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Attacked this issue today, it was really bugging me! Ripped the engine and box back out, suprisingly very very easy with the box attached, the weight of the box put the engine at a good angle to lift out. then attacked the turret with the grinder aswell as the side of the manifold. The weld on the manifold was pretty thick so i just flattened this off. I did have pics of the turret half way through the process but they was blurry, wished i had checked them before carrying on! 1 of the manifold weld. Then gave it a rub down, bit of primer and quick spray with some gloss black and threw the engine back in. Again these pics was blurred! So moment of truth, all bolted up and in position there is clearance of around 4mm, im happy to let this go and see how i get on. The mounts are solid and even shaking it side to side using a bar there is no movement at all just the whole car shook 😂 Very hard to see the clearance on the pic but im happy with the out come. Just for the fun of it i decided to quickly hang the rear section of the exhaust up.... its so so big compared to the original exhaust, i bet my neighbours saw this and thought oh god there goes the neighbourhood 😂 so now im back on track next up is the valve clearances, need to order me an adjustable exhaust gear and cambelt. Also looking to sort the additional loom for the AEM v2, this needs routing inside the cabin and behind the glove box. I have already previously cut the hole for this on the inner wing and i have now got a door loom grommet to use.

Sure does...

Over the 13 years I have owned my LS400 import one by one the pad wear sensors have broken resulting in the warning light flagging up after a pad change. Not wishing to fork out the £50.00 odd that Lexus want to charge me I have simply shorted out the wires and tucked them away and carried out routine visual checks on the pads. I came across these replacements from China ( I know they may be complete rubbish but at the price worth a try) They are marked as 95 on rears but look very similar to the earlier model so I am going to see if they will fit mine both front and rears (mine has one on each set of pads not just an axle). Now got to search the bits pot to see if I still have the sensor retaining clips as these are £7.00 each from Lexus ( twice the cost of the sensors!). They may take some time to arrive but no rush as they haven’t worked for years but from the pictures it looks promising. Once I get them I will update the thread as to how they are. If anyone else fancies a try the link is below. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Rear-Axle-Brake-Pad-Wear-Indicator-Sensor-for-Lexus-LS400-95-00-47771-50060/273037988424?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Ddbf6d79da6f142b7b2ac2f83c0427702%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D273037988424%26itm%3D273037988424&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A35ed8406-6264-11e8-8fe9-74dbd1802a25|parentrq%3Aa65a2c711630a9e47133d8e5fffc0c5d|iid%3A1 Wow big link!

Very interesting to read the discussions about "Sold as Seen". To be honest, I did think it was illegal and certainly will not be signing anything I'm not sure of in relation to the Lexus. My final roll of the dice was to go back to the dealer and offer £7600 if they would also do the water pump and service the Hybrid system and they have agreed, so I am getting the timing belt, and water pump replaced and getting the Hybrid system serviced for £350, which I believe is a great deal as my own mechanic reckoned £400-£500 to just do the timing belt. Wish me luck with my new car......

That's terrible! Then again, when I thought that the Hill Start Assist wasn't working on mine I called in to Lexus Carlisle and the guy I spoke to didn't know how to operate it to check it, which is equally abysmal from sales staff. They should know all about every bit of equipment on every Lexus car they sell if they are Lexus main dealers.

Your query requesting hard data for MPG relating to wheels and tyres made me smile. Its just the same sort of question I had asked prior to owning a hybrid. By far and away the biggest influence on fuel consumption is the nut behind the wheel! Drive it like its stolen and it really doesnt matter what wheels and tyres you opt for or what the weather might be doing or whether you are on motorway or jammed up urban 20mph roads. Drive it at speeds and in conditions which suit its design for maximum efficiency and you will most likely be subject to a bit of road rage from other road users including pedestrians and cyclists and possibly might attract the attention of the forces of law and order too. ( using brakes in any way other than lightly has the potential to waste fuel---using them lightly puts power back into the battery). Manufacturers figures are in fact achievable. The conditions to achieve manufacturers figures very rarely occur on the roads but its something along the lines of travelling at between 30 and 40 miles an hour on roads which you know and can predict where to accelerate and brake whilst slip streaming a heavy lorry (which is restricted to a 40mph speed limit on single carriageway A roads) in warm weather with a light tailwind. I would recommend the 16" versions because thats what my CT had. I do suspect that the 15" version is better ride quality, narrower profile and therefore smaller footprint/ more economical.

I thank my learned friend for that more concise explanation.

What will happen Alan is that prices MAY rise or prices May fall. Is demand elastic or inelastic ? In the words of the Economist (JMK)...."in the long run, we are all dead"

Welcome to the LOC. Have fun.

Hello, welcome to the LOC and enjoy your RX400h 🙂

Im fully aware of the law on this front. A dealer cannot say "sold as seen" as consumer rights apply no matter what when selling to the public. Private car sales are a different matter and they don't have to be fit for purpose or decent quality. They still have to list any faults and have an accurate description of the vehicle and they only have to give the correct information if asked i.e. they don't have to disclose accident information unless directly asked. If a car is being sold by a dealer, the key aspects of consumer rights apply. The vehicle has to be of satisfactory quality, meet the description that was given and be fit for purpose. Writing spares of repair on a contract is shoddy business and a way of trying to get out of your obligations as a dealer. A dealer can not deny a member of the public of their rights no matter what they try to do. In essence, you're not trading legally and its lucky that there have been no issues. Most of the public are decent people and won't try to be difficult. Watch a car go pop or something go wrong with it and they'll be on your tail quite quickly. Whether its £100 or £10k, if you're a dealer and selling to the public, you simply cannot be writing "Sold as Seen" or "Spares or repair" (unless its not roadworthy). If you want to sell "Sold as seen", you need to sell the vehicles privately or at an auction.

It does sound like your transmission oil has boiled and looked for a high pressure escape route to the outside world. It doesn't necessarily mean that your auto box is fried, but it will certainly need to be checked by a transmission specialist and may need new filters/seals/cooling connections. I've heard of some adding an independent cooler for their transmission as this problem has been reported before on the forum - check the rcent thread from 'Haylands' Best of luck and I hope it doesn't require a replacement.

A few random images from Glencoe over the last couple of weeks. Amazing weather at the moment. Kind of makes me wish I had a drop top or at least a sunroof. _DSC2456 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr _DSC3322 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr _DSC3176 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr _DSC3300 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr

Are you sure? Mine definitely doesn't! As per Colin's post above, I thought the system was just fan-based. I drove a Cadillac on holiday that had proper AC ventilated seats, and that nearly froze my buttocks solid. My GS has nothing like that kind of effect, which is no bad thing in my view. Having chilled air blown straight up your nether regions isn't my idea of comfort.

That's not true. You can't sell a car as "trade sale" when the public are involved. No such thing as a trade sale when selling to a private individual and those who try that on are crooks. Consumer rights would still apply. Spares or repairs in legal terms means that the car is unroadworthy. I certainly would not be signing any document with that written on it as it effectively means you can't drive the car away without having the insurance voided if something happens.

Thanks Andrew. I've tried the "disconnecting the vehicle battery for a time" and I get 2.57 Volts at the ABS connector, so I think the circuit to the ABS ECU is OK. Reluctor ring secure, but Neil's link may be the answer. And thanks Neil, I did indeed have many iron filings on the sensor when I removed it, and the sensor did seem quite a distance from the reluctor ring, tho' it's castellations still looked quite prominent. It looks a massive job to replace the reluctor ring, so before I resort to that, and as I seem to have two good sensors, I thought I'd try filing down the shoulder of one ABS sensor so it gets closer to the reluctor ring! What do you think? I'll also check for rust & release the hub collar if it's grinding the reluctor ring. I'm away on hols, but will let you know how it goes mid June. Thanks again guys.

It is really simple to fit, I'd happily do it for you if your local, use this guide by Peter P18 Link and you won't have any problems. To summarize: Pop off the side panel on the dash (I used a blunt kitchen knife) Pop out the switch blank, there's a little clip on the top and it just pops straight out. Get in the foot well and undo 2 or 3 screws holding the panel with the odb port on it, and carefully move it to the side (I didn't disconnect any cables) At the top of the throttle peddle the is a connector, un-clip it, the clip faces towards the door. Fit the Apexi switch, drop the switch wire down through the hole into the footwell, connect the ISF specific harness to the throttle pedal connector and the switch into the Apexi box. Now you will notice a red dot on one side of the Apexi harness connector which needs to connect to the connector which was on the throttle, connect it with the red dot on the same side as the clip. Fit the Apexi switch into the blank hole, use a bit of double sided tape to hold the switch in place. Now press the start button twice (no foot on pedal). Car won't start put dash will power up. Now do the setup process as guide says above. Now put everything back together and use a couple of the supplied cable ties to secure the Apexi cables and box out of the way.

Welcome Jes

Hello and welcome to the club Any questions you have will probably be best answered in the dedicated RX forum rather than this one. You'll find lots of helpful and friendly folks in there and, of course, we all like to see photos of our cars so please post a few of your new beast when you can. Cheers, John

Not having followed this thread for some days I was surprised by the peevish tone of some of the later posts, which is a pity since it was interesting to hear from others who, like me, went from the IS250 to an IS300h. My own decision to buy a 300h (MY2013) after two successive 250s (MYs 2011 and 2008) required little or no analysis when, after setting aside my natural enthusiasm at the prospect of getting a new car, I became objectively convinced in the course of a day-long test-drive that a hybrid - which represented a form of technology then completely unfamiliar to me - was able to perform the duties I normally asked of my 250 just as well or perhaps even better, and certainly more economically in terms of fuel consumption. With direct comparison very much in mind, I focused on roads and situations that called for uninterrupted firm accelerations exemplified, for the most part, by approaches and entries to motorways, fast exits from slow curves etc., many of which were so familiar to me that I could concentrate pretty much undistractedly on how the car was handling and behaving. And, as I was later to confirm with ownership, it quickly became clear that the 300h reached and easily exceeded legal speeds of 110-130kmh from, say, 60-70kmh in an appreciably more linear, seamless and quiet - and therefore, to me, more satisfactory and pleasurable - fashion than the 250. In fact, while waiting for delivery of my 300h over the next few weeks, I found myself falling out of love with the 250, judging the ride to be choppier and too noisy by comparison. And although the shifts were no more perceptible or any less predictable than those of any other good automatic box I had ever experienced, the test-drive of the 300h had obviously given me a taste - which I have never lost - for the e-CVT. Any comparison of how the 250 and 300h perform at speeds higher than, say, 170-180kmh have in recent years been of little more than academic value even in Germany, where increasingly heavy traffic and speed limits on longer and longer stretches of the autobahn network have made them difficult to keep up for any length of time. However, on a few occasions when the opportunity presented itself, I found the 300h easily reached its declared top speed of 210kmh (225kmh shown) in its customary smooth and linear way, and with a well-modulated graduality of response to pedal pressure that was both pleasing and reassuring. It would hold this speed quite steadily and comfortably if required, though I generally (and wisely) preferred to return to a cruising speed of 160kmh or so, which it could keep up all day very happily. As, indeed, could the 250, which, however, had a tendency, with the accelerator floored for what always seemed to me to be an unhealthy length of time, to hesitate at around 190kmh before slowly creeping up, if ever required, towards a top speed of around 225kmh (235kmh shown). At these higher speeds it did not feel as safe as the 300h, an impression not helped by an alarming level of wind noise. That the declared 0-100kmh acceleration figures favoured the 250 (8.2' v. 8.6') held little practical meaning for me since I have rarely felt the temptation to race away from lights or shorten the life of my tyres or unnecessarily slurp petrol. However, the availability of a usually empty stretch of straight road close to where I live enables me to time cars over the 0-1000kmh distance, which I have generally done by moving off for a couple of car-lengths before flooring the accelerator. On a similar number of occasions, each of my IS250s, the 300h and my present RC300h clocked times of one or a maximum of two seconds either side of 29'. The 250 had the best average, maybe by 0.5', but, since I cannot see this as being of any practical significance, I offer it purely for the record.

You don’t drive a V6 petrol automatic and watch the fuel consumption? surely. PWR all day long, something’s got to get that lump along the road at a decent lick. If I wanted economy I’d take the wife’s SEAT Mii out for a spin. No thanks.

It’s quite clever. It stays in place purely with friction. It comes with a dashboard separator to gently separate the panels and then slots in. Lexus approved and leaves no trace of its installation. Super cool.

Well to cap off a lousy month for LS - after the exhaust and aircon both failing - yesterday it dropped its ATF doing 70 on the dual carriageway. Managed to limp into a lay-by - pool of ATF underneath, lots of smoke (I assume/hope just the fluid on the exhaust) and the whole back end and underneath of the car covered in a film of ATF. It's only done 106K, so I'm feeling pretty aggrieved... There was some swearing. Recovered home and now sat pondering my options and the imminent evisceration of my wallet. Does this sound like a whole new transmission do we think? Any idea on fitting costs if I went that route? Not at Lexus though obviously.

Had time to take another peek down the ABS sensor aperture. I must have been dreaming thinking I saw castellations last time I looked. As you see, the reluctor ring has been worn smooth!! That's my problem. Thanks again Andrew & Neil. I'm now on the hunt for a new reluctor ring.