Platypus

Just back from the dealer where they did the first 15,000km service. Had informed Lexus Brussels about the resonance problem and the customer support engineer remembered me from back in December when I first announced it. I also brought printouts from all of you who have posted similar issues on the forum. They kept the car in for the day and took it for a spin. I spoke to him on the phone later and he said that, though they noticed the issue, the car checked out fine on their analysis computer, and there was no known solution to the problem. They will be escalating the issue to the next Lexus level (whether it be Belgium or Europe, I don't know). When I collected the car, one of the salespersons assured me they will contact me by Friday with feedback. So, I would suggest we wait for the verdict and if it is not reassuring we go for the letter to Lexus Europe. Furthermore, it would be interesting to hear what your own dealers are saying about the problem.

Got mine upgraded today and thought it would leave a trail under General, Software Update, but nothing; am beginning to wonder if it was done at all. May I echo Bridgy in asking how to find the version in the myriad menus?

Anybody got issues with the front parking sensors? Mine won't detect anything lower than about 15cm, which is higher than the front spoiler, with obvious consequences. I wonder if this could be adjusted?

Hi Dazed, we've moved this topic over to "Potential Manufacturing Defect" if you'd like to follow it. Everybody reporting the problem (just 3 of us so far, unfortunately, so welcome to the club!) agrees it happens between around 80 - 90kph when the engine is between 1300 and 1400 rpm, and it goes away if you paddle down a 'virtual' gear. I'm pretty sure there is a solution because most owners don't have the problem - perhaps a little electronic tweaking of the CVT. Please don't let this turn you off the car. I'm bringing mine in to the dealer in a few weeks, and will be taking all the comments with me, so watch this space.

Thanks John, Also I'm less worried now, when I know that I'm not alone. And I hope Toyota is listening :-) If not, maybe it is a good idea to write an official letter from our Club? I'll be bringing the car in for a service in about two to three weeks (need to clock up another 2,000km for the first service). I'm also bringing printouts of everyone's comments on the problem so they can't fob me off. I'll check out the Prius II Owner's Club site and bring any evidence from that too! If no joy, I suggest we send that letter.

I must be doing something wrong, pretty sure I'm not getting anything approaching 580 from a tank. Mind you miles better than my old 2nd gen 250 so I'm still happy. And I thought I was getting lousy mileage! 580 equates to 44mpg (granted, I was averaging about 41 for the last few weeks, but they have been exceptional) and you're getting about 40, which should be 520miles (on 13 gallons). I set the trip at every filling and consistently get between 920 and 950km on a tank. There are others doing far better, apparently.

The IS300h has a 66 ltr tank (14 gallons). I get about 930km (580 miles) on 60 ltrs. That's winter mileage, I was getting more than 1,000km last summer. Have clocked 13,000km so far.

Thanks Dominik. Finally!!! I thought I was the only one with this problem - now I've reinforcement! I posted the problem on the IS300h forum in October and had expanded on it since, but it was all lost in the server problem in December. I'm driving the premium (they call it 'Prestige' in Belgium). When I noticed the problem it was still warm weather and I was driving on 17" normal tyres. When cruising between 80 and 90km/h and the engine is lightly loaded, or is just pulling, there's a slight vibration/resonance, as if the car is in too high a gear.This is very irritating, especially as that's cruising speed off the motorway. When I paddle down a 'gear' to 4th it disappears altogether, only to return when the CVT automatically returns to 'D'. I figured it seems to be a problem with the set point of the CVT, and since the CVT has electronic control it shouldn't be a problem to remove. I brought the car in to my dealer in December and went for a spin with the mechanic. Unfortunately, we couldn't get up to speed due to traffic, but the mechanic has the jist of the problem and promised to report it and get back to me. Which he didn't, obviously. However, it's due in for a service in a few weeks and Lexus has promised to keep it for the day to check it out. I now have 16" winter tyres, and besides the fact that they are very, very noisy, I have noticed that the problem is slightly exacerbated (for what I can hear above the noise of the tyres!) which Is probably due to the extra friction of the tyres. I think they'll pay special attention now that there's more of us. Will keep you posted.

Silver Arrow, David from Staffordshire gets 48mpg on the M6 without hypermiling - that would be my holy grail. So, if I take your friend's BMW320D's real-world figure of 53mpg and compare it with David's F-sport's real-world figure of 48mpg, apply a correction factor for calorific value of the fuel of 0.9 (petrol 9.7kWh, diesel 10.7kWh), then David's F-sport is almost just as energy-efficient. Granted, I'd have to invest more effort with my pulse and coast technique, but I'm also guessing your friend's Beemer is a stick-shift, so he'd probably be expending energy on his clutch and gear-stick technique. It's a pity though, that the difference in energy content of petrol and diesel is not reflected in their price. As far as CO2 emissions go, the beemer would be pumping out 142g/km as opposed to the Lexus' 136g/km But 45mpg would do me fine, which I was getting around August/September.

Jonas, I wouldn't fully agree with you on this. Given that Lexus makes more hybrid cars than conventional ones, I think if they said people shouldn't be driving their cars on motorways they wouldn't be selling many of them. Luxury cars are made for motorway driving - if I were to drive in town all the time, I would go for something small that's maneuverable as well as fuel-efficient. The IS300h is supposed to compete with the German diesels, which epitomise motorway driving.

Many thanks David! It's not the first time I read about the technique on this forum, but was a bit sceptical about it; I'll try it out next week and see what it gives. I think the winter tyres also make a difference because they give more grip but I'll be damn happy to get 48mpg. So the trick is to stay out of Eco and basically floor it to 75mph - think I could manage that! You can easily calculate your CO2, by the way: 1 liter of petrol creates about 2.31kg of the stuff (diesel is about 2.65kg but also has a greater calorific value).

I do mostly motorway driving and keep at the 75mph (120kmh) limit in Eco mode. I don't have a heavy foot, and always stay within the speed limits. Only recently have I checked real-world mpg and was rather disappointed to see I'm only getting 41mpg (6.9l/100) as against others' claims of better mpg. I never believe the computer (which is telling me right now that I average 46mpg) but thought I was getting about 45mpg real-world before I had winter tyres fitted (16in replacing my 17in). Guess the tyres make a difference, as well as the heating, but can't see how anybody can get 60mpg if unless it's for a very short drive. More sadly for my carbon footprint, a car that is supposed to do 102g CO2 per km is pumping out 161g; but hell, I'm not blaming Lexus - I'm sure their figures correspond fully with the EU EUDC but everybody knows that a load of baloney.

Thanks Terry, you've confirmed my suspicion that they may be holding something back.

Chris, obviously in your position you're in the know. I've got the full-option model with satnav and Mark Levinson and was with my dealer in Brussels last week for another problem. They claim that they haven't received any updates and that they would be country-specific, explaining why you'd have them in the UK. Could that be true? My car is completely set up for English but I can't imagine Lexus releasing country-specific software as is would be a complete headache to control.

Just checked with my dealer in Brussels and they don't have it yet. Guess it's for the UK only; you guys get everything first, boo-hoo!

Many thanks Carl, I'll be making my booking - that's if my dealer knows about the update too!

Haven't been back to the dealer yet and wasn't using it for the last few weeks. Will be bringing it in for winter tyres week after next and will hand in the list of defects. Are you feeling absolutely nothing, even a slight shudder or vibration; I noticed something similar on my girlfriend's Auris hybrid?

Well, Geoffers, I hope that teaches Lexus a lesson. You don't go putting a car on the market that's so full of bugs - it brings the total car quality into question. It's not like they only just started making satvavs and the like, is it, or bluetooth for that matter (my Nokia 700 never worked from day one!)? Sadly, the whole infotainment system looks like a child threw it together and even if it worked perfectly, it still looks profoundly outdated compared to all the European makers in the same segment.

I hope Lexus is taking note of all these bugs. At least I am of my problems, and I have a list going in Excel for when I bring it in for its first service. The satnav is an absolute shambles and also looks like something from a 10-year old Tomtom. But most frustrating are the pop-up traffic infos containing no information and that you can't get to disappear. Last Sunday it even managed to crash altogether, bringing down with it both the audio system and the reversing camera! Now, something like that seriously compromises my esteem of Lexus. Right now, I'm really sorry for not going for the BMW 3. Anybody got the email address of those jokers that developed the software?

Many thanks Clearline and Dannemare. I think I'll bring it back to the dealer then.

My IS300h is 3 months old now and I've driven about 3800 miles. I noticed this first about 2 months ago and it seems to be appearing more and more: When driving between 50 and 60mph in Economy mode the transmission gives a kind of vibration that one can just about feel. I could only describe it as a kind of light harmonic distortion, as if the electric motor and the engine are not in sync. If you stay at the same speed it gets quite irritating, especially compared to the car's usual smooth and quiet composure. In Normal or Sport it seems to occur less, or at least for a smaller speed range. I haven't discussed this with my dealer yet as it might be 'normal,' so I'd like to hear if it's just me, my car, or more that us! Has anyone else a similar experience? Many thanks