SVS

I've just had my alloys refurbished by a company in North London (£80 each) and I'm wondering if I could recommend them here as they did a great job and handled a problem, which occured in the course of the job, very well.

Just a qick line to say that Lexus sorted it out for me free of charge even before the current recall (http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/83969-lexus-rx400h-recall/) have been issued.

I suspect that they don't want us to invesigate the fault ourselves and that they are not telling us the whole truth about the inverter unit because it looks like it can be repaired.

Re - "Does it actually state on the estimate the replacement inverter is brand new?" I haven't asked, it was done over the phone, will call them tomorrow.

The owner can have it, but then the price would be £5000, not £4000.

I haven't tried breakers, because my local Lexus dealer would not instal a second-hand inverter and even JEM told me that they won't touch a hybrid.

They would let me have the defective board unless I pay £1000, it doesn't look like they this is because of some tightly kept industrial secret, but rather to prevent people like you and me having a closer look.

It looks like they have all the bases covered. I was told that I cannot have the old unit after a replacement inverter is fitted because it has to go back to Lexus and the residual value of the broken "sealed unit" is £1000. The more I think about it the more dodgy it looks - if it cannot be repaired, then why want it back, if it an be repaired, why they are fitting a brand new inverter.... or do they? They don't have any inverters in stock either and the lead time is almost two weeks.

Mine wasn't either....

I absolutely agree about the lack of evidence and being an RF engineer I will be getting the unit dismantled and investigated if I have time. On the other hand it would be nice to have some goodwill and understanding from what is supposed to be a reliable and luxury brand.

"The recall was for some 2005-2006 vehicles - not sure what percentage - it was a manufacturing issue. The power transistors weren't soldered correctly, dry joints develop with the high current which eventually leads to the transistors failing. With this particular defect it can fail in two ways, either just the transistors fail and the hybrid system is shut down with the engine going into limp mode or when the transistors fail there is a momentary short circuit which blows the fuse and you coast to a stop." I assume that my case falls under the second category and it failed exactly when I accelerated (thus drawing the high current) and the car just coasted to a stop.

I did ask and they refused even to talk to me. I agree that the manufacturer's liability should stop somewhere and I wasn't asking them for a free ride, just for a bit of good will and some help with a very expensive repair. I don't think that this component should have failed after just 40 000 miles, but I do accept that it was out of warranty.

and for any type of German car an extended warranty is essential Failure rate of hybrid drivetrains is well below that of industry norm. You mainly only hear about the bad on forums but we see very little on these forums or over on the Toyota forums of hybrid issues. There was a recall for the 2006 model, so there must have been some sort of a manufacturing or design problem with the inverter.

Hi guys, My RX400h just suffered the dreaded hybrid inverter failure, discussed elsewhere on this forum. It's done only 40 000 miles, but it is out of the 6 years warranty. My VIN number is fairly close to the range which was recalled back in 2011, this repair is extremely expensive (I was quoted over £4000 by Lexus Edgeware road) and Lexus UK absolutely refuses to do anyhting to help. I must say that it was a scary experience as the engine just stopped dead at 50 mph and I barely managed to steer the car to the side of the road. Do you think there is anything I can do apart from biting the bullet, i.e. writing to Toyota UK? complaining to VOSA? trying an independent specialist for repairs, etc? Any advice will be greatly apreciated.