Herbie

I can see this being a very expensive job one way or the other - so much so that I'd be returning the car to the dealer as not fit for purpose and get my money back. I'm no expert by any means but in my humble opinion the failing traction battery is more than likely not the cause but a symptom - what's making it fail and will it make the new one fail too? As long as the hybrid health check is carried out annually, Lexus extend the warranty on the battery each year to a maximum of 15 years and as far as I'm aware there's no mileage limit on that. Hybrids don't have a traditional starter motor (I believe it's MG1 that starts the petrol engine) or alternator. In fact, anything that would normally be driven by a belt from the engine, such as power steering pump, aircon compressor etc., is done electrically on a hybrid and controlled by the hybrid system. When that READY light goes out and the hybrid system fails, you lose all these things and the car cannot be driven on the petrol engine alone.

I didn't have air suspension in our RX300 but surely it's just a 'normal' blade fuse like the rest of them isn't it, available from any car accessory shop?

Looks good Paul but when I click on a photo to get a better look, all of them just return a message from imgur saying "Zoiks, you took a wrong turn". Why not just upload them straight into the forum here.

Yep, the head unit is only a symptom, not the cause. You need to do some proper diagnostic fault-finding with the correct tools for the job, such as a multimeter and a clamp ammeter to name just a couple. There's no shortcut to this, which is why 'auto electrician' is a separate trade to motor mechanic.

Although hybrids are not emissions tested, because they left the factory with a cat it has to be present for MOT otherwise it'll fail.

That is just sloppy reporting by the media. A catalyst takes part in a chemical reaction but is not itself changed in any way by that reaction, so whether the precious metals have come from a hybrid or not, or whether they are 20 years old or brand new, they will still be as good as the day they were mined. It's only bad reporting that means hybrids are being targeted more but it will even out once the scrotes get to know this.

But all petrol cars have cats and it's only a matter of time before the criminal element come to realise that. Nothing is safe so you may as well have what you want.

Why? It's the need to tackle pollution in the cities of places like India and China that is driving up the cost of the precious metals, so it isn't going to go away anytime soon - you could be hanging on for your CT for years and years if that's how you're thinking.

Meguiars Endurance High Gloss Tyre Gel is excellent.

There's obviously moisture in the car and when I had the same problem a while back I got a couple of these dehumidifier packs and they worked really well.

@fiatman Hi Paul, Just sent you a PM that may be useful to you once you get your new beast. Don't forget to let us see lots of photos!

Oh well, it was worth a try. Depending on time vs money, you could always get a local locksmith to come and do the job. A neighbour of ours has a Mini and she somehow managed to lock the keys in the car with the engine running so we tried to get in but no joy, so she got a locksmith out. I kid you not, it took no more than a minute or two for him to get in using the air bag method. It wasn't cheap given the callout fee and everything, but it was very efficient and no damage done. Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

I can only help on a couple of points but.... I'm about 5ft 10in or 11in and the CT is horribly small for me. Admittedly, I do have a back problem that makes getting in and out of normal saloon cars difficult, so I have an RX but was recently given a CT as a courtesy car for the afternoon while my RX was in for its 60k service. I would imagine that the problems were somewhat exaggerated by going immediately from the largest car they make to the smallest, but I found it so small and cramped that I went back to the dealer within half an hour, preferring to sit and wait until my car was ready rather than stay in the CT any longer than necessary. Hybrid batteries rarely fail in their entirety. They're made up of blocks of cells and usually individual cells or blocks can be changed rather than having to replace the whole thing. However, they tend to be very reliable, so much so that as long as you have the hybrid health check done annually, Lexus will renew the warranty on the battery each year up to 15 years. Prices are fairly high because hybrids are becoming more popular and are in greater demand. Any OBD2 code reader will show generic codes (if there are any present) but won't show up anything Lexus-specific, such as hybrid codes.

I've also got one of those voltmeters/USB chargers and they work well.

Fight a long shot with a long shot 😁 If you can see the starter solenoid from underneath, there'll be a big chunky cable running from it directly to the positive battery terminal. Disconnect this from the solenoid and connect either battery charger or jump leads, red or positive to that battery cable, black or negative to any suitable bolt or lump of metal. Once you've got power on you should be able to unlock the doors and then progress as normal from there - you don't need to try to start the car this way.

I doubt you'll get one at a car accessory shop like Halfords or even a local one. There may be a chance at a motor factors that sells stuff to trade, maybe Euro Car Parts, but my first choices would be a proper auto electrician's place, Amazon or eBay.

Ironically it's the motor industry that's fuelling the rising costs of the precious metals! Production of cars has increased hugely in places like India and China, so there's a consequential rise in the need for the precious metals to manufacture the cats for these cars. I just wish the media would get their facts right and stop their sloppy reporting, because it is they who are encouraging the theft of cats from hybrids above others. All cars have cats so if all cars were targeted equally it would take the pressure off us a bit - and yes, I know it's not a cure and would just move the problem to others, but hopefully it may lead to less repeat thefts from any given car. The media seem to have got it in their heads that because the petrol engine in a hybrid gets less use than a standard car then the precious metals will be in 'better condition' and so worth more and they keep repeating this, which is why the scrotes keep targeting us. It's over 45 years since chemistry lessons at school but I do remember that a catalyst takes part in a reaction (usually speeds it up) but is not itself altered by the reaction. Therefore, whether the precious metals come from a hybrid or not, and whether they are brand new or 20 years old, they should surely be the same as the day they were put into the cat.

No offence to Stu above but I wouldn't go with his suggestion because when I did, I couldn't find any local locksmiths and/or key cutters to cut it. They all refused saying their machines had been damaged in the past by these very hard "eBay specials" as they called them. So I used this guy instead and can highly recommend him. Still an eBay trader, but he cuts the blank himself from either your key code if you have it, or a photo if you haven't.

I've never had to do the job myself so I don't know but like I said earlier, some people have done this as a DIY job so I don't thing anything special is needed. Techstream software maybe, otherwise no idea?

I've got Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 2 on mine, which are equal to Michelin CC in most reviews, so don't discount them from your choices as they truly are excellent tyres.

What a load of rubbish! A height sensor linkage can be had from eBay for about £40 - £50 if I remember right, or if it's the electrical part of the sensor then they can also be had from eBay for about a tenner. At worst, any garage can do it but at best it's even DIY-able. Search the forum as there are quite a few threads about this very thing - here's just one of them: And here's the physical linkage on eBay so just click here

Never seen anything like that before, and I'm not entirely sure that it's an official Lexus widget. More likely to be some homebrew thing, possibly a windscreen defroster - staying with Colin's suggestion of it being a rheostat* but for heat rather than wiper speed as you say the speeds are still variable even though this thing is no longer in circuit. *Rheostat - variable resistor giving low, medium and high.

A lot of people like the Ctek MXS 5.0 https://www.ctek.com/products/vehicle/mxs-5-0 Have a look around Amazon or eBay for prices.

Can you take another photo from a bit further out to give us some context please?

May well be legal, but most likely not safe. Rubber hardens over time and it loses grip, also cracking can occur. Even if you're not bothered about your own safety, please get them changed for the safety of others.