Brian26

Thanks Mark. I can't say that the reply was exactly unexpected! Bri

Hi Mark, I will be very interested to hear their reply. Bri

I can only agree there Mark. Having purchased a late 2016 RX with a pan roof, Lexus Parts direct would not sell me the roof bars saying that anything that is carried on the roof would cause the roof to flex and the pan roof to shatter. So why put roof rails on the car at all then, and dos'nt that raise questions regarding the rigidity of the body shell in general? I would have thought that the roof rails would have taken the weight but apparrently not. I must admit I would probably not have bought the car had I known this. I can understand Lexus being concerned about people dropping things on the pan roof and breaking it, but that is surley the person dropping something on the roofs liability? All I wanted to be able to put on the roof was cycle carriers for mine and my wifes aluminium bikes as I have been able to do for every other car I have ever owned. I must admit I am tempted to put them on anyway and see what happens but I guess it may get expensive if the worst were to happen. I am currently looking at other alternatives for carring our bikes such as fitting a cycle carrier to the back of my caravan but that raises its own problems which I will not go into here. Rant over Bri

I think (but I may be wrong) that the law requires a visual or an audible warning. For example when the indicator lights come on there is a beep from the towing relay. However as Lexus bury them somewhere in the back of the car near the rear light clusters it is very difficult to hear them (especially if like me you are deaf ! ). If you want to check this you should be able to hear the beep but you may need to have a pretty quiet car, no radio on for example to do it. I have my wife do a 'lights check ' whenever we go away so I know everything works at least up to the point of departure. I haven't had a visual warning for more years than I care to remember other than an occasional canbus bulb alarm that I had on both Mercedes cars I towed with that always turned out to be spurious. Hope this helps put your'e mind at ease as these vehicles make very capable tow cars. Bri

Sorry I can't help you there as I was only going of memory and I don't remember a red box at all! Once again sorry but maybe a decent auto electrician should be able to point you in the right direction. After all I think these relays are fairly 'generic'. As I have in the past fitted my own tow bars and electrics and they all look at least pretty much the same. I notice both of them seem to say VOLTA on them so a google search may be worth a try. On second thoughts I have just done one and Volta seenms to supply charging points for electric vehicles. So maybe one of them is the relay to supply your'e fridge when towing? Don'y know if this helps you at all though. Bri

I have had a tow bar and electrics fitted to all my RXs, from a 400h through two 450h's and the towing relay has always been in the left hand rear corner. If memory serves me just remove the bit of trim that allows access to the rear lamp clusters and look for a box around 2"X1.5"X around 3/4" with a lot of wires coming in and out of it. One of them may have several wires together and will go toward the middle of the bumper that will be the one going to the towing socket(s). The others will be usually spliced into the original wires for the lights indicators etc. My latest was fitted by my local dealer (or I suspect a local to them tow bar fitter) and is branded as a Lexus tow bar, the relay is in just the same place as all the others. Hope this helps. Bri

Hi Richie, Would connecting two sets of jump leads reach? ( I have done this on occasion to start a 'conventional car ') Just have to be careful not to short circuit them. As the Lexus only requires a small current to boot the computers you may be able to start it that way or it should provide enough current to open the tailgate. Bri

I would just like to get out for a decent run sod the MPG! Bri

Have a look at this website it may help. https://www.lexus-tech.eu/Bluetooth/search.aspx Bri

It does seem to be certain dealerships that say this. For instance last year I had a problem come up whilst I was staying just north of London when I called in at the local Lexus dealership they wanted to know what I had been doing when the yellow warning light came up. After I explained that I was just going up a hill after I had come off the A1 and had been towing a 1750kg caravan they looked at me aghast and said that I shouldn't be towing anything that heavy and that I needed an auxiliary transmission oil cooler fitting at the very least! Anyway to cut a long story short they reset the fault (gearbox oil pump running out of tolerance) but it recurred when I was nearly home. As soon as possible I went to my local dealership and told them what they had said. Their response was as Gliderpilot has stated. When I questioned them about a oil cooler they said it was not necessary and they had never fitted one! The fault would be cured by changing out the gearbox oil pump which it was! ( I should say at this point the oil pump in question is only the small one that circulates oil through the radiator that is I believe part of the ICE radiator.) The only caveat was that if I were taking car and caravan to somewhere very warm with a lot of hills then it may be a good idea. Bri

I have towed with the RX400h and the 450h. I haven't as yet towed with my current 450h but I cant see it being any different from the previous 'tugs'. They make excellent tow cars although I don't quite know how Jeff manages 27 MPG, or does he mean 27 MPG including towing?( Which is about what I average including towing) I managed around 18 with the 400h and around 22 with my previous 450h, I am not expecting any great improvement so I will be happy with around 22MPG towing. Bri

Hi Simon I honestly would'nt be too concerned about getting it working again. I would think that there is very little chance of being able to connect the snapped of bits back to the element even if you could get access to it without removing the windscreen! Back in the days when I had an IS200 I had issues with water leaking down the wire after a screen replacement. My local garage finished up removing the wire and sealing it all up. The heating element is there in theory to make sure your'e wiper rubbers do not get frozen to the windscreen and in the UK I cant see that being a serious problem any time soon. Bri

Is it the power supply for the heating element that runs along the bottom of windscreen? At first glance they look like heating element connectors to me. Also looking at the photo they are in about the right place. Bri

Hi Peter, Going back to when I had an IS, the windscreen was replaced after half a brick hit it. Around 6-9 months later I had a similar problem to you. If memory serves the wire that goes to the heating element along the bottom of the screen had been modified on the replacement screen. It leaked water that got into the back of the fusebox in the drivers footwell although the front of the fusebox looked OK the rear was corroded causing the problems. My local dealer had a go at cleaning it up but the problems persisted eventually needing a replacement fusebox. At the same time they sealed the leaking wire. Hpoe that helps Bri

I had a very similar thing with my 2011 RX450 last summer. But i'm not sure what you mean by ' all directional arrows on centre screen disappeared '. However I took mine to Lexus Hatfield (the closest dealer at the time) who diagnosed the fault as being 'gearbox oil pump running out ot tolerance'. I think the code was maybe something 502 (but don't quote me on that!). They reset the fault and it did'nt recur until Lincoln on the return journey. I then took it to Lexus Hull who diagnosed the same problem and changed the gearbox oil pump under warranty. Apparently it is a not an unheared of fault . The oil pump only provides circulation through the oil cooler I think as it does not appear to be anything bigger than a washing machine pump out pump. Either way I hope it's not anything more serious. Bri

Hi Stefan 213 I have sent you a personal message (PM) If you are interested get back to me. Bri

Hi all. I have just ( unexpectedly ) changed changed my RX ( for another younger model! ) and I now have 4 tyres going spare. (My new one has 20" wheels.) They are Vredestein Ultrack Satin, 235 X 55 X ZR 19 XL 105W. I am located in N.E. Lincolnshire, if any interest please PM me. Cheers Bri

Hi All, I may be completely wrong here. But I remember back in the dark days when I had a Merc there was some discussion on one of their forums regarding how much was left in the tank when the yellow warning light came on. I seem to remember thst there was an EU requirement for the warning light to come on when there was enough fuel left to do a further 50 of 60 kilometers. (That being the distance between motorway services on the continent I believe ) . Maybe that would account for the large amount of fuel being left in the tank when the light comes on? Bri

Hi Peter, I have towed with a 400h and now with a 450h. When I had the 400h I used the Milenco Aero (teardrop shaped) mirrors and found them to be quite satisfactory. I now use the Milenco Grand Aero mirrors and these are even better giving a much wider view. Both fitted without any problems but I did have to have them secured to the bottom of the mirror casing to avoid the mirror fouling the clips when I select reverse. The Aero mirrors can be had for around £50 and the Grand Aero for around £80. Hope this helps Bri

Hi Jeegnesh, Just a thought I have a set of roof rails on my car. A set of bars and a bike cerrier will be a lot cheaper than a tow bar. Bri

Hi Jeegnesh, I have a September 2011 RX450h and had a detatchable Westfalia towbar fitted by my local auto electrician. From what I remember it was around £600 - £650 fitted. There seem to be several brands available including Witter and Brink so you shouldn't have any problem with availability. As far as I know they all require the bumper to be cut but it's not that visible. I believe mine was ordered from P F Jones. As for tyres, if you will be towing say a caravan then the front tyres will take a lot of wear, after all it's effectivly a front wheel drive above around 15 MPH. I tow a 1750kg max weight van and my fronts will be lucky to make 2 years so I don't see a lot of point in putting expensive tyres on. I am currently running Avon ZX7s. They seem to have a reasonable balance between cost and wear and of course grip. Hope this helps Bri.

Hi all, Whilst I bow to Herbs electronoc knowledge I can say that I have jump started several 'conventional' cars from both my RX400 & later my RX450 and have never had a problem.But perhaps I have just been lucky (doubtful!). Just remember red (+) to red(+) and black (-) to black(-) from the battery terminals ( although the 450 is a bit of a faf) alternativly you can use the dedicated jump start points as noted in the manual. I really do not see the issue providing the battery is connected correctly and the hybrid system is in the 'Ready' mode after connecting to the conventional vehicle. However I do carry a 'booster LiOn battery with me if I am going to leave the car for a fortnight or more shpuld I ever need it. Bri

Another vote for Avon ZX7's at just over £100 a corner resonably priced. Had mine on for around 18 months and still going strong. Bri

Hi Dave, It was certainly a bit of a problem initially. I finished up using some of that brown parcel tape that's about 2" wide. Another alternative is to use a bit of double sided sticky tape (that was going to be my fall back if the brown tape failed). So far I have only had the dashcam come off once, that was during the hot summer of last year whilst the car was parked at the airport. Initially I was a little concerned that I would potentially damage the heating element if I had to remove the tape but when I thought about it no end of dealerships place their stickers over the elements and they come off easily enough with just abit of care. Hope this helps Bri

Whilst I would not want my RX to be stolen it's not something that I worry about. After all it's well known that if a theif wants something that badly there is not a lot anybody can do about it. However I do try to make sure it's not my RX that they get.