Herbie

In theory it should be fine Brent, but the caveat is that I don't know the current state of your battery so I can't guarantee it. To remove all anxiety and give peace of mind I always carry a unit similar to this one. Never had to use it on my own car yet but it's started at least a dozen others and works first time, every time.

First of all, just be aware that "Check Hybrid System" doesn't necessarily point to a problem with the hybrid battery. There are many components to the system and the battery is just one of them. Plus, Dave above is slightly incorrect in the information he gives regarding the Hybrid Health Check - it may check a few things but the warranty only applies to the battery, not other components of the system. You need to get the OBD error codes read or read them yourself. If you have a Windows laptop you can buy one of these cables from eBay. It will come with a pirated copy of Techstream, which is the same diagnostic software used by Lexus techs in the dealership workshops. Of course, we can't condone software piracy so the proper way would be to download a legit copy of Techstream from here https://www.lexus-tech.eu/DiagnosticTools/Setup and pay for a block of time to use it. Either way though, you'll need that cable from eBay. If you don't have a laptop or don't want to bother with Techstream, you can buy other OBD2 readers here. However, Techstream is best because it also shows sub-codes that help narrow things down even further. For instance, a generic code reader may only show P0AA6, but that code covers 5 or 6 different things, so Techstream will show P0AA6-123* for one thing, while P0AA6-124* points to a different area, P0AA6-125* somewhere else and so on. *Not real codes, just an example.

That's fine, no worries, but now that you know the cause you only really have two choices and that's either to use the car more or to run it for an hour when stationary and in Park.* Of course, the main problem with the latter is that you have to stay close by or even in the car (read a newspaper or whatever) or someone could drive away in it. I do the same when I'm defrosting snow/ice but I leave my big old steering wheel lock in place so that I can go back in the house. *I suppose a third choice is just to continue on as you are and keep jump starting it.

With the greatest of respect, that statement is utterly ridiculous and will only make you look foolish.

@para999 - maybe a hybrid is not the car for your useage pattern if you can't or don't use it enough. The problem is that it isn't a problem. It's not a fault as such; there's nothing wrong so there's nothing to fix. If anything, it can only be classed as a design problem that probably shouldn't have made it off the drawing board. For whatever reason, Toyota/Lexus decided to fit low capacity 12V batteries and we have to live with the consequences. First thing to say is that every time the battery goes into a deep discharge then it sustains slight damage and a small amount of capacity is lost. In other words, when you first buy it the charger will cut out at 100% full. After a few deep discharges it may cut out at 80% full because the battery can't accept any more charge. Secondly, you can make a very rough calculation as to how long it will hold charge, but a lot of it is guesswork. As an example, we'll say that we have a brand new and fully charged battery of 50Ah capacity. That means that it can supply 50A for one hour, or 25A for two hours and so on. All cars have a quiescent current drain when they aren't being used, which is to keep such things as the alarm, the radio presets, the seat memories and so on, alive. As a general rule of thumb, around 50mA (0.05A) is considered to be normal. So, 50Ah divided by 0.05A = 1,000 hours from fully charged to fully discharged. That's 41.6 days or 5.94 weeks. However, in reality, your battery will not be brand new and fully charged and also, for the purposes of starting the car, it won't be able to do that well before it reaches full discharge. This means that you won't get anywhere near the 1,000 hours/41.6 days/5.94 weeks before it becomes useless.

I think it's an MOT fail if it's fitted but doesn't work, so better to fix it. 99% sure it'll be either the mechanical linkage rod or the electrical sensor, neither of which are expensive and both are easy to swap. Linkage rod here and Electrical sensor here

DB2 Jeff.

Hope it doesn't overheat now

The only reason for an AGM battery is that the acid is absorbed in the glass mat rather than being in free liquid form. Because the battery is in the boot of the RX, if the car ever rolls over in an accident there's a slight chance that free liquid acid could drip/run into the cabin and be a risk to anyone in there, hence the preference for AGM. It makes no difference whatsoever from an electrical point of view.

Goodyear Vector 4Seasons are superb all-season tyres and what I would use in a heartbeat if I could get them in the 20" size. There's no real need whatsoever for winter tyres in this country, although possibly in deepest, darkest Scotland it's a different story. I was 65 last week and I can remember some cracking snowfalls during my childhood and teenage years but I haven't seen anything like that for more than 30 years. Even the cold snap over Christmas hardly produced enough to have a snowball fight, let alone build a snowman.

Was it from a private seller or a motor trader? If a trader then you may have legal recourse because I believe traders must offer a warranty, although I'm not sure if it would cover the PBD or not.

That looks brilliant Nick, great job. Well done mate, I'm sure you'll love it.

No idea what's wrong but instead of going to the dealer I strongly suggest finding a proper auto-electrician to sort it out.

Pull the mechanical key out of the fob and insert it into the lock in the door handle. It'll probably be very stiff from lack of use (some have even needed pliers to turn it) but it'll work. There'll be videos of it on YouTube if you're still not sure.

Might be wrong but I seem to remember it should be FAT32. It's years now since I listened to an album in its entirety, preferring instead to have it on random play. Even when I used to use CDs I would burn 6 CDs with random tracks and then have the system play them randomly. One minute could be Led Zeppelin, next may be the Mediaeval Baebes, followed by Seth Lakeman, followed by Gregorian Chants and so on; everything was a surprise

Yeah, that chip looks alright now that you've cleaned it up. PM sent to you Paul.

A bit of imagination maybe? It does indeed show it connected to the battery but that's just a demo. All it needs is to be located a certain way up (for GPS and Cellular signals) and a 12V supply, so you can locate it in the boot, engine bay, under a seat, wherever. Basically anywhere at all where you have access to a 12V positive supply and either an earth wire or even just any unpainted nut, bolt, or screw.

Can you clean up that chip to read what's on it? If we can find out what it is we may be able to get a replacement and then it's easy enough to swap it out.

Thankfully we've never experienced this and hopefully never will, but don't misunderstand me; if someone is stood in our bedroom threatening me with violence unless I hand over the keys etc., then not only will I hand them over but I'll also gift-wrap them in a nice bow and give them a bottle of champers too

I know what you mean but in various tests and reviews, the Stoplock Pro Elite took more than five minutes to defeat with hammers, chisels and saws; that's five minutes of noise and hassle that the scrotes don't want.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I appreciate that a Ghost or Starline may be a good thing but the scrotes will have already gained access into your pride and joy before these things begin to do their job, whereas I would rather deter them from thinking of my car as a target in the first place. A big, bright yellow, steering wheel lock (in my case a Stoplock Pro Elite), which is highly visible from outside the car will hopefully make them think it's not worth the hassle and move on to an easier target.

You don't need to get to the battery in the boot. 12V at the back is just the same as 12V at the front, so whichever you choose, either trickle charger such as the CTEK MXS5 or a jump start battery pack, the connectors in the engine bay will be fine instead of scrabbling about at the back.

My 2018 RX is the most comfortable car I've ever driven.

Good grief, I stopped using Zone Alarm when Windows98 was out. I didn't know it was even still available.

I use Firefox with uBlock Origin and never see any adverts on any websites