stringbender

I joined LOC in 2004 and think there was a proper in house search facility that Google then took over. May be wrong. My 2005 RX300 SEL original Panasonic battery was still working fine when I upgraded in 2018. Given that it was probably put in the engine bay in summer 2004 it did remarkably well. Now I'm reading all these threads about 450h 12 volt batteries. Clearly they're not lasting as long ? When I went to Milton Keynes to take my first look at the latest RX, I remember asking about the battery. Salesman had no idea where it was ! Alan

And a few pairs of nitrile or similar disposable gloves. I wish I'd have had those when I got a gash in my rear tyre. No wipes and hands were filthy but all went OK and we got home safely. Alan

What a shame, nobody posted so far. I often wonder what became of my 05 RX 300 SEL. ( GU 05 CFL ) Although I have loads of new tech now I have memories of total serenity driving that car. Alan

Doing the car tomorrow !!

Great news. I'll go and give her a polish ! Alan

The Panasonic battery on my 2005 RX300 was still working perfectly when I sold her 13+ years later. Why aren't these new batteries lasting even longer as they have nowhere near as much work to do as a cranking battery. Alan

That's brilliant - I'll use that when they're back in action. Today I got an email from Virgin Media about my package being cancelled tomorrow unless I ..... It was indistinguishable from the real Virgin Media save for the sender's address not looking right. Needless to say it was a scam. Aren't there some lovely people in this world.

As long as the images are good then the problem most likely lay with your PC or the burning software on it (I use Ashampoo Burning Studio Free). I checked my SD card ( suddenly I don't seem very busy ! ) and it's a Sandisk 32 GB. I did use the NextBase replay 3 software and all I can remember is that when I came to view the file (created ( in Windows) is that the Windows operating system itself shut down immediately. Had to restart like in the old DOS days so I didn't want to risk doing any damage so gave up. Obviously I hope to never have to do this again but if I do then the shampoo may do the trick ? Alan

I don't know about using a stick but it was over a year ago when that happened. Galling to see him rubbing has hands with glee following us as we drove by. I told the police who laughingly said it was probably because his hands were cold ! History now. Alan

Hello Raju, I've had a Nextbase 412G for about 2 years now. Good quality crisp images and I'm glad it's there but I couldn't make a DVD when I wanted to. The policeman with his mobile laser gun actually rubbed his hands with glee as I drove by him. I would have liked to have sent that footage in. It may be that my system hasn't got enough power to deal with the hefty files but for whatever reason no DVD of the incident. Alan

I live near to Bristol and have had very good service from Lexus Bristol since 2005. Recently I noticed something had changed and that a lot of the staff I'd come to know had disappeared. Then I found out that they'd been taken over by Motorline. My most recent Lexus purchase was from the Cheltenham dealership. Nobody likes paying "booking fees" or whatever they call them and I'm sure that if Motorline noticed a decline in sales then they'd soon drop the notion - especially if car sales are hard to come by as we're told they are. Let's see if "power to the people" has any effect ?

Lexus Cheltenham is not that far away from Bristol. Worth the drive.

It's a shame the dampers haven't solved the problem. I did wonder if they may help transmit vibrations into the body and maybe they did. I still think that the exhaust hangers are worth looking at as the cause ( see earlier post ). When Lexus Bristol changed my exhaust system they removed the original 18mm thick hangers and replaced them with 28mm thick new ones. They denied doing this but I remain certain that they did. Quite why they'd feel the need to deny it is beyond me. Anyway the problem became worse! I think that was because the allowable movement back to front was now 5mm less each way and the rubber was being crushed either against the end stop one way or the metal hanger bolted to the body. the other. It still baffles me that of the 6 rubber hangers 4 allow considerable fore/aft movement whilst the other 2 practically prevent it. Such a shame for such a nice car.

I'd had the Silver with cream interior combination for 13 years on my first Rx and wanted a change. The cream was getting very grubby. The Premier (17) was Silver with black interior but they discontinued the Silver and brought out the sonic Titanium. If I had a choice I'd go for another Silver ( with black interior) as they don't show the dirt so much. Alan

Utter GENIUS ! Alan

I hope this works Colin. If it does could you let us know exactly what you've used and how you did it. I feel mine has deteriorated in the last 500 miles which is very disappointing. Alan

The cars that didn't get through were all scrapped. I always thought that if the engine stopped and the exhaust pipe was submerged then water would be sucked back into the combustion chambers. I got through OK. I'd be scared to death to drive through deep water these days even though I could try EV mode. More often than not the system says EV unavailable as hybrid battery is low. I rarely bother using it. Alan

I've always wondered how you'd cope if you had to drive through a flood in a hybrid. Years ago ( when the Golf Mk4 came out ) I had to do just that. I was able to slip the clutch and keep the revs. high and I got through - Just ! About 6 cars died there that day. You can't control the engine like that in a hybrid so if the engine cuts out and water is sucked back in then isn't that the end of your car ? Alan

Sorry to hear that Les. I hated parking the old car but the new one is even worse. Last month I parked in Bath and the car park was quite empty. When I got back ( still laughing from Jasper Carrot ! ) I couldn't believe that despite all the space some twit had parked right up close to me. Why do they do this ? Alan

I assume you are aware of private medical insurance. This can be very handy for those of us who are "getting on a bit". They make it very clear that existing conditions are excluded from the benefits of the policy. You can't take out a policy after you've broken your leg and then expect them to cover it. That's ridiculous !

Amazing work Mark. You must be well chuffed with yourself. Alan

Good info. Les. Do you fill up with unleaded or super unleaded fuel? I think you'll get a few more mpg on your new RX. Alan

This is my issue ( resonance & vibration ) with the 4 series RX. Other than that it's an absolutely fabulous car. The only solution for me was to get shot and take a gamble that a new one would be better. It is much better but the problem is still there to a certain extent. During my first year of owning the 4RX I drove about 6 in total whilst they looked at mine. Only one of those 6 was as smooth as my old series 2RX but none was as bad as mine. I'm hoping Colin can work out how so much engine vibration is getting through into the cabin. Alan

This all sounds so similar to the problems I experienced with my first 4Rx. I remember getting a nail and taking the car to my "tyre man" He was intrigued by the car's menus as he sat in the driver's seat. I had forgotten to turn the engine to off and when the engine started itself he was appalled by the noise and the vibration and said this cannot be right. He also mentioned exhaust dampers but I didn't know what he was talking about. Lexus did eventually change the exhaust system but, although it improved things, it didn't solve the problem. The only solution came by saying bye bye. My new car is better but still has some of the annoying characteristics. Maybe it doesn't affect other drivers but I still think Lexus has a built in problem here and that a prestige brand should have spent more effort ensuring that the engine's vibrations are kept out of the cabin. I too will be seeing what else is available when the time comes. Alan

Hi Colin, I had a similar problem with a 17 plate Premier and posted here about vibration and judder. After 14 years of near serene driving in my series 2 (2005) RX300 this nearly drove me mad. Unlike you I failed to replicate it and Lexus said it wasn't there at all. I could feel the vibrations coming up through the driver's seat and so spent a huge amount of time underneath the car. The exhaust is suspended by 6 rubber hangers. 4 of them allow considerable movement back to front but the other 2 virtually prevent it and only offer a few millimetres of moment. I felt as though the engine vibration was coming into the cabin when the engine was pushing the exhaust silencer tight against the holders. I even bought "fire rope" and was going to remove the rubber mounts and use the rope ( with a metal wire for safety !) as a test. Rope never got used as I gave up and sold it. I drove about 6 RX450h's whilst mine was in dock and only 1 was as smooth as my '05. The others had a bit of what I was complaining about but mine was terrible. My new (69) one is not as smooth as I'd like but it is bearable. Otherwise the car is amazing. I also wondered if the car had faulty engine mounts but never found out. I was just surprised that a so called luxury brand could produce a product that was capable of vibrating the driver so much. I'd be interested if you ever find out what the cause is. Alan