irobot

UPD2: Thanks for your input. I have checked around the car today again after about 1 hour drive and found out that apart from the above the area where PWR, SPORT SUSP etc buttons are it is quite warmed up too. In addition, when I have put my finger in the cigarette lighter compartment it felt quite hot, not burning, but close to it, although I have not used the lighter. Could anyone please check in their cars whether they have the same? I do have a gut feeling that electrics are messed up in some way and the circuit is overheating or smthing.

UPD: I have also checked the popping out dash on the right hand side from the drivers seat, where all controls are for mirrors etc. and it feels warm i.e. is heating up. Also I have noticed slight electric buzzing sound whenever I dim the lighting, while the sound disappears when switched to max lighting. Can someone please check that you have the same?

Hi Guys, I have 2006 GS 450h with 59,000 on the clock and it is soon due for major 60k service. As previously mentioned I had an accident with the car and finally got it repaired - had to change all the front including lights, though no damage to engine or chassis or to anything mechanical in the car. Total bill was above 3k pounds, from which parts cost 2.8k, ouch. The first questions is- Today I collected the car and I was so happy, like the 2nd honey moon. However, what I noticed while driving it for some time is that when A/C is turned off, I can feel slight waves of heat (hot air) coming from the steering wheel rack, underneath it (the panels seems to be warmer than on passenger side) and ocassionally heat comes from blowers with A/C off. I would not say that it is very noticeable, but you can feel that the cabin gets slightly warmer and I can definitely feel it with my legs that slightly warm waves are around them. I can't recollect whether I had something like this before. Can someone confirm that they have the same in their car? Is this normal? Can it be that coolant levels are low? (checked on the dash temperature and it sits bang on in the middle) Maybe radiators needs cleaning? (Will that be done during the major service?) Can it be that there is something wrong with the hybrid system e.g. cooling mechanism or similar? Can it be due to engine oil level? (I have checked at and the level is slightly above the lowest point. Also, the smell of the oil appeared to be a bit strong to my nose, like slightly burnt, or is this normal?) Spark plugs are the cause? Fuel or oil filter? (According to the on-board computer oil filter should be changed in ~ 1000 miles) Could it be that something got damaged or improperly replaced during repair works by bodyshop? The second question is- As my car is due for major service, I have called the main dealer and got a quote of 675, which includes change of spark plugs. Can you guys advise please on what should be done additionally during this service and should I change spark plugs with dealer or with independent? If it is independent, what type and where would I need to buy spark plugs and are there any good independent garages in the West Midlands area? As always any advice is appreciated and I am glad that there is such place where people can help. John.

Guys couple of questions- been to the local bodyshop garage- he quoted ~2k for repairs- a lot of collateral damage i.e will need new headlamp unit and etc. My question is- do I go with local or with Lexus? The bloke told me that they use the same parts, the same computer automated system and etc, the only difference is that Lexus charge more. Another question- what is a voluntary excess- is it compulsory for me to pay it on top of compulsory excess?

How bad is it going to affect my premium?

Hi All, It's been a long time since my last post as everything was great... until today. My car got involved in the accident, where I hit the car from behind while moving from right lane to the left lane. Don't ask me how this happened, as I am yet to digest that myself. Luckily I was driving slow, so the damage is not terrible, at least it looks like. Anyways, what's done is done and the damage I have to my lovely car is as follows: 1) Front left side bumper big dent, which according to a body repairer- minor cosmetically not repairable 2) Left side of the bumper and grill popped out from clips (dunno whether clips themselves are still in place) 3) Left headlamp washer cap missing (I don't know whether the unit itself is still in place, as it is difficult to assess) 4) That is only visible damage and according to body repairer the impact was cushioned by something, that is behind the bumper, so might have damaged chassis- however the car drives fine and I have not noticed any differences yet. Who can properly assess the damage? Most likely I will have to change the whole bumper as well as the headlamp washer unit. Total cost quoted by Lexus ~900 pounds, ouch. My question is- how do I proceed? I have several options: 1) Try and repair myself via good bodyshop garage, which I am going to visit tomorrow for a quote. 2) Pay the excess on the insurance (which is not small) and go via them, which obviously will affect my no claims bonus. However, the other car I bumped into still going to claim from my insurance, so I think that it does not matter in this case then? 3) Any other suggestions like heavily refurbishing the bumper by the wizard of Oz are welcome too 4) It's first time I am in such situation, so don't really know what to do, so relying on you guys to give me a reasonable advice. Also, does anyone know how much would a new bumper cost for my 2006 GS 450h SE via non dealer facilities and where should I look? Also, what would be approximate labor costs? So far I am thinking of following steps: 1) Someone inspects and assess the damage 2) If now mechanical faults to the car after collision- then depending on the quotes I get- a. Go via private b. Go via insurance As always, I appreciate any help from you guys!

Thanks guys for you input! I will be trying ZX-1 next week and will let you know results. Coneybuilder, so far I have also increase in mpg around 2-3mpg due to temperatures. I will see and report whether ZX-1 actually increases it even further. I wish I could get 35mpg as a normal city commute average :) As a side question- do you guys notice slight lag in acceleration, around 1 second, when gear shifts from first to second? I also have a slight lag when going from 60mph to 80mph. I know the latter is fine, but to the former I did not pay attention that much, until today when I had to pull of at a roundabout and I had a slight lag to pull off.

so none of you guys ever used any petrol and oil additives?

Sorry, I meant can the oil additive ZX1 do harm to the engine system?

Tony, thanks for your input. Can the oil do harm to the system?

Hi guys, just wanted to ask if anyone used petrol and oil additives with their 450h. If so, could you please share your experiences. So far I am thinking of using this for oil - http://www.team-zx1.com/ and this for petrol http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_194045_langId_-1_categoryId_255221#tab3 Will this be helpful for my 2006 car with 52k miles on the clock? Or it is not necessary?

Robert, Thanks a lot for your input! I have just came from Lexus service centre after having been there for 3 times in the past month I can finally see that they have done something to my car. The air pressure in tyres- they say they have sealed the valves, so should be fine now. Regarding engine and transmission they say all is in good condition. They have also adjusted the steering slightly, so now it feels more secure and solid, which I like. They have also adjusted the brake pedal. Before it was quite long, now it is much shorter and I can feel it is more effective. The gas throttle seems to be also tighter compared to before. On top of it- I finally managed to cruise on electric motor without loosing speed, which is awesome. I don't know what they did, but the car feels sooooooo much better compared to what it was. I was also able to get a good mpg around early 30s finally because of that, which is exactly what I was expecting, when buying this car. I also should say that I would not say, that I was driving it like a grandad as well like before. To the boring bit- the guy at Lexus said that wheel alignment was indeed off, so they tweaked it, so it sits in the middle in their diagnostics software. Now I don't know what they have tweaked, but the car now pulls to the left. Not heavily, but still pulls, about 1-2 degrees off the normal steering wheel straight placement. Regarding this I am not sure, maybe I should leave it as is for a month and see how my tyres respond if there is no noticeable tread loss, maybe leave it as it is. Alternatively I could go to a local garage again, so they tweak it. However, I am a bit afraid, that they might damage something and I might loose the benefits, which I have finally been able to achieve regarding how the car coasts, steers and drives. I could also go to Lexus again, but having been there 3 times already with exactly the same problem, not sure that they will be able to do something else. The other bit I noticed- although not noticeable in the steering wheel, every bump I drive over feels slightly harder and I can feel it with my bum, although I was driving it in sport suspension mode, so might be because of that. All in all, I am quite happy now, even though the car still slightly pulls, it is a completely different drive to what it was before.

Robert, thanks a lot! This is helpful. Just went on a ride again today in the morning with silence in the cabin and when I accelerate, even slightly to moderately, I hear the revs go up but the gears switch slightly later than it was before, that's why I can hear the engine revving higher than normal to my mind. I am accelerating from 10 to 40 moderately, while the sound of engine feels like I am flooring the pedal from 50 to 80, as this is when I would usually notice engine sound. I did not notice it before unless I would floor the gas pedal. It's difficult to describe the sound but it is something in between tonns of air going through a tube, and associates in my mind with the train, where there is a lot of sound, but you drive 40 mph and the sound is not crispy, but humming. That kind of feeling. Dunno whether it can be something to do with me playing with Sport Transmission couple of days ago, but generally, I noticed it after playing with Sports transmission. This is the sound I used to get when flooring down- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DG0HSrLMzY It is crisp and bright, but now I am getting a very dull humming sound like here Can be exactly heard on 0:24 in the second video. Also, when engine is idle it sounds like it is still revving, not the usual idle sound, but actually I can hear it revs. I dunno whether it's me, as I did not pay attention to that before, or it is the car, as it wasn't so obvious for the first couple of weeks I have driven it. I have also noticed that consumption has increased by 1-2 mpg. I was getting around 27mpg on average now it's late 24s.~ Again this might be caused due to the fact that I was playing with the throttle past 2-3 days trying to understand how engine revs.

No the alloys were refurbished by previous owner and the tyres changed by Lexus, so I really doubt that something could happen. I also have not noticed any pressure drops when I was on old tyres. The other bit I noticed- how loud is your engine reving when you accelerate? Since yesterday the pull feels slightly heavy and engine louder than I previously noticed when I floor the gas pedal. I dunno maybe I am paranoying too much, but that happened after I played around with the sports mode gear shifting, trying to slow down the car by going into lower gears. Since I bought the car I feel all tensed, kind of can't relax, always thinking that something is wrong with the car.

Thanks for you input guys again! Another thing- I still get problems with wheels- I keep loosing pressure on the left side and now on both front and rear wheel. The problem is that I have not driven the car anywhere dodgy, or thrown it, really cruised and coasted it. This makes me so annoyed, any ideas why I keep loosing pressure?