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Hello everyone. I've recently bought an old (2006) RX400h and thought I'd share my first impressions (and a few solutions). Things I love: Very easy to drive and park - My wife doesn't feel she's driving a bigger car which was one of the selling points for us. Our family is getting bigger and we needed something more practical Efficiency - We live on the outskirts of London and most of our journeys are short (distance wise) stop start journeys. Over the first 10 days I've averaged 31mpg, with lots of short journeys, a quick blast on the motorway and hauling paving blocks from the garden centre. I think that's great for a car of this size and weight. I'm using shell V-Power btw. Not sure on people opinions on fuel types (I'm sure there's a topic on it somewhere) Gearbox/hybrid combo - I wasn't sure what I was going to make of the CVT. On the one hand I've always liked manual cars and finding the best/optimum gear to give me the torque. However, for a hybrid of this nature.. I think the smoothness of the CVT really suit it. It makes absolute sense to me For a 10 year old car it still looks relatively modern Things that annoyed me/us: The tailgate didn't stay up and the auto tailgate didn't work either. I ordered and changed the gas struts and this sorted this out. I've written the guide here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/tutorials/article/245-replacing-tailgate-gas-struts-lexus-rx300350400h/ Sat Nav is old. OK I never expected a 10 year old car to have upto date in car technology but the lack of full postcode and being able to operate it moving was really bad. I purchased a new (2016) updated disc from eBay which works perfectly. however the routing is still not a patch on googlemaps No AUX port - I was really surprised by this! I find it shocking that something that should be standard on all cars was missing from this premium SUV. I've rectified it with an iphone/AUX kit. I wrote a guide here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/tutorials/article/244-iphone-lightning-ipod-and-aux-connector-for-rx400h/ iPhone integration - Although I can connect the iphone for voice calls via bluetooth. I couldn't sync the contacts. I found a way around this however. I exported my icloud contacts to a file and uploaded the to my google contacts list. I was then able to pair my android tablet and upload my entire address book. However, I had to remove all spaces from all my phone numbers for them to import correctly which was annoying. The other annoyance is having to manually switch paired phones.. when my wife and I use the car. Reverse Camera - I've actually got used to this but my wife didn't really like it. So I retro fitted some reverse sensors at the cost of £12!!! It was well worth it and I've written a guide here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/tutorials/article/246-installing-reverse-sensors-rx400h/ However even despite the small annoyances (many of which have been rectified), I think it's a great vehicle. The feeling of pulling away silently yet still being able to put your foot down to boot it is great.

Be on it, just finishing 10 days in the sun with the family and without my new car :(

They are more expensive because they are very different to a Halogen bulb. They are also vastly superior to halogen bulbs.These are often referred to as HID bulbs - High-Intensity Discharge. Your old halogens that you are familiar will look something like this Whereas the HID bulb will look something like this Quote from Wiki "High-intensity discharge lamps (HID lamps) are a type of electrical gas-discharge lamp which produces light by means of an electric arc between tungsten electrodes housed inside a translucent or transparent fused quartz or fused alumina arc tube. This tube is filled with both gas and metal salts. The gas facilitates the arc's initial strike. Once the arc is started, it heats and evaporates the metal salts forming plasma, which greatly increases the intensity of light produced by the arc and reduces its power consumption. High-intensity discharge lamps are a type of arc lamp. Brand new high-intensity discharge lamps make more visible light per unit of electric power consumed than fluorescent and incandescent lamps since a greater proportion of their radiation is visible light in contrast to infrared. However, the lumen output of HID lighting can deteriorate by up to 70% over 10,000 burning hours." That last sentence is worth noting in the sense that they do deteriorate. That Amazon price is pretty darned good. You will often see them at £120 a pair. If you can change a Halogen bulb then you can change a HID bulb. You just need to take more precautions and care eg DISCONNECT the Battery. That's why there is a warning "Risk of electric shock" on the bulb cover plate. You can get it done at a garage by all means ...I've heard of one neighbour's friend paying £300 for 1 bulb to be changed!!!! The offside is easy, so do that first. The nearside is a little more tricky due to restricted space. There is a guide I put up for Halogen bulbs which will give you some clues for the nearside bulb and bits you need to move aside. There are plenty of useful videos on Youtube...even some dedicated to the Lexus IS250. Just remember to disconnect the battery and follow the advices given. Watch a few, they give useful insights and tips. You will also learn how to remove/replace the air filter. Remember, when you reconnect your battery you will need to resync/initialize your window controllers. Take a read here :- In fact this "How to" section is a very useful resource to make use of. Noobie has done some sterling work on brakes.

It's sometimes uneconomical to repair small leaks, I'm aware of the annoyance and possible marks on your drive. If it's a drip that doesn't even affect the oil level is it worth paying large amounts of money for it repaired?

Guys, just been browsing this ( as one does ) and thought it might be useful on here Malc How can you check your tyre age? The information about a tyre age is given on the sidewall.It is coded in the number beginning with DOT (Department of Transport).The last four digits in the DOT number denote the week and year of production. 3608 means a tyre manufactured in the 36th week of 2008. If the code at the end has only three digits, it means that the tyre was manufactured before 2000, e.g.529 means a tyre manufactured in the 52nd week of 1999. What is the safe tyre age? With proper maintenance and storage, most road tyres may be used for 5 to 8 years. When can a tyre be considered in perfect condition? In terms of selling and buying new tyres, only tyres no older than 36 months from the date of production may be considered to be in perfect condition so, older tyres shouldn’t be sold. You also shouldn’t use tyres which are older than 10 years even if they are not worn.

It would be helpful if you shared the diagnosis.

I had the exact same symptoms as you. I went for the Osram Xenarc Cool Blue. Ignore the name, they are not blue, but so much better (brighter) than the Philips OEM bulbs. I'm very happy with them and advise that you replace both bulbs. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OGS4K30/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1OD8NTYX4YCOE&coliid=I3HS0Y1UH93ZU&psc=1

I can confirm that the instructions given by Redsteve work fine. I had to use it when my battery was disconnected to change the cambelt. The previous owner had set a code which I didn't have so this method resets the whole thing and turns the code off. It's the sort of thing Lexus would probably charge about £50 for 2 minutes pressing buttons!!!

Thank you for the welcome. Some pics as requested ;)