vrodman

Hi Sarah - you still driving that old bucket ? 🤣 Just kidding of course, best car I ever had and we still miss having it (except when we pull up at the fuel pumps 😄) Hope you and Stephen are well all the best Paul

I pre-empted the theft and did exactly this on my RX400h before it was stolen, but as I was going to park it at a high risk location (park-and-ride car park) I thought it was worth it for peace of mind - cost me £90 at my local exhaust place and I stored the cat in my garage ready to refit for the mot. As it happens, I didn't bother refitting it and just took it for the mot at my local Toyota main dealer. I even told them that I'd removed it and they agreed that checking for the presence of a cat on a hybrid car is not part of the mot test and it passed without drama...

Adiseal is also quite good and is available in clear so it doesnt stand out as much as coloured sealants. Forget Plumbers Mate it's non setting and totally unsuitable good luck

Sarah has a new car 😁.... and I have a tear in my eye 😪 Best car I've ever had by a country mile but for me, it's the right time for a change. I reckon something in Sonic Titanium with black leather interior would be good after the new year....

Hi Sarah I don't know if you got fixed up with a RX400h but I may be selling mine which you might be interested in. A few details - It's a 2008 SE- L with 92k miles on it. I've owned it for the last seven years and I bought it from the family who bought it new from Lexus Birmingham. it has just been serviced and Mot'd about two weeks ago at HW Moon Toyota main dealer in Wigan who have, in fact, serviced it every year since I got it except for 2018 when it had the cambelt service at Lexus Bolton. The only advisory was a small exhaust leak which I have now had fixed with a new section of pipe. Everything works, tyres are good and there is no damage to the car except for one or two minor stone chips and car park dings. I am thinking of changing to a NX which I was going to leave until next year but I have inherited my Dads Toyota hybrid as he is 89 now and is too fragile to drive so I can afford to sell the RX and won't be stuck for a vehicle to use 'til I get the NX. Message me if you want to have a look - I live near Wigan Paul

I'll second that - straight pipe is the way to go. I take my car to my local Toyota dealer for servicing and they told me that they have had about 20-30 cat thefts from Toyotas, mostly Prius's but also Auris.... and I live over 200 miles away from London ! I preempted my theft and had the cat removed before some thief took it - it's now on my garage shelf and can be re-fitted in a few minutes if required...

Had mine done at a local replacement ss exhaust place. There was a very slight blow on the exhaust, picked up on the mot as an advisory, so I took it to have it sorted and he fixed that (said it was a common fault) so whilst the car was in, I asked him to make me a bypass pipe so I could remove the cat and refit it for the mot if necessary. He did a cracking job and put flanges and spigots on as required so both pieces are the same length and have the same ends and it is now a few minutes worth of a job to change it back. Having said that - he does mot's as well so he said just bring it in and he'll do the necessary. Total cost was £90 and it has made virtually no difference to the exhaust note, in fact, if I didn't know it had been done I wouldn't have noticed - the pipe has now weathered a bit since this pic so it blends in with the rest of the system...

Good to hear Dave - just for info, Lexus Preston quoted me £851 to fix this problem !

Thanks for that I did it today, pretty easy with the back wheel off. I didnt have to dismantle the linkage - it was just the ball joints on either end that were seized so the length didn't change. I took the linkage off the car and soon had the joints moving again with WD40, the rubber seals were a bit worn but I squirted the WD in with a fine straw to wash out the joints then got my gease gun with a pointed nozzle and filled the joints with waterproof grease. The whole job only took about 45 mins - I know Lexus were going to replace the linkage and sensor with new rather than refurb the existing but even so, I think they were pulling my pants down with that quote !

Just had my RX400h serviced a my local Toyota dealer and I asked if they had any experience of catalytic converter theft and he said they had about 20 - 30 customers who had had theirs nicked - Prius and even an Auris had been done. That's in NW England.

Cheers for that - to be honest I hadn't really researched it, I just saw it as an item on the checklist on my service report. I guess it's one or both of the little ball joints on the ends of the linkage that's seized - if I take the back wheel off is it just two nuts to remove the linkage then I can get it on my workbench to free it off and maybe pack some grease in there to keep it moving ?..... ..... and what is the setting up that requires special tools that my Toyota dealer mentioned when replacing said linkage ?

Just had my RX400h in for major service at my local Toyota dealer and they have notified me that the rear height sensor linkage is seized. They said that it's a Lexus dealer only repair as it needs setting up and they don't have the equipment so I just got a price from my local Lexus dealer of £650 - £850 over the phone without seeing it depending on the time taken to do the repair - does this sound about right ?

Ok, it's all working. I think the light switch had just got turned to the off position at some point in the past and as the dark nights are now drawing in it has only just been noticed - unfortunately she switched it to 'on' instead of 'door' I didn't want to connect the jump leads direct to my van battery as there is a big fat label on the battery saying do not connect jump leads directly to negative post or even near the battery terminal..... summat to do with the stop / start function it says. On a separate note - I'm about ready for a change now and I think the RX450h is going to be a bit too big so was considering the NX300h. I had one as a courtesy car when they did the cambelt on my RX and too be honest, it felt a bit gutless..... but I guess that is something I would get used to. It was a bit noisy too. My second consideration, believe it or not is a Tesla model 3. I've been to have a look and they are amazing but I'm not sure what it would be like to live with. One things for sure though, there's no lack of performance there ! Thanks for the help Dan

Thanks for that. Ok, so, I think we may have found the problem - my wife has remembered turning the rear cargo area light on on Thursday, whilst unloading some shopping, and can't remember turning it off again afterwards. This means that the light would have been on all the time from about mid-afternoon on Thursday 'til now - the car didn't get used at all yesterday so it remained on all that time. Would that be enough to fully deplete the battery ? When I've put the battery on charge, the gauge on the charger went crazy for about the first ten minutes and has now settled down to the low charge zone. As the battery looks like it has been completely flattened do you think it is toast, or will it just recharge and carry on as normal once re-fitted. I am leaving it charging overnight so wont know if it's fixed 'til tomorrow. Dan

2008 RX400h Can anyone please tell me - should I disconnect and remove the under bonnet battery for charging or should it be left connected ? Got in the car this morning, the door was unlocked.... unusual for us to forget to lock it but can't specifically remember locking it the previous night, but anyways, everything is completely dead. Keyfob wont lock or unlock, nothing works. Tried spare key but just the same. I tried connecting to my VW van with jump leads - +ve terminal to +ve terminal, engine bolt to engine bolt with the -ve lead and the display lights up, possibly a bit dimmer than normal, door locks and unlocks but it wont go to READY position. Disconnected jump leads and everything is dead again so I guess next step is to charge the battery. Original battery was replaced at a Toyota main dealer about 4 years ago. Thanks

I've just had the wheels re-finished last week on my 2008 RX400h and have only just noticed that they have discarded the chrome metal hexagon tyre dust caps and just fitted plain black plastic ones. They have put new tyre valves in the wheels but I think they should have re-fitted the original dust caps which have been on the car since new. I will call them tomorrow but it's odds on that they will have binned them or lost them. Anybody any idea how much they are to replace ?

Nice one ! Mmm, let's see, jampot, full width rear hub, barrel finned front hub, auto a/r timing cover...... I'l go '55 G3L ? 😀 I'm a Matchless man meself - here's my '54 G80 built to look like a comp replica...

Ajay ? Dan

Gotta be China would you say, John ? I had a similar problem with some chrome radiator trims for my Harley V Rod that I bought from China - the Harley ones were silly stupid money so I went for Chinese ones that were silly stupid cheap, looked great.... but didn't quite fit right. I managed to get them fitted in the end but it took a fair bit of modding. You'd think there would be a manufacturer out there who would make pattern parts to a decent quality for these expensive vehicles and sell them at a reasonable, but not too good to be true, price. Thanks for that Nicole. To be honest I'm into my fifth year of owning this RX400h and, as it's cost me the square root of naff all in repairs, I guess I can take the odd hit when I have to. PS. You didn't by any chance used to drive a Renault Clio did you ?

Yep, that's the same one that I got John, but the top plastic 'hooks' are way off. Two of us, as I said, trying for half an hour to get it to fit - no chance. Hmmnn, could it be me ? Well I had to temporarily refit the cracked original - 10 seconds and I had it clicked nicely back into place, so I'll say no. Cheers Dan

My LH passenger door wing mirror suffered a cracked glass after a minor clash with a Transit van - the plastic mirror casing was not even scratched but the glass is cracked and leaking fluid. After recovering from the shock of being told the price of a replacement from Lexus I thought I would try a £15 ebay mirror with heater element (but not auto dim) - got to be worth a punt, or so I thought. My advice - don't bother! The plastic mounting tags are just not made accurate enough and after about 30 minutes of struggling I thought I'd better call it a day before I damaged the internal mirror mechanism by trying to force it into position. I've ordered a genuine Lexus mirror now, discounted, from an online supplier, but still the wrong side of £200.

Car looks an absolute peach - same year as mine (but mine's silver). How are your alloy wheels holding up - are they still on original paint ?

My Missus decided to spend an hour chatting to her mother and then her friend, on the Bluetooth, sat in the 400h after work, in the multistorey with the ignition on but not turned to the 'Ready' position !! We got it started with jump leads from her friends Ford KA about three minutes before lock up..... oh, the ignominy of it !! Dan