Wass

A condenser is the coil which is typically positioned close to the radiator. the HP pipe is one of the pipes which feed the condenser coil. So, one of the condenser pipes needs changing and the condenser coil needs changing. This process will commence by recovering the remaining refrigerant gas from the system and disposing of it in an approved manner...typically sending it to a registered disposal contractor. Having done this,the old condenser coil will be removed and a new one will be installed. Due to the close provimity of the cooling radiator, it is often necessary to remove the coolant and radiator along with large pieces of body work in order to acheive this. ( I am telling you about a typical installation rather athan a lexus specific installation). Having fitted the new condenser coil and pipework along with the cooling radiator, it is then prudent to pressure test the instalation with dry nitrogen and leave it overnight in order to ascertain whether the newly installed equipment is gas tight. Having established that the refrigeration system is gas tight, the car mey then be re-assembled and the refrigeration system then needs to be connected to a vacuum pump in order to remove air, nitrogen, small traces of moisture. ( the vacuum allows the water to boil out of the system and so the longer the vacuum, period , the less chance of the system being contaminated) Finally, the system will be re-gassed with new refrigerant and tested. If you can find out the cost of the coil, the gas charge,scrap gas disposal and the pipe, most of the rest of the price will be labour. The task, if done properly, is labour intensive. I would be worried if the cost were to be less than a thousand pounds since this would point to labour savings created by corner cutting. If I were to be doing the job myself I would "triple vac" the system while I was re-assembling the bodywork/ radiator and bleeding the engine cooling system. Triple Vacuuming is a process during which one vacuums out the system in the normal way and then breaks the vacuum with the introduction of dry nitrogen three times on the final time breaking the vacuum with the introduction of refridgerant. "Triple Vac" in simply a method of ensuring that any potential system contaminants are removed. Since the car system is a comparatively tiny system, it it possible to complete the work relatively quickly over the space of two working days since some aspects such as pressure testing asre best done overnight and the longer the test, the better the chance of finding any potential leakages of the newly installed equipment ( or previously undetected leakage of existing equipment). Hope this helps to shed some light on your dilema.

"trained" "professional" ha ha ha ha !

Well presented video but the subject matter is very similar to the very first CT models. Nice up to date whistles and bells, some of which were undoubtably planned developments hatched prior to the launch of the CT range but essentially nothing radically different. I hope this is the last face lift of the mk1 CT.

You are totally right! My point is that some folk are that incompetent or fashionably ignorant, call it what you will, that they would sooner sit in the dark and cold for hours waiting for a breakdown truck to arrive and even then, being towed away because the technician cant be bothered to read the instructions either! They open the bonnet, dont see a battery and then they suddenly dont know how to perform a jump start.Its cold , its dark and this is the last job of the day...I really cant be arsed... I'm going back to the yard anyway, I may as well go back with this lump of expensive stuff on the back on my wagon. It says nothing more than what you already know and what I already know but it also says a lot more than some folks and a sprinkling of so called professionals know.

You will have to search for it. There was someone banging on about in car entertainment and bemoaning the fact that they couldnt drown out all the external noise.

Here

The CT200 is quite a little car, it doesnt have a lot of bulk to it. Also, it is designed for economy and so part of it entails being light weight. Whilst sound proofing can be designed in to a vehicle by not adopting shapes which tend to magnify sounds and incorporating shape which dampen sounds, the automotive industry still relies on bulky sound deadening "stuffing" in order to cut out noise, albeit noise from outside the vehicle. To this end, it comes as no surprise that a number of people have issues with noise from the CT and from outside the CT. To a great extent, the designers have relaxed their stance a bit on accoustics since they are starting with a vehicle with a relatively low reving engine ( when it actually runs), no real gearbox, no propshaft and whining rear axle, a great big chunk of bulk which assists sound deadening ( traction battery), electric air conditioning, electric power steering( no noisey pumps whizzing around under the bonnet) When you think about ti theyve done away with quite a few noise making ancilaries. In order to save weight they have used light weight door assemblies incorporating quite thin glass. It all counts. My view is that if silence and economywere my objectives, I would wear earplugs in a CT.

When I buy a car, it is invariably second hand low mileage for its age. This inevitably means that it has had at least some of the tyres changed. If the car has budget tyres, I assume the same care has been taken on other important issues like maintenance and walk away.An odd tyre often means that the car has had a puncture and has had a tyre fitted to replace a ruined tyre without the owner caring to match it with a similar tyre on the same axle. Again, reason to walk away. Four matching newish tyres of recognisable manufacture means that someone has been bothered to try to look after the car and that's the one I get interested in. I rotate my tyres so that they wear at the same rate and they all get renewed at the same time. I carry a spare so that I dont have to settle for an odd tyre in an emergency but can find a suitable replacement at my own convenience. An old fashioned approach but it works for me.

Agreed.However, if you already have 15" wheels on a car which isn't a sport model, that's about as soft a ride as possible. I don't think the brake calipers will fit inside 14" wheels.

What sort of Subaru wouldnt have been more comfortable than a Lexus CT? The suspension is quite harsh and the relatively high road noise, due in part to the harsh susupension somewhat negates the effect of forking out for a better quality of in car entertainment. If a smooth ride and nice in car entertainment is what you are after and German products dont hit the spot, then i would most certainly focus on one of the larger cars which Lexus produce.

Silverdel's comments seem to point towards the Korean competitors learning and improving quickly in order to capture more of the market share.

It depends how strong you are feeling when you load the bike back onto the car after your ride and it also depends on how tall you are.Other factors include whether you want to restrict the rear view still further.....as it isnt the best in the CT unless you have a camera and having a bike on top of your car is of little use when entering restricted height car parks. As regards the make, most engineering minded folks wouldn't struggle with any make. People who throw away the instructions and combine this with no understanding of mechanical engineering will struggle with anything they choose. I find bicycle riding to be easier and safer to do in the living room , watching TV.

An idiot is an idiot irrespective of the vehicle being chosen by the idiot. Changing vehicle from Lexus to BMW is possible without the loss of intelligence or manners. I pass a genuine idiot nearly every time I go to work, he rides his bicycle on the road instead of the adjacent cycle path, he swerves to avoid the road drains and pot holes whereas the cycle path has no such obstacles. I guess that one day I shall stop encountering this individual... possibly due to some unfortunate individual running into him, I wonder what car he leaves at home. Whatever it is , it doesn't prevent him from being an idiot whether its a Toyota derivative or a BMW!

Mine does something like that when it has decided its going to charge up the traction battery irrespective of whatever other duties i may be putting the internal combustion engine to. IE it does it whether static , moving slowly or travelling more quickly. The difference is,its more difficult to detect when travelling much quicker than 30 to 40.

no, they wouldnt have heard anything because they need to achieve this months sales figures. Start telling people that a new model is coming soon and they stop buying the old model and profit margins fly out of the window.

My suspicion is that long term use of the "alternative" but cheaper wrong grade of oil installed by Lexus appointed dealers leads to the engine wearing out more easily than when using the preferred grade of oil. So , I wouldn't "worry", I would be quite angry that the engine has worn in some way so as to be burning oil and that Lexus even mention in their literature about using less suitable types of oil. ( since they mention it, the practice of less scrupulous dealers is therefore "use the cheaper stuff because we can't be taken to task" )The damage is done. Running on the right grade of oil isn't going to undo the damage; it will help to slow its rate of progress. Next car you own, I would recommend buying your own correct grade of oil and getting a local mechanic to install it immediately after the dealer scheduled service.That way, you can be reasonably certain they wont swap it at the dealership for something cheaper ( which they may be accustomed to use)

Here we are, nearly 6 years down the line from my original post and the dealers still don't know about this simple modification and are willing to lie to customers about it. My guess is that most of them do know about it but Lexus do not officially support or acknowledge this type of modification and the dealers are just towing the official party line. Gives one a great insight into the workings of car marketing doesn't it?

Nothing nice except the same fuel consumption and a cheaper price.As far as nicer place to be, I'm not so sure.. the Koreans are getting better all the time.The Toyota Auris is an equally nice place to be at a better price.Look around, you are comparing what is fast approaching a 10 year old concept against modern alternatives.

To the question should I get a CT? I would answer NO. The CT, as has been pointed out in other posts , is getting long in the tooth. It is still essentially the same as when it was introduced. Competition have caught and passed it. I understand that the Prius is too big but there are alternatives such as the equally long in the tooth Auris ( which the CT is based on) or there's the Korean offerings which are more up to date and cheaper to buy. About the only advantage to a CT which remains is some value for money kudos. "I drive a Lexus actually" if that's what is important to you.

Interesting course of events. I do recall sombody on one of these forums being skeptical of my carrying my own booster battery. Your case proves my point. I am the driver of the car, I am the reader of the handbook and so it follows that I know how to jump start it. Calling out someone to a stricken car always involves an unwelcome wait and even when they arrive, how can you be sure they know what they are doing? Its no use rubbing them up the wrong way by overtly asking them whether they know what they're doing so how's that make you stand? You have to observe as a potential amateur aimlessly tinkers with your car with the potential to make things worse. I did hear that carrying out a jump start with the donor vehicles engine running can foul everything up even if the correct polarity is observed.. There's always the reverse polarity trap to fall into too! To compound the issue it does look like Leicester Lexus are acting like a bunch of fitters. There are very few properly trained vehicle technicians or engineers these days and this is largely because of market forces coupled with owners who cant be bothered to read their instruction manuals. The latter encourages many more vehicles to go to the "menders" with easily solved issues. ..... leading to the "menders" employing lower paid people. Someone has already said that the first sign of dealer danger was trying to fit a new battery to sort out the problem when all a jumper battery has to do is to start the computer. I was actually wondering whether there is a problem with the traction battery because if the traction battery is flat, nothing will happen and that is exactly the symptom you describe. Traction batteries will always fail for a reason and those reasons can vary from mechanical damage to charging interface failure. If so, just replacing a traction battery wont fix anything, they will have to find out why the traction battery has failed and fix whatever made it fail.Normally, traction batteries don't just fail on their own.

The last time I changed cars , I did a double take. I realised that I only really used the car for about 2000miles a year for myself and about 12000 miles a year for going to work.. a good less than half of the mileage I used to do. Instead of the thrill of buying a new car, I settled for buying a low mileage sports car which will become totally obsolete in a few years since things like that will use too much petrol to be considered socially acceptable. I still have the change in the bank ready for buying a "grown ups" car again.Hopefully by that time, the law makers will have decided what they want us to do. IE driverless, petrol-less, diesel-less etcetc.

Whilst this con just isn't nice, it does spark the imagination as to what fiendishly clever and legal ploy a Sherlock Holmes type genius could dream up to give these tricksters a totally fruitless run a few times round the block before finally kicking them into the long grass spent, exhausted and frustrated .... deaf aid and all!

The prius may be a little lighter , however, the major different is drag coefficient. Latest prius is .24CD and latest CT is .28 CD

Sadly, the motor trade has been doing this sort of thing for many years. ( using the cheapest available fluids and charging for premium) Softening tyre pressure slightly in order to improve the smoothness of the ride and reduce road noise. It is perhaps fortunate for us that it is now far more fashionable to buy cars for their efficiency appeal. So as soon as fuel consumption gets worse, we are looking for causes. Causes may be the wrong grade of oil , lower tyre pressures, or more mechanical faults such as lack of compression due to worn valve seats or piston rings, faulty charge air temp sensor, binding brakes, worn wheel bearings ... the list is almost endless however.... sadly when the car returns from service using more gallons of fuel per mile than before it went for service, it does point the problem back to the servicer with there being an outside chance that a fault may suddenly have developed during the service work. In the case of Lexus and Toyota cars though, the probability of the sudden true fault developing is minimal due to their reliability record.

The only thing which is missing from CT200 cars without cruise contol is the cruise control switch. All of the software, the throttle servo, the wiring loom is already there. Its simply not worth Lexus time to fit and entirely different set of kit to a car which doesnt have cruise control.. Reactive cruise control isn't the same situation. I the case of reactive cruise control retro fitting, you need more stuff and I think that the earlier cars also don't have the necessary wiring loom/ software for the reactive system.