smitham

I have to say that my RX hybrid loves the Alps. We often skied there in the past and stayed in cheaper accomodation up the neighbouring mountain. So come down and back up in the morning to ski. and the reverse going back - about 12 miles each way everyday and the fuel gauge would hardly move all week. Obviously use no petrol on the way down but also the clever thing on the way up is the endless hairpins - normally you brake hard for these and go round slowly but not in a hybrid - just lift off and both the uphill gradient and regenerative breaking will slow you down nicely with the added benefit of free energy boost to help with the next uphill leg 👍

Interesting about the aircon is a problem on its own in most older cars I have ever owned. The smell can worsen to something akin to a public urinal and has been in a problem in my Ford when I lived in a humid area of the States in the 90s and back in the UK, a 5 series beamer in the early naughties and in my 400h I've has for 14 years. Yes the spray does work but is expensive and time consuming. Don't know if someone has cracked it in newer cars (e.g. I have heard something about some cars having a drying fan that stays on after switching car off) but basically, I learned years ago in my 400H, to switch off the aircon 10-15 mins before you get home on humid, hot days. This gives the unit time to dry rather than the moisture festering. If I forget (or the Mrs more likely), I also put the heater on max and max fan yes on a hot day just to dry it out. Since doing this consistently, I've never had the smelly aircon problem.

I've done maybe 10 trips to the Swiss and French Alps in my RX400h a few years ago when kids where young and I went for chains from snowchains.com as people didn't seem impressed with socks but socks are easy to fit. I tested my chains at home when we had snow and they are tricky to fit so a good idea to practice as fitting them in the dark at the side of the road in thick snow and freezing cold wont be fun - dont forget a set of dirty gloves and a towel to kneel on. In the end I never needed them as the all-wheel drive and regular summer tyre just about got away while on the move with tight spots like snow covered dirt track lanes up to airbnbs. However I did once park with front wheels on ice and when I went to reverse out, the car uselessly spun the front wheels - really stupid and had to get a push. I later learnt you either need to disable traction control - a dramatic, onerous procedure of pushing pedal and buttons in sequel, documented on here somewhere or apparently aggressive turns of the steering wheel either way cause the car to automatically engage all wheel drive but I never got to prove these. I would also get advice from the experts on snowheads.com forum. Also you will need lower temp anti-freeze otherwise you wont be able to wash snow dirty windscreens as it freezes in the tiny pipes. Also look for other tricks like avoiding tolls via Belgium and cheap Luxemburg and Swiss petrol. Switzerland and Austria require a vignette (road tax). Again check with snowheads.com for everything you could ever need to know about alpine driving. Happy motoring

Here's what I have had over 13 years of ownership: 1. Children leaving damp beach stuff hidden in the boot in bags/under cover/under front seats - look carefully! 2. Sunroof leak from not shutting it properly - use a domestic, mains de-humidifier in the car and let it run overnight to suck all the moisture. Smell went away 3. Past rear accident / bumper damage allegedly allowing tiny amounts of road surface water in - probably only at speed on wet roads. I never repaired this as advised by Lexus and the smell just went away by itself but I also do much less motorway miles now so maybe water doesn't really get in?

Sorry yes - I should be a bit clearer that the reason the aftermarket one is cheaper, is that it is primarily made of ceramic but coated in precious metal. Surely if it costs £280 vs the Lexus £1500, the aftermarket one must be only worth no more than a £5 scrap value on the black market? That's a number of hours of work to scour the streets, find a Lexus and then 2 minutes to get under it and cut the cat out? Is that worth it for a fiver - the thief will make a loss on the cost of petrol alone. Surely they will learn to target the real Lexus cats. That's what I'm hoping for anyway.

None - I fixed it for £330 (see my other post) and hope i dont need to spend money on insurance or another 150-250 on a catlock. Remember the catman replacement isnt platinum - its ceramic so worthless. Im hoping that the thief - as they seem so clever - will spot it is an aftermarket cheapy and not bother trying to take it again. Fingers crossed!

Remember there are three cats - two main cats either side of the V6 and thus, inaccessible to thieves and the third one which is a secondary cat and this is exposed on the RX and this is what they have taken in this picture. Solution - buy a replacement from catman (next day delivery) £280 and get it fitted by Carreraworx in Brentford for £50 - takes an hour. Back on the road. You can drive the car harmlessly to the garage without a cat but it will make a hell of a noise so switch off as much electric as possible particularly the aircon and it will run on electric mostly so spared the embarrassment of driving around in car that sounds like a 1950s prop plane! Finally the catman replacement isnt platinum - its ceramic so worthless. Im hoping that the thief - as they seem so clever - will spot it is aftermarket and not bother trying to take it again.

Just an update to confirm all is well with the catman replacement that was fitted last week by a local garage who did welding. This week, the car went for a Lexus main dealer service and they had no complaints since they gave it an MOT!

No need to worry about passing eyes - my thief was perfectly happy doing it in bright afternoon sunshine, parked in the street just outside my home, with my missus in between errands and in front of all the neighbours walking up and down. People seem to assume that the thief is a legit mechanic. We forget how brazen these guys are! Insurance is no good either - mine asked for a 50% contribution as it was an old car and the book value of the car is not much more than cost of the replacement cat. Cheapest option is catman plus a cheap local garage that is willing to do welding.

Good shout thank you Romasato - I went to Carreraworx and had it fitted it with a catman replacement cat. I had this done and he charged 70 quid for the welding so total cost 350 to get back on the road. The £70 also included some extra patching up as my exhaust was blowing anyway. Car now seems as good as new. Have got a main dealer service and MOT coming up so this would be the acid test. Tony from Carreraworx was a bit of a character and seems to be extremely knowledgeable and I heard him proudly boasting to the previous customer (BMW owner) that he could fix anything cheaper than main dealer and would charge 2k for his repair whereas BMW were asking for 6k! think he might be my new favourite back street mechanic. Luckily my Lexus seems to be bombproof even after 150k miles and 13 years ownership

I do know that the old test of wheel bearing wear by looking for play or movement in the wheel doesn't seem to work on the RX400h. A couple of years ago, I was confused about a low rumbling noise from one rear wheel but it only occurred when driving above 30-40 mph and got worse with speed. The mechanic directed me towards the diff having concluded the bearings were good as there was no play at all. So I went to a diff specialist who had never worked on RXs before but luckily for my wallet, he went back to the bearing and used some kind of sound device (Mrs Smitham was present, not me!) and then concluded that in fact, it was a bearing. He changed this for a modest sum and the noise duly went away - which was a relief for me. But disappointment for the engineer as he wanted to work on the hybrid diff as he said his contact in Lexus had said that there never has been a diff failure reported in the UK! So maybe, it is the bearing in your case - I would take it to a trusted gearbox and diff specialist rather than an ordinary mechanic. Btw this trusted diff engineer saved me before many years ago when I had a 5 series beamer and one day, the steptronic gearbox wouldn't engage. I took it to an ex-BMW mechanic who said, "sorry, gearbox is gone, going to cost thousands". He also offered me 500 quid for the car. I was gutted but I decided to take it to the diff engineer and waited for his call with the estimate for thousands of pounds. I was so glad I did take it, since the call came, he announced that it was "fixed". "How much?" I asked. "£30!!" So it seems all the bolts linking the shaft to the diff had fallen out, so the wheels wouldn't turn and the diff just spun in space and needless to say I never used the BMW mechanic again!

Brilliant post thanks. Endemic in the SW London area. Lexus Twickenham want 1400 and 2-3 month wait and of course, the car is unusable during this period. Other aftermarket places cheaper but now a 4 month wait. Didnt bother with insurance as would end up costing 1700 in terms of excess and NCB. Just placed an order with catman who was very helpful. But I need to find someone who can weld it in SW London/NE Surrey area.

Just had my cat stolen in the afternoon in front of neighbours. Think they thought he was a mechanic. Car sounds like a lancaster bomber from the 1940s and causes people to come out of their houses wondering what the racket is! RLexus quote was about 1500 and now a 2-3 month wait. Insurance - they also want a contribution towards the cat since the car is so old. That plus excess plus loss of 2-3 years NCB is not worth it catman - Just ordered mine but need to find someone to weld it in. Welding is not normally done on cars these days

I have done around 4000 miles in France each year for the last 6 years in my 400h and have never done anything to the lights not even switched off the AFS and never had any flashes back from angry French drivers! Such a convenience - prior to that I had a BMW 5 series with a lever under the hood which I used to have to flip each time I crossed the border and if I didnt, the french would let me know!

i got mine from http://hatchbag.co.uk/ about 6 years ago and starting to wear now from valet people trying to rip it out but underneath, the car looks new despite years of carting wet and dry paraphernalia around so waterproof. also got the optional pull out bumper protector flap and there's not a loading scratch on the bumper so essential protecting the bumper from scratches.. However I feel the flap is not long enough when you push it back into a fully loaded car - probably not an issue if you are only carrying dogs