Herbie

Wow, that makes an amazing difference! I too have used Nextzett Gummi Pflege and it's really good. Here's a link to it on Amazon

Well done Nigel, I know you won't be disappointed because I've got exactly the same. Strangely, our car had exactly the same tyre combination when we bought it last year but within two days I got a puncture in one, so close to the sidewall that it couldn't be repaired, so I took the opportunity to change all of them to Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 2. Maybe I'm paranoid or OCD, I don't know, but I've always liked all four tyres to match.

It would be interesting to hear that Rob, if you wouldn't mind uploading it. Very glad that you got it sorted in the end though

You don't need to pay anyone to do it, it's easy enough to DIY if you have a drill and one of these or something similar. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there to guide you. The main thing is that once you've done it, you must use a good UV-resistant top coat or they'll soon be back to their previous condition.

Quite possibly. In a standard car the starter motor can draw upwards of 300A to crank the engine but because there's no starter motor in a hybrid, the battery doesn't have to be so big and beefy. You'll see in the photo below that my RX450h only draws 15.32A from the 12V battery to get the car into the READY state (and there's a handy reference voltage chart too).

The 12V battery powers the entry/exit system and also boots up the computers to bring the hybrid system into the READY state. Once READY, the 288V traction battery provides the power to charge the 12V battery via a DC/DC inverter/converter. As you rightly say, there is no alternator because they are belt-driven from the engine and in a hybrid, the petrol engine doesn't run all the time. This is also why the power steering is electric rather than a belt-driven hydraulic steering pump and why the aircon is also electric rather than a belt-driven compressor. I'm not sure but I think MG1 (Motor Generator No.1) runs the petrol engine up to a certain speed when needed and then the ignition circuits are energised, eliminating the need for a starter motor. I'm sure you'll find a few videos on YouTube and/or better explanations via Google but I think I'm 'in the ballpark' with those explanations as far as I understand the system.

My take on this is that a tracker only comes into play once the scrotes have got access into your pride and joy. The way I see it is that prevention is better than cure so I have a Stoplock Pro Elite steering wheel lock. I'll grant you that it's not pretty but having a big yellow lock in place will hopefully make them think of going elsewhere for a car with less hassle. That particular model of steering lock took more than five minutes to defeat in tests and that was using hammers, chisels and a saw to attack it with, hence why I'm hoping that they'll move on to an easier target.

Can't really agree with you there Paul. eBay's brilliant for all manner of things, you just have to be careful and if things seem to good to be true....

For the 450h I've gone to Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 2 and they really are excellent - obviously not tried in snow yet but I'm confident

I'm not sure that I would accept a discount for having a dashcam anyway. If you take it out of the car for some reason and forget to put it back the next time you go out, Sod's Law states that that's when you'll have an accident. Call me cynical but I can see the insurance company using that as an excuse to either refuse paying out or to lower the payment, because they gave you a discount on the premise that you had a camera.

The problem with hybrids is that if they don't get enough use then the 12V battery can suffer. The best advice I can give is just to buy one of these or something similar. They're not expensive, they work brilliantly well (plenty of YouTube videos out there to prove that) and they're worth every penny in peace of mind alone. I've never had to use mine yet but I'm more than confident that if I ever need to, it'll get me out of the mire with very little fuss. I try to remember to top it up every three months or so just in case, but they do hold their charge very well.

Avon ZX7s were absolutely superb when we had our RX300 - and British-made too

I believe they are if you buy them from Lexus. I've never understood people buying items like batteries, tyres, wipers, exhausts and the like from main dealers because Lexus, Ford, Vauxhall et al don't make such items. All they do is buy them in from the people who do make them, slap a markup on and resell them.

Well I was just going to put up a link to the advert for anyone who wants one but the cheapest I can see now is £77.00, so you did extremely well there Paul, well spotted

Look five posts above yours 😉

As we know, the extended warranty is only available if you have servicing done by Lexus too, but does it have to be the 'full' service or would the Essential Care qualify for warranty purposes?

Not sure if you're joking with that comment or not but I've never witnessed central locking 'operating slowly'. When the 12V battery begins to fail it can throw up any amount of errors and the dash can light up like a Christmas tree.

Congrats Steve and welcome to the forum - let's see some pictures of the beast when you can Not sure about your locking problem but as for the fuel consumption, it may not improve much at all, especially in the cold winter months. Have a look at http://www.fuelly.com/car/lexus/rx400h to give you a 'real world' idea of what to expect.

If it were me I'd take the opportunity to replace all tyres now. I recently fitted Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 2 all round and so far they've been superb.

The problem is that you never know what other people are going through at any given time. Because he's been pleasant and reasonable in the past and this was out of character for him, I'd be inclined to think that he's having a bad time or problems with something. Maybe he's been told he's being made redundant; maybe he had a really bad headache or back pain and had been getting wound up like a clock spring for hours and then he just couldn't take any more and the (normal amount of) noise was the straw that broke the camel's back this time. I think I'd knock on his door and ask if he's alright and explain that you're a bit concerned because he's not normally like that.

Not sure I agree with that - how do you think truck drivers cope? Almost 20 years driving various-sized vans as a telephone engineer on BT means that I'm more than comfortable just using my door mirrors. Reversing and manoeuvring large vehicles is a skill to be proud of when you can do it properly and you know the old saying, 'use it or lose it'. It is handy having the camera just as a toy or a 'bit of fluff', but I do try to keep my skills honed and not use it too often.

Yes, I believe it's called 'Essential Service' but I'm not sure what it entails, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along to tell us shortly.

Yes, that's correct - not a good idea at all. Just buy one of the units I mention above.

Simply buy one of these small jump start battery packs or maybe this one. They work brilliantly and are well worth the price in peace of mind alone.

I had a Nextbase 402G and although it was a good camera it did have its drawbacks, not least of which is that it's on a suction mount and so dangles down quite a way from the top of the screen. This means that it could (and often did) get in the way of the passenger's view and also it was very noticeable from outside. It soon gets very tedious having to remove the camera every time you leave the car somewhere in case some scrote breaks in to nick it, so when I broke the Nextbase (somehow managed to sit on it one day) and I was looking for a replacement, I decided on this Viofo A119S which is very small and unobtrusive, which means that it can be left in the car 24/7. It's a very decent camera, both in daylight and darkness and as I say, you can't really see it from outside unless you're looking for it. I'm well chuffed with it and would highly recommend it. As far as review sites go, Techmoan is great.