wharfhouse

The thing with breakdown cover is comparing apples with apples - if the cover bought is what you want / need then no problem but the cover you have for £105 for example is not as comprehensive as the Lexus cover. I went to through the Caravan Club website and did a quote and when Home Start is included and a second vehicle and cover for driving any car and for one's partner driving any car then the cost for Green Flag is actually £189 - so more than the Lexus cover (and that's only UK, no European cover). As I said, if what is actually covered for the price paid is what one needs that's great - but it's not the same cover as Lexus are offering. I've done a lot of trying to get breakdown cover that Lexus offer for less (given that what I need are virtually all the options on the Lexus cover) and after adding in the various options to the base cover with all the major breakdown organisations it always comes out more.

This is from the AA website for the same UK cover as the Lexus £155 (2 people, any car, At Home, National Recovery and Onward Travel) but the AA cover doesn't include European cover which the Lexus one does - of course if some of this cover is reduced the cost can be reduced (for example for a single person with just the basic breakdown cover it is £100 according to the AA website).

Depends what you want from the cover - at £155 it is still good value (if annoying that it has gone up 24%) for everything that is included (also covers you and a partner driving any car). Of course, if you don't need everything that is included then there will undoubtedly be cheaper cover available. I just priced up the equivalent cover direct with the AA for JUST the UK (so no European cover) and that alone came to £280 per year. Adding European cover was at least another £160 to £220 on top of that (depending on how many Euro countries you want cover for) for an annual cover policy.

You may have seen this thread so apologies if so but the symptoms on here sound same as yours - culprit EGR: If you do a Google search on your symptoms for CT 200h or Prius (same mechanicals) then lots of threads about the EGR being the culprit of your symptoms at your sort of mileage. @LexusDavesuggested EGR but you said the RAC said it could not be that - IMHO I would take what the RAC said with a pinch of salt when you see all the posts pointing to EGR and consider getting that cleaned as a first step in logically troubleshooting your problem - much more likely culprit than the flywheel.

Just re-read the thread and you don't say whether the problem is there when the car is on EV mode only or after it has started up the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) - knowing that might help with a diagnosis - did the others who checked it test in both modes.

They are doing my recall along with my 130k mile service in April. They said no need to make a separate booking.

If it is the flywheel / damper then I can understand indys not wanting to do that. I'm surprised Lexus want that much for a diagnosis though - usually around £150 for that - they will of course hook it up to check - if the people who have run the diagnostics to date haven't used the full Lexus / Toyota diagnostics though they may have missed something more easily fixed. Coils and plugs are relatively easy things to check and troubleshoot - I don't do a lot on my cars but have done those. If you have a friend or family member who can do it worth a go for not much outlay - just a set of spark plugs and one coil that you can use to replace each in turn and see it there is any change. Might even be able to get a second hand coil from a breakers to do the checking - that's what I did on the Honda and then bought a new one to replace the offending one and kept the second hand one as a spare.

If you want to know a little more about the damper and flywheel assembly on a hybrid this video shows you what it is and what it does:

Very unusual problem to encounter on a Lexus or Toyota hybrid - was that a Lexus dealer diagnosis - if not maybe worth getting a diagnosis from them before getting rid of the car and IMHO for such an unusual problem I wouldn't let it put you off another hybrid - there are many out there running happily with 2x or 3x your mileage. I had a Honda Accord about 8 years ago that had very similar symptoms to yours - slow speed hesitation but nothing at higher speeds. Reading the codes did indicate a faulty coil and once I tracked down which one it was and replaced it all was well. Also had a car with overdue spark plug replacement some time back and that again showed similar symptoms - didn't try and read any codes with that but changed the spark plugs (you could see the tips were well worn on pulling them out) and all was well. It may be worth checking spark plugs - were they changed to schedule - could even be faulty one. Coils should throw an error code but I guess there's a possibility they may not. Buying one coil and replacing each in turn should rule that in or out?

Mine's still the original Lexus maps (car is 2014 model). TBH I use my phone with Google Maps most of the time now (I have a phone holder that goes into the CD slot in the dash) and only occasionally use the Lexus Sat Nav if for example there is no/poor phone signal when I try and put a route into Google Maps so I can get in my way until I get a better phone signal. I could download the Google Maps to the phone for offline use but that takes some pre-planning and the Lexus nav, even if a bit outdated, gets me on my way in those circumstances so don't see much incentive to upgrade.

And IMHO this should all be in palce before the mandatory phasing out of ICE or as at least hybrid cars so that new car buyers have the confidence that a workable infrastructure exists. Both for EU an md UK.

This could be the start of breaking the chicken and egg situation? https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/hydrogen-back-menu-uk-fuel-infrastructure-takes-shape

The start of a hydrogen fuel cell alternative is starting to take shape with this roll out in the UK of hydrogen fuel stations no more than 100 miles apart - focused on commercial vehicles first but open to cars too. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/hydrogen-back-menu-uk-fuel-infrastructure-takes-shape

Yes, it's looking like hydrogen is making some big strides now for commercial vehicle use (and aircraft, ships etc.) which IMHO means that the technology and economies of scale will accelerate and any remaining technical hurdles will quickly get resolved. With the recent announced interest in hydrogen fuel cells again from a number of large and influential car manufacturers then trickle down to personal automotive is already underway. Regards the hydrogen infrastructure, then that largely exists within the existing fuel station network (so long as commercial deals can be done of course) as large scale hydrogen production will be needed for commercial (and possibly office/domestic heating etc.) and so not a huge leap to start and create the distribution to existing and/or new fuel station sites Let's face, with the dismal roll-out of electric charge points in this country (and many others) actually creating a hydrogen distribution network when both commercial and many automotive manufacturers are starting to back it, which will likely bring in the major fuel providers too, is a more likely proposition than the hot-potch and fragmented underfunded network of electric chargers ever been up to the task. I've been to a few motorway services areas recently in the south of the country - these are busy motorways and yet the number of charging points was only 4 in each... Yet there were some 12 - 18 fuel pumps... (even if due to their ludicrous price of fuel they were largely unused). And at busier times those 4 electric charger points were busy with people waiting - I didn't stay for more than 1/2 hour at the services but the same people were still waiting for a charger to come free when I left - and then they would also have to wait for the car to charge too!

No, high pressure tanks are used

Always get a mini valet but never had a fuel top up!

Due to the miles I will be doing over the coming weeks if I left the service until a courtesy car was available it would take me well beyond the T&Cs of 10k miles between services for the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty and Hybrid Healthcheck - of course no damage will be done to the car by going a couple of thousand extra between services, just want to be safe with the T&Cs in case...!

Always has just been a few week for me for the last 6 years - this is the first time it's been so far out to get one...!

Just went to book my IS 300h into Lexus Reading for a service and the vent tube recall work (to be done together). I had a date in mind of second week in April as thought 6 weeks would be plenty of notice to get a courtesy car as well (usually need to give about 3 weeks notice for a courtesy car). However, when I called them, the earliest appointment I could get with a courtesy car was last week in April (which is 8 weeks away), at which time due to some longer up and coming trips the car would be well past the service due mileage. Seems that my dealer group at least are rather short or courtesy cars - not sure if that's down to the shortage of new car deliveries and Lexus prioritising what stock they have to fulfil customer orders? So, just a heads up - if you are looking to have a courtesy car the next time your car is due in, worth checking on availability early.

Seems reasonable for a quote from a Lexus dealer. Could be done by a good independent though the condenser would probably be the same price if bought in the UK as may only be able to source from Lexus. Also have to ensure that the air con is refilled with the correct gas for a hybrid or serious damage to the compresser will result. Worth checking if the repair is covered by the the Relax warranty if you've had the car serviced regularly at a Lexus dealer (as it's under 10 years old and so long as the car has done less that 100k miles) if it's eg stone damage holing it then probably not but if it's a failure of a component then it might be covered.

Can't believe they didn't explain the results to you face to face when you collected the car. At my dealer they always open the pack and walk through all the docs explaining anything untoward and implications and giving me a chance to discuss with them as needed.

Ah ok - my bad - I hadn't realised that he had announced the hybrid/alternative £10 discount was being abolished. Had a look on line just now and although all rather murky (as it's mainly around EVs being subject to standard VED) it does indeed appear to be included that the £10 discount will go in 2025.

Yes I've found that too. There is a sweet spot for the voluntary excess to get lowest premium - seems if you set it too high they think you must be a high risk driver...!

The Mirai uses an electric motor so no e-cvt - it just uses a fuel cell to produce the electricity from the hydrogen to feed to the electric motor rather than in a BEV the electricity coming from a battery pack. Hence it will feel much the same as a BEV to drive.

Sounds like you have a good car with a few niggles - I'd keep pushing to get those sorted as the car should be good and reliable for many more miles and it's a shame if those niggles take the shine off it. If you can pin point a plastic to plastic squeak or rattle then get some anti rattle / squeak tape (easy to find online) and assuming you can get access that will probably sort it. That's what I used on my dash. Like you, I planned on trading my IS well before 100k miles for one of the new versions (it's why I went for a 2 year old one at the outset) but when they didn't bring it here that went out of the window so Lexus lost that sale. I've had the previous NX as a loaner a few times but didn't gel with that - felt somewhat ponderous compared to the IS. Also had the UX as a loaner numerous times and whilst ok (a bit more sprightly then the previous NX) I couldn't see it replacing my IS out of choice (and the UX boot and rear legroom is really small). I had a new NX 350h loaner about a year ago and liked that - felt better then the previous NX to drive and thought I could maybe live with it. However when I went to Lexus to enquire about buying one and learnt about the 12 months plus waiting list I really didn't want to commit to that as so many things can change in that time - and now you can't even order one in 2023. So Lexus lost that sale too. Also not keen on the ES - nice car but again I just can't gel with it. So all in that's why I finally made the decision to run my IS until it's not financially viable anymore and see what's going on in the car market again then (given all the zero emissions changes). I don't baby my car (it's as our main car and for my work) and so it needs to earn it's keep. I do some 15k miles a years so I do make sure the servicing is done on time (as I do with all the cars I've had) but that's about it - it's lucky if it gets washed by me - it usually ends up being washed by Lexus at a service before I actually get around to it! However it still runs much the same as when I first got it - nothing rattles or knocks or has come loose other than a sunvisor that I quickly fixed (in fact the last UX I had as a loaner with just a few thousand miles on it had more rattles than my car), fuel consumption is much the same and the paint finish is still very good. I do seem to have a habit of running some cars to high mileages. Had a BMW E39 528i in which I did 210k miles in 10 years - used for work in UK and Europe (still running happily when I traded it) and a Honda Accord Tourer (used a family load lugger and towing a boat all over the country and Europe) and that was traded in at 160k miles. Plenty of other BMWs and a few other marques too but not so many miles on those. Anyway, hope you get the niggles sorted and then enjoy many more years or trouble free motoring.