Herbie

The search facility on this board isn't very good but I can say that a few people have brought up this topic at various times and it sticks out in my mind that one single air strut is about £700 to replace, or certainly over £600 anyway. You may be lucky and get one from a breakers but (a) they know what they cost new so they price their used ones accordingly, and (b) there's no guarantee that a used one would be any better. When an air strut goes faulty, quite a few people have taken the opportunity to convert to normal coil suspension - a complete new set of four can be had for under a grand. And we haven't even mentioned the cost of a compressor if that went faulty

This guy on eBay will supply a new key case/blade that he cuts for you before sending it out. All you have to do is take out your own electronics from the damaged case and swap it into the new one.

I've never driven one with air but have been a passenger in one a few times and can honestly say that the difference is negligible - especially given the huge repair costs of air if it goes faulty.

The battery exchange system is a great idea but it would need a complete redesign of the cars wouldn't it? I haven't got an EV, nor do I intend to have one, but taking my hybrid as an example, I believe that the rear seats have to be removed to get to the battery pack. Not an easy or quick job (I assume) so maybe not the panacea we're looking for.

I think it's because speedometers are calibrated with a percentage of error in them and some people find this frustrating, especially in motorway roadworks with average speed cams in operation. For instance, if the car in front is driving at an indicated 50mph, when compared to a GPS reading the car may only be travelling at an actual speed of 47mph. The car behind may have a satnav or other form of GPS running, so he knows that he has 3mph to play with before exceeding the limit. Three taps of the stalk will then give him the 50mph he needs to pass the other car, who only 'thinks' he's doing 50mph, whereas just one tap at 5mph increments will see him break the limit.

You've been told the answer. It is not a fault or a problem. Normal cruise gives 1mph increments, adaptive cruise gives 5mph increments. That's the way it was designed, so you have to either live with it or change cars. It seems to me that what we have here is a perfect example of how some people seem to just 'fit' their names

The answer is - that's the way the system is designed to work. No problem or fault here.

Absolutely no question or decision in my mind. The label in my engine bay states ND11 or equivalent, so in theory it should be alright but it's a very expensive lesson to learn if it goes the other way. Personally, if ND11 is available I would stick to that.

Just one last thing - if the worst happens, I think the OBD fault code is P0AA6 if I remember correctly.

As long as it specifies that it's suitable for hybrid and EV then you should be alright. The label in my engine bay says ND11 or equivalent so as long as it is equivalent you should be fine. And I don't mean to frighten you but, if the wrong stuff ever was used, the entire AC system will need a thorough flushing out and the dryer may need to be replaced too because, as I mentioned above, even just one percent contamination of the oil by PAG has been shown to damage the motor windings. The thing is, it may not happen immediately - it may take months to show up. If you think of normal car wiring or even household wiring, the copper conductors are insulated with (most commonly) PVC, but in motor windings the insulation is an enamel coating and something in PAG oil attacks this coating, which in turn causes short circuits or shorted windings. Failure mode is usually that the damaged enamel coating allows 500V to track through the oil and to earth - in this case the car body - so the hybrid system shuts down to avoid electrocution. Sorry Zeb, I really didn't mean to scare you but you may as well know. Of course, this is a 'worst-case' scenario and given that they reckon their oil says it's suitable for hybrids and EVs it should all be fine. Do they have a dedicated machine for hybrid/EV and one for conventional? If not, let's hope they thoroughly clean the one they have, to avoid cross-contamination.

Hybrids don't have starter motors (or alternators) so even if that theory was true, it wouldn't apply here. The 12V battery boots the computers, charges the brakes and brings the hybrid system online, as evidenced by the READY light, at which point you can drive the car on battery power. However, you'd only get a mile or so before the hybrid system needs the petrol engine to run and it does that by energising MG1 which spins the engine up to 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it. This is one of the reasons why the 12V battery in a hybrid is small. A conventional car with a starter motor will draw at east 300A to crank the engine, whereas a hybrid needs less than 20A to get the car into READY mode.

The extra amount of money spent in fuel is minimal to say the least - hardly any difference at all. However, the cost of not using the AC all the time, as you're beginning to see, can be high, if not very high. Mixed in with the refrigerant gas is also a lubricating oil. This circulates around the system and keeps all the rubber seals moist and supple. Without that constant lubrication the seals can dry out and become brittle, which leads to leaks and faults. Aircon cools the car in summer; in winter it demists the screen in seconds; all year round it delivers clean, conditioned air that is better than 'standard' air for allergies or someone who suffers from asthma. Your car probably also has Climate Control which is far superior to just aircon. All you do is to set the cabin temperature that you want, push the 'Auto' button and the CC will automatically do whatever it has to do in order to maintain that temperature for you. When you regassed the system, are you sure that they used ND11 lubricating oil and not the PAG oil found in conventinal cars? The compressor is driven by a 500V 3-phase AC variable frequency motor and the windings of the motor are immersed in the oil for cooling purposes. ND11 does not conduct electricity but PAG oil does, and as little as 1% contamination by PAG will damage the motor windings.

Fantastic job and very nice. It brings the car right up to date and looks superb

This video may help. It's not specifically for a 2006 IS but he may have done one if this doesn't work for you. If you look at the comments, mine (John Hewitt) is second one down in the list and the video he pointed me to worked brilliantly. There are also plenty of other vids on the Tube as well if this particular guy doesn't have one to help you. EDIT: If your new additional key came from eBay or somewhere like that, are you absolutely sure it's for the UK market? I believe the transponder frequencies are different in, say, the USA.

The fuel difference between ECO and normal is actually quite low. I hated the way Eco felt. All it seemed to do was to apply some artificial resistance to the accelerator and I found myself just pressing on it harder anyway, so I quickly gave up on that idea and started driving in normal mode with hardly any difference in MPG at all. The correct way to drive a hybrid is to anticipate the road and to brake very gently so as to get maximum regeneration to charge the traction battery. I seem to remember reading that if you need to anchor on for an emergency or something then the hydraulic brakes come into play straight away, but under normal circumstances light braking lets the regen system do most of the work of stopping and the hydraulic brakes only come into play when either the car drops to about 7mph or the traction battery is full and can accept no more charge.

Hi Sabresq, I've just sent you a PM that will hopefully help you sort it out.

I'm not quite sure to be honest, on either question. I never, ever, drive anywhere without having music on, so I never, ever, turn the multimedia unit off. Whenever I reach my destination I just press the car's blue power button and shut down the whole car. When I next get in the car I press the power button, the car goes into READY mode and within about 20 seconds the Vline interface (using Agama launcher) comes up on the display and I can start to use the Vline. I have the system set up so that when my phone detects the connection to the Lexus Bluetooth, it then switches on my phone's wifi hotspot so that the Vline can connect to it and get Internet access through it. Similarly, when I switch the car off and the phone detects that the connection to Lexus Bluetooth has terminated, it switches its wifi hotspot off. So to actually answer your question, the Vline is so good that I never go back to the Lexus interface for anything apart from altering the cabin temperature. The last time I did that I used the 'Media' button to get me back into Lexus - it had been that long since I needed Lexus that I'd forgotten about the 'Menu' button I'll try to remember to experiment with it tomorrow.

The RX is like an inverse TARDIS. It looks fairly big from the outside but it's not, it's just an optical illusion. The RX is only 18mm longer than a Ford Mondeo - that's less than three quarters of an inch. It is also only 5mm wider - which is just under a quarter of an inch. It's not that the RX is big; just that the NX is smaller. As the comparison with the Mondeo shows, the RX is 'family car-sized' so anybody with a driving licence should be able to handle it perfectly well. This very dilemma was discussed just a little while ago: EDIT: Performance should never be discussed when referring to the RX. It's a luxury barge for wafting along and eating up the miles in complete serenity. We've had the car for about 15 months (previously had a 2005 RX300 and a 2013 RX450h Advance) and averaged 35mpg over that time. I neither know nor care about 0-60mph times but what I can say is that when I get in it it's like sitting in my favourite armchair and it never ceases to put a smile on my face

Thanks Shada, a wonderful job.

Great job Shada. How much does a job like that cost if you don't mind me asking?

That's unusual because, again according to moneysavingexpert.com, leaving things close to/until the last minute statistically means you're more likely to make hasty, or even bad decisions.

The best prices are usually around 21 to 23 days before it's due according to http://moneysavingexpert.com

I'm afraid that I don't know the answer Dave but, although I assume you know this already, it can't hurt to reiterate it - when you regas the system, make sure you use ND11 oil rather than the PAG oil found in conventional cars because PAG conducts electricity and will damage the motor.

I'd email Kia UK to confirm or deny this (in writing) as it surely just cannot be right? It sounds absolute rubbish to me.

That could still happen, even to a pricey Road Angel. By law, a dashcam screen that is visible to the driver must automatically blank out within three minutes and stay off while the vehicle is in motion, purely to avoid that very situation. Most dashcam manufacturers also produce dedicated hardwire kits although some, like my Viofo one, cost a few quid extra. Third-party ones are also perfectly good. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that you shouldn't have bought a Road Angel; it's your money and your choice. I'm just wondering who you're trying to convince that the (much) higher price was worth it