NEILJ

I currently own an RX 300 and get around 24 to 25 mpg in summer months and about 22 in winter. I have been interested in trading up to a 450H hybrid and the official figures quoted are 43.5, 44.8 and 47.1 mpg. However I have now looked at many owners write ups saying that their average is between 25 and 28 mpg. This is on not just one website but many. So I would like to ask if any owners would like to comment about their 450h as it would not be worth looking at one at this mpg I would rather have a V8 something or other. Further I would like to comment, how can lexus legally get away with stating this given so many are getting no where near the official figures. I would be livid if some salesman stated that the official figures are genuine only to find when I had made my purchase I was getting 25 to 30 mpg, this is blatant lying and cheating surely. So before I forget the idea of looking any further into a 450h purchase would anyone like to comment or sway me in some way. Neilj

OK so now I am starting to get fussy. My car is the 2006 facelift model which has the silver colour gear shift panel, the earlier models are black and I think perhaps it should have been left that way. I have some slight wear on the silver panel revealing the black plastic underneath. I was wondering whether to try air brushing it but of course I need to get the colour match right so I need a colour code. Has anyone got the same problem and found a good solution. The one other idea I have had is to remove the panel and strip it back to the black base colour and leave it that way. any suggestions anyone. Like I have said I am getting fussy but I have the car looking pretty good now and this would be one of the finishing touches. Perhaps a paint specialist with a spectrometer would be a good idea to get the colour match, what do you think. Neilj

Update Driving home last week and the rear pads started squealing so had to change them and as it turned out it was a pretty straight forward job and not too costly. I hope its not the fronts next as I think they will be more difficult but if there are any pictures posted anywhere I would be interested to know thanks. Neilj

Ianc66 I understand your thinking as problems like that make you nervous about future ownership. Alphacat mentioned that quality cars are costly to fix but to my mind quality means robust, reliable and longevity otherwise you may as well go and buy something cheaper. I hope I have bought what I think is a quality car at a bargain price given what they cost in the first place and after fixing quite a few minor problems I hope I can settle down with it now but if costly issues like you have had arise then I will be thinking the same way. I do like so many things about the SC the refinement is like no other car I have ever owned, the stereo is one of the best, the wood finishes, quality of the leather, pearlescent paint finish etc etc so I really hope it remains reliable from now on. So good luck with your sale and I hope you find your classic car but I think an old classic will be like chalk and cheese. Neilj

Alphacat Good luck with changing the bulbs from the engine bay I believe it can be done but I ended up taking the front bumper off and getting it resprayed at the same time. Some bulbs are very cheap and I wondered whether to buy them but I went for osrams at about 35 pounds each as I didn't want to risk any further problems and having to remove the bumper again so hope you get things fixed. Neilj

Ian Sorry to hear that, ouch that is one expensive fix and I am not surprised you are going to get rid afterwards. As for their comment they have never come across that one before hmmm I'll bet they all say that like landrover say they don't have many problems with their cars did his nose grow. Well like you if I get many further problems my membership to this forum and ownership will be short lived too. You buy a Lexus with the expectation that they are pretty trouble free but this forum seems to indicate otherwise. Really sorry that your car has been a disappointment what do you think you will get next. Neilj

Mark I was gob smacked at the pictures especially when you look at the car interior and bodywork and how good they are. The first thing I did was get on the floor in my garage and have a look at mine. Like the other chaps have replied the only options are get it fixed or sell it on either way it costs. The one thing I would consider though is if your garage says it will not pass an MOT in the state it is in then I would question the garage that did pass it and get on to the necessary authority, I thought dodgy mots were a thing of the past as the places I go to don't miss a trick. I hope you come to the right decision anyway and you are not on your own when it comes to buying cars I am not the worlds best I had missed a few things when buying mine that I have had to fix. They are a rather nice and under rated car though so refined people just love or hate the shape. Good luck and hope you get it fixed. Neilj

Thanks all for your replies and Steve I agree it is always best to crack the bleed nipple to push the pistons back much easier but I didn't realise you could damage the master cylinder seal by not doing so. I have learned something again which is the excellent thing about these forums. Thanks Neilj

There have been quite a few posts about intermittent door mirror operation problems and I have had the same trouble. I have made a couple of attempts to spray wd40 behind the mirror with no success but today I had a look at a few pictures on the net so tried again. This time I started the car and adjusted the mirror to its limit looking skyward ie giving me as much gap under the bottom of the mirror. I could then insert the plastic pipe on my spray can at about 30 degrees up under the mirror and got past the lip with the pipe pushed towards the mirror hinge. Gave it a couple of good squirts and tried the operation and it worked every time. Well I hope it continues to do so fingers crossed. Neilj

Ian Just a thought you haven't had any battery issues have you. I Had my battery go flat because the car was standing for over two weeks whilst I got the front bumper resprayed. After recharging the battery off the car I had to reset the seats so that the memory function would work again which includes steering wheel memory, a simple job see your handbook. The boot and fuel filler release however were fine thankfully. There is a post on the American owners club website that lists the fuses and locations if that helps. neilj

Ian Sorry to hear about your woes I am fairly new to this car myself and cannot offer any suggestions. I hope you find the solution. However I must ask yourself and anyone else reading this did you buy your car based on reports of how wonderfully reliable the sc is supposed to be. So far I have had minor problems like a headlight on the blink, door mirror intermittent operation etc but some of the problems I am reading about on the forum I find a bit scary and these cars are not cheap to fix. What tipped the balance for me to buy an sc is that the RX I also own has been brilliant so far (ooh err dare I say that) and the visible quality of the sc , interior Paint etc is just superb. It wasn't my first choice dare I say that was a Jag XK but I really do love the refinement and solidity of the sc. So I hope you find its a simple fix and not a woeful problem as confidence in our cars is the prime importance that is why I ditched the Jag idea, I felt that the SC would be ultimately reliable. I hope like you my confidence will not be knocked. Neilj

Tiger fish Just had a look at your tutorials for the GS model. Very clear thanks. The front caliper design I have never seen before. Many thanks Neilj

Thanks for your replies. To update. I have tried wd40 and silicone spray with no success however what I have noticed is that if it is a warm day not baking hot the mirror works. I have then warmed it with a hairdryer in my garage after a cold morning and it works fine. Nuts aye. Neilj

Thanks tiger fish for that. I will have a look at the tutorials. So the retraction tool I should get is the one that simply pushes the pistons back not the one that turns it back ie the pistons are threaded. Neilj

Does anyone know if you need the caliper piston wind back tool to change the brake pads on my sc should I decide to do it myself. I am looking for other posts but in the mean time if someone has the answer please. Neilj

Well just to report and update. Front bumper was resprayed after replacing head light bulbs and colour match is very good just a slight difference in finish that most people don't notice. So I walk up to the car in the strong sunlight and notice something ominous, got the car back home and on close inspection its an hairline crack about an inch long. I being the person that I am the bumper had to come off for repair. Again after investigating the internet forums I worked out how to remove. I repaired the crack with the special epoxy that mixes in the nozzle then air brushed and lacquered the visible crack with good results. On further inspection with the trim remove in the boot the car has had a minor bash, maybe a parking bump and must have been filled and repaired as you can feel the dent inside but outside you cannot see anything the colour match is perfect even when you get a high beam torch light on it which usually reveals any new paint etc. With that job done and all reassembled I now have to return to the door mirror which is not extending intermittently. I have read a few frightening prices for a new unit and I am wary of salvage parts so has anyone managed to strip and repair the door mirror. There are some good instructions on dismantling but I cannot see which motor is responsible for extending and retracting the mirror. The car is looking pretty good now but after a lot of time and effort and from what I have read nearly a 1000 pounds for a new unit might just scare me off altogether. So please if anyone knows a solution I could embark on yet another fix. neilj

Well there were no replies regarding front bumper removal but then I found quite a lot of info on the American sc430 forum which was very helpful. The bumper was removed as were the headlight units and the hid bulbs were changed. I then stripped the bumper and had it resprayed. I must comment that how anyone changes the headlight bulbs without taking the headlight units out is beyond me as it was fiddly enough with the units on the bench. I now need to investigate the wing mirror operation as the passenger side is intermittently not working and needs a shuv to extend. Would be interested to know if anyone has had a similar experience and knows how to fix. So far the car has had a few niggles which is not what I expected given the trouble free RX that I have had for 18 months now. So I hope the mirror is an easy fix or I will be quickly loosing heart in this enterprise. Regards Neilj

I have had my 2006 6 speed sc430 just over a couple of months now and am beginning to want to get a few bits straightened out. I have a bit of gravel rash on the front bumper and was considering removing the bumper for a respray or re laquer. There are some quite good exploded views on the net of the front end but nothing indicating how to remove the headlamp washer covers. I would be interested to know if anyone has ever done this procedure and could give some advice on the removal. I know the main thing is to be particularly careful in making sure all the fasteners are out but it is the washer covers that are the unknown and I don't want to do any costly damage. I don't know if the body shop would know any better and would just cover up any damage with the usual black polyurethane sikaflex etc. So does anyone have any good information please. Regards NeilJ

Thanks Peter. The cheapest branded I have seen are osram at £37 each. Like I say am tempted to try the cheap ones and report back to the forum on my findings. I am in engineering design work and you will be amazed at how much is sourced from china now and who are cracking their quality problems and producing parts at rock bottom prices. will keep the forum informed. However tried my headlights yesterday without problem it is one of those dreaded intermittent problems I suspect. Neilj

Further to my previous post about my headlight problem I am looking for a couple of HID bulbs. The prices vary hugely and I wondered if anyone else had researched this. First of all there are bulbs on ebay of that spec at around £27 per pair but then on other specialist web sites they range from £37 each to an astronomical over £100 each. I am not a believer that price always indicates quality but would be interested to see how much others have paid and what experiences they have had with purchasing the bulbs. It is tempting to try the cheaper ones but wonder about their longevity or if they might cause any other problems with the lighting system. Any thoughts or comments. Regards Neilj

Thanks Suman, Paul and Raj for your replies all very helpful as these forums are. So it looks like this is not a new problem but in particular thanks Raj for telling me about your experience with the Lexus dealership. I have had Jaguar in the past and the main dealers look for the maximum amount of money they can make from your problem but I hope this is not the case with Lexus. They did however point you to the fault straight away which is a good sign. I will monitor the lights for the next month or so and look to getting the bulbs changed and report back. It will be a relief if it just turns out to be bulbs and not harness or ballast resistors etc. so we shall see. My main reason for buying the SC430 is the reliability so far of my RX, which wasn't my first choice of 4x4 but has proven to be a good choice. The SC430 again wasn't my first choice of V8 sports but as soon as I sat in one and saw the quality of everything it blew anything else out of the water. Really pleased so far and feel a million dollars when driving it, shame I don't look a million dollars in it. Hope this glitch is just a one off. Regards Neilj

Have had my lexus sc430 for about two and a half months now and have come to realise what a quality product it is in everyway. However tonight driving home with the headlights on I thought they were a bit on the dim side. When I arrived home I noticed that one of the zenons was out and thought it must have blown so that would mean the faf of taking the air filter box out etc etc. For some reason I thought try switching them off and back on again and hey presto both lights working again. Have had a brief look around under the bonnet and all seems in order. So my question is has anyone else experienced this or similar or does anyone have any ideas of what might cause this. Thanks in advance for any opinions or suggestions.