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My employer was expecting me to go back in office at least one day a week, and was surprised when I expressed my concerns. Thank heavens they were beaten up verbally by another manager who defended my 'Why go in when I can work from home'. I am still recovering with Long Covid issues, but at least I am getting better. I know if two people who have dies of Covid, one of them was isolating to the ultimate extreme due to their other health issues, but the bug still got them. This bug still ain't finished messing us about, so anyone who has suffered, i know how yuck it is, and anyone who thinks its not a problem to them, well I say otherwise, and I suspect people being forced to be in work (because the boss thinks they are shirkers) is creating the right conditions to spread the beast. Some day life is going to get back to normal(ish) we just need to keep on doing the right thing.

Give Richard @Hybrid Battery Solutions a phone call https://www.hybridbatterysolutions.co.uk/

Tend to agree with all the above comments. Prior to retirement, I had a couple of Prius as a taxi for 6 years. Bought an ISF when I retired, and now have an RC300h, both purchased as a step up from Toyota. When service time comes along, I've had a demo Lexus as a courtesy car, and on all occasions, been glad to get back in to my own. I can't see myself purchasing another newish Lexus, as I don't think the quality is there now. Add in the fact I won't have an SUV style of vehicle, and I won't have an opportunity for a CT sized car as they don't do one now. So back to Toyota in the future. As I see it, the premium for Lexus over Toyota has gone now, and if I buy a 3 year old Toyota, I won't have to pay a grand for an extra 2 years warranty.

Yep the rear brakes need more love and attention because, as you say, they work less. Same applies on most cars. Next time will take a lot less time just to grease them. When I did them this morning it was a learning curve and cleaning properly. The main bit was cleaning out the lower caliper pin bores which which were rusty, not easy to do and takes a bit of brain matter, abrasive paper and brake cleaner😉

Hello all, finally decided to join the forum after lurking for a little bit and using a few posts from here and ClubLexus to problem solve :) I'm currently enjoying my 1993 GS 300 and have owned a pre-facelift LS 430 in black, which I do miss dearly, but my good friend currently owns it so fortunately it's in good hands! My current GS 300 in Bordaux Red: Not much has happened to this car thus far other than the wheels. I absolutely love the colour (although the LS430's wine Red is arguably the best haha) and it's very rarely that I see another 1st generation GS 300 on the road, but I really love the soft lines of this generation GS and and the rear lights have always looked really cool to me as well. The car has been reliable as expected really, only needed two lower ball joints for the last MOT and it did excellently driving from Southampton to Edinburgh (400ish miles) in August 2020 for a week away, 8 hours of pure comfort each way haha :) As I've mentioned further down, I've got new suspension to fit, as I hope to achieve an OEM+ look/driving feel My old LS 430: I fitted LED face-lift style rear lights, wooden dashboard table, backbox removed and replaced with a straight pipe from the cat-back and performance catalytic converters and an ASC 680 Height Controller, for those who don't know it's a control module that piggy-backs the air suspension ECU and allows for the suspension to be lowered by 10 different levels, each gradually getting lower. I normally ran the car on 5 which sat nicely low and tucked the rear wheels ever so slightly but retained comfort and didn't scrape or catch on speed bumps or potholes of the like. Unfortunately unexpected financial issues meant I had to sell the car to help myself out in the short and long term. After sitting on my driveway for a few months collecting dust I sold the car to my friend and bought a cheap Mk2 MX-5 to keep me happy lol. This LS is still running strong at 230,000+ miles I'm the 3rd owner of my GS; it was owned for 27 years before me, by the original owner. I actually acquired the car by doing a straight swap for my old R53 Mini Cooper S. The previous owner fitted GS 450h wheels, which do look good, but the car sits too high, so I've purchased suspension from a twin turbo JZA80 Supra as it is interchangable with first generation GS 300's (the same with ZZ30 Soarer suspension). It has Eibach lowering springs already fitted which should help with the rather high ride height, but retain an OEM (or as close as) level of comfort, but i am yet to fit these, but I'll hopefully report back if I do. If anyone is selling a Mk1 GS300 sport design grille, I may be interested in purchasing it too! - Liam

Quality can be measured in many ways. Some posts above consider the CT to be a step down, which I agree with if you are considering quality to be how nice it feels at the key touch points and in perceived fit and finish, yet if you measure quality by reliability you will consider the cheapest car in the Lexus range to be the best quality as it regularly tops reliability surveys. I’ve only every owned CTs from Lexus and they are a big step up in quality to what I have had before, both in reliability and just the feeling of the cabin. I’ve driven the UX, IS 300h and NX as courtesy cars. I could could see myself in an IS but they discontinued it, the NX was lovely but too big for my needs and I really disliked the UX (felt cheap in places and SUV styling is not my bag). SUVs have been very popular in recent years but that might be beginning to change as efficiency becomes more important to buyers and Lexus have little to offer a not insignificant slice of the market that used to be met with the IS and CT (I haven’t seen an ES except in the showroom). I’m beginning to wonder if they will ever bring out a CT replacement as the new Corolla is already pretty good and making it a Lexus would bump the price up even more. The Corolla would sell much better if it was a bit cheaper as it struggles against the traditional competition of Golf, Astra and Focus but doesn’t quite match the 1 Series or A Class, at least not to badge snobs. I shall be sticking with my CT for now 🙂

Hi Jason here is a link for a breakers ,they have some IS300h's in stock most of them with front end damage so the battery pack in the boot should be ok https://www.synetiq.co.uk/ they are worth a try, you've nothing to lose

I have no idea I'm afraid - I've got an RX450h so never seen under the bonnet of a Soarer/LS400. I'd say it should be alright anywhere as long as you can get access to clean the area and make a good, tight connection.

Thank you both, I will check them next time. The weather doesnt looks good here in the next few days. 😆

Thanks, to build the device requires some basic electronic knowledge and some basic programming skills. I am using one of the STM32's development board to record the data. The measurement circuit is a basic voltage divider consists of 2 resistors, scaling down the battery voltage ~14V to microcontroller's voltage 3.3V or 5V. Then program the microcontroller to measure the voltage by its ADC (analog-digital converter). Then the data is recorded to micro SD card. I sample the voltage 10 times every second for 2 days (the battery for the recorder only last that long.) It might sound complicated, but it is really simple once you learn some tutorials. I would recommend starting with Arduino, it has all the required functions, ADC and SD card, and it is really easy to use if you want to build one.

I think I'd be inclined to just fit a new one.

Oh and I always warm it properly before trying any of this 🙂

Thanks 2k seems more like I was expecting. Downshifting any gearbox at 3900 rpm (won’t do it before 4K in any gear) without a revmatch would seem to me like it would be putting unnecessary strain on the gearbox. I will try the fuses thanks.

I am happy with the CT with its FWD. Most people can handle a car with that. Would be fantastic if Lexus could make electric engines to put in the rear wheels. Not that the CT has power that justify that, but as mentioned earlier here: on really steep climbs, FWD drive cars do that climbing best in reverse. For a skilled driver I believe RWD is better than FWD. Most of the funny cars I have had were RWD. All of the really funny cars I have had were RWD. Only AWD car I have enjoyed was Lancia Delta EVO2. 1994 is long time ago. Still remember it as the most noisy and uncomfortable car I know.

It sounds like your boot is full of water and by braking it has only 1 way to go - forward. Leaks can be very difficult to trace. I ended up by sealing every seam and made sure rear light gaskets were intact. I ended up drilling drain holes and lifted carpets to dry it out which it did eventually. This seems to be a problem with the RX along with underbody rust, and was why i moved it on. Pete

Don't worry I will and Lexus have cleaned up the area so that they can also keep an eye on it.

Congrats on your new car, certainly looks smart in blue with those wheels. I once had the use of an M140 for a day while my old car was getting work done, was impressed with how well it went. Practical and fast, nice interior too, and more roomy than one would think for BMW's smallest offering. Can only imagine 4wd makes it even better. Ironically, the one thing I miss most now is the thick steering wheel 😄

That's crazy, surely it makes better sense to keep an existing customer?? Maybe not, but that's what we were told in sales years ago... I threw my toys out of the pram after my last post and started looking at imported JDM Mitsubishi Delicas for a while. Then confused.com sent me a quote for 400-ish which is much more doable so I'm hunting for a Lexus again. What a palaver! Anyway, lockdown's put paid to current progress but I'm hoping I'll be a fully-fledged Lexus OC member once the plague abates...

I like the ES and I was considering at the beginning, for me it's not a big problem for the rear seat... but what make me in stand by is the price for the luxury version and the fact that I read of unsatisfied customer about the interiors quality and other issues: slow car, not so good suspensions (floaty) and so on. Unfortunately there' no way to know if their problems was due to their car only of for all the ES. As my Pay per Drive end in May, the dealer is trying to convince me to buy the ES as they said they want I stay in Lexus (I ma 14 years customers) and offer some discount and so on... I have not decide yet, I am pushing them to make a huge discount, it's not my decision if they withdrawn the IS. But honestly I would not buy another brand. In case of not buying the ES I will pay the final payment and keep the iS, and sit down to see what happens in the last few years, all the movement around EV's is very interesting. It seems Audi and other Germans are working hard to have a selection to offer, here in Italy they are investing a lot in ad's and communication of the incoming models, there's also Tesla and others that in a couple of years could improve, so the offer will be more wider in the very close future.

I would admit Volvo S60 looks nice. I am sure it is not an issue for many people, but for me Luxury car has to be RWD... especially if they have "sporty" or "driving experience" mentioned anywhere in marketing. As for ES - there are far more issues with it than strictly driving wheels or folding seats. Overall, it does not feel like Lexus inside. It seems like really boring, but I guess the only solution I see is BMW and MB. Has cars in all segments - entry exec, sporty coupe and luxury saloon to replace IS, RC and GS. Which... fun fact were all introduced to specifically rival German cars in their respective segments.

I should add – this is a temporary fix. There would be a risk of fire and or major engine failure while driving. I am sure everyone here is well aware that a blown/damaged fuse must be replaced by OEM or quality after market item.

I couldn't agree more. I hate cyclists (and I used to be one...)

Ive been doing some testing this afternoon....... Within tech stream I can monitor the difference in the voltages across the battery blocks, sadly you can only select 8 at a time!! So I set the test up twice, with the car in Neutral, A/C running so as to create a drain I ran it until I got the charge battery error massage on the dash. Once the alarm sounds then the snapshots were taken, you can see the min/max markers on each block ive read somewhere that if there’s more that 0.3 v between blocks then that can signify a cell that’s weak/faulty

I would say there is truth in the statement, but it is not universal. For example LC is bet best quality car I have ever been inside by far... and I mean that in comparison to Royce Royce, Bentley or S-Class - yes they will have something silly inside like thick planks of wood and starry sky headlining, but overall quality will be hit and miss. I mean the will be uneven stitching and especially with wear and tear, there will be creeks and rattles etc. In Lexus LC there are none - it is just perfect... or at least as perfect as I have seen to the date. Just before current lock-down I was enquiring on BMW i8 went for test drive, but they didn't have it ready so ended-up just looking at it on the lot and trying new 8-Series instead. Inside it feels solid... but just as solid as new 3-Series... Lexus LC on the other hand feels special, every button and every stalk feels like custom made and fitted to perfect fitment. I cannot compare it to anything, because there are no comparison to my knowledge. If I would need to guess then maybe some higher-end Porches are similar in build quality (not in terms of design which is quite basic/boring), but I am not big fan of them so I don't know. Last one I been in was like 2006 997, so not exactly worth comparing. Next thing, I feel like RX is very well built car, generally Lexus SUVs seems like segment where Lexus pays special attention, better than similar BMW/Audi SUVs... again probably the only comparable cars would be Porsche SUVs, I am sure Cunnilan and Bentayaga are in the level of their own, but so is the price. Going further down the tier list the NX for example is much better equipped (base equipment and options) and more solidly built than say RC or IS, both of which I consider to be worse built quality than mk2 IS. It is weird as NX in the price range sits nicely between IS and RC, but RC is by far the worst equipped car from all 3 and NX is best put together at the same time. GS was probably the last saloon (I consider LS a limousine) with true Lexus quality and roughly equivalent to RX overall. However, there are few models where I feel Lexus quality is not that great. The mentioned IS/RC were not as well built as models preceding them. CT from the begging was not a Lexus, even when compared to say Golf or especially Audi A3... it felt far closer to Toyota than any other Lexus at the time (and still does). I have tried both UX and it's twin Toyota CHR and they are exactly same quality, both ugly but I consider Lexus less ugly, especially inside, but quality is the same. Same goes for another badge engineered car - ES... just feels like a model of Toyota. In blind test I would say it is definitely Toyota and not Lexus. One model I don't know is LS, I have once driven very tired LS460 in Bahrain and wasn't impressed. Not sure if it was the condition of the car or because rental company provided it as "equivalent" to IS-F which I rented. I would assume LS ~ LC, but I don't know speak from experience here. So in conclusion, I think the overall trend is that Lexus is becoming less special and more like badge engineered Toyota, but there are still some exceptionally well build models which they offer. In terms of quality I would go from the best: LC ~LS? RX NX GS IS ~ level of new 3 Series which is kind of baseline for "Luxury cars" RC ES UX CT

Add automatic gearbox into the equation. Turned off my traction control, put it into sport mode, floored it on a (safe) wet corner and still did not lose traction. Don't think I am missing any ponies either. Maybe my idea of flooring it is too subtle. If I wanted to crash I could simply drive into a ditch.

Interesting post, Paul. The survey currently being run by the LOC shows that a third of members' cars are at least ten years old and almost two-thirds of them more than five, so that it is only natural that quality-related complaints should have been growing in number and might have become more severe in nature. That a good number of recent grievances should regard models of a low average age like the LC, ES and UX is, on the other hand, a very negative development, though it remains to be seen whether the impact on Lexus' reputation for reliability will be sufficient to weaken the marque's historically dominant position in customer satisfaction surveys. As for me, the few quality issues I have had over the years, starting with an IS200 and continuing with two IS250s and two IS300h's before two RC300h's including my present one, all of them regularly serviced, have been almost entirely confined to defects with some of the cars' bought-in components (i.e. ones not manufactured by Lexus itself or, as far as I know, within the Toyota group) such as corrosion-prone alloys and condensation-prone headlights. These were replaced no-questions-asked under warranty and usually reasonably promptly. I have had no build-quality issues except for a mysteriously noisy folding wing-mirror on an RC, and this too was replaced under warranty. Issues with electronics have been minor and always quickly resolved. Admittedly, since none of the cars were more than 3-4 years old or had done much more than 100000km when I changed them, wear-and-tear has never been an issue for me. I have always found it vexing that Lexus does not give a 5-Year warranty though I fully understand why it doesn't when its direct competitors also don't. And it could reasonably be argued that any move to lengthen the warranty would be to downgrade the marque's image by placing it in the same bracket as Mazda, Honda et al., besides Toyota itself. Ultimately, though, I think the main reason for Lexus' decision not to offer a 5-Year warranty from its easiest days was the serious (and continuing) risk of encouraging significant numbers of customers to keep their cars longer, thereby postponing repeat purchases and reducing new car sales.

I would imagine that should be strange feeling buying car this way, but I guess feelings aside... what is important is to agree all conditions on used car in writing. What I would do in such circumstances, I would try to ask all relevant questions over the e-mail e.g. service history, tyre thread, brand overall condition of the car, interior damage, exterior damage, everything what you would generally check on the car. If easier, get yourself "car inspection sheet" from internet and just go through the questions. Most used approved Lexus cars will have inspection sheet as well - you can use that as a basis to make your questions. Open ended questions are fine... "is there any damage to wheels / or interior / or exterior". Expectation is that dealership should provide list of damage to you in high level e.g. "stone chips on front bumper and bonnet", "scratch on rear bumper, left corner". Here it is their responsibility to be as detailed as possible as anything they miss, could then be used as reason to reject the car. Obviously, the more detailed are your questions the easier is to argue they misrepresented something. When you receive the car you should compare the answer to your questions and see if something is different e.g. tear in the leather I assume is important, but maybe small scratch under the front bumper could be considered within "general wear and tear" - Based on how important it is, I would again inform dealership in writing (within 14 days) whenever you happy with car condition or not. Besides if something is seriously wrong with your car, the statutory rights extends past 14 days Lexus policy e.g. when I bought my car my brakes were very worn, but I was assured they are fine. 3000 miles later different Lexus dealership reported that there are literally no inside pads left and outside were like 1mm. This was nearly a year after purchase, but I only covered 3000 miles due to lock-down. In this case I went back to dealership which sold me the car and asked them to fix brakes for free... there was a little bit of drama but in the end they agreed (largely because condition of the car was discussed and agreed in writing). So again, I think what matters - ask all questions, have answers in writing and you will always can go back see what was agreed and keep them to their word.

Having used Tony Banks before I asked for a price for the 9-3 and it was very reasonable. I'm only an hour away from him but the logistics make the trip impossible for now. Previously you could just hang around in the McDonald's up the road but you can't even do that now.

All Lexus vehicles sold in Europe have always been built in Japan.

I recently bought an as new defrosting/dimming one on Ebay for about 100€. It works a treat.

Hi all and hope we soon can get vaccinated so we can live more freely use our nice cars more. Gallons are impossible to understand. For me. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The gallon is a unit of measurement for volume and fluid capacity in both the US customary units and the British imperial systems of measurement. Three significantly different sizes are in current use: the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as 4.54609 litres, which is used in the United Kingdom, Canada, and some Caribbean nations; the US gallon (US gal) defined as 231 cubic inches (exactly 3.785411784 litres), which is used in the US and some Latin American and Caribbean countries; and the US dry gallon ("usdrygal"), defined as 1⁄8 US bushel (exactly 4.40488377086 litres). There are four quarts in a gallon and eight pints in a gallon, and they have different sizes in different systems. When it comes to miles it is just as confusing. 1 Scandinavian mile (Finland, Norway & Sweden) is more or less 10km Spanish mile a bit more than 5km Nautical mile 1.8km Great Britain mile 1.609.3426km London mile 1.524km I believe that if growing up with miles, gallons, pints (that all can come in different sizes) it is easy to understand gallons per mile. I also do not fully understand the AM/PM but OK. Must be me that is a slow learner as I find km/l a lot easier and as far as I know it could be a more precise way of figuring out how much it cost in fuel to drive from A to B. I grew up learning that. Lexus Spain tell us that the CT200H Luxury/Premium will use 3.8 litre pre 100 kilometres which is 26km/l. I think without having calculated yet when filling up and driving that I get about 20km/l but the island here is not flat at all. When going uphill gasoline engine is running constant and going down again, I get full hybrid battery rather fast so on flat roads I believe the 26km/l are possible. Anyway, we are happy with our CT and if it run 20 or 25km on one litre is all good. Tax is cheaper and insurance also than our previous cars. The pics are found searching with Google

Paul, I do it twice per year as well. Next time it will take you less than 2 hours unless there is a problem. I think I can do all 4 sides now in under 2 hours. I noticed too that the rear ones are more prone to corrosion, I guess they have to work much less than the front discs.

Dismantled the rear brakes etc this morning on my IS250, cleaned everything, removed any corrosion and greased the sliders and pad pins, pads and clips using Proslip stuff. Took me around 3 hours but next time will be 2 hours max now I know how it all fits together. I bought the car a couple of months ago and I had read on this forum about the rear brake slider pins seizing and the need to inspect and grease them regularly. I’m glad I did this as they needed doing, they were not moving as free as they should by any means and if left over winter I suspect one side may have seized completely. New discs and pads had been fitted by Lexus a year or so ago and I could tell they weren’t moving/working correctly just by looking at the discs. Took the car for a short drive to make sure everything was still working and I can feel the difference when braking already. All done for winter and I will take the good advice on here to do the same thing twice a year, once before winter and again in the spring. When I do them again in spring I’ll fit new slider pins.

ZERO difference in performance its a trim & equipment level

So, the IS300h is back. Lexus Leeds charged £768 for the head gasket change. Which I think is a more than fair price. Still come away from the experience feeling a bit let down. Since picking the car up I have noticed that there are a few marks over the car that were not there before and the engine bay hasn't been cleaned after the work or left in a very tidy state. I guess you could argue that I paid less for the service due to the problems I had with customer service to start with, but at the end of the day I am still a customer and have paid out a lot of money for a repair that in my eyes is clearly a manufacturing fault (I know the car is well out of warranty and done nearly 120k, but its been well looked after and I can't find evidence of any other IS300h with a blown head gasket. I know they are under no obligation to fix it and wouldn't expect them to fix it for free). Lexus Leeds on a whole were a bit rubbish, it took a damning Google review to get their attention and then as soon as that was removed, they lost interest in helping me. I got offered resolutions to the problem that were then removed and the car went in and out of there shop three times before the issues was resolved. I wouldn't recommend using them and the reason I haven't reported the marks on the car to them, is because frankly I am sick of them and don't want them near my car again. I would be ashamed of leaving a work space as messy as them have left my engine bay. Non of the coolant has been cleaned up, there is gasket sealant on other components in the bay. I am sure I can clean it up myself, but if this is the standard of work from a main dealer, then my mind is blown. Anyway, I have loved having the car back, its coolant has stayed level since Tuesday afternoon, so that is good news, and I am starting to remember why I bought the car and how much I enjoy driving it.

Remember a FWD car effectively pulls the car forward by the front wheels and a RWD car pushes it forward via the back wheels, From my advanced driver training days I remember being told to Not put the power down Too early in a bend with a RWD car whereas you can with a FWD car, FWD will drag you in direction you are pointing, RWD will push you sideways, you can see lots of examples of this on yooToob!!! Mostly not ending well Ha!

A close mate who has worked in tyres all his life (now retired) always told me that if you rotate then you always have to buy four tyres at once. Being a pauper at the time I always took his advice so could then spread the replacement cost. That was before directional became common.🙂

Almost certainly the 12V battery dying, but before spending money on a new one can you charge it overnight or stick jump leads on to see how it behaves with a 'known-good' 12V source?

There are several threads on the various forums about greasing caliper pins, what grease to use or not to use. There is a newly formed company called ProSlip which is marketing a pack of three little tubes of grease for the various brake components. https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ProSlip I have no connection with this company other than buying a little pot of the caliper pen grease before this triple pack was available. I asked ProSlip if they would give any discount to LOC members and they said yes! Enter the code LEX6YOU6 at checkout to get 20% off. John

No wheels need to be off the vehicle. We are not all mechanical minded, so do not be afraid to ask better safe than sorry. Plenty on utube and the like. It seems daunting but is not really. Like above have said if your not confident you may know some body who is. Like most of us on here, things seems scary or complicated and really are not. At the end of the day we can not all be good at everything. Learning and doing these kind of jobs is satisfying and also saving money.

Hi Just an update I'm afraid. Newv12v battery is here sat waiting to be fitted. The Techstream ordered from fleabay was meant to be despatched last Monday, I have post office tracking but post office have still to recieve it. Have sent message to seller asking why its still not been sent, flaming things only in Manchester, I couldve walked there and got it. I wanted to scan to see if any fault codes were stored before I changed the battery as they will dispear as soon as I do that.

Thank your lucky stars you don't have the premium with the camera in the passenger side, they're £1000