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Thankfully driving again after 4 weeks. New to me, a 2018 LS500h. Wash & Brush up so a few pics(probably too many)

A few of my latest mods, suspension upgrade coming on the 2nd September. More pics to follow then. The compression on this website kills the picture quality though 😢

Just goes to show there's no need to buy most spares from a Lexus dealer. The washer pump at £11 is a ruddy bargain.

Don't worry Herbs, this is my 7th LS over the last 16 years. Usually about 10k miles per year and still get a buzz every time I drive.

I think this fusebox is behind the glove compartment but not totally sure, but it's the fourth fuse from the left, bottom row:

Whilst looking in Google news world I came across a Swedish build electric dumper truck based on a komatsu model. It's called the E Truck. Weighs 45 ton empty but carries 65 ton. The magic of this truck is it never needs to be charged. How? Regenerative braking. It goes downhill fully loaded and regen's more power than is needed to get back up the hill empty. Is that brilliant or what?

One of the big factors in me getting an RX450h some six months ago was using my previous Toyota Avensis 1.8 petrol on last year's holiday. It safely and comfortably got us around, but the torque-less engine didn't cope well with four passengers and lots of luggage on the mountains and hills of France, and all the time I was driving it I kept thinking how much nicer something like a big Lexus would be. I part-exchanged the Toyota after less than a year, losing a predictably unhealthy amount, so did the experience of using the RX on this year's French holiday prove this to be worthwhile?.... In short, yes! I ended up almost doubling the mileage I've done since getting it back in February, and the intensive use of it over the two weeks of my holiday showed it to be something I'd like to keep for a good while. What follows is a bit of a review of my experience. Started off with packing the car on the hottest day of the year, ready for the start of our journey the next day. Boot didn’t appear to be quite as large as Avensis, but still took two cases, 12v fridge box and bags of food, books etc with cover pulled across and rear seats slid slightly forwards. I never like the idea of driving a long way with clobber piled-up inside the rear window and limiting visibility. Despite all the extra weight it didn't appear to squat down at the rear as all my previous cars did (normal hatchbacks and estates like Primera, Accord and Avensis). Uneventful first leg down to Newhaven straight after finishing work on Friday. After experimenting with different routes and timings we’ve settled on the night-time crossing to Dieppe, getting a few hours of sleep on the ferry and getting to France for an early start the next morning. In previous years we’re broken the journey up with an overnight stop or two and relaxed driving on the rural D-roads, but this year we had a 520-odd mile trek down to our accommodation in one day. The RX coped very well with this, of course. The 81mph speed limit and generally emptier roads meant extended use of the cruise control which was an interesting experience as it's not something I can use in Norfolk/Suffolk. It's clear that most other drivers are doing the same, setting it very close to the 130kmh limit, and the minimal difference in speed makes for a much smoother, safer drive. Possibly not as economical overall, but amusing when the downhill stretches were steep enough to shut the engine down and go into full charge mode. The engine was surprisingly audible when climbing some of the hills, but in general the ability of the hybrid and CVT to let the engine run at a slow speed made for a very relaxed drive. Much of the time on slower roads the 12v fridge made more noise than anything else. The ability to quickly pick-up speed was much appreciated when joining the fast-running autoroutes, particularly with the tight radius ‘on’ curves and generally shorter sliproads meaning that getting back into the flow needs to be done in a decisive manner. It was also much more pleasant than the Avensis to have plenty of power when driving up the steeper hills. It took us around 14 hours to cover that long drive down on the first day, with a cross-country stretch of D-road driving to get between autoroutes and various stops for food, fuel and the odd catnap. All on board found it very comfortable, with my teenage children sleeping for much of the journey and my wife finding the more upright seating position much better than the Avensis. As well as comfort levels, factors such as good visibility and large mirrors made for a stress-free experience. Some sections of the autoroute on the way down were quite rainy, and the smooth asphalt surface generated a lot of spray, but the RX always felt secure and composed. No issue with my choice of Michelin CrossClimates recently fitted to the front, if finances permit I’d like to get the rears done before winter even though the Dunlops it currently has were new when I bought it. The CVT always being in the right ‘gear’ was appreciated on unfamiliar roads, in towns, when stuck in a queue on the autoroute etc, even more so than a conventional auto with its need to kickdown. As we have done before the map was used for position finding only in conjunction with a real, printed atlas (remember them?!). In this role it worked well, it was useful to be able to see upcoming bends and road layouts, and to find petrol stations, but not be a slave to the sat-nav. I don't think it could cope with my photo opportunity stops, detours and turnarounds.... The recently-introduced, slower 50mph speed limit on D-roads was a little frustrating on the long, straight roads in the north, but less of an issue in the hilly countryside of the Tarn et Garonne department where we stayed for our fortnight. Ride and handling was ideal and even on smaller roads the RX didn’t feel too unwieldy. I find the turning circle to be surprisingly tight, useful when getting around small villages and when turning round for a random photo opportunity. When I’m on holiday I usually take a few photos of old/interesting/unusual/rubbish cars (by few I mean several hundred). The extra bit of height and visibility was certainly useful to see things worth stopping for, and my family had a comfortable place to sit in a random gateway or street while I wandered off to get a photo or two. As I hadn’t used my RX on long trips like this before I was interested to see how it would fare on economy. Lowest I remember seeing was 28-29mpg on one tankful on the way down, but with cruise control on the relatively empty, flattish northern autoroutes I more usually got 31-33. When I’d filled-up off the autoroute and driven only on D-roads at 50-odd mph then I saw 40-41mpg after as much as 60 miles – I doubt the Avensis I took last year would have done as well as that, and it really tumbled when doing 80-odd on the autoroutes or when driving in the hills and mountains. Our journey home was pretty much a repeat of the way down, but with an overnight stop in Normandy at a great B&B to delay getting back home for as long as possible. We used the Eurotunnel to get back to the UK, as timings of the Dieppe-Newhaven ferry don’t work so well for us. Driving back home on the M20/M25/A12 was as awful as it seems to be every year, with lots of queues, roadworks and much lower standards of driving. Was there anything I didn’t like, or that annoyed me after this period of intensive use? First would be the lack of a simple button to turn the A/C on/off. Only other thing of significance is the keyless entry and start/stop. I’m happy to still use a remote button to unlock, there are very few occasions where it’s less convenient to do that than touch the door handle, and there are times when it didn’t ‘start’ (i.e. go into ready mode) despite me being as careful as I can be about pressing the brake pedal when I push the start button. I don't think there's a fault, it's just my lousy co-ordination. With it being initially silent I would then sometimes try and pull away, then realise that I had no drive or PAS. The twist of a key would be much more positive.... Lexus seems to be a much less common brand in France than the UK, but then that appears to be the case with most Japanese makes. I saw a UK-registered pre-facelift RX450 on the autoroute, a French F-Sport and an RX300. There was the occasional NX, CT, RC and IS, some of them belonging to Dutch and Belgian holidaymakers. Most surprising to see was a French-registered Mk1 LS400, which I just about managed to catch on the dashcam. Didn’t see any 4th gen RX at all, whether French or British. Is there a conclusion to this review? Just that the RX happily met my expectations and, as someone who enjoys cars and driving, it made the holiday even more pleasurable for me. It was roomy, comfortable, capable and relaxing, and economy was tolerable for the performance and capabilities it offered. I can’t see that a 4th gen model would do anything much better and at the end of my PCP I will think strongly about keeping this one, even if it’s as a second car to something more economical for day-to-day use.

hi thanks tried that all seems well now, wouldn't have that will put on some pictures of my car tomorrow thanks again that's great

I have an MOT and service next week so I checked my rear brake caliper pins. I last did them 18 months and 10k miles ago. They were all moving freely. I had used ProSlip Pin Pad and Clip (https://www.amazon.co.uk/ProSlip-Caliper-Lubricant-Toyota-Mercedes/dp/B07886FP12/ref=sr_1_1?crid=115380ERMK3HS&keywords=proslip+pin&qid=1566767679&s=gateway&sprefix=Proslip%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-1) which I have mentioned on these forums before. I have no connection with the company other than as a very satisfied customer. Only a few posts back somebody had used the wrong greases and their pins were in trouble. John

A few weeks ago had the rear tyres replaced with avon ZV7 and passed the MOT with no advisories and now nearly on 185,000. Had fronts done in April as one tire puncture repaired 5 times and leaking slowly, so had fronts replaced. They are much more quiet that the goodyear efficient grip that were 3-4 years old. Around 14 months ago installed a new air con condenser to my 2006 IS 220D and in the last very hot spell felt the AC wasn't as cold as it was. Had it on the machine and re-gassed after evacuation and pressure test. Now lovely ice cold on the drivers side as well. Perfect in this weather! James.

I agree. Thanks for the advice. I will definitely follow that up. I have been using thick blanket material as a protector. The Lexus leather seats are incredibly comfortable and the soft leather is great. It was just a surprise to find they needed a seat protector when the same childseats were fine in my previous car. Its a useful warning to others.

Only if you bring down 65 tons of rock, and how much fuel would you need to load it? John.

You need to use a seat protector underneath the car seat or car seat adaptor. I’ve tried both the Maxi Cosi and Diono brands and minimal indentations were left when the seats were removed which fully recovered with out any intervention within a day. No problems with the Lexus leather what so ever.

And what was wrong with the other six Graham ??

Now that is a beautiful car! I hope you're not someone who only does about 3k miles a year, but rather a person who will use it often and enjoy it to the full, because that is quite spectacular.

Many thanks Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Check here

Cool, @NothernDan! Real badass looking car! 😎

A few more close ups. The resulting look is very similar to the new Civic Type R which I know gets very divided opinions. I'm in the "I love it" camp. Looks badass in the flesh.

there you go https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/05-09-LEXUS-IS250-220d-OWNERS-MANUAL-HANDBOOK-PACK-NAVIGATION-BOOK-AND-WALLET-CD/183905127959?hash=item2ad1998e17:g:TbMAAOSwS-FdQZn3

Nice to hear, looks like you struck lucky there btw you need to change your profile info or do you have an RX300 as well? You can download the manual for the navigation system here https://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/omnav-s/OM53515U/pdf/OM53515U.pdf If you need a physical copy I would have thought they would come up on ebay from time to time

Have a look at this one

This should help:

Jeff, my background was car Insurance accident damage so body shops were very familiar territory for me. All new cars with few exceptions have a lacquer top coat and it's this that will have swirls in it, not the underlying colour. Dirty and careless use of cleaning materials will cause marks in the lacquer coat. My car is Velvet Black, a solid paint colour which needs more looking after than any other. But to answer the question, whether it's 1 or 15 body panels the process is the same. My process is: Powerwash the bodywork. Use a neutral PH snow foam which loosens dirt. Power wash that off. Then wash the car with a wash mitt. I use a GTECH micro fibre type one. Have a bucket of clean fresh water next to your soapy wash bucket so you rinse out the mitt after you wash each panel. You need to reduce the risk of leaving dirt in the mitt so rinsing it constantly helps. Dry thoroughly with good quality micro fibre towels. Never use a chamois leather. Micro fibre is best. Clay bar each panel. Literally a clay bar lubricated by a clay bar solution which lifts microscopic contaminants you can't see but can feel with your hand. Wipe the clay bar solution off the panel, do only one panel at a time. The lacquer coat may require one or more of the following, cutting back the top coat with cutting compound, using a dual action polishing machine gives great results. They have a variable speed switch depending how fast you want to cut or polish, 2nd, a polishing process and then 3rd, a finishing process. . I use foam pads myself by choice and the harder the foam pad the more cutting power it has, the softer pads will be for ultra fine polishing and spreading the final stage polish. I use 3M cutting compounds and polishing products mainly but believe me there are hundreds if not thousands of aids to remove paint damage. After all polishing is done all the polish oils that have been left on the panel after you buff to a shine need to be removed. This is done by specific panel cleaners like Eco Pro Eraser. The panel is now bare with no protection. Then and only then do you apply a really high quality wax which seals and protects the paint. I use Collinite 845 a truly great liquid wax. Always always use the highest quality micro fibre towels for buffing off polish and waxes. Well Jeff you did ask. My car had numerous fine swirl damage in about 40% of the panels so I just did the whole car. Many people would not notice swirls except in bright sunlight when it catches the panel in a certain way. No good asking a dealer to sort swirl marks, they are not equipped or skilled or have the time to devote to the very damage they cause. Imagine what it's like in a dealer's cleaning dept just prior to September 1st and the rush to get ready numerous new cars.

Just in case anybody else finds themselves in this position I have just found the answer. I was entering a random destination whilst on my drive and when I selected start navigation I am told "Please proceed to highlighted route then navigation will start" it was at this point I was pressing the Lexus display audio control button then select the "three dot" symbol to get a menu with 1 Travel time and 2 Traffic bar. Mine only shows option 2 "Traffic bar " I now know that this was because I wasn't on the route !! Once on the route I could use the "Change route information" and had both options ,1 Travel time and 2 Traffic bar. To use the CHANGE ROUTE INFORMATION MENU you must be on a guidance route to get both options. I hope that makes sense....It was difficult to write down .!!!

After driving the Jeep for a year I have switched back to the LS and am going to stay with it! The Jeep looked good with some mods added to it, was 7 years newer and only had 66000 miles on the clock but - SERIOUSLY!! I have spent over £3000 on various repairs in one year and it's still in the garage. In fact I've spent more in repairs than what I paid for the LS in the first place. Very, very glad I never sold her and still love driving it. After letting the m.o.t expire last year I stuck some wiper blades on her as the others had perished, put it in for the m.o.t and it passed again with no advisories! I thought about upgrading to a newer year model but it's served me so well I'm just going to give her a bit of tlc and stick with it. I'm going to see if I can get the audio system repaired and the odd situation with the keys sorted as well. Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk