TeesLS460

No, it definitely cancels out at around 24mph, and won't reactivate till I'm doing at least 30mph. I have tried it several times. I went to my local Lexus dealer today, and they are going to try and find out if there is something that can be switched, or maybe if there's a software update available. The car has already had a new spec ECU fitted as part of the recall.

To get to the hidden service menus: 1. Switch the lights stalk to off 2. Press and hold the INFO button 3. Toggle the lights stalk to "sidelights, off, sidelights, off, sidelights, off" 4. Release the INFO button Be very careful when looking through the hidden service menus. As other threads on this site attest, it can cause no end of trouble if you make the wrong changes. Upgrading from the Renault Megane CC to the Lexus LS460 wasn't so hard, via a lease purchase. £5K deposit, then £1379 per month for 35 months, followed by an optional final payment. As I take the cash as a dividend from my company, the gross tax on it is at 20%, making my monthly 'car tax' effectively £280 per month with the company effectively picking up the bill for the car. Now to Haylands' perfectly valid point about driving while tired. I believe that this is not a black and white issue - there are levels of tiredness at which it is still safe to drive. If I considered that I was too tired to drive safely, I would not have driven at all, just as I don't ever drink and drive, or text/phone while driving. LKA will not allow the user to drive handsfree, and the driver monitoring system in the LS460 will let you know if it considers you are not paying attention. These systems, together with adaptive cruise control do have their place in modern motoring. I for one am glad that we have them.

Went to London again last Friday evening, with the wife following in the RX400h. I was already very tired after a full day's work, and didn't fancy travelling, but we had to be there that evening for family commitments. That's when LKA is at it's most useful. Even on the main A roads, and motorway sections with no street lighting, the LS460 instinctively follows the lanes, and many times, it steered for me before I could react... I should rename my car from "Elle" to "KITT". Oh yes, despite both cars travelling together at a decent pace, I got 25.7 mpg from the LS460, and my wife got 23.1 mpg from the RX400h

My cruise control automatically cancels out when the car in front slows down to around 24mph or less. I have to take control at that point. I would like it to work automatically to a standstill, and have been through the hidden service menus to see if it's switchable, but so far no luck. Does your LS600h have full cruise control down to standstill? If it does, I might ask my dealer about this - the LS460 brochure mentions it but it doesn't seem to work that way on my car at least.

Frankly, I'm also shocked that the LS600h doesn't have LKA - it's one of the stars of the car IMHO. Is your LS600h a UK version, or an import? I understand that American cars for example don't have the LKA system. I'm a bit dissapointed in the fuel economy figures you quote though. My LS460 can get over 30mpg on a long run as well. I find that the economy is better if you leave the cruise control on rather than using your right foot. But the LS is a great car. Enjoy!

It's funny how in although in group tests it came a distant third to the M3 and C63 AMG, but when you actually have the car for more than a couple of days, the Lexus qualities shine through. It was the same with the LS460 they had on long term test.

I can confirm that the '08 RX400h does not play MP3 files from DVD even with the Mark Levinson system (also the same issue in the LS460).

I guess the previous owner did know the code, but didn't want to tell you because he used the same code for his credit card pin, his house alarm, and everything else I'm different though, I use different numbers for everything. Pain in the neck to remember them all :winky:

Indeed seat comfort is a very important issue. I found myself experiencing severe back ache a few weeks after switching cars from my old Renault Megane to my LS460. More than a few times, I wondered if the change in car had something to do with it. The seats are hugely adjustable, but it also means it's easy to set them to the 'wrong' position - something that feels comfortable in the short term, but long term may be the wrong posture. As far as the ride goes, it's nice and soft compared with the GS series. In comfort mode, it even feels slightly 'American' in terms of how bouncy it is. I fear that a test drive would not be long enough to accurately tell if the car is the right one for you. The back ache is now cured though, by my spending some time at the gym a few times a week B)

I recently got a letter from Lexus advising me of a recall (not the word used) to upgrade the ESP ECU and the engine idle pulley on my LS460, because the original specification parts could cause problems in some circumstances. Needless to say, I booked the car in straight away. I took the car in first thing on Monday morning, and was given a GS300 SE-L loan car. My god, the ride is harsh on that model I got a call about 4pm saying that the car was ready, and on collecting it, I found it had been valeted, filled with petrol, and I was given a bottle of champagne for my trouble :D I've had other cars before recalled, and the dealer service is nothing like as good as Lexus.

The LS460, while not coming with a TV option, does have a composite video and stereo audio phono connection set in the centre console, so you could hook up a portable TV tuner. I'm not sure if it displays on the front screen or just the rear screen though.

I had a GS450h as a courtesy car, and the boot space is too small for me. The CVT makes the car sound like a lawnmower under hard acceleration (same in my wife's RX400h) - make sure it wouldn't put you off. I strongly recommend you take an extended test drive if at all possible before deciding.

The Bridgestones on my LS460 are marked Turanza ER33, also in 245/45/R19, rated 98Y. Cost £740 for the set including fitting/balancing etc.

Just just changed all 4 of my Dunlop SportMaxx 245/45/R19 tyres at 9500 miles on my LS460, due to having lit up the rears after turning off the traction control, and the fronts being worn at the shoulders due to my hard cornering. I replaced them with Bridgestone tyres (the Dunlops were on back-order apparently) and the ride is even smoother and quieter than before. I would note however, that the LS460 (maybe all LS's) is pretty sensitive to tyre pressure variances between tyres. Probably because the ride is normally so smooth that you tend to notice anything that is less than silky.

I've recorded a short video of the DVD headrests working. it can be seen on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c0BnfkC-JA

I got the car back today after having the system (and front and rear parking sensors) fitted. First impressions of the new DVD headrests are that they are good but could have been great but for a bit of tweaking. The headrest poles do come with 12mm adapters which are necessary to fit properly in the seats without wobbling. These adapters have to be dropped into the seat first, and positioned until they click properly otherwise the ratchet function does not work. The Lexus DVD headrest covers do fit over these wider headrests, but it's a tight stretch. Picture quality and sound quality are absolutely fine (480 x 234 resolution) with bright, crisp images, reasonable sound from the built in speakers, and clear sound using the FM transmitter built in, playing through the car speakers. I tested the system with 2 movies : The Fifth Element playing on the front passenger headrest, and Bean - The Ultimate Disaster Movie, playing on the driver's headrest. Now the bad news: 1. When you play the movie through 1 headrest and view it via the AV in on the second headrest, the volume controls on the 2nd headrest are frozen out. You can get around this by setting it to play out via the FM transmitter on a frequency you are not listening to. 2. When you play a DVD and select a menu option, for example to play the movie, it doesn't choose what you selected. In the case of the Fifth Element, any menu choice would play the movie trailer, but at least after skipping chapters you get to the movie proper. The Fifth Element DVD I used is over 10 years old and maybe the menus don't work in quite the same way. When I tried the same thing in the movie "Bean|", initially the same thing happened, but at least when I pressed the "Title" button during playback of the trailer, it jumped to the proper menu and then correctly to the movie. Update - after playing with the setup menu on the units, I tried this again, and this time it worked perfectly :)

It's possible to fit them without any effect on warranty since the old headrests pull out and the new ones drop in without any cutting. You could wire them up to a cigarette lighter adapter (about £3 from maplins), then swap them back with the original headrests if you change cars or want any warranty work done with no clue that the car had ever been modified. I am having them fitted permanently to the 12v accessory power to have a neater job, and to keep the cigarette lighter socket free, but since the dealer is doing this for me, I don't foresee any problems. These headrests are significantly wider than the standard RX400h headrests. This only has an impact on the cloth covers which you can buy from Lexus to hide them. Right now I don't know if the standard ones will fit these headrests. If they don't fit, I will just have my mother-in-law make some from black cloth for me :)

After threatening to cancel my order. Lexus GB agreed to sell me the car without the rear screens fitted. They simply relabelled the car as an SE with Multimedia, instead of an SE-L. I picked it up on 17th March, and so far am quite happy with it, though it doesn't compare at all to my LS460 SE-L :-) I have since ordered and received 2 replacement headrests with DVD players, memory card readers, and game consoles built in (cost only £60 each + £45 delivery from China) in black faux leather. They look fantastic and I am having them installed by Lexus Teesside on the 21st of April (having front and rear parking sensors fitted at the same time). The DVD player headrests I received can be found on the chinavasion .com website if you click on the car video link on the left side of the page, then click on the headrest/armrest monitors link.

I ordered a new RX400h SE-L for my wife, which was due to be picked up yesterday (1st March). The car was not ready though - being fitted with an upgraded ICE system (rear DVD screens) by Lexus GB. We were shown one car which had arrived at the dealer, and we were both shocked by how ugly the new system was. It might well have more features and a better quality display, but the whole thing looks like something you would buy out of Halfords, and worryingly, it makes the car more of a target for the opportunist thief who may break a window to try and rip the units off the back of the front seats. At least with the old system the screens were discreetly embedded in the headrests, and there was a neat cover which could be slipped over the headrests to hide the unit. We have told our dealer that unless we get our car as originally ordered (with the old ICE system) we will cancel the order. I really hope that Lexus can supply us with the previous version.

I had the opportunity to drive 3 of Lexus Hybrid drive vehicles yesterday in their "Drive the Future" event. I started with the LS600hL. The back seats are nice, and the shiatsu massage function is great, and I like the way that the entire dash was covered in leather, instead of the plastic from my LS460, but to be honest, I found that the car was noisier than mine, and (shock horror) did not feel as fast. while the boot was even smaller, it was not so small as to be unusable, but was certainly not befitting a car of this range. I also took the opportunity to drive the GS450h and the RX400h. They drove similarly, and I decided to get a new RX400h SE-L for my wife to replace her Renault Scenic

I added a new video of the car today, trying to demonstrate the Lane Keep Assist. After editing the video and posting it, it's clear that it doesn't show the steering movement very well, but at least you get to see a few more graphics from the LS460 display It's at http://uk.youtube.com/sumanr35

I asked my Lexus dealer about it when I noticed the button did nothing when parked. They said it was a "Ferry Lift" - for driving up ramps, and operated only at speeds abot 2.5 mph. I use when driving over speed humps.

Does the LS400 have a boot release lockout button in the car somewhere, like the LS460? If so, have you checked that?

It is... For those that receive the Lexus magazine through the post - see Lexus Quarter Four 2007 Pg 11. There's also a mention of the replacement GS430 - the V8 GS460 with the 8 speed auto gearbox (same as the new LS i'm guessing...) Indeed the GS460 has the same engine and gearbox as my LS460. But I have to say, if I was buying a new GS, I would go for the GS-450h. I had one as a courtesy car while mine was in for a dashboard creak fix, and it was plenty fast enough, with instant torque, silent running at low speed, and apparently good fuel economy. But I have to say, owning a new LS460 does spoil a person...the interior of the GS450h felt cheap and plasticky after that Sorry - I don't mean to disrespect any owners - they are fine cars. Have to say though, the GS450h has one small issue... the boot... can anyone see it? lol Wish I had the LS460! Or even the LS600h for that matter! That doesn't appear to have lost any boot space... no idea where they stuck the battery in that one... D. Ah, boot space - the LS460 has 505 litres, the LS460 SE-L (mine) has only 385 litres, and the LS600h has 330 litres.

It is... For those that receive the Lexus magazine through the post - see Lexus Quarter Four 2007 Pg 11. There's also a mention of the replacement GS430 - the V8 GS460 with the 8 speed auto gearbox (same as the new LS i'm guessing...) Indeed the GS460 has the same engine and gearbox as my LS460. But I have to say, if I was buying a new GS, I would go for the GS-450h. I had one as a courtesy car while mine was in for a dashboard creak fix, and it was plenty fast enough, with instant torque, silent running at low speed, and apparently good fuel economy. But I have to say, owning a new LS460 does spoil a person...the interior of the GS450h felt cheap and plasticky after that Sorry - I don't mean to disrespect any owners - they are fine cars.