Juicedrinker

Hello @Etyw, Yes he put it in his MOT testing bay and made adjustments under the bonnet checking with his wall gauges that the beam was legal / would not be an issue for oncoming vehicles. As I was there he had me sit in the car (99% of time on my own) and also put some weight in the boot just to make sure no issue.

No not lowered at all the car is as from the factory

It turned out that they settings were lower than they needed to be for the dipped beam, my friend adjusted them at his MOT testing station and they throw much further ahead than before. I now don't have to engage main beam every chance that I get to be safe in the dark.

The mileage I would not worry too much about BUT I have to say that a Volvo that I had in the past (2003) was in my opinion built to last so not a direct comparison in terms of durability. Lexus interior trim in the Lexus's I've owned was not as long lasting (developing squeaks and rattles) compared to my very high mileage Volvo which was solid inside. Mechanically wise the Lexus was superior to the Volvo though. Have you test driven it yet? If not you MUST try out over a good run and see if you can cope with the ECVT transmission in all manner of situations, for me personally whilst it totally reliable it is horrible and will be the main reason that my current Lexus will be my last. The Honda Civic ECVT is far far superior if you actually like to have the opportunity to drive your car rather than have them just take you places in a bland, uninvolving way.

Fair enough however due to my profession and tyres being a big part of it I am always very careful

@mickdupleD, @Linas.P'hybrids still have normal engine, with normal alternator, so if engine is running, then 12V battery is charging', Hello Linus, I think you need to leave the vehicle in ready status for a good period of time (eg an hour) to get a boost into the 12v battery because Hybrids do not have a normal alternator but a DC to DC converter. I may be wrong but think that this is the way to guarantee 12v battery stays fresh / full (correct me if I am wrong). Of course the other issue is you really need to get all cars lubricants up to working temperature / fully circulating every few weeks and move it back and forth to save flat spots on the tyres and brake disk corrosion. Is it left in Park with foot brake not engaged but blocks under wheels? I would NEVER leave footbrake / handbrake on a stationery vehicle for periods of time as will seize at some point. I used to run my MX5 every 1-2 weeks for a few miles throughout winter to keep transmission oil, lubricants / everything moving / mobile and engine, pipes etc operational.

You are absolutely spot on with this comment, I'm sick of seeing every valeter calling themselves a detailers when they are most definately NOT detailers. Its an insult to the professional details and concourse trained people when everyone and their dog sets up businesses and charges for work that is often detrimental in the long (and often) short term to the vehicle.

Thats a good shout, I was despondent with a couple of marks on my seats (caused by previous owner) and after MANY months in desperation cleaned seats, utilised some leather glue and a fine marker pen. Then nourished the leather and my work colleagues thought that I had the seat professionally repaired as now cant see where the marks were.

I've established through conversation on the RC Facebook members group that a few people have had issues with the seats on their RC's regarding splits and unacceptable wear. One was very fortunate in that his Lexus dealer accepted there was an issue on his 2 year old car and eventually replaced the whole seat under warranty! However others have got nowhere with Lexus at all and two of them said they will never buy a Lexus again. Interestingly all of these issues appear be on the post facelift models, surely the seats were identical on the pre facelift though? HOWEVER I am starting to wonder if it is anything to do with a change of supplier for the leather or whatever material it is that they use. You never know where any of the parts truly originate from in vehicles. 4 years ago we (I work in a Motorsport company) were approached by one of our bigger Japanese race car builders customers to get manufactured a specific fuel line and we had to locate a suitable UK manufacturer to do this. We then sold them 10 of these lines (@ over 5k each due to extremely low volume and bespoke design). We eventually (after a year) found out that the part was ending up at Toyota for testing in a new Lexus car that they were working on. We had to then quote for 500 of them but were told the end price and speed of production was not ok so they were locating alternative manufacturers in Eastern Europe. In the past year we have supplied many many thousands of a simple rubber mount to a company in the USA that approached us to get manufactured in the UK. We eventually established (because a handful in each batch failed quality control in the USA and we got a *ollocking so had to in turn very strongly berate the manufacturer as were going to be heavily penalised) that the company we were selling them to were supplying Tesla with some components. The small company manufacturing them did not want to be put in a position where we could be financially hit because we in turn would sue them so they stopped supply.

Thanks for the recommendation of Gummi Pflege I will look into that. Sorry to learn that the soft rubber has split on yours also although good to hear its not got any worse.

Hi yes I clean all leather first then hydrate it and leave to dry in garage before sitting in it. The thing is the worst seat is the passenger seat and that is only used twice per month as we use my partners car when out together most of the time as she doesn't like the RC

I have used Autoglym for over 15 years and the leather on my last two Lexus which were high mileage during my ownership (one I clocked up 55,000 in 4 years taking it to 125,000) and no leather damage anywhere. Either the owner before me has initiated deterioation or I am sure the quality of parts used has been reduced. I guess all manufacturers work on most people buying on PCP from new and returning car at 3-4 years so they will never see the standards have dropped. It will only be seen by older used car buyers.

I only use good brands on all of my cars eg Autoglym or better. The conditioner I have been using has in fact improved the seats to what they were like but given what Linas and you have said said maybe the previous owner used ******* products. I am meticulously careful with my cars as have issues like OCD and even refuse to take any passenger apart from my partner or my mum. No one is allowed in the back which is a good thing for them as wouldn't be a nice place to be cramped in there. The rubbers on door are shocking quality, Ive had a few coupes (2 for business) and the business cars were 80,000+ when returned and never had this sort of thing occur

I am becoming thoroughly dismayed at the apparent quality drop in materials used on my Lexus RC300H 2019 (only 26,000 miles). I've owned 2 Lexus cars before one I kept until 105,000 IS200 and the other 125,000 IS250. Both had superb quality leather and plastic / rubber trim on them and them with no splits apart from the IS250 having perished rubber occurring close to front windscreen, it started after 110,000 miles so was forgivable. However I have now owned my 5 year old RC300H (25,000 miles) for just over a year having bought it at 17,000 miles at 4 years old. The seats I have had to repair due to cracking even though I regularly condition them, I have notice some of the plastics fading even though I also treat those. Then last weekend I noticed two splits at the same point on each side as in photos below. I think this is really poor for any car of 5 years old with low mileage let alone a Lexus. I have owned MANY cars and had many business cars all of various brands and also and have in a lot of cases done well in excess of 80,000 miles, my last private Mazda MX5 was at 125,000 when i sold it. None of them (apart from the S2000 drivers seat side bolster) have had seat leather issues and all their rubbers and plastics have remained intact. Has anyone else noticed this specific rubber split on their RC's by chance?

Hello, yes you are correct the Goodridge Vector 4 Seasons were 255 instead of 265 as that is the largest they offer and following using our system at work (I work in motorsport) it produces an MPH of +10%. Knowing how particular some main dealers are I didn't want them making a song and dance about the tyres being 255 instead of 265. Regarding the Bridgestone 'stiffness' I had thought of the fact they were sitting but I store them at work in a temperature controlled building and they are not stacked and turned every week. I've done 1,500 miles since they were put back on and all ok but then again I may of just got used to the feeling. In October I will see how the Goodyear feel when they go back on. Oh the reason I took the Goodyear's off is I assumed we were going to have a really hot summer like last year and they are noticeably 'soft' in those conditions especially around all the country roads that I have to drive every day, I have them on my partners car but she only drives short / local journeys and motorways etc are in my car. Oh and I TOTALLY agree regarding your comment about the 300H not being a performance car, with the ECVT transmission and its huge hybrid weight its the complete opposite / boring.

Hiya, long story short I have switched back to summer tyres (Bridgestone Potenza's) from my Goodyear Vector 4 Season tyres as we should (at least in theory) be getting warmer weather here in the South form now. The Goodridge have been phenomenal throughout the Autumn / Winter especially in the rain with all the standing water and I would of left them on but they are adding approx 10% to mileage recorded and as I ramp up my distance covered during the Spring and Summer did not want to over record mileage during this time. Within the first few metres of driving my car I could not believe how hard the ride is now in that it picks up every ridge / nuance in the road surface whereas the Goodyear were a very comfortable tyre. The pressures are spot on 2.4 front and 2.5 rear, I appreciate these are XL tyres BUT my Goodyear were appropriate for the weight of this car too, has anyone else found the Bridgestone's harsh on their RC?

WOW how generous Lexus are offering you a packet of wild flowers.... surely you can't move across to another brand when they are rewarding you so richly for your many many years of loyalty to them.

Do you have no claims protection? What is the total excess on your insurance? You will need to make a decision based on this because if you do not have no claims protection you will be shafted on the insurance price and if total excess is say £800 thats 20% your contributing anyway. Even if low excess and no claims protected this will then be noted on your policy and definately have an impact on your annual premium as they will know you are in a high risk are (if they didn't in the first place)

Ha ha you are the same as me.... I will never ever let any dealer wash my car following a service and they are always surprised that I refuse. I used to visit a local Aston Martin, Bentley and Lamborghini dealership to collect parts for one of my customers. That is the only place I have ever witnessed a really high standard of car cleaning. I had a chat with the two people who were working on a Bentley that had just been serviced, they had an undercover dedicated area, with a unit attached. They had so much equipment available like air dryers, blowers, paint depth checking tools they even used deionized water; They wore gloves and were clearly meticulous. They told me that before they worked on anyone's car they requested to know what work had been done on it previously and ideally spoke directly with that detailer concerned. They then used product that had no negative effect on the product that was applied on the car. There were two staff working at a time all day, 6 days per week. Obviously the cost was built / hidden in the no doubt exorbitant servicing or repair work bill but at least they were extremely professional.

I'm into detailing and a work colleague of mine does concours detailing he just spent 3 full days polishing, ceramic coating etc (AFTER a complete washing process and decontamination process using fallout removal products, clay bar etc) on his RX8 in one of your units. He uses paint depth tools to check and utilise the appropriate products for machine polishing, removes all decals, wheels so that he can access calipers insides of alloys, parking sensors on bumpers, masks plastics, rubber and even removed his rear spoiler. Obviously you would not expect Lexus to go that far BUT I can guarantee that if you get any form of main dealer detailing done it will be a half arsed job and no comparison at all to a professional detailer. There is no way at all that Lexus will have the car moved off site to a professional detailer with at least a day of pre preparation work completed before the ceramic coating is applied. The preparatory work is absolutely critical on any car and if not done properly then any wax or ceramic coating applied will be poor and whilst may look ok / good to the untrained eye it will not gleam as it should and above all not last anywhere near as long as it should. There is an intensive amount of labour in doing the job fully and hence why the cost is so high. I remember when an ex had bought a 3 year old Black BMW5 series from a dealer and she paid c£500 for their version of special paint protection back in 2005. I dropped in at the dealer a day before it was due for collection as has a spare Alfa key for the one that we had traded in. The sales guy said their detailer was only half way through out back but I was welcome to take a look. I walked around the back to watch a lad working on it who was very young. Cigarette in one hand, headphones on power washing the car, then sponge into a bucket washing a wheel, then straight up onto wheel arches, paintwork and back to wheels. Sponge in bucket and back out onto paintwork (no two bucket method used so dirt / grit put back onto paint). This is the person who was supposed to be applying the special paint protection. I tapped him on shoulder to stop him as he couldn't hear me and went to see the sales guy. I told him to remove the special protection off my fiancees invoice and I would do the car myself and I got her over to the centre and we took the car as it was and I then dealt with it at home. A few years later went to get my Mazda from its annual service and again a muppet was washing it and more worringly pressure washing really close up all around the convertible roof seals and the rear, the next day I had water inside me nearside rear light cluster, boot and behind the passenger seat. From that day forward I have refused all car dealers offering to wash my car for free as part of the service. I use specific polishes and waxes and don't want cheap products with high PH values reducing or ruining the effectiveness of my work.

My fiancee did not want me to but I did go back however as I had raised the issue a couple of months after and there was nothing wrong with the work they would not entertain any form of redress. I contacted their UK customer services and remember the letter / reply basically stated that when their own body shops were extremely busy (it was 2005 and Carlisle had just had one of the worst floods in the UK ever) outsourcing work to other BMW assured / professional repair personal was acceptable rather than to have extended delays in repairs for the customer. They also questioned the cost and work involved that I stated but had to be careful / mindful of the fact that my friend had lots of work given to him by these main dealers and I couldn't drop him in it. For the past 15 years I have worked in Motorsport and also deal with components and bodywork parts for private cars like Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren for my customers sometimes. I have had Lamborghini electronic components that arrive in their Volkswagen group brown cardboard packaging, the part number starts differently but is EXACTLY the same as a part for a VW and yet because of them categorising it as a Lambo part number it is 10 times the price!!! It is crazy what goes on with the groups with a lot of shared parts that are 'dressed' differently for their more premium ranges but are exactly the same core parts - except many many times more expensive.

That is completely mad!!! I would suggest you try to find a reputable bodywork repairer. I can't say this is true of Toyota BUT with a number of other brands mostly use specialist independents but claim it is done by them. EG I used to know a person who was a specialist PDR (paintless dent remover) and apart from dealing with private people he used to go to the local Audi, BMW and Honda dealership and repair customers cars at the dealership. Where he charged between £30-£90 for dent removal (which often took 10-30 minutes max) to the dealership they would massively profit from it by telling a load of porkies about how the car was taken to a specialist centre, had parts removed etc to charge a lot for labour. I found this out because my fiancee at the time had a 5 series and a stray golf ball from Carlisle golf club came onto main road and hit bonnet while she was doing around 60mph. A bad dent in the bonnet was caused although paintwork appeared ok so she took it into BMW Carlisle. A week later got it back along with a £500 bill and was told they had to get the bonnet and its insultation removed to access the dent and labour time was a few hours. A couple of months later by pure chance I became friends with a PDR person and when he came to our house we quickly established that he had fixed her bonnet as he was often called out to the dealers around Carlisle. It took him 20-30 minutes and not bonnet removal and he had charged them £60.00

Yes good idea try to keep it out of insurance claim if you can because you will have a nightmare getting insurance next time and the premium will jump even higher. Eventually Lexus will update the security on my model and I will keep it until my next insurance which is April 25 and then move away most likely to Honda. Whilst Honda hybrids are for old people (and I'm old) they do not get stolen like Lexus and insurance is very reasonable indeed

I'm thinking the same way as you, the ES is ridiculous for car parks as are all SUV's (which i don't like even Lexus ones). I test drove a Civic hybrid the other day and WOW!!!!! Practical size, brilliant dash / layout of controls and what a fantastic transmission / drive train!!! It really shifts and feels / drives like a regular auto in sport mode... was extremely impressed with it.