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I have an opentracker V2 in my car which tracks the car in near-realtime while it's moving. It looks like they have a new version out called Polaris: https://fortebit.tech/polaris/ which seems to make it much easier to read data off the CANBUS which is something I'd always meant to get around to doing but never did. How easy is it to find the CANL and CANH wires on a lexus? Is it easy enough for any car audio tech person or would I need to get a wiring diagram? Cheers, Mark

I'm a big fan of Goodyears since they're rated the lowest for noise in my tyre size and ever since I had the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2's on my E39 V8 I've been a fanboy. Not really sure if the SUV tyres i have on my RX are comparable but they seem fine.

Goodyear are giving up to £100 back in vouchers for buying their tyres at the moment: https://www.goodyear.eu/en_gb/consumer/offers-hub.html I just ordered a couple for my wife's rav4 and should get a £25 amazon voucher back. They have to be from a participating retailer but it looks like there are many, I went with merityre because they're easy and nearby.

2006 Toyota Harrier, 2AZ-FE 4-cyl engine. Arguably it is somewhat underpowered for the size and weight of the vehicle. I am curious as to whether I could tow a caravan without causing damage. The owners manual that I finally got hold of just says "don't tow a car heavier than yours" which doesn't really say much. I can't find any mention of towing capacity in the specifications.

Finally arrived from NZ after over a month. Looks really good, has loads of information in it including all of the service data for the car. I will be poring over this in my limited spare time to see if I can learn anything interesting.

I agree don't put anything in the tank except fuel. Not sure vpower is worth bothering with really, regular shell fuel is good enough unless the car requires (and can make use of) the higher octane, but in any case the odd tank of vpower isn't going to hurt your wallet too much.

Just curious, did you inspect the old compressor for damage? I've heard stories of impellers going out on them and then spraying bits of metal throughout the system. If that happens you need to get every last little bit of metal out of the system otherwise it'll just take out a new compressor soon enough.

If it's a faulty module you may be able to get the module repaired rather than replaced for a fraction of the cost.

Take it to Russell Birch in Redhill - http://www.toyotec.co.uk

If this is the Takata airbag recall I'd get it done asap, those things have maimed people.

Never assume! Error codes are not indications of a specific fault, they are indications of an error *condition*. A quick google suggests there are at least a few possible causes, some of which are also conditions not specific faults that could likely have 100+ other possible causes - https://www.fixdapp.com/blog/p0325-code. Take the car to someone who knows how to diagnose it, if you start throwing parts at it trying to fix an undiagnosed problem you'll run out of money before you run out of guesses.

I trust Russell Birch a lot more than I trust a main dealer. Just because they have the logo doesn't mean they'll do a good job. Especially with servicing - those jobs are the first things the young trainee noobs will be doing. Others can correct me if this has changed but I think main dealer culture is to rush everything too, every job has a fixed billable time that the tech can bill for. Techs who get things done quicker than the official time can make more money, so they have a clear incentive to rush everything.

A proper service (drop pan, replace filter, drain and refill) can never hurt the transmission. If a person does this and their transmission goes out sometime later, it was the prior lack of service that killed it, not the service. "Sealed for life" is a meaningless term - they're correct that it'll last for the life of the transmission, because when that fluid's all burned up it's done.

@mattyt1991 Just re-read your original message, do not use anything other than the original fluid recommended by Lexus. It's so cheap in the grand scheme of things there's just really no reason to take risks with something as critical and expensive as a transmission. If it were my car I would only take it to a Toyota/Lexus specialist for the fluid change, not a generic gearbox place that services all makes and models. Not saying this would happen at the place you mentioned, but I think your odds of having it done improperly are higher at a place that doesn't specialise in those cars. I have a local garage that I trust to change my engine oil and do minor stuff but when it comes to anything critical like the transmission I'm taking it to Toyotec in Redhill.

@mattyt1991 if the transmission hasn't been serviced already by 86k I would suggest doing that immediately if you plan to keep it a long time. Ideally it should have been done at 50k so is overdue. Definitely have the filter changed, if anyone says the word "flush" - run away (see this page for more info: http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/168). I just had mine changed by Toyotec, cost about £300 (including the filter). I changed mine when I bought my car with 77k on it, almost certainly had never been changed. 20k miles later I had a vibration at idle in gear from the transmission. Just had the fluid changed again and it's thankfully gone away, but it was likely due to the first change being delayed. A drain and fill never gets all the fluid out.

Both times it was done by Russell Birch at Toyotec who I am sure knows what he's doing. Maybe he reset adaptations before the test drive, not sure what the official procedure is. Both times it was a drain and fill, I'm wary of flushes after listening to Louis Altazan talk about them - http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/168. Sounds like you're probably right on it simply being dirty fluid/debris left in there after the first service. I guess I'll start changing it at least every two years now, the vibration seems to have started after the two-year point so maybe that tells me something. I just hope that the vibration didn't damage anything! He test drove it afterwards and said it drives really nice anyway.

I've had a bit of vibration at idle with the car in drive or reverse. Yesterday I took it in for a transmission service and since the fluid change the vibration is dramatically reduced. So now I'm wondering what I can infer from this.. dirty/clogged filter? The fluid only had 20k miles on it, was changed 2.5 years ago. Conventional wisdom seems to be that the fluid can go 50k miles before it needs changing. I think I'm going to change mine more frequently now.

Is it brand new from Lexus, brand new from ebay or somewhere in between? Even for a new part from the dealer “brand new” doesn’t necessarily mean “good”.

I would highly recommend: A) Not going to the main dealer B) Give Russell Birch of Toyotec in Redhill a call - probably a lot cheaper and just as good if not better quality work

There are some sections of the M25 that make a loud noise in my car, from junction 10 clockwise is not well surfaced in places as I recall. A few times we've been heading that way and my wife has asked me if there's something wrong with the car. Really hard to know if what you're experiencing is actually excessive or just normal given the road surface. Have you tried riding in a friend's car on the same section of road that gives you grief?

A storm rolled in today and made me realise I needed a new rear wiper blade. Another £8.59 down the drain 😞 It never ends.

I just checked my screenwash and was shocked to find it low. This is appalling, what is wrong with their engineers?

Probably didn't help that I'd spelt upholstery wrong haha

Sure http://www.serviceupholstery.co.uk

Potential safety issue too. Something must be done!