Richard Jackson

Hi, I wanted to update you so others can see the results. After a few months of minimal use during the holiday season, I got in touch with Richard at Hybrid Battery Solutions in Northampton. He quoted me £750 for the battery fix and a gave me another option of a complete recondition of the unit for £1,500. I took the cheaper option and he had it for a week. Richard told me that the car would be safe to drive before the work and the electronics wouldn't just die in a dangerous situation. Richard was happy to offer lifts to and from the Thrifty Car Hire depot nearby and communication was very good. I gave a £100 deposit to secure the booking and then paid the balance by bank transfer before collection. The car is much more responsive than it was previously and I am getting a good 5-10 mpg more. He said that a 200K fix of a hybrid battery was typical and he seems to get quite a bit of work around cars of this age. As well as fixing the faulty cells he also boosted the nearest 3-4 cells to failure and seemed confident of a reasonable period of good running. I haven't put my foot down much yet but acceleration seems much quicker than before. Hardly surprising about this and the MPG but I am a happy customer. Highly recommended. Cheers, Richard

Thanks mate.

That's ambitious but a very good read. Thanks. Lexus just called back with 2.5K to replace it ;-( Does anyone know if it is safe to drive with the warnings on?

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately haven't taken that option. Does anyone know if it is actually safe to drive in the short term with those warnings? Does it just mean that the petrol engine runs the car with some awful mpg, or is there a likelihood that the electrics will power out whilst I'm driving or something crazy like that? Forgive the newbie questions ;-)

Hi all, I was wondering if you had any advice or suggestions. I have a July 2006 Lexus GS450h with 200K on the clock. Yesterday I got a warning Check Hybrid System, Check VSC and Check ECB. I plugged my OBDII into it and it gave me an error code of p0a80: replace hybrid battery. I rung Lexus this morning and the formal diagnosis will be £130 (I imagine for the best 30 seconds work of their lives) and then I am awaiting a call back for the quote of how much a battery replacement would cost. Apparently I have no recourse as I am out of warranty for mileage and time. I am coming up to MOT and I have posted previously about an intermittent warning light for the timing chain and tensioner replacement (which Lexus confirmed). Neither of these faults seem to be fair as they aren't included in any service on the car and coupled they are obviously a nightmare. Focusing on the hybrid battery for now, does anyone else have this sort of experience or know if I am just incredibly unlucky or whether these cars are all going to go pop when they hit a certain age or mileage? I love this car but it just seems so temperamental. Thanks, Richard

Hi all Sorry for the delay. OK so the car has done 187K. I haven't serviced main dealer all the time because I planned on owning it forever or for all the forever it had left! I have had the oil replaced properly and always use a good make of the proper grade. I feel for the previous post. 5k bill. Ouch! Can I ask where because a lot of local garages independents or Halfords etc say they won't touch it. I did ask them if it should fail at this age and sensed the answer was a bit cagey but wouldn't expect them to admit anything else at this stage.

Interesting... I've never knowingly skimped on oil or used the cheap stuff. I'll see what they say.

I have no idea. I was surprised myself. Do you think I should kick off about it? ;-) I also don't understand how a solid metal chain can 'stretch'. I'll get a face to face chat later to discuss - so far it's just a phonecall.

That's what I hoped! Thanks. 1stchoice parts request in so I'll see what I get. Cheers!

OK. Didn't know if the fact is was a hybrid required a specialist? Thanks for the reply.

Hi, My Lexus is in main dealer hospital with a yellow light warning on the dash. I have paid £190 to get it checked and the engine taken apart. I've just had a call saying the problem is that the timing chain is 'stretched' and that eventually it will go completely and needs to be replaced. The warning light will remain until it is. I have been quoted £3,000 to fix this with a replacement timing chain. The cost of the chain is approximately £1k with £2k labour. This seems pretty extreme to me and I would appreciate any advice as to whether this cost is reasonable or if I could get it done without the main dealer for considerably less. Thanks in advance of your time.

Hi, My Lexus is in main dealer hospital with a yellow light warning on the dash. I have paid £190 to get it checked and the engine taken apart. I've just had a call saying the problem is that the timing chain is 'stretched' and that eventually it will go completely and needs to be replaced. The warning light will remain until it is. I have been quoted £3,000 to fix this with a replacement timing chain. The cost of the chain is approximately £1k with £2k labour. This seems pretty extreme to me and I would appreciate any advice as to whether this cost is reasonable or if I could get it done without the main dealer for considerably less. Thanks in advance of your time.

Thank you for the reply. I appreciate it. That's a lot for a piece of glass! On 170K, the tacky option may be preferable sadly. Good price for the cover though. I gathered that very quickly about the breaker. Makes sense I guess considering they have a valuable wing mirror. Thanks again.

Hi, I had a really annoying bump on a skip next to me in the drive reversing out. As a result I have: 1. A crack and chunk out of the wing mirror *casing* / cover. 2. Shattered mirror glass. I have done a quote at 1stchoiceparts and they want to sell me the whole mirror as I am sure the main dealer will want to do. The heating and electronic adjustment of the mirror work fine so I just need the mirror glass and cover. Any idea where I could get these? It's for a blue 2006 06 plate GS450h SE. Any advice on this and in fact parts in general avoiding main dealer charges on kit would be most helpful. Thanks in advance. Richard

UPDATE: I just read online that a few successful power cycles can sometimes get rid of the indicator and it just worked! I think the car needs you to successfully switch on and off a few times before it will clear the message. I worked out including the trip home, it had had 3 cycles already. I took it for a 4th cycle and the 'Check Hybrid System' message went but the engine light remained. Did it once more and the lights are out! Obvioiusly I need to bed this in for a few days before I break open the champagne, but fingers crossed. it may explain why a lot of users say this problem mysteriously goes away... Cheers, Richard

Thanks Tony. Fingers crossed - I will probably give the dealer a call and see whether they try it on ;-) Richard

Hi, I recently purchased a 2006 plate Lexus GS450h privately. It has given me untold joy over the last 2 months and is by far the best car I have ever owned - I love it! However, the snow over the weekend proved to be a bit of a nightmare - my first real experience of snow in a rear wheel drive and the hybrid system was quite complex to manage in the icy weather. I was travelling for about 45-50 minutes at a very low (and sensible) speed given the conditions and I think the battery took quite a hit. I also struggled to get back to where I was staying on local roads with lots of wheelspin etc. When I started the car up this evening, it came up with an error saying 'Check Hybrid System'. The battery indicator on the dashboard was empty and it worrying didn't appear to charge. However, once started and driven a bit it soon started recharging and I have just returned home after driving over 120 miles on it. No problems at all and the battery levels are now slightly off full as usual both on the dash indicator and the Info menu. The info menu also showed the car charging the battery and depleting it where it needed to, again as usual. So basically it seems like it has sorted itself out. However, the yellow light on the dash is still on and I still get the error message. I have powered the car off and on again but no change. Check Hybrid System still appears. Any ideas or hints? I am crossing fingers that I just need to somehow reset the computer and it will switch off the warning instead of there actually being a problem. I don't obviously have a warranty covering this and I know these warnings can get expensive. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. Regards, Richard