Herbie

Surely it would have been cheaper to replace the CD unit with something like this - I mean, CDs are just SO yesterday anyway 😁

Sorry Peter, can't help except to say that these people are very good to deal with and are reasonably priced.

That's terrible! And you're welcome mate, just keep posting the pictures because this is fascinating.

Loving the transformation! Those DRL switchback LEDs you've got are expensive, more than twice the price I paid on eBay when I got them for my RX300. Anyway, if you want the wiring diagram for the switching relays just let me know. Oh, and make sure that you bolt those resistors to a good metal base to act as a heatsink because they do run hot. I used some MX2 thermal paste on the bottom of them so that there's a very good thermal transfer. Alternatively, you could buy a flasher unit specifically for LEDs like this one and do away with those resistors completely.

Yes, they come with a wall-wart to plug into the mains. Have a look at the video on that page, I think it's about 5 minutes long and the guy goes through the various parts and uses.

Hi Chris and congrats on your new motor. I can't answer everything but I can help in a small way. 1. Probably a connection but even if it's the camera itself it can be replaced for about £10 from China via eBay. Someone posted a topic on doing just that very thing a while ago so you should be able to find it with a search. 2. You can't just push a CD in the slot, you have to press the 'Load' button and that then opens the slot for the discs to go in (or at least that was how my non-ML CD worked in my RX300 when I had it. 3. It's possible that it's seized. The battery power screen - we, as the users of the car, never get full access to all the traction battery's capacity. If I remember correctly we get to use about 70 or 80% of the full capacity and it's done this way to ensure that the battery has a long life. If we could fully charge and discharge it, it would very soon give up the ghost. Anyway, given that, the indicator on screen shows us the state of charge of 'our' part of the battery that we get to use. I'm not sure about the 400h but my 450h is divided into eight blue bars. If it gets as low as the last two bars they change from blue to purple and the engine fires up to start charging it. There have been occasions when the indicator has had all eight bars lit up blue, indicating that the traction battery (or our part of it) is fully charged, usually after a long downhill stretch of road, but in normal day-to-day driving it rarely shows full. Hope that helps a bit. EDIT: Here you go:

Or just buy one of these or something similar to keep in the glove box or boot.

With the greatest of respect - that's a silly statement and if you genuinely would pay that then one might say that you have too much money burning a hole in your pocket. It's not like you'd even be getting a 'genuine Lexus battery' for that extortionate amount because Lexus don't make batteries! It's a 12V battery, nothing more, nothing less and it's an easy 10 minute job to DIY. Even if you don't want to DIY there's still no need to pay such a ridiculous amount, as the screengrab below from another topic on this very forum shows:

Trust me - they don't. It really grinds my gears to hear Americanisms like this. Even worse is hearing someone in a pub/bakers/whatever saying, "Can I get a widget" NO, you cannot get a widget! You can have a widget and the person behind the counter will get it for you, but you can't get it because you don't work there! Sorry, rant over, now going to have a hot chocolate and calm down before bed 😁

I agree, but it'll never compare to LPG for economy. Someone on here did a comparison of a petrol-only RX300 which returned 22.5p/mile, an RX400h (same body shell, size and shape) which came in at 19.5p/mile and his LPG RX300 was the best at about 13p/mile. The OP doesn't do enough annual mileage to make the cost of conversion viable, but for anyone who does, LPG is the dog's danglies.

Put a new one in 😁😁😁 Sorry, the temptation was just too great!

It's well known and almost 'normal' for this to happen with hybrids. In a hybrid there's the usual 12V battery and then there's the traction (hybrid) battery of about 288V. In a standard car the 12V battery is usually quite big and beefy because it has to supply about 300A or more to the starter motor to crank the engine, but in a hybrid there is no starter motor as such. All the 12V battery does is to power up the entry/exit systems and the computers needed to bring the car to the READY state. Once the car is in the READY state, all the starter motor and alternator duties are performed by the traction battery. You'll see from the photo below that my 12V battery in my RX450h is providing a current of just 15.32A to bring the car to READY, which is a hell of a lot lower than the 300A or more required for a traditional starter motor. Because of this the 12V battery doesn't have to be big or beefy and is, in fact, quite small, which in turn means that it doesn't hold its charge for anywhere near as long as a bigger one if not used on a regular basis. I would suggest buying one of these or something similar to keep in the glove box or boot just in case it happens again (or to be a good Samaritan if anyone else's battery is flat). Although I've never needed to use mine yet I've had it in the car for about a year now and its still got 75% charge.

This may help (obviously wind it back to the beginning - not sure why it's only starting at 11 minutes in)

Sorry Phil, I misunderstood the posting. I was thinking about when I buy a secondhand car, I always change all fluids and filters as a matter of course and that includes the whole of the transmission fluid. It may be unnecessary overkill but at least I know where I'm starting ownership from.

Your phone will connect to the car via Bluetooth for hands-free calls but the car hasn't got the A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) sub-set of Bluetooth that is necessary for audio streaming. You'll need to either replace the head unit or use a suitable dongle/adapter/converter.

Not quite correct Phil. There are many Youtube videos and text descriptions of how to DIY a complete fluid flush, this being just one of them.

Well it seems to be OK in the sense that the guy has done 41,938 transactions and has 100% feedback, so I would have no qualms whatsoever in buying from him - lets just hope that his supplier is as genuine as he seems to be. I got 10L from my local Toyota main dealer for £73.50.

No, I didn't have time today but that's a good point Martin and I will do, just for the sake of curiosity.

Absolutely. It seems to me that some folks on here are overthinking this. If it was a 'standard' car with a standard starter motor then you would need a big beefy battery to jump start it because an average starter motor draws a current of about 300A to crank the engine. A hybrid car doesn't use a standard starter motor as we know it. The 12V battery in a hybrid is used to power the entry/exit systems and the computers that boot up to bring the car to the READY state. As you can see in the photo below my clamp meter is showing that the 12V battery is supplying a current of 15.32A with the car in the READY state, which is a hell of a lot lower than the 300A required for a traditional starter motor. Given that, I think we can safely say that in this context, a 12V source is a 12V source, whether that be from a battery or a portable jump start device.

The battery is only used to start the car. Once the engine is running and the alternator spinning, the alternator feeds all the car's electrics and keeps the battery charged. It sounds like the alternator has failed electrically and the battery has subsequently gone flat but, before spending any money, I'd check the battery connections, the starter motor connections, the negative connection from battery to body and the engine earth strap, all for cleanliness, good contact and tightness.

Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen2 Only one word to describe them - excellent.

I'm not sure what your manual recommends but my RX300 manual said Toyota Type-IV and if yours is the same, I would just stick to that. The transmission is a very complex thing and the fluid has various friction modifiers and chemical properties that keep any seals in good condition. It's not expensive - I got 10 litres from my local Toyota main dealer for about £73.50 and I also got a new pan filter and gasket set for about £80 too.

It is indeed possible to do some damage if you connect the 'fresh' battery with the wrong polarity, but there is no danger whatsoever in putting a good 12V supply in parallel with a flat 12V battery as long as you connect it correctly. It's just a 12V source like the one that's already there.

I am not a mechanic, auto electrician or any other form of authority on cars so take this as you will. The thing about OBD2 is that it's an industry standard, so although I don't have a GS300 SE, I can almost guarantee that the pinouts will be the same as any other Lexus/Ford/Nissan/Vauxhall etc., etc.

We have a late (November) 2013 RX450h Advance and we love it. We paid just under £25k for it back in February with just over 33k miles on the clock.It has 95% of the bells and whistles that the Premier has but, crucially for me, no air suspension. I've never owned a car with air suspension but have been a passenger in many and I really don't think it brings anything over and above 'normal' suspension in comfort or performance. What it does add is a whole new layer of complexity and expense to an already complex and expensive car.