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Oh..that would be a bumbar problem then.

Definitely a more usable space in the 450h compared with my previous 300h. That said I much preferred the parcel shelf in the old car rather than the flimsy folding frame you get now!

Was it your wallet in your back pocket Taffie 😉

I see Lexus provided you with a handy little jack for rotating the tyres! I, myself, am still waiting for Lexus to fill the hole with a jack and wheel brace 😉

Feedback post summer holidays. Over 2500 km done (and one speeding ticket 😇 a few miles from home). Here are a few trivia facts : - Car handled great on twisty and steep road of the Vosges mountain (Mode S was especially handy on the downhill parts) - Mpg was very low in HEV mode on these B roads especially in the Rhine valley (5.0L / 100 km with 4 to 5 people on board) - Managed to keep the MPG below 6l/100 km on the return trip avoiding highways (Toll that I did not pay will finance the fine 😉 ) - Tire swap done at 6 000 km (I managed to remember where the antitheft bolt adapter was stashed) - Trunk space is good enough to carry a small lawmower without lowering the rear bench and definitely big enough for 4 to 5 adults (managing you do not travel with your groceries)

I've always had found, hangover driven memories of watching Kevin McCloud quiz home owners why they have 'risked it all' in the name of design back in the 2000s, its the one ture 'bucket list' item I always thought I would never be able to do, build and live in something truly unquie. But life is a funny thing, after decades of saving, COVID made a impact on how I viewed things. Life is short, really short, so why waste it dreaming? So in 2019 we 'engaged' an architect who came up with a vision of changing our house we had only bought a few years earlier in a way we just couldn't say no to.... Fast foward many unforseen issues, planning visits, life etc etc we are now 6 months into the build and hopefully with the scariest bit (post demolition phase) done. The rebuild is now properly underway and some of the interior space is now taking shape as the steels (35tons worth) as getting installed. Plenty more work to be done, but the dream is starting to appear. Who would have thought hangover recovery TV back in the 2000s would end up have such a profound impact of on me, thanks Kevin and Channel 4 (I think) :).

And it just keeps getting better......, Tonight's charge showing a predicted 56/54.3. Mileage now at 14400 after 17 months of ownership. Only been to a petrol station 16 times!

I did. It’s marginally bigger in the 450 in my experience but specs will show exactly. That’s got to be good. And I like the compartments under the floor too.

NX450+ boot is 521 litres and the NX300h boot is 475 litres. Hope that helps.

Because I have a back injury (severe enough to get me medically retired from my job) I purposely stayed away from F-Sport models because of the sportier seats. I'm on my 3rd RX now and never felt anything like that and I'm about 18 stone.

MOT comes up next month for my year 2000 LS400. one of the advisories was for surface rust around rear chassis mountings. The tester recommended an application of something like Kurust and that would suffice. A rear chassis bar crosses just behind the diff so that’s where I placed the jack and a 2ton axle stand. I’ve managed to mislay my wire brush drill attachments so hand held wire brush in hand… I have to report that the underside is very clean with surface rust in places and more on the rear suspension components than anywhere. So I feel the advisory was over reported and did not warrant it. The Mounting bolts and area were in fine condition…not worthy of a wire brush. Anyway, I applied the Kurust to the subframe and various joins and hangers that I could reach. Also did the same to the rear springs that had a few blemish areas. That is more than required and will do the job. However, I’ve some hammerite type paint spray I’ll apply next session.

The Texaco product is nothing to do with Redex, of course, which is now owned by Holts. The original ‘one-shot’ forecourt product from the brand launched in 1922 was an Upper Cylinder Lubricant useful when oil technology was nothing like as advanced as it is today. The problem was that the oil film deposited on the cylinder walls would break down and drain off, reducing the degree of protection available on start up. So the most significant period of engine wear was the metal-to-metal contact during cold starts. The aim of the Redex shot was to reduce the rate at which this oil film exposed the metal. In fact, even more effective is NOT to do what many drivers do - namely, give the throttle a last parting blip as they switch off! This merely injects neat fuel into the cylinders which washes the oil film off the cylinder walls! The correct procedure when switching off is to allow the engine to tick over for a few seconds first, thus allowing a protective film of oil to form. Fot the curious, this is the current Redex range… https://www.holtsauto.com/redex/

What an infuriating and unnecessary incident! After the relief that you appear to have escaped unscathed, like Andrew my next thought was that it could have ended very badly for the pedestrian. If the other driver was guilty of distraction by phone, that’s unforgivable! The Police can check the other driver’s phone log and prosecute if it was brought to their attention. Better still, a good rear view dashcam would provide irrefutable evidence. I hope any necessary repairs are carried out without further drama.

Thanks Bob - it was hard work. I finished with 2 coats of semi-matt colourlock sealer. it is supposed to protect the colour and make the leather easier to clean? Then reapply every 6/12 months. Some say that the leather conditioner can not actually be absorbed into the plastic water based leather dye/paint and you end up with a glossy finish which attracts dirt and grime,. I know that's a classic used leather look but I think new car leather seats look more matt than glossy? However the sealant does come in "gloss" (slippy) as well as semi-matt and matt. I used semi-matt.

Golf looks like a write off! Some justice in the world!

HI all, I think it would be good to have a thread like that but time will tell. You can put in here anything that you have done to your Lexus, a repair, maintenance, washed or polished it or a modification. This thread for all Lexus, not just for specific model, it is not so many of us to have one for GS or IS etc. So why not start one here? It'll be interesting to see what you guys get up to with your cars! Might give me some ideas on what to do too as mine is still completely stock. Let's go!

Thanks Kevin. I find the boot capacity in litres, not particularly helpful. I compared the boot liner of an RX400h with an NX 300h. The NX was slightly smaller but in reality it is not as practical for certain items I carry. The seats have to be upright to allow enough space. I was quite surprised that it made so much difference. Doing the comparison with the load liners does not give the full picture. I can live with it but it is just an observation. We all have to compromise on something with the cars we choose.

Do they still act as normal reflectors too?

Finally got round to doing this...but forgot to take any pics of the process. Firstly, I got some LED reflectors that have reverse lights too as I have to back up on an unlit street every day and the reversing lights on the Vlands didn't do much. Since the reflecors have the reverse lights into them, they came as clear rather than red, but applied some red tint/film from ebay. Also applied some silicone on the edges of the reflectors as not sure how water tight they are... These are the reflectors This is the red film (yes, this makes the reverse light pinkish, but better than nothing) I followed instructions to take the bumper off & wire up the lights from this video Fed the wires though a grommet - just removed it, fed the wires through & placed back the grommet. Attached a pic of the specific grommet. Then for the reverse light I took a feed from the left light cluster on the boot lid, and fed it through the boot arm near the wiring loom that's already there, & daisy chained it to the other side too (FYI used a few extra feet of cable for this). So basically wired from left boot light to left reflector & then to right reflector. If you have Vlands, the reverse light wire colour is white & looks like in the car's wiring loom it's orange. I used T-tap connectors like these but shaved a bit of the cable to expose the wire & make sure it will make a connection. Here's a video of the reflectors in action. Will take another video in the dark too. (Excuse the dirty car) compose_video_1693245663544.mp4

Hi the back ones where fine, and I was told like I said that I had zero chance of getting anything, so I had to buy tyres and send off the old ones.

Just noticed my use of "break" instead of "brake" 🫣 It was defo these that were rotted, come in at just under £2.50 each. Apologies should have drawn a smaller circle, can see now I caught the slider pin in the circle also. In my haste to grab a snip from the commentary video Lexus provided.

Did you own a NX300h? How does the boot space compare?

Sorry to hear you have had this AGAIN!

It's a much more simple,cost effective and profitable way to end up with a quality property.You don't have to work around outdated and in some cases substandard structures.Just flatten the existing and start afresh with no compromises.Just make sure the location will "carry" the projected end value. Oh and I wouldn't rely much on Mr Mcloud's advice.I seem to remember he came somewhat unstuck..

Photo of alarm security sensor (with part number showing) located directly under the heated seats switch. You might have to put the gear shifter in Neutral and remove the wood trim to unplug the cable:-

Thanks very much Tim. I found the DIY method results looked very good. If you are able to remove the front seats and spray the coats on then I'm sure you can achieve even better results. You can even get mini spray guns that work off aerosol can propellent that would do the job from Amazon. Only down side is that I'm suffering with tennis elbow and a sore wrist from all that "sponge dabbing". 😬

Me too - and I am not at all hopeful

That's tough pooh Rayaans what happened to you. I'm gobsmacked at how little damage your RX suffered. Let's hope the boot floor hasn't warped in any way. It's the floor in my now defunct is250 that got damaged and deemed the car a write off after hitting backwards the Z posts on the motorway at about 40 mph.

Welcome Stephanie, According to the repair manual, the parts for the immobilizer are located here: I believe what you are looking for is the Certification ECU. Hope this helps.

@rayaans Keep us posted how you get on Sorry for this 😞

The post facelift with the 6 speed does display the selected gear on the dash when in sequential mode, no paddle shift however just push and pull the selector lever for up/down shifts. The pre facelift models used the 5 speed from the previous LS400 model I believe.

Yes, that was an interesting thread, Phil. Referring back to it, I see that I suggested that the Lexus product supplied by Texaco was probably a repackaged version of their Techron detergent cleaner. If Max is already using a Premium fuel (eg BP Ultimate etc) then he is already benefiting from an effective additive package. Adding one bottle of Lexus branded stuff to a full tank, say, is unlikely to produce any significant detergent improvements. Equally, unlikely to do any harm.

2000 is200se 2003 is200se with tte Compressor kit 2004 is200se 2011 is250 fsport 2016 is200t 2019 nx300h 2017 is200t 2021 ux250h fsport 2023 ux250h fsport premium (due next week)

Thanks Ronnie yeah I've thought of this in fact i was only looking at some today i have in the garage and i have WD40 and some silicone spray. Waiting now to see what the dealer says when in for service.

Ok, so what's the best way to complain to Lexus (Toyota) about the lost history and the decision to provide just a one month rolling view of data in the Hybrid Coaching section of the updated app? Have they really chosen to delete all the data (which is clearly very useful to them), or have they decided we only need a limited view of the data? Storage is cheap, and I'd personally like to be able to see all the vehicle history back to day one.

Hope other driver booked for careless driving at least. I can empathise with you having been rear ended and then T boned within 2 years! Let's hope a good job is done on your car.

Car is drive-able so I'm just driving it until it goes for repair. It normally takes a week for repair so I might take advantage of it during that time

Maybe if you had not been there in your Lexus the Golf would not have stopped for the pedestrian either. But bad luck and hope you get it all sorted ok.

All very annoying ☹️ Golf driver was probably on their phone. Not that it helps, but lots of damage to Golf and minimal obvious damage to the RX.

Update about me having a ghost fitted. I booked the guy who was honest about fitting it and he came and put the ghost in, and after three hours it was done. The problem was only one button would work to put a code in. A few days later he came back with someone from Autowatch and they spent hours working on the button issue they resolved it and had multiple buttons for the code. But had a problem with the LTE which would not turn off, they told me that the ghost was not on that part of the Lexus system but they were looking for buttons. The person from Autowatch came back to try to fix the problem and after hours of work could not fix’s it and took the ghost out. The problem seemed to fix itself just by driving the car and took the car to Lexus and they checked the whole system and found nothing. I will park it at work when I go on holiday and will have the Ghost fitted when I return. The service from both the Ghost people was excellent.

UPDATE : Tyres MICHELLIN ATS sent my tyres back to MICHELLIN Customer Care for inspection. Guy at ATS said I was wasting my time, I also bought 2 New front tyres from ATS Budget ones might I ad, £72 each. Michellin Customer Services rang me and they where very professional and efficient. OUTCOME : 2 Brand New MICHELLIN tyres FREE !

There must have been another one there, as mine is gold (Chardonnay) and as far as I remember the roof was up that weekend. But we were two up, plus dog on the back seat😊

Thanks for posting this detailed process and materials required to restore the seat leather. I am sure this will be very helpful for those wanting to do the same.

Improvements with both paint layers and filling. Much better than it was.

(A) So, to begin with I watched numerous YouTube videos on how to recolour leather car seats to give me confidence in doing the job myself. There are are lots to view for both professional and DIY recolouring and repair. The “Colourlock” ones seemed to be the best? I used the DIY method of using a small sponge to “sponge & dab” the dye/paint onto the seats. (Also I used this method as I don’t have a garage as most professionals remove the seats then spray them). I achieved good results but you could do even better if you are able to remove the seats and spray on the dye. I also had a small hole in the drivers seat that I needed to repair. I sent the broken drivers side seatbelt strap to the dye/paint suppliers leathercare.com for a paint match – you could send your headrest or a small piece of leather from under the front/back seats to match. You will need to order 2 x 200ml bottles to do the entire car. It appears to me that it virtually impossible to get a perfect colour match to a 17 year old interior. Once applied the matched paint will end up being at least one shade brighter, newer than the old leather colour so you will have to do ALL the leather in the car. Leathercare.com labelled the bottle “Lexus Ecru”. If you look at the following photo you can see various stages of coats and shades. The armrest is not cleaned and appears glossy with years of dirt, grease and grime with a greyish tint. The headrest has just 2 coats of paint and the finished seat has 4/5 coats of dye/paint.

I do love a 5 spoke 👍

Hi Anthony, I kept the manky ones that came off. I will take some pics and post them over the next few days. It's such a blindingly obvious thing to do (post event obvs🙂) considering the amount of work they have to do and the twisting effect constantly on them. My car has just passed 76k and they look like the originals. I cannot emphasise enough the magic it has worked on the driving experience. Best regards. Nick

I've looked back over my records and it's actually four and half years but only 24k miles, so still premature, however, I'll try to keep this as short as I can but I need to add some context so apologies and here goes... When I bought this car in 2017, it wasn't as smooth as I was expecting but it had a very good MOT & service history. It didn't feel smooth at any speed and less so at higher speeds. I took the car to my usual mechanic and asked him to check the wheel bearings & he found nothing wrong. Over a 2 year period (along with MOTs and servicing) I had the following done, only one thing was done without sufficient reason:- Wheel Alignment - Was pulling to left before & after the alignment and they couldn't/didn't align the rear but no smoother. (Didn't go there again.) New Tyres - Worn tyres but no change to the ride. Alloys Refurbished - Tyre fitters mentioned rims were a bit grubby and I may get air leaks but they held their pressure very well. New Lower Control Arm Bushes - Progress. Did this after reading this site. This removed a vibration at motorway speeds but all speeds were still not smooth. Engine & Transmission Mounts - I admit this was the only thing I did for which I convinced myself out of desperation. No change. Rear Discs - Wear and tear. After two years, my not very smooth ride was now starting to get worse & noisier. I took the car to Lexus who diagnosed a worn NSF wheel bearing. I was gobsmacked when I picked up the car because I now had the smooth ride I was expecting. Soon after, I also had the OSF wheel bearing changed. About a month after having the OSF wheel bearing changed, I hit a massive pot-hole on the off side. One tyre was damaged but I thought all was OK. However, very soon I felt the smooth ride had deteriorated. (Paranoia?) The necessary new tyres following the pot-hole damage (and they were close to worn), and a few months later, having the wheels road force balanced, didn't change things. I felt like I was back to square one. The following was done with no change to the ride:- New NSF Track Rod End - MOT failure Wheel Alignment - Front & back now fully aligned including the ride height. That's an equally long story and a relatively cheap fix (but not if Lexus had had their way), if anybody is interested. New Tyres (2 years later) - Wear & tear. Over the last year or so, I was now getting a speed related whining sound from the NSR corner. It didn't get picked up in two MOTs or servicing. I kept meaning to take it in but I wasn't travelling as much & I kept putting it off. Anyway, I eventually took it to my usual mechanic and said I think I had two problems; a not very smooth ride at the front and a whining sound from the back. He diagnosed a clearly worn NSR wheel bearing and said the OSR was just starting to go. He suggested we change these first and see where we stand with the ride. Noise has gone but I'm still left with the not so smooth ride. So I've been back to my mechanic and he's compared wheel bearing noise with a stethoscope and says the OSF is noisier than the NSF so hence the reason the change this wheel bearing.

Hi all, Full PPf now applied. Ceramic coating is next job...

@NiCoRe Just orderred one and have not even received my car yet 🤪 This is an upgrade I know will make a difference. Just not sure about the valve caps yet, but please keep the 'Useless therefore Essential' upgrade ideas coming. thanks.