the car was more than a 500 mile round trip for us to see. We asked questions about the car which included the tyres and the dealer did advise that the tyres were all fine although when looking on the ramp he advised that a couple did seem to be wearing on the inside but otherwise had plenty of tread depth. To be fair, his description was accurate and there were no advisories on the MOT done in April about them. I am happy to believe that he was genuinly unaware of the misshaped tyre as we didnt detect it on the test drive either, it was only once we hit the motorway on the way back that it became evident that something wasnt right. The dealer specialises in prestige vehicles and our £9k advertised vehicle was the cheapest he had in ( we didnt pay that for it) so yes, having spoken to him about it and advising I will be getting another opinion on whether all the tyres need replacing I do believe at this stage that he will agree a contribution, I may be being too fair but I dont expect him to cover the cost of 4 new tyres especially having reduced the price as much as we did but I do not believe he will refuse a contribution if he has made a genuine mistake re the description of the tyres. In the end, if all it costs me is a couple of tyres to put everyting right I wont be distraught and either way it wont be worth souring the whole deal arguing about it. We did after all get a good deal on the vehicle given the spec and mileage.

There is probably a socket rolling around in the engine bay somewhere :D

Sir Malc, how dare you pick on my double glazing!! It's fine, luckily. In mitigation, I was looking for a 400 but nothing decent dropped into place when I was in the uk. On the day I was going to look at a unique Rover P4, a coil-suspended 430 appeared. In retrospect I should bought the Rover, fitted epas and put up with the understeer on the 97 bends into town, but I was seduced by a corker of a car faster than an E-type. (I must remove those pin-holed rear s/s reasonators so I can hear something of this glorious lean burn VV V-8) Oh calamity, (& a bottle of Pinteira), I should have bought both cars :( Best wishes from a mildly sober (one of the many on this forum) Stuart(s)

Even better why not just add 5p per litre to the cost of petrol or diesel, the tax is then directly related to how much you use/pollute do is only avoidable by reducing usage or being more economical. It would save a fortune in collecting as well.

How can they sell it again knowing it has a busted head gasket? Unbelievable...

Have done it myself once!

You are not the first on here to have that problem, and I doubt the last...