pshawfocus

Hey Kal Can you clarify what you mean when you say the new discs etc make the battery charge far quicker? I would have thought that the battery recharge process is unaffected by the condition of the discs and pads? Am I missing something? If you don’t mind sharing, how much did it cost to have the whole shebang done as I feel my discs / pads are a bit graunchy and I get squeals when braking in reverse sometimes. And like you’d I’d rather have the brakes in tip top condition. I had my rear shocks replaced a few months ago due to fluid leaking / misting. At 100k I suspect my front ones are also past their best (albeit there is no sign of leakage) as there is a subtle difference between the way the car traverses bumps - front to rear. You had Lexus do yours? What did they charge for that? Thanks, Gary

Sorry if this has been asked before (along with roof racks and tow bars etc), but any recommendations for boot mounted bike racks? A quick troll through the intertron has thrown up a couple of potential versions, but I’d welcome your thoughts and experiences. Gracias!

I’m talking about 20-25% hills where most automatics will role back upon release of the brakes. On less steep hills the ‘creep’ will tend to hold you for that nanosecond before you can push down on the gas and move off. However, on these super steel hills I though my car had assurance that would inhibit it from rolling back as the right foot transitions from brake to gas pedal. I agree, it’s super bad form to hold a car stationery on a hill with the gas pedal, in a hybrid you’ll typically be wasting battery power needless and putting the drivetrain through unnecessary stress. I’ll have to have a read of the owner’s manual and see what it says.

I’ve noted that my 2010 450h doesn’t ‘hold’ the car on a very steep hill if I release the brakes, the car roles backwards whilst the yellow warning flashes on the dash. It’s no real hardship to press the brake with me left foot and balance the car on the gas for a moment, but presumably this means there’s a mechanical / sensor fault somewhere? Or am I talking nonsense and the car doesn’t have this feature installed?

Thanks Andrew. I got my tracking done a couple of months ago but had continued to experience horrible wandering and tramlining. I thought maybe the tyres were overdue replacement, albeit there is a reasonable amount of tread on them. However, when visiting a different local tyre place the guy suggested having the tracking checked again and he discovered it was very, very adrift of the correct settings. Seems there are two settings covering the GS450H and it seems the previous garage had used the wrong ones. Possibly the settings were changed at a particular time or build date. I’ve postponed replacing the tyres (currently Yokohama) until the new year, when I’ll do all four with a premium brand. Either way, with the tracking done correctly the car drives utterly sublimely - I was almost in tears when I drove it out of the tyre garage and down the road for the first time It’s so much more relaxing not having to fight the steering all the time and makes driving (ahem) briskly an utter breeze! No plans this weekend so I may fill it to the brim on Saturday morning and take it on a couple of nice long drives 🙂

Am I right in thinking that they are Dunlop SportMaxx? Hoping to rid my car of awful tramlining.

Thanks John. Having spent the past few days treking up and down various motorways along with town, urban and country roads where, unless the road surface is super smooth the GS tramlines horribly, I’m guessing the best next step will be to replace the tyres based on experiences of other owners on here? The ones on the car don’t look too bad but they aren’t Dunlop Sports Maxx which I believe were the recommended fit?

If the control arm bushes are tired / need replacing, what does that do to the handling? My GS450h get’s strongly nudged off course unless the road is mirror smooth. I thought it was the wheel alignment but seems not. I’m also going to check the tyre pressures (hopefully not upsetting the TPMS), I know very low profile, wide tyres can tramline more than conventional tyres with deeper side walls but it feels somewhat excessive to me compared to other cars I’ve owned, which have been similarly equipped in the past. There is periodic mention of drop links (sp?) on other threads - could they also be the cause of the steering having a mind of it’s own?

My local Lexus and Toyota garages are all Jemca owned; Lexus Croydon don’t have their own garage and you have to take you Lexus to the local Toyota garage for servicing. I find Jemca a bit m’eh to be honest. They’re a trek away but I found Lexus Hatfield to be brilliant - their parts and service do go the extra mile on any questions you ask.

Had this done today at Wheel Power in SW4 as I had gotten the feeling that things weren’t quite right As suspected, things were a bit adrift so they’ve all been adjusted (and the car feels a lot better) but the garage advised that they can’t adjust the front caster? Mine is only out by a tiny, tiny amount so they suggested any adjustment would barely be noticeable anyway. But if I wanted to get this done the next time I change my tyres, can anyone recommend a garage in the (ideally South) London area that has the right equipment or will I need to go to my Lexus stealer? Mucho gracias

HI All. I have come across a couple of stories on the intertron suggesting that if one has sufficient dosh, one can (or could?) acquire bespoke, fitted luggage for ones Lexus GS450h? Mine is a 2010 and whilst I rarely carry much beyond a couple of Aldi shopping bags in the boot, when I’ve gone on the occasional road trip, it would be nice to have something specific to fill with pants, socks and a toothbrush rather than squashing everything into a couple of wheelie bags and a few sports bags.

£234.12 all in.

Well, couldn't think of a better way to put it :-) I noticed my two previous Prius occasionally did this, but the CT seems have had extra sprouts. Go for a drive, park it up, wait a few mins and pfffft. What is causing that? I noticed my CT did it whist out driving at the weekend - I braked fairly hard after descending a hill and when I stopped at the bottom and eased off the brake there was a brief pfffft too. No other ailments noticed...maybe it's just the outcome of a good fibre diet.

Bruce in parts @ Hatfield Lexus organised it all for me. He knew the part numbers and then passed me over to the service team to book the car in. Got there, handed over keys, checked emails, had a coffee, paid and left. Smooth, simple and efficient, just like a Lexus should be :-)

Just had my front screen replaced by Autoglass. Being the UK I could immediately tell that the rain sensor was working ok (thankfully). Aside from some smears on the inside of the screen, a couple of grubby finger marks on the A pillar and some flecks of plastic / rubber at the base of the screen (to be hoovered out soon) all seams good thus far. I will, however, check the source of the glass per comments above. I've also no longer got the little grey Lexus assist sticker on the passenger side. There is also a slightly different black line around the edge of the hashed area where the sensors are on the screen. Just aesthetics of course but I am a stickler for having it look as it was intended. Either way, nice to have a brand new shiny screen sans a 12 inch crack on the passenger side!

Lexus Hatfield retro-fitted my CC a couple of weeks ago in about 15 mins. Works perfectly; much easier to stick to (e.g. around) the limit on the motorway now. Whilst I was paying the younger service guy fessed up that he wasn't aware it could be done; his older colleague gave a knowing look.

Fitted in a matter of moments :-)

I did indeed :-)

Found one on eBay. Not Bamboo but dark wood. Not a bad price including delivery :-) http://stores.ebay.co.uk/LexusOfficialStore/_i.html?rt=nc&_nkw=CT 2011&_fsub=&_sid=1177214316&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1513&_pgn=3

I don't have the bamboo in my CT but I quite like the look having been in more modern ones and as the dash architecture on the passenger side doesn't appear too different I thought I could retro fit it. Will ask the parts dept at Croydon Lexus tomorrow.

Does anyone have the part number for the bamboo strip that goes across the passenger side dash? Also, was this a more recent fitment (2014>) only or can it be retro-fitted to older cars? I have seen a video online where the guy just unclips it so I assume my non-bamboo strip can be removed and replaced? Thanks :-)

Lexus Croydon blankly refused to retro fit cruise on my CT, saying it simply can't be done. I called Lexus Hatfield and spoke to Bruce who said....sure, no problem. Takes us about 30mins and I have a list of the parts required here. My 2001 Prius didn't have CC - I think that and sat nav were the only 2 options when it was new. After a bit of research I sourced a replacement steering wheel directly from Toyota UK which had the switch attached and Toyota in Brighton (Yeomans from memory) replaced the steering wheel / connected the switch. As I've forever regretted getting rid of that car and hope to some day procure myself another one (though finding ones that haven't been driven into the ground is now almost impossible), I bought another steering wheel from Toyota (this time in the US) a few years back - it's in the box in my garage still!