ColinBarber

2. Feb/March 2008

This is Essentials servicing, available to vehicles over 5 years old: http://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/#/ServicingYourLexus

If the car was sold by a trader as a runner, i.e. not as sold for spares/repair then there is no such thing as sold as seen. You have protection from both the Sale of Goods Act and Consumer Protection Regulations. You should to speak to Citizens advise and/or trading standards who can advise on the best way forward.

Simon, you need to get the thermostat checked out. If it is stuck closed then water will never circulate through the radiator to be cooled. If the water in the radiator is cold then the fans not operating is as expected.

5. The MKI (not MKII?) has a DVD based system. You will probably find it isn't a Navigator vehicle. They all have the touch screen and the Nav button which will just say not connected when pressed. The wiring it there so you could install a Nav unit in the boot but you would also need a GPS aerial and possibly changes to the audio system to allow voice commands to come through the drivers speaker.

That is normal. The light comes on so you know the bulb is working and then goes out. If the VSC is turned off, because of a fault with the system, then the light will come on and stay on.

I'm not sure what to suggest. You can try accessing the service menu but if the buttons don't respond this may not work: hold down the menu button and turn the headlights on/off three times the only other alternative is a Lexus dealer, or somebody, with Techstream software to be able to check/diagnose if all the audio/nav components are visible on the communication bus.

Hi well i often use motorway and i had a trip last night for about 40 minutes on 3rd gear at 3300rpm but i still had that erratic idle today in the morning just after the car got warm, and ***** loads of white smoke but only for like a 2 minutes. and the car was already pluged in to the computer but everything is fine except 1 thing which is weird -40 degree on Intake air temperature sensor turbocharger, signal and that was checked on warm engine with +10 degree outside If the sensor is always just sitting at -40 then it suggests it is disconnected/failed or doesn't actually exist. You have the wrong engine selected, the 220d using the 180 bhp 2AD-FHV rather than the 2AD-FTV - that may explain the sensor fault. You cannot just rely on software to make sure all the sensors are working correctly. You need to data log them and then look back over the data to make sure you aren't getting intermittent spurious readings.

I believe the paint has a 3 year warranty, but wouldn't cover scratches as by definition those have been caused by an external object damaging the paint. The 12 year anti-corrosion warranty is for rust, appearing from the inside out - if the paint was scratched/chipped and exposed the metal which then rusted it would not be covered.

I cannot see how has anything to do with bluetooth other than the system becoming corrupt when using bluetooth. Do any of the controls work, if you adjust the volume does the volume number go up and down? Does the on/off button work etc?

Do you have a link? There are no real body differences between the IS200 and IS300, even the saloon and sports cross use the same doors front and back. If these are coming from the US then it may not state IS200 purely because only the IS300 was sold over there.

Lexus seem to be stuck in their year 2000 mindset when they could justify £2000 for a Sat Nav option and £100+ for a map update. Whilst I use the Lexus system I also have a £20 iPhone app that is far superior. At least with the DVD system you can get an update disc from eBay for around £60 if you just want the disc covering the UK.

If you press and hold the audio power button for 10 seconds it should reboot the system, worth a try although I don't think it is going to do any more than disconnecting the battery.

Sounds like both of you got a good deal :) All the best Chris.

Welcome Jim :)

Firstly you probably want the ECU to successfully perform a DPF regen by driving for 20+ minutes above 40 mph, and ideally without using 6th gear. After a regen if you have an erratic idle that is easy to reproduce then your mechanic should be able to plug in his diagnostic equipment and monitor all the input sensors to see if one signal is jumping around and likely to be the cause of the problem. Sensors such as air temp, coolant temp, air flow etc should all be relatively stable and likewise so should the duty cycle of the injectors. Failing all that the fuelling system should be looked at, the injectors and the fuel pressure etc.

The RX gets bigger with each series. Personally I don't think it needs to be any bigger but there isn't much of a differentiation between it and the NX at the moment. The 7 seater part has been a rumour for a long time now so either that was just wishful thinking or Lexus have changed their mind. I doubt many people actually need 7 seats, I think the excitement was more around the fact that the boot would obviously be bigger - for the overall size of the vehicle the boot space on the RX hasn't been class leading up until now.

If you have a hard drive based system I don't think there is a legal option other than the official Lexus route. With the DVD based systems you could get second hand discs or just the UK disc from the European set from somebody on eBay who is splitting it. Details of the official updates are here: http://www.lexus-mapupdates.eu I think the HDD based systems need a dealer to perform the update. They typically don't allow the updates to be sent out to stop them being sold on.

I think it is only the 400h that has that. The 300/350 just have a small LCD odometer. On the Nav screen I thought you got average mpg (after refuelling), cruising range and instantaneous via the bar graph going across the top? I didn't think the non-Nav model provides more information? I certainly didn't think you got mpg just for the current journey?

Welcome Pete :)

Let's hope it's okay. I doubt the radiator fan is the issue, in this cold weather it is unlikely to come on unless held in traffic for a long time. A coolant air lock or stuck thermostat could have caused this, and the outside possibility of a blown head gasket.

It does have a 12v battery (known as the auxiliary battery), but it is actually located in the boot rather than in the engine bay. There is a special jump start terminal in the engine bay fuse box for emergency starting because if the battery is dead you cannot easily get into the boot. Due to the fact that the 12v battery doesn't actually start the engine, very little current is actually required to 'jump start' the vehicle. The jump start terminal and wiring is therefore low current and should only be used to jump the IS300h, you cannot jump another vehicle using it - you would have to connect jump leads directly to the battery in the boot to do this. Whilst you can charge the battery using the jump terminal the normal manufacturer advise for any vehicle is to disconnect the battery from the vehicle before charging and therefore you would 'jump' the vehicle to get it going for a few minutes, open the boot, switch off, disconnect the battery and then charge. The hybrid battery is completely separate to this. You should never be in a situation where that goes flat, even when it appear flat from the battery status indicator there is still a lot of charge remaining to maintain battery health and to turn over the petrol engine to start it. If it was flat then you would get an error when turning on the vehicle and it would have to be towed to a dealer to charge it up - I could only see this happening if you used EV mode to discharge the battery as much as possible and then turned it off and left the vehicle for 6+ months.

The Lexus warranty can only be applied to vehicles of an age up to 10 years old unfortunately.

Did you notice the temperature gauge, was it overheating at the time?

correct, there does just appear to be one bulb. The lamp wire assembly is 35906 in the following: http://static3.megazip(blocked word)/M/5f0/5f0adc4d0d8936be347d80a0b078eb34.png Not sure whether the bulb pulled out or if the whole assembly is required.