Leaderboard

Well, after 5+ years with a CT and the same before that with an IS, I have succumbed to the dreaded SUV. A mercury metallic 2018 Luxury has stolen my wallet. It is the first used Lexus I have bought since a not great experience with an IS220d that used to stink of exhaust on the motorway and had a gearbox like a truck. In fact it was from a Toyota truck. However, time passes and my agility is not what it was. The CT is a very good motor but getting in and out had become a chore plus the fact that while I appreciated the economy and cruising around Norfolk is OK, the CT performance is lacking in acceleration on anything like a hill if you want to safely overtake a push bike. The other factor is the CT ride which although it has improved a lot and the car now has better seats, no-one can say it is really good. Let’s be honest, all good valid excuses for looking at a new motor.😀 So, the NX got a test drive. It really is super to drive isn’t it? I just got in and felt right at home straightaway. Dead easy to get in and out and, for an SUV, very comfy especially the seats. I have not mastered the widescreen TV yet but it looks basically similar to the CT Premier screen but in high res. I have never been a great fan of SUV styling but the NX is as good as you will get. The detailing is well thought out. I like the wheel arches for example, they don’t bulge and make the car unnecessarily wider just for fashion. It is BIG after a CT but on the move from behind the wheel it doesn’t feel it. When you get out and have look though - there is a lot of metal and plastic there. I can hear voices saying “Silly devil, why didn’t he get a UX?” Well, the only UX I could get for a little more that the same money I paid for the NX Luxury would have to be a base model. To get this Luxury level of trim on a new UX would be outside my price range, hence the used NX is very good value with less that 10k on the clock even if it is probably a size too big. One other factor is that UX is a brand new model and I have always liked to give a new model at least a year for obvious niggles to be ironed out, even on a Lexus. The ride is good, I love driving it. The steering is light but well weighted. I soon realised this is a very heavy car. It takes a good squash of the pedal to stop the forward motion. Once you know that though it can work to your advantage as a hybrid driver. The coasting distance when you lift off the pedal is huge on a flat road and it goes on forever down even a slight gradient. All that time that little green light is on but you are not holding up the driver behind like people did in a Mk 1 Prius. Economy so far is low 40s, we shall see what happens over a period of mixed Norfolk use. The cruising is quiet at 70+ apart from the tyre noise. I cured this quite well and improved the ride in the CT with some Michelin cross climates. Might try the same here eventually. The acceleration, particularly mid-range, is good too. There is bags of power there to swoop past even an electric bike on the hills. So far I have only done one cross country trip and the car just did absolutely everything a driver could want. Even sitting in a roadworks jam in an NX is a pleasure. 😄

Hi Everyone Wiring diagram as requested! SC430 wiring.pdf

Hi Everyone, just thought I would share how I have upgraded the in car entertainment of my SC 430. First I did not want to replace or modify the dash in any way. I have seen pictures of people who have pulled the factory fitted stereos and replaced them with aftermarket kit and, just no. So the driver behind all this was to see what could be made of the factory fitted equipment. I started the design around the Naviks kit and it was a case of what can it do and how can I enhance the car. There was no real primary objective, a case of doing it because you can. Shopping list: Zyxel N300 4G LTE SIM Slot Unlocked Wi-Fi Dual Band Router [LTE3302] (Amazon) Google Chromecast (had in stock) NAVIKS 2002 - 2009 Lexus SC 430 (Z40) HDMI Video Interface (NK-2300) (Direct from NAVIKS) Rewire GPS Tracker (had in stock) 12-Way Blade Fuse Block W/Negative Bus (Amazon) 2 of AUTO-VOX Reverse Camera 480TVL Color HD Car Rear View Backup Camera (Amazon) USB Car 45W 9A 5-Port 12volt (Amazon) Veba AVFM-MOD08 Wireless FM Modulator Transmitter (ebay) Wireless Remote Control Switch DC12V-48V 2CH Relay Receiver & RF Transmitter (ebay) Heschen Timer Delay Relay H3Y-2 12VDC 0-3 Minute 250VAC 5A 8Pin terminal DPDT with DYF08 35mm DIN Rail Socket Base (Amazon) Various cables and connectors as needed Power: Starting with the need for power, in the black box on the left in the boot is a permanent supply and neutral. I took a feed from that and wired it to common and NC of the relay. Positive is a bolted connection, neutral was a strip and solder. Wired pin 18 and 17 from the Navigation ECU plug to switch the relay on when the car is started. Why a relay? The kit will pull quite a bit of current at start The above kit won't hang off pin 17/18 of the ECU plug For neatness Time delay. Pulling that amount of power at engine start and while the power has not settled down I wanted to avoid. Wired the NC from the relay and the neutral to the 12-way fuse block. Result: I had a hard wired fuse block that was switched from ignition with a delay of 4 seconds. Wired into this: Reversing camera Forward facing camera NAViks USB 12v x 5 port adaptor Veba modulator Wireless remote Rewire tracker GPS tracker: All my vehicles have GPS trackers, rewire is a standard tracker just needing a SIM card and 12v. I also use gpsgate software as it is enterprise level software and yet they give you 5 free licenses. NAVIKS: This has three inputs: HDMI, plugged the Chromecast into that, and as that needed USB, the 12v USB adaptor was used. Chromecast also needs internet. This is where the Zyxel N300 router comes in, using a 4G sim card, gives internet access and as the Zyxel is powered by USB, so plugged into the 12v USB adaptor. CAR Reversing camera: Connect the reversing camera to this with the positive of the reversing lights. AV in: Connected this to the front facing camera. Has AV out. This was connected to the Veba FM modulator with that set to an odd channel (most FM channels broadcast on even channels). The Naviks sends the HDMI and AV in to the AV out connectors. Selection button: The Naviks has a channel selector button on a shortish cable, instead of wiring all the way to the dash, I am using a wireless remote control switch. Gives me: Reversing camera Chromecast, so stream my phone to the display such as spotify, netflix (only when parked), google maps etc. Front facing camera Internet access GPS tracker I have not replaced any part of the cars original OEM equipment Not touched the dashboard Other add-ons I am considering: A NVR to constantly record both front and rear cameras where the footage can be downloaded to an Android phone. Build pictures: I did take them, but all you see as the project progressed was wires, wires and more wires. I did use cable tape to make things neat, just thought I would share what can be done.

Buy a one way train ticket, tell yourself you're not going to buy the first car you see, hand over the money and then drive it back home up the M1. Job done

Well it arrived today. Like all these things not without incident if I'm involved. Luckily 2 brilliant guys delivered it. First probletwhen unpacked was that the base was scrap as the forklift in the warehouse had crushed one lower corner beyond redemption. 1 1/2 hours later new base arrived. Men had kindly fixed the wheels on to move it easily. It is MEGA HEAVY. Having greased their palms with good old spondooliks, they agreed to help fit the top cupboards. WARNING THIS IS A 3 MAN Job. An hour of graft and job was a good un. Don't think that this is a click and collect item unless you have a wagon with a tail lift. It was assembled in my car port and only just squeezed through the height of the garage door. Fabulous quality for the price and looks great.

Well I took my wife yesterday to Homebase to buy a small tin of outside paint. She has been talking recently about getting some more storage space in the garage for household items to free up cupboard space in the house. Well we encountered a very stylish garage Workstation unit with stainless finish drawers and cupboards. Drawers run nicely and are all lined in black foam. A nice wooden worktop finishes it off nicely. At £749 it's exceptionally good value compared to other tool units and is huge at 72 inches long. Sadly I have spent this afternoon moving everything to fit it in when it arrives on Monday 😂😂😂

Ok, unsure if i can post links, so search ebay for auction number 323364525091 this is a remote relay. I stuck the clicker on the dash. and yes brought the naviks direct from the US.

You need to get the error code(s) read to determine the cause of the issue. There are multiple causes for those lights to come on. Resetting the errors without fixing the issue will only result in the lights coming back on again.

Take a look here which may also help: https://lexus.7zap.com/en/eu/lexus+rx/521220/mcu35r-awagkw/4/8401/ Worth checking all your fuses if you have multiple issues - not only the fuses boxes in the cabin but also in the engine bay.

I chose the sender I did as it is a large chunk of tin and better than the cheap things. I also needed something that did not require human intervention with an on/off switch. Regards channel, I am using 87.5 and that seems OK at the moment. Regards diagram, will dig the crayons out later (haha)

Near-side and off-side are different, of course, it was just my ignorance showing. In the outcome I've ordered two from Paul Frost, to be delivered Friday. He deals in what is nowadays called 'pre-loved' in other circles, but I hope none the worse for that. I paid £235 inc. delivery versus over £700 from Lexus, so I'm quids in. The symptoms were a knocking from underneath the car on turning rapidly or on a bumpy surface. The MoT test showed up the culprits, and it's a 'fail' issue so can't be ignored. Thanks to all for your advice.

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to post this up! I will take a look at my panel now! [emoji3] [emoji1303] Sent from my G8142 using Tapatalk

I do. But as you say, sometimes you have no choice. I am an ocean of calm now but while I was still annoyed last night the branch got both barrels via their "how did we do?" link on the receipt.

Travelling often pays dividends. The furthest distance for me was over 400 miles, but the dealer did drive it to their local branch (Carlisle to Bristol). Strangely the car had previously lived in London.

I live in south Wales near Carmarthen and my 3 Lexus to date have been bought from Mansfield, Southport and Wolverhampton. Every one of them a one-way train ticket. Good luck with your search.

You have to be prepared to travel for the good ones. We travelled over 200 miles to get our RX300 and it was well worth it. When we decided to change it if we could find the right replacement, we saw a car advertised at Lexus Teeside which is over 100 miles away but due to the route it takes about 2 hours 10 minutes. Again, it was well worth it and we came back in our RX450h that same day!

A common problem with the suspension pump is that the rubber mounts wear allowing metal to metal contact which results in increased noise in the cabin.

Hey Guys, I really like the LC500 and would love to own an LC (IS owner atm). I love how unique the LC is and I made a short video on some of my favourite design elements if anyone is keen to explore the LC? Thomas 🙂

Yep, perfectly normal. You should also notice that, because hot air rises and cold air falls, the airflow will start with the face vents so that it cools the cabin as it falls. In winter you'll notice the opposite; warm air will come from the footwell first so that it warms the cabin as it rises.

True of engine driven AC systems, but not the case with hybrids where the compressor is driven by a 3 phase electric motor housed, and sealed in the same container as the compressor. This means there is no rotating shaft with seal to dry out allowing possible leakage of the gasses used. The only seals in the system are "O" rings on the pipe joints that do not dry out. The biggest problem is the vulnerability of the condensers to stone damage as they are generally mounted without any sort of protection from road debris, and are punctured easily. John.