sorcerer

I only know about the RX rather than the IS, but someone has mentioned in the past that for the RX, parking sensors were a dealer option, not a factory-fitted item. Maybe the IS is the same and the person who originally owned the 2007 one paid extra for that option.

I'm new to washing/polishing/detailing cars (always had low value cars before so just an automatic car wash at Asda or wherever would do) so someone more experienced than I will confirm, but I don't think that's true. I would imagine polishing and waxing would benefit most cars, but I stand to be corrected.

It did work well Ed, easy to apply and a real shine to it, well impressed. Here's three (not very good) photos from last night, after the Poorboys Black Hole but before waxing:

There are definite differences between them, so just pull one and compare to this:

Well, I decided to carry on last night and put a coat of wax on. @Silversalmon Edward, you were right, it's very easy to apply and buff off, and I'm glad that I got the job completely finished yesterday instead of it running into another day, but by the hell I'm suffering for it today However, I reckon it was worth it to see her shine like that and even a pleasure for it to rain today and to see all that beautiful beading! Ok, so yesterday I did 'the full works' from snow foam to shampoo, from claying to a cleaning fluid/pre-wax treatment, then applying Poorboys Black Hole Glaze and finally the Autoglym wax. I doubt very much that it's necessary to do all that every time and even if it was, I know my back won't stand up to it, so the question is, how often should I do 'the full works' and what should I do to give her an 'ordinary' wash, say, every couple of weeks? These may seem silly, trivial questions but up to now it's been very rare for me to hand-wash a car. Normally I'd just take it to a car wash and be done with it but we've never had such a new or expensive car before so I feel it's only right that I treat this one with more love and respect

With or without Satnav/reversing camera?

No idea about the CT200h but can you not just pull one out to look at it, then compare pictures on Google?

I've been working on the car since about 2pm, taking it slow and easy because of my back injury and I've just finished applying the Poorboys Black Hole. I was going to finish off with a coat of Autoglym Ultra High Definition wax but my back is really beginning to hurt now. If I leave the waxing until tomorrow, is that alright or will I have to start washing and cleaning again?

Plenty on eBay and Amazon, this being just one of them. Just search for Faraday pouch or Faraday bag.

Nearly six years and you've not actually done anything to find the fault??? If you want to do it yourself then a multimeter and some knowledge of diagnostic fault-finding is needed, but I think you really need to take it to a proper auto-electrician, not a general garage or mechanic. I just can't believe that you've done nothing for six years except to spend money on a new battery every year. There's obviously some sort of short circuit or other parasitic drain happening (that's when the battery is continuously being discharged after shutting off the engine) that needs to be found and put right. Auto electricians in Hampshire - click on this link for details

Sort of. In 'Keyless Entry/Smart Start' cars, rather than having to press a button on the fob to unlock the doors, the fob constantly transmits a signal. Even at, say, 3am when you're all tucked up in bed fast asleep, the fob is still transmitting its signal. The bad guys have a very sensitive receiver so that they can stand next to your front door and pick up that signal, which they then relay to the car. The car detects the signal and flags 'Key present' to the security systems and other ECUs, so it behaves exactly as if the key was there in the car and it can be driven away - and it'll keep going, perhaps for hundreds of miles if there's enough fuel, until they turn off the engine, at which time the car will flag 'Key not present' when they try to restart it again.

I think you'll find that it doesn't. My understanding is that a Faraday Cage is made up of an interlocking mesh rather than sheet metal, but I may be wrong on that. Anyway, here's someone who has tried it and found that a tin doesn't work. In the same situation, my Faraday Pouch stops the key being 'seen' by the car:

I admit that I haven't watched this video myself but it should hopefully help you. If it doesn't, there are plenty more that should.

Personally, I wouldn't bother too much about the position of the lights on the front of the car because they can vary, but something that is constant and is always the same on any car I've ever seen is the dashboard indicator lights. The green one is always for the dipped or low beam and the blue one is always for the high or main beam. As long as only the green one comes on automatically and the blue one only comes on when you switch it on, everything is working as it should

Yes, that's exactly how they are meant to work. The green warning light on the dash is for the low beam, the one you use in normal driving conditions every night. The blue light is for the high beam, also known as the main beam. That's the one that is very bright and will dazzle oncoming drivers which is obviously very dangerous, so the high/main beams will never come on automatically, unless your car is designed to have the auto high beam system..

What made you go and buy a new radiator as a first step? Did you get a new radiator cap as well as the rad itself and did you check the integrity of the hoses, especially the lower radiator hose? If the lower hose is collapsing it can restrict the flow. Any white steam coming from the exhaust when the car is started after being sat for a while? Have you tested for combustion gases in the coolant? Could possibly even be the heater matrix - are the front carpets wet? With the greatest of respect Melissa, you have to logically and methodically diagnose the problem rather than just throw money at it until all parts are replaced.

I'm assuming that you mean that, when the car thinks it's dark enough outside it will automatically turn on the lights for you? If so, that should only ever work on low beam, never high beam.

Was it installed correctly? Is it faulty? Looking at it logically, if everything was alright before this was installed and things have only gone to hell in a handbasket since installation, then there's a strong chance it has something to do with that. You really need a multimeter at the very least to do some measurement and testing but I'm guessing that you haven't got one or you'd have given us the results of your tests. In the absence of that, I'd be inclined to go to a proper auto-electrician rather than a general garage or mechanic - auto electrics are a very strange beast to deal with.

As Brian said above, hydraulic tappets can lose their oil and is fairly normalish for older engines. I'm not sure if anything can be done about it or not.

Fair enough Stuart, good luck in your search.

I don't know your physical abilities but my wife has a mobility scooter, a Scootamart Versa Lite - click this link for details. We were lucky to get hers secondhand for £375 from eBay, almost unused, so it's worth a look there too. It fits into the back of the RX300 that we used to have and as the 400h is built on the same body, then I know it'll fit into yours. It comes apart into five separate pieces, no tools are needed. The front axle, tiller and body is one piece, the rear axle, the battery, the seat and the basket make up the rest. Because it splits apart it's light and easy to handle, and my wife can get it in and out of the car herself without needing a hoist. As an indication, we managed to get the scooter and four weeks-worth of luggage in the boot of the RX300, without putting the seats down, when we went on holiday driving and touring around Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Any more info? Front? Back? Engine? Can you record it so that we can hear it?

Aha, that's where the confusion arises then because I haven't got an IS300h, I'm from the RX450h forum. When I see something that sounds interesting in the preview list of topics I just have a look, not necessarily noticing which forum they're in, and that's why your post seemed so strange

Perhaps would have been better to preface with "Guess what this is" or "Who knows what these are" or something along those lines, then it may have been fun.

Or who it was aimed at, to be honest.