SimonG

I'm pleased to report that I've had some good news and that Lexus will replace the hybrid battery and cover all costs :hocus-pokus: My issue sounds a little different to Tony's in that the dealer says that the battery has failed as opposed to some other part of the hybrid system. The parts are arrive Saturday morning so hopefully I'll be up and running again by Monday ..... Probably going to get the three shocks and suspension bushes replaced at the same time as although I'm still not convinced the shocks have failed (Passed MOT 5 weeks ago) they do have some misting so only a matter of time I guess. Fingers crossed that they find nothing else during the repair - If they don't I may be tempted to take out the 2yr extended warranty as this seems to have come down in price since I inquired a year ago (Now seems to be £995 for 2yrs up to 140k miles) Have to say that I'm impressed with the team at Lexus Poole (Dan Perkins & Meagan) as they fought my case with Lexus on this and have managed to get a positive result. Cheers Simon G

Still waiting for a proper answer from Lexus re this issue but a couple of updates on the symptoms. The dealer has told me twice that it is safe to drive the car but over the past 2 days of commuting (30 miles each way) the issue seems to have worsened. I know have constant "Check ERB" and "Check VSC" errors in addition to the "check Hybrid" error. I've also noticed tonight that the car now seems to run exclusively on the petrol engine and all activity has stopped on the Energy Display even though the battery is showing 3/4 charge. I've also noticed some hesitation on acceleration and once tonight I thought the car was going to cut out when joining the M27. Going to follow up again with Lexus as I really don't think I should be driving the car at the moment. Cheers Simon G

Hi Guys :) Does anyone have a copy of the Lexus battery warranty extension that's being offered by dealers following a hybrid healthcheck as detailed here?; http://www.poole.lexus.co.uk/owners/ My battery has failed and although Lexus have offered to pay 50% or the replacement I believe it should be covered in full by the extended warranty as the healthcheck carried out at the last service was all good (According to the dealer although I never received a copy of the report - D'ohh). Unfortunately Lexus customer services seem to be unaware that the warranty would be extended and believe that only the original car warranty would cover the battery failing but they are going away to check!? Many thanks in advance Cheers Simon G

Just to add to these comments, my GS450h has also suffered a hybrid failure this week and the dealer is waiting for feedback from Lexus UK as to whether they will pay or contribute to the repair. The car is a 2006 model with 115k miles and full Lexus service history. The dealer "thinks" that the battery has failed even though it has passed the health check on the last 2 services (last 8k miles ago)- if it is the battery then I may stand a chance of getting it covered by Lexus. I've only owned this car for 12 months and covered 20k miles but In that time I've had dash rattles (ended up stuffing felt down the back of the dash), speaker rattles, a rattle from the roof lining, all 4 shock absorbers fail, rattle from engine under light load (dealer unable to fix after three visits and a replacement VVTI pipe), drivers side HID headlamp fails when hot, exhaust now rattling inside silencer, brake disks replaced due to corrosion, both front drop link suspension bushes worn and now the hybrid system failing. I'm extremely disappointed in Lexus response to Tony's issues and I really hoping for a more positive response otherwise my car will most likely be on the way to the breakers and my brief love affair with Lexus will come to an abrupt end. I love the performance this car offers, but the build quality (of my car at least) has been awful and not what I was expecting from a Lexus.

Sorry to hear of your issues Tony - I must admit that I'm surprised that Lexus weren't willing to help more. I'm hoping I get a more positive outcome or this will be my first and last Lexus. The dealer is still waiting for a response from Lexus UK so I still have everything crossed

I'm still waiting to hear from Lexus but on my commute to work this morning the "Check VSC" & "Check ERB" errors popped up but disappeared a few minutes later. Is this related toe the "Check Hybrid" error or a sign that my car is rapidly dying? I've also noticed that after about 10 minutes of driving the Energy display animations stop even though you can feel the car switching from engine to battery etc. MPG is definitely down as the engine kicks in more often even with a full battery charge but having said that I did manage to get 39mpg on a mixed 30 mile commute this morning.

Hi As the dealer needed their loan car back they have confirmed that it it safe to drive my car whilst they escalate to Lexus to see what they think the issues is, although they seem confident that it's the batteries even though they have confirmed that the health check carried out at the last service (8k miles ago) was clear. They do seem a little surprised by the issue as they have not had any other hybrid failures other than an RX450h that had failed batteries due to water damage as the result of the sunroof being left open for some time. The car seems to run fine but the MPG has definitely dropped and although it will run fine on battery any slight incline kicks in the engine even with a full charge so maybe there is some underlying issue - around town MPG has dropped to low 20's. Hopefully it's not a transmission issue as I return to work on Monday and will have a 35 mile motorway commute each way. The dealer seems confident that we have a good case for getting assistance from Lexus on this issue so fingers crossed and I'll let you know the outcome. Cheers Simon G

Hi guys I've a 2006 GS450h with 115k miles and full Lexus service history with the local Lexus dealer having carried out the past two services - a major and an interim. Other than many frustrating rattles and squeaks with the car and an annoying valve rattle the dealer cannot seem to fix the car has run well over the last 12 months of ownership and I regularly get an average of 35mpg on a mixed run. Earlier this week during rain (after several weeks of dry) when being stuck in traffic for 30 mins a "Check Hybrid System" error appeared on the dash but the car continued to run as normal of engine and battery. I took in to in Poole Lexus yesterday and they've just called to say that the hybrid system has failed (receptionist wasn't clear if it was batteries or other part) and that the bill was going to be several thousand £'s but they didn't have a final figure as they wanted to speak with Lexus to see if they would contribute anything towards it. It seems odd that the system would fail but continue to run normally so has anyone else experienced this? Also, as the car has had its last 2 services at the main dealer my understanding was that they do a health check free with the service and then warranty the system for another 12 months - does this sound correct? My only concern is that the dealer has never provided me with a hybrid health heck report so I'm starting to wonder if they actually did the test on the last two services!? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Simon G

I took your advice on this and the car just passed its MOT with an advisory for two shocks showing only light misting. I'll probably need to get them replace before the next MOT so if anyone does manage to find an alternative soirce I'd be interested to know. Tonyricha - of course I know that owning a premium brand car means higher bills, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't try and source the parts elsewhere for a lower price as we all know that dealers are not always the best option.

Hi Guys :) Can anyone help me with this? http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/89253-2006-gs450h-shocks/ Many thanks

Hi Guys Took my GS450h in for a 107k service yesterday and ended up with a load of advisory's. According to the dealer three out of four of my shocks are leaking fluid, essentially meaning that they all need replacing. They also say that my front & rear bushes are split, so all in all a potential bill close to £2k Does anyone know a good UK source for compatible shocks for a GS450h as I'm having trouble finding an on-line price. I also have a split oil pressure return pipe that they "think" may be causing the intermittent metallic rattle on a cold start and the constant engine tap that I experience until the engine reaches normal operating temp - Has anyone had this replaced on their cars? Many thanks :)

Hi Tony :) Thanks for the reply. I hope your right, and I do have a but of a reputation for being paranoid over my cars, but what worries me is that the issue started suddenly one day and has done it since. Prior to this you couldn't really hear the engine at all but now when it's under load it sound like I'm driving a sewing machine until warmed up. If the issue had increased gradually then I'd probably be less worried, but to my way of thinking if an engine is quiet one day and noisy the next then something must have happened. Maybe I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. I did see a new US recall in sept this year on cars with the 3.5 later engine that looked strangely similar to the original recall for the valve springs (see here www.lexus.com/recall/) but the 450h doesn't appear to be affected even though I'd assume the engine is the same. Cheers Simon G

Hi Guys My car went in for a major service with Lexus a couple of weeks ago and I asked them to check out the engine rattle on start and tapping until warm issues - I took it in the day before the service so they could start from cold. They said they were unable to find anything obvious, but did say that as the previous owner had changed the oild just before I bought it that they could have used the wrong grade and to see how things went after the service - If the problem persisted they said it could be valve-train related would be expensive to fix. Anyway, the issue is still there and if anything seems to be getting a little worse now that the weather's cold (Made a horrid rattle the other day when I started it). Lexus have confirmed that the valve spring recall was carried out in 2010 but the symptoms I'm getting sound identical the the original valve spring problem so has anyone heard of this issue coming back on recalled cars? I've read on some US sites that Lexus extended the engine warranty to 100k miles on cars that were recalled so does anyone know if this is true, and if so was this also the case in the UK? My car's approaching 99k miles and I have an option of taking out a Lexus extended warranty but to be honest I really can't spare £1k at the moment, but I also don't want to find myself having to pay for an engine rebuild if something breaks as I suspect the cost would be even higher. Any advice really would be appreciated :) Cheers Simon G

Installed both original bulbs and they've been running fine now for 2 days so it definitely looks like a problem with the new bulbs so I'll see if I can get the refunded and buy elsewhere. Thanks for the help guys :)

I just contacted the seller of the bulbs and they say they do not believe there's a problem with the bulbs but have suggested it could be a fault with the headlight control unit. As much as I agree that it's unlikely that both new bulbs would fail at the same time or have the same issue it does seem odd that the issue has only occurred since fitting these new bulbs. I'' refit the originals and see what the result it.

Hi Many thanks for the reply. Nope, it's definitely not the switch as the side lights stayed on. I drove the work this morning with the headlights switched on (As opposed to being on auto) and they both went out again after approx 30 mins. Turning the headlights off/on corrected the issue but only for around another 15 mins ewhen they went off again. I can only assume that something must is overheating and it must be related to the new bulbs as this issue only started after I replaced the originals. However, if it was the bulbs themselves getting too hot then I'be be surprised if they both went out at the exact same time so it looks like it must be some other component. I've heard of some people having ballast issues, but I assumed each headlight had it's own ballast (Is this righyt?) so again would be unlikely that both would fail simultaneously. Looks like I'll have to try fitting the originals again to see if that resolves the issue. Any other thoughts or siggestions would be much appreciated. :)

Sorry guys - I seem to be having a bad couple of weeks with my GS :( Following a recent issue with the drivers side HID going out intermittently I bought a pair of new bulbs from eBay - D4S's as per the existing bulbs, but 6000k colour instead of the stock 4300k (See eBay item 321123892893) All seemed good but on the way home this evening on a fast A road both headlights went out :O Initially I thought a fuse must have popped, but after pulling over on the hard shoulder for 10 mins both headlights started working again. Is this likely to be caused by the bulbs being cheap/faulty or is there likely to be another issue? A bit worried I could end up stranded somewhere with no headlights. Many thanks :)

Thanks Steve - that actually makes a lot of sense and would explain why the buzz only happens now and then, or after several presses of the brake pedal. I'll have a look over the weekend and see if I can find something - At least it sound like a relatively cheap fix :) Cheers Simon G

Hi Guys My car (GS450h) went in for a 90k service last week and to see if they could determine the cause of the engine tap/rattle when cold. Service was completed but the only feedback I had re the engine tap/rattle was to see if it improved after the oil change, but if not it was likely valve noise so expensive to fix (Valve spring recall already done in 2010) :( Anyway, since getting the car back I've noticed an occasional buzz/vibration through the brake pedal at low speeds after gentle breaking. I can replicate this with the car in neutral & stationary by pressing the brake pedal 5-6 times, then on the 5th or 6th press there is a buzz from the engine bay which is felt through the pedal. I've no lights lit on the dash and the car drives and stops as normal, so does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? Cheers Simon G

Does anyone have any thought on the engine noise? It's now very noticeable on cold start but disappears after about 20 mins or so. The odd thing is it started doing it all of a sudden, and in hindsight after I'd removed/ refitted all he engine covers to give the engine a good dust with a dustpan brush ........ Could I have disturbed something? The noise sounds like the tappets and I've topped up the oil with no change. Cheers Simon G

Hi guys I eventually managed to remove the suspect bulb from the car. The sphere in the centre of the bulb wasn't clear but was white so I assumed the bulb was faulty. however, on refitting the bulb it appears to be working ok again. I'll probably replace both bulbs anyway as I'm sure it's not quite right and is likely to fail again. Incidentally, every search I've done on my car says I need D2R/S bulbs, but the one I removed is a Philips D4S XenEco - I assume I should replace with the same D4S bulb as is already there? Cheers Simon G

Noticed last night that my drivers side headlight is out :( Assuming (hoping) its just the bulb, so Does anyone know what type of bulb I need to buy - is it a D2R? On another subject, I've had the car about 3 weeks now and when I fist drove it the engine was very quiet, but now seems quite noisy with tapping noise until the cars warmed up for a good 20 mins - never really goes away but certainly more noticeable when cold. The trader (not dealer) I bought the car from did an oil change, so could he have used the wrong grade of oil? I'd be surprised if he had, but just wondered what else could cause it? I've checked with Lexus and my cars not subject to any outstanding recalls, so I don't think it's related to the valve spring issue experienced by some cars. Many thanks Simon G

Many thanks Pete

I used to use this feature regularly on my last car to let the hot air out before getting in, but my 2006 GS doesn't appear to have this feature enabled. Can it be turned on/off by the owner or is this a dealer activated feature?

Hi guys I'm trying to register my car on the Lexus Customer Portal but its asking me for a device ID from my sat nav but the instructions on how to recover this don't seem correct for my 450h as all I can find is the version of the nav DVD. I've emailed Lexus but haven't had a response after almost a week, so wondered if anyone here had registered their car and if so how did you find the device ID? Many thanks