PJ S

Thanks. Do you know the mileage of the two you mentioned?

How wide is the performance gap between the two? I like something with a fair bit of overtaking ability.

All I am considering are from dealers (300 is from main dealer)

The one at the time I was still looking, was a 56 plate with 90 odd thousand, iirc.

The other one was similarish high mileage, and 56/07, again iirc.

450h would be better in the overtaking stakes by a bit, but if it was a case of just making a manoeuvre possible, then I'd say it was never really on to begin with.

In other words, with proper planning and execution, you'll not find yourself sitting overly long in the time exposed to danger zone, and the 3L V6 gives a nice noise when you're planting it, even in ECT mode and not just Sport mode......which I've still yet to try after 2.5 months of ownership (I know! I know!).

The warranty a Lexus dealer provides, can also be purchased by you directly, as long as the car is under 7 yo at the time of doing so, so had you bought the 450h, you could've been covered for an additional year or two - but you'd have spent the same £2K plus for peace of mind.

Sod's Law dictates that it's after that expense and deciding to wing it, you'd unfortunately have an issue.

Anyway, congrats on the new purchase - get some photos up - and aside from having only 256 bhp/231 ft/lbs under your right foot, I suspect you'll not be disappointed.

If your main journey is a bit of a run, then the 300 would make the most sense, even allowing for the extra £200 per annum on RFL.

Come 3 or so years down the line, who knows what extortionate price you'd be paying though, even if the hybrid's C02 level rises by the same percentage.

So if it rose to say £600, from its current £470, only you'd know if that was too much to continue with.

I want to persuade you to buy the 450, but the batteries on two 450s listed on AT this year, had been replaced, at a cost of £2000 inc any Lexus "goodwill". That's a bit unsettling as it would be hoped to have no such issues for at least 10 years, if not longer.

You'll also not benefit from London CC relief - they moved the goalposts a few years ago after entrapping buyers with a "lower" CO2 level at the time.

All in all, unless there's a lot of town/stop-start traffic encountered, the benefit of the hybrid is overshadowed by the lack of batteries concern and very doable 33-34 mpg [combined] with a light right foot (and oddly enough, plenty of cruise control usage!) in a 300.

Synthetic version?

PTFE is not a naturally occurring product, but that aside, you could make many an engine quieter with a thicker grade oil (40 as opposed to 30 for example), not to mention high pressure additives like MOS2 (molybdenum disulphide) and ZDDP, which are considered old skool nowadays, with Boron and C60 now being used mainstream rather than 3rd party consumer add-ins.

I will hope to never see you having an issue that can be attributed to the stuff you've mentioned using.

For the love of God Doug, don't you put that Slick nonsense anywhere near the Lexus!!

It's utter bollocks - sorry to be so blunt, but if you think ickle bits of plastic PTFE are going to do something positive in your engine, you're very sadly mistaken.

If you understood how PTFE is bonded to your pots and pans (baked at 600ºF, and after an acid etching!) then you'd be able to see straight through the marketing BS peddled by them.

If you want to do the right thing, later this year Miller OIls should be putting their NT technology into the road oils - I'm lead to believe it is C60, the same material in Bardahl's oils.

If you've already got the ***** 50 in the engine, get it out asap with the aid of a good engine flush - BG Products or Liqui Moly (black pro tin).

Iirc, it's a dealer set option to disable the auto re-circ default mode at start-up.

Are you trading the Merc in against the Lexus or keeping/selling it privately?

If trading, and the budget is on top of the allowance, Swindon Lexus has a 460 for £19K, which I would be pushing hard for £17.5-18K.

They may use Manchester Lexus' 460 at £21K with same mileage as proof the car is already keenly priced, but they've no idea what Manchester spent on fixing any parts, etc to make it ready for selling.

They may be chancing their arm, or the area will accept that price point, or a very generous trade-in allowance given - 101 ways how that price was arrived at.

As for the V6 300, in SE-L spec, you'll not be (too) disappointed if that's what you end up opting for, but I would suggest you look for '08 facelift at that sort of money as well.

I'd say it's more likely the sunroof drains you should be checking out first.

If you don't have a sunroof, then give your local dealer or a good independent a call, and they'd tell you where it exits.

Don't think Lexus use air suspension any more, since it's a bit of a known issue on the previous generation LS, but I could be wrong and learn that it's still in use on the big bus.

The hybrid and 430/460 share the same AVS suspension.

Insufficient engine protection in my view - a 20 weight has pathetic HTHS numbers, and even 30 weight is just okay on an absolute level.

Best all round compromise if you won't be spending much time with the engine revving over 2.5-3K rpm.

If you do fancy playing or doing a bit of 'bahn storming, then a good 40 weight will offer improved protection.

40 weight will eat into mpg.

0 or 5-30 will be more than suitable.

Not seen any mention of the shocks giving grief over on the US Club Lexus forum, so I'd be very surprised if you had trouble.

No, purchasing the Lexus warranty is only possible if the car is 7 yo or under.

Over that, you need to look at 3rd party warranties.

Buy the fixings from a local dealer, and any good mat resellers or makers will have the template for your car's footwells, so should be able to put the holes in the correct locations.

Personally, if the Battery side of things needs fixing, I'd be banking on a fair bit of goodwill from Lexus, so the £2K saved will go most, if not all, the way to covering it.

That warranty covers cars up to 7 years old, so you could play it by ear for the next 6-10 months before deciding to take the plunge or leave it.

I would've normally suggested buying the original accessory, but having bought the one for my GS at a very cheap price, somewhat used, I have to say I absolutely disappointed in the quality.

Cheap plastic when I was expecting proper rubber - so at 20 odd quid, I'm not complaining, but at £100 or whatever the parts dept think mugs will pay for a bit of Lexus embossed blown PVC, I'd have told them they could keep it!

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lexus+boot+liner - see if anything there floats your boat.

Name: Auto Finesse

Contact: 08446 93 13 93

Website: www.autofinesse.co.uk

Area: Hertfordshire/Essex/London

Name: Brazo

Contact: 07734458933

Website: www.theshinefactory.co.uk

Area: Wiltshire/Gloucestershire/Berkshire

Name: DetailMyCar

Contact: 07920 867771

Website: www.detailmycar.co.uk

Area: West Berkshire & surrounding areas.

Name: Envy Valeting

Contact: 07787160462

Website: www.envyvaleting.co.uk

Area: Hampshire/Sussex/Surrey/Nationwide/Abroad

Name: Gleams

Contact: 07878 932511

Website: http://allthatgleams.co.uk

Area: Guilford and surrounding areas

Name: invisibletouchdetailing

Contact: 07876 166 077

Website: www.invisibletouchdetailing.co.uk

Area: West Sussex / Throughout UK

Name: JMDetailing (Morty)

Contact: 07825 160285

Website: www.jmdetailing.co.uk

Area: Berkshire and surrounding areas

Name: Johnnyopolis

Contact: 07885 550540

Website: www.waxology.co.uk

Area: Hants/Berks/Surrey/London

Name: KDS Keltec

Contact: 07815049575 /01634581560

Website: www.kdsdetailing.co.uk

Area: Kent/South East

Name: *MAGIC* - Valet Magic

Contact: 01344 891891 / 07817 922095

Website: www.valetmagic.co.uk

Area: Surrey,Berkshire.

Name: Professional Car detailing (ProCarDetailing)

Contact: 07710 797166

Website: www.professionalcardetailing.co.uk

Location: Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, London and Channel Islands

Name: Refined Detail

Contact: 07930 732 839

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Name: Simply Clean detailing

Contact: 07931849725

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Area: East Sussex

Of those listed as supporters of detailing World, I can only truly vouch for KDS in Gillingham.

There's none better than Kelly, and with the train station right next to the complex, as well as Lepsons opposite for wheel refurb'ing/customising, you could do a lot worse.

That said, Valet Magic, Auto Finesse, Envy Valeting, Gleammachine (not listed), Brazo are all good guys and have been doing it for quite a while.

Sorry I'm not familiar with where most of those places mentioned are, so some/many might be impractical to employ or travel to.

Furniture Clinic or LTT Solutions are my preferred choice of leather cleaning suppliers.

Don't bother with conditioner - it's not been a requirement for car leather for about 12 years or so, when the leather was lacquered (like paintwork) which prevents anything bar water molecules (already in the cleaning solution) from entering the leather.

All the emollients and other ingredients in a conditioner will do is sit on the surface and attract dirt/dust, to become an abrasive compound for your bum and thighs to grind against the topcoat.

You've an '06 with Mark Levinson - does it have the legends DVD or/and MP3 printed below the buttons under the tape cassette slot?

If so, then you can make MP3 CDs and it'll play them happily.

If DVD is there, you can insert a DVD, and with the gear lever in P and the foot brake on, sit and watch the DVD.

If you move the lever to D or take off the parking brake, it'll give you the audio only.

There's a hack involving cutting and joining some wires, but you'll need a switch to turn it on/off as it fools the system into thinking you're stationary by not allowing the GPS signal to be received.

As such, your Sat Nav won't be accurate, but the system quickly locks on once you flick the switch off.

Assuming you actually meant connecting an iPod/iPhone or Android phone to play music on it, then you're looking at the Lexus (rebadged something or other) unit or what's considered the best option, Vasitech in the US.

SL3i for SE owners or SE-L who don't want to throw ML+ money at a solution.

ML+ will pass the digital signal through, so the ML amplifier can convert to analog for supposedly the best sound.

Maybe if the files are in 320 kb/s or ALE (apple Lossless Encoding) but if standard 128 or 192 AAC/MP3, then it's not going to be noticeable, so the SL3i (and predecessor SL2i) will be sufficient.

Get yourself registered with a free account at www.picturepush.com

Uploading, then linking the pictures from it will be straight forward.

Lexus are looking to up their sales volume across the board, but I doubt you'll see as many GSes as you do the Germanic trio, for a fair while yet.

Welcome Norman, and congrats on the new motor.

Sorry to hear of the health issues surrounding you both - father was a Parkinson's sufferer too. You have my utmost condolences on having been blighted by that bastarding disease!

Still, on a more positive note, it is a bit of a cracking car, eh?

Hope you're planning on spoiling us with some pictures of it!

The low side where you attached the gauge and filled it.

The blue cap is low side, red is high side.

You don't buy the trim separate, it's part of the ££ washer jet.

Salvage yard is likely to be the only option.

Get it reduced pronto.

Whilst illegal, vent to atmosphere like you would letting the air out of a tyre, if you don't have access to an air con unit.

Is the gauge one of those type included in the kit from Halfords? It should indicate what the pressure should normally be at - 35psi ±5 psi, irrc.

Depending on the code, it might be a simple fix or a bit more expensive.

Thanks to the guys over on Club Lexus in the US, I went from fearing (after a goodwill dealer computer hook-up) I was looking at £1500+ for the O2 sensor and upgraded ECU replacement repair, to a post-CAT O2 sensor when a second non-dealer level computer was connected, to finally a tightening of the "gas" cap!

Yes, two previous fill ups from first purchase resulted in nothing, but the dash lit up a while after low fuel light did.

Only for the CL guys, and at the second mechanic's suggestion of replacing with NGK ones (which NGK says they don't do for this model - contradicting the fact NGK US has both of them listed [pre and post]) not turning anything up, I was almost ready to buy OE ones from some eBay seller in Birmingham at £120, iirc. Much the same as Blueprint pricing, and quite a saving over the dealer price of £185+VAT!

So, tightened filler cap 5 clicks, with a bit of pressure, and after 3 starts and stops of the engine over a 4-5 hour period, the lights disappeared.

Normally, I'd always do 1 or 2 clicks with the cap, but no downward pressure when I had the Honda, so it wasn't something I wasn't doing automatically anyway - but it just goes to demonstrate the simplest of things can throw up a code.

From what I understand, Lexus US changed the gas cap part number, which normally signifies a change in the part or a different supplier (if not both), but I'm not sure where the UK is on that.

Subsequent refills, after the reserve light has been on, and estimated range under 20 miles, have gone without any further hitch, as I'm now doing the extra clicks and wee bit of pressure.

So, for future members, if you run into this issue, try the petrol cap first, and a few stop starts with driving around a bit between them - if the lights no longer remain after system check completes, then you're in the clear.

Warranty does cover the drivetrain, and before assuming, check with Lexus themselves.

In the US, the drivetrain and hybrid element got extended mileage and age warrantied - think it was 8 and 100K.

As for 15% off - doubtful, as the hybrids are the ones holding their value quite strongly, even in the face of the 4GS being on release now.

Then again, people with reliable cars like the Lexus, in these times, aren't exactly finding any need to jump out of them, so the dealers are up against it in acquiring new used stock.

If you got a grand off the price, you'd be doing well I reckon.

Have the service dept do you a 2/3 year service plan - the price you pay now, even as you pay it off monthly, is fixed. So if labour or oil, etc costs rise, you've nothing to worry about.

That's transferable if you sell the car, iirc, so I'd be looking at a contribution towards it.

If the car is under 7 yo when the 12 months are up, you can extend the warranty yourself via Lexus, which is around £900-1000 from memory.

If the car's going to be 7 yo near the end of the dealer supplied warranty, then you may be able to extend then, to come into effect once the AUC warranty has lapsed. Equally, Lexus might allow you to extend if it's a couple of month over, if you have it serviced by the dealer, and if they need to get assurance it's sound at that point.