Herbie

You should be able to find some here at CPC

If you're a handy sort of person, have a look at a video or two here https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tpms+battery+replacement

Valid point, but just how valid I don't know. Nicking cats is an excellent 'wage' for them and I would imagine it would take a lot to stop them. However, I could see ear defenders being in their toolkit along with the reciprocating saw, angle grinder, trolley jack and machete if they got wise to it.

You can have the loudest siren in the world but the truth is, it won't stop them because they just don't care if they're seen or not. As I've said before, from the moment their car pulls up to the moment they drive off is no more than 2 minutes tops. In, done and gone before you've even finished the phone call to the police. If you go out yourself, they blatantly wave the machete/bat/whatever at you and just tell you to get back inside.

For future reference because I see that you're sorted now. I forget the size of the batteries so as an example, a strip of five CR2032 is just £3.58 at cpc.com An 11-piece set of jewelers screwdrivers from the same place for just £2.03 (although personally I'd go for a better quality set) All including VAT but plus about £4 for delivery. So the whole thing for less than a tenner and you have the screwdrivers for anything that crops up in the future and also three extra batteries too. A couple of minutes of your time and Robert is your mother's brother, job done. Of course, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to but I'm just curious - how much did Timpsons charge you?

I'd be inclined to take it to another dealer or somewhere else completely. The RX300 may be a Lexus but it's just a standard petrol-engined car that thousands of mechanics up and down the country can work on. What's wrong with the car and what symptoms are you experiencing? Have you read any OBD2 codes (preferably with Techstream) and if so, what are they?

There are a myriad of switches, buttons and other stuff that require the driver to look down so I'm not sure that argument holds water. They could have made it look much better but, for whatever reason, chose not to.

Yeah, but the M61 is congested so it took longer to get to Preston

Looking out of the window I just can't believe the silly sods queueing up for petrol

Hmm.... It may have saved a bit of time if the topic title had the correct error code number - you wrote P2792 but your photo shows P2797 Anyway, a quick Googling of P2797 comes up with a few things, the first one below from an American forum and the second one from this very forum here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hybrid-technology/853851-p2797-with-subcode-865-on-2008-gs-450h.html

Great, let's see a couple of photos when you've got it. Enjoy

You may get more answers if you start your own topic instead of tagging onto the end of a 6 year old one I can't answer the question but just keep your eyes open on eBay breakers or any breakers near you.

I'd just replace the cat with something like this if it got stolen.

There are a few people noticing the 'catloc rattle'. One guy on here even took the car back the next day to get them to remove it because the noise was that bad. My personal opinion is that it's not worth having a Catloc fitted because it'll only slow them down a bit, it won't stop them altogether. The time taken for their car to arrive on scene, remove cat and drive away again is about 90 seconds to 2 minutes tops. A catloc will slow them down a bit but certainly not long enough for the police to arrive and I wouldn't advise tackling them yourself because the 'lookout guy' always has a machete or some other nasty weapon.

Unless you do an analysis of the chemical composition of genuine vs substitute, you'll never be 100% certain that the substitute will be 100% safe and compatible with the seals/hoses/gaskets etc. Even one chemical different, or maybe even a percentage difference in the amount or concentration of a single chemical could be enough to cause problems. Is it really worth the risk to save a few quid?

Chris, your profile shows you as having a GS450h and if that's correct, you should always keep it in drive unless you think it'll be a while before you get moving again, in which case you should put it in park. The reason for this is that the hybrid system will not recharge the batteries in neutral.

Let me just reiterate that And in case you're still unsure, I'll say that I think you're overthinking it too I've driven nothing but automatics for more than 30, maybe even 35 years (never wanted an auto - until the first time I drove one that is ) and I've never had any auto box (or parts thereof) fail on me or wear out, nor any brake part, transmission cooler or any associated part, despite taking some of them to 100k miles and beyond. Having learned to drive and passed my test in a manual, I was always used to the 'handbrake on and move to Neutral' process and I probably did that more often than not, but I also did my fair share of leaving it in Drive and just standing on the brakes. In other words, I truly don't think it matters. Just do what you do and enjoy driving the car.

Fingers crossed that he used ND11 oil David and not the 'normal' PAG oil. The aircon compressor is driven by a 500V 3-phase AC motor and the motor windings are immersed in the oil for cooling purposes. ND11 oil doesn't conduct electricity and so is safe, but PAG oil does conduct and will damage the motor windings and eventually lead to insulation breakdown. Thankfully, safety systems are in place that will shut down the hybrid system if this occurs, otherwise there would be a danger of that high voltage tracking to earth, ie, the car body, leading to possible electrocution.

But do they? There is nothing 'Lexus-specific' about the aircon system so being a Lexus/Toyota specialist means nothing in this context. Personally, I go to mechanics for mechanical problems; auto-electricians for electrical issues (unless we're talking about the hybrid system) and aircon specialists for aircon issues.

Exactly as Peter said above. It sounds very much like they've just regassed it but without properly testing it first, which is very poor in my opinion. The refrigerant gas does not wear out or get converted to something else - the only possible reason for a lack of gas is a leak somewhere.

Well, you've not given us much information to go on, so try using the car more.

Just get the eBay one from Lithuania, it won't matter that the extra switches aren't connected to anything.

That's true, and it sounds so trivial doesn't it? In reality, it's been shown that as little as 1% contamination with the wrong oil can cause damage running into thousands of pounds. I think this is the reason why some places specifically refuse to do hybrids. Ideally they should have two machines, one specifically for hybrids and the other one for non-hybrids, in order to prevent cross-contamination but I suspect that the cost of said machines is high and small places just can't afford two.

I'm disappointed now. I was going to pick up a couple of tyres when I go for my fish for tonight's tea at Marks and Spencers

As Piers says, as long as they're not too hot then it's fine. If they're illuminated then the bulbs will throw out some heat, plus it's a confined space behind there and the electronics will also generate heat.