paolo137

Ok, I've talked to Lexus, and they were kind enough to provide some useful info: they said to disconnect the battery, then WAIT 30 MINUTES. This way, all the eproms reset and the car won't think someone is trying to steal it. After that, you can disconnect the airbag plugs (or whatever). On reconnecting the battery, all I should have to do is set the radio stations and the auto windows (i.e.: lower them 10 cms, then close and keep the lever lifted for about 3 seconds). Fingers crossed...

Bad news!

On my 2001 mark 1 I've noticed some blisters on the lower part of the driver's seat, close to where you'll find the controls of the seat itself. Turns out that that part of the seat is not covered with leather, but plastic fabric, and that explains the blisters in spite of careful and regular maintenance of the leather (quite disappointing on a car like Lexus). Anyway, in order to replace the damaged section, the "seat guy" will have to remove the seat. Since he's quite concerned with the side airbags setting off (he'd better be!), he was thinking of disconnecting the battery altogether before starting the job. The question is: is there any problem with disconnecting the battery? The guy said that on other cars (brands) if you do that you'll have to enter a bunch of "secret" codes in order to restore the radio, alarm and all sort of electronic gear. I've never heard of such a thing; besides, the owner's manual says nothing about any precaution needed before disconnecting/replacing the battery. Apart from that, do you think that removing the key from the dashboard is enough to prevent the explosion of the airbags? I'll be very grateful for any info you might provide.

In Italy the car comes with a set of Pirelli Scorpion STR. I've just had them replaced for the first time in 6 years (not really worn out, but they were getting hard). Would recommend them: perform well on road, even with heavy rain, and offer great traction with snow. Never tested them off-road or with mud.

used to give it to the poors (Panda's, Citroen's...) :lol:

Well, it seems I was wrong (and Rillo was right...) The diff splits the torque evenly between the 2 axles, and can reach a 95-5% maximum balance under specific conditions. Sorry everybody!

you know, Rillo, you make me doubt of myself... I was pretty sure about this, but I'll check out! :winky:

If I may, I would not call the RX a "permanent 4WD". In a permanent 4WD you have always a good part of the torque on the second axle (for instance, my old Sierra Cossie was permanently 66% RWD AND 33% FWD, while the Delta Integrale was set on a 50-50 traction). In the RX, during normal cruise, you'll have less than 5% of the torque on the rear axle, making in a FWD to all purposes. Only in case of loss of traction (i.e.: mud, snow, heavy rain) will the automatic diff transfer more torque to the rear axle. In this most SUV's differ from traditional heavy-off-road cars, such as Rovers, because in these latter cases the traction is always on the rear axle by default, and the front wheel drive is selected either manually or automatically.

there you go: A/C filter (check out this site: you'll find more useful hints!)

Thank you, Editor! Unfortunately there must be more than that, because yesterday evening I did more than 15 miles on a motorway with the darn thing doing its stuff (I suppose), but to no result. Sometimes it would show me in the wrong lane! It took me more than 10 years to learn the basics of computers: If it works, DON'T fix it. I'll have to put a post-it on the screen of the nav, too! :)

thanks for your support. One of the things that make me wonder is that when you launch this calibration procedure, you tell the nav where you are, adjust the direction of the nose of your car, than hit "return" and... nothing. Nothing seems to happen. But if you hit the change wheel option, even after several minutes, you get a message going more or less like this: I'm busy recalibrating the fastest I can. When I'm done with this, I'll stop automatically. (Steve, you forgot to call me stupid: I deserve it! )

Here's the story a of a very stupid guy: was waiting for wife and kids in the car (rx 300 mark I) and I thought about going through the menu of the sat nav, just out of curiosity. Please notice that unfortunately I don't have the instruction manual of the dvd sat nav unit. The last option of the menu is something I would translate in English as "calibration" or "setting". Obviously, I thought to give it a try... From then on, the sat nav has become inaccurate: it just seems not to pick up the correct position of the car. I've tried this option several times by now, but I'm having troubles, also because of the lack of instructions. First of all, I assume you have to be still to caliber the unit: is it so? And just how long does it take? I've been waiting for 4/5 minutes, but the (for a reason or the other), I always abort the operation (also because it's not really easy to park an RX in the middle of a crossroad so to pinpoint the correct position...). And what about the following option concerning wheels? Is that to let the system know the size of the tires? Please, please help me! The nav was working like clockwork before, I just can't believe I did this! p.s.: I hereby authorize each and every memeber of the LOC to call me "stupid", once

I had always thought that the turbo fans were cooled by oil... I remember that the first Lancia Delta Integrale's were a bit of a nightmare for their proud owners, because they would drive their beauties to the limit, brake leaving half their tires on the ground, turn ignition off for a caffe' with the boys and... the two turbo fans would overheat and get stuck :D

You do have a good point there. As you said, some other manufacturers think differently (I remember the fan of the mighty Sierra Cosworth running for ages... ), and I thought a little fresh air under the bonnet would be better than anything at all. Anyway thanks for your reply, my friend, I feel reassured!

Seldom have I heard the engine cooling fan working since I got the car 12 months ago. But every time I heard it working, I noticed it would stop along with the engine, while I expected it to keep on turning for a while even with the engine off. Is that up to the actual temperature of the engine/coolant, or could there be a malfunction? Thanks for your comments.

No crystal balls here, sorry. But I do have some comments about your post. First of all, one of the things I appreciate most in Lexus is the fact that they DON'T facelift a model every 18 months like Mercs and BMWs. X5 is brand new right now: as you said, by the time you actually put your hands on it, 2007 will be almost gone. So, the facelift for the X5 will be 12 months away. On the other hand, if Lexus continues with its long established policy, the 400 will remain the same for the next 3 years, I would say. Second, and please forgive me if I get a bit personal and nasty, no one on this earth needs a 45 K £ car. You buy one because you like it and you can afford it (I can't, and that makes me a 2nd hander... :winky: ). So if you like the X5, or the 400H or whatever car pleases you, go get it and stop worrying about its future value, the market, the updates... What if you put 50 grands on the X5 (say) and every given morning you look at that blue and white logo in the middle of the wheel and wish you had bought the 400H (or vice versa)?

I can see your point, but comparing a large, heavy SUV with the aerodynamics of a brick wall to a sleek and "light" coupe' such as the Saab does not make sense to me... The 400H is not about saving on petrol, it's about getting more from the petrol you pay for. Compare it with other large SUVs (X5, Ml, Range, even Cayenne), and you'll find out that it's the one giving you the best performance/consumption ratio, or the other way round. Given that, any large diesel engine will give you better mpg on a motorway, but then you'd be driving a truck... :winky:

You know, s**t happens, as they say! No one says that a Lexus will NEVER have a problem. The point is that problems, on a statistical basis, are by far less common than any other make (particularly Mercs!). I'm pretty sure that the care of your problem that will be shown by your local Lexus dealer will prove that there's no such thing as a perfect car, but some commit to customer's satisfaction more than others... Good luck and keep us up to date!

Well. then you can buy the whole dvd factory! :D Congratulations once again! Would like to know why there's so much difference in the price of Toyota/Lexus cars between US and Europe, but that would be slightly ...

Lucky devil! How much did you save? At your local Lexus dealer, of course. Be prepared to pay a bunch of money. Leaving aside any legal consideration (I'm SURE you DO know that copying a DVD you don't own is not legal and you're just asking out of curiosity ), I've never ever seen anything the like on the net. Besides, there are issues with the compatibility of the different versions of the DVD's available. Sometimes a dvd shows up on ebay, but given the above mentioned difficulties, I'm pretty sure that your choice to buy the original from Lexus is the best one! :winky:

Thanks, Lelandv. your kind reply will be translated and forwarded right away.

There's this guy I "met " in another forum who's mad about the hybrid, particularly after testing it (guess some of you know the feeling...) His only concern is the perfomance of this particular model with snow, since he lives in the eastern italian Alps and driving up a pass with 15 inches of snow is quite common there. He does not trust entirely the "electric" part of the 4WDriving. Now that winter is almost gone, has anyone tested the 400H on snow? What was it like? Thanks for your advice!

Do you know where I can get a cheap european sat nav dvd..my uk version is a bit basic on the back roads of geneva. According to what I've read around (in this forum and else), there's just one version ov the European DVD, but I may be wrong. Guess someone else can confirm that. As for the cost, I'm afraid that "cheap" and "satnav dvd" can't get along in the same sentence... Have seen a couple on ebay, they were from people that had bought them (on ebay) only to discover that they had the wrong version, whici seems to be a common issue. Before starting your search, you'd better be sure a "new" dvd would be a better one. Good Luck! P.S: Who needs natural snow? We have cannons!

Thanks, Fergy and James. Actually my main concern is not going "up", but "down". I live on the top of a hill, and daily trip to work is 4 kms, all down the hill. When I start the car, particularly in winter, the engine idles at a high pace, of course because it is cold. But that, coupled with the lack of "engine braking" typical of the automatic transmission, forces me to set the gear at least to 2 even with clean roads. With snow, avoiding using the brakes too much becomes a priority. This morning I set the gear to L AND used ECT. Now I wonder: If the ECT makes the car pull away in second, what happens then? I start in second and then it gears down automatically to L? Anyway, I'm fully satisfied with the car's performance on snow and don't really think I'll ever need winter tyres (hopefully!). Besides, my situation makes me a perfect client for the 400H: I would use the engine only to get back home! Can't wait to find a used one! P.S.: James, are you the guy who bought the RX at a sort of auction? How is the car doing?

Have just tested my mark 1 on snow for the very first time. Baby performed remarkably well, in spite of a rather worn out set of Pirelli Scorpions (had heard dreadful tales of people sliding like Holiday on Ice with their X3's and X5's :winky: ). I've tried the ECT snow button too. My manual only says that, when pressed, it will set gear into 2. Does this mean that the gear is locked in second, or you still have the "low" option? What else does the ect function do? Thanks to everyone for your posts!