Herbie

Welcome to the club James, enjoy

Just turn the radio up.

As I understand it, Android Auto is just the name of an 'umbrella app' that allows some other apps to run 'inside' it and it optimises the display for the car screen instead of the phone. First of all I'd try some of the other maps that will run in AA, such as Waze, Sygic and HereWeGo to see if they suffer from the same problems. Out of interest, what phone have you got?

But maybe not so lucky for your parents?

Hi Philip and welcome to the club. No, you can't change the software to TomTom. Many, many people on here would be ecstatic if that were possible, but the only way to do that is to kick the Lexus nav into touch and buy a third-party device. I've never liked the Lexus nav so I've never tried updating it but, something worth mentioning is that if you go down that route (hah, see what I did there, route 😊 - I'll get me coat) it will still be running on a clunky, outdated, slow operating system because map updates are just that, maps, not operating system. There are a couple of good alternatives out there depending on how much you want to spend. Personally, I went with a Grom Vline 2 which is expensive but it does SO much more than just navigation. It's a full-blown Android computer (tablet) that integrates with the car's multimedia system and also keeps the OEM functionality of the steering wheel buttons and so on. You can use any maps you like, such as Waze, Google Maps, Sygic or HereWeGo, to name just a few. You can also download and run any app from the Google Play Store and have it display on the car's main screen. If you want to know more there are plenty YouTube videos out there and here's a (pretty awful) one from me as I installed it in my 2018 RX:

Same with my RX - Mesa Red is simply stunning in the sun.

We buy in quite a lot of tizzy from France but according to this article from Bloomberg News today it seems that France are having a few problems with breakdowns and unplanned maintenance issues with some of their nukes; so much so that they may even have to import, rather than export.

If there is a leak of refrigerant, when the pressure drops to a certain value the aircon system will cease to operate in order to prevent any (further) damage.

I think you need a hobby Who cares what it costs? Just enjoy it.

They wouldn't repair this so I had to replace:

Some of the RX300s and 400hs never had a power back door and it seems like you've got one of these. If it did have one but someone took the lift motor out then you'd see a slit in the panel for the lift arm, like this one below: First of all, take John's advice and see if you have 'cooling off' period in which you can return the car for refund or replacement. It may not be impossible to retrofit but it'll be as near as makes no difference. None of the required wiring looms will be in place, you'd need the lift motor/ECU assembly (a good £700 or more on its own) a different lock/latch assembly, and the labour to install it all would take the total cost to £2k-£3k, IF it were possible at all. Once you've lifted the tailgate up, if it stays up then don't waste money on buying new gas struts because that won't help you at all. Their job is to assist the lift motor in raising the door and to stop it falling down. If they hold the door in place they're doing their job and new ones won't help you lift it any easier.

Just PM'd you now MK.

It may be picking up the speed restriction sign on the back of a truck or something and it could be 120kmh rather than mph.

Ohm's Law says that I = P/V, so I = 5/12 = 0.41A, which I would imagine is the absolute maximum output of the panel in bright sunlight, so the reality will probably be somewhat different. If quiescent current is 0.05A (50mA) then hopefully it should work, but you'll have to measure the current supplied by the panel in 'real world' daylight. It was supposed to be wall-to-wall sunshine here today but although it's not cold, the clouds are grey and miserable-looking.

Not only France Malc, as the website below shows: http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

They were never designed to save us money Malc - that was just the lies they told us to get us to accept them. The only thing they will ever do is to cost us more and to manipulate our useage patterns. When they start 'phoning home' every five minutes and when peak minutes cost twice as much as off-peak minutes, most of us will try to use the appliances that use the most tizzy in off-peak times. Then those off-peak periods may even become peak (because we've altered our behaviour) and so on. The National Grid used to have a lot of redundancy built into it so that if a major breakdown occured they could easily re-route supplies and/or get round it. After decades of underinvestment the redundant plant is now in almost daily use, so micro-management of supply and demand is very important to them now.

You can (sort of) work it out but there's still a certain amount of guesswork to it. First of all, let's assume that it's a brand new, fully charged battery (obviously highly unlikely in reality). Somewhere on the battery will be a label with its capacity in Ah, so for the purposes of this example, lets say 45Ah. This means that it can supply 45A for one hour, or 22.5A for two hours and so on. Even in the dead of night when you're all asleep, there's still a drain on the battery for things like the clock, the alarm, the radio presets and the seat memory etc. This is called the quiescent current and is generally assumed to be around 50mA or 0.05A. You should be able to get the exact figure from the manufacturer of the car but I've never seen it in reality. Anyway, if we say 45Ah / 0.05A then that equals 900 hours, or 37 days, or 5.28 weeks. But remember - that is assuming a brand new battery and that is the time period from fully charged to fully discharged. In terms of being able to start the car, the battery will fail to do that quite a way before it's fully discharged.

A trickle charger like the CTEK that Peter mentions above is the absolute best way to prevent the 12V battery going flat in the first place. Unfortunately, not everyone has a garage or driveway or indeed a power point near where the car is parked, so second choice is a solar charger, but you have to be careful to get one powerful enough as a lot of them aren't. Finally, if the battery does go flat, something like this jump start battery pack would get it restarted. This is the make and model that I have and although I've only had to use it on my RX once, I've started a few conventional cars with it and it's absolutely brilliant.

Is that a thing in UK cars now? I thought it was only USA but could never understand why we didn't get it.

But surely, it doesn't surprise you, does it? This is the result of Covid and supply chain issues, with severe shortages of chips and lots of other stuff (think how many ECUs in just one car) and it's also the main thing driving the price increases of used cars, because no one can get a new car in the timeframe they want.

Absolutely no point in claiming on the insurance for that because: Your excess will probably be equal to or more than that Your No Claims Discount (say 60% for example) will be lost if it isn't protected Even if it is protected and you keep it, when you come to insure next time your premiums will go up so that instead of getting 60% discount on, say, £1,000, you'll get 60% discount on £1300

<pantomime voice> Oh yes it can! </pantomime voice> I'm afraid that turning off the supply is one of the basic protocols for smart meters. Of course, it can't control the individual circuits, it's just a 'whole house supply on/off' variable, but the capability is there. As far as I know they haven't used it yet because there are huge implications for people using medical equipment in the house and so on, and I think they're still trying to work out the legalities and practicalities of it all. To be honest I don't think it'll ever be needed domestically, because a lot of commercial and industrial high-consumption users often take a deal to have preferential rates on the understanding that if push comes to shove, they will reduce demand when requested to do so.

Hi Alex and welcome to the forums. You'll get a better response to your questions if you post in the dedicated LS400/430/460 forum (not really sure why there's a 'New Members' area). I'm sure it won't be long before someone can help you. Enjoy the forums and more importantly, enjoy the car

Climate Control is a 'set and forget' thing. You simply set the cabin temperature to whatever you want, press the 'Auto' button and the car takes care of everything to achieve and maintain that temperature for you. When you start from cold there will be a short delay before any air starts to blow and when it does, it'll come from the footwell area. Hot air rises so it's the quickest way of warming up the cabin. Similarly, on a hot summer's day when you start the car, it will blow air from high-level vents first so that it cools on its way down. What symptoms are you seeing that makes you think it's not working properly?

That will also happen. They already have the ability to remotely control the meters and if demand is such that blackouts are iminent then they will use 'rolling blackouts' to manage the balance.