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May have posted these before but they are two of my favourite shots of my car. Slightly compressed thanks to Google Drive.

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Another pic

Have it tracked on a American 'Hamilton machine'. It will track what is there, and print out a reading as to what is within, or outside spec. Then they adjust it to factory settings with the steering wheel at 'dead straight normal'. Then the set it up, and print another printout showing it is all within spec. Takes about 30 mins and costs about £45-50. F1 Autocentres https://www.f1autocentres.co.uk/ have done about 3 different cars for me and been very good. When you leave having had it done, the car tracks the road like a dead straight bullet.

Another service and mot today at Lexus Reading, sailed through...

Don't know if this info is of any use ................ Aldi, this week are having their limited edition stocks of the above kit for £5.99 Malc

Lee I think others have answered for me, but the charging system is well capable of charging a higher capacity battery. It has a maximum output in excess of 100 amps, but it is also battery temperature controlled. The reason for the small sensor with two thin wires that can be gently eased out of the OEM battery and fastened to the top of the new battery with tape, glue, hot melt glue, or even blue tack. I have had no problems with my 110 AH set up. I do have the piece of mind knowing that if I sit in the car for two or three hours with the radio on or watching a DVD or even leaving the car for a month or more it is going to boot up when needed. John.

I think that you can replace this with any deep cycle battery of a suitable duty. Later models used a 12V 110AH deep cycle VGA type battery located under the rear boot lining on the LHS. Yours may be the same type. They're not cheap but there are some sealed L/A equivalents for much less. Don't use a high current short term discharge cranking battery (ie normal car battery) as this won't be up to the job and isn't designed for repeated deep discharge. Basically any deep cycle equivalent will do. It doesn't have the be the Panasonic battery that Lexus use.

I think so, give them a ring. Any laser tracker that does a before and after print out will do.

I’ve finally managed to find the air suspension module. It hides behind the panel at the driver’s knee. (See photo) I’m posting this for others in the future.

Hi, have just bought a 2006 RX350 as my third of Lexus ownership, following on from a 2004 SC430 and most recently a 2009 GS450h. Am aiming to buy the new UX full ev when it finally arrives but in the meantime am discovering what a great car the 350 is! Bought from Lexus Croydon with a 12 month Lexus warranty (and Lexus Recovery for a year) so what’s not to like? Today I hope to install the Vaistech MML 1 taken from the GS to give me usb and iPod inputs, and as soon as possible the Alpine EZi-DAB to get back digital radio. Anyone know of a permanent and switched live feed in the centre console area? Am hoping to fit most of the DAB wires and boxes in there to keep the dash clutter free lol Car is black interior with light blue body..... cheers C

Funny you should say that lol.......tho as a previous SC430 keeper am used to playing fuel gauge bingo, haven't lost yet🤣 My local dealer good bloke said to me once, 'Mr Lexus always looks after owners, so even when you think the tank is dry there is always just enough left'😎

The 400h gearbox is whats known as an e-CVT, there are plenty of videos on YouTube as to there construction. There are no metal belts or slipping clutches in there and in fact there is no reverse gear, reverse is obtained by reversing the traction motor direction and using the battery direct. The traction motor is constantly connected to the front wheels and power is mixed from the battery and ICE via an epicyclic gear unit. The rear wheels are driven by a second traction motor/differential unit. I tow a 1700Kg caravan and have done ever since I got the car 5 years ago and it still performs the same as it did then.

OBD2 may be an industry standard, but it is only standard for engine, and emissions systems. Each manufacturer is free to use whatever coding they wish for such things as transmission, security, and safety systems to name but a few. Also the actual connector used is not standard manufacturers such as BMW, and Mercedes use there own sockets requiring adapter leads to connect. It is about time manufacturers let vehicle owners have free or affordable access to the systems built into there cars. In the USA some states are now pushing to put this into law allowing owners to have the ability to fully service there own vehicles. The practice of locking down systems has spread to heavy goods, farming equipment, forestry equipment, mobile cranes, and much more. This can mean that large pieces of equipment such as a combine harvester broken down in a field will need loading onto an articulated vehicle to be transported to a manufacturers repair agent costing hundreds if not thousands of pounds in remote areas to transport for some perhaps easily fixed item once the codes are retrieved. The time taken for this at harvest could be critical to that crop. Surely we should have the ability to work on our own vehicles without the extortionate prices charged for the ability to read codes. My son in law has a Buell motorbike. This has the ability to read, and clear any fault codes on the dash board something that would cost pennies to be available on the Toyota/Lexus displays, but we have to pay circa £120 at the dealers to have the diagnostics read before they will carry out any work even if you supply them with the codes from your own equipment. Even then there seems to be a policy of throwing expensive parts at the problem until it goes away. It is no wonder there is a thriving industry in so called pirated software, and I am happy to use what is available to access information stored in my own vehicles about my own vehicles without being held to ransom. Gone are the days when if our car had a misfire we could say to the local garage fit a new distributor cap leads, and plugs. We now have to have the codes read, and an ignition coil replaced probably taking the bill to over £250. Maybe i'm just getting old, but if that's progress count me out. Rant over. John.

Welcome to the LOC. I don't know the answer to your question but I'll be driving through Exeter around midday tomorrow so if I see a 54 plate SC430 I'll wave!

Just had mine detailed and ceramic coated by a great guy in Nuneaton.

When new, my car used to do 43 miles to the gallon. As the years went by, this figure kept going down and by coincidence when a maintenance item was carried out according to the maintenance service schedule. eventually it dropped to 40.4 miles to the gallon and two months ago, I used to get " check VGRS system " and the car would not start on the first time. I used the techstream and no trouble codes were present and the VGRS system was ok. However there was a message that the 12v battery was low with only 10 volts. I charged the battery to the full and the car started without any codes. It run for a few minutes and the engine stopped, normal behaviour. After a few minutes , the engine started again and it should not have done since the car was stationary in the garage. This only meant that the 12v battery needed to be charged. A check on the battery revealed 10 volts. I had the battery checked and it was not up to specification. I put a new 80Ah ordinary battery and not the original Panasonic and the car now does 42.5 miles to the gallon. I was convinced that the hybrid battery was in need of maintenance and I was planning to do so in a couple of months when the weather improves. I never thought that a bad 12v battery would make so much difference in the fuel economy. Chris.

Hi as stated the IS 250 is a straight forward car to service ; if you use the correct tools (eg oil filter removal tool ) all the manufactures schedule can be carried out .There are guides on the internet and you can buy time on the Lexus site to access their workshop sheets . I maintain my own cars and the cars of the family ( 7 in total ) .I am a retired old school engineer with 60 years experience with cars and motorcycles so I have an advantage in this respect ,but if you take your time and ensure you follow safe working practice ,it can be done .This probably seems daft to some people to be crawling under cars at 77 but the more I see of todays work by ' technicians ' the more I want to do the job properly myself . Because of the prolonged time laying on the drive doing clutches and exhausts ,I no longer do these jobs Dave