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I think a very small subset of Lexus owners use or read this forum (and why should they - for most people it is a way of getting form A to B - they are not enthusiasts). I don't think it is reasonable to expect an owner of a pretty new vehicle to know that a security enhancement has been made to their vehicle if neither the dealer of manufacturer has alerted them to the fact.

Everything you didn't want to know about Bitumen. What is Bitumen: Key Properties and Applications - Structural Guide If you have only odd spots where it drips from joints you could if you don't mind the ladder slap some on with a brush and probably get a couple of years out of it at least. Alternatively me and Malc can come along for the cost of a pint and sort it. I'll hold the ladder while Malc nips up 'like a whippet up a stick' and hits it with the brush.😀

Thought I would gather together my owning experience in one place. GY08UWW Windsor Blue with cream interior and walnut. Bought just before Christmas 2023, as an actual present for me. 107,000 miles, last owner for 12 years who had it regularly serviced but neglected to get the book stamped. There is enough surviving paperwork to make me believe it was looked after. The owner ran a successful business, but he did use the car to commute to work down narrow Kent country roads. Him and his wife were in their mid 70's and there is the odd scuff as testament. Owner agreed to have a Lexus Canterbury service before I bought it for some peace of mind, and a near 12 month MOT. He still did not stamp the book! ( I have the paperwork) However, I decided slightly scuffed 2008 trumped a shiny on top 2003 model. Pics from Facebook advert. He wanted £10,000 which I thought was reasonable for a late model. Managed to whittle him down to £8750 knowing there was stuff to do to improve the car over time. No rush as those things are all cosmetic.

I had this problem. Turned out to be a failed bond on the rear screen. Ask a garage to spray soapy water all around the edges and then go around the inside with an air hose. Anywhere that bubbles up will be a gap in the seal/bond. A good windscreen fitter should be able to remove and refit the screen without it breaking, but there is a slim chance of it breaking if there is any weakness in the glass. If it does, you can’t claim on your windscreen policy, so would have to fork out for a new screen 😬. Alternatively, just leave a copy of Harry & Megan’s book on the parcel shelf and wait for someone to put a brick through the rear screen; then claim on your windscreen policy as vandalism would be insured 👍

I would say it’s quite likely to be honest on a 96 LS400, maybe not the pump itself but the reservoir O ring leaking. I’ve fitted a new steering pump on my 98 LS400 today, long story and I’ve done a post/topic about pump and rack leak but not updated it.

I didn’t keep the Lancia long, as the acceleration was so slow.sold it before it got rusty! The Lotus cars were great fun but known at that time as Loads Of Trouble Usually Serious. Both had to go back to Lotus to be fixed.

Hi Don’t think it will make much difference, a key is a key. If it works as intended then locksmith is okay.

Or we get Basil t’ Brush up there to zip along the gutters with a pot of bitumen Overhead amateur camera drone might help identify the exact issues you’re facing …… my son in law ( teccy geek ) a while back did this for me trying to identify where the heck I had a problem on my 400 y/o house roofs and ridges ….. never did find them …… rain has a habit of entering and travelling some distance before it penetrates that weak spot somewhere in the house 🥵 If it’s just rain drips and they aren’t penetrating the house then I’d be inclined to de-stress, relinquish the worry and have another cuppa 😇 Malc

A japanese mag famous for its accurate predictions/ leaks hinted that a small hot Lexus was on the horizon. I think also the fact the GR Yaris just had its midlife update, which now will include an auto option, for this to then be teased isn't just coincidence!

Without a doubt the SCMODS throttle controller !. So , you roll out of bed for a drive feeling calm using NORM mode. You hit the slip road to the motorway with the big silly Range Rover tailgating you. Mr Calm goes to sleep and Mr Fun comes out to play, hit 3.9 mode and watch him disappear ...poof and gone. Whats not to like about that ?

It does thos occasionally. I believe it is the backend that is unreliable and occasionally goes down. Toyota is not as good at software as it is at car making.

rayaans- Where did you learn of CanBus thefts and Lexus providing the plates ? Why would a normal owner of a Lexus be aware of a post manufacture fitting of a security measure, other than by a recall. Keyless thefts have been all over the media for years and manufacturers have changed key devices etc as did Lexus. It’s because Keyless became more secure the thieves found and exploited the CanBus vulnerability. Newspapers and other media explained how keyless theft works and how to overcome it. In all the articles I have read about Lexus having the 2nd highest theft rate, none of them mentioned CanBus attacks so normal owners assume it is Keyless. Other than on these type of forums / websites no media has broadcast or informed about CanBus thefts. Lexus aren’t going to, as that just attracts even more thefts. I think it is wrong to suggest that the owner is in any way responsible for a theft because they didn’t have a little known post manufacturing device fitted - that is a small step away from saying insurers shouldn’t pay out if an owner hasn’t taken every single measure to prevent a theft.

Sorry to hear the bad news and it's just awful. I think more needs to be done to stop theses criminals and also if they are breaking them up or sending abroad. Sadly more cars are electronic nowadays and perhaps the old crooklock of the 90s need to come back!

As a two Lexus owner and recent purchaser of a late gen 1 NX300h I’m kicking myself and reading with mounting horror that somehow I missed the RAV4, ES, RX, NX canbus theft fiasco despite doing what I thought was extensive research for a nearly new used vehicle from various premium brands and deciding on the NX based on reliability, comfort and the dealer after sales service. Outside of owners forums, the criminal fraternity and a few articles this issue seems have been kept a dirty secret by Lexus and to make matters worse the Lexus (as a brand) attitude seems to be a two fingered, not our problem, fob off to affected and potentially affected owners of vehicles subject to this theft method. A theft method made unjustifiably easy by poor design by the manufacturer and it appears they are making every attempt to deflect and avoid responsibility for. Sadly this appears to be the modus operandi for Lexus (the brand) when faced with inconvenient problems of their making that owners suffer for. Although class actions have been mooted it appears the most likely method owners of affected vehicles can gain satisfactory redress to safeguard their valuable possessions as far as possible and to a level expected of a brand whose vehicles start at £40,000 and go up significantly from there and where even used models are between £20,000 to £35,000 from authorised dealers is to kick up such a very public fuss that it has the potential to become Lexus’s Ratner’s prawn sandwich moment. Although not generally available from a casual internet search and often actively hidden by larger corporates and brands it is relatively easy to establish the full corporate structure, senior and board officers and obtain personal contact details for most large organisations that prefer to remain obscure. Lexus will be no different and it really is wasting time dealing with a ‘customer service’ mouthpiece. That is exactly what they want. Obfuscate, wear down, evade and hopefully the energy and anger will dissipate and the problem quietly go away without doing anything. Should my NX300h be stolen due to canbus theft I am an educated, assertive, persistent and vindictive retired man with plenty of time on my hands and I will make it my mission to make sure Lexus’s refusal to provide a remedial fix for a problem entirely of their own making and they are fully aware of will be their Ratner’s prawn sandwich moment. I will sell my Lexuses, never purchase another one as has been the attitude of some of the more aggrieved owners on this site already inconvenienced and out of pocket due to canbus theft and make sure this does not remain concealed from the general public who think Lexus is an aspirational and desirable brand to own with high customer satisfaction. There is no point keeping this issue under wraps. The criminal fraternity and organised crime gangs are already fully conversant with canbus theft so owners are not disseminating anything that would cause them further significant damage. I would be interested to communicate with other Lexus owners who are concerned about this canbus theft issue, who have been fobbed off so far by Lexus UK Customer Services with such nonsense as use a steering lock deterrent, owners who have suffered and are now ex Lexus owners and who intend never to purchase another Lexus again due to the experience and those who have communicated with Lexus executives or organisations such as Which, mass media generally or similar rather than waste time with Lexus UK Customer Services. As a cohort existing Lexus owners are generally more likely than the average brand customer to be educated, affluent, assertive, pro-active and have useful skills and contacts. If Lexus wants that sort of customer for its premium priced vehicles, but chooses to insult and ignore them when not convenient for the brand as far as I am concerned it should expect to die by or at least be seriously financially damaged by its own sword and arrogance.

Hi my 2012 RX450h tailgate will not open. Any ideas how to open it? The car starts and runs OK. I think I hear the lock kclicking - I checked the switch in the glovebox and it is in. The AUX battery went flat over Christmas when the car sat for 4 weeks or so. My wife does not like driving it and I was laid up after surgery. I have read a few posts but cannot find how to open the tailgate manually. I suspect the battery may be duff now. If I want to swap the bat I will have to get it open so there must be a way. I will charge the batter from under the bonnet - it seems that some people had success with this method. Any suggestions (to open the tailgate) will be much appreciated - I know flattening a lead acid battery is a bad idea. I am an electrical engineer!! I don't want to fetch a crow bar to the back door. Regards Bren I found how to open the backdoor on Youtube. A pain for a fat old boy like me!!

I did initially think it was the latch not closing but I think the cable had corroded inside the sleeve as it was stiff and not moving all the way back when the bonnet closed so it gave the appearance of the latch not closing properly, but in reality it was being held partially open by the cable not retracting fully.

Today I fitted the new steering pump I bought also new air control valve, hose and clips. No leaks for 5 weeks and approx 500 miles after the pump rebuild so thought I was ok……….then Thursday morning the steering pump made a bad noise. Left the car at home and drove the IS250 to work. Thursday evening checked the fluid and it was very low, refilled/topped up and noise gone but there was some steering fluid on the drive but not a lot. I checked the fluid level on Friday morning and all good so drove the car to work and planned to fit new pump on Saturday. This morning when I started the job there was a lot more steering fluid on the drive so it had got a lot worse and when the under tray was removed it wasn’t exactly clean. I did rebuild the pump as described in this post but after looking at it on the car it had sprung a leak on the flow control O ring. Also the air control valve itself was leaking, not where it fits to the pump. Pump body itself was not leaking though where it was leaking before. When rebuilding the pump I forgot to install the flow control valve and spring so had to remove the plug thing, fit the bits and refit, maybe the O ring was damaged doing this again or the pump had corrosion and didn’t seal correctly. I’ll have a look at the old pump tomorrow and ‘investigate’

From the Telegraph. Sorry, for the long post. It's not just us! "How Range Rovers became virtually uninsurable Thefts of the car have risen so much that affordable insurance is just not possible Andrew English 11 January 2024 • 10:39am Last November, Land Rover issued a press release about its latest investment in vehicle security, calling owners of post-2018 Land Rovers and Range Rovers to bring them in to have a free enhanced security package fitted. With sales affected and cars left virtually uninsurable, things have got so bad that the Solihull-based 4x4 maker is now even offering Range Rover customers insurance arranged through its own scheme. At about the same time, well let’s just call him Mr X, a London barrister, decided to throw in the towel trying to get insurance on a replacement for the V8 Range Rover he’d had stolen off the street outside his house. “No one seemed at all surprised when the original was stolen,” he says. “I told the police it was a V8 and they asked where I lived. When I said Westminster they weren’t surprised, they said it was probably in Nigeria by now. Neither was the insurance company which paid up the £70,000 value in six weeks without a question. “It was when I found another V8 to buy that I realised why. The insurance quote was £26,000... One of our clerks had a Range Rover Sport stolen. He lives in Essex and it was exactly the same story when he came to reinsure a replacement.” Mr X now drives a Range Rover hybrid. “It isn’t a Range Rover model I particularly like,” he says, “but the insurance is less than a third for that on a V8 and I refuse to have someone else determine what brand of car I drive. I have got a big yellow steering lock, which I hope might be a deterrent. “It’s just ridiculous,” he adds, “this is becoming an epidemic.” Further, he dismisses Land Rover’s update bulletins on security. “We get one a month inviting us to go to a dealer to have the software flashed, but they want you to take your car to the middle of nowhere to have it done, they take the entire day, there’s no courtesy car and you have to make your own way there and back; it’s an absolute pain.” Premium-theft epidemic It should be said that the issue of premium vehicle theft is far from confined to just Land Rover and Range Rover, with Lexus, Mercedes, BMW and Audi models also suffering. Insurer AXA UK says in the period between 2021 and 2023 it has seen Lexus thefts increase by 22 per cent with RX and NX models the most targeted. Land Rover thefts have increased by 80 per cent in the same period with Range Rovers making up 75 per cent of those thefts. The villains’ sights have shifted though, with Hyundai thefts up by 144 per cent and Kia thefts up 106 per cent in the last three months compared with the same period last year. “For newer makes and models, keyless car theft, or relay theft, is at an all-time high and unfortunately it shows no signs of slowing down,” says David Pearce, director of retail direct at AXA UK. “This is particularly apparent with the rise in thefts of models like Range Rover and Lexus in recent years. Technology adds a layer of complexity to claims with many cars now including technical parts which can be more challenging to obtain and replace, as well as more expensive.” In 2022 nearly 100,000 vehicles were stolen in the UK and it’s looking as though this year’s total will be higher. According to a FOI request on behalf of Fleet News magazine, London was the worst place in 2022, with 26,117 vehicles stolen at a rate of 291 per 100,000 people. Next was the West Midlands with 12,223 (417 per 100,000), then Greater Manchester with 7,453 (264 per 100,000). Next up was West Yorkshire with 4,621 thefts, Essex with 3,771 and South Yorkshire with 3,257. According to Octane Finance, after the Ford Fiesta, the next most stolen car was a Range Rover, followed by the Ford Focus, the VW Golf, and Land Rover Discovery. A clear problem Land Rover clearly has a problem, though one spokesperson said this was a case of supply and demand, just too many people want a Range Rover for the factory to supply so the criminal gangs move in to fill that gap. It’s a slightly odd way of looking at it, but Land Rover also claims theft rate of new Range Rovers and Range Rover Sport models is just 0.07 per cent (0.3 per cent for Defenders) and that its vehicles “consistently exceed standards set by Thatcham, the UK’s leading automotive risk intelligence company”. Yet stolen Range Rovers, Land Rovers and other premium SUV models are getting to be quite a talking point in the wealthy middle class, which is a key Land Rover target market. . “We’ve started to park our Range Rover round the back of the house,” said one Berkshire motor trader. “I don’t see the increased insurance premiums so much since our cars are insured on a group policy, but I’ve had clients who’ve given up with Range Rovers.” Indeed we spoke to one former Range Rover owner based in Essex, who was quoted an insurance premium of “well in excess of £30,000 a year”. Cat and mouse game Thatcham doesn’t come out of this too well, either, since it’s clear that its best efforts aren’t good enough. In a statement, the organisation points out the wide variety of causes of rising car crime, including organised criminal gangs, over-stretched police forces, the proliferation of premium cars, the internet and social media platforms which allow gangs to share vehicle vulnerabilities and digital devices which have been reverse engineered. It adds: “When first introduced in the early 1990s, the New Vehicle Security Assessment (NVSA) was highly effective in adding layers of mechanical security to foil opportunistic criminals and reduced theft figures dramatically, from a peak of over 620,000 thefts a year. “The standards set out by the NVSA are still the most exacting in the world. However, the process of identifying and closing down digital security vulnerabilities remains a game of cat and mouse.” Interesting, but this doesn’t do much for Mr X or any of the other premium SUV owners wondering if their prized cars will still be there when they open the front doors and face spiralling insurance premiums. “They’ve become uninsurable,” said one former policeman from one of the UK’s biggest car crime squads. “Land Rover spent over £10 million on updating its keyless unlocking systems a few years ago and for just about three months their vehicles were impregnable until the gangs worked out how to get past it all.” Jaguar Land Rover said that its deployment of Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) in 2018 means that vehicles equipped with this technology are not vulnerable to attack via the keyless system. The former police officer’s quote: “Land Rover spent over £10 million on updating its keyless unlocking systems a few years ago and for just about three months their vehicles were impregnable until the gangs worked out how to get past it all.”: As mentioned above there have been no thefts of our vehicles with UWB technology Now that “cat-and-mouse game” of police and thieves has started a new round with criminal gangs, many from Eastern Europe, stealing high-value cars, stripping them out in what the police call “slaughter houses”, putting the parts into containers and shipping them out. Those parts are often fitted to crashed and written off versions of the same models and sold as repaired in the UK, Africa and Europe. How they get away with it One of the most common methods is to exploit the vulnerabilities in the vehicles’ own locking and security systems. This takes the form of intercepting the communication between the key fob and the vehicle and spoofing the signal so the vehicle unlocks itself. There have been various generations of this sort of theft, from jamming the locking signal as the owner walks away leaving the vehicle unlocked and vulnerable, to using a big aerial hidden in the straps of a backpack to “wake up” the key and amplify its signal from your pocket or a sideboard in the house to the target vehicle, which then unlocks itself. Updates to this vulnerable technology have been introduced; building in a confirmation signal system from the vehicle to the key fob, and sophisticated calculations of the key-fob signal delay, but within weeks the thieves have engineered a sneaky work around. The equipment to do this is widely available on the internet, with adverts for key-fob duplicators which will work with or without the key being present and remote code grabbers. Lots of these firms operate out of China and there’s another, based in Lebanon, openly advertising radio remote code grabbers, with the caveat that they are intended “for legal use only”, even though it’s difficult to think of any legal use for such products. Another method is to gain access and reverse engineer a dealer’s emergency start key, which is designed to allow a bona fide dealer to help customers who have lost their key or locked it inside. Again, equipment is available on the internet to do this. Yet another is to cut open the coachwork (the plastic hatchback on a Range Rover) and gain access to the vehicle’s main can-bus internal communications wiring and wire in your own key-fob replicator sourced from, guess where. After gaining access, the villains climb in, start the engine and activate a briefcase-sized jammer which suppresses the signals from the vehicles own GPS and any third party anti-theft software and drive the car to a warehouse. Once there, the thieves activate an even bigger jamming device with about 30 aerials while they find and remove the SIM cards and GPS signal devices, which can be hidden all over the car, often in the roof or the floor. Victimless crime? “There had been an attitude in police forces that this is what insurance is for,” said our former police officer, “but that’s not true, car crime isn’t victimless, everyone else pays more in insurance premiums and these gangs are often into nasty other crimes as well.” So our insurance goes up, with Confused.com reporting a rise of 58 per cent in the last 12 months, with the average cost of comprehensive cover now £924 – an increase of £338 over last year. While the Association of British Insurers gives a by rote response to the issue saying: “The cost of the insurance for any vehicle will depend on the risk factors involved,” Thatcham highlights another issue which several others mentioned and which should strike terror into the hearts of Range Rover owners. “As they have done for the past 100 years or more, insurers typically base premiums on risk factors relating to the driver – from driving history to age and location. However, the balance of risk is beginning to shift from driver to vehicle, disrupting the existing insurance model.” Thatcham bases this on battery cars, which are often written off after quite minor shunts because of the potential risk of a short circuit, the tendency for modern cars to be connected to the internet poses new challenges in time and cost to repair. Shortages of spare parts with concomitant price rises and increases in the price of used vehicles also play their parts. “The only way to address these issues is through concerted cross industry action focused on building sustainability into vehicle design, while adopting a vigilant approach to unexpected emerging repair and security challenges presented by new vehicle technologies.” But for the moment, what can you do? “If they want it, whatever it is, they will take it. But if you make yours harder to steal, they might just move on to the next one,” says our ex-policeman. “I’d recommend a big yellow steering lock.” By coincidence, the winning steering wheel lock in Auto Express magazine’s comprehensive test, the Stoplock Pro Elite, is big and yellow and on sale for £47.99. If I owned a Range Rover, I’d take a serious look at one...

Purchased Gliptone colour coded touch up dye for dirty worn bits. Lexus paint touch up set for little scratches. Driving it in the dark last night I did note that the headlights are a bit on the weedy side. This was mentioned in the only advisory on the MOT. Simply a case of new bulbs? I understand that it is a bumper off job to replace them. I guess that is first option. Maybe ballast resistor? Car is off to https://ccautomotive.co.uk tomorrow for underside rust prevention work. Got my priorities right. Then it can have a good wash to assess whether it needs to pay a visit to the body shop for paint correction for the scruffy bits. Would be perfect time to replace bulbs if bumper has to come off any way for painting.

Hello Norman, I'm not sure if this helps you but I owned a MY20 UX without the ML and purchased a after market boot liner in advance of the MY20 delivery which I found fitted perfectly. When my car arrived the dealer threw in a Lexus one so the after market one has been sitting in my garage unused. I then traded in for a MY23 model last year again without ML and found the two liners I had from the old model didn't fit because of a new speaker casing on the left hand side introduced in the MY23. I trimmed the Lexus liner so it would fit. Would you interested in the uncut after market liner if you paid for its carriage? I could forward pictures if you like? Note I am on the south coast.

Spacesaver wheel bought for half the price of a Lexus sourced in date tube of gunk.

Hello again, no the garage I endorsed JPS auto services is the garage that saved me and who will without doubt keep the old car running long after I’ve gone. They are so proactive in all aspects , there only drawback is the waiting time as they are over whelmed with customers with very expensive performance and luxury cars. The owner actually rally’s and by chance uses the LS 400 engine as he says, they are unbreakable and we have tried in our rallying . I’ll try to put some photographs on here .

By the way the Drone idea from malc is good if you don't think you know the exact problem point(s). My neighbour bless him has a drone and has helped me out a couple of times with it. You can blow up the images and get right to source usually.

Not surprised the quotes vary wildly. Is that because they are offering radically different solutions? lead lining for example would be hugely expensive. Applying a coat of flexible solution perhaps bitumen based would be less so. Patch fixing where sections join even less so. Half of the problem these days is so few trades will work off ladders so you are into scaffolding which ever solution you take and basically that's a sizeable fixed cost to begin with. Given that is the case you clearly ae better served with a solution that has at least some degree of longevity. Hence, probably not a patch fix, but by the same token leadlining might just be too much of a cost hit. I paid nigh on £3k a good 15 years ago and that was just releading a bay so not even the whole gutter. Albeit, no problem since and indeed the first leading dated from 1874 so plenty of longevity. That's another factor, are you likely to be staying there awhile? Whatever the fix you are likely to want to match it to that situation. When you say 'drip' is that just at section joints, or more systemically?

2015 IS300h at 112k miles / 180k km Heating servo unit failed at around 90k, but then the failure disappeared. Would cost £1,000 to repair at mains dealer. It's covered under their warranty plan, but according to them I voided my claim on it as I didn't bring the car in soon enough. At the 100k service, report says AC leakage, cost would be around £900, at this point it's optional, the AC still performs. Nothing else. Original break pads, although I tend to minimize their use, try to take a lot energy out by a combination of regeneration and, at higher speeds, engine breaking.

Thanks Michael that’s cleared up the mystery 😀 but raises another question in another post, is the garage you recommended the one that let you down? Also could you post up some pictures, I for one would like to see your car?

Thanks guys, sounds like it's "normal behavior" then and I'll just wait and see.

It is the VIN.

@Cypry 1 I guess the 2010 rx is on 18’s or 19’s? Its the 20” ones that were not available. Well it looks like the cc2 are back in stock at ATS. So looks like me finding £900. Anybody wanna buy the dunlops with 7.5k miles on them - £200 for the 4, collected from S72?

Thanks for the suggestion! Never thought about it.

You are correct that I had a serious problem due to my garage of more than a decade let me down re changing a timing belt, which snapped. The garage told me the crank had snapped and the engine had no compression, all untrue. Simply down to unreliable maintenance where I was told belt didn’t require replacing.i was to trusting Fortunately I was recommended to an old school workshop who replaced all damaged parts from the timing belt letting go and found two areas of rust from rear wheel sills. All metal cut out and replaced with new. At all stages I was invited to review the cars remedial work and they also provided photos of all work undertaken. After this work , she started on the key first time and is running perfectly. I have no interest in selling her, I was curious , as to value , as I’ve been stopped twice in the street and asked if the car was for sale.

Yes, my last car was a 2007 460 SEL. I got it in 2008, intending to keep it for five years, but by 2012 Lexus had nerfed all of their 460s, and I didn't want a 600, so I just kept on with it till last summer (when it was about 16 years old), and did the swap then. I bought my first LS (LS400) in 1998, then had a couple of 430s, so I've only driven LSs for 25 years. Just for their reliability, comfort and safety there's nothing else I'd want to drive. I had seen your video. I suspect, though, that you and I have a different approach to the cleanliness of the outside of our cars. : o )

More like "the ES is not targeted", few incidences is too much acknowledgement.

Looks quite cool - the stance is on point Would be quite interested in one of these

So Ive hooked up the Noco Genius 2A (good discount from Halfords) and it took about 2 hours to fully charge. Currently on maintenance mode but doesnt appear like there's anything majorly wrong with the battery itself....... The battery is tiny though - 32ah standard 12v

There’s a little independent tyre place near me. Scruffy looking and old boys working there but they are great. Four tyres changed over to different wheels £10 each including balancing. Puncture repairs are £10. When I had my BMW with run flat tyres where the major tyre places refuse to repair them and say you need a new tyre they were happy to plug the tire.

Yes, these cars have this problem of water ingress. I have tried finding the leak but couldn't even after taking apart most of the interior - it must be behind the second layer of the car frame somewhere near back door. These are the specialists to go to if you're not too far from them: https://cars.newagain.co.uk/car-water-leak.asp. First watch the video on their website giving some ideas what to check first - you may not need to visit them after all. Otherwise I have left some microfibre towels on the bottom of the trunk below plastic trim (had to unscrew a few bits): they absorb and keep the water from flowing further to the rear passenger footwells etc, I occasionally squeeze them out... One day I'll get that snake camera and will figure out the exact spots where water is coming through.

Yes, there appears to be a bit of confusion here. The engine in a LS500h is started using the traction battery. The car has two motor/generators. The front motor/generator is used to start the engine when required. (It also does some regeneration when slowing down or hill-descending). All the energy for this comes from the HV traction battery. The 12V battery is never required to produce the 100s of amperes that other cars, including most hybrids, require for starting. It powers all the usual low voltage requirements in the car, and is constantly recharged from the traction battery when the hybrid system is running. If the 12V battery discharges then the electronics in the car can't do anything, including operating the front motor/generator. However, it doesn't need the very high current boost that those little jump start devices provide - and I'd be scared to use one in case the high voltage they could produce would damage electronics in the car. However, if the traction battery discharges, you're stuffed! Here's what the user manual has to say: Charging the hybrid battery (traction battery) As the gasoline engine charges the hybrid battery (traction battery), the battery does not need to be charged from an outside source. However, if the vehicle is left parked for a long time the hybrid battery (traction battery) will slowly discharge. For this reason, be sure to drive the vehicle at least once every few months for at least 30 minutes or 16 km (10 miles). If the hybrid battery (traction battery) becomes fully discharged and you are unable to start the hybrid system, contact any authorized Lexus retailer or Lexus authorized repairer, or any reliable repairer. Back to me ... For me, I'd rather accept that a six year battery needed replacing, rather than hardwiring in a charger (which might be a problem anyway - the user manual says to disconnect the ground connection before attempting to recharge it). The price that Hull has suggested would be about right for a top quality start/stop battery - the sort that most toyota/lexus hybrids would require, because that battery would be constantly starting the engine. However, it's not a necessary or appropriate choice in this case. (A Yuasa battery for about £100 or so is available, and Halfords would fit one for £20.) They probably haven't seen enough 500hs to have realised! (That's me being kind about a Lexus dealer) : o )

@Rob RCF Lotus were going to use the ISF spec 2UR-GSE in the proposed Esprit, maybe with a supercharger on top too. Unfortunately it got canned. There's currently one of the 2UR engines Lotus ordered for sale on eBay

Open door and lay on your back and look under the door, you should see the holes quite easily and poke some wire up them to clean out or run your fingers under it the door edge.

This is the thread I was referring to. Any luck yet?

I clean them with neat windscreen washer fluid when they start streaking - usually lifts a lot of dirt off and they are fine again for a few months. I find the wiper blades (Lexus/Toyota ones on my Lexus and Toyota cars) usually last over 3 years and I tend to change then even though they are probably still working reasonably well still.

I have a Noco Boost GB40. It fits in the glovebox. I can confirm it jumps a totally dead 300e. You just connect it to the positive and negative terminals on the 12v battery. Turn it on. Press the boost button if the 12v is too dead for the Noco to detect (I had to do that). Start the car. Then with the car still on, turn off the Noco, then disconnect. NB positive first, then negative when connecting. Negative first, then positive when disconnecting.

If it completed all of these features reliably it would be fine but the fact is it doesn't!

I don't know is the answer but if Lexus hasn't taken note of the abysmal security issues the ES has suffered from for example and failed to secure the LBX with an encrypted CANBUS platform then they do not deserve to sell a single one.

I mostly agree with paying more for lower mileage but I completely disagree with buying from dealerships unless buying a new car. They are so inflexible with the price, when I was buying mine a few years ago I had my eyes on a Premier from a Lexus dealership. I asked for a 2% discount and he turned me down without a blink trying to sell me more insurance crap and service plans. Two weeks later the car was still for sale but with almost 4% lower price, so HOW frustrating is that?! Also I have seen 2-3 years old cars HPI clear sold by Lexus that clearly had some of the panels (poorly) repainted so regardless of where you buy you need to know a bit what you’re buying. Now buying privately is another story, first you get to meet the person who drove it and usually you can tell a lot by that. Secondly if the car was maintained by main dealership on schedule and has active warranty I don’t really see the problem. The best part is that you can negotiate and get to the point that makes you happy when you’re buying. Also there is a 2021 Takumi on autotrader with 24k miles, sold privately for 33k probably negotiable. It’s red so not my cup of tea but come on, what you’re getting for your money is a LOT. That would’ve been close to 70k when new just two years ago. So I m sure you see my point. Getting into a dealership, having a coffe and being treated nice by the man in the suit, sure is very nice but then I remember that I m paying for all of that so I don’t like it anymore. In 2020 my mate bought a 2017 RX for 35k from Lexus. Two years later and 13k miles more he returned it at the same dealer for 24k. I saw the car coming back on the market for guess how much?! Exactly 35k. I thought it will be there forever but a few weeks later it disappeared. This is the price paid for nothing else BUT convenience. Apart from regular service my friend put 4 new tyres and new brakes a year after buying it. The classic rear squeak from suspension wasn’t fixed on warranty they just lubed it. He also paid for extra warranty about £800/ year after the first year if I remember well. At that point Lexus didn’t have the 10 years/100k miles warranty. So for him was a very frustrating experience and he started to hate Lexus for that, which is not fair as they are excellent cars.

But no, that's not necessarily the case. SORN only came into being in Jan '98 so any vehicle registered before then and removed from the road could easily be hiding under modern day radar somewhere and under no obligation to be certificated. Classic examples of this are yer actual barn-finds. 😉

Unbrag. Reliant Robin. Morris Marina. Renault 5. Nissan Micra. Volvo 345.

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You can open/close the car using the button on the tailgate. Close to the opening button for the tailgate there is another one which is closing and opening the doors!