julian1969

I would think this sort of thing would be very dangerous / annoying. turn off car, pop filler cap, jump out, start filling car, ker-lunk, damn left my keys inside... certainly something that would make me think twice about buying one if it wasn't defeatable.

Suspension is a consumable component, so replacement costs have to be factored in, air suspension is much more expensive than normal coil and damper types. It also has a complex control mechanism of sensors and CPU's to control it and these too may fail and are expensive. As for inherent problems, I have heard that the sensors can suffer if you live near the coast or 'off road' a lot but i don;t think they are problematic as such. If you get a warranty that specifically covers the air suspension then go for it but if not i'd avoid due to the increased costs if something does go wrong.

I was under the impression that timing chains do not need regular servicing other than perhaps the guides they run on. The PSD gearbox in the 400h does take some time to get used to - mainly that there is no correlation between engine note and road speed but that quickly becomes a non issue. As for the difference between 2 and 4 wd i can't say it's ever bothered me other than when I had sub par tyres and the torque steer was a bit savage, now it's got decent boots it's hardly noticeable even under hard acceleration off a roundabout. Personally I'd try and find a good 400h as the tax and MPG are far better and unless you want to do heavy towing or a lot of off roading it will be better all round.

Was that an LS430 on the Italian trailer just after he blows through a zebra crossing in the Lamborghini? Looks good will be watching.

I used to get so fed up with this back when i owned coupes that I'd park on the outer edges of the car parks at an angle across 2 spaces, preferably on the end of a row just so I could get back into my car. To this day I prefer to park on the edge of car parks and enjoy a bit of exercise (although no longer take up two spaces as I have a 5 door rx ) rather than risk door dings and difficult access.

looked at the price of good 900 turbo convertibles and they are north of 15k. A few years back a decent one would set you back 3k and a mint low mileage one was 7-8k so they are on the way up.

Are you sure they aren't referring to 'full no claims bonus'? This can take up to 10 years to accrue for some insurance companies. I passed my test back in the 80's green license, then pink and recently photo card.

OK from memory, Pre car test: Suzuki OR50, Kawasaki AR80, Yamaha RD125LC (fell of all of them, no more bikes for me) MG Metro, Fiesta XR2, Moved to the states: Chevy Day Van, Datsun 200SX, Geo Metro. Moved back to the UK: Fiesta XR2, Hyundai Sonata, Citroen BX TZD, Peugeot 406 coupe 3.0v6, Lexus LS400, Seat Alhambra TDi, Honda Accord i-CTDI, Mitsubishi JDM GTO twin turbo, Peugeot 407 coupe 2.7 diesel, Audi A6 2.8 quattro, Kia Cee'd, Nissan Leaf, Lexus RX400h. Can't really see myself in anything other than a Lexus from her on out - I'd love another LS but it's not really practical so will probably get another RX of some sort in a few years time unless I win the lottery in which case it'll be an LC and i'll make it work lol.

lovely Saabs. I did some work experience in a Saab garage that also made and sold Saab specific garage computer systems and software and have loved the cars since then, such a shame they are no longer made. Transferring your phone book via bluetooth is a nightmare apparently and only really viable if you have certain android devices. Also the annoying safety feature of the infomatics systems only allow you to use quick dial whilst on the move. I manually entered my 10 or so most commonly used numbers manually which works ok for me.

Lovely car and a minty Saab 900 turbo 16 convertible is one of my 'must own' cars.

I've heard that running the tank low on a hybrid can induce some temporary drive train glitches but not heard of the fuel gauge being inaccurate before. I got about 30 miles of motroway miles out of mine on the fuel light before i bottled it and filled it. You might just need to give the camera lens a quick wipe - it gets manky pretty quickly.

so how do you get into the thing then? no door handles that i can see! No doubt as with most big BMWs it'll be a money pit after the warranty expires.

Yep GS was my first choice and saw a few very nice 450h SE-L's I could have gone home with but in the end, as you say the boot is just too small for a family - especially as the seats don't fold. The RX ticked all the boxes for me and although doesn't have the same level of equipment (radar cruise, vented seats and more modern infotainment would have been nice) it's still a lovely place to sit in a traffic jam.

If you look you can find se's with everything bar the rear screens. Afs Levinson seat memory, just make sure you check the pics not the specs. Certainly go for history over mileage but more important is drive it and if anything feels wrong walk away.

Afaik dvds aren't possible something to do with no DVD playback during driving. There are a few threads on it in the us Lexus forums. I think someone did get dvda to work but not MP3. Best bet is a grom, yatour or similar for usb playback.

At 10k you are looking at good to very good 400h's or well used 450h's. Personally I'd be looking at a 400h SE-L or Executive Ltd Edition with the post 2008 facelift (blue lexus badges) for that money. The 400h never came with air suspension so you can cross that worry off your list and the SE-L has all the kit you could want including rear entertainment. Some ELE models also have rear entertainment but not all iirc. Some SE models are specced with everything (usually not rear screens) but you have to be careful as some don;t have seat memory or other refinements that were optional so you have to scour the pictures of the cars rather than rely on the advert to get a proper idea of the trim level. Hybrid batteries? Sometimes a cell will go out which can cost a few hundred to replace or if you know what you are doing there are web guides to DIY. This is rare though. My 57 RX400h has zero battery issues after 10 years and has only lost 1 bar of capacity. Really this is not an issue. Electric motors, probably the most reliable part of a bullet proof car, I don;t think I've ever heard of one dying. 4wd is at the computers discretion, still fared better in an uphill muddy field in the rain than the jeep cherokee behind me (probably because I was driving slowly but maintaining momentum rather than spinning my wheels like a muppet - my tyres were borderline too ) Downsides: 1) I'm a big lad and could do with another few cm's of seat travel and width. 2) No USB or music playback via bluetooth - this can be remedied for £100 though so not a huge deal - my iphone 6s pairs for phone calls fine though. 3) Handling is a bit roly poly but then it's a massive 4x4. ummmm that's it really. Fast, comfy, quiet, spacious, OK off road, 30mpg average with 40+ on a run. Can't think of a better car for me.

We've had a couple of cars from new and always regretted it due to depreciation - the worst being a 30K nissan leaf worth 6k after 2 years 24k miles (loved the car though and will definitely go full electric for one car in the next 5 years). We still own the other 'new' car - a diesel kia ceed which is still under warranty so we're trying to get our money's worth out of it. That said I've also had a number of disastrous 2nd hand buys - a £600 audi A6 which lasted less than a month before cylinder head failure and a peugeot 407 coupe which destroyed it's gearbox (warranty paid 3k to fix) had multiple sensor / electrical gremlins and then started making a road speed noise which no one could fix so that got handed back under halves and thirds. They were learning experiences though, I'll probably never buy another new car as I don;t like the new cars I could afford , I hate the idea of losing thousands the moment i take ownership and I'm much more inclined to walk away from a used car if anything at all 'spooks' me - a noise, a wobble, a salesman's attitude I've walked because of all of them safe in the knowledge that the right car is out there and will come along. The only thing i will say is that when buying 2nd hand the right car is often a fair distance away so don;t be afraid to travel.

If you are looking for some decent cheap tyres I've just had a pair of Event Semita tyres fitted at ATS for the princely sum of £137, I bought the car with these fitted already and have to say they tick all the boxes for me - good grip wet or dry, decent wear characteristics, quiet and comfortable so I replaced with the same. I have to say I've had pretty decent results from 'budget tyres' in the past and never been effected by their so called ditch finding tendencies so from experience I tend not to pay for 'name brands' any longer.

Keyless is a really bad idea as it currently stands, there was an article about how entry to your car can be gained simply by walking near you with a signal booster / re-transmitter with an accomplice stood next to your car with the matching receiver. Once in a simple OBD2 device can start your car and eventually be used to generate a new key. No amount of encryption or security will prevent this. The best solutions are - go back to needing a physical button press to unlock the car or tie it in to the NFC on your mobile or watch, this would require an app to be started in order to unlock your car. Unfortunately this reduces the convenience some people demand. Car manufacturers are damned if they do and damned if they don't but personally i'd prefer the option to specify 'high security' (need a physical interaction with the keyfob before it transmits) or 'ease of entry' (always on) settings. I suspect insurers will increase premiums on keyless entry cars quite soon which may force a change in thinking for manufacturers.

No idea if this is apocryphal or true but I recall some discussion about this elsewhere, the main thrust of the discussion was that 400h wheels were stronger than other models (or aftermarket wheels) due to the immediate torque of the electric motors, thus the recommendation was to stick to 400h specific wheels. No idea if this was just 'internet BS' or not but might be worth a dig into.

I was more referring to the in dash unit (the bit with the screen). If it's intermittent with mode though then i'm not sure. If it's only in nav mode then i'd look at the boot unit and the cable between as you say. it may even be something as simple as the cable has worked loose. Personally I keep my dash screen on the energy monitor and use my phone for satnav but that's just me.

That looks like one of the sync signals from the driver hardware to the LCD is failing, causing the vertical position of the screen to move randomly. My gut reaction is that the connector from the main board in the nav unit to the LCD screen is mechanically failing. Either causing vibration based fails or electronic fails due to the signals in lines nearby the compromised signal line (rf or capacitance changes causing spurious h/vsync signals). In all likelihood a competent repairer would be able to fix this or if you are confident with electronics, replacing the connector / ribbon cable may be an easy job - more likely you'd require a new screen. It may even be simpler to just buy a known working nav unit 2nd hand and replace the whole thing.

they stop your fag and ash blowing back in the car when you flick it out the window. they also stop that annoying spit of rain from getting in if you have the window cracked slightly in a downpour. personally I think the old fashioned opening quarter light is a better solution to ventilation and tab disposal but they are no longer a 'thing'. Thinking of fitting some to mine - £40 off 'tbay

to be fair, their competition for the C5 (the GS) was on a par and more advanced in some areas during the mid '00s, The RX is a very different thing being a 4x4, but yes you are right the tech in the RX is very '90s but then I don;t find I miss much other than a USB socket which has only really become 'standard' in the last 5-10 years. ACC/PCS would be nice though. My 407 coupe was fantastically well appointed for an 06 car far better than my RX but I still rate the RX better.

Spotted this on that auction bay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401258283139?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Which is a frankly ridiculous price. Wondering if anyone here had tried one and had an opinion on it. Next lowest price is over twice as much on amazon. Tempted to just buy it and see what happens but i'm a bit leery about ripping my dash apart as i'm not a big DIYer, I've watched all the videos and it seems easy but, well, a lot of things do but aren't so don;t want to waste money on something that's going to sit around for months unless it's actually decent.