Obertelli

Those are as useful as a chocolate teapot. The photo is from the seller’s listing for the CT200 version selling for £30. It’s made from stainless steel of comparable thickness to a biscuit tin, and is held in place by just four bolts. A portable grinder, or even a set of tin-shears, would go through it in no time. Even if the four securing bolts were changed to security bolts, a grinder would cut the the heads off in seconds, and only needs to cut two of them to allow this thin bit of steel to be bent back out of the way. Total waste of money; they’re no deterrent at all.

There are cat locks and there are Catlocs. One type of the former being sold widely costs about £30-£40, and is made of stainless steel about the thickness of a biscuit tin. It’s also held in place by four very easily accessible non-security bolts. It’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot. The Catloc which Lexus has exclusive rights to on their vehicle models is much more secure, but a determined thief can still remove it. But it also adds a security marking liquid to the catalytic converter plus a serial number, so if stolen and recovered police can prove that it was stolen and bring criminal charges. They’re difficult enough to remove that many thieves won’t take the extra time to do unless the car is parked somewhere thieves are confident they won’t be disturbed. For legitimate converter removal Lexus exclusively supply a removal and refitting kit only to those who prove ownership of a CT and provide proof of ID and address. I won’t go into detail here but thieves usually cause additional damage to the CT before they jack the car up so that the built-in alarm is disabled. They don’t bother with looking to see the “Catloc” warning stickers, so by the time the car has been jacked up there is already normally a few hundred £s worth of damage. I live in south London where cat thefts have been common, but until a few months ago it was still largely limited to 4WD and SUVs due to their high ground clearance. Honda Jazz Mk1 and all Toyota Prius models were also being targeted, but my local Lexus dealer told me that CTs were not being targeted. That has now changed. In the last week alone in my area I’ve encountered three CTs which have had their converters stolen as evidenced by sounding like a tank, and today at Lexus whilst getting my car serviced they confirmed that they have seen a number of customers turning up to have stolen converters, lambda probes, and other exhaust parts replaced, plus an even larger number of owners with lesser damage caused by attempted thefts. One slight positive: thieves don’t take care to jack the cars up by approved jacking points, so often cause major sill or floor damage. But my Lexus dealer confirmed that the CT bodyshell is tough enough that so far they haven’t seen any serious damage from incorrect jacking. I have now booked my car in for them to fit a Catloc on April 21st at a cost of £199. I’m also going to make a simple modification to my car if I can which will make it much more difficult for thieving toe-rags to disable the alarm. The modification should be a simple DIY job but if not I’ll get a local auto-sparky to do the job for me. After getting the Catloc fitted I plan to get the Lexus NextBase front and rear dashcam kit on a hard-wired installation. If anyone still attempts to steal anything from my car then I’ll have some evidence which will improve chances of detection and prosecution. Also the dual dashcam whilst discreet, is noticeable enough to act as an additional deterrent in itself.

That one and it’s variants appears to be made of steel which is as thin as a biscuit tin. No real deterrent at all. The Catloc is of thicker steel and is a far more secure design. But also bear in mind that cat thieves don’t pause to look for stickers saying “Catloc fitted”. The first they know is after jacking up the car, and as they’re not worried where they position the jack there will usually be an insurance claim even if they abandon their attempt. Also even a Catloc won’t help if the car is parked somewhere the thieves feel safe enough to spend extra time. My brother’s Prius had a very secure cage around the cat but the thieves just resorted to an even bigger cutter to remove a chunk of the floorpan complete with the cat and the cage. That particular theft caused his car to be written off by the insurer as there was so much additional damage caused.

Sorry you took it that way. That wasn't my intention. I hate them for practical reasons as much as for aesthetic dislike. Yes, they're eye-catching (and distracting) when directly in your field of vision. But when they're in peripheral vision they are immensely LESS noticeable, and that's a vital safety issue. That's simple physiology of the way that peripheral vision works: it's evolved to notice sudden changes, not gradual ones. A poll of 626 drivers where I work attracted responses from 303 drivers (an extremely successful result for anything not involving pay or conditions). 232 considered them a safety hazard; 47 liked them; the remaining 24 didn't mind either way.

On my 2011 SE-L Premier, the Settings menu can also be used to change how the overhead LED behaves, along with how bright they are. May be different on later models as there were significant cost-cutting changes immediately after production resumed post-Fukushima.

I appreciate that some people like sequentials. However, I didn’t intend to start a debate about their pros and cons because that’s irrelevant to my question and is a deviation from the subject; perhaps someone would like to start a separate poll or general discussion about whether owners like them or loathe them? All that matters as per the title of this thread is that I wanted to know whether they can be disabled to revert to normal on/off indicators. My local Lexus dealer has now told me that they don’t know, but will find out. The service advisor said that it’s either controlled by software which might have the ability to toggle the feature on or off, or by different LED driver hardware, but his UK/European parts listings don’t show US Federal specification parts. If I get a definitive answer I’ll post it here at a later date.

Thanks for the replies. I’ll have to ask the dealer when I next pass. US-spec models don’t have them because it’s against Federal lighting regs, so I’m hoping there’s a simple dealer setting. I hate sequentials for two reasons:- 1. They are NOT as clear and immediately attention grabbing as a simple on/off flash. That’s really important in busy cities like London where lights must be immediately obvious. Sequentials offer no advantage at all and take a little more brain processing power to register when there’s many dozens of other vehicles around mine which are also demanding my attention. 2. As I drive in excess of 15k miles per year in London alone for my daily job, and a few thousand miles more privately within London (my combined total annual mileage varies between 25k and 30k per year) I’m firmly of the opinion that mandatory lighting is for strictly functional purposes only set out by law. They’re not fashion items and so I don’t agree with “they look cool”. The car is a tool for a job which can cause death and serious injury, and not a toy. For the same reason I detest but have to accept clear indicators (often now just postage stamp sized) which have supplanted the unambiguously orange “fried egg” indicators. Clear indicators often don’t look orange enough to stand out, and when orange lacquer on clear lenses bulbs fade the lights are no longer orange.

When my CT was being serviced earlier this week I was given an NX300h as a courtesy car. Quite handy, as I've been thinking of buying one. But I absolutely loathe the sequential indicators: as a professional driver in London traffic I HATE seeing those on any vehicle as they just add confusion in a mass of other vehicle lights. For me, they would absolutely be a deal-killer. So does anyone know whether there is a user or dealer option to turn off that feature and have them operate as normal indicators? I meant to ask at the service department before I handed back their car but forgot to do so.

Thanks, I got this one. I think that's different to the unit you're referring to. But if it does go under the roof lining and the wiring is already present that would be great as that's fairly easy to access. Yes, exactly the same as mine. Thanks especially for explaining how the hot screen works; that accounts for why it did sod all to the frosty screen from a cold start first time I tried it. The button seems to be a bit of a fudge considering it doesn't really do anything I can't already do using the normal heater controls, but at least it is a one-touch item rather than altering the fan, heat setting and diverter flaps separately. Fortunately I bagged my DAB module for £30 after additional discounts with free postage. I'm not normally a gambler but as the only other one currently on eBay is £150 (or offer) I thought it was a gamble worth taking. Although the more expensive one also comes with the salvaged glass-mount antenna, but I doubt the stick-on element will be much good after being peeled off although some designs are reusable if they just rely on non-adhesive cling qualities like the old UK tax disc holders often had. But even after I buy a good new antenna I'll still be quids in; I may opt for one which cuts into the existing FM antenna as internal screen mounts don't get the best DAB reception. I can only assume that Lexus didn't do that themselves as it's more complex and time consuming than sticking a bit of tape on the screen during a quick and cheap POE fitment. I'm minded for now though to try an internal screen mount from DAB on Wheels as they give a handy rating of how effective each one is and if it's not good enough to maybe upgrade at a later date. Thanks, I saw that myself a few days ago, but can't see where the location of the module is revealed. All it mentions is that the connection cable goes to the back of the radio but that's not surprising and that article makes clear the DAB module is not an OEM unit. As there are three different connectors commonly used for DAB (ISO, DIN and Fakra) it may explain why the Lexus dealer had so much trouble. From what I've seen so far the OEM appears to use Fakra but I'll know for certain fairly soon. Cheers! Rob

I've just bought a DAB module salvaged from a scrapped 2012 CT200H and want to install it into my 2011 SE-L Premier. Does anyone here have any tips regarding where exactly the unit should be located and how to access the rear of the Mark Levinson unit? I posted a similar question in the audio section a few days ago but had no joy so am repeating it here. As it seems that most (all?) were fitted by Lexus as POE (Point/Port Of Entry) or by local dealers in what I've been told was typically around a 40 minute job it can't be too difficult. I'm imagining access is via one of the footwells and that the unit might sit somewhere behind the glovebox. Ideally with an existing redundant cable and plug from the existing stereo. Also I understand that the original fitment used a windscreen mounted DAB aerial; all the other similar aerials I can buy state that they are unsuitable for use with heated screens and my car has the hot screen option installed (doesn't appear to work though although the dashboard button illuminates), so has anyone here used a third party screen mount aerial successfully? If not I'll buy the official (and ugly) Lexus screen-mount aerial. If this all proves to be far more difficult/totally impractical then the module was so cheap that I've lost very little and would likely be able to resell it, possibly even at a profit. Failing all that, does anyone have any parts diagrams showing the DAB installation? Thanks.

No apology required, it's just me being a pedant.

Just a technical correction: the HV traction battery on our cars and on most other hybrids is Nickel Metal Hydride and not lithium. NiMH cells are far more robust and cope far better with high current charging and discharging than any lithium batteries can manage. But, yes, preventing them from fully charging or discharging is a deliberate feature to reduce battery stress fatigue and so ensures a long lifespan. Overview of Lexus CT HV battery. (Reference to NiMH is at 2 minutes into the video)

Thanks again Geoff. The misting screen issue wasn't anything to do with me though. My CT just has really basic passenger seat adjustments: back and forward, head restraint up and down and back rake only. I'm aware that some later models pretty well replicate the entire adjustment range of the driving seat and add the three memory settings as well, so if necessary I'll keep an eye out for what is effectively a LHD driving seat in European breakers yards. Mine has the far less common ivory leather though making it a bit more tricky.

Thanks Geoff, that did the trick! Now I have to find a fix for the fact that my wife hates the very limited range of adjustments to the passenger seat... It is surprising on what was at the time the top-spec CT variant.

I've owned a 2011 CT SE-L Premier since Monday and there's something about it which is starting to bug me which I haven't found a solution to yet. The main central display screen shows navigation mapping by default, even when I haven't set a route. But if I set it to show the audio screen it quickly defaults back to the navigation screen. Is there any way to set it so that the screen I select remains in view until I choose to change it?