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Re: Wheels, Wheels, Wheels I like being the bearer of positive news so here goes. A couple of weeks ago I got my 2006 SC430 out of storage to use a a daily for the foreseeable. The car has done 70k and the wheels are showing their age so I wanted to refurb them. The challenge as always is getting wheels off and shipped and blah-blah, you know the rest! So I put out a call to see if anyone had a set of original wheels I could purchase to get refurbished. Happily former SC430 owner WESTIE (of this Parish) wanted to sell his wheels after selling his car, they are as new!! He contacted me yesterday with the offer, we agreed a price and I have just collected them!! That Ladies & Gentleman is what this Forum is all about, this is how we keep these great, underrated cars alive. I am one happy bunny. Thanks to WESTIE.

So sad to hear this about John's passing. I remember when I joined he was one of the first to welcome me and he Dm,d me informing how to use the forum. I hadn't clicked something and it wasn't posting. I rung him up to thank him most unusual for me to do this. A lady answered must have been Margaret, ill just get him for you. We had a chat a good chat put the world to right about cars dealers etc. We both had followed honest john over the years. Any how ill have to go now he said where did you get my number. From your DM i said ooh replied John. Massive contributor to this forum will be sadly missed thank you Sarah for posting. He will be reading the handbook now with a glass of Rioja to hand. Good to see forumites contributing well done all. RIP John.

Just seen this which is very sad. It’s people like John who make it such a pleasure to be in a group with a common interest. Condolences to his family for his loss. The Lexus community does seem to be made up of a lot of people like myself who are in their Twilight years who are a really nice bunch.

There are various aspects of the British legal system that are way out of touch, unfortunately, although I recognise that there is a complicated set of causes and balances in play. We don't appear to have a prison system that works - (other than permanent incarceration for the most serious offenders). Anything less than this, and the prisoners tend not to be reconciled and readjusted for a contributory return to society, but are returned, still disadvantaged, and determined/need/want to re-offend. (And we've not sufficient prison space available irrespective of whether it works, and so a proscribed period of prison is rarely served.) Meanwhile, the fiscal element of a lesser crime, such as driving without insurance, almost always attracts a fine of a lesser value than the likely cost of insurance - so there is little incentive for them to buy insurance in the first place (assuming that they could ever afford it in the first place. Vehicle "crime", in all its forms, would appear to be a highlight of the income gap between the 'haves and the have-nots', where the still quite large element of society continue to struggle to make ends meet financially (for a multitude of reasons), and yet they aspire to own those elements of life that make a difficult life more bearable, (cars/tv's etc etc) and therefore take risks to acquire them illegally. And, I believe that society has become much more lax in its standards since 'I were a lad', and there would appear to be a greater percentage of folks prepared to misbehave than ever before, and with ineffective sentencing/care/treatment, this is likely to deteriorate further. As owners of desirable vehicles, we are perceived to be amongst the "haves" of society, and that will incur distrust and envy amongst some that "don't have", which simply exacerbates the issues. Please don't think that I'm a tree-hugging, soft'n'squeezy, left-leaning luvvy - That I ain't, indeed the intolerance I have of law-breakers made it certain that I could never be a policeman, but as I've aged, I realise the complications that affect our society are compound and difficult. Hmm. Apologies for the rant.

This is Sarah Williams, John’s daughter although I think you all knew him better as Roy of the Rovers. Thank you for allowing me into the group and for all your messages of condolence which are hugely comforting at this very sad time. This community was an enormous part of Dad’s life and was very very important to him. As his health deteriorated and he couldn’t do much physically he spent longer and longer with his online friends. Being able to contribute to the group and help people out with their cars brought him so much joy - not least because his own children would regularly disregard his advice and buy totally unsuitable cars which he would then have to chastise us about! My husband (his son in law) has a mini. You can just imagine what he thought of that 😂. my mum, sister Liz and brother Andy and I are all keen to hear any stories you might have about him and find out more about the time he spent in this community so please do share your memories. We would be eternally grateful for them and they will help us get to know a different side of the totally wonderful amazing once in a kind human being we called Dad. I thought you might all like to see a photo of him - will try and share some of him with his cars in later days. if anyone would like to know about the funeral let me know and I will share details in here once we know. The staff at his local Lexus dealership have all said they are coming so I think we might need to arrange a Lexus procession to the service!

You know yesterday after reading this post i had the same question, went looking for the s flow button was the first time ever that i noticed that button. Thats what I appreciate about this forum the most. Its probably the only car forum where I have actually learnt and discovered new things.

I think it has a lot to do with the points made by Dave above. I would add a little bit more to that... so when it comes to prosecuting crimes there in my view are 3 layers - police (investigation and evidence), courts (judging the case) and laws (what are the actual penalties, sentences, burden of evidence). In my view all 3 are completely defective in UK or simply does not serve the purpose, or lacks flexibility. I would say one of the key failings of UK system is that it does not consider and does not have mechanisms to deal with the sc** of the earth types i.e. if you are normal, working and decent person, then existing legal system will crush you to death for minor mistake (like going 10 miles above speed limit), you get the fine, you get the points, you won't be able to insure with the points and you will end-up taking your own life away with sleeping pills (hyperbole). In short it will ruin your day, your week and your life for actually being decent person making minor mistake. However, if you are already a sc** who has no job, no insurance, has been in jail multiple times and you simply don't give a shaite about the law, because you have no work, no home, no family to lose - then they can't do anything to you. People like this goes to court and say - "f... you, I was driving drunk without insurance and I will continue doing it... what you going to put me in jail for that... go ahead"... and they get 6 month suspended sentence and £1000 fine which they not going to ever pay. The point is - law is not flexible enough to take care of them and I guess society at large has failed by allowing them to become what they are (and I have theories why it happens), the police knows that there aren't any real way to enforce the rules within the law, so they actually do not care to collect evidence and properly investigate, because honestly that would be waste of time anyway as the courts won't judge the case in the way that achieves anything, the end result when the case gets to the court the evidence is not great and 50% of the times crimes not even "proven beyond reasonable doubt" or when they are the sentencing does not reflect the crime. Two real examples here: 1. Truck driver fell asleep delivering good early in the morning, crashed into cars queuing before the slip road, wiped out like 6 cars, but fortunately there were no deaths, few people had minor injuries- sentence 5 years in prison for dangerous driving, causing damage when driving without due care and attention, causing injury when driving without due care and attention, 12 Month mandatory ban, I believe £8000 fine. Not suspended, he actually went to prison. And for what? For being tired, overworked, providing for the family and making a honest mistake of "being tired"?! His life is fc**** and when he comes out of prison after say 3 years (I am sure he can get paroled etc.) what are his perspectives, he can't drive truck anymore because sentenced criminal with previous driving ban will never get insurance... 2. a well known car thief who had multiple suspended sentences, who been in prison multiple times was spotted driving stolen car, try to run away, after high speed chase he finally lost control of the car in the city centre, luckily there was some fencing, so he mounted the pavement and got stuck in that fence, then run on foot for some time and was finally apprehended somewhere in the forest when helicopter with thermal camera spotted him. Result - new BMW totally destroyed, 3 police cars damaged, dozen of police officers chasing him not doing other important work, helicopter crew is like £50k/hour... goes to court, gets 2.5 years sentence, suspended, but goes to jail for 1 year because of pervious unspent sentence. Like what the f! How does truck driver deserves 5 years for mistake, whereas this guy was clearly deliberate and violent and only gets... well basically nothing, because the 1 year he spent in prison was from some previous crime?! And sure he got some fine... but that is irrelevant because he is not paying anyway, or if he is then it will be from criminal proceeds. And I mean it would be silly to even ask - obviously he has no license and no insurance (on stolen car)... So that is just to illustrate, how criminals are getting away, because as I said - once they have nothing to lose, the law is not flexible enough to deal with them, because the key assumption in law is that it is dealing with decent people and I would argue it is already too harsh and unnecessary to achieve the goals, yet when dealing with criminals it is not harsh enough and achieves nothing. In summary - I think the issue is outdated and rigid laws, which lax flexibility and it does not allow for human factor to mediate the appropriate sentencing.

R.I.P. John. We are the poorer for your passing.

Oh what a very sad news!!! Apologies for not writing sooner but I was traveling back home to Sicily on Wednesday and didn't have a chance to look at the Loc. I joined the forum on January 21 and John was the first one to welcome me. He gave me some very precious advices when I was looking for a GS450H and I have always appreciated his active contributions to the forum. Following his most important advice to all members of the Loc, I have thoroughly read the owner's manual of the GS450H even before purchasing the car. I was very surprised that he had not replied to my last discussion about my car being serviced at Lexus Cork but I now understand why. My sincere condolences to his family and friends. You will be greatly missed John. RIP.

I agree that our system doesn't work in many cases. For the most part it's only a deterrent to the average law abiding citizen. The wealthy have both a sense of entitlement, and the financial ability to avoid consequences, whilst the criminally minded are either too stupid, reckless or impulsive to be mindful of them. In my view, harsher sentences may work adequately as a punishment, but have little affect as a deterrent, for two reasons. Firstly, when people commit a crime, they don't think they'll get caught, so it's not like they carry out a risk assessment first. Secondly, I read somewhere that the majority of people in prison have some kind of mental health condition, ranging from bipolar to a variety of personality disorders. These sort of disorders often result in people acting impulsively, without thought of consequence. Most also come from broken and or dysfunctional family backgrounds, often with a history of abuse/neglect. As a result, prison sentences are little more than a method of cleaning up a pre-existing mess, without doing anything to prevent the mess happening in the first place. Poverty of course plays a part, but there's an increasing number of boys being brought up without a positive male role model in their lives, which I believe leads to Dave's observation that there are more people willing to misbehave today than in past times. Absent fathers mean a single mother has to try and raise them, after which they're taught by mostly female teachers and, if they end up in the crossshairs of social services, are largely dealt with by female social workers. Whilst I don't believe that people should be forced to stay in unhappy marriages, I don't think much (if any) thought was given to the consequences of the effect on children when their parents separate. I don't know what the answer is. One answer might be to invest more in preventing crime and catching criminals, over locking them up after the fact, but that still doesn't address the root cause. So maybe more help should be given to children from such backgounds, with more support and encouragement for fathers to be involved in their lives, and incentives to hire more male teachers and social workers, in order to give them positive male role models. Either way, it's a lot more complicated than handing out heavier fines, and locking people up and throwing away the key. Apologies for my rant too.

Like many, I am very sad, to hear of John’s death, I feel a great loss and a sense of shock. My heartfelt condolences to all John’s family. I am sure that here, John will be remembered ( and indeed WILL always be remembered ) for his advice, guidance, interest, kindness and way with words. There is a certainty, than when I’m faced with a car related question, John’s ‘voice’ will pop into my head, “Read the Owner Manual”. And he’ll be right! John, I salute you. Thank you for your help and support, by forum and personal message. Rest in Peace, my friend.

Having installed my Teyes CC3 Android Head Unit about 9 months ago, I thought i'd create a dedicated thread on the Teyes CC3. I've been posting and replying to questions about it on a another thread created by @McShmoopy that can be found here: I've installed this on my own 2006 IS250 with factory nav and ML. Teyes call this option the Model B. I've also installed it for a few people on the late models that have USB music playing options from the factory. Teyes calls this the Model A. Just to clarify, the Head Units themselves are the same between Model A and B. The difference is that they supply a different wiring loom/harness as the two models of cars have completely different wiring layout. After 9 months of use, my personal opinion on this is that it's a fantastic kit. There are loads of other unbranded chinese units you can get but none of them compare to the build quality of this. I've installed a few unbranded ones. Most importantly the UI on the other chinese ones are in my opinion utterly rubbish. They give you a mediocre launcher UI and everything else they don't touch and so the user experience is somewhat spoilt with the constant change of UI and themes. Teyes on the other hand have completely created an entire OS skin with their theme. So you won't find any section without the Teyes UI theme. Which I think is fantastic. And finally, I've installed a good few unbranded chinese units on many different car models over the years and once you install it, it's very rare that you will get full software updates with useful new features. Having owned Teyes for 9 months. I've recieved 3 updates with nice new features. I think a lot of the chinese unbranded stuff you have to just buy and leave it as it is without any hope for support in the future. Below i've attached some photos of the installation and finished product on my 2006 IS250. A few things worth mentioning if anyone planning to get this system The Model B installation is a lot simpler. Just remove old and install new. The Model A is a lot more challening as it involves dismantling your original upper screen and just keeping the processing unit. This unit has to be kept behind the screen while installing this new head unit. So the room behind is a bit of a challenge. But if you do it right, there is plenty of space. On the Model B the reverse cam is supposed to be plug and play just requiring the setting to be turned on. But on model A, if you want to use OEM reverse camera, you have to locate the camera wires and de-pin and wire it to the Teyes. I personally wasn't bothered about the OEM reverse camera because I wanted to upgrade to AHD reverse camera as I found the OEM one to be poor quality. The frame itself is not made by Teyes, they are made by companies that specialise in this and supply to other Head Unit manufacturers too. And they only have LHD versions of this frame. Meaning the Drivers and Passenger temperature controls are wrong way round. I've managed to fix this by reverse engineering the PCB and swapping out some resistos to flip it around. If anyone thinking to buy this, please make sure the seller that you buy from packages the metal frame properly and bubble wraps the actual frame with lots of layers to keep the metal seperate from the plastic frame. The amount of people i've seen receive this with the metal frame scratching the hell out of the frame is shocking. Just poor packaging. Since I mentioned it to people, it appears they take extra care. I've also done a few mods and tweaks on the unit, which are as follows: Carbon hydrodipped the frame to match my OEM unit that I had previously done. Upgraded backlight LED's to white to match my OEM unit that I had previously done. Wired the Steering wheel voice button to activate Siri (CarPlay) or Google Assistant (AndroidAuto) - Video demo can be found here: I customised the boot animation with my own custom made one. Video demo here: A video demo of my LHD to RHD temperature buttons can be found here: Below are some photos. New Teyes (Top) vs Old OEM (Bottom)

The lower control arm bushings on the 2IS are quite prone to splitting. It's quite a common issue. I've been reading about how the RCF/GSF ones are way better and they are compatible with the 2IS including the ISF. So I bought two sets (one for myself and another IS250 owner) directly from Japan. Here in the UK from LPD the pair of bushings cost just over £200. I got them for £80 a pair including shipping and import taxes from Japan. So quite a bargain. Many owners seem to opt to go for the Figs or RR Racing LCA bushings which are supposed to be a lot better performance bushings made from PP. However, I didn't want to go down the route of installing PP bushings as they need to be maintained by greasing them at certain intervals. So I chose a cheaper but OEM performance upgrade 🙂 The installation is very simple. A lot of people tend to take the wheel off for better access. I personally did not, I just raised the car on low profile ramps and there was plenty of clearance to swap it out. Saving the time of removing the wheel 🙂 It took about 10-15minutes per side. Below are some pics of the installation. As for the results. It's very noticable. There is a lot less body roll. A very well spent £80 I would say.

. A simple slogan springs to mind: Eastie, or Westie, He's your Bestie.

Thank you! .....I had not paid any attention to that button either! I'm clearly blind!

Good points Linas. I was always led to believe that black and white thinking was a mentally dysfunctional process, and locking people up based purely on outcome is as black and white as it gets. To my mind, regardless of outcome, the most important factor is someone's motivation and intent. As such, I don't believe that it's right to put an otherwise law abiding person in prison for a lapse of concentration or judgment, or for making an honest mistake, even if it was careless. However, we live in a society that increasingly refuses to accept that accidents happen, and that we have to not only apportion blame, but severely punish the person that made that mistake. Whilst I don't believe that mistakes should always go unpunished, I do believe that we should take more note of the circumstances, so that we don't turn a situation with one victim, into one with two, purely to satisfy an unjustified need for blame or vengeance.

This is indeed very sad news. I shared John’s passion for rtfm. Will miss his love and passion for his car and his wisdom that he shared. Condolences to his family and friends. He obviously enjoyed life and hope he finds his dream car up north!

My NX 450h+ Takumi which was ordered on 30 June '22 has just been built last week. It was initially scheduled as March '23 delivery but in line with all NX and particularly Takumi it was delayed until potentially June/July. I'm pleasantly surprised that it's now actually been built and has 'Left the factory' so it should give hope that things are starting to move quicker. I tried to get the vessel name but my dealer was not remotely interested in helping, however Lexus UK customer relations were more forthcoming, although still didn't have the shipping detail but will in a few days. The really good news is that the detail provided did contain one key nugget below.... note the MY24 designation! I know this is covered in another thread, but unless the system descriptions have been updated before the actual production, then MY24 is being produced with the additional security features and some minor interior changes. Likely delivery is May so 10.5/11 months from order. Line off date: 9/03/23 Specification: NX Plug-In Hybrid MY24 - Takumi grade

My car went to 60k service this Monday, and the dealer told me that the water pump was leaking. They quoted about £390 for the pump replacement, which isn’t crazy, but I decided to do it myself. Not quite because of the cost, but water pump leaking in 60k miles seems a bit too quick, and I wonder why. When I took the pump out, it isn’t the gasket nor the belt, but Leaking from the bearing. I checked YouTube, seems like Camry with the same engine has this problem too. I went for a third party pump (First Line, about £70 from eBay) rather than original pump. I think as the original pump wasn’t that reliable anyway, 3th party one may last longer. If it fail again, it isn’t that hard to replace the pump.

...because all I have is a single handbook in a black wallet. No service book, no quick start guide or anything, just one manual. Looking at ebay (US site specifically) there's loads in the book pack. What did yours come with? PS I love this car!

There's a very funny video on the BBC news sitehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-64982398 If that link doesn't work look for"mounted police ride after driver using his phone"

Ebay should be fine 🙂 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384916363410?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=vffrvws0qza&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=SLLUf-MjTOm&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/will-the-2030-ban-on-petrol-and-diesel-be-pushed-back-heres-why-car-dealers-bosses-think-it-will/281367 I love the way your guy comments Tom Barnard, editor of EV website Electrifying.com, told Car Dealer that he thinks it may already be too late to change the date of the ban – and doing so would be ‘crazy’. ‘Car makers have a long history of trying to fight against legislation that will cost them money, even if it’s for the greater good,’ he told Car Dealer. ‘Think of CFCs in air conditioning, lead in petrol, catalysts and asbestos brakes. Change is difficult, but they adapt and move on, and it would seem crazy to go back.’ Barnard said it would be ‘unfair for the heel-draggers’ to push the deadline back, but that he thought hybrids could be the saving grace for the industry. Do these guys think batteries grow on trees? I was with some friends last weekened and EVs were discused a bit, when I said a EV has about 400/500kg of lithium batteries per car one guy said - really, i didnt know that. Tom should have said, hang on a minute combustion engines cars account for less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gases in the UK - what is the problem here exactly. With EVs no one is ever goiing to tell you anything but what they want you to know And this is a great article as posted before https://www.wired.co.uk/article/workers-are-dying-in-the-ev-industrys-tainted-city

My NX450h was in for it's first service today. Got the new fuel flap release mechanism fitted at long last. I believe we are all about to get another recall letter to make an update to the DCM? Also requires a software update for the front camera.☹️

Not sure if forum rules allow links to the popular auction site. Item number on that popular auction site UK is 384916363410

Nice one Ahmed 👍

And here are a few pics of the installation I did for someone else on a 2012 IS250 Model A.

What bothers me about electric cars most apart from the high initial cost and the depreciation as they get older because people want the latest technology is charging when you go on holiday. Ever year I rent a cottage in Cornwall and by the time I would arrive in an electric car it would need charging. The cottage has no outside power connection and I am also led to believe if you charge via a normal 3 pin socket that can put a strain on the electric circuit causing overheating. The other alternative is to find a proper charging point. Bearing in mind the amount of cottages and other accommodation, the number people needing to charge their car in peak holiday periods is going to be phenomenal and that's not what I want when I go on holiday..

I've only just seen this news having been "offline" for a few days. Such sad news - RIP John. Heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

I remember John, Roy of the Rovers, exchanged several messages with Petr. Petr is a surgeon at the Ulster Hospital. John's extensive knowledge of Lexus's and his business background helped Petr sort his problem...

Sad news indeed. I've been away for a few days and only read this news this morning. I don't know where exactly he lived but I always regarded him as a local lad - us both living in Cheshire. He will be missed.

Yes, often thought that. If they are fined, it barely covers the cost of police time and in some cases the damage to property and police vehicles. No wonder morale is low if they go to all that trouble just for the perpetrators to get a wrist slap. Yet if us respectable motorists exceed the speed limit by a few miles per hour, we can get points and fined way more than the people in the programmes, very often without any police being present. Crime does pay.....

Ah yes, this folding mirror topic with all the wiring issues that were required for the RHD. You finally solved this, and now enjoy the folding mirrors every day when you lock your car?

Hello I hope my story may help. I originally bought a Thinkware F800 Pro Dashcam for my CT 200 and had it installed professionally through a company recommended by the RAC. I have had no problems with reception even though it is an early car(2013 F Sport). I purchased the same dashcam for my 2016 NX F Sport and had it professionally fitted and had continuous signal drop. I contacted the installers who came back and installed the ferrite cores still to no avail. The installer was very efficient and investigated the problem and decided it was the plug in lead interfering with the Dab aerial. Eventually the company asked me to try another dashcam that didn't have a plug-in wire into the camera but rather one that had it's own prewired "screened" loom. They exchanged the unit for a Thinkware F790 and the problem was resolved. I hope that's an understandable explanation and hope it helps you. May be worth looking on the RAC website but sadly this wont help your current dilemma having already bought a Dashcam! I have to say that I do like the Thinkware dashcams, as they have the benefit of many features including verbal warning of speed cameras, their distance away, and the legal speed limit. Regards Ray

This is very sad news indeed. My condolences to his family and friends. I'm sure that in real life, John was even more of a wonderful fellow than he was here in virtual form. His sage advice - "have you looked in the manual?" will remain with me forever. RIP John, you will be missed.

I don't know if the 13CY 2022-2023 files can be downloaded, but the 2021-2022 files can be found e.g. HERE. But, as I told you, these are only the files of the maps. You need a license code to update your navi with them.

Very sorry to hear of John's passing, he was quite a prolific contributor to this forum and will be sadly missed. My condolences to his family and friends. RIP

Brilliant, hadn't realised they wear so small, thanks

My sincere condolences to all the family, Sarah hoping you and your immediate family have the strength and fortitude to bear the loss in the knowledge that he was much loved and appreciated 👍

I am a fairly recent convert to Lexus and the joy of owning such a fantastic car . Very soon after I got the car I joined this forum which made me aware that Lexus is a very special brand with lovely owners who have all sorts of opinions on cars and everything else but one thing in common is a love and respect for the brand Condolences to you Sarah, Margaret and all the family.

That's a wonderful tribute to your father Sarah, well said you. He and I had many enjoyable exchanges especially as he knew my overriding affinity with Greece and the Greek people. They have a saying, (one of many) which roughly translated says, "don't walk behind me as I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me as I may not always follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend". This for me sums up your father exactly. Warmest of wishes Philip

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/lexus/rz450e-electric-crossover/

I did wonder why you appeared to join again. Very sad news about John, he will be missed by many of us.

I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments Len. A real shocker and for me it follows on last weeks news of a similar fate for a fellow Jaguar XK owners club member, Keith Fox, who will be missed in equal measure. As my dear Mother would've said "whatever is the world coming to"?

I am usin the Teyes supplied GPS antenna. The radio I am using factory antenna. On the Model A if you want to use factory radio, you need to get a convertor because on Model A the Lexus radio antenna connector is different.

Ooh, now you've done it! Get yourself a nice glass of wine and settle into your favourite armchair First of all, hybrids don't have a traditional starter motor or alternator, or anything that would normally be driven by a belt from the engine because the engine doesn't run all the time - imagine being halfway through a turn and you lose power steering because the engine shuts down! Instead, it's all driven electrically. The 12V battery boots up the computers and gets the car into READY mode, equivalent to switching on the ignition in a conventional car. At this point you can drive off on battery power alone if you so wish, but these aren't electric cars and you'd only get a couple of miles (if that) before the traction (hybrid) battery was effectively flat. When the hybrid system wants the petrol engine (ICE - Internal Combustion Engine) to run, it energises Motor/Generator 1 (MG1) and uses that to spin the ICE up to 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it. In a standard car the 12V battery is charged up by the alternator but we don't have one. Instead, a device called a DC/DC converter steps down the 288V from the traction battery to about 14.5V to charge it. Other converter/inverters use the same process for other systems like the power steering which, if I remember correctly, uses 48V. The aircon compressor is driven by a 500V 3-phase AC variable frequency motor and the two hybrid transaxle motors MG1 and MG2 are both 650V permanent magnet motors. Talking of the aircon compressor, if the system ever needs to be regassed, make sure that you take it to an aircon specialist (or, of course, a Lexus dealer) who knows and can deal with hybrids. The reason for this is that, although the refrigerant gas is the same as any other car, the lubricating oil isn't. As I said above, the aircon compressor is driven by an electric motor and the motor windings are immersed in the oil for cooling purposes. Standard compressor oil is called PAG oil but it's a low dielectric oil which means that it conducts electricity and it will damage the motor windings. We need to use ND11 oil which is a high dielectric and won't damage the windings. It's been shown that as little as 1% contamination by PAG oil can, and will, cause problems. Maybe not immediately but it will. Ideally, a specialist should have a dedicated ND11 machine so that cross-contamination with PAG can't happen. Still with me? You deserve more wine Although it's perfectly alright to jump start a hybrid with a standard car, NEVER, EVER, do it the other way round - you may get away with it but it's not worth the risk. The 12V battery in any car is only used for starting and then the alternator or equivalent takes over the running of the 12V systems such as lights, radio etc., etc. When jump starting, the 'donor' car should have its engine running before the 'recipient' car attempts to start. This is so that the recipient will draw on the donor alternator, not its battery. This is all fine and dandy for a standard alternator because it can output anywhere upwards of 300A and a conventional starter motor will need every Amp of that, but our DC/DC converter can't supply anywhere near that amount and if it was asked to do so it may well expire with a very loud bang and lead to a very expensive repair. Hope that helps a bit.

A very common issue with the early RX's and I've just gone through all this on my newly purchased 2007 RX 350, I also had damp front mats and water getting into the boot running down both rear roof sides staining the trim. The first thing to do is the sunroof drains and one of the main culprits for these issues, 2 drains holes at the front and 2 at the back... the front are easier which you can see at the front of the sunroof rails when open, the rears are hidden within the roof and the rear panels of the car need to be removed as the drain tubes are more than likely kinked/crimped as many and I have found which leads to the backing up of water and leaking into the side trims and into the floor area - to clear these blow some air gently down the holes (front) or I used an old curtain wire that fits perfectly... test when done putting some water down the holes and it should come out just behind the front wheel. The second are the roof rail mountings, very easy to remove the rails and seal around the mountings with silicon sealant The third are the roof body seams at the back of the roof rails going down towards the boot hatch The fourth are the tailgate strut mounts, seal all round these with silicon The fifth are around the rear lights The sixth are the body seams behind the rear bumper This all sound scary but are very easy to do and the main culprits are the sunroof drains, roof rail mountings and rear lights... I sealed 1 - 5 on the list with clear silicon sealant and so far its all dry even after all this rain we've had recently. More than happy to talk on the phone if needed. Cheers and good luck!

Those clicks,clunks and buzzes were one of the first entries mentioned when I read the Owners Handbook more than 10 years ago Paul.👍