scythe

Yes, there appears to be a bit of confusion here. The engine in a LS500h is started using the traction battery. The car has two motor/generators. The front motor/generator is used to start the engine when required. (It also does some regeneration when slowing down or hill-descending). All the energy for this comes from the HV traction battery. The 12V battery is never required to produce the 100s of amperes that other cars, including most hybrids, require for starting. It powers all the usual low voltage requirements in the car, and is constantly recharged from the traction battery when the hybrid system is running. If the 12V battery discharges then the electronics in the car can't do anything, including operating the front motor/generator. However, it doesn't need the very high current boost that those little jump start devices provide - and I'd be scared to use one in case the high voltage they could produce would damage electronics in the car. However, if the traction battery discharges, you're stuffed! Here's what the user manual has to say: Charging the hybrid battery (traction battery) As the gasoline engine charges the hybrid battery (traction battery), the battery does not need to be charged from an outside source. However, if the vehicle is left parked for a long time the hybrid battery (traction battery) will slowly discharge. For this reason, be sure to drive the vehicle at least once every few months for at least 30 minutes or 16 km (10 miles). If the hybrid battery (traction battery) becomes fully discharged and you are unable to start the hybrid system, contact any authorized Lexus retailer or Lexus authorized repairer, or any reliable repairer. Back to me ... For me, I'd rather accept that a six year battery needed replacing, rather than hardwiring in a charger (which might be a problem anyway - the user manual says to disconnect the ground connection before attempting to recharge it). The price that Hull has suggested would be about right for a top quality start/stop battery - the sort that most toyota/lexus hybrids would require, because that battery would be constantly starting the engine. However, it's not a necessary or appropriate choice in this case. (A Yuasa battery for about £100 or so is available, and Halfords would fit one for £20.) They probably haven't seen enough 500hs to have realised! (That's me being kind about a Lexus dealer) : o )

Original equipment on my 2007 LS 460 lasted 12 years. It never let me down. I only changed it because the car started putting up messages about 'low battery' when I'd been sitting outside piano lessons! : o )

Well, what I hadn't realised until I saw these photos was that the camera is attached to the rear screen, just above but not attached to the parcel shelf!

The photos aren't my best work, but in mitigation, it was raining at the time! There's plenty of room behind the screen for it, as you can see, at the bottom, but it does slightly restrict the view at the bottom of the picture having it placed there, compared to the top - but as you said, the curtain would interfere with it there. : o )

For my part, I find dash cams with screens annoying. I've got the Lexus Nextbase kit installed with the rear view camera as well. It is dealer installed, and they've fitted the rear camera on the parcel shelf, so the rear shade isn't an issue. I've used black tape to hide the white 'Nextbase' logo on the front of the camera, so it's unnoticeable from the front. It sits right up against the car's centre camera, and doesn't interfere with the passenger's view at all, and doesn't have a flickering screen. If I needed to see footage immediately, then I can use a tablet or a phone to communicate with it and watch or download, not that I ever do! I've put a high endurance 128GB card in it. Every few months I remove the card and reformat it, clearing the autosaved stuff it's saved when the car is switched off and it detects vibration. It just gets on with its job without bothering me, which is what I like. If you're looking for a dashcam, you should make Steve an offer! It's what I'd recommend, but each to their own. : o )

I also have clarkson to thank for putting me on the trail of a LS400 in 1998. Similar derisive description, but I knew it was the car for me. Not looked back since. Thank you Jeremy! : o )

I agree with BigBoomer - almost certainly the battery. The irritation is that after the car registers its failure after several tries, it gives up completely on the tpms altogether, and shows a permanent error instead. On one side of things, it won't fail an MOT. There is no legal compunction to have a working tpms system on a 2007 car - I know, cos I had this with my 2007 LS, and it passed its MOT twice like this. The other side is, its just an irritation and having dirty fingers having to unscrew the caps on the tyres! It will cost you about £45 per valve, and maybe when you get your next tyre change you should just plan to do the lot, if you're keeping the car. Don't forget the spare, either! : o )

Nahhh! I've attached Lexus's sales figures. It's been a long time since they sold more than 100 LSs in a year. So far this year, up to November, the figure is 8. I wish that they'd do a bit better. Lexus-UK-Sales-Figures-November-2022.pdf

Stephen is right, I think - I did say that someone would know more than me! I've done some googling and I suspect you need new lamps. Sorry about that. Again, though, if there are ones available, this is a great place to have asked. I've got the feeling though that one of the LSs I've had in the past was really easy to swap to LHD, just by pushing a lever on the headlamps themselves - though maybe that's really far back, and from my volvo days!

Also, I'm fairly sure it's not the whole headlight that would need changing, just the glass at the front. The triangle is made by the impression on the glass, (if it exists) and that would be (looking at the glass from the front) to the left of the centre of the glass, and just below the centre line. Someone here will know more than me! : o )

Do they need to be changed? I can't remember about the 430, but are the tops of the beams flat? It's the little triangle at the edge that causes the problem, that's meant to light up pedestrians, and at some point lexus stopped the triangle altogether.

It does all take a while to get through the user manual! The car's lowest height is its lowest height - it has no further room to drop down in sport modes. What the sport mode does is to give you sharper engine/motor/gearbox responses, whilst tightening up the suspension. Sport + mode tightens the suspension up even more, but you're already in the best power settings. In the end, you'll start to look at the custom settings menu. Mine is set to normal air conditioning, normal suspension, sport power setting. Have fun! : o )

Hi Steve, don't be so harsh about your suspension! The car has three height positions, one is the low position - that's it's standard ride height, and the low parking height. The high position is when you raise the car when driving, or park it high. The access height is to help the elderly get in and particularly out of the car. For me, it is an improvement. It lines my hip and knee up so I can get out of the car more easily. If you're young or fit, then it may well not be of importance to you. Compared to your old 460SEL (I had one too, which I directly swapped for my LS500h) the seat and the driving position are different. The seat is totally adjustable - it can be moulded to your body, and is a lot more comfortable. You sit lower in the 500, with your legs more stretched out. This improves ride comfort and body comfort. But these things could have made it harder for someone older, taller, and more rigid (me!) to get in and out, especially as the door aperture is about 10 cm smaller than before. Incidentally, it was a while before I realised that the way to access and leave the car wasn't to let the steering wheel move away towards the dashboard. This just slightly trapped my legs behind it. Instead, I've set the auto-slide option. When you power down the car, and undo your seatbelt, the driver's seat is now automatically set to slide back, to a position where my head doesn't interfere with the top of the door aperture. When the seatbelt is done up the seat moves forwards. The 460 was different. It also had three height positions. It could go high, but it's default position was medium. It did go low, but only when the speed reached 60mph, at which point the ride became noticeably better. They haven't got everything right, but Lexus do seem to have seriously considered the ergonomics of this new car.

Oh! and as you'll have runflats, you'll only have 4 tyres, not 5. There will not be a spare! : o )

Hi Steve, If you've got the manual in a window in your browser, the downward arrow at the right hand side will save the file to your downloads ... ... next to my red arrow : o )

I'd suggest that you ring your local dealer and ask them how to handle this. Ask them if you brought the car in for a service this week, would they service it and therefore give you a year's warranty. If they agree, take it straight in, get it serviced, and cancel the warranty that it was sold with. This is probably the cheapest way of getting it covered, and Lexus warranty is probably more extensive than the one you've been sold. Then get Lexus to do your services at least until you sell it, or it reaches 10 years/100000 miles. Well, that's my opinion, anyway! : o ) Oh, and maybe think about gap insurance with some of the loot you'd get back!

Sat navs are most excellent pieces of technology - here's an example of how they can help us all: https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/23846984.sat-nav-leads-american-tourists-tenby-rnli-station/ : o )

It sounds to me like a good excuse to go for a bit of a drive, to let they car's air conditioner get to work. : o )

First thing is, there are two cars closer to Royston than this one. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?advertising-location=at_cars&include-delivery-option=on&make=Lexus&model=LS 600h&postcode=sg8 5nu&radius=1500&sort=distance Second thing is that maybe the other person wants the car themselves.

Yes, it's one of the services they offer to people. If it's Marshall's in Cambridge, I've had services done there six or seven years ago, and they've been good, as well. Very chatty! : o )

Please forgive me for this bit of googling, but I presume that this is the car: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309202188276?sort=distance&advertising-location=at_cars&include-delivery-option=on&make=Lexus&model=LS 600h&postcode=CB1 5NU&radius=1500&fromsra It looks fabulous to me! They can't sell it to you without an MOT, so just ring them up and check that they'll do that for you. I'd not expect it to fail! The MOT history looks good, as does the steady increase in mileage year on year. You can also ring the Lexus dealers to check on the servicing record, if you're worried - they'll tell you if it's genuine. I think you should get straight on that train! : o )

Please forgive me for this bit of googling, but I presume that this is the car: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309202188276?sort=distance&advertising-location=at_cars&include-delivery-option=on&make=Lexus&model=LS 600h&postcode=CB1 5NU&radius=1500&fromsra It looks fabulous to me! They can't sell it to you without an MOT, so just ring them up and check that they'll do that for you. I'd not expect it to fail! The MOT history looks good, as does the steady increase in mileage year on year. You can also ring the Lexus dealers to check on the servicing record, if you're worried - they'll tell you if it's genuine. I think you should get straight on that train! : o )

If it's this model you want, don't let this put you off buying this particular car. Use the cost to push down the purchase price as much as you can. If you buy the car, get the belt changed and possibly the water pump and radiator too, then you'll have a car that you know for definite has had these really important service items changed. Enjoy! : o )

Hi John, There's no through hole for skis. Also, there's no roof bars specified to fit an LS500h. My grandson has 'soft' roof bars for his lighter surfboard and used on a Golf, and presumably you could get those, but they're just material that is held in place by the doors. They aren't suitable for travelling at speed, or for anything heavy. Really, they're a bit rubbish! In the same way as there is no maximum towing weight specified for a LS500h (you can't fit a towbar), there is not maximum roof load specified either because you're not meant to fit roof bars. It's just what you have to put up with to drive an LS. The boot is just about the right size for two peoples luggage, and that's about it. They aren't load carriers!