Leaderboard

Thanks all - I really appreciated your collective wisdom and advise and the guides. I did it - bought the 2011 Lexus IS Advance in the end over the SR (it still had the nail in the tyre after last year's MOT). The Advance has everything I wanted except for the paddle shifters but it wasn't a deal breaker. The car has 50k on it, but last year the previous owner paid 500 pounds for service that included change of spark plugs, oil change (synthetic 5/30 Longlife 3), new filters (air and pollen), new battery (Bosch with 4 year warranty), and break fluid change. And 2 years ago he spent 300 pounds to purchase GardX treatment for the car's interior and exterior to protect the paint and leather. So I figured with service done and the protection kit, its not a bad deal. I hope I made the right choice. It was so much fun driving it home - quiet, refined, comfortable and the V6 has such smooth torque delivery. I don't think we will go back to German cars after this. Now I am purchasing rubber floor mats, a rubber trunk mat, car seat protectors, and car seat kick mats - I need to preserve this car! Cheers all!

My route to and from work and home is on motorway with a stretch each way that goes from two lanes to three uphill both ways ... i usually take things steady until reach these uphill 3 lanes then have a bit of fun accelerating up the hill... ...all I can say is it is not sluggish in the least and can quickly go from 50mph to ... err... let's just say license loosing speed ... uphill.

Mmmmmmmm.

(as an addendum to that - we took our dog out to the beach yesterday in the IS300h, and he threw up all the sea water he'd been gulping due to the heat all over the back seat. Was fixed with a quick wipe with some kitchen towels on the leather)

There is a black tube sits along the front these sensors clip into. It activates the pop up hood I think it's called pressure tube

Hi, I’ve just bought this car, wish me luck! First-time Lexus owner. Pick it up next week - cannot wait - especially as I’m moving from an 8-seater MPV 😂

Thanks for the help Barry14UK i scaned for the fault cods using a Teachstream and its all clear. I will need to take to a test drive my brothers in law RX and see if it is the same. Lager shandy the battery was charged and yes the nx is lighter but you have extra power and 2 more cylinders on the rx Herbie this is my first Lexus but i have it for allmost 1 year and i am a motor/motorcycle guy. What i want to see if the rest of rx's feels the same, if on motorway i give it full gas its like a slipping cluch but if you use 3/4 of acceleration you can feel the power been used better. Maybe it's just me and i was expecting to get the same feeling from low speed and at the moment i think its not safe to overtake. I love the car under 60/70 mph

My Celsior has wool and to be honest it's so much nicer than leather, it's like sitting in your favourite armchair, and two days ago when it was 32degrees I really appreciated it. It's also very nice on a cold winter morning.

From what I understand with Japan being a fairly hot country wool is preferred because leather would soon expire because of the heat and sitting on a hot leather seat is not a pleasant experience. Those that do have leather seats tend not to be heated. Same with the sunroof these again are not favoured in Japan as glass will allow the heat to pass through into the cabin whereas a steel roof will tend to reflect it or dissipate it.

Mandalay

I had installed the original GFX boot spoiler (The one that comes with the SR edition). I had that for about 11 years. Recently upgraded it the wald style one which I felt suited my VLAND rear lights better. Below are a few pics. FIrst pic is of the GFX spoiler and the other two are the WALD style spoiler.

Every sump plug I've come across had a washer, which should be renewed each time it's undone.

Hi Paul The first LS 400s in the uk had no options, the offer was an all up full specification my 1990 mark 1 was the 65th car to be imported and according to my Toyota / Lexus dealership as they were up to the late 90s that specification was exclusive to the UK. I think there were several reasons for not offering more options the main one was the dealership set up and why they eventually forced a exclusive Lexus dealership on the franchisees' .

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202006230429265?radius=1500&advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=11000&model=RX%20450H&year-from=2010&sort=year-desc&postcode=l149lr&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&make=LEXUS&page=1 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202003188559824?radius=1500&advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=11000&model=RX%20450H&year-from=2010&sort=year-desc&postcode=l149lr&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&make=LEXUS&page=1 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202006109994175?radius=1500&advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=11000&model=RX%20450H&year-from=2010&sort=year-desc&postcode=l149lr&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&make=LEXUS&page=1 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202001085922215?radius=1500&advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=11000&model=RX%20450H&year-from=2010&sort=year-desc&postcode=l149lr&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&make=LEXUS&page=1 Couple more options for you, try hanggeling as its a buyers market.

This is like advice of top up in my opinion, after putting 100g of refrigerant and 8 grams of oil air con was blowing cold air only on passenger side and compressor was quite loud. Filling up system with 430g of R134 and much more oil (but much less than spec sheet from my original post) aircon is blowing ice cold and compressor work is quiet.

I always pick FedEx when I buy from Rockauto, and I know they may be a tad expensive but they are brilliant. I ordered my parts this week, VAT paid, which is what I always do, and the tracking is also excellent.

Hi All Here is the update on my Lexus RX 450H F Sport, tow bar fitting of the under tray/tyres. The dealership now have after me standing firm about the tyres decided to fit new tyres, that's after their so called care consultant came out and said ,WHAT' WRONG WITH THEM THEN ,I'D DRIVE ON THEM ALL DAY LONG ON MY CAR !. It was only after he walked off looking smug with himself ,that I asked my salesman for his name and position that's when the salesman said wait ill talk to the dealership principal , within minutes they changed their minds to fit new tyres and under tray and wash and valet the car properly. "sounds good" is it me or what , yes they have done a really better job but still look at the gap behind the toe bar socket box their said it has been done to specifications , but surely any good fitter would check and see that it's still leaving a big gap and just not cut so much out ???? see pic's I asked for the off cut's minutes after them sending me the pic's so I could fill in the gap , but their seem to have gone with the rubbish already ! Yes I will except it now , but as someone said earlier £1200 is a lot of money for a tow bar you would a least expect a perfect job from a main dealer.

Got up early this morning with the camera while the light was good and the car clean.

Thanks for the input. I had to leave my PC straight after posting this but thought " one more go" so turned on the ignition, engine off, got in the back with all doors shut pressed the button down, nowt, tried it up and the window went up. I know Lexus are good but are they magic. Anyhow, problem solved, leave well alone. MOT this Thursday, will report back.

Aircon purged, tested and re gassed this afternoon. Everything checked out and works fine. Because it was a new compressor it needed to be run for 15mins, bit like running in a new engine. Total cost with new compressor, diags, de gas and then re gas (3 visits by Aircon guy) is £390. I have to be pretty happy with that.

Maybe clutch slip ?

Well its made no further progress so we will see what we get on Monday. Quickest I have ever received anything from the States was 60 hrs, I was gobsmacked. Further misery, had to go to the vets to pick up tablets for our border collie who suffers from fits. They had a strange thing going on so that unless it was a matter of life and death owners will not come face to face with the medical staff, you ring them when you have got there, well that's enough of the background, their car parks were full and of course turning my LS around was going to be challenging but we were doing OK until I forgot that they have a very high kerb and it loves nothing better than rip your bumpers off. The search is on. If anyone knows of any one point them in my direction please.