Connoisseur

As said above with a Hybrid using Neutral is a big no no, if for no other reason than if I leave my car in N then after a very short time the panel lights up with red flashing warnings, supported by loud chimes and a message telling you to put it in P asap as the Battery wont charge in N.

Lexus certainly don't hold back on their warnings eh!

Auto windows down on press of a button is a fairly standard feature on numerous cars nowadays so it seems strange that Lexus have had problems with it, tho interestingly not on all models?

On the IS250, unlike other Lexi, it can only be enabled through tech stream which means a Dealer visit I'm afraid.

hth

Looks a great instal. I put the EZI DAB into my GS using a glass mount telescopic aerial from dabonwheels; reception has been consistently good and I find the unit straightforward to use. The dabonwheels site offers a lot of useful advice and info.

in case it helps EZI DAB is purely a DAB unit and doesn't offer any FM service.

Regards

M

How long does the battery normally have to be disconnected to clear the memory settings?

..about 30 seconds. This link gives the longer way around doing the reset but Battery off for 30 secs is effective

Tony,

Ordered direct from Vaistech in the USA - contacted the named guy by email first. He was very helpful and posted it off really quickly. Several members on here have done the same. You will end up paying custom charges, which puts the price up by circa another £50! imo worth it because it works and is integrated. Using the MML my iPod control is all via the steering wheel or nav unit switches :) Do a web search for Vais MML to read reviews and feedback on their units.

In all it took about 12 days for it to arrive. Fitting is straightforward if you are handy - I managed to do it myself!!

Post back if you do decide on the MML - you'll get good advice on here about fitting and where to place it...

imo the Vais units are the best for iPod in Lexus, though they do cost more than other units that simply don't work, or don't work half as well......

Have a look here, esp. at the MML unit which will work with your car.........

http://www.vaistech.com

.....as set out here:

http://www.vaistech.com/manuals/SL3i%20SL3U%20MML%20Application%20Guide.pdf

hth

M

I fitted the MML to my GS450, and have never looked back. There are a few limitations depending on model/age, but it will work for you, and not cause the issues you report above

sorry couldn't resist..........

a bit of info that may (or may not) help - on the similar SC430 set up, wheel motor movement is triggered by way of proximity sensing rather than contact i.e. the motors activate with the key a certain distance from the barrel rather than via contact between key and barrel.

M

if you can get it to the chorus lines it might just start behaving again.........

http://www.madacademy.com/02/2012/childrens-song-lyrics/the-hokey-cokey/

Nice pics. Looks like a most enjoyable run out.

I was at the Eiffel bridge in the Auvergne in July. Judging by your shot I think I may have parked in almost the same place!!

Did you nip up the Puy de Dome whilst in Clermont F? Some great views from up there.

Thanks, the trip was really enjoyable. Sadly no to the Puy de Dome, we had planned to spend some time in C-F but we lost too much getting stuck driving through the centre of Lyon (!) so couldn't. Next time hopefully........

M

You lucky devil, I would love to do that but she who must be obeyed says no. Thanks for the lovely pics. Mike.

Cheers Mike. You should keep trying with the persuasion. It is well worth it!

Michael

Hi John,

That's the Garabit viaduct in the background of pic 1.... sorry to hear of your troubles, and thanks for the Garabit pointer. What an amazing structure indeed!

Enjoy your winter sun and hope the trip back is more relaxing.

Michael

to Carrefour at Bayeux for the wine collection - good quality and soo cheap........

just before we got on the overnight ferry at Ouistreham to Portsmouth we literally drove around the corner to see this!!

and to end, 30 minutes after leaving Portsmouth we got this:

You can depend on a Lexus................

This year our (my) SC430 was 11 years old and heading towards 100k miles so as a present to us, and the car, we decided to take it on a September 3000 mile 16 day euro road trip to Southern Spain via Dunkerque Reims, Dijon, Lyon, Clermont Ferrand, Millefleur, Carcassonne, Barcelona and Valencia. Returning via Zaragoza, St Sebastian, Biarritz, La Rochelle and Caen ferry to Portsmouth.

We used a mixture of toll and ordinary roads, and bought the French and Spanish toll tags before hand so we could drive straight through all peages at 30km - was wonderful!

Car behaved perfectly; fuel was v cheap, especially in northern Spain (circa 80p per litre) which was welcome given the 30mpg or less we were averaging.

The only police we came across was in Spain - a motorway patrol officer in a superb Alfa sports coupe painted blue and white! He was busy with a 'customer' so couldn't get a pic :(

Luggage space was an issue, but driving roof down in 30+C most days more than made up for that, and we did find room for wine on the way back.

Highlights were crossing the amazing Millau Viaduct, driving through cloud in the foothills of the Pyrenees near San Sebastian, roof down, and the views climbing the Spanish Mountains towards Zaragoza. Very enjoyable driving throughout, with lots of interest in the car, and lots of sunshine. Now looking ot do it again next year, perhaps this time to Berlin and Eastern Europe.

Some pics of the best bits:

by Gustav Eiffel's Rail Viaduct, south of Clermont Ferrand

Roof down over the Millau Viaduct

Straight road up into the Spanish mountains and Zaragoza

Climbing through cloud nr San Sebastian heading into France

on the front at Biarritz

Night in a Chateau near Niort, France

A Google web search shows various suppliers fo coolant hoses for the car, both UK and USA, and any Lexus dealer will be able to source them for you, at a price!

Similarly you can read on line service manuals for the car.

If the car has ben standing for some time though it's worth being wary as to other expenses. Has the car got a Lexus/other full history? Was it dry stored? Has the cambelt been changed? Engine oil state, fluids, roof seals etc. etc. Starter motor can be iffy at that age, and inlet manifold has to come off to fix - £££'s

A lovely car but if it has been ignored or abused then it could easily cost you ££££'s

Also if 2001 then its worth checking that the suspension changes/fixes have been done as the early cars did not 'suit' UK roads at all well, esp. with run flats fitted.

Good luck

Carl, the nav discs can/do update firmware in the car - a bit poor that a Lexus dealer doesn't know that.........of course the firmware update may not be applicable to your specific model year, but again they should know that.

On my afaik factory standard Oct 2009 GS450h all nav buttons and other options are available for use 'on the move'. I wonder did Lexus make a change for later models as I note Gareth's car is same year as mine?

Yes when I bought it it had a 2008 disk in I believe and the features were blacked out. But someone on here said that later discs had a firmware upgrade which enabled the features on the move. So I got a 2011 disc and it all worked perfectly. Since upgraded to a 2015 disc and still works. In fact all you need to do is borrow a later disc and pop it in and it'll update your system to enable the functions on the move. Then you can pop in your old disc again and it'll all still work fine. I tried it.

What do these update disc cost? I'd like to do mine some time.

See here http://www.lexus-mapupdates.eu/ or keep an eye on eBay

M

Yes, can use everything (inc. the VAIS MML iPod link) , apart as you say from getting the DVD picture on screen, which I'm happy with not having.....

M

On my afaik factory standard Oct 2009 GS450h all nav buttons and other options are available for use 'on the move'. I wonder did Lexus make a change for later models as I note Gareth's car is same year as mine?

Have a good one. I'm off to rainier climes myself next week....Northumberland.

Get and post some pics of your car around Kielder? - the scenery up there is breathtaking. Have a good trip yourself.

Will do..........

Would love to do either road trip in my Lexus! I am very envious! Take care and enjoy.

Thank you, Like me the SC is now 'middle aged' and a long trip abroad (first one for the car) is just what we both need. The car has been serviced within an inch of its life so will keep fingers crossed and touch the wooden trim as required ;) Lexus Dealers rather rare in Europe; only one I've seen on my travels was in central Paris!

M

Thanks for that John, Eiffel's viaduct now on the itinerary. Have a good trip yourself.

Mike

Hi John,

Would love to do it in the GS, maybe next year. Am taking the SC so we can do roof down as much as possible, though no boot space so travelling v. light :) Going via ferry to Dunkerque to avoid Calais, then Reims, Dijon, Lyon, Clermont Ferrand, across the border then Barcelona, Valencia and ending up at Murcia for 5 days sunning ourselves. Back via Zaragoza, Biarritz, La Rochelle and Bayeux before getting ferry home from Caen.

Will be going via the Millau Viaduct Bridge; comes highly recommended.

Will keep my eye out for a UK Merc. Enjoy!

Good stuff! I hope your straight six makes up for the low mpg; the V8 in mine also doesn't make for good mpg but the V8 benefits far outway that :)

I too swopped my front tyres for new yesterday and like you all is now whisper quiet. I'm taking the car through France to Southern Spain next week, can't wait!

17" at 20k miles could very well be a culprit; as the tread wears down it means under load there is more full tyre on the surface. Had the same issue recently. rear tyres were very noisy with a whine and droan but had more tread on them than the fronts. so put new tyres onto the rear and moved rears to the front. Result - yes much quieter, but, same noise now comes from the front!

So putting new tyres onto the front tomorrow; am confident that the car will be quiet as a mouse (fingers crossed ;) ).