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Hi guys Background I bought my 2007 lexus gs450h in January. For some context, I have been daily driving a honda s2000 for 5 years, and wanted something comfortable now. The car has 48000 miles and is immaculate. It is silver on cream, I would have preferred black on cream or light grey but low mileage ones are few and far between or over priced. Tech/options It is the se-l as I wanted all the options, specifically radar cruise and the ml sound system. The sound system is fantastic. The lack of aux input is very frustrating, and there is no cheap or easy way of adding Bluetooth audio, I have Bluetooth for calls though. The radar cruise control only works from 29mph onwards. There is no option for it to help you crawl in stop start traffic. I also like the electric memory seats. The seats and leather are super soft and comfy. The climate control works fine. I have the screen off mostly as I don't like the outdated graphics, but the screen resolution is really good so it's a bit of a shame. The reversing camera is massively superior to parking sensors alone in my experience. The front parking sensors are woeful. They don't detect low objects that would destroy the lower bumper eg high kerbs even up to a foot high which is shocking considering how large and awful looking the parking sensors are. I love the keyless entry and start. Fuel economy I've averaged 30mpg on the motorway and less than 20 local. I don't think it will improve. Hybrid system I find that the hybrid system is more like a glorified stop start system, I love that when stationary or parking there is no engine noise etc and I like the torque fill at low speeds. Performance Official 0-60 is just under 6 seconds. The car doesn't feel very fast to me, although it is fast enough. This may be due to how well insulated the car is. The performance feels right for the size, and you can feel that you are hauling 2 tonnes at all times. The steering feels fine and is not too light. The brakes are quite different to conventional brakes because the first portion of brake pedal travel is regenerative and the more you press the more regen you get, after which the conventional brakes kick in. I do not notice the change but you can see the changes on the power dial. I love this feature as the cushiony regen braking makes for a more relaxing drive. Suspension is fine for the handling and size, the car doesn't roll too much and corners ok Comfort The car is nice and quiet, especially when the engine is off. The engine sounds rattly to start and quickly quietens down, but is never super quiet and not as refined as I expected from a petrol lexus engine. The 2.5 V6 in an is250 of the same vintage is much quieter in my experience. The seats are the softest I've ever experienced in a car and the leather is nice and soft. The armrest is reasonably soft and a good size. The steering wheel is nice to hold, it's a shame heated steering wheels weren't common back then, as its the only thing I can think that this car misses. The suspension is not as comfortable as I expected. I think this is purely down to the relatively low profile tyres on the 18 inch wheels (245/40/18). I will get 245/45/18 tyres next to remedy this and hopefully will correct the mpg and speed inaccuracy of 10%. Since my ownership I've done around 1000 miles and have developed 2 annoying interior rattles, probably due to the horrible road surfaces, 1 in the centre console which may well be rectifiable, but one in the rear passenger area that i can't find the source of as I am normally alone. Overall impressions Overall the car is fantastic and good value with plenty bells and whistles and all that I needed /wanted.

Good Morning Marny and welcome to the forum....... firstly if you suspect the battery maybe flat then charge it or connect a booster battery and see if the car starts, the 12v battery is a small capacitty battery and is used to start up the computers and pressurise the braking system which is probably the ticking sound you can hear, the circled tank is your brake fluid the orange hose is in fact a high voltage cable for the hybrid system all orange cables are high voltage. i do suspect the battery is flat..if you remember years ago when your battery was flat you would get a clicking noise from the starter motor due to lack of power i think the same applies to yourself except this time its the brake pump you can hear when the battery is full you will hear a buzzing sound for a few seconds this is the brake pump pressurising the system properly

My overall fuel economy is around 55mpg, mainly in urban driving. In the summer, I've had up to 76mpg indicated on long (200+ mile) runs and I normally get about 60-65mpg in other seasons. But - and it's a big but - you have to really change your driving style to get these sorts of figures. Accelerating briskly but not with wide open throttle followed by coasting is the essence of the "pulse and glide" technique, which is what you do for driving on anything apart from a motorway. On the motorway, I let the adaptive cruise control do its thing... set at 65mph. I've had a lot of performance cars over the years, so the CT has been quite different to drive but it's a different kind of pleasure. It's a bit of a chillout car and so there's no point making it struggle to perform like a fast car when its strong suit is something very different. (That said, it actually handles very well and, for brief bursts of acceleration, the battery-assistance in sport mode can be quite effective - especially 0-20/30!).

Easiest way to get the police round your house..... Tell them you are being burgled/car being stolen. Then tell them you have a gun and are just about to use it on the criminals. Very quickly armed response will be there.....granted they will arrest you as well as the real criminals but at least you get a quick response Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What a wonderful system, I agree with that.

My car had the not unusual cam phaser cold start up rattle from when I first bought it. I found a relatively easy method of curing this, and at the same time reducing cold start engine ware. The method consists of fitting an engine pre lubrication system to give oil pressure before the engine starts. I made the system up using readily available parts that should cost no more than £25 in total. I have had this system running for over a year now. Ebay is your friend here for parts. The parts required are followed by pictures :- (1) A fluid control solenoid valve suitable for oil with a 12 volt coil, and 1/2" BSP ports. (2) 2 x 1/2" to 1/4" BSP adapters male to female. (3) 1 x 1/4" BSP "T" piece female (4) 1x 1/4 BSP male to male coupler (5) 1 x Grease gun flexible hose with 1/4 BSP ends. (standard fitting) (6) A pressure container that holds approximately 1Ltr, and will withstand 100 PSI minimum. (see text) (7) Some form of mounting brackets for the above. (I used 3" exhaust clamps for the cylinder I used.) Solenoid valve. 1/2" to 1/4" adapter 1/4" BSP "T" 1/4" BSP male coupler Flexible hose rated at 900 bar more than capable of the at most 4 bar it will be used for. The pressure container (empty gas bottle) with solenoid valve attached. The flexible hose screw into the bottom of the solenoid with the tank vertical. The hose then goes to the "T" that is fitted on the oil pressure outlet. The oil pressure switch is removed from the top of the oil filter housing, and the 1/4" male to male fitting screwed in its place. The "T" piece is then screwed onto the male fitting, and the oil pressure switch then screws into one of the available ports on the "T" piece witch ever is the most convenient. The flexible hose is then screwed into the other port. This completes the work on the engine. The end of the flexible hose screws into one of the 1/2" to 1/4" BSP fittings, and this in turn is screwed into the port on the solenoid with the arrow on the bottom of the solenoid pointing to it. The other 1/2" to 1/4" fitting is screwed into the other port on the solenoid with the 1/4" male to male screwed into it. The tank is screwed onto this, and mounted vertically with the solenoid at the bottom. " so that the oil enters the bottom of the tank" I used PTFE tape on all the threads, but any suitable sealant could be used. You can if you wish fit a lever type tap in the line from the engine to isolate the system This completes the plumbing. The solenoid was chosen with 1/2" ports because it has a larger internal port opening to assist quick oil flow. Electrical. This can be as simple or complicated as you wish as a basic push button operation or a completely automatic system using a timer from the cars start button. I am for the moment just giving the simple version. One of the two wires from the solenoid is grounded. The other wire is extended to a suitable position on the dash to a push button switch this switch is fed via a 5amp fuse from a permanent 12 volt feed. This completes the basic electrical work. Operation. The car is started in the normal way the first time, and allowed to run for a minute or so then turned off. Check the oil level, and top up as required. The amount depends on the size of the tank your have chosen. This only needs doing at the first start up after fitting the system. The system operates by the tank being partly filled with oil at engine pressure while the engine is running. the solenoid valve allows oil to pass through it in the reverse direction to that of the arrow on the bottom of it. The air in the tank is trapped, and compressed to engine oil pressure with the engine running. When the engine is stopped the solenoid will not let the oil under pressure out of the tank. When you wish to start the car press and hold the newly fitted button for about 10 seconds to give time for the oil to get into the engine. This will open the solenoid and the oil at engine pressure will flow round the engine filling the cam phasers, and lubricating all the moving parts. Then push the start button in the normal way. The engine will start without the noise, and the tank will refill with oil ready for the next start. The tank I used was an empty blow torch gas bottle. These hold gas under pressure at around 100 PSI, and are capable of holding well over double that pressure for safety reasons. I drilled and tapped the valve end of the bottle to 1/4" BSP. Any container that will hold 60 PSI reliably, and with a capacity of about a Ltr or more will work, but the inlet to the tank must be positioned at the bottom. It also must be perfectly clean inside. I calculate that depending on actual engine oil pressure the tank will fill to about 3/4 of it's actual capacity based on 45/50 PSI oil pressure. The flexible hose can be a made up hose from company's such as Pertech, but must be capable of holding the engine oil pressure reliably. The bore of the hose should be large enough so as not to restrict oil flow. This is possibly the downside of using a grease gun hose, but they are rated at 900 bar 13410 PSI so no chance of it bursting, and are an off the shelf item. The length of the hose should be chosen to suit the mounting position of the tank. Sorry I could not get pictures of the system fitted, and I will answer any questions as there are bound to be things I have missed. John.

Brings back memories of watching The Sopranos and thinking "I used to own one of those..."

The rear brake callipers are only single piston which pushes the pad onto the disc on the piston side, the other pad is pushed onto the disc by the movement of the calliper on the slider pins. If the outboard sections of the discs are less worn down than the inboard (piston side) this would confirm sticking or seized pins and not seized callipers. Pins cost around £10.00 each so £40.00 for the set, getting them out if seized starts with WD40 and ends with a slider hammer.

Thank you for checking about this. I don't have a Numbers/Symbols section in the Index of my Navigation, but I have tried the 3D-view setting in the map view and it's different from the 3d view setting in the TomTom (which I am used to). On the TomTom you pretty much get a view as seen by the driver at road level, whereas with the Lexus it is as if from some distance above and behind the car - like a view from above but with perspective (if you see what I mean). Maybe I could zoom in to get a similar effect to the TomTom? I'll play about with that and post my results.

It was a figment of speech, but it certainly felt that way at the service stations when they were all lined up next to each other.

No, it's not a whistling, just a creak like dry rubber. Vaseline didn't work so I've tried something else but I won't be able to try it until tomorrow. Give in to the addiction, you know you must!

Welcome to Europe's Leading Lexus Club! Please Enjoy!

SL did it myself not too difficult if you have replaced disks and pads before.

Yep, as said above, that's the removable shelf. Probably just got knocked out of position.

That looks like the actual shelf from inside the glove box, the one that is removable do as to get access to the pollen cabin filter in the back of the glovebox.

It's a shelf that sit inside the glove box. You should see "notches/holes/slots" whatever you want to call them, inside the glove box on the left side and on the glovebox floor close to the infotainment system. It just slots in and provides shelving. Hope this helps.

Having made a claim with Saga I can say there service was all that it should be, and more. Not the usual tin box on wheels as a loan car, but a Mercedes "C" class for the duration of the repair of 7 weeks with it's own fully comp insurance provided by Saga, and no excess. I also did not have to pay the excess, and reclaim it as has happened in the past. I have also had to renew my policy since the claim, and my premium for the renewal was exactly the same as last year £265 with £150 excess. Well done Saga. 👍 John.

when i had my ct we used to go to alton towers its about 100miles each way i used to average low 60's mpg so i really wouldn't be concerned about the mpg it will be good, but as always your driving style will play a part

look, I know what it feels like to find something that's just out of reach. I you give me your word you'll take it, I'll keep it for you. If you said you wanted it to make me feel better, thanks for thinking of me! I can put it aside, no probs. Frankie

I thought mine became a little more noticeable after I had the windows tinted - as they took the door cards off to do it properly and he did mention that there would have to be a slight gap in the film on the top of each window as the lexus had very flush fitting glass and would actually rip off the film as it went into the frame - however that may have been a coincidence I don't recommend pulling the door cards off just in case (and mine is only in the rear passenger side)

It looked much better but only lasted about 3 months. They were expensive ones too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just picked up a 2017 CT200H with my sister in law, same colour as our IS300H. The brief was a reliable, efficient car, with a max budget of £16k to manage a 50 mile daily commute. Initially the usual suspects of A class, 1 series were been looked at but after I explained how reliable, and efficient our IS300H was the decision to go with a CT200H was made. Am not sure of CT specs but the car has most of the stuff our IS300H premier has, the infotainment system is weak and the scroll wheel makes the system even harder to use than with the mouse thing. But actually once you get use to it, its fine. Sister in law is very happy, and its a nice little car for the job. Am sure she will get many happy trouble free miles ahead!!...... .......I did try to persuade her to try an full out EV, but I think a Tesla + Leaf on the driveway put her off the idea of having another plug in car :).

Not known for my patience I swapped out the GROM aux unit for the GROM BT3. Got a bit bored with unplugging and plugging in wires every time. Only had to change the unit as the harness is the same. Then positioned and ran the microphone cable for calls. Top job even though I say so myself In other news, did 125 mile round trip to York yesterday. Steady motorway (M1) and dual carriageway (A64), sat nav indicating 70mph, 29mpg and no warning lights! I think my perseverance with V-Power is paying off. And I don't think 29mpg is bad for the old girl.

Absolutely. Would have been just my luck to loose another car! Luckily I can't see any other damage to the wiring, alternator and stuff seems to be working fine. I left it running with everything electrical on (which usually caused the car to loose power) and so far it's been fine. So fingers crossed I escaped any serious damage.

Thought I would finally post some more pictures of my RX450h, from a recent touring trip around Cornwall. Fantastic journey there and back, very comfortable on the motorway. The radar guided cruise control was a boon on the long motorway and A-road stretches as well. Overall economy took a hit on the shorter journeys down there (4 adults and 1 toddler plus luggage and numerous hills brought it down to about 26 MPG on occasion), but the cruise back home was just shy of 39 MPG, which I was very impressed with (those long sections of 50 MPH roadworks on the M6 helped there) 😀

Not sure if the same thing but don't some RC-F owners plug an air sampling pipe in the intake box to force more 'noise'? Re meets, check this out

I've had a whole heap of Audi A3s and Golfs of various flavours in the past (2.0T, 2.0T quattro, S3, R32, GTI etc), so I was naturally quite attracted to the Golf Mk7 GTE. I'd still look carefully at the upcoming Mk8 GTE or A3 etron. The CT200h makes a lot of sense, though, even to this VAG fanboy. It costs about 30% less than a GTE of the equivalent age and you're less likely to experience issues with a CT - the GTE arguably has the more complicated drivetrain, less proven. On top of that, it seems that many people's fuel economy is similar in a GTE to a CT, noting that you go through the hassles of a plugging in with a GTE. The GTE will inevitably be faster in a straight line. If you can get beyond that, then you might find - like me - that the CT actually steers pretty well and delivers a more nuanced performance than 0-60 can describe. It certainly benefits from an anticipative / "cool" driving style, but once you adapt you will enjoy it and find it perky when needed. Having spent a year driving my CT, I'd say that the CT seems like a higher quality car than any Golf or A3 I've driven. The VAG products have an attractive veneer of quality, but it's only skin-deep in comparison to what I'm finding in the CT. I don't think the CT can compete with the kerb appeal of GTE, but that aside it's still a very decent buy at the end of its production lifespan.

I'm afraid German car manufacturers are run by accountants whereas the Japanese firms (except Nissan) are run by engineers. Every German car has failure built in as a profit maker. Sorry, but the Mercedes and VW we had failed every few months with suspension and brake issues, EFI failures and coil packs burning out, whereas the MX5 hasn't had any major problems, unless you count a couple of anti roll bar bushes. In fact, we've had five MX5's, Hondas, Toyotas and now Lexus and never paid for more than an oil change. My friend is an AA man, he's never been out to a Honda or Toyota for more than an empty fuel tank. He's been to one Lexus with a flat tyre. Take your pick mate!

@Charlie Alder it keeps the Hybrid computer asleep so you can change the disks/pads safely. It it wakes up whilst during disks/pads then it can activate the brakes and pop out the pistons, crush your pinkies, etc. The keyless entry system can wake up the brake computer which then primes the brakes ready for you to drive away. It is possible to leave the 12v supply connected but you must keep the key fob/keyless entry away from the vehicle whilst you are spannering.

The quote I had from Adrian Flux was very high over £900. For the past 4 years I have been insured with Hastings. This year Hastings did there usual trick of quoting £150 more this year than last even though I could get the same policy with them on one of the comparison sites for only £10 more than last year. However on the comparison site I found this year Saga were very competitive at £265 with fully comp, personal breakdown cover for any car that I occupied, protected no claims, and only £150 compulsory excess. This for the Lexus GS450H. On cancelling the renewal with Hastings I was offered the same cover as last year for the same £265, but with a £275 excess. The moral is shop around every year, and do not accept your renewal figure. John.

You seem to have missed the point @DAN@ADRIAN FLUX. Your advisor seemed to be more concerned in getting me off the phone then actually going through my details and quotes. This tells me that if you are like this before even getting my custom, then if I do need need to claim your service will be the same if not worse!

That’s good to hear, as I recently switched back to Saga. I was unfortunate to make a total write off claim from them in 2012, when my 9 day old E-class was hit by an oncoming (sideways) Clio in snowy conditions. I thought I’d be forever blacklisted, but looks like my slate is clean again. Let’s hope it stays that way!