Herbie

I may be wrong but I thought all factory-fitted batteries were Panasonic, not Yuasa?

Set your smartphone camera to record video, put it in the boot and shut the lid.

About half a mile from where I live, a Mini Clubman has the plate U2, and also knocking around Preston is a Range Rover with the plate 1E. Each of those plates cost more than my house (which is currently on the market for £210k) and I'm sorry but I find it obscene that someone can spend so much money on something as trivial as a car number plate.

That's correct. The 12V battery boots the computers and does a couple of other things to get the car to READY mode. When the petrol engine is needed the hybrid system energises MG1 and uses that to spin the engine to 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it. You can if you want but there's no specific need for an AGM because your battery is in the engine bay. The RX450h has the battery under the floor of the boot, so if there's an accident and the car rolls, there's a slight chance of the acid leaking into the cabin which is why they are AGM and not wet. If the battery is fairly new, check the connections to the battery posts and the earth straps, make sure they're clean and tight at both ends. It might also be worth seeing if any OBD codes have been flagged.

Most likely the 12V battery dying. When you disconnect it it just manages to build up enough charge to start it. I would be tempted to get it on a charger overnight, possibly even a full 24 hours, then disconnect the charger and let the battery stand for about 30 minutes to dissipate the surface charge. You can then use a multimeter to check it against this chart: If it's well down then it needs replacing but if it looks alright you then need to get it load tested. The multimeter could show something like 12.6V but that may drop like a stone once a load is applied.

Well it's already broke so you can only improve it from here Give it another try and just take your time with it. Put some flux and solder on both the wire and the pin, then use tweezers to hold the wire on the pin while you get the soldering iron on it.

I never switch off the AC and/or Climate Control, so like someone else further up, I have no comparison. Surely though, it should all work out in the wash? During hot weather the petrol engine fires up for the AC; during cold weather the engine fires up for cabin heat.

Ah, have I got the wrong end of the stick? I though you were just looking for a new plug to solder on the end of the lead, but does that mean you're looking for a whole new ready-made lead? I'm only thinking that if you're capable of soldering the plug, then soldering the socket won't be much more difficult.

In that case then, just buy a matching 8-pin plug and socket and change both plug and socket over.

As I've said before, it's not a big car. It's virtually the same size as a Ford Mondeo, that's all. My test was over 40 years ago and I can handle it just fine without having had any advanced driving lessons. You really seem to be blowing this out of all proportion and looking for any tiny reason not to get one. You've passed a driving test and got a licence, so just drive it like any other car. It should take you all of five minutes to get used to it. EDIT: On the very first day I started work on Post Office Telephones I was given the keys to one of these rascals: This is a jointers wagon. No if's or but's, this is what a cable jointer needed for the job. Having driven nothing bigger than a Morris Marina before, I was a bit apprehensive about it but, within half an hour of driving it, it quickly became apparent that it was no worse than driving the Marina or anything else. And it had to go wherever the telephone cables went, so single-track roads and narrow lanes had to be done and I remember having to reverse it back about a mile to a passing point so that a milk truck could get past.

Aha, right. I thought of the mouse plug because you said "The Grom connection contains a plastic stud". Is there nothing at CPC that meets your requirements?

@Roger001 Any more progress or any news on this problem Roger?

@Ben7767 Any progress or any news on this problem Ben?

Is it like this PS2 mouse plug? If so, just get a cheap mouse and chop it off. If that's not it, what about opening the case, desolder the socket and solder the cable straight onto the circuit board? Or if you still need to be able to remove the cable, buy a different type of plug/socket and wire to that. EDIT: You may find what you want here at CPC

It's only USA market as far as I know. May be others but definitely not UK.

Rock Auto in the USA or Amayama are the best places for parts.

What's wrong with the old cable?

Yes, it does work with Windows 10, and if you ever do get up here then a meal and a chat sounds like a good plan

I think whoever told you that needs to give their head a wobble. Simply locate the interior fuse box and follow the wiring harness up. You'll find a big rubber grommet that takes the harness through the bulkhead, so you just need to make a small hole in that to push a pair of wires through. You may even be able to put a bit of lubricant on the new wires and push them through the existing hole with the rest of them. It's not quite the same thing but have a look at the topic below to see how I fitted a jump start socket in my 3RX:

You're welcome Up to the introduction of the Relax scheme I used to take it to my mate's garage here in Preston. A brilliant mechanic who charges reasonable and realistic rates, but I think Preston will be too far for you to travel 😄 Because of Relax I now take it to Lexus Preston and I have to say that I'm more than happy with their work, in both customer service and the workshop. I still grapple with the old Lexus Paradox, where people are drawn to the brand because of their reputation for reliability but then take a warranty because they're worried about the reliability As for Lexus diagnostics, if you have an old Windows laptop (even as old as Windows XP) then you just need to buy one of these miniVCI cables which will come with a pirated version of Techstream. Of course, we can't condone pirate software so the legit way would be to download an official copy from here and then pay for a block of time to use it (€5/day, €10/week etc). Either way, you'll need that cable anyway.

First of all, Lexus ECUs are locked down solid and are notoriously difficult to remap. Secondly, even if it could be done it's hardly worth it because the petrol engine is constantly being switched off and on and doesn't run all the time. Finally, these engines use the Atkinson Cycle and are superbly engineered, as is the whole hybrid system. It's extremely complex and is a marvel of modern engineering. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it - the car will always know what's best for itself so just let it do its thing and waft you around in complete comfort.

No David, I didn't. I tried to get a refund but communicating with them was just so difficult I just cut my losses and put it down to experience. Ironically, I went with a Carlinkit (at about £200) because I could neither justify nor afford a Grom Vline2 at about £500 - and then got one anyway so it's effectively cost me £700 Well worth it though and I'm pleased with the Grom. It's not quite perfect and still has a foible or two, but it's close to perfect and has the potential to get there. Also, being an American company, there's no language barrier when contacting support and their support team are actually very good.

Don't have a look at Carlinkit! Over on the Lexus owners groups on Facebook they have a very bad reputation, both for the device itself and also the support, which is basically non-existant.

The SE-L is the top of the range and so has all the toys, bells and whistles. I don't know about the seats. The SE-L seats may physically fit in a lower model but I doubt the seat toys would work because I don't think the required harnesses and/or ECUs would be there. You may be able to swap the ML audio system into a lesser model but I doubt it would be financially viable given the cost of the extra components you'd need and the amount of labour involved. Plus, the standard system is great anyway.

Excellent