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Lucky you it's usually the EXPENSE that's excruciating these days.

GSLV6 - I have a RZ and agree with some of your points, but my ownership over the past year have shown a few of them to be outdated as things have moved on. Zap Map is an excellent App which fully integrates in CarPlay - on the hoof you can get it to display the local chargers, their speed and current availability. It even gives how long a charger has been used for, so if they are all in use you’ll know roughly when the first will become available. You can select a site and then Zap Map will use Maps to Google Maps to navigate you to an available charge. The cost is given as well. Recent EV’s will charge from 20% to 80% in less than 30 mins so chargers become free fairly quickly, not hours. Tesla have opened up a lot of their Supercharger sites to non Tesla’s so that helps availability. When I bought my car, Lexus were saying the battery would be 90% at 10 years or 100,000 miles. I think now they are warranting 80% at 8 years, the change due to an increase in range. My range now is about 220 so 80% would be 180 although if they are warranting that, the expectation will be nearer the 90% announced. As the RZ has heated seats and radiant heaters, heating takes little range and even with the Auto on, the range only drops say 10 miles. Even at the lowest temperatures last winter the range drop was negligible - I think a lot of the reports regards significant drops are in temperatures much lower than we generally get in the UK. I’m sure most readers of this RX forum will not be persuaded switching into an EV but I thought I should just set down my experience. I had 4 plug-ins before the RZ, all of which I bought for tax purposes or for the acceleration !

My current SC430 came with a black 3 year warranty Yuasa battery fitted, seems to be lasting longer between smart charger top ups, compared with previous silver 5 year warranty Yuasa I’ve had👍🏻 part number YUASA YBX3095.

I would expect a first aid kit for the LS400 to include a defibrillator, a full set of surgical instruments, surgical gown, PPE etc.

Difficult to say, however during the winter months I do every few weeks due to poor battery performance in cold weather. However it has just been serviced (last week) and as I have been complaining about it sice I had the car they had it in for a few days and whilst there reconditioned the 12v battery. I recharged it yesterday as it was down to 50%. When I tested it the following morning it was up to 95%, so I can only conclude that reconditioning it does improve its capacity. CTEK do recommend it done annually, I have been reluctant to do it with my previous Mercedes, but I will be reconditioning this one in future.

Here you go https://tinyurl.com/4t6kcbxw

Not sure if a celebration is in order but the replacement Injector Driver has been fitted. No change, just cranked but didn't start so after a few attempts, out with Techstream. I had Errors! B1421 and B1424 Both relate to the Solar panel. Air Con has always worked fine but in any case, not relevant here. P12FF - Electric Driver Unit. This is the Injector ECU I had just changed! My heart sank, had I bought a dud? Was it mis-diagnosed? The crank was different, the car seemed like it was trying to catch which it never did before. I had a couple of half starts so persevered. I assumed the engine was flooded due to so many attempted starts and after a while it felt like one cylinder caught, then two, then three, then four..thats enough, SEND IT! Right foot down and up it stumbled and burst into life. I held it at 3k rpm for about a minute, too scared to lift off in case it stalled. Once at 3k rpm it seemed fine, juggled it between 3-5k rpm then tentatively bought it back down. Settled okay and left it idling for about 30mins. Turned it off, crossed my fingers and restarted, no problem at all. Shut down and restarted at least a dozen times, all fine. P12FF code has gone, only the Solar errors remain which I'm not bothered about. More testing required before I venture it out on the road, sadly it needs fuel so I will need to shut down away from home. Wish me luck 🙂

You'll have defective VLANDS get a refund on them and buy another set they shouldn't be causing any blows

Well done! This was a real headscratcher! I am slightly concerned that car can die like this and there was no code until after your replaced the faulty part... honestly diagnostics system has failed here. But win is a win! P.S. B1421 and B1424 - doesn't mean anything, if it is dark outside (or if you in the garage which is not lit) then these will trigger for light sensor. You can literally put the flashlight next to the light sensor when running the diagnostics and they won't trigger.

.....and a nurse.

Thanks Malc1, Yes it could become challenging. It appears the bumper has been dislodged and needs to be realigned, not too serious and yes it appears to be glass, just a small chip at the top and one corner but the light seems to have been pushed very slightly back so needs to be put back in position so the lighting is good for the MOT in August Could just be the bumper panel is out of line. If I can find a friendly car repairer I could persuade him/her to super glue any loose glass and then if there are any gaps they could be fixed with clear silicone to keep water out. It sounds horrendous but it is not too bad, just the fact it's a Lexus and parts are expensive. Going to see a chap next week who runs and old school garage so finger crossed. Thanks again for responding

Probably don't have oil filters for that car either etc. And some corporate wrench monkey wasn't "trained" how to work on it.. it's all bs

Hence they said they dont have the facilties to source 6.5 litres of engine oil and a filter lol

The suspense is excruciating 🤣 Malc

Re: fuel eco; have seen a significant jump in recent week, last two long trips (>400 miles over 2 days) have seen 43, 46 and 48mpg average based on brim to brim. Am happy with that.

Sorry to hear that about your Varta @Malc1 but you're right. Sometimes it's not worth the hassle.

This may be a shot in the dark but try unplugging the connectors for the tail lights and see if the car can start, from what I remember certain aftermarket headlights (HCMotions specifically) produced a VSC warning due to pre facelift vehicles not supporting LED tail lights out of the box so these came with a resistor to support them. Could be a similar situation depending if youre pre facelift 09 or post facelift 09 that the tail lights arent necessarily compatible or just straight up damaged / non working

How about these, I have seen them on quite few high performance cars. Not cheap, but have less surface area to create noise and drag. https://seasucker.eu/ I use a Saris Bones for carrying bikes, but rear mounted bikes totally kill dynamics, so fuel consumption on my LS went from 34+ to 24 on a motorway run, a roof mount would have been better

Never heard of Slims Detaling, but the web site seem like a Detailers Heaven. Now in my bookmarks for browser, must get around to doing the car properly now weather is more or less summery!!

I've been with Saga for a few years now and they have consistently been cheaper than those on Go Compare and Confused

Yes, I was having a conversation with a guy in America who went for the Fidanza SMF and it's not very good. There's a lot chatter and it just doesn't work very well on this car. When I had my first clutch changed at 140k miles, the flywheel was still fine to re-use. Garages tend to squeeze you for it and say you need a flywheel when you don't.

I have just done to very same thing with my RX after finding yet again that my %age was down to 50 so using my CTEK charged it to 95%. Given that you also have a CTEK, I have installed the ring connectors that came with it permanently to the 12v battery, so now I just plug it in when I want to charge it, much easier and guaranteed a better connection.

Really you need to check the same things as the RX300. Rust, especially underneath, water ingress into the boot well (which is especially important to check on the 400h as it can get into the hybrid battery). Timing belt changed. Check for suspension/steering play/noises as it's a big heavy car that puts stress on those components.

I couldn’t have put it better myself Paul, a spot on assessment. I did watch some motoring guru on YouTube last week, and when asked if EV’s were the future, he stated, No, EV’s are the present, who knows what the future holds, sound words too.

I agree I had a Jag XE and it was shockingly bad. Car cost >£50k new and Im glad I only paid £17k for it (even then was a bit miffed) but you cant get a 3.0l Supercharged V6 for that nowadays. Had so many issues it was unreal including the last straw for me which was a leaking rear diff at 50k. Sold the car within 6 months and this is what I had to do Washer fluid sensor Earthing / Ground cable Front left headlight unit All door panels removed and felt lined to stop them rattling. Rear differential oil leak

Had my LBX this week and I agree it’s great. No issues with the charger - I’ve an iPhone 15 Pro in the (MagSafe) Apple case and it’s fine.

TBH when I went to buy from the Lexus dealership they showed me an F-Sport with crash damage repaired, that was not mentioned until I asked for the history and saw it, plus it had to be jump started as the 12v was clearly on it's way out. Also an advance with a poor unrecorded minor body damage repair and Supagard that had been applied by the dealership to an undetailed car, so bird mess marks were sealed into the roof. Buying from a dealership is no guarantee of getting a clean car or a decent experience. As with all things in life it is down to who the individual (salesperson) is and making your own checks as best you can before buying. A lot of dealership cars are ex-finance that the previous driver has no intent of looking after for the long term, so sometimes they have been "rinsed" for lack of a better word.

Thanks Xez, seems the car is trying to be too clever for its own good. You'd think it could be even more clever and would see the 13 pin is in use and make adjustments. I have now paid a deposit on a 450h+ F Sport Design 🙂 It seems there is a lack of stock on that model, so it's a factory build. This was confirmed also by a broker I was in talks with.

Smart chargers are reverse polarity protected ...they won't charge if wrongly connected.

Well, kudos to Lexus, I guess. Of course this scheme will be first and foremost, a marketing tactic to remove one of the obstacles that might be in the way of Joe Public buying one of their EVs. But, I give them credit for at least acknowledging the problem instead of burying their heads in the sand about it. EVs have their place, but covering long distances in an efficient manner clearly isn't one of them. Not with the current technology and infrastructure. Imagine what life would be like if all those vehicles currently transporting goods and services across the country, were forced to stop every couple of hours for 30-40mins. It would be an absolute shambles. Some of the things we've grown accustomed to, would be thrown into chaos, or at a minimum, severely disrupted - Fresh produce on the shelves when the shops open? Next-day delivery for your online purchases? Newspaper through your letterbox at 7am? Forget it!

Just bought a spare set of wheels to refurb.

I think increasing repair costs and personal injury claims are also a factor in overall price increases.

Yesterday Bill And Got A Pleasant Surprise Not Gone up as much as i Thought it Would..!!!!

If it has a full service history (preferably Lexus or well documented if not) then it is a very reliable car and so just the usual car checks need to be done - like making sure all electrics and toys work properly and no warning lights etc. and checking for accident damage/repair. Although relatively cheap to run day-to-day and for routine maintenance when things out of the ordinary go wrong it can be very expensive for parts/labour (although there are sources of parts available from outside the UK that can be much cheaper). As there are relatively few of them there are not so many non-Lexus replacement (pattern) parts available and not too many second hand through breakers. Some parts are common with Toyota of course and so they are more available. If you are buying from a Lexus dealer the car should come with a comprehensive 12 month warranty. Regards the hybrid battery they are very robust with very few reported issues. My car is 10 years old in September and done 146K miles and no issues at all with the hybrid battery and fuel consumption is just as good as it ever was (if that drops then it can be a sign of a hybrid battery issue). As @Notamech mentioned, the hybrid battery can be covered under warranty for up to 15 years and unlimited mileage by having an annual hybrid health check undertaken by a Lexus dealers every 12 months or 10K miles (whichever comes first) - the cost of this is about £60. It's also done as part of a Lexus service for free. The only hybrid battery replacements I have seen on this forum for the IS 300h in 7 years were a couple with mileage at around 200K miles - but there have been others that have exceeded that without issue. The technology is very similar to the Toyota Prius and has proven reliable with those cars with many running over 200/300k miles without an issue. If you are buying privately or from a non-Lexus dealer it could be worth getting the hybrid health check done by a Lexus dealer as part of the deal? Although the mileage is low and so one wouldn't expect an issue it would give peace of mind and once the hybrid health check has been done you can then just keep renewing it every 12 months / 10k miles (whichever comes first) from there up to the 15 years old.

Hi everyone have eventually fitted new top control arms front and back, plus coil over suspension. Taken about 5 days around other nesscary tasks and compulsory overtime at work. Rear top control arms are not easiest to remove or fit. Rear subframe has to be lowered as only way of getting to bolts hold control arm. Had to resort to using angle grinder to cut bolts off 🤔 as heating bolts wasn't working. Bushes where smoking badly. Having a fire at back of car would not be helpful. Replaced with stainless steel bolts with a film of copper grease to ease possible later removal. Ride is very good compared to air suspension. Need to soften rear springs a bit. Hopefully later this week I will have lightweight rims and tyres ready for fitting. It is good to be behind the wheel of my LS430 again. 🙂

No it doesn't Ronnie. Some on the RAV4 forum have bought cheap ammeters that plug into the 12v socket in the dash but this will only show the state of the 12v battery when in Accessory or ready mode. But at least that may give forewarning of a depleting battery.

Thanks for that info Colin.. BUT does it warn you that the battery is running low IF you are NOT in Ready Mode Think Thats What Alister Wanted to Know I,m Just Guessing That it Does not......

The 12v battery is charged by the traction battery when the car is in ready mode. There is no alternator on the car so you can run in EV mode all the time and still charge the 12v battery. The main issue is that you need to be in ready mode regularly so e.g. not using the car for several weeks can lead to a flattish 12v battery.

Just fitted Coilovers to my 2002 430 and it's perfect.

Here are their preferred customers in these iron boxes.

Based on my recent renewal experience I can safely say that despite being 57 with no claims, driving for 39 years, living in a safe area and doing only 8k miles a year I can't work out who wants to insure who. All the recommended insurers, SAGA and NFU being a couple of examples, wanted what I can only describe as ridiculous amounts to insure. When asked why the quotes were so high I was told that I don't fit their preferred customer model. Just who is their preferred customer? As for Lexus insurance - even worse that the two above.