rich1068

Hi Chris. Sorry to hear all that and I'll get the unpleasantness out of the way first. Unless you bought the car from Lexus there's roughly zero chance of them sorting it FOC or with any significant reduction in cost. And if it's at Lexus now I'd get it away from them because they're not that interested in cars this age. Love my local dealer but that add a few 00s and want you away. Get it to a trusted garage or back home if you're able to work on it yourself. Secondly, I like the brand and love the cars but I'm no fan boy. It's 14 years old, has 150k on the clock and you have no idea how it's been used since 2006. I don't think we can really bang on about poor workmanship. All said with no intention of causing offence! I would love to be corrected and find out Lexus have sprung to the repairs. There are various other threads on here regarding water ingress that seems to effect some of these earlier RXs. After a few months I had the same issue with mine and also read about the seams around the tailgate. I re-sealed those, as well as under the feet of the gas struts, under the feet of the roof rails, around the back of the rear light clusters and around the fixings for the rear bumper trim where it goes into the boot. One of them fixed it. Keep us posted.

Resetting not remapping? You're correct. Disconnecting the negative terminal for a time should make the ECU forget the adaptations it has "learnt". But check your handbook for the reconnection/immobiliser procedure first.

Had this exact conversation at Lex-Tek yesterday. Dave had got a customer in reporting an intermittent fault with the remote. His advice was to try and track down the source of the interference. He'd had a garage door opener causing problems before and when I had my IS and RX there was about half a mile of Ecclesall Road in Sheffield where the remotes never worked and I had to use the key. My dad drives the IS now and still has the same problem.

A bit of an update on this one. It's still running What more can you ask?

Didn't have to work it hard at all. I was seeing about 35mpg with a combination of motorway, dual carriageway and the tiny Cornwall lanes. I should say that I also had the cruise set at 75 as I assumed like most cars the speedo overread but when I checked with the GPS it was accurate. Hopefully no nasty letters on the way! It did drop a "cog" occasionally (7th to 6th) for the hills on the A30/A39 but it never seemed stressed. Something else that intrigued me was the automatic Eco Mode which involved the car shutting off two cylinders when they weren't required. So on a stretch of motorway or dual carriageway with very little throttle input the car would knock out two cylinders. How's that for NO WAY? BUT... let's be honest. It's no old Lexus or Toyota, it's a disposable item. That engine will be on the limit regardless of how it felt and the whole car will no doubt be a second hand nightmare in 3 or 4 years. Like most new cars I guess. I'd certainly never buy one, I'd lease one if we needed such a thing but if anyone feels the need to sink their own money into something like that then they need their bumps feeling. As they say

Continuing the slight digression into discussion of the DSG 'box, I've just returned from a family holiday in Cornwall and we hired a Skoda Kodiaq 1.5TSI DSG for the trip. 750 miles or so in a week and had none of the problems mentioned above. In fact I thought the combination was rather good and it made light work of being 5 up + luggage + roof box. Like all new petrol and diesel cars it does have the start/stop irritation but the first thing I do is turn it off. Problems at junctions and roundabouts could be down to that.

Sorry to do this again Matthew.

Thule kit is well worth the premium imo. And keep an eye on eBay, I picked up some Volvo branded Thule bars and a roof box for a fraction of the cost of new. https://www.thule.com/en-gb/roof-rack/car-roof-racks/thule-edge-wingbar-_-95xxb?car=lexus-rx+300%2f400+(mk.ii)-5dr-suv-_-h5kr#

Check what happens re: the immobiliser before you do this though. On my GS there's a little dance you have to do to get the car started after a battery disconnect.

I know I'm a bit of a nipper round here...

Following this thread with interest but what is this "retirement" you speak. "Pension" is another word I'm unfamiliar with 52 in October and I'll be working until I cark it...

Always thinking John. Always thinking...

I had a GROM unit on my MK1 IS and now on my MK2 GS. Input your model details and they supply the correct cables with the unit. On my GS you access BT audio with another press of the CD button.

You are now officially my best friend.

You might be over thinking it Neil. What's the history with the car? Has it been stood a while or only pootled about for the last 3 months? You've given it a good run and put fresh fuel in. That could be all it needs. A good Italian tune up is good for them! Alternatively try disconnecting the battery for a little while. That will reset any engine and gearbox adaptations.

I had that one. Did all sorts and finally cured it but was never quite sure which fix or combination of fixes did it!

Ah, so you know their foibles. In my mind they're better than the Saabs (a more civilised drive for one) but are still light years away from the contemporary Lexus/Toyota. Accepted wisdom is that they'll last forever, the engines might but everything else will have broken in the meantime. And everything involves battling with some piece of brittle trim that will snap before letting go!

These V70s are heavy at the front and do like suspension arms. When the bushes start to go it has an effect on tyre wear. This is actually my third V70 but the first one that doesn't have the characteristic knock knock from the front. And the cambelt isn't due either. I should buy a lottery ticket!

Get a second opinion. Surface rust can look horrendous but that might be all it is.

So since picking up last Thursday two new tyres on the front cleaned the thoroughly gross interior new battery oil, oil filter, plugs, air filter, cabin filter (done today, knackered!) sourced luggage cover, fog lights, driver and passenger mirrors Currently about £1500 in, which isn't bad at all. A little bit of bodywork needs doing (£250-£300) and rear sensors then it's handed over to my wife. So a big, comfortable, safe family car for less than £2k. So long as everything goes to plan I don't think that's too bad.

Buying from Lexus is the safest bet if you're concerned. As previously mentioned, the warranty is excellent. I bought an '02 IS from Lexus Sheffield a couple of years ago and it came serviced, book stamped, taxed, MOT'd, warrantied for a year and with a year's breakdown cover. Pretty sure Merc and BMW don't do that for their older models.

Goodness me.

Oh I wasn't going to actually buy it. It was just my car

Hi K! I'd say welcome but I think you've bought the car I've been eyeing up for the last few weeks every time I called to see Russell in Lexus Parts. So you know, YOU BOUGHT MY CAR!! You clearly love it so keep us posted and a grudging welcome...