Rutlandlex

If you go to www.carparts4less.co.uk (basically owned by Euro Car Parts but the prices are cheaper!) then they will deliver to France for just £4.95. I'm not 100% sure that they deliver batteries internationally but worth a punt.

Gary - is it possible that they have recorded the NSF incorrectly i.e. should it be 3.50mm rather than 2.50mm? 3.5 would be consistent wear given the reduction in the OSF tread. Maybe get Kwik Fit or another garage to check them again.

A lot of people say that but has anyone actually tried it? Well last December, I decided that in the interests of scientific research I ought to try it. Faced with a flat battery in a Mini Cooper S I had the perfect opportunity. I moved the Lexus into position and left it in Ready mode. The engine was running because it was cold and I had the heater on. I lifted the bonnet and connected the jump leads which was a bit of a challenge on the Mini due to awkward access but I got a spark. I then jumped into the Mini, pressed the clutch pedal down and hit the start/stop button and it fired up straightaway. So I wouldn't say never, I would say take the same precautions as any other car i.e. don't ***** up the polarity, don't short the leads out and leave the Lexus in ready mode so that it can draw on the power from the traction battery if necessary.

Could the issue be inside the caravan? When you flick the switch inside the caravan to car battery do the other electrics work like the interior lights? It's been a while since I've had a caravan hooked up to mine so I can't remember how it all works but in theory then charging of the leisure battery and powering the fridge as well as operating other electrics should work apart from mains stuff.

Well I've always run the fuel right down until the warning light comes on and even 10's of miles with the warning light on in every car I have ever owned and I have never had an issue. I see filling up with fuel as a necessary evil so in order to reduce the number of fill-ups then I stretch each tank as far as I can.

99% of the time when people get the AFS off flashing light it is the mechanical bit of the rear suspension level sensor that has snapped so I think that you are in the 1% Welland! The fact that the fault is temperamental suggests an electrical issue rather than a mechanical one so it could be a component of the AFS that is a bit dodgy rather than headlamp levelling. That LF Solenoid problem would be Left Front but from Googling that error code and description most seem to suggest it's an ABS issue. I see no reason for AFS and ABS to be linked because they don't share any common parts that I know of. That code could be a red herring that is either completely false or you could have an ABS issue in the pipeline. I think that what you're best to do is plug in your OBD readers when the fault is live and see if any new codes come up. These free systems can't connect to every circuit in the car unfortunately otherwise garages wouldn't spend 10's of thousands on diagnostic equipment if they could just use a laptop and free software would they?

Is the Lexus Recovery for when you run out of petrol????

They are not a great design. Mine kept falling off so I used a very small cable tie to hold it in place and it's been fine ever since.

Towing may or may not have anything to do with it. I was just pointing out that it appeared to have a towbar fitted so towing as a factor cannot be ruled out. The oil cooler could be damaged for all we know and this could have led to it overheating. I have towed a caravan with mine and I would say that it is good for towing except for 2 things - one being the very high rpm's from the engine when towing uphill and the other being the hideous fuel economy. Torque converter autos do have the ability to lock up in the higher gears for better efficiency on the move but they are also immensely complicated with much more to go wrong than an e-CVT. There are scores of Volvo owners who have experienced failed Geartronic auto boxes as a result of towing due to overheating caused by the fact that the gearboxes are tiny which means that they struggle to dissipate the heat and the oil coolers are also too small. The previous owner of this car could have abused the gearbox by constantly changing direction between D and R while the car was still moving or even into P while still moving. I was just shocked to discover a 400h with a failed gearbox as I have never come across that before. It just goes to show that even the simplest of gearboxes can still break.

I used to have a Saab 9-5 Aero which was a fully fledged member of torque steer city! I agree that when you have owned a car like that then the Lexus torque steer is really not that bad.

Have you had the battery tested by a garage to see whether the battery is being drained or just losing the ability to hold a charge? There's an outside chance that it could be an inverter issue. I believe that there was a recall on the early 400h's which involved replacing the inverter and it only affected the 05-06 models. You can go on the Lexus website and enter your reg. number and it will tell you if there are any outstanding recalls for your car. I bought a new aux battery around Black Friday from Euro Car Parts although I have yet to fit it because I thought that mine wouldn't last through the winter but so far it has.

The tyres make a difference too. I think the OEM's were Bridgestone Potenzas which I recently had removed from my car and they are very torque steery. My new BF Goodrich Urban Terrains don't have this issue at all. They are much grippier in the wet than the Bridgestones too so maybe that explains why they don't slither around.

Yes I think £3k is somewhat steep for it given that it could potentially cost £2k to fix. It's impossible to say what the issue might be without seeing it but there are better examples out there with working gearboxes for those who are looking for one of these cars.

Not my car thankfully but I was browsing Gumtree looking at RX's and found this one for sale. The engine starts but it has no drive so I just wonder what that could be. The only thing that I can think of is that there is an electrical issue causing a break in communication between the gearstick and the gearbox or the planetary gearset has broken. I've never come across a failed gearbox on a 400h before so I thought that I would share it. The car does appear to have a towbar on it albeit with no towball attached so maybe the gearbox could have overheated as a result of towing something heavy but again a very rare event indeed. https://www.gumtree.com/p/lexus/2006-lexus-rx-400h-3.3-se-cvt-5dr-auto/1324610681

It's not illegal but it is being economical with the truth. That's the good thing about the Autotrader website/app in that it will show if a car has been a total loss and what category it was. Maybe that's why this car was advertised on Gumtree instead! That said always do your own checks for insurance loss and outstanding finance regardless of which site the car is advertised on. As long as it's been professionally repaired then there will be no safety issues but being written off does affect it's value after being put back on the road. Did the HPI report say it was a 400 or 450?