johnatg

I've ordered the Panlong one - coming from USA so will be 2 or 3 weeks. Via ebay. Comes to £28 odd with post and import duty PS - my current one is mother of all junks too. But it has worked fine for engine codes on various cars. Won't extract battery codes though.

Heads up, guys. There is an interesting article in December 2021 'Car Mechanics' magazine. The mag does project cars on a regular basis (bit like Wheeler Dealers but more mundane cars and less fanfare!). They did a Prius back in 2018 and it was bought by a chap in NI at about 170K miles. The article in the latest copy of the mag is the buyer's update on the car and it's mostly about his experiences of tackling problems with the traction battery. He replaced some cells but finally gave up and bought an exchange battery at about 200k Miles. Ignore the Prius bit - what follows applies to our Lexus hybrids. Now - he mentions use of a mobile app - Dr Prius/Dr Hybrid which works with an OBDII scanner to extract battery fault codes and displays lots of useful information about cell voltages, battery temperatures, charge rate etc. It's a free download - there is a chargeable version which covers more advanced testing but it looks as if you don't need that. There is a demo mode which shows the info you get. You will probably need a new OBDII scanner - there's a section in the app accessed at 'OBD2 guide' which provides a lot of information about scanners that don't work and those that do. Just because your scanner works with Torque doesn't mean that it will work with Dr Prius. Mine doesn't - I've ordered a different one according to his guide. Also tucked away is a guide to the future - there is a lithium battery upgrade which is available for all Toyota/Lexus hybrids - the GS300h isn't mentioned but that will be because it isn't sold in USA but all other models are (GS450h etc) and include IS300h and ES300h. Not cheap, but one day might be a way to go. All info is US based and I'm not sure how you would get a Lithium battery imported from US - carriers are not keen on Lithium batteries to say the least.

Someone posted this here some time ago. I kept a copy for my future reference. Thanks to whoever it was! Quote> 'Just some info on how to clean the ducts for the hybrid battery cooling fan. In my case its a 2014 gs300h with 120000 miles which is used as a taxi. First remove the upper trim panel in the boot so that you can remove the trim panel that fits behind the rear seat, all this is to remove 1 retaining pin. Next is remove the rear seat base, it just pulls up, now remove the 4 12mm bolts holding the seat backrest in place and pull the base upwards, no need to remove the seat belts but pull the backrest towards the front seats to give a bit of room, behind the felt there are 3 black vent tubes that connect from each side of the car to the cooling fan, there are a few retaining pins to remove and then there is 1 of the retaining pins has to be removed from the boot side, at the fan end of both the side vent tubes is a mesh which gets clogged Can't upload pictures but both of my vent tubes were about 90% clogged. Was an easy enough process and well worth doing. Hope this might be helpful, ' <End quote (PS - I haven't tried it myself yet)

Mine misted up all the time I had it. You must not set the air con to outside when working on the pollen filter - you may have a broken door to it. Unlikely to be connected with misting I alleviated the problem with silica gel - you can buy it in a large pack and stuff some old socks with it. Dry on a radiator or in a microwave.

The VSC light comes on with just about any glitch detected by the ECU. But the Traction control light should only come on when it is operating. It sounds a bit as if incorrect wheel speed is being fed to the control unit. Might be dirt on a reluctor wheel or a faulty wheel speed sensor or a circuit problem. You really need a code to be read - most cheap OBDII readers only give engine codes so may well not indicate any Traction control/ABS problem. A garage with a full coverage code reader might help - might need to be a Lexus dealer. I would think that traction control is still working in actual wheel slip conditions but it's not certain - also ABS could be affected.

You can buy a copy of Techstream and the necessary cable on a well-known auction site - may be not kosher, but it works. You need a laptop to connect it to. There are restrictions on operating systems etc. At the car end it plugs in to the OBDII port. It enables diagnosis, real time data and car settings - also various other features. When you buy a new Lexus you can ask for a settings session free of charge. After that, you pay or it's at dealer's discretion.

Yep - it happens. Probably caused by squeezing the fob in your pocket - sitting down or doing something active - sometimes by children playing with the fob etc etc. The feature is so you can open the windows on a hot day without going to the car - er....is that useful, really? It's a long press on the unlock button. Similarly, a long press on the lock button will close them. It works the sunroof too if you had one. It can be disabled in Techstream. If you haven't got Techstream a) all Lexus owners should have - or b) a dealer will do it for you - at a cost £££.

Although there is not much difference in actual dimensions, the GS feels like a significantly bigger car than the IS (I had an IS250 for 7+ years before I swapped it for my GS two years ago) The GS just feels more luxurious too and as you say - better equipped (mine is a Premier). Car tax on pre-2017 GS300h is £20 (Some are £10 - depends on exact model)

Not sure what you're getting at there, John. Last dates are always difficult to ascertain because there are usually remaining stocks of an outgoing model when a new one comes in, at least in markets other than Japan. I suspect that there were few Mk 3 GS300 models made after 2007 but they continued on sale in UK for quite some time after that. It didn't 'become a hybrid model'. There was no Mk 3 GS250 - the GS250 came in as the first Mk 4 model in 2012 preceding the GS450h by a few months - again perhaps to clear stocks of the Mk 3 GS450h. The GS300h (Mk 4) was introduced in late 2014 and ran alongside for GS250 at least sales-wise, although again I suspect that few, if any, 250s were imported after the 300h came in. The market was a bit crowded with GS450h, GS300h and GS250 - so the GS250 was dropped once stocks had run out in 2015. There was a GS200t in the US - I don't think they made it to UK? Anyone? (It didn't last long even in US) GS models were impoted to UK until 2019 - production for all markets ceased in late 2020. Those with greater knowledge might shoot nme down on some points here but that is what I understand.

Cost - there surely will be! You have a couple of options. 1) Pour yourself a stiff drink, sit down and call your local Lexus dealer for a price. Or, when you have recovered from that shock, try 2) 2) https://toyotamaps.online/ You'll need to identify which model sat nav you have - possibly Gen 7 but don't quote me. The updater is pretty straightforward - I posted details of how mine went somehwre here - it was in November/December 2019 but I can't just find it. Also copied in another post recently. My update then was to April 2019 - I think there is an April 2021 version available now. Camera warning s are a bit vague, but you get a bleep when one is in range. Or - drive within speed limits - you won't get warnings of most mobile cameras and they are more common these days. One will get you sooner or later if you exceed limits - from personal experience!☹️

I wouldn't worry. Deterioration of these parts will be very slow and gradual. If you are not aware of any problem in the feel of the steering now it will most likely be just the same when you get back home.

Here's a pic of the assembly. This is actually for the IS250, but the GS will be very similar - almost all cars have this arrangement.

It most likely won't be the rack - it's probably the ball joints at the inner ends of the track rods. They just screw into the rack and are easily replaced after removing the gaiters. The usual reason these wear is turning the steering when not moving - that puts enormous stress on the inner ball joints and the track rod ends.

I've now done my Intermediate service - here are a couple of things to report. Note that I've done about 4500 miles since my last full service at Lexus Stockport. I bought 5 litres of Mannol Ultra Legend 0w20 oil (£21.03) (the GS300h engine takes 4.5 litres of oil) and a genuine Lexus Oil Filter (£12.99). All items on the Lexus Intermediate Service list have now been covered either with my recent MoT or by me - except for the 'Service Wash and Vac' and the Hybrid Health check. And of course the Relax warranty. First - I was surprised at how clean the old oil was. Usually when you drain a sump the old oil is jet black. This time the old oil was a dark reddish-brown colour. Very impressive that Lexus engine design has reduced the combustion products which get into the oil so much. So the main oil drain went without a hitch. Now - excuse me - a rant. I'm attaching a pic of the instructions for changing the filter as printed on the side of the new filter box. The unusual feature of these filters is that there is a drain plug to drain the oil before you undo the filter cover. You remove the cap then insert the pastic spout which comes with the new filter, and that opens a valve in the filter cover to produce a neat stream of oil. Well, I inserted my 3/8" drive into the cap and turned - it was extremely tight - the cap didn't unscrew but the whole filter body did. Now the design of the oil system is such that there is a considerable head of oil above the filter. So removing it without draining causes an epic uncontrolled flood of oil - it did mostly all end up in my drain pan. I held the filter cover in my Workmate and needed a long breaker bar to release the cap. That was a bit worrying as the filter cover is made of plastic and I had to hold it very firmly indeed. 4500 miles after the cap had been torqued to 9.5 ftlbs? I don't think so. I suspect that the Lexus 'technician' didn't bother to tighten the drain cap properly but just used a 3/8" drive to tighten the whole filter cover to their usual torque setting of FT (T = tight if you're not familiar with the expression) - instead of using the proper filter tool to remove and tighten the filter cover. The torque spec for the filter cover is 18ftlbs and for the cap 9.5 ftlbs. Does it matter? Maybe not really - but there's a right way and a wrong way to carry out this service operation. Can't we expect Lexus technicians to use the right way? Perhaps it's as well that the Service listings (Full and Intermediate) note 'All checks and inspections are visual - No dismantling of components takes place' So your expensive service gives your car an oil change and a good coat of looking at. Rant over. But it's not the first time I've become aware of Lexus 'technicians' work irregularities. So my service cost £34 + MoT £35 and was done properly. I've foregone the warranty deal - my choice. Your mileage may vary!

A sad tale. It would be OK to have it on a transporter whilst SORN'd, as you would obviously be in the process of selling it. Hopefully someone will take it on and love it again!

In my experience - the more owners the less well cared for a car is. By the time you get to 4 or 5 - watch out.

It's a while since I had my IS250, but here is a pic of the components you'll need to remove:

That is the oulet from the blower (fan) unit. There shouldn't be any water there at all. I'd suggest that you have a blockage in the scuttle area which has caused heavy rain water to build up in the scuttle area and overflow into the air intake. Look for a pile of leaves!

Interesting that it failed the MoT December 2020 for 'Front reg plate Inscription missing' - that's the BSAU145d bit at lower right of the plate. (Rear brake pads wearing thin as well - that's been an advisory since 2018. Possibly a not-too-caring owner recently?)

Looks like a decent car. It's MoT history only has advisories for worn tyres and a windscreen chip and that's some years ago. Maybe the chip was repaired or the screen replaced. Recent MoTs are clear. It's probably been used for long distance motorway driving so should be in good nick overall and I wouldn't worry too much about the mileage for the price. Do get a garage to check that the brake sliders, especially the rears, are not seized and check the condition of the exhaust, especially the y-piece in front of the silencers. I had a 2006 for over 7 years - great car, no real problems.

Here's a post of mine from November 25th, 2019: <Quote> When I got my 2014 GS300h a couple of months ago the map update screen showed 'last map update was cancelled'. That irritated me no end so I resolved to do something about it and came across this thread. I visited the link: https://toyotamaps.online/map-updates/toyota-lexus-navigation-gen7-update I paid my $79 (£64.10) via PayPal and received a link to onedrive files. There are 8 of them and the total download size is about 14Gb. You then need to extract (one of the files is an extraction program) the files to a 64Gb Flash drive - I had a 64Gb SD card and a USB card reader but that didn't work. I contacted the vendor and he confirmed what I had already suspected - the car is fussy about the flash drives it accepts. So acquired a 64Gb San Disk Cruzer (other brands are available!) and extracted the files again. The total extracted size is just over 32Gb. You plug the flash drive in to the USB port in the cubby between the seats. Now you go to the map update screen and plug the flash drive in - this time it showed it was ready to update. You take a picture of the screen and email it to the vendor - he then sends you an activation/licence code. When you start the update the first thing is it asks you is to key in the code then it does a software update. This takes about 10 minutes, then you have to stop the car and restart. Now it's a bit worrying - the screen goes black for quite a few seconds but then it comes back and tells you the map update is ready to start and will take approx 98 minutes. (So you'd better be driving somewhere, even aimlessly, if you don't want the car to be idling on your drive for a couple of hours!) At last it tells you the update completed successfully. The map is updated to April 2019 and it was issued in October 2019, so now is as up-to-date as possible. Very happy! I know the navigation is nowhere near as good as you get for free on your phone but now my car is working properly for a reasonable cost. I suspect this isn't quite kosher but hey! it works, it's a reasonable cost and Lexus should offer this service (they used to, but have discontinued it) rather than tell you to go and be ripped off by a dealer! <end quote> PS I received a letter this am (27/9/21) from Lexus Stoke offering map updates for £159.99 until 30/9/21.

Is it a face-lift? My pre-facelift mk 4 GS300h definitely only has the nearside one.

No

If you mean do you get a dark screen at night - mine does.

You don't need to get updates from a main dealer. You can get them here: https://toyotamaps.online/ Not exectly cheap but much more reasonable than main dealer prices. I updated mine from there - no problems. The latest update I got was about May 2019 - not sure if there's a newer one.