OldTrout

I do both longer runs ~160 miles and short shopping journeys. On the longer runs I get between 35 and 40mpg. On the short stuff I probably get 25 or a little less. My short journeys are 2 - 3 miles and engine has only just got warm when I stop. You should do better as your short is a little longer than mine. Get the newer model and you will do better. If you do not have the "energy" screen showing you probably will not know what is propelling the car. After a year of ownership I can't tell. It depends on too many things. The 2007 version does not have an audio input jack. The optical drive however will read .mp3 files and you can get many hours of .mp3 files on a 4.7GB disk. Once you have one I suspect you will be tempted to do longer journeys.

The warranty that came with my car will expire at the end of the month. At 9 years old and ~112,000 miles the car is eligible for the 24 month extended warranty and I have been quoted £1095. At the last MOT 6 months ago all four dampers were mentioned in the advisories as misted with oil. Given the cost of replacing the dampers the extended warranty would seem to be well worthwhile. I may also go for a service and MOT package. Anybody any experience of these packages? John

Outside loo? Luxury. We just had pit in't garden. And my sister's hot water bottle froze one night.

Don't remember rag and bone with cart. Our milkman was one of the last horse-drawn floats. Horse was very good and knew the route precisely. Would move without any prompting to be exactly where it should be at any time. I guess driverless vehicles my be able to do this eventually. My first car, (actually an A35 van to which if fitted rear windows so children could see out), had trafficators. Early closing on Wednesday hung on for ages outside of the big cities. I feel a Monty Python sketch coming on. John

Scored 14. I never had a paper round but I did help the local milkman with his horse drawn cart for 6p/day. John

Brian, The pdf documents with links in earlier posting are both USA versions and therefore may be different. Here is a UK 2010 GS450h brochure, https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6207313/GS-450h-2010.pdf a generic GS series 2008 brochure, https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6207313/GS-Series2008.pdf and a leaflet about the hybrid drive dated June 2008, https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6207313/Hybrid(2june08).pdf This is nearest I was able to get to 2007. In sport mode the throttle response is much sharper. I haven't noticed the stiffer suspension but that is probably because I haven't driven it hard enough. Not enough sideways support in the driver's seat for hard cornering. John

This is going to seem like quiz of the week but I have not been able to find answers in either the handbook or on these forums. After a year with this car I still don't know. 1) When my driver's seat moves backwards or forwards it sometimes groans. I can't see anything fouling. Does something need a bit of lubrication and if so what, where and how? 2) Driving recently with all this sun has sometimes been very difficult with the reflection of the sun off flat bit under the windscreen (what is it called?) onto the windscreen and into my eyes. I suspect somebody had polished it with cabin shine of something. How do I take the shine off so it doesn't reflect? 3) How do I tell if I have the rear wheel steering option? Little fuse box perhaps. If so whereabouts in the boot is it? 4) From these forums I understand what the intelligent headlamp following does. But does it do it on main or dipped or both? Is it obvious because I don't notice it. Mine might not be working. 5) Internal motion sensor. In my 1998 GS a second press of the locking button on the key fob disabled the internal motion sensor which would otherwise be triggered by my dog. On this 2007 GS it would seem I have to press the motion sensor off button and then get out of the car and lock it in under 5 seconds. (OK I could do it having go out first but it is not a convenient as the old way.) The second press now seems to invoke deadlocks. 6) On a regular 150 mile journey the full consumption has fallen slightly. Earlier in the year when it was much cooler I exceeded 40 mpg but it has slowly dropped to about 35 mpg now. I though it might get better in hot weather. How much difference does the air con make? Questions aside it is a great car and I still enjoy driving it. John

A chap I know worked at Jaguar when the LS was first introduced to the UK. Jaguar bought one and took it apart. Their verdict? If this is what Lexus can do at their first attempt then we are in trouble. John

John, Thank you for the URL. I do not require anything. John

Is this recall for all GS450h cars? I have not had a letter. Perhaps the previous owner has mine?

Excellent purchase. 38mpg is excellent too. I would think the rear blind would be fixed under warranty. If your Sat Nav discs are genuine Lexus then the Sat Nav might be fixed under warranty too. However it does sound as if they are pirated discs in which case it's down to you. I cannot enter the address etc. for a new destination whilst moving and I believe this the correct Lexus behaviour. I have read of modifictaions ("unlocking") to enable it to be done on the move but my mind boggles. It is hard enough when stationary. Doing it whilst moving must be a short cut to an accident. If a destination is in the memory I can set it by voice commands whilst moving e.g. "Destination home". Other things might be possible by voice commands too but I haven't found them yet. I don't know if an unlocked sat nav unit can be restored to its original firmware. Others might know it the firmware on genuine Lexus DVDs will do a restore. It so there is your solution either with new ones or older ones off eBay from someone who has just updated. John

Beware. I purchased a disk for my 2007 450h but it would not work and I had trouble getting my money back. Eventually Paypal refunded almost all I had spent but it was a lot of hassle. See the postings I made at the time on this forum. The pirate discs may be fine on lots of cars but they weren't on mine. I then bought a set of 4 genuine Lexus 2012 discs on eBay and the UK one works fine. (I haven't tried the others.) I believe the Lexus policy on only selling sets of 4 encourages the pirates. I came across a couple of sellers who looked as if they were buying genuine Lexus sets and then splitting them. Their overall mark-up was about 50%.

AmbroseJohn, I too have iPhone 4 and a GS450h albeit 2007 not 2008. I have entered more than 6 numbers manually although these might have been into the quick dial area. When moving if I press the "lift handset" button on the steering wheel the quick dial screen comes up with some numbers and I have the option to go to a second page of numbers. I could find no method to copy all my contacts across. I don't know if there is an app which my achieve the transfer. I'll have a look. John

Now that is what I call a test! There, up and down Ben Nevis and then back in how long? John

A very long time ago when I fiddled about with motorbikes, the petrol cap air admittance hole sometimes got blocked. The engine would run for a bit but then die because it was starved of fuel. Reving made it die sooner. Left for a while enough air managed to bleed into the tank so that this behaviour could be repeated. I don't know how air admittance is done now (emissions) or back in 1999 but could you just try running without the petrol cap? John

Presumably this was the attack shown in the new BBC4 Scandi drama "Follow the money" last Saturday (19/3/2016). The thief entered and stole an upmarket BMW. I was impressed at how easily he inserted his ODB plug. I have to get my head under the steering wheel. John

Agreed too! The delay is less than my 1998 GS300 and there is no delay for the electric motor to kick in. The old GS auto box was very good. My MOT place said it was the smoothest car they test. The CVT box is even better in my opinion. Sometimes when coming to a halt there is little noise which reminds me of a tube train stopping - electric motors. John

Watched the video. Has the new GS450h got a rev counter then? (Engine sits at 6000rpm.) Only under maximum acceleration surely? John ps There is a video of Jason Plato driving the previous 450h.

Yes! After my trials with a pirate DVD I wrote to Lexus and suggested that if they slip their update sets into four individual DVDs each at a quarter of the price, they would sell more and the pirates would be bypassed. I did not even get the courtesy of a reply. John

I have had dogs longer than I have had a Lexus, but when I first got a Lexus the rug over the back seat was not adequate protection. My wife found a Kleinmetall Allside car seat cover. This hangs from the front and rear head and rests with the base on the seat. It can be half or full width and works a treat. It can be removed in moments leaving the back free for humans and completely free of everything that comes off the dog. It wipes clean and is waterproof just in case although I have never tested this. Here is the cover on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Allside-Carseat-Covers-145-140/dp/B000A217OG/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1457863048&sr=1-3 I have no connection with the company. I'm just a very satisfied customer with satisfied passengers who have travelled in the back when the cover was removed. John

I had in mind another member's car rather than a dealer John

I very much doubt a wheelchair would go in. The boot is very small. Four small suitcases possibly. However the only way to tell is to try. There must be a GS450h nearer to you than 60 miles. Anyone? John

Kieron, Try Option 3 Need Assistance on bottom left of http://www.cargasstruts.co.uk/index.php. John

I purchased my GS450h at the end of last August from a Lexus main dealer. It was serviced prior to sale and had 6 months MOT left. It came with 12 months Lexus warranty. I have done about 3,500 miles in it. This morning it passed its MOT but with 5 advisories: 1) front (slight play column bush), 2) parking brake lever has little reserve travel front [3.1.6b], and 3-5) shock absorbers with light misting of oil both rear and offside front [2.7.3]. I doubt all these things have developed in the last 3,500 miles so I wonder why they were not picked up in the service. Grounds for warranty claim? John

Thanks for URLs Callum. The brochure fills in a lot of gaps for me like total system power is not the sum of the petrol engine and electric motor powers. Ditto torque. John