Leigh2000

Yes, it was quite demanding. Sorry to hear you didn't get anywhere through small claims. For me the whole process took over a year- mainly because he took as long as he possibly could to respond at every stage- really pushing deadlines. I think he was hoping he'd wear me down and I'd give up. The questioning by the judge was also quite rigorous but luckily I had my ducks in a row. Had he turned up he might have been able to fight me off, but after dragging me 150 miles north to Burnley for the hearing he didn't materialise which made me even more determined. He knew about the date so unless he has some very good reason for not turning up he's on the hook for the judgement (which amounts to what I paid our friend Richard in Northampton to do the job properly, the cost of a Lexus diagnostic, and my court fees). I want to give a mention to Richard of hybridbatterysolutions.co.uk. Great service from him and the car ran perfectly after he'd refurbished the battery- anyone who's had cause to deal with him will know what I mean.

I'm not sure yet. As far as I'm concerned the important thing is that the CCJ hopefully stops him from operating; he has until Monday to pay up or it's on his record. Anyone thinking of doing business with him will be able to find it. He'll not be able to obtain credit as well. I haven't got as far as thinking about bailiffs yet. I wouldn't mind seeing him on "Can't Pay? We'll Take it Away!" Lol

Thanks Lee! I had to sell it at a loss due to a change of jobs but it was in a better condition when I sold it than when I bought it! I wouldn't do what was done to me to someone else. I'll get another one some day!

Hi All This post is really aimed at anyone thinking of buying a GS450 or at anyone thinking of getting their battery refurbished or replaced. Maybe it'll act as a cautionary tale. I did previously post about my experience of buying the car under another name. I can't remember why I used another name, perhaps I'd lost this login so if anyone finds the other post maybe they can post a link? Anyway, here is the gist of the story; I'm having to redact it quite a bit as it would be very long in its entirety- In June of last year I bought a high mileage GS450 from a guy in Burnley who claimed he was an electrical engineer who refurbished hybrid batteries for a living. I don’t know if I’m allowed to post the link to his website or his name but I will if this is allowed. I agreed to pay £2500 for the car as it had some issues (more than he admitted to as it turns out). I agreed to fix the non-battery related issues out of my own pocket but he gave a 12 month warranty on the battery. But as he seemed professional and seemed to know what he was talking about, I agreed to buy the car. Of course, it wasn't long after that the dash lit up like a Xmas tree, with the warning messages that every 450 driver dreads. Despite giving him ample chance to fix the battery he made excuse after excuse and blocked my number so I couldn’t contact him. As the EML was on because of the hybrid fault, I couldn’t get the car MOTed and so eventually went to our well known and trusted friend in Northampton who refurbished the battery for me. I also had him add a battery conditioner. The car passed its MOT and I then went after the seller to recover the costs of the repair. As he had promised to fix the battery if it went wrong but the help never actually materialised, I took him to court through the moneyclaim small claims system and I won the case a couple of weeks ago. In fact, he never even turned up. Therefore, he now has a CCJ against him so what is written below is not libel, it’s been listened to by a judge who made a judgement in my favour. I also have every bit of paperwork to prove everything I’ve written. Before anyone points out to me how stupid I was, believe me I know. I really wanted the car and this guy saw me coming. However, I’ve definitely learnt my lesson! I guess the moral of the story is don’t buy with your heart and make sure that you check out whoever you’re dealing with. I’m happy to provide the name and website address on here if I’m allowed?

No, wouldn’t work. You need a 433mhz one.

That’s annoying as I specifically requested OSR- good job I never got round to having them fitted. Thanks for pointing that out though.

Hi I've recently sold my 2007 GS450 and I have the following parts I accumulated meaning to get them fitted. I'm willing to listen to offers on them separately or as a job-lot-- For sale: Various Parts (NSF Shock absorber, OSR shock absorber, oil filter, cabin air filter, element sub assembly, front bush, front brake pads, discs and drums, 7 litres of Shell Helix Ultra 0W-20 SN Motor Oil) Item Condition: New (except for the rear shock absorber which I acquired from a breaker) Price and price conditions: £500 (open to offers but these parts were well over £600 in total) Extra Info: Any questions please ask 🙂 Pictures: See below Contact Details: PM in the first instance with an email address and I'll get back to you. Location: Spalding, Lincolnshire Delivery & Conditions of Delivery: TBC.

Yes it is. I don’t think this is a battery failure.

Good luck with this. I have the rhythmic noise as well so I’m interested in the outcome.

Initially I think the best thing for you to do is go to Kwikfit. They have a scanner and will just walk round each wheel to see if the sensor is transmitting. If any are not, they will remove them and give them to you (my local one did this for free, but they may charge you £15 per wheel) and then you can go through the process of refurbing them yourself. Or you can pick a reasonably cheap set off of eBay, but make sure that you buy sensors which transmit at 433mhz. The 315mhz are not compatible (or so I'm led to believe). As you mention, there is a thread on here on how to refurb them and there's a YouTube video as well. If they're still transmitting, then it's a matter of resetting the system. There's a button in a hard-to-reach place under the dashboard and a process for doing this which you can read up on from this forum if you search for TPMS related threads. As you've just bought the car it may be that the last owner had this issue and couldn't be bothered to rectify it. In this case, he probably did a battery reset to clear the code so that the warning light disappeared for as long as it took to sell you the car (the transmitters only communicate with the ECU once every 7/8 hours, so it takes a while for the warnings to appear. They gut I bought mine off pulled this with me). In this case, you may need to reprogram the sensors. This involves getting at them and noting down the code number from each one (i.e not the code for OS rear sensor, nsf sensor etc), and programming them through techstream (Toyota software). A garage with the software (roll up and ask if they have techstream) can do this for you or you can download the software yourself. It's not easy to get it to run though, as you need the right equipment. Hope that helps. All the info is already on the forum but I appreciate that for someone not technically minded (like myself as well), it takes time to learn these things.

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/f/102747/20047/2007/sensors.aspx Does anyone know which one of these would be the one to replace the camshaft sensor?

Thanks Bob.

That’s useful to know. Can I ask did you have to drop the 12v to get rid of it, or did you use software? I see you’re not driving the same model but maybe the same procedure might work for me. I’m going to connect up to “Mr Hybrid” to see if I can clear it rather than disconnecting the battery.

Thanks Colin. I read somewhere that there needs to be 6-10 clicks or something to tighten the fuel cap. I only get a couple. Is it worth me getting another?

Me neither. Nevertheless, that’s what he did.