alitech

Hi Webby I opened a similar thread just recently. you might want to have a look. http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=73341

Hi Rx300se. After reading your message, I am now even less convinced that this will work. Although you didnt mention that you cut the blade to size. Have you noticed that the blades are much longer than the stock key blades? I might get them cut down even more than the stock one just to see if it works.

something like this perhaps http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300571100099&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_5990wt_1139

Hey Lydia Thanks for the tip. I called lepsons up and got a quote for £360 for 5 wheels plus vat. It comes to around the £500 mark with the same wheels. I got a similar qoute from pristine tyres and wheels in Birmingham. Refurbishment was what I initially wanted to do, but I would still have the old wheels just coloured up to look new, whereas, for the same amount, I could have new wheels with a much modern look. Hmmmm,

Box and dobbo I will keep you guys posted on the outcome. I have just ordered another one of these and an extra uncut blade from the ebay seller. It is shipped now from China, so should take a couple of weeks to get here. Once its here, I will get a locksmith to cut the blade to size before cutting the key. I will have a go immediately while the locksmith is there to see if he has any ideas. I dont know about the silver foil idea and will also try another transponder. I have 3 working transponders all paired to the car. Only one key left though, and as they are so brittle, I might not have another key soon. Dobbo, if this works, I would definitely recommend them. They are much more solid than the original keys and have a nice and heavy feel to them too. The construction is faultless in my opinion. Thanks guys

Steve, thanks for the tip regarding insurance, will keep that in mind. I meant to say that I would be willing to cough up £500 for just the wheels. I want to keep the cost of the wheels down so that I could afford new tyres as well. My budget is actually a grand.

My alloys have corroded quite a bit now and I think its time for an upgrade. I have an 05 RX400h and for some reason, corrosion on wheels is in abundance on this car. Warranty for wheels only lasts for 3 years as opposed to the body. I tried to get them to change the alloys for me in good faith as they have done for a couple of other guys on this forum, but they declined. Possibly because of a couple of services not done by Lexus GB. In any case, I think the warranty for the alloys should be in line with the body. Perhaps I could start a vote on this and send results to Lexus GB, that's all we can do right? They make their own rules that hardly get any influence from end users. Ok, back to the topic, now that I am left with ugly corroded wheels, I was looking at refurbishment, but decided against it as I could get better looking alloys brand new for the same amount of money. So I am looking for alternative modern aftermarket alloys that compliment the look of a dark grey RX400H. Will post an image of the car here in the next post. Any ideas guys? My budget is around £500 as I want to do the tyres in the same go as well. Discuss...

Boxbrown, yes I held it close to the ignition switch while having the blade of the new key in the ignition and it started. I think this is a distance issue, but I am not sure if I get the blade cut to size, it would still work as the transponder is lodged a little further up in the new flip key case. I can give it a try but everything costs so much money its crazy. Auto locksmith rip offs.

I really like the audi type flip keys. They feel solid and work well, albeit somewhat larger than the original RX400H key. I bought one from ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-BUTTONS-REMOTE-KEY-CASE-LEXUS-RX-300-SC-250-350-/370090006609?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item562b155851#ht_1581wt_1031 and got it laser cut, fit my transponder in there only to find out that it does not work when I try to start the car. The remote and blade works fine, but it doesnt start the car, but works fine in the original key case. The blade is about 5 to 6 mm longer than the original which is what I am suspecting to be the problem as it increases the distance of the transponder and the dash.. It worked when I held my extra transponder key next to the dash and inserted and twisted the key, BINGO "READY" notification. Its sad as this aftermarket case is extremely well built, heavy and solid. The flip function works a charm and its a nice thing to carry around instead of the boring and quite frankly brittle oringinal key case (i have broken 2 in the past 6 months). Anyone else experience this? Is there another type of flip key that I can try? I would really like one, and one that works.

This is certainly a scoop in that case. Let me try to negotiate the stamp bit with my dealer. They have to do something obviously.. apart from the reciept, they do have an obligation to put something down on the service book i think.

I was just about to ask the same question... whats all that about? How come I have not heard of this before. Whenever I call them up, they always qoute £350 for minor and £650 for a major service.. whats the catch here?

are you the village idiot? Again.. you have nothing useful to add. Also, does my post suggest an intent to use kwikfit for this? I dont think so.

A couple of months back I had my rear discs and pads done at a main dealer and i'm sure I paid less than £500. Might be worth checking with your local Lexus/Toyota place first as well. Thanks got it. The first link to ebay I posted seems to be the real deal. £160 for both pads and discs. Now on to find a fitter.

if you don't have anything good to say in reference to the title of the thread?.. maybe you could find another to flame in? plenty out there where this sort of behaviour is actually encouraged.

Normski. It could have been the rear discs. I can see they are cheaper to buy.

Mine cost me 11k and its on finance for 5 years. Does that put things into perspective you insensitive numptee

Thanks Dave. Do you own an RX400h? Your pic suggests otherwise. Could you tell me which discs and pads you went for? I saw a few options one ebay. Have a look here. Here are some genuine ones with pads http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180653911213&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT Brembo http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Front-Brembo-Brake-Discs-LEXUS-RX400h-3-3i-V6-MCU-05-/170619842144?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item27b9bc2e60 Grooved ones... (not sure if they are any good) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EBC-FR-GROOVED-BRAKE-DISCS-LEXUS-RX400h-3-3-hybrid-05-/300517475290?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item45f83cc3da

Thanks for your reply. Have you ever noticed that the Lexus dealerships are right next to the Toyota ones accross the country? There service centres may be shared in the dealerships, but I can bet they will tell me to ask Lexus directly and that they couldnt help me. I will nevertheless give it a shot. Thanks for the tip.

Kwikfit are expensive no? They told me my discs are corroded and I should change them with the pads too. The front ones. This was while I asked them to change the tyre with the spare one. They were trying to get me to buy a new tyre too. Anyways, should I be worried that the discs are corroded from the inside? The outside where the pads touch the discs are shiny and look good, but from the behind and inside the vents, I am not sure if it was corrosion or just dirt coupled with oil. What should I do about this? Should I get them changed? I was qouted £385 for the discs and £100 for the pads with a lifetime warranty on the pads (replace as many times you want). But thats a lot of money. I saw some brake discs on ebay for about £90. There were some Brembo ones for the same price too. I could buy them on ebay and have some local garage fix them for cheap. Is it safe to buy these on ebay? I mean are there any issues with sizes I should look out for?

I bought my rx400h last year in September. A major service is coming up for 80k miles in about 2k miles. I have been qouted £650 for a major service at my local lexus garage in Croydon. They can do a 15% discount on that.. which brings it to around £550. My car has one service missing in its history and one service from a regular garage, but all other services from Lexus GB. My question is, will it be worth getting the Lexus service instead of a regular garage with perhaps an excellent reputation, lets say Kwikfit? Is there a good lexus service centre that is not Lexus GB so I can save on the money? I mean £550 is a lot of money for me. My car is a 55 reg. Any other Lexus service centres near and around croydon/south london/surrey who may be cheaper?

This is getting boring. Lets churn out those swear words yo.. lets get retarded in here... woo woo

I dont know where they got my details but I got a phone call a few days ago from this company. Anyone had any experience dealing with Car Protect Ltd. They are based in Sheffield. I am skeptical about their offer. It was a cold call but I entertained it. They were offering cover for all electronic and mechanical breakdowns for 2 years for a price of £521. They offered to pay for the first month so it was free for me and put the rest onto month direct debit 0% APR. I asked them specifically if it covered for the hybrid system on the RX400. apparently the caller didnt have a clue about hybrids, which is weird as they probably make a hundred calls a day. Anyways, anythign to do with the hybrid system will not be covered but all parts and service for the petrol engine, parts and labour would be covered. I had the option to cancel within 14 days of activating the policy so I thought why not, the first month is free. Will give me the opportunity to look at their documentation when it comes in and also do some googling. I cant really find much on this company, but there are loads of forums where car warranty is discussed in general with names of lots of companies. THere are loads of people complaining about the claims process, wear and tear non-claims etc etc and how flawed the whole system is. Their small print saves their asses i have read. In any case, I wanted to gauge on other people's experiences about this asap. I wil cancel if the responses are not favourable.

Came accross an aerial on ebay and thought, I just have got to have one.. you know impulse etc. Its called the Richbook sabre aerial and looks like one of wolverine's claws. It looks quite good on the car I think.. I got the chrome option. It can be viewed here http://www.richbrook-styling.co.uk/aerials/sabre--anti-theft-aerial/9 I think it looks quite nice, only when I took out the original rubber one and fit this one on there, there is a gap between the aerial and the base.. it didnt come with any gap fillers of fittings to make up the gap. I am assuming that others cars dont need any gap fillers which is why they dont supply it with the aerials. This is what it looks like right now. I would like to keep it. Was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to fill this gap up... any fitting options I can explore? Just want to get something in there so it doesnt look bad. got a couple of pictures I took from my mobile

Ok My bad, I dont know what happened here. The site seems to be very slow and I though it wasnt letting me post anything which resulted in 6 same threads and titles. Admins, would you do the honours please?