Stupot

21 hours ago, MaximusPrime said:

Excellent news! It’s like the Wild West that place, but oftentimes you can score an absolute bargain or in this case - potentially find a bumper! 🙂

Yep, he bought it. Not a bargain or in great condition... but perhaps the only one available in the UK right now! Thanks to all the replies. 

On 4/27/2022 at 4:41 PM, MaximusPrime said:

What about Facebook

This may have produced a lead 

Unfortunately, Paul Frost has none, and is not hopeful any will come along soon due to scarcity!

Amayama might have one though.

Thanks Steve... Paul Frost is a good call as well. I'd assumed my mate had tried him (being on ebay), but perhaps he has not... I'll pass him his details. 

Thanks Max... I looked on the Rock Auto website but could not work out if they had what we needed. I had forgotten about Amayama... good call.

Stu

My friend owns an LS400 Mk4, 1998, that is in need of a complete front bumper (any colour). He's having no joy at scrap yards or on eBay. Does anybody perhaps have one lurking in their garage that is no longer required? Or any bright ideas on where else he should look? Many thanks in advance.

I used this place to replace the capacitors on my old LS400 ECU... you will have to remove the ECU yourself

https://www.dieselecurepairs.co.uk/

Agree, the red looks better... and unless you wanted those ugly rear DVD screens on the silver one, I'd reject it that basis alone. Am I correct in thinking the 450h still suffered the water ingress issues of the previous versions? I've certainly seen very misted up 450h's around during winter. So maybe check for smells and damp carpets.

With all the recent rain, it could be the dreaded water ingress issue (look at other threads on this forum). Pull out the black trays under you boot floor flaps and have a look for lots of water... if so, it might have got into the hybrid Battery tray.

2 hours ago, Delphius1 said:

Being heavy they tend to wear the anti roll bar bushes and drop links. Keeping all that weight upright on corners is hard work! Luckily cheap to replace and easy DIY jobs. 

Just looking at those on eBay for mine. Obviously best to replace as a pair... looks like the part fits either side... is that correct?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fits-Lexus-RX-300-Genuine-Delphi-Front-Stabiliser-Anti-Roll-Bar-ARB-Drop-Link/293138496962?fits=Car+Make%3ALexus|Model%3ARX|Cars+Type%3A300|Plat_Gen%3AMHU3_%2C+GSU3_%2C+MCU3_|Cars+Year%3A2004|Variant%3AMHU3_%2C+GSU3_%2C+MCU3_+[2003-2008]+SUV&hash=item44406a7dc2:g:Rf4AAOSw78hdGfz2

10 minutes ago, runsgrateasanut said:

Couldn't see rear holes in the sunroof but as I missed the front ones, I'll search again

I couldn't see them either which is why I tackled from the bottom up as it were. The tubes on the Mark 4 were under the boot matt floor, either side of the spare wheel exiting around the rear arch area... I didn't notice/think of them as sunroof drains until it came to the problem.

I had wet in the boot of my LS that turned out to be blocked sunroof drains (after changing the bootseal did not work)

The rear sunroof drain tubes are thankfully easy to get at on the LS if your 93 version is same as MK4. In the boot, under each side boot floor flap, a tube on each side drains out into one way vent flaps. I removed the tube from the right angle connector and put my mouth round it and gave it a good blow (leave sunroof open) and it cleared the evident blockages... no more wet boot after that.

2 minutes ago, Illogan said:

If you have (or can borrow) a set of simple damp probes (as used by builders and DIYers) they could also assist in determining damp areas.

If you do, careful where you stick them... lots of wires run under footwell carpets! But agree with 'Illogan' press your fingers hard into the footwell carpets under the matts, then give em a smell if you have not already done so.

Have a read of this article (link below)... remember, breakdown cover is just insurance by another name... no more, no less. We have been with 'Autoaid' for about 7 or 8 years who used to be £39 for a couple, any car, but over last few years has drifted up to £59.99. On the rare occasion they have been needed, they were excellent. Your Green Flag quote sounds good, but you will need to move after a year if they significantly increase their price.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/breakdown-cover/

2 hours ago, PCM said:

I'm sure I put a post here... but it's gone?

You did, I saw it, you are not going mad... it has indeed gone, there was a notice about maintenance to the website/forum, perhaps to do with that? The OP's response has also vanished.

I have a relative who has an 06 RX350 SE-L with air suspension. Purchased from Lexus when only 3 years old with circa 30k on clock. It's been fully serviced by Lexus ever since, but in last two years with about 130k on clock, one by one, the air suspension has failed and has cost him circa £700 per unit to replace (Lexus parts & Labour), so £2800 in all.

If you are handy, you can import the parts and fit them your self for less, or get an indy to do it. Remember, you are looking at a 15 year old car...It seems that the air suspension is a matter of if, not when, it fails... as is testified to by many threads on this forum and other Lexus models with air suspension.

Have you checked if the suspension has already been replaced on the one you are considering? You might be lucky.

PS: Apologies for the doom story...I know you are asking for positive 'air' experiences, and I do hope you get some in due course.

My reply in another thread re water ingress on the RX....

When you have an hour to spare, read this thread... it's possible that the membrane behind your rear door card has been messed with or a door seal gone etc... but water will settle at lowest point, so wherever you are experiencing water, the rear boot of the RX is probably the source because it can run from the boot into the cabin...see my write up below.

So....I was aware of the RX leak problems before I purchased my RX300 last month which indeed came with wet rear footwell carpets. The history showed Lexus had already had a go at fixing water ingress in 2014 swapping out the rear light gaskets.

I tested sunroof drains, they were OK and clear, sealed up boot lid hinge plate bolts...

I stripped out the rear boot floor/plastic trays etc. I sat in the boot of the car when it rained and watched water seeping in along the seams at back under boot lip exactly as per pictures on the last page of the above thread posted in March 2018 by 'Steve.ch'. No water came in from rear lights, so that was one possible ticked off the list.

Looking in the stripped out boot, I could see how water coming in could find it's way to the cabin carpets via gaps on each side of the 3 or 4 inch high crossbeam/bulkhead running just behind the rear seats. I had an idea!!!! I wanted to have a go at fixing the leaks in time, but I wanted dry carpets much quicker than that. So, a 'managed coastal erosion' kind of thing sprung to mind. I filled the gaps each end of the crossbeam/bulkhead with expanding foam, once dry, I sealed over with bathroom silicone sealant which I also ran along the seams the of crossbeam and in it's holes. My aim was to prevent water reaching the cabin from the boot. Secondly, there are several small rubber grommets covering 5mm-ish holes in several places in the boot floor. I removed these, now water can come and go as it likes without wetting the carpets.

I put everything back together and dried out the rear carpets as much as possible with swapping over towels with weights on them to sponge up the water... I also had an 8 hour drive to do over Xmas, so did this with heating on full aimed at the floor, sunroof open to vent the moisture (luckily no rain)

It's worked... the rear carpets are dry even after heavy rain. I can lift out the plastic trays and see only a cup full of water accumulates at the back of the boot after rain (our drive has a slope and I park rear down... old habit from the LS) before it runs out of the holes.... and now after the long drive, with no rain, the boot is bone dry because it's also getting ventilation via the opened grommet holes.

I might get round to fixing the actual source of the leak, but no rush now!

I just changed from a LS400 to an 04 plate RX300 SE in December. I'm very happy with it...If looking for a practical car with a good dollop of luxury and refinement, that's pretty reliable and cheap to buy... then that era of RX is hard to beat. If you are patient and lucky, you should be able to pick an RX300 up with circa 100k for much less than £3.5k. I'm sure you already know the RX300 is not good on fuel... expect low 20's mpg

Some of the RX300 and 350s have the air suspension option which I wanted to avoid as it's £700 a corner to fix when they go wrong. So unless you want the air suspension, watch out. It came on the SE-L model, but many dealers and even private advertisers list their car as an SE knowing buyers want to avoid the air suspension. The giveaway is the air suspension adjustment switch just above the gear stick.

The 350 is currently going to cost you £570 in car tax which is mitigated by the slightly better mpg (about 2mpg) verses £325 for the RX300. The 350 is chain driven so no timing belt to worry about, the RX300 needs a belt every 100K or 10 years.

Re car tax.... the new government has it's first budget on 11th March and I'm expecting them to come after SUV owners... so you may want to wait and see what happens there.

I looked at several RX400h and a few RX300... but the 400h were always a LOT more pricey like for like and the examples I viewed were not worth the extra purchase cost. If they were all the same money, I'd have a 350, all the power without the hybrid to worry about.... but my RX300 was screaming at me to buy it on shear value alone. 

13 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

All that is for is to allow the Nav system to calibrate the wheel diameter so when you lose GPS signal it still accurately tracks you on the road. It has no connection to the vehicle engine/transmission/drivetrain.

Thanks Colin. I doubted it would do much seeing as it was a feature available to owners rather than only dealer/mechanic.

1 hour ago, Ianianian said:

Stupot, what happened when you pushed the button? 

Nothing that I noticed! Was parked at the time and then ignition switched off, so perhaps needs activating just before driving. 

On 2/5/2020 at 11:17 AM, Delphius1 said:

These safety systems are great when the car is perfect, but they can quite easily be thrown out by faulty sensors or even something as simple as a mismatched tyre. You really should replace all 4 tyres on the car at the same time and rotate them around the car at intervals, because uneven tyre wear can cause issues not only with TC ABS and VSC systems, but also the AWD system. Luckily on the 400h there's no direct connection tween the front and the rear axles like the RX300.

My RX300 has a 'new tyres' button that I stumbled across somewhere in the menus of the sat nav screen that I presumed does something/calibration but I don't know exactly what? I did press it recently after having two new front tyres. I have a part worn set of tyres on the back that so far has not caused any problems.

The headlamps just need polishing, not replacing. Dulling lenses is a common problem on many makes of vehicles at a certain age. You can buy a polishing kit on amazon/ebay and do it your self, or there will be local companys offering this service. Search for 'headlight restoration'. Just get some quotes... only takes a couple of hours so should be under £100

This one mentions headlight restoration in Sothampton https://www.finishingtouchcarcosmetics.co.uk/mobile-scratch-repairs

https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/category/Automotive--Aircraft---Boat/Headlight-Restoration-Hampshire-UK-857199994424668/

Bishops Waltham http://lex-tech.co.uk/toyota-lexus-headlight-restoration.php

Hampshire (probably mobile) https://www.clearheadlight.co.uk/

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

I couldn't find any local locksmiths and/or key cutters to cut it.

Agree, the very local locksmith in our town did some considerable sucking of teeth and told me I'd be lucky to find someone to cut it before pointing me in the direction of the locksmith that did, in my nearest city! So your suggestion does sound a better route.

1 hour ago, TomSaintJames said:

How easy is it to replace keys on these? I imagine they need to be registered with the cars electric wizardry? The valet and the spare (now my key apparently!) are both falling to bits which i imagine is quite common.

Lexus will charge you the earth. I bought one of these blanks off eBay (£2.25) and got a local key cutter (they must have a lazer cutting machine) to cut the blade from the old one (£10) You just pop the transponder in from the old key and job done.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-BUTTON-KEY-FOB-CASE-for-LEXUS-RX400H-SC430-RX300-IS200-300-GS300-short-Blade/283544136765?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Could the whine be anything to do with the hybrid regen motors or the like, and therefore normal? I believe I have read other RX400h members on here mention just such a thing. I went to view and test drove a handful of RX400h's a couple of years ago, and I certainly noticed a slight whine which was more noticeable on on some more than on others... perhaps down to state of charge of the hybrid Battery or other variable?