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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/23/2019 in all areas

  1. The ES is only really with us in the UK because of USA demand. It was a big seller in the States and Lexus needed to make a decision whether to maintain models by sales numbers or because we in the UK by and large wanted a BMW 5 series competitor, which the ES by any stretch of the imagination is not. It's not a bad car per se, and I happen to like the interior very much, but the engine is a compromise too far to ever tempt me into one as is the FWD switch from the RWD GS. I'm not stuck on brand loyalty because brands change the goalposts according to sales and commercial decisions made in the board room. For me, the ES is using its interior, styling and badge to try and convince us in the UK that it's worth the cost of a well specified 5 series, which it is not. Whether it comes gold plated with a 15 year warranty is immaterial. It uses a relatively small 4 pot motor, lugging about batteries and an electric motor for about-town fluffy friendliness and better low speed mpg but that doesn't do anything for driving dynamics, especially since it is also FWD and it can't hold a candle to some 10 year old diesel 2 litre oil burners, let alone older ER46 6 pot 3 series BMWs (I had one and there's no way the ES matches that on performance or driving dynamics). So that brings us back to why own one? That's not ES bashing, that's simply looking at the facts. People seem to be paying the premium for the badge, the customer experience, the class leading interiors, the relatively cheap running costs (low taxation etc) and not for the performance. I think that the ES is a hard product to place in the UK because it really doesn't do anything that the IS250 can't already do except to offer a little extra interior space. I would be in the camp that argues that the GS was the natural break up the product line and for one, am sad to see it go. So now, we have the ES, then a big jump cost wise if we want an RX, and not everyone wants an SUV. I've discounted the NX as that doesn't offer much in the way of extra space or performance, if any, to the ES....or IS come to that). Now and ES with the 3.5 engine and RWD would be an altogether different proposition...oh wait, we had one called the GS!
    3 points
  2. Hi I recently got these too, but I was hoping that during the day when the lights are OFF that when braking ALL lights came ON at the rear to give that nice L shape. As you know on stock lights and VLAND only the outer lights light up when braking, making it look like your inner lights are busted, due to the L not being right across. All is ok at night as your inner lights are on already. So after some thought I wired it up to do this... Steps below if anyone’s interested. Video to demo what I mean: https://youtu.be/7FFRfFMkdGY Hope it all makes sense. I would say, as a disclaimer that you should check your wire colours on the back of the VLAND lights are the same. I imagine they will be. Get a VOLT meter to double check. This is how I discovered what each colour was for. Materials 1. Fused relay – I used 10amp to match fuse weight the car recommends – Normally open relay (4 prong) 2. 10 amp roll of electrical wire 3. 10 amp spade connectors 4. Wire cutters 5. Electric insulating tape 6. Various tools to take clips off boot lid etc Steps Diagram Below also. 1. Remove tail lid carpeted cover to expose tail lid wiring and back of VLAND lights. 2. Pull back right hand (recommended if following these steps) boot carpet to expose one of the outer rear VLAND lights and wires. 3. Splice a long wire into the RED brake wire of the VLAND outer tail lamp. You may want to use a VOLT meter to double check what wires are what, in case yours are different. 4. Wrap splice in tape so you don’t short anything. 5. Run this wire up the tail lid hinges ready to plug into the relay. 6. Add a spade connector to this wire and plug it into PIN 86 of the relay. 7. Cut another similar length of wire and add a spade connector and plug that into PIN 30 of the relay and the other end into a 12v supply that is available or the battery. I used the ML Amplifier 12v In. Left hand plug, top left red wire. You may want to use a VOLT meter to double check what wires are what, in case yours are different. 8. Cut a length of wire and attach one end to a good earth. I used a bolt of the trunk lid supports. And plug the other end using spade connector to PIN 85 of the relay. 9. Finally run a short length of wire from PIN 87 of the relay to the GREEN wire of the inner VLAND tail light. You may want to use a VOLT meter to double check what wires are what, in case yours are different. Testing 1. Ensure no exposed pins/ wires are touching anything conductive. 2. Go push the brake pedal/ask a friend. With the lights ALL OFF you should hear the relay click and both the outer and inner lights come on along with your brake lights. 3. Let off the brake and all should go off, you'll hear the relay click again. 4. Turn on your lights to ensure they light as before, try the brake again to ensure that the brake lights come on and go off on release. 5. If all ok, tape up all connections securely and stick the relay to somewhere on the trunk lid. 6. Reapply all carpet covers and tidy up! Now you'll have a fancy looking rear end when braking during the day when your lights are usually OFF. Good luck!
    3 points
  3. I tend to agree with most of what Paul is saying. Especially the fact that there isn't going to be a ES450h. I would also support the statement that the change to FWD is not great, but it is not a deal breaker. My main issue (apart from the lack of the 3.5 V6) is the lack of choice. I wonder how many other 'mass market' car ranges have only 1 engine and 3 spec's available?
    2 points
  4. Sadly this term "warped" gets used and it isn't accurate. Standard car brake discs (ie not crazy money carbon ceramic) are made from cast iron. The reason that they are is that cast iron has very high thermal conductivity (much better than steels and especially stainless steel) as well as good thermal mass and the right physical properties (it's one of those rare cases where the cheap material is actually one of the best materials for the job). As such, once cast and machined they do not "warp" - it's not a vinyl record! What DOES happen is DTV - Disc Thickness Variation. When new, machined precisely, etc, then the disc is the same thickness all the way around. However, a number of things can cause that to change over time - for example, if you have left the car parked for a couple of weeks and then drive it, you'll often hear and feel an unevenness in the brakes because the area covered by the caliper/pad has not rusted evenly with the exposed areas of the disc. The pads scrape away the surface rust in just a few stops, but under some circumstances the unevenness can persist. This sort of unevenness can be made worse also by other causes - modern parking brakes that act on the disc rather than the older drum-in-disc (or even drum) set up leave a pad strongly clamped to the disc for the whole time the vehicle is parked. Another cause (that my old mitsubishi galant with it's teeny-tiny undersized 256mm front discs suffered from) is if you get the brakes hot, and then come to a traffic light and sit on the brakes for a couple of minutes (as is typical in an automatic vehicle) then you also get uneven transference of pad frictional material to the disc (when hot some brake pad material transfers to the disc and the material rubs against itself giving high friction - the excess deposition caused by sitting on the brakes at the lights causes a higher friction area on the disc that feels like a pulsing/juddering during braking). If a brake disc is just starting to show this kind of behaviour it can sometimes be rescued by re-bedding the brakes - on a quiet A-road get the vehicle up to 60mph. Brake firmly down to ~15mph and repeat 5 times. After doing that (so the brakes are now warm), accelerate to 60mph and brake HARD to 5mph. Repeat 5 times. Then drive gently and try not to brake at all for 10-15 minutes to allow the brakes to cool. If you must come to a stop, DO NOT SIT ON THE BRAKES - use the parking brake (ideally not one that uses the service pads, but most do these days) or put the transmission in park and get off the brakes - you absolutely want to avoid high-temperature static pad-disc contact. After doing that your brake discs should have turned a darker grey or even a blue colour (and there's a good chance your front wheels will have turned black...) and they should feel smoother in operation (it's easy to feel at very low/maneuvering speeds that they are less effective than they were because they will be less "grabby") - this process can smooth out some DTV and frictional variances around the discs. There can also be metallurgical causes. I had one set of brake discs on my mitsubishi galant that suffered from serious cementite incursion - I'll find the pictures at some point. Cementite (Iron Carbide) is a very very very hard material that caused uneven wear and friction in the disc. This came from the casting of the discs, and nothing on or off the car could be done to save them - they were just bad discs.
    2 points
  5. I agree with @Linas.P here - ES cost more than £40k, has 2.5ltr petrol engine and it is slower than similar sized cars with 2.0ltr diesel engine that cost £10k less! I am not saying it is a slow or dangerous car, for example, my wife's car does 0-60 in 10-10.5 seconds and it is acceptable pace (for a 7-seater diesel), what I am saying Lexus should do better for the car that cost that much and wants to be in a class of 5-series MB and A6. I wonder what ES time for 50-70mph, I guess not great as engine stat say torque is low (very low).
    2 points
  6. fwiw - this was a p3222 error and down to a loose connection into the mg ecu. Inverter temps MG1 and MG2 were open/ground so showing 150C. R, J.
    1 point
  7. But that's because they're just not necessary anymore. Leaving aside the move to electric (which I am very much looking forward to), the need for anything over 4 cylinders has basically vanished. My father once had a Jaguar XJ12 5.3, with 285 horsepower and 0-60 in 7.5 seconds. Later in life, he had a BMW 740iL 4.4 V8 with 286 horsepower and 0-60 in 7.2 seconds. Now, Volvo sell the S90 T6 with 320 horsepower and 0-60 in 5.9 seconds. It is a 2 litre 4 cylinder engine. No one really needs more than that, certainly not in any mass-market exec or family car. The use cases for more than that are distinctly limited to very high performance cars. The performance and size of the ES300h are in line with a BMW E38 735i V8. Apparently our expectations have moved significantly in 20 years. In 20 years time from now we'll be wondering how we all put up with the noise, smell, fumes and horrible driving characteristics of ICE vehicles, as we all drive EVs that will do 0-60 in 4s.
    1 point
  8. Sad Sadly you are probably right. Big Japanese cars with large petrol engines have a record of not selling very well in the UK even when big petrol engines were more popular. We've lost a number of 6 cylinder petrol models down the years. Legend and Camry spring to mind. I'm sure Nissan and Mazda had a 6 cylinder model on the market in the mid 90s too? So very few sold even though they were actually very decent cars. Its also interesting how even BMW are shoving 2 litre 4 pot turbo engines into their mid range engined 5 series. Sadly, whilst a number of us admire the qualities of the 6 cyl engine they are very much going to become a rare beast as the years progress.
    1 point
  9. Good skills mate. Way more confident with the electrics than I am!👌👌
    1 point
  10. @wibzo I guess if / when you accept the valuation payment the vehicle becomes the property of the insurance company and that will be in the small print of your policy. They will sell the salvage at the highest price possible to offset "their" loss. That could be to you for the minor categories or an authorised salvage agent for vehicles that shouldn't be repaired, which they then make a profit on the parts that can be sold. Call me a cynic but the second opinion provided by and paid for by the insurance company is highly likely to arrive at the conclusion they want it to. I have always had the view that there is an unhealthy relationship between insurance companies, inspectors, approved repairers and the salvage industry as between them its potentially just a massive cash generating machine. If you truly believe it can be safely repaired I would think you need to get a private inspection if they would allow that and fight them if it goes in your favour but at what time and cost? On reflection and along with the other advice, why bother? Maybe channel your energies into justifying the highest value settlement you can with all the evidence possible that it was the best ISF in existence. As always, good luck.
    1 point
  11. Now,if it was a Saab, the screen would be slightly angled to the driver! Though, in my old LS, i always thought the PASSENGER should be operating anything not concerned with actual driving the car. Too many distractions? There'll be Twitter sets soon?
    1 point
  12. Nice little guide that john will definitely be using it in the future 👍
    1 point
  13. It might be a viable alternative....if it wasn't for the fact that it was twice the price.
    1 point
  14. Crossclimates are fantastic, and the smoothness of an electrified drivetrain makes it much easier to set off without breaking traction. My leaf on crossclimates is tenacious!
    1 point
  15. Give the pedal bushes and switch a squirt of WD40 or something similar.
    1 point
  16. I feel your pain. I had the indicator light fail in the mirror of a Mercedes E250 cabriolet and the led light isn't replaceable. That was £159 for the cover from my local Mercedes Dealer. Online breakers search may be the answer.
    1 point
  17. That’s a brake switch sticking or plain worn out...
    1 point
  18. .... and it is wider issues for Lexus altogether, it is becoming the case of "you can have any engines as long as it is 300h" on any car in the range. And again as mentioned the gap between 300h and the "F" is unnaturally wide... I recon most people would want "little bit" more powerful car ~350 type, but not necessary 500hp full blown performance car. I was hammering the same point for a while now - "how long shoe store would survive only selling size 10 shoes" (even though for man it is like 60% of the market). @Shahpor agree re: 350 as well. I am sure it would not fit all people - in fact probably it would suit far less people then 300h does, but that is the point of having choice, not all people are the same and neither 300h is universally suitable or flexible option. One thing which slightly annoys me is that making 350 cost less to Lexus then 300h and many would even pay premium for having 350... so Lexus could have higher margin on it, but they still do not offer it in EU.
    1 point
  19. True Although if the only engine choice was the V6 then the last few pages might have looked a little different
    1 point
  20. If there was an engine choice in ES line up we wouldn't have all these pages of conversation! lol!
    1 point
  21. Apparently it's from Asian mythology and represents the Imperial House of Japan. But an American looking at it, will no doubt think of Colonel Sanders!
    1 point
  22. Jay Leno had it on his channel last week I think too. At least Doug had the decency to take his shoes off when lying down, unlike Leno!
    1 point
  23. How strange, I was looking at that just this morning and was going to post it! Majestic chicken eh?
    1 point
  24. Thanks for that, I assumed that HID's would be flat but just checking as I think we've upset our Euro neighbours enough, best not to blind them as well!
    1 point
  25. If you put tape on just make sure if you have a repeater indicator light in it that it is still visible.. My brother has been driving his volvo with large amounts of duct tape on for about 3 years. he was pulled up on MOT for light being covered
    1 point
  26. I'm pretty sure that these are 2 separate issues. I'm now convinced that the loss of braking power is caused by a combination of bumps and cold, damp conditions. I have been taking more notice recently and I have been braking using the regen brake then hit a bump then suddenly no regen. I'm guessing it is the wheel speed sensors that detect a tiny momentary wheel lock so the system stops the regen brake to allow the mechanical brakes to take over in case the ABS is needed but it isn't because the wheel lock-up is over with so quickly. I never noticed any issues in the summer with this.
    1 point
  27. I must admit - something I am saying needs to be taken with pinch of salt. I feel like I am trying to balance out overly ignorant and blindly positive view and it comes out over-analysed and exaggeratedly negative. My real view would be closer to above from @Vlady - if you want to be with market leaders, especially if you claiming to be leading, then you need to do better. I still have an issue with FWD above that of ES generally not keeping pace with the market, but that is more ideological issue then a practical one.
    1 point
  28. They look ok to me but I prefer dim lighting or maybe as they improved some things on the 2007 model (sat nav screen rez) mine could be brighter.
    1 point
  29. So, in way of a (hopefully) final update on this matter, the journey to work and back today was judder free. I am not sure why the brakes warped in the first place, but it does appear that they were the culprit.
    1 point
  30. I bought and fitted this 4wks ago and does everything and more to what you want, you will also need to buy a beatsonic interface to connect up to Mark Levinson amp and steering wheel controls, this unit and interface cost me £1121 as a package, you can get cheaper double din head units tho....... search online for cartronics in byfleet they are the only company that i could find that has the lexus SCs Europe beatsonic interface
    1 point
  31. Thanks all. I've been getting around 31-32mpg so far. Just as importantly I'm enjoying the whole driving experience.
    1 point
  32. I thought I would complete the saga of tackling the whooshing noise which I had located to the lower window seals on three of the doors. I experimented with various diameters of black tubing which I bought on Ebay and discovered that 11 mm external diameter fitted best on two doors and 9 mm on the other one. I used a Stanley knife to trim the ends so that they would fit nicely on the bit of black sponge which was at the end of each channel and simply slid the tubing in to make a nice fit. I have posted a couple of photos. In one you can see how the ends were cut. In the other you can see the process of pushing the tubing into the channel and how it is completely invisible once it is in place. It does the trick by exerting a bit of extra pressure on the original seal so that it sits snugly up against the glass. The job took about ten minutes to do all three windows. The windows still work perfectly and the awful noise has gone. The car is an absolute delight to drive now.
    1 point
  33. I really don't want to show any discourtesy, but honestly, you'd have to be bonkers to consider a rebuild of this wreck/write-off except in purely theoretical terms. You wouldn't be able to resell it, insurance would be nuts expensive, safety of the shell/structure questionable, not taking into account the cost of a rebuild and getting engineering sign-off for it being roadworthy. Why??? Sorry mate, my candid tuppence worth.
    1 point
  34. None of the other brands offer an extended warranty until 10 years old or 140,000 miles covered !!
    1 point
  35. I picked up my fsport a week ago, came from an is300h fsport and have to say very happy with the es
    1 point
  36. All fine guys!!! Problem fixed... probably that was a wire from solenoid which should take the air off from the suspension circuit. I'm so happy! JEM quoted £800 for the sensors and £2500 for new pump... so save some money yeah. :D
    1 point
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