sorcerer

That is the exact position where I have my LPG fuel guage, but that doesn't look like an LPG fuel guage and you've never said that you have LPG, so it can't be that. I have no idea what it is or what it's for, so the only thing I could suggest is to contact the previous owner and ask them what it is. You'll find their name and address on your V5C document (logbook) so from that you can hopefully find a phone number for them, or at the very least you could write to them. When we bought our RX300, the previous owner had not erased the phonebook entries from the car so the V5C told me that the previous owner's name was 'Mr. Philip xxxxx' and there was a mobile phone number listed under 'Phil' in the phone book so I just rang that (hoping that it was indeed the correct Phil) and ended up having a good natter with the guy about the history of the car and why he sold it etc., etc.

Sorry Dagva, I've listened and I see what you mean, but I have no idea what the beeps mean.

Sorry, definitely don't know what's going on there

Hmm, just re-read your post again and, if I'm reading it correctly, I think you're getting a bit confused with the switches and what they do - maybe The 'FRONT' defogger switch is pressed once to turn on, then pressed again to turn off. The switch with the word 'OFF' written on it is for the fan, and not really anything to do with the 'FRONT' button per se. The 'FRONT' button will move a flap somewhere to divert the air onto the screen, when the fan is blowing air. If the 'OFF' button is pressed there will be no airflow, but if the yellow light is still lit on the 'FRONT' button, that's just indicating that the flap is in position to divert air to the screen when the fan is turned on.

I don't know the answer to your question but I'm not sure its faulty. Climate control is really meant to be on all the time. You simply set the temperature you want in the cabin and the system mixes hot/cold/AC to maintain that temperature. This is a good thing because the refridgerant gas contains oil that lubricates the seals. If the AC is turned off for extended periods of time the seals can become brittle and allow refridgerant to escape, which a) can cause damage to the AC system and b) can be expensive to re-gas. The way mine works (RX300) is that I have the temperature set and the 'AUTO' button pressed (green light on). If I need to defog the front windscreen I press the 'FRONT' button, which lights up yellow and the green 'AUTO' light goes off. When the screen is clear, I press the 'FRONT' switch again, the yellow light goes off and the green 'AUTO' light comes back on and the system looks after itself again. Not sure if that helps you, but I never touch the 'OFF' button at all.

Sometimes you have to travel to get the best. We got our RX300 from an independent dealer 200 miles away and even then we could have found a better example if time was on our side but it wasn't. Our previous car had become very unreliable and every morning was a guessing game as to whether it would get us to work or not so we needed to change quickly and we got the best we could find at that moment in time.

I might be wrong but I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that a zero point calibration is something to do with steering geometry and/or wheel alignment? So basically, although Oxford LPG seem to be absolutely rubbish and from your description of events I wouldn't pay them in washers, they were in fact right when they said it was a problem with the car - sounds like the only thing they got right

Think he might have meant the cabin heater at the back, not the actual seats themselves

I haven't got a 400h but a quick Google on the location of the DVD player brought this topic up from a couple of years ago. Seems like it should be under the driver's seat? http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/67415-how-to-remove-under-seat-dvd-player-in-rx400h/

I wouldn't say it's ugly but it's certainly boring and looks recognisable to anyone who ever saw the first Range Rover, which shows lack of design imagination to me. Just my tuppence-worth of course

Aha, yes, I can see the logic in what you say. I suppose that if you lock the car with the remote then it will arm the alarm and immobiliser. If you then try to unlock with just the key, not the electronics, then it will trigger the security systems. If, however, you just lock with the key, the security systems aren't armed, so yes, you can then drive away. The problem would come if you lock remotely but then the battery dies and you have to unlock using only the key.

You can use it to manually lock/unlock the doors but I doubt you'd be able to start the engine due to the immobiliser - you'll need the electronics to deactivate that. I always keep a couple of spare batteries around, both in the car and in the house, purely for that reason.

I haven't got a hybrid but like Bob says, I don't think the OBD2 system will give you any meaningful information about the hybrid side of things anyway. Fault codes for things like oxygen sensors, fuel trims and the like are all to do with emissions control and the internal combustion engine, not the hybrid battery and its control systems, although if anyone knows better I stand to be corrected. This is the one that I've got and it works really well.

My my, you are a spitty little kitten aren't you Fair enough, I hold my hand up and admit that I didn't know what blending refers to and, like the OP it would seem, I assumed that it meant that they do the bumper (where the damage is), then move onto the bonnet and the wings, which would then have a knock-on effect to the next panel along and where would it all end? I now know that they sort of 'overspray' and put a little bit onto the bonnet and wings then 'blend' that in to the existing paint.

Sorry, I haven't got time to check so this may or may not help: http://www.paintscratch.com/touch_up_paint/Lexus/

Back up the thread someone said to put down the shovel and step away from the hole - I reckon that's good advice. There's no need whatsoever to do that or you'll soon have a full car respray!

How do you drive the car if it won't go in the ignition barrel as happened when I had a cheapo Ebay one cut locally? Well, to be precise, it may have gone in if I'd forced it but I didn't fancy doing that just in case it led to further problems.

Aha, fair enough my friend, cheers

No, it's not possible to do in the sense that if the key you got from Ebay only cost you a couple of quid, the likelihood is that the metal is very hard and can cause damage to expensive key cutting machines, hence why most places won't do them. Also, they don't like cutting things that they haven't supplied. However, all is not lost because this guy on Ebay will sell you an empty case that you put your own electronics into and he'll also cut the blade to either your key code if you have it or a photograph of your existing key. I've no affiliation with this guy, just a very satisfied customer

I'm no expert in this field so I may well be wrong, but I think you're getting a bit confused. As far as I'm aware, SMART repairs are done by companies such as Chips Away, where they come to you and the repair is done in an hour or two. They are an alternative to 'traditional' body shops where you usually have to leave your car with them for a couple of days. Like I say, I may be wrong and I stand to be corrected, but that's my understanding of it.

A. That's correct. I don't pay if the job is not up to standard. Once the job is done correctly, I pay the agreed price. Do you do otherwise? B. I'm nearly 60 years old and personal recommendation hasn't always been possible (like in my examples above) or hasn't worked as it should, but it has worked and paid off in a good 85-90% of situations so I'll stick to my tried and tested methods.

A. Who pays for a job that is not completed satisfactorily?? Example 1 - I used to have a Granada just like the one below. Unfortunately some numpty scraped it and it needed work to the front wing. The body shop gave me a price of (can't remember but for sake of example we'll say £200) and I left it there. When they rang to say it was ready I spotted that they had made a mess of the masking and the blue and silver had overlapped in places, so I said that I was sorry but it just wasn't good enough and they would have to redo it. They did, and it didn't cost me a penny more than the £200. Example 2 - We had a 3-seater settee reupholstered at a price of £325. When they brought it back it was immediately apparent that they had overstuffed the seat cushions - when you sat on them your knee/thigh was level with the top of the side arms! I rejected it and got them to take it away again and do it properly, at their expense, not mine. Strangely enough, those two examples where situations that I couldn't get personal recommendations for first and just picked names from Yellow Pages. Are you seriously saying that you hand over your hard-earned cash first and then complain? B. Of course not, but that is a ridiculous comparison. If someone recommends a body shop you can see and inspect the repair that they had done and make up your own mind as to whether or not it meets your own standards. Same if someone recommends a builder or gardener or whatever. A friend had someone in to build an extension for them. I was able to go round and see the quality of the builder's work before asking him to build my extension

Good point Piers. I use the Pocket GPS World speedcam database on my TomTom. It's £19.99/year but well worth it and very comprehensive.

A. If the body shop make a mess, you don't pay for the job and you make them put it right at their cost, not yours B. I'd rather rely on personal recommendation for most things as it's seen me in good stead for most of my life

Buy a TomTom/Garmin or other satnav and forget about the factory installed one. No, I'm not being facetious, it truly is the best option. You won't be able to get 2016 or 2017 maps, even if you get the unit. I've got a 2005 RX300 and I'm sure I remember reading that the latest maps I could get would be dated 2011 and there's been a LOT of road changes since then. Also, because these units are DVD-based, you cannot add in your own POIs. A great example of this is that our car runs on LPG, so I have the TomTom programmed with every LPG filling station in the country as POIs. If I'm running low, I just tell the TomTom to navigate to the nearest LPG station and off we go - you couldn't do that with the factory-fitted DVD unit because you can't add your own POIs. On cars as old as ours the factory-fitted DVD-based units are about as useful as a chocolate fireguard.