Thackeray

Seems odd that the discs are worn without corresponding wear on the pads. I get pad measurements reported during servicing. So for example, if they say the front pads are on 9mm, and you assume a starting size of 12mm and wear limit of 3mm, that would be about one-third wear. I haven't seen corresponding measurements for the discs but presumably they're basing their report on actual measurements rather than a quick glance. You could ask them what the measurement is when new, what the worn measurement on your car is and the limit of wear when the disc should be replaced..

It is absolutely astonishing! Do the bosses of these companies not understand that everyone is a potential buyer for a good salesman? I had a very similar experience when planning a new company car purchase in the 1990s. I was comparing various cars including Audi and Volvo. I went into the local Audi showroom - quite busy - a number of people browsing around. I stood there for a while. Sales staff all busy deciding who was a genuine buyer and who was a time-waster. Clearly I was wearing the wrong type of clothes or didn't look like an Audi buyer in some other way. Other potential buyers got lots of attention. But they didn't bother with the courtesy of asking if they could help me. Eventually, I asked if they could help me but they were still too busy. Guess what. I left the Audi showroom without even getting close to the cars and I've never been in an Audi showroom since. Take note, head of Audi UK sales. Every one of your staff is an ambassador for the brand. The behaviour of the staff in this one showroom has ruled out any sales to me in any showroom in the country, probably forever. I'm sure Audis are nice cars in many ways with some excellent design features. But when my initial impression is negative, it only needs another report of average German reliability or of billion dollar fines for cheating the official tests to reinforce the view that my initial negative impression is still correct.

Thank you very much. Banker's draft or cash will be fine.

If Radio 2 worked for a bit and then stopped working and then came back again, maybe the dealer is right in thinking there's a fault in the aerial. Hope they succeed in sorting it out. It would be interesting to hear the outcome.

It may be that if you're standing near the car with the electronic key in your pocket, the car knows you're there and doesn't sound the alarm even though you use the mechanical key to open the door. Maybe the same applies if someone is in the car. If you were carrying the electronic key, you could try again with the electronic key well out of range.

A couple of years ago I bought a DBPower DJS40, It was £20 when I bought it but I have the impression that these devices have rocketed in price since a side-effect of coronavirus lockdown has been hundreds of flat car batteries. Herbie says he bought one that was more powerful than he needed so that he could help other people in cars with big engines - I'm afraid I didn't even think of this and bought the cheapest! It has spent the last two winters in the glove box of the car. After the first winter I checked the charge and it was still on 100%. I plugged it in to charge for a bit anyway and left it for the next winter. In the second spring it was still on 100%. I don't know anything about battery technology but I'm not sure there's any reason to assume that a battery is going to run down, depending on its chemistry, just because it's not being used. I had a pocket calculator which had been bought in 1976. Come 2016, wouldn't you know it, the battery ran out. I decided not to complain as 40 years on one battery didn't seem too bad. As for whether the device works when you need it, my car has never failed to start, so like all those annoying reviewers on Amazon all I can say about whether it works or not is "Sorry I haven't tried it." However, during lockdown reading my tablet in the garden it occurred to me I could use the charger to keep the tablet charged up to save going inside. It supplies 2.1A at 5V on its USB output. So that was fine and charged up my tablet. To start a car it supplies 300 A at 12V and has a capacity of 8Ah - that compares with the actual car battery of 45Ah but a fraction of the size. Here's a demo of this model being used to start a three litre car.

The question on an eight-year-old car is not so much "has it got an alarm?" but "is the alarm still working?" You can check the alarm is working in at least three ways. But before testing it, when you lock the car with the remote there should be a steady red light on the dashboard. After 30 seconds the steady light starts to flash intermittently indicating that the alarm is set. Later models have this but if you don't have this there might not be an alarm. First way to check if it's working: After you've set the alarm, use the manual key to unlock the door. If the door opens without using the remote the alarm should start. I think you can then turn off the alarm with the remote. Second way to check if it's working: Get someone to sit inside the car. Lock the car with the remote. When the red light turns from steady to flashing get the person in the car to wave their arms around. This should set off the alarm. Third way to check if it's working. Set the alarm. Jack the car up as if you were going to steal the catalytic converter. If your car has a working tilt alarm it should be set off by the car being jacked up. This is why on cross channel ferries you get lots of car alarms going off as the ferry rolls. Best to remember to turn off the tilt alarm if you ever go on a ferry.

Planet Rock is on the SDL National Ensemble, (the same as Times Radio mentioned in the thread above) so as you say, it should be nationwide. What happens when you select "Manual" and switch to a different Ensemble? If you switch to the BBC Ensemble, for example, does this not work either?

I don't know if you still have to do this on the latest UX but have you tried switching to a different Ensemble? Maybe you're tuned to a local Ensemble which went out of range as you went on your 600 mile trip.

Was it just the DAB that didn't work? Or did the radio not work at all, including FM?

I've written a couple of posts about the DAB system and how difficult it is to deal with on some Lexus models. If you're already familiar with switching between Multiplexes (or Ensembles as Lexus calls them - on the IS at least) then what I wrote earlier may not help you. But if you don't know what an Ensemble is (and there's no reason you should!) then maybe my earlier posts may help. Bear in mind that my description is based on the IS300h but it might be similar in a 2010 RX450h. Here's a link to my latest post on DAB radio, on the launch of Times Radio and how to tune in to it in the car. And here's another thread from last year of people complaining about DAB radio. The explanation I wrote is the sixth post down.

It could just have been the sound of the parking pawl being released in the transmission. If you don't often drive automatics you may not have come across this. You may already know all this but when you put the car in Park, a hook (the parking pawl) engages in the widely spaced teeth of a ring in the tranmission As you can see from the picture the pawl will slide to slot into a recess and there may well be some play when it's slotted in. This locks the transmission so that the car cannot move. If you've parked on level ground, it's easy enough to slide the pawl out of the recess when you select Drive and the car will be free to move. But if you've parked on a hill, the whole weight of the car may be resting solely on this parking pawl, especially if you haven't engaged the parking brake or (as in your example) you've already disengaged the parking brake. On a steep hill it may even take some effort to release the parking pawl and you'll almost certainly feel a clunk as it slides out. Maybe this is what you felt when you first drove the car. Here's a video that suggests how you can avoid the clunk. I don't suppose it's vital to follow the tips in the video but I imagine if you routinely put a lot of weight on the parkinig pawl it will wear out sooner than it might without the routine stress.

If this is a concern for you, maybe you should choose a car that has its catalytic convertor hidden away in the engine bay. Here's an earlier discussion about thefts of CT200h cats with pictures of possible solution. The Honda Jazz is also very vulnerable to cat theft; I don't know about the latest Accord but earlier Accords seem vulnerable too; here's a description of someone having an Accord cat stolen and how it was protected afterwards. If you can't get insurance to pay for this, then maybe it's something to take seriously into account. Having said that, I've heard that Toyota is now offering a package of catloc and tilt alarm for around £350 for the Auris. Maybe this is the same underneath as the CT200h. If that's available where you are but insurance is not it might be worth considering taking the cost of protection into account to reduce the risk of it being stolen.

It's also great for pizza delivery - you can identify the exact location of the front door. In Spain, we once had the experience of trying to arrange pizza delivery but we were visiting a development of houses which all had the same street address. W3W saves you having to give a long description like eighth house on the left just past the street light - just the three words identify it exactly.

I was once told by a Lexus dealer that Lexus cars don't introduce new features until they've been proved reliable on other mainstream Toyota cars. The foot-operated parking brake on the IS300h is one item that comes to mind - it's fairly primitive in some respects compared to some electronic brakes on Toyotas. But my experience has so far been that it hasn't broken. Unlike the Mercedes foot-operated parking brake on some older models - I was told by a Mercedes indy garage that it's not uncommon for them to break. I might be wrong but I have the impression that Mercedes do it the other way round and test fancy new features first on the S class. Perhaps the assumption was that S class owners wouldn't notice when their chauffeur had to take the car in for repair (under guarantee no doubt.)

Apparently a lot of people in California are opposed to using leather products and want artificial alternatives. I've also read that the Japanese don't like it because of the smell. And apparently German taxi drivers choose Artico in their Mercedes taxis because it's very hard wearing. Having said that, the Lexus equivalent to Artico in the UK seems to be Tahara; this may be the same as Nu-Luxe in the American market. These seem to be sold as alternatives to leather. In the 2013 Lexus IS, the models that had a fabric seat with Tahara bolsters were the SE, Luxury and Sport. The other models, Executive, Advance, F-Sport and Premier, are listed as having leather seats. The leather seats have three rows of stitching on the seat base, while I think the Tahara/fabric seats have five rows. As to whether the leather really is leather, here's a website that claims it comes from cows! It would be interesting to read any evidence that this is untrue. On this website, Lexus seat leather is used to make a dress.

The AA (which runs Lexus breakdown) and the RAC use multi-fit spare wheels. A large percentage of new cars don't have spare wheels so instead the breakdown service will fit its own wheel. You can then drive the car to get the flat tyre repaired or replaced and the multi-fit wheel is returned to the breakdown service. Here's the AA's webpage explaining it. I also came across this training video the AA produced for their breakdown staff. It's too long for me to watch all of it! But it was interesting to see that there's a certain amount of complexity to fitting the wheel correctly.

Yes, you can leave it in D - this is what most people do. But that isn't what causes the high voltage battery to be charged. All that's needed for the HV battery to be charged is for the car to be in the Ready state. Then the engine will come on if the High Voltage battery needs charging. This will happen whether you're in Drive Park or Reverse. On the IS one exception is that it doesn't charge when in Neutral - this may be the same on the CT200h but I don't know for certain.

Before my current car I didn't know very much about the hybrid technology, though I'd driven conventional automatics for many years. I expect you may have already done a lot of research and found out how the hybrid system works. But in case it's of any use to you (maybe it will fill in some gaps that you were wondering about) here are three links that I found very useful in understanding how the car works in the first few months of owning the car. I'm still learning how it works. Apologies if you already know all this. This is the best graphic I've seen of how the hybrid transmission works. It's now around 15 years old, I think, and it uses Adobe Flash which is being phased out. Your browser will probably ask you to allow Adobe Flash to run in the second graphic. But if you can display this second graphic it's a very clear demonstration of how the planetary gear set operates. This second graphic doesn't display at all on an Android device but it should appear on a Windows computer. http://eahart.com/prius/psd/ Then, if you'd like to see what the transmission looks like in real life, here's a video that shows how it is put together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_mc17CoyJs This demonstrates the P410 transmission which was used on the CT200h for a number of years. I don't know if the latest models have a different transmission but I don't suppose there have been any significant changes to the fundamentals. And lastly, here's a link to a video showing an app called Hybrid Assistant, which I found interesting in showing what was going on in the system as the car was being driven. https://hybridassistant.blogspot.com/p/screenshots.html.

Coming down hill is when you can regenerate electricity. On a conventional manual car I always change down and use engine braking, the idea being to save the brakes fading. But on a hybrid you have two generators that can slow you down as they spin to generate electricity. So my strategy is just to use the brakes and aim to keep the energy meter just around the limit for maximum regeneration. That means keeping the pointer within the range labelled 4 in the picture. As you brake the pointer moves anti-clockwise towards its limit. When it reaches the limit the generators can't produce any more braking effect and the mechanical brakes come on. At this point, energy is just being thrown away as heat through the brake discs. If you select B it will add engine braking to the mix. If it's really steep you might want to do this. But if you do it too soon the generators may not produce as much electricity to store in the battery as they would if you didn't use the B mode. Having said that, feeling comfortable with the handlng is probably a higher priority than electricity regeneration, so I should just choose whichever you feel is most appropriate to the road.

I've seen this idea before on another thread and it seemed to make perfect sense at first sight. But the more I think about it, the less sure I am that it can be correct. It would be good to see some figures to back this up but in the absence of actual figures, I've made some guesses about the numbers involved. First, the mpg on the car went down from 53 to 33. I'm not certain how to calculate a percentage rise in fuel consumption from 53 to 33! So instead I looked at litres per 100 km. The mpg numbers would equate to around 5 l/100km rising to around 8. That's easy to calculate - it's a 60% increase in fuel consumption. So the question is, could constant charging of the 12 volt battery (instead of the normal intermittent or trickle charging) increase fuel consumption by 60%. Some more guesses are needed here, but the video above quotes Toyota as expecting the charge rate into the battery to be no more than 10 amps. So 10 amps on a 12 volt circuit equals 120 watts. This is a number I can relate to - it's a bright old style light bulb but it's nowhere near enough to warm up the car interior on a cold day. So could a constant 120 watts be enough to raise petrol consumption by 60%? It would help to know how much the engine is producing - in particular how much motor generator 1 (MG1) is producing as most of the time this is where the DC/DC convertor gets its power from. (MG2 also supplies power when the car is braking.) I don't know how powerful MG1 is on the CT200h but on the various generations of Prius it's been around 40 kw, though I think the more recent models are less. Most of the time MG1 won't be producing its maximum capacity but here's a video that gives an idea of power output. It's for a Toyota Auris but the numbers are probably fairly similar. In this example, MG1 (on the right) isn't producing a lot of power. But as most of its power comes from the engine for much of the time, the engine power output could be looked at instead. The engine in this short clip tends to vary around 10kw while it's running (it's the figure in the centre). So the 60% increase in fuel consumption quoted originally might be expected to raise the power output from 10kw to 16 kw. So taking these guessed and estimated numbers, the Lexus mechanic seems to be suggesting that a maximum of around 120 watts extra power requirement from a faulty battery has caused an increased power demand on the engine of, say, 6,000 watts. Personally I'm not yet convinced. Maybe a faulty battery does cause increased fuel consumption but I'd like to see some figures that back this up.

As so often, John Kelly at WeberAuto youtube channel spells out the details. And Herbie, you'll be gratified to hear him back you up at 2:45 on the advice not to jump start a conventional car from a hybrid car, which in the case of the Prius has a maximum output of 100 amps to the 12v circuit. So you don't want another car drawing 300 amps for its starter motor.

This may vary. On my car there are two identical keys. Both work in the same way. However, there is a valet function - you press a button in the glovebox to disable the boot release; then you lock the glovebox with the mechanical key. Take away the mechanical key that slides out of the electronic key and give the latter to the valet. (Personally, I just give the whole thing to the valet - if he can't open the boot, how's he going to get my luggage to lay out my evening clothes for dinner? I ask you...) The two keys come with a tiny key tag that is embossed with the key number. The manual says you need this if you ever want to have a key replaced. You keep the key tag with your car papers in case it's ever needed. Speaking of keys, if you've ever used and like the Mercedes function that opens or closes all the windows when you press and hold the key lock button, these cars have the same function but on many models it's disabled by default on leaving the factory. The dealer can turn on the function and if you'd like this, it might be something you can ask the dealer to do. (Having said that it may already be enabled on the Premier or it may have been turned on by a previous owner.) Latest satnav would be good. Each body panel should have its own VIN sticker. If one is missing it probably indicates some respraying. This is not necessarily a bad thing if it was done well. But the absence of VIN stickers can point you to the panels to inspect more closely for problems. If you have any problems after collection, I'm sure the Lexus dealer will do their best to put things right.

Forgot to mention that these website figures are accurate figures calculated from mileage and actual fuel put in the tank. However, the figures shown on the dashboard display are optimistic by 3-4 mpg. So if the dashboard says 50 mpg, that equates to a real figure of around 46 mpg - or at least, it does on my car.

Interesting to see the figures from jayw. You can see other results on SpritMonitor.de which shows an average mpg of around 44 mpg for around 160 drivers who record their fuel purchases. The link above shows around 6.5 litres per 100 km. But if you sign in you can change it to UK mpg. Colin above links to his consumption records on Fuelly and is currently showing an average of 47 mpg. (If you go to the Fuelly website you might have to switch from US mpg to UK mpg.) Which makes me wonder if the quote above is actually for US mpg. You'd have to try quite hard to get it down to 40 mpg in UK units on a long run. I see more usually around 50 mpg. Having said that I've seen around 30 mpg when the temperature is zero, starting the car from cold, everything turned on - headlights, wipers, heated rear window, heated seats, air conditioning. Then ending the journey after four miles. Same again on the return journey with the engine again starting from cold. Conversely, I once saw 71 mpg on the dashboard after a 20 mile trip, which I couldn't quite believe. Later, I checked on the map and found that although the trip mostly looked flat, there was a gentle decline in altitude for almost the whole trip. And it was mild summer weather which improves the mpg and the trip started with a warm engine.