Britprius

When I tried with the actuator electrically disconnected it threw a warning light. John.

Hi Matt. I did exactly the same as you 4 years ago. I even bought the same color Gs as you. The GS450H is a totally different animal to the Prius I think the only thing they share is there reliability. The Gs is for it's engine size, and performance is very good on fuel at around 35/40 mpg, but know where near the Prius's 60/65 mpg. The Prius did 0-62 in 10.6 seconds the Gs does the same in 5.2 seconds. Enjoy your new toy. John.

Rob admit it you have found the power mode switch. Now try the hybrid power at the same time. John. .

You could try splitting the nut by sawing it along the line of the shaft part. Even if you end up with a slight flat on the shaft after cutting off the nut a new nut will still work on whats left of the thread. John.

Anti roll bar links can be bought for £40 the pair. It is also a good idea to replace the roll bar rubber bushes at the same time. These are cheap. As said previously check the shocks for leakage. This rely needs to be done with the wheels hanging "weight off the suspension" to see the seals where the shaft leaves the body of the shock. Shocks can be bought for circa £250 each. John.

Another very common part that is counterfeited is headlamp bulbs particularly HID bulbs. Boxed as known manufacturers bulbs they can be £90 each while cheap HID bulbs from China are £10 for two bulbs. Now being honest I have used the cheap HID bulbs without problems, but I bought them at the low price knowing the were not OEM were not packaged as such. John.

I had a Prius from new, and sold it to a family member after 8 years, and 145,000 miles. In all that time the only items replaced "other than normal service items" were. Rear shocks under guarantee at 40,000 miles one was leaking, but they changed both, and at 90,000 miles a FNS wheel bearing due to pothole damage. The car I am informed is still running great at near 200,000 miles on the OEM brake pads,and disks. The hybrid battery is still under guarantee by way of the hybrid health check, and should be for another 3 years. The CT is a Prius with a different body. John.

Richard watch out for the high road tax on the face lift versions. I do like the look of the SC, but after test driving a couple I was put off by the ride, after having the GS450H, and the slightly slower acceleration. In my case the lack of usable rear seats as I do carry passengers in the rear of the car regularly also was a down side. John.

They just make sure the TPMS warning lights comes on when the ignition is first turned on, and then the warning lights turn off to show there is no fault. John.

In law you are innocent until proven guilty. It is not up to you to prove innocents or ownership. It is up to the shop keeper to prove guilt. If a shop keeper believes you have stolen goods he has the right to detain you, and call the police. However the shop keeper does not have the right search you or your goods. If he or she detains you without evidence of a crime they open themselves up to kidnap, and or unlawful detainment. Once you have paid for any goods you own them just as much as any item you have at home. Further if your still in the shop with goods not paid for no crime has been committed until you leave or attempt leave the shop. The receipt is your property for such things as guarantee or faulty goods returns. The shop keeper should have a copy of this on his or here own system, and should be able to verify purchases. It is possible to return goods without a receipt if you pay by card just by giving the date of purchase by witch the shop can trace the transaction. John.

I did not intend to hijack this post so any further post will be in another area, but what about the cost of employing someone to carry out what amounts to an illegal search. Shop owners can ask to see receipts, but cannot demand to see them. Once paid for the goods are your property even if your still in the shop. John.

I totally agree. There is no way I would buy a car with that sort of conditions attached. It's like going into a supermarket, and filling your trolley with items then going to the checkout for them to add the costs up. Then being tolled that will be £50 pounds for the paperwork. I would leave the trolley at the checkout, and say I have changed my mind. As a matter of interest I was leaving a shop recently, and as I neared the door I was asked to show my receipt. I politely declined stating the goods in the bags were mine as was the receipt, and they had no right to search my property. If they thought or had proof I was shop lifting to call the police. The shop manager was called, and after a short discussion about my writes the manager apologised, and I went on my way. John.

Robert. I have not been given details of what the holdup is, but at leased I have a reasonable level of loan car "although I do not like the car". The thing that amazes me is that taking everything into consideration the cost must have risen above the value of my car, and rising further daily. The claims company are still giving excellent service "it's not there fault that the body shop has problems". From what I gather the third parties insurance is paying all the costs, and must now be in a position of having paid out so much they are in so deep they just have to keep paying. John.

The TPMS does not have to work for the MOT on a 2005 car. All cars after 2012 must have a TPMS fitted, but it is not part of the MOT till 2014 year cars. John.

Another put back. Car will not be ready till the 18th Feb. John.

Great news Mike. My cars MOT is due in a couple of weeks time on my birthday. I hope to get a present just like that "if" it's back from the body shop. John.

It is normal that the AGM batteries fitted to Toyota/Lexus cars are vented via a rubber tube to the underside of the car. The great majority of flooded batteries are also fitted with a vent for this purpose. The amount of gas given off by the battery depends on two main factors. Number one is the charge rate "the higher the charge rate the more the cells gas", and the second is the level of charge in the battery. When the battery is fully charged it will gas if the charge rate is more than a trickle. The charging system on the hybrids is more sophisticated than the normal alternator. It even takes in information on battery temperature, and is quite capable of charging flooded batteries, just as well as AGM. Not all hybrids are fitted with AGM batteries as OEM. The GS450H has a standard flooded battery as OEM almost certainly because the battery is in the boot well away from any passengers. John.

I have had an up date from the claims handler today. My car will now provisionally be ready, and returned to me on Friday 14 Feb. Still no news on what the holdup at the body shop is. I am not convinced it will be ready then, but time will tell. If the car is returned on that date car hire costs will be at circa £3000. John.

From what I have gathered Lexus do not have joints in the pipe work. The Brake pipes run as one piece all the way to the front. The easy way over the problem is to cut, and join the pipes at some covenant point or cut off as little as possible at the rusty end, and pull enough pipe from the run to enable new ends to be fitted. Changing the pipes from front to rear requires the removal of the rear sub frame, fuel tank, and under trays from memory. The pipes from Lexus are circa £120, and £150 each per pipe. John.

Hybrids have a totally different system as far as the stop start goes. The 12 volt battery is not used in any way to start the engine so does not need to be of a high specification. So called standard batteries are more than adequate. The engine is started by the traction battery when the car is stationary, and when the car is moving some of the kinetic energy from the movement of the car is used to start the engine with a little help from MG1 in the transmission. If the car is in ready mode the 12 volt battery is on constant charge from the traction battery irrespective of if the engine is running or not. The only reason AGM batteries are used in many Toyota/Lexus hybrids is because they are often positioned in the cabin, and as the battery has no free liquid acid it cannot spill or splash onto occupants if in a collision. AGM batteries work on exactly the same chemical system as flooded batteries. The real problem is that because the hybrids do not have a normal starter motor when the battery is getting weak we do not hear the slow cranking associated with normal car starters. This is because the 12 volt battery does not turn the engine over In turn we have no advanced warning of failure. The first thing we know is that after being parked for a few days or if we sit in the car for an hour listening to the radio it will not boot into ready mode. John.

A mechanic is not required "there are qualifications" to ware a seatbelt when road testing a car, but failing to use the vehicle in a reasonable manor is something you should bring to the attention of the dealership. John.

John sorry I cannot update you on mine until it's returned from the body shop. John.

With a 180 hp available from the existing transmission electric motor (MG2) , and even more if MG1 is bought into play the car should still have good performance. The is also an easy option to turn the car into 4 wheel drive adding even more power by using the rear diff from a Lexus RX 400/450 in the front of the GS to drive the front wheels, and taking up little space. This would add another 80 hp. John,

There is a larger capacity battery that will fit. It is also an AGM battery. The downside is that the terminals are different, but this is easily over come. Once fitted this has no effect on the batteries operation. The larger capacity batteries are made for mobility scooters, and are rated at 55AH at a 10 HR discharge rate. Aligned with the standard rating for car batteries rated at a discharge rate of 20 HR raises the equivalent capacity to circa 62 AH. I used one of these batteries in my Prius for 4 years until I sold the car. The car was sold to a member of the family 4 years ago, and is still running on the same battery. The Mobility batteries are usually designated with the numbers 12/55 as part of there part number 12 being the voltage, and 55 being the amp hour capacity at a 10 hour rate. They are available on line for £80 upwards. They are extremely robust, and designed to withstand daily deep discharge without damage. John.