NEILJ

N18RKS Thanks for taking the time to reply and glad to hear you have your car fixed. I did enquire with my insurance but they would not touch it without the screen had been damaged. The windscreen specialist up the road said there is a 95% chance he can get the screen out without damage but if it cracked the screen would cost £550 plus fitting plus Vat so best part of a £1000 I reckon. Well your experience tells me that is what I have to do in the coming weeks so thanks for your advice. So much for Lexus saying it just doesn't happen on Lexus cars I have read all sorts of reports on this model and others of leaks, why can't they be honest and advise like yourself even though it might bruise their reputation just a little it would still be no where near other makes woeful stories. Well I had better book into the windscreen place and hope for the best gulp. Neilj

Morning All I have a 2009 Rx450H with roof rails fitted but no sun roof. This is my problem too now. I recently had the car hit on the back bumper and had to take it into the body shop for repair and since I got it back the wet patch has appeared on the A pillar trim every time it rains or I wash the car. I don't know if it is just coincidence but does seem a bit strange especially since after getting the car back I found the drivers side windscreen wiper had been taken off and just placed on top of the arm, lucky I spotted it as the arm would have scratched the windscreen should I have operated the wipers. So I have had the roof rail off and sealed around the fixings with black silicone and it did seam to improve things a little but the problem still remains and today I have noticed the carpet is wet . I contacted our local lexus dealership and they said it just doesn't happen unless the car has been tampered with ie windscreen incorrectly replaced but have taken the car to a local windscreen specialist and he has looked and said it is the original windscreen and cannot see that the bonding has failed. So I got the hose out and doused around the screen area and no leak but when I moved backwards behind the the roof rail mounting the patch appeared. So just wanted to ask if the windscreen replacement did the trick for N18RKS as I really don't want to go down this route unless absolutely necessary. I was thinking of having the roof rail off again and the rubber trim to see if there is anything obvious but other than that I am at a loss as to what to try next. I have had the car over six years now and the roof rails have been on over three years so any thoughts and comments would be appreciated thanks. Such a shame as it has been a lovely car so far but this is concerning with so much electrical tech in these cars. Hope someone might have an idea. Thanks Neilj

Hello folks I am back to ask as usual I have recently disconnected the battery on my SC430 do a minor job and after reconnecting guess what the ...expletive **/+- CD player showed up error one and has not worked since for about 5 weeks now and enough is enough. So I am ripping it out once more but this time I want to make sure I never have to take it out again. My idea is to fit a USB/AUX digital music adapter so if the cd screws up again I can leave it be and still play the music of our choice, the radio plays such dross these days like whats happened to music errr I digress. I have looked at various units as follows:- Grom Audio priced at £130 Xcarlink priced at £79 Yatour priced at £60 approx. but Chinese and you need extra cables I think which puts the price up further. So the question does anyone have experience of fitting anyone of these units can anyone advise or recommend. I am looking for the best value these days as I am what you call semi retired and whilst the Grom looks very good it has the Bluetooth feature which is extra to my requirements and therefore the Xcarlink or Yatour would suffice but I am not sure if they work as I have seen a couple of threads where one chap said they didn't and other threads saying how good they are. So as usual any comments/ advice would be much appreciated thanks. NeilJ

Hello Kiri Please excuse me but I Haven't looked at the forum for some weeks but have just seen your post. I will try and add to NeilE's excellent reply with all his photos etc which are very informative. So to explain how I removed my front bumper. First job is remove the black wheel arch trims which are fixed by self tapping screws all the way around. Then lift the bonnet and remove the grille and all the fixings and plastic push rivets. Next get on the floor at the front and remove all fasteners and push rivets and then put something under to support the bumper when it drops away. Now, and I think this is what you have missed, go back to the wheel arch and where the bumper butts up to the wing push your finger in behind the wheel arch liner and pull the liner from behind the wheel arch lip, no need to remove any wheel arch liner fixings. Now push your finger in underneath the lip of the joint between the front bumper and the wing and you will feel a 10mm hex head screw which retains a wedge type clip that fixes the bumper to the wing. Undo the fixing and remove the clip obviously on both sides.Now hand under the bumper just below the reflector and gently lift and pull at the joint below the wing to release the bumper from the body clip. The bumper should now be free and drop onto your support however note the headlamp washers are still attached and the hoses are not too long. With the bumper off it will reveal one of the screws behind that fixes the headlamp unit. Remove these and the unit will come out for you to change the bulbs. Don't buy the cheapest bulbs as you don't want to do this again any time soon. Hope this is helpful oh I noticed neilE has uploaded an exploded view so blow this up to see all the components and you will see all the fixings I find these extremely helpfull. Good luck and hope you get there without any damage. Neilj

Thanks chaps for your congratulations and I got there in the end. Just to add the rest of the strip down was fairly straight forward although one of the plastic squeeze clips tucked up on the top right (left hand mirror) was tricky to get to release. When I got the covers off it revealed lubricant that had gone hard and sticky which must have been causing the problem as Steve had mentioned in his reply it was gunked up. So cleaned it all off with white spirit and gave it a spray with silicone lubricant as I had that to hand. I did think about vaseline but thought in time that may go sticky too. Reassembled, cleaned up and tested the fix and all is well it cycled in and out no problem just hope it lasts a while now. Another procedure learned for the future and another daunting task for me at least conquered. As ever you have all helped me to get this done so thank you. What next I wonder lets hope nothing for a while although this year it needs a cambelt but don't worry I am not attempting that one that will be one for the excellent mechanics I go to down the road. Can you imagine how long the post would be for a cambelt job oooh errr. Neilj

Just updating Thought I would have another go at getting the mirror out. So as everyone describes I got both fingers on both hands under and gently increased the pressure until I thought something must give and it did the mirror unclipped without damage thank you thank you. So now just follow the instructions posted about the rest of the strip down which looks straight forward. So the wuss has done it but thanks all for your encouragement. I will finish off the post when I have stripped and cleaned everything and got it fully functional again. Neilj

Reporting my steaming fix has only lasted a couple of days I suspect because it now needs lubrication. I think the only way to go now is to strip it so back to fathoming how to get the mirror to unclip. At the moment I cannot get it to budge but will possibly have to try a bit more force. I have wondered if there are any lexus technicians on the forum as they must have to do this frequently. Like you have all said so far it's just go for it and hope for the best but surely there must be a more civilised way of doing it. Have a stinking cold at the moment so will have to get back in the garage when I'm allowed and have another go. Neilj

Thanks Steve for the appraisal on your IS . The SC'S woodwork is rather special and yes I would miss the V8. I think the creaks come with the folding roof as until the car gets warm from the heater it creaks all over the place especially around the back seats so your IS is no exception . Back to the subject of mirrors I gave it another blast this afternoon and it left quite a grease slick down the door which I removed with some white spirit on a cloth. I hope it does the trick for a while we shall have to see but if it does prove a success then it turns out to be quite an unusual way to fix. Must try and fathom how to get the mirror to release though some time later for now. I'll bet the other chaps are saying you did what! Arrrrrrrgh sorry chaps I will go sit up the corner. Neilj

Well chaps Have tried to get the mirror to release, got my fingers behind it and applied as much pressure as I dared but no way did it budge. Then tried a couple of the plastic trim tools and could not get enough purchase so gave that one up. However an idea sprung to mind after Steves reply saying they get gunked up with oil and dirt. I have a hand held steam cleaner I bought for my Lidl tool collection which is quite a collection now. So got the nozzle in behind the mirror and gave it a few prolonged blasts but feeling how hot the mirror was getting at all times. Well the condensation dripped out down the door carrying with it traces of gunge which when dried was quite greasy. Left it to dry for an hour then tried the mirror and cycled it in and out and it all works fine again for the moment. So sorry chaps for now I have dodged the problem but will report on how long the bodge lasts. Yup call me a jessi if you like. By the way Steve I notice your picture of the IS convertible and wondered how they compare to the SC as there are a few nice ones for sale on the trader at the moment and might be tempted to go have a look. The SC however hit me as pure quality the first time I sat in one so I wonder if the IS will impress as much. Ooooh keep mentioning IS no i mean Lexus IS and not......... Neilj

Steve Thank you for your input to the topic. Could I ask did you use any tools or did you as others have suggested just get your fingers underneath and give a firm pull . As I said to Verbout I will try my trim removal tools. With each reply it is giving me more confidence to have a go I just think better to have a bit of fore knowledge before going ahead and so far all the replies have helped. Like Scudney and Verbout all are doing their best to help which is what I like about this forum Unlike the Jaguar forum I used to go on when I owned one which was all about their cars they wanted to bragg about accompanied by stupid answers to your posts totally unhelpfull. Thanks Neilj

Verbout Apologies in the last reply for getting your name wrong unless there is auto correct on here and it was changed to the nearest thing like vermouth. Anyway thank you for your last encouraging reply. I have a proper set of the plastic trim removal tools I bought to get the heater controls out of the dash for the stereo fix so will try one of those perhaps one with the biggest blade to spread the load across the mirror. I have done another search on the net for an OEM replacement mirror glass and it looks like you have to buy the whole unit at £300 and that is unpainted. So that will encourage me to take the utmost care. I will update when I have pumped myself up to tackle it perhaps after a drink or two on new years eve and hope my baubbles don't drop off. Its always nice to hear that someone has actually tackled the job and succeeded so thanks again Verbout. Neilj

Yes nice one vermouth but if I cracked the mirror my balls will fall off for sure. No I would give it a go if I could get a replacement glass easily enough. Perhaps that should be my first priority locating a new mirror. The price of a mirror glass for a fully functioning mirror would be a fair deal . Will as ever post my progress if there is any together with any disasters like a trip to A and E. Neilj

Paul I have forgotten to update. A couple of months or more ago now I purchased a new battery a Duracell which was on offer at Euro car parts and have to say so far it will do two weeks and start on the button without a murmur. You were right and perhaps I should have done it sooner. The battery fitted when I bought the car was a new one but possibly very cheap budget buy by the dodgy car dealership (not Lexus). So so far so good and thanks for the help. Neilj

Scudney Yes thanks have tried this one or two times and it worked for a while but now doesn't make much of a difference. Could try again with a longer piece of pipe on the nozzle to reach in further and see what happens. Neilj

Back again with the sticky wing mirror problem. One day I will get this car fully functional I hope. Well in the two and a half years I have had the car it has intermittently had the passenger side wing mirror not fully open out . It retracts fine but not the other way. So I have come to the point where the only thing to consider is stripping it and clean and lubricate to see If that will sort it. I have seen the step by step guide posted on here with all the pictures which is brilliant I must say but as ever I am really nervous about the first step of tugging at the base of the mirror to unclip it. I have looked to see if I can get a spare mirror glass just in case but there is another question. I can't see any OEM ones on the net has anyone ever bought one from Lexus or elsewhere. Has anyone ever done this procedure and can offer any tips and advice. This is reminiscent of my radio removal where I could not get the control panel to budge but with the proper tools finally succeeded. Any advice about the right tools etc would also be much appreciated thanks. Again I suppose I have to bite the bullet and hope it doesn't crack. Neilj

Thank you for the reply. I have just read my post again and spotted my mistakes so apologies but hope it gets the points over. Really pleased with the end result and it worked out to be a relatively cheap fix. six out of ten must do better. neilj

Just thought that I would upload my latest fix on my SC430 as I am sure I must not be the only one who has experienced this. Washing the car a couple of weeks ago and noticed one of the chrome tail pipes was wobbling. On further investigation I found that the exhaust ends were completely rotten and disintigrating and the ends support the chrome tail pipes hence wobbly tail pipes. As ever I got to work straight away and hack sawed the totally coroded retaing screws off and removed the tail pipes revealing the rotted ends which are like pipe reducers welded to the pipe ends, note the rest of the back box and pipes were in really good condition. Next job was measure up and sketch the offending parts and then search ebay for two reducers and hey there they were under exhaust pipe reducers. Every Exhaust Part Ltd. Unit 5A and 5B, Widney House Bromsgrove Road Redditch Worcestershire B97 4SP 76.3 mm to 50.8 mm Mild Steel Standard Exhaust Reducer Connector Pipe Tube eBay item number: 351386366008 I was tempted to buy the stainless ones but thought it might create a problem with welding disimilar steels ie stainless to mild steel so stuck with the mild steel. There was one small hiccup like UK mail lost the package but Kirk dispatched a second pair without question which I got the following day by royal mail. I booked into my local garage to have the job done and Richard and Matt at the garage had a look and the first job was to cut off the rotten ends which they did with a nifty little tool an exhaust cutter which was a chain whith small cutting discs in the links, you wrap it around the pipe and clamp the chain and wind it around the pipe and in a few secconds the rotten tails were off. We then tried my reducers and they were size on size with the back box pipes where as I thought they might have slipped over to be welded. A bit of a set back so I took the car home and bought some exhaust tubing locally (£16 for 2 meteres) and made sleeves to fit inside and align the exhaust pipes with the new reducers. I had carefully measured everything before starting the job and measured and noted the distance from the tail pipe fixing bracket and the end of the rotten reducers. Therfore I cut down the new reducers to give me the same dimension and made the sleeves by cutting a 75mm long peice of pipe for each however I had to slit them for half the sleeve length to comfortably fit inside the back box pipes. All this done I dry fiited it all together and everything was aligned. Drove back down to the garage and Matt welded in the sleeves and welded the assembly onto each back box pipe he also ground off the siezed and rusted fixing screws and welded new studs into the bracket. All done and the job looked great all i needed was to get the car home and prep and paint the new metal and back box which I did with Hammerite smooth. See Below a few pictures of the work, hope the write up is of some help to anyone experiencing the same. Neilj

Paul Purchasing a new battery is on my list of to do's in the next few weeks and I will report back when its ticked off and complete. Just getting over a crick in the neck after laying on the floor removing the front bumper to change the second HID bulb, battery will be a doddle in comparison aye. So thanks for the suggestion and point taken. Neilj

Rayann thanks for your reply. I do agree that Lexus are certainly looking after you, given the prices you have quoted. I will perhaps try and give our local dealership the opportunity to redeem itself next year and offer me some sensible prices like you. I think perhaps you get the number one treatment because maybe you purchased your car from them whereas as I mentioned I purchased my car from a VW dealership which our local lexus dealers couldn't even get close to the price I paid for the car they were at least 5000 more so It wouldn't be likely that I will purchase a car through them in a hurry. As I have said I will give them a nudge next year and try and sell it to them, the virtues of offering reasonable servicing and MOT prices etc. Neilj

As ever this is always a hot topic aye. I mentioned in my update that it too is still an issue for me no more than a week and its get the battery charger out and reset everything afterwards. Its a good job I love the car otherwise I would have traded it in for something much worse I suspect. I mentioned in my update that I am switching off the aircon when I garage the car, now I don't know if I am imagining it but it seems to give it a couple of days more in the garage we shall see. I have had a situation that I don't understand the other week where I had used the car on a Wednesday evening and gone to use it on the Friday afternoon and it was flat, two days !!!!!!!. Oh that was before I have started switching off the aircon. Sorry I, like many, can't add any solutions and only join in the whinge but it has been mentioned by my wife to go and get something else only to look up on forums and reviews and find most alternatives have much worse problems than the ones we are suffering. Lets say we are enthusiasts and we love the cars foibles or errrr NOT. I have been off on summer break and have used the car most days with the top down and have enjoyed every minute even got complimented on the car in the M and S car park so not everyone thinks its ugly, not all bad its only the battery they don't know about. Neilj

Well a few interesting replies. I am interested in how Rayann got 3 services for £990 when I was initially offered one service for £745 but that is perhaps because I bought my car from a VW dealership at a very good price and not like a friend of mine bought his from lexus and paid about 10K more for I think a 6 month newer car. I would have paid £300 per service myself if it had been offered. Don't quite understand the maths of the reply "To be fair £120 difference for a major service between main dealer and a good local garage doesn't seem bad to me" £430-£189 =£241 doesn't it and £745-£189=£556 oh and a Lexus oil filter was used as I had asked for as well as fully synthetic oil etc. I do take the point that some garages don't take much care of your car with respect to soiling or scratching but then do Lexus fill an inspection sheet and get you to sign on hand over of the car to them for the service if you take my point. I wouldn't mind paying £300 that would be reasonable for the Lexus stamp etc but the prices I was quoted I thought were off the scale. I always taken great care of my cars and have had compliments from time to time which acknowledge such and I will continue to do so with or without main agents. Neilj

Oh forgot to update. Battery still playing up and draining if left for more than a week but not sure yet if I have spotted that by switching off the the aircon the battery appears to be going a few days longer. Will update if this proves to be the case. I changed one of the HID bulbs within the first couple of months of ownership and found the other night that the other was on the blink too so dropped the bumper again! and changed the other so hopefully that will be that for a year or two. For all its minor troubles I still love the cars qualities. I have looked at the trader for alternatives and other cars are quoted with having the latest techno gadgets which my nearly 10 year old car already has. I work on design for the car industry and have access to the latest specs and teardowns of other vehicles to compare and Lexus are always ahead by quite a few years. I hope that they continue however lexus fortunately do have quite high depreciation so you can get a class leading car for relatively little money. I wished I could get an LX460 in my garage have you seen the prices 80k's worth of car with low mileage for 15 to 18 grand bargain. Neilj

Whilst I am logged on would like to pass on my recent experience. My RX was due for its service, I usually take my cars to a very trusted garage I know locally. They are so good that some main agents (not Lexus) send cars to them that they have trouble fixing so very well respected by all. For some reason I thought I would see what our Lexus main agent wanted to service my car and their initial pitch was £740 for an oil change, brake fluid change, spark plugs and air filter, cough cough splutter WHAT !!!!. After I had booked into my local garage they came back with a price of £430. The cost at my local garage although I didn't have the spark plugs renewed due to the low mileage of my car was £188 for the same. Tell me do Lexus mechanics walk around in silk overalls, have platinum socket sets and bejewelled tooled boxes and prance around saying my lexas is bigger than yours and do some people actually pay the prices they ask. It is beyond me how they justify what I consider to be an outrageous price for simple servicing. Oh it was said that this is a big service because they have to change the spark plugs ooooh really wow. I reckon some must actually pay up, I also reckon that this is a good business opportunity for someone set up as a specialist who could easily compete with those prices I'm sure. Neilj

I am on my summer break and have been having a few drives out top down of course but have also been messing around cleaning and polishing the cars. So I wanted to ask if anyone knows of a product that will get the clear window on the heater control panel polished up. Mine I think like many others has like a purple mottled effect coating on it so wondered if it could be polished out. Have carefully tried a bit of duraglit metal polish wadding which has had no effect so wondered if anyone has successfully managed to get the window clear. Oh tried the old toothpaste too but no luck. Neilj.

I thought I would chip[ in with what I did to my wheels on my 2006 facelift sc. I knew the wheels needed a refirb when I bought the car so immediately got someone in to do the job. I had mine done in the standard bright silver, star silver three. Two out of the three star shaped centres were flaking and underneath I noticed a chrome finish so I paint strippered the lacquer off to reveal a hard chrome finish which I washed and polished off and fitted as is. Against the twilight amethyst pearl colour of the car I personally really like them, there are pictures of an American sc in the same colour with chrome wheels so it looks a bit similar. For my taste the dark original finish is a bit dour but then I like bright colours which TAP isn't until it sparkles in the sunlight with the sparkles in the paint finish. Perhaps some will say yuk but there is no accounting for taste aye. Neilj