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It could be that the OBD pins have been moved out of place so it doesn't make a connection. This happened to me recently, took the car to an auto electrician who popped them all out of the connector and re-seated them and then it was working again.

The tyre pressures printed on the pillar are the *minimum* safe pressure and are specified for the OEM tyres which you're almost certainly not running on a 93. Modern tyres are designed to provide a better ride at higher PSI and depending on what tyres you run you may find you experience uneven wear even when running at the pressures printed on the pillar. A better guide is to look at the tyre sidewalls for the maximum pressure rating and set them to about 10% less than this number. Do this when the tyres are cold. Adjust down as necessary to get a ride that you're happy with. This will give you a much better buffer of safety above the minimum pressure, reduce rolling resistance and maximise the tyre lifespan.

Personally I would consider the lack of CarPlay to be a feature. It forces you to use CarPlay-compatible navigation software which excludes the only one worth using - TomTom Go Mobile.

If it's done 192k and the transmission has never been serviced then I kind of understand where those garages are coming from to be honest. The fluid is what helps the seals stay pliable, if it was never changed then failing seals are inevitable and at that mileage it's likely there's a lot of wear elsewhere in the transmission. From their point of view, they could open it up and change the seal but if it fails and quits moving the week after you'll be back at them complaining when in all likelihood it would just be a coincidence because of it's age and the (I'm guessing) lack of proper maintenance. If you really like the car it might be worth looking for quotes for either a rebuilt replacement transmission or a rebuild of your unit. Probably less than buying another RX and if the rest of the car has been well looked after it might be a case of the devil you know being better than the devil you don't. I have heard that the transmissions on the early RX models are weak but it sounds like you've got a pretty decent run out of yours. It's not entirely clear from your post whether the oil that's dripping is engine oil or transmission fluid. If it's engine oil then one option is to just keep topping it up and carry on driving it. Not great for the environment but much cheaper than anything else 🙂

My car didn't come with a Lexus floor mat on the front passenger side. It's an RX-300 but I think one from a 400 would also fit. I am based in Surrey and can collect or pay postage.

I would get quotes from a couple of independent toyota/lexus specialists and see where you're at. If it's just a seal that needs replacing then it's a very cheap part but intensive labour. However, it may still be less money than buying another RX. How many miles are on it and when was the gearbox last serviced? Be careful running it with a leak, if the transmission gets low on fluid it can cause a lot of damage and turn a £500 (I'm totally guessing here) repair into a need-a-new-transmission repair.

Lee wasn't able to help but I went to Jemca in Croydon at the weekend who had a couple in stock which allowed me to verify they were the correct ones. I then found them on ebay to get the rest: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131820710926 I believe these are generic for most Toyota/Lexus vehicles but YMMV. Part number is PZ410-99350-01.

Heh, I wonder if I'd notice any difference on my 2.4L harrier with teh 2AZ-FE engine.

Other than the dealer where can I get floor mat clips for a 2006 Harrier? There are several different types on ebay and I've not been able to find the part number on toylexparts.com. Thanks!

There are cheap key programmers on ebay that claim to work in the event that all keys are lost: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Lexus-All-in-1-Key-Programmer-VIA-OBD-II-4D-4C-Chip-Smart-Key-USA-Seller/233096860376?hash=item3645a7d2d8:g:1vwAAOSwEJ1cPzSi

Actually, not sure about Lexus but I read somewhere that BMW make a handful of spare keys for every car they make and keep them in storage. When I bought a new key for one of my BMWs from the dealer it came pre-programmed and just worked. Maybe Lexus can program a new key for you without needing a working master?

You could probably get someone to disable the immobiliser. I doubt it's super difficult for someone who knows what they're doing. Obviously it would leave the car less secure though, maybe use a steering lock?

Yeah, that can happen if you fit LEDs to a car that is supposed to have halogen bulbs. The computer detects bulb failures by periodically sending a pulse to the bulb and checking the resistance across it. Because halogen bulbs take a second to light up you don't notice anything, but with LEDs they are instant so you see it flashing.

Can I use LED bulbs on a 2006 harrier or does it do that thing where the indicators flash fast if the resistance isn't right to indicate when a bulb has failed?

The service book definitely doesn't recommend flushes.

Well in the case of my garage, who I do otherwise trust, it was done without any prior approval. However next time I think I'm going to ask them not to. They used a flush when changing the coolant as well.

When you last changed your oil, was there an 'engine flush' item listed on the invoice? This is apparently quite common these days, my local garage has been doing it, but from what I've learned a flush is at least unnecessary and in some cases can even harm the engine. I think next time it goes in I'm going to ask them not to flush it.

Keep an eye on the gauge if you're doing that, if the fans aren't coming on when they should then idling with the compressor on could cause it to overheat.

Motorway speeds aren't generally going to produce a lot of excess heat because you've got 70mph wind hitting the front of the car and going into the engine. Sitting at an idle, especially with the ac compressor running, will start to generate heat. The fact that the fans move and then cut out seems to indicate the fans themselves are ok but the mechanism for activating them may be faulty. Maybe a bad thermostat or relay or something along those lines. The temp needle should be bang in the middle, if it's reading over that might indicate it's getting too hot which would make sense if the fans aren't coming on. Do you have a code reader?

If they move at all that means the fans themselves are probably working. Are you testing them only at idle? Is the air conditioning on and working? Have you run the car up to temperature?

+1 for a jumpstarter, I have one from halfords and it's saved me and friends a few times. Be careful buying one on amazon as there are several that look great at first glance but a more thorough dig through the reviews reveals they have problems.

Hmm you're right that my maths is out lol, but 11 years is in my opinion still older than I'd want to risk. Suppose you are right and that there is minimal deterioration because of the lack of UV light. How long are you going to assume the tyre is good for? 10 years? 20? Forever? I'm fairly sure that rubber will deteriorate eventually even in the absence of exposure to UV. Also it's not just UV that deteriorates rubber, heat is a factor as well and probably many other things. The reason that old tyres can be so dangerous is that they often look fine from the outside. So you've no way of really knowing for certain when a tyre may be unsafe to use, which is why there's a general consensus somewhere around 6 years being the safe limit for tyres installed on a car. A new spacesaver tyre for this car cost me £67 and if I assume it's good for 6 years that's a lifetime cost of £11.17/year. Do you really want to take the risk of a tyre potentially coming apart at 50mph, causing a fatal accident killing yourself or others, to save £11.17/year? That risk/reward ratio doesn't stack up for me.

Not Lexus related but may be of interest. I recently had to call out the RAC because of a flat tyre on my wife's new 2008 nissan note. The guy advised that the seal between the tyre and the rim was bad and that it needed to be filed down a bit, which any tyre shop could do. He then fitted the space-saver wheel to the car so I could drive it to the tyre shop. When he was done I asked about the condition of the tyre on the spare wheel and he made some comments about the tread depth, and I specifically asked about the *age* of the tyre. He told me not to worry about it and advised that it shouldn't be driven at more than 50mph. After he'd left I checked the DOT code on the tyre and discovered it was 2008 - so the original tyre. So the RAC have advised me that it's safe to drive at 50mph on a 17yo tyre. I have raised a complaint requesting that they educate their drivers better, but this is scary given that most people don't even know that old tyres are dangerous and just think that if the tread looks ok then you're fine.

Depending on your location I would recommend these guys: http://www.toyotec.co.uk Honest and highly competent. I went there recently and they could have easily billed me for a bunch of work that was indicated from an MOT advisory, but had a quick look under the car and told me (and showed me) that it was entirely spurious and didn't need to be done at all.

If you're talking about the front fan that cools the air conditioning system, I think that should switch on almost immediately at an idle if the ac is running on most cars.