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I've got a 2007 LS460 which I've owned for almost 2 years: it has 50,000 miles on it. Previous to that, I enjoyed a '94 LS400 for 15 years. I chose the 460 instead of the 600 because I intend to keep the car for a long time and I don't trust the hybrid system to be completely trouble-free, and battery replacement can be pretty pricey. So far, I've had absolutely no problems and am averaging 31 mpg overall. As someone has said, there are lots of goodies to keep the driver amused but I wouldn't say that it's way better than the 400..........it is just the natural development of the brand. I live in Holland and do most of my driving on the Continent. However, I'm coming across to Scotland next Sunday for 2 months. So, if any of you see a silver 460 with Dutch plates, in the Ayrshire, Glasgow, Loch Lomond area - come and say hello :)

Drove to Birmingham and back so 218 miles altogether. Whole trip was in Sport mode at 70-80mph although I hit 100mph once after I got annoyed with the roadworks. Got 34mpg which I was extremely pleased with as I had 5 people in the car and maybe an extra 20kg from all the crap that my wife brings along

Hi I'm hoping someone can help. I'm in the market to buy a gs300 but have seen a gs450h. Now there is a warning light on and lexus say one of the cells in the battery is weak, what does that mean? And if it a cheap fix? I do remember that is a common issue but just wanted to know if it will cost an arm and a leg if I bought it. Thanks in advance

Hi People, . I started with a washing the car on a lovely sunny Sunday and then looked at her and said "you need some changes made" so as I was free yesterday and decided to do something different to my beloved ISF. decided to black out the rear badges and also the front grill.. I seen it on a few white cars (outside of Europe) and it looked good. so here are the pics people, let me know what you think.. like or not, its fine i understand everyone has their own taste. Next step is the Lexon or similar lip spoiler (bloody hard to find one in Europe)

Surely some aircon specialist can make a suitable pipe, it's not rocket science. Check a company that make and repair hydraulic hoses, they may be able to make a flexible one up.

I use a trickle charger when it's parked in my garage for weeks as mines not used much and then when I use it to go away on holiday, when left at airport I plug in my solar panel in to the obm socket under dash and have never had problem.

Sadly Mike, us Dad`s would like to be as good as our wives, WHO ALWAYS KNOW WHAT`S BEST! Regards John

You need the ADUS 505 bushing kit and have your garage read the link below as aftermarket parts are available. http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/suspension/rcabushings.html UK supplier below. http://www.superflex.co.uk/products.php?cat=218&pg=2

Wrap was about £22 or so per metre +vat. Nah no wastage, I've wrapped dozens of cars now so pretty confident in only ordering what I need! Used 14 metres of vinyl which also allowed enough for door shuts (have yet to do these). Any ideas how the mirror covers come off, are they just clipped in or do I need to remove the whole lot to get to them? Chris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NQyTJixs5M Speed does not really interest me but this bit of driving I found very entertaining.

I haven't had a problem with my battery but would a portable jump pack be an option ?... there are loads of really small ones out there now, some even fit in you pocket & hold a charge for 3-12mths ... > http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Portable-JUMP-STARTER-Booster-Car-Battery-Charger-Mini-Power-Pack-Light-ALL-/171455730304?hash=item27eb8ed280 I'm sure that would work. These lithium-ion battery packs are good because they are small, lightweight and hold their charge for many months. You probably won't even need to use the start facility, just the standard 12v output. The 200A starting current isn't something that is important to a hybrid as the battery won't be used to turn over the engine via a starter motor. The only thing that would concern me is the non-name brand. How good is the quality of the 12v output and how well implemented is the internal battery charging circuit - you don't want this thing to explode or catch fire. Alternatives are the bigger jump packs, typically an air compression and boost pack all in one. These use a lead-acid battery and so are bigger and heavier, and like a car battery they don't like going flat so you need to keep them charged up.

I like it. As I always say with any modded car. As long as there is a consistent theme it is hard to go too wrong. In your case black and white with the ISF blue works really well. Top job.

There isn't going to be a fix, it is a vehicle that is 6 years out of production! The current models can all typically survive 4 weeks without an issue, some standard petrol and diesel vehicles don't last longer. If you leave it more than four weeks you are advised to disconnect the battery.

PZ420...... is just part of the Toyota/Lexus part code, it doesn't give any clues as to who the OEM is. I don't know who they used, Pioneer make the actual stereo so maybe they also do the adapter but it could be somebody else. I don't think these official products work any better than a good third party one.

£60 seems to be a standard code reading fee. If the fault has cleared then the warning light should go out after three journeys (engine start cycles).

Gents . . . it's 2015. We're talking about a "Premium SUV" from one of the world's alleged best car makers. And I am suposed to jump-start my car like its a 1965 Ford Anglia - or ask the pvalet-parking company to jump start it so they can bring it to the airport? No . . . they have to do better than that. Until they fix this, I have to go back to gas-guzzeling non-hybrids. I have not yet tried the new Mitsubishi which looks as good as the new Grand Cherokee. Either way, the Lexus sadly has to go. Unreliability in a £50K car is not acceptible.

Only pulling your leg m8, my shogun was nearly exactly the same colour & I love it, Mitsubishi called mine "Frasier Biege" ... I just find the names the manufacturer's use pretentious, It reminds me of the polished terms estate agents use like "Penthouse Apartment" to describe a top floor flat ... "Rear Courtyard" to describe a backyard ... lol ... I also hate being called sir, it makes me cringe ... that Victorian crap should stay well & truly buried ...

You should never leave a car on reserve fuel, all the rubbish gets into the engine causing eml to come on, and always use good fuel, not the supermarket rubbish

I have also had my GS300 sounding lumpy when starting it when it is low on fuel and been sat for a few days. 200 yards down the road and it is fine again. I also had the VSC light a few months ago, probably because I added Redex to a tank of super unleaded. The VSC light seems to show when there is an issue with the O2 sensor. Simply refueling removed the light very quickly.

......... sledge hammer to crack a nut comes to mind here ................ just coz of the challenging aircon you're prepared to let the Ls go !!! Amazing Malc

Unlike a lot of other Lexus vehicles the series II RX stereo is separate from the other controls so you can replace it without too many issues, other than as you say losing the steering wheel controls. Something like the GS is much more challenging because the climate controls are all integrated with the stereo, certainly on the Nav versions. Adapters should be available, the Grom units for example use standard Toyota adapters - I think there are two types though so you need to make sure you get the correct one.

fill the car up and make sure gas tank cap fully on for some unexplained reason this happens if you run it low on fuel it will go off after a few restarts

I have bought 7 Lexus cars from Lexus Liverpool over the past 12 years or so and have to say their service has been nothing short of exemplary. Your description of the receptionist, who I know well, is frankly disrespectful and rude. I have always found their service to be exemplary and nothing is too much trouble for them and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them

Having recently been driven to airports and back several times in new s-class mercedes and audi A8s it was such a pleasant change to take a several hour journey in the back of our lexus. There seems to be constant sniping from the German owners that a lexus is "boring","soulless" and rubbish to drive. Incidentally I don't agree. However as a rear passenger the experience is vastly superior in an old lexus as opposed to a new German equivalent. The seats are far more comfortable,the leather is incomparably more soft and sumptuous and the air suspension ride is amazing. My wife and I are in agreement that we will just use our own car in the future instead of hiring unspectacular German "minicabs".

That is good mpg for a V8 4.3 litre. If you just consider a 4 litre V8 you immediately think sub - 20's like Jags. My father-in-law was stopped by the police doing 90 mph in his Rover 3500 V8 - the officer was also driving a 3500S V8 Rover. "Good afternoon sir. Nice car," said the policeman. "I thought so until now!" he replied. "You know sir, they can be trained to do 70 mph." I digress!

Yes I can agree with this. i purchased my first Lexus IS220d from Bristol. Dealt with a chap called Marcus Cliffe, excellent chap, extremely helpful.

It was nice when vehicles had glass lenses rather than plastic.

Bill, When looking for an RX about a year ago, both the missus and I hated the "Beige" but couldn't find a car within a 60mile radius we liked! Buying used, with such little choice was always going to involve a compromise, hence when we bought ours we managed to get the SE-L spec, 100k miles, 13-pin Witter tow bar, FSH and we fell in love with it on the hour long test drive (and I got it for £4k!) - it also has virtually no stone chips to the front or A pillars, which seems quite common on these from others we saw. :) As time has gone on, we both actually like the colour, it seems to be very gold in the sun and very silvery when overcast and certainly rarer to see the same colour when driving around, it oddly really suits the RX. Would we buy the same colour on any other car... Maybe not! We aren't ready to chuck an emergency picnic blanket, box of tissues (in a fancy holder) and straw hat on the rear parcel shelf yet!! :)

If you take it to Lexus, you can ask them to do a visual safety check (it's free) they may pick up on the noise when it's moved? Plus you'll have an idea of anything else they pick up on, low pads, corroded pipes etc. They'll also wash it for you and send a video to your email of the findings!

"It might be worth taking it to a Lexus dealer (or independant) just for them to take a quick look at it ..." Agree. For peace of mind.

That isn't bad. With some hybrid driving techniques I'd imagine you could achieve 34+ but sometimes it is easier not to have to think about things and just drive normally.

Or just put a small 12v battery in the vehicle when you go away to use to jump it.

Another problem with the main dealers is they just don't diagnose fully or try and repair things anymore, just replace assemblies. It's a double edged sword though because given labor rates of over £100 per hour it is often cheap just to swap out parts than pay for extra hours whilst they diagnose. I think 5 years old is a good cut off point, before then and you lose too much value of your vehicle by not having FLSH - go with the 3 year standard warranty and a 2 year extension. After that look at the possibility of an independent, or just standard essentials servicing at Lexus but go to an indenpedant for any repairs.

An interesting point, like most issues that are well documented as obvious failings on different cars and obviously items which could be argued as being not fit for purpose due to the number of reported failings by owners, the manufacturers will just ignore it, hoping it goes away. I would hope that in the event of failure any item covered by warranty would be replaced without question if there is no obvious evidence of third party damage. The difficulty comes in that the older the cars get and the more miles they do the greater the chance that they will encounter some form of knock or damage that the less scrupulous companies could subsequently cite as being a contributing factor to a parts failure. I have owned cars for over 40 years and have never yet had to replace a wheel bearing on one, yet I am expected to accept that a Lexus with only 55,000 miles should have a bearing fail and it just seems to be considered normal as it is quite common. It seems that if a large number of vehicles fail with a particular fault the dealers have the right to call it normal for that model. I call it a part that is obviously not fit for purpose or a manufacturing/design fault yet despite the fact that neither the dealers or manufacturers can survive without the consumer, the consumers opinions, experiences and concern counts for little if anything so long as there is money to be made on the repair. This is where buying low mileage used cars can be an issue, cars covering higher mileage experience such faults early in their life, often while still under warranty and are therefore resolved whereas a low mileage car doesnt encounter the fault until later in its life an out of warranty. This is where the morality of the manufacturer comes into play. While digressing slightly I have to say that Diahatsu seem to be the best manufacturer for supporting its customers. My wife had a Diahatsu Copen, very low mileage, the rear exhaust box fell off, quick google search showed it to be a known fault that Diahatsu replaced under warranty, our car was out of warranty but one email to Diahatsu and they arranged replacement free of charge. At 6 years old we had rust bubbles appearing on all 4 wheel arches, they had been repaired once under 6 year anti corrosion warranty and started bubbling again. We wrote to Diahatsu asking if, as it was a known issue, they would consider extending the bodywork warranty to cover re-occurrences of the issue. Within 30 minutes we received an email reply advising us to book it into out Diahatsu dealership where they woulkd arrange to have all four wings replaced and sprayed at no charge.which I know cost them £1,600 plus vat. No heavy handed complaints from us just a polite email raising the issue. Now thats what I call customer care. Unfortunately, the Diahatsu dealership (Maple Garage in Hull) tried to rip us and Diahatsu off by claiming to have replaced all the panels but actually just resprayed the originals and kept the panels for themselves. They actually lied to Diahatsu submitting an invoice for having replaced the panels and spraying them, weeks before the car was even taken in to them. Again an example of the lengths some dealerships are prepared to go to to rip you off, they even had the audacity to charge us for waxoyling the panels (that they hadnt actually replaced) saying that Diahatsu had refused to pay them any more money to cover the waxoyl. So my advice, be wary of any dealer but avoid Maple Garage in Hull like the plague, amazingly they have a number of dealer franchises, I dont think Diahatsu any more, but they even do all the servicing for the local police vehicles. Lets just hope their experience of Maple Garage is a more honest one than ours. Sorry for ranting off topic... We (UK motorists) are a sad lot really. We put up with second or third class service and/or get ripped off and do nothing about it. Warranties in the USA are significantly better (all manufacturers), presumably because their consumer market is bigger than ours and the customer is held in higher esteem than we are. If they did not react to consumers demands they would lose sales. We however, pay up,turn to Indies, or back street garages, or d.i.y or do nothing. There is evidence that some manufacturers (Kia, Hyundai and Toyota for example) are beginning to wake up and this will encourage those of us who pay for their vehicles personally (not Companies) to buy reliable cars which have longer term warranties. Company car buyers will continue to be seduced by the so called attractions of German cars principally, which is why their sales remain high and warranty periods relatively low. Daihatsu incidentally is a division of Toyota and is no longer imported into UK due to falling demand and sales. Interestingly, I have had to replace one wheel bearing in 50 years of motoring and that was last year in my (then) 12 year old, 197,000 mile E Class Mercedes. In my view it is about time that we more senior and other responsible citizens woke up to the fact that "customer is still king" and used the power of forums such as this and made more extensive use of social media to express our dissatisfaction with the level of service that we receive. Rant over! Regards John

Bearings shouldn't need replacing at 55k miles unless the vehicle has been overloaded, driven at excess speeds around corners or in some other way abused. My 400h had 112k miles on the clock when I sold it, not a sound coming from the original bearings. Unless Toyota started to use cheaper bearing on the newer vehicles to save money - this was around the time when their cost saving over quality drive was in full force. Sadly the law only applies to the original manufacture's warranty. The third party Lexus extended warrant stipulates the vehicle must be serviced by a Lexus dealer - one reason why they lowered the warranty prices was to stop older vehicles going to independents. That's the reason they do it, in a 24 month period you are looking at at least two services and at twice the price of the indy plus the £1000 you have paid they have already got a pot of around £2k of your money to start covering repairs with. Dont get me wrong, warranties are a great peace of mind and in certain circumstances are still worth the cost of servicing at Lexus given the size of some repair bills but then those horrendous repair bills could likely be halved again by having the work done at a good Indy. Given the choice I would rather take my cars to a Lexus dealership any day of the week but the simple fact is I cant because I dont feel I can trust them (I accept there will be good dealers out there) and I do not see anything in attitude from staff or quality of work which would justify spending at least twice the price of having the job done elsewhere.

individual cells can be changed, it just isn't something that a Lexus dealer would do, and I don't think you can purchase a cell from Lexus/Toyota. Independants can clean up the contacts, refresh cells and balance them to fix these issues. The GS seems to have this issue more than other hybrids. I've not heard of this issue with the RX400h and there are many many more of those on the road. The Prius don't suffer as much with this either.

I think that this is an excellent contribution that will be accepted unreservedly by the majority of members here and if the first 5 paragraphs could be sent to Lexus HQ in UK supported by us ( A CLASS ACTION OF SORTS?) we might see progress towards ending malpractices within the Lexus Dealership network. It might also provide some unexpected adverse publicity for Lexus, which if received in the spirit in which it is meant could well prove benficial. I have absolutely no connection with WILLDOIT or JAPFEST. Regards John

An interesting point, like most issues that are well documented as obvious failings on different cars and obviously items which could be argued as being not fit for purpose due to the number of reported failings by owners, the manufacturers will just ignore it, hoping it goes away. I would hope that in the event of failure any item covered by warranty would be replaced without question if there is no obvious evidence of third party damage. The difficulty comes in that the older the cars get and the more miles they do the greater the chance that they will encounter some form of knock or damage that the less scrupulous companies could subsequently cite as being a contributing factor to a parts failure. I have owned cars for over 40 years and have never yet had to replace a wheel bearing on one, yet I am expected to accept that a Lexus with only 55,000 miles should have a bearing fail and it just seems to be considered normal as it is quite common. It seems that if a large number of vehicles fail with a particular fault the dealers have the right to call it normal for that model. I call it a part that is obviously not fit for purpose or a manufacturing/design fault yet despite the fact that neither the dealers or manufacturers can survive without the consumer, the consumers opinions, experiences and concern counts for little if anything so long as there is money to be made on the repair. This is where buying low mileage used cars can be an issue, cars covering higher mileage experience such faults early in their life, often while still under warranty and are therefore resolved whereas a low mileage car doesnt encounter the fault until later in its life an out of warranty. This is where the morality of the manufacturer comes into play. While digressing slightly I have to say that Diahatsu seem to be the best manufacturer for supporting its customers. My wife had a Diahatsu Copen, very low mileage, the rear exhaust box fell off, quick google search showed it to be a known fault that Diahatsu replaced under warranty, our car was out of warranty but one email to Diahatsu and they arranged replacement free of charge. At 6 years old we had rust bubbles appearing on all 4 wheel arches, they had been repaired once under 6 year anti corrosion warranty and started bubbling again. We wrote to Diahatsu asking if, as it was a known issue, they would consider extending the bodywork warranty to cover re-occurrences of the issue. Within 30 minutes we received an email reply advising us to book it into out Diahatsu dealership where they woulkd arrange to have all four wings replaced and sprayed at no charge.which I know cost them £1,600 plus vat. No heavy handed complaints from us just a polite email raising the issue. Now thats what I call customer care. Unfortunately, the Diahatsu dealership (Maple Garage in Hull) tried to rip us and Diahatsu off by claiming to have replaced all the panels but actually just resprayed the originals and kept the panels for themselves. They actually lied to Diahatsu submitting an invoice for having replaced the panels and spraying them, weeks before the car was even taken in to them. Again an example of the lengths some dealerships are prepared to go to to rip you off, they even had the audacity to charge us for waxoyling the panels (that they hadnt actually replaced) saying that Diahatsu had refused to pay them any more money to cover the waxoyl. So my advice, be wary of any dealer but avoid Maple Garage in Hull like the plague, amazingly they have a number of dealer franchises, I dont think Diahatsu any more, but they even do all the servicing for the local police vehicles. Lets just hope their experience of Maple Garage is a more honest one than ours. Sorry for ranting off topic...

Disguise it with one of these... http://www.disneystore.com/car-accessories-home-decor-mickey-mouse-antenna-topper-set-all-holidays/mp/1345375/1000364/

I wish I had a decent Indy near me!

Same here, an air con compressor for my LS430, £50 + £10 delivery, in perfect working order.

I don't think you can change individual cells in the traction battery. There's a guy in Northampton does a reconditioned unit for £800, so it needs to be at least £1000 below book price.

Why not see if you get in there and fix it.......your kids will love you forever.....not that they wouldn't anyway!!It was easy enough to get the rear section off, just need a plastic pry tool to go round the edgesSent from my SM-T320 using Tapatalk

Why not see if you get in there and fix it.......your kids will love you forever.....not that they wouldn't anyway!!

how much are you asking for it and does it has service history ............................ only kidding lol! nice low mileage car

cant drive anything else now hahaha!

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/8859-introductions/page-21#entry921275

Hello folks, Jumping in a bit late here and apologies for that. My only negative point on my 600h is the small boot but it is a small price to pay for all the pluses, unlike on the GS450h I once had for a week before I realised my error and returned it to get back into the RX400h I had traded in. I did not get on with the stiff suspension on the 450h on our rough roads. The 600h is super smooth, like the 430 and 460. Quite frankly I would be happy with any of these cars. I do not find parking an issue, partly because I tend to be picky on where I park anyway but I have been in fairly tight car parks - Bentalls Centre Kingston, for example, and it was a breeze. The lack of anti roll bars on the 600h L might be a problem for those who like to test bends at high speed. For me, I like long drives on the continent and the car is perfect for that. I can get up 4am Saturday morning, drive to Follkwstone to get on the 6:20am train to Calais and then run the car in Brussels for 10am and get back Sunday evening and Feel as if I spent the weekend at home on Monday morning . Driving to Rome or Nice is not a bother in this car. (We won't talk about the petrol bills but 32MPG is pretty good in a 5 litre V8) I love the RX400h too and is equally impressive in different ways. I am biased though, I just like Lexus, especially the service excellence the dealers provide. I do have a very soft spot for the Mercedes S class and CL too but the dealers really ruin that experience as do the reliability of Mercs compared to Lexus.