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?

Robert, thank you for your comments! Actually, I have changed tyres already and done wheel alignment so the car feels good now so far. I still sometimes feel that it gets thrown on bad roads or roads with furrow, but that's not a big deal. One thing I noticed is that when I am going down not very steep hills without accelerating and simply coasting, my car slightly loses speed, which is annoying. Is this a normal thing for these cars? I have a feeling maybe my discs are touching the pads and that's why it slightly slows down as well as mpg is not that great- I get between 26-27mpg in quite hilly location where I live. As it is my first serious car I am bit worried that I chose the wrong car and maybe a newer more efficient mpg e.g. Mazda 6 would be a better choice. To be honest, this bit makes me frustrated, everytime I look at the car I appreciate it both interior and exterior, but then I notice little bits, pieces and scratches, which are hardly noticeable for the age of the car, but I see them, my mood goes down. I dunno, psychologically I feel tensed all the time, like being prepared that something can go wrong with a car being 8 years old. I really like the car, but I might have over estimated it mpg efficiency when took it, which makes me gripe as I am going to the petrol station every 2-3 days.

Thank you guys for your replies. The trouble I have is that having not driven a brand new car, I don't know how the used one should sound, so hence am constantly in doubt whether it is normal or not :)

Hi everyone, thought I'd post an update how are things going with the car. So far I have been to Lexus dealer twice now and they have checked the wheel alignment, tracking and everything and said that the car drives perfect, even better than some of the newer models. However, the car still pulled to the left and they were explaining it with the road camber. Well, today I went to a local garage just round the corner of my house to get it checked again, and the technician in the garage said the the rear left and front right wheels need aligning. As far as I could tell it was nearly on the border of the green zone (shown on the display in their tracking software). I asked them to realign them again- so far it is certainly better, but I still can't understand whether the car pulls or it's the camber, as sometimes I keep the steering wheel straight and the car does not pull and sometimes it does. Also, what I noticed that sometimes when I release the steering wheel, it slightly drops to the left, about 1-2 degrees. Is this normal? Couple of other things- when I am driving in total silence (today at 3am I was going back from friends house), whenever I accelerated (does not matter hard or light) and everytime the engine kicked in I noticed a very low buzzing sound coming out from the drivers side, somewhere underneath the steering wheel closer to the gas pedal. Is this normal? I have not noticed it before, but I was usually driving it with music on, so maybe did not pay attention enough. I understand that the car can't be silent completely, but I just would like to be sure that this is a normal thing, as it seems like the sound is coming not under the bonnet, but actually from the inside of the cabin. Also, when standing still- pressing the brake couple of times, causes some sort of the mechanical response and the brake starts vibrating and producing buzzing sound for couple of seconds, is this normal too? Lastly, again, when standing still, I can hear slight clicks when I press the brake and then slight clicks when I release the brake. is this normal? I think I am a bit of a perfectionist, but never drove that car before and hence still in the process of discovering it. On top of it I am quite bad with cars and hence any noises, clicks and etc. brings paranoya on, that something is wrong with the car. As always, any input would be much appreciated. Also, if you could post any kinds of strange/weird things, which you noticed with your cars and which are normal, I would really appreciate it. On a bright note- the car drives well (touchwood) and I am really enjoying the ride. Although steering is a bit on a stiffer side compared to other cars I have driven before.

On the documentation it says that the car should do 30mpg in urban conditions, well I hardly reach 27-28 at the moment on A and B roads with 50 limit. Also, how do you accelerate? I found this part of my driving eats my mpg a lot. While I am already feeling myself driving like a granny and accelerating from full stop longer than a ford transit I used to drive, I still cannot achieve normal mpg. Do you think it can be connected with something mechanical? If so, what it could be?

Thanks guys for your comments! As promised I have double checked whether the car is still being pulled and found out that it does. Actually you cannot almost notice that the car still pulls to the left while driving slow ~up to 20mph, but at higher speeds ~30mph+ you can notice it, still not that much, maybe 1 or 2 degrees. In addition, when braking from high speeds if I release the steering wheel, the car pulls to the left quite heavily, although I can't feel it when I am braking and holding the steering wheel- maybe the only difference is that the handling becomes stiffer. And now to the most incredible part- sometimes when I turn to the left or to the right and straighten up the steering wheel- there is no pull. Then I slightly turn to any direction and back into centered position- the pull to the left occurs. Also, occasionally I feel that the car is slightly thrown to the right, dunno whether it is because of my driving, wet road conditions or something else. Unfortunately I did not manage to get in touch with the garage, as was to busy at work. I am going to give them a call tomorrow and book in another session with technician. Any thoughts prior to this what should I say or how to explain the issue more correctly? What should I ask them to check? Can it be front rotors or something different? I will confirm tomorrow whether they have done the wheel alignment and tracking properly.

Okay the latest update- I got the car serviced and checked- the technician said the car is in good mechanical order and no extra attention is required (pheww, touchwood) He also confirmed that the rear left tyre was on 1mm tread and front 2 AVONS were at around 3mm. I opted to change tyres to Dunlop SP01, which cost me 700 for the whole set. I am still digesting the price , but so far I can feel the major difference with handling- the car holds on the road better, the steering wheel is not wobbling that much anymore and the ride is quite and smooth. However, on my way back I still noticed a very very very slight pull to the left, although I am not sure, as it could be caused by very strong wind, which actually was blowing from right to the left. I will have to check it out tomorrow again on my way to work. Also, the other thing was- when I pulled off from traffic lights and rapidly accelerated- my traction control went just mad and I could feel the car being thrown to the left and to the right, although I still easily could keep it straight, the fact that it was loosing traction like mad makes me worry. But again, I don't know whether it is caused by wet road conditions I was doing that. I will have to test on dry surface and will report back. In regards to the mpg- Tony, how do you manage to get 35mpg. I think it is really good. How do you drive and what do you do with your car? I noticed with mine as whenever I accelerate (not even hard) my mpg drops down quickly, while it taking much longer time to increase it back. Can you make any suggestions how to reach at least 30mpg constantly? Although I am driving through quite a few big hills during my commute to work and that can be the case of lower mpg figures

Thanks for the reply! I actually think I have 2 different sets on the car at the moment, as the front ones are of the different rubber pattern from the rear. I could not check exactly what's written on them, as it is quite dark where I live and the mobile phone did not really help :( I will see tomorrow if I can find 2 of them ok, I will do just 1 set. Also, do tyres affect your mpg much? As I can see that Verdstein are quite poor on this. How much mpg do you have on average on these tyres?

Thank you for your input guys! I have called Lexus today in regards booking a service, but in a different branch, and they quoted me minor service, while previous garage wanted to do a full major service. (The previous service according to the service book was already major service)- so the question is, do I stick with the normal service or go for full? Also, the quote for tyres I received was J174 per tyre using Dunlop SP something. Are these correct prices or I can do it somewhere cheaper? Also, do you suggest changing all 4 tyres? I am a bit reluctant to pay 700 quid for a set, but then again was offered cheaper medium Nexon alternative for 450 for a set. What are your suggestions guys?

I actually checked the tread on tyres and indeed the rear left is almost worn out and though the front left is fine, which is the side I experience problem. In any case I plan to change all 4 tyres for new ones. I did google a bit for best tyres, but as I am doing tyres up in the garage what are best options I could ask bearing in mind that I don't want to pay 1000 for 4 tyres. I am booking a service tomorrow, so let's hope that alignment, tyres and servicing will fix this issue, as I really love the car. Also an offtopic question: is 2006 model much different from later 2007/2008 models?

Hi everyone, I have recently bought a 2006 Lexus 450h and I really love the car. The sophistication of the interior combined with very sleek exterior is amazing. It has covered only 50k miles, is in an excellent condition and I am a first time happy Lexus owner :). The car also has Lexus FSH. However, I am not experienced in cars, so I am trying to describe as best as I can and need your opinion. I have a question, especially to guys who might have felt something similar, or actually had those fixed: When I took the car for a test drive at the dealer's garage, I didn't really notice, and only after driving for a little while the car feels a bit weird with steering and handling. Not critical, but sometimes annoying. One thing is that steering feels quite hard compared to bmw I have driven before. I mean the steering itself, not how it goes around corners. Generally the steering wheel is quite tight (not very, but I feel the difference and my friend also does) and I have a feeling that steering wheel rotates left easier compared to rotating to the right, Also sometimes it feels kind of different- half rotation is easy to turn and then it becomes tighter again. Although when I am reversing, it feels very smooth and easy. Do you know what it might be and is there any cure to this? I have read that there were some recalls connected with PS, but not sure whether it is exactly what my car has. Any thoughts and opinions are welcome. The other thing is that sometimes when I am driving, the car starts to handle weirdly, not much and not dangerously, but I can feel and the steering wheel is slightly thrown to the left or to the right and is shaking. Again not massively, it is even hardly noticeable from outside, but I can feel like my steering wheel goes off, e.g when I drive over something, the steering wheel shakes and slightly turns in the direction of which wheel has went over something, e.g minor pot hole, and then quickly returns back. Almost like a flick. It feels like the steering wheel reacts on each bump on the road, when sometimes I am driving in poor condition roads. However, I haven't noticed anything while driving it fast so far (~100mph), the car, wheels. the steering wheel all felt quite stable and there wasn't such issue. Again, maybe because I was driving fast only on fairly good roads. I also would like to say that I drive quite carefully and got 31mpg at the moment, so I don't think it can be connected with me just driving too fast over the bumps. I feel both of the above when I am actually cruising at regular 30/40 mph. The car is also due for service and needs minor tracking alignment done Do you think regular full service could fix those problems above? What should I say at the service? Can it be just caused by me not being used to driving a rear wheel drive? Can it be just electronics kicking in and applying some kind of restrictions to the car? Any thoughts are welcome and let me know if some parts are unclear, so I could give more information.