Herbie

I am not a mechanic, auto electrician or any other form of authority on cars so take this as you will. The thing about OBD2 is that it's an industry standard, so although I don't have a GS300 SE, I can almost guarantee that the pinouts will be the same as any other Lexus/Ford/Nissan/Vauxhall etc., etc.

We have a late (November) 2013 RX450h Advance and we love it. We paid just under £25k for it back in February with just over 33k miles on the clock.It has 95% of the bells and whistles that the Premier has but, crucially for me, no air suspension. I've never owned a car with air suspension but have been a passenger in many and I really don't think it brings anything over and above 'normal' suspension in comfort or performance. What it does add is a whole new layer of complexity and expense to an already complex and expensive car.

No, it's not just you being unlucky, they really do charge these extortionate prices! Notice that the timing belt is just that, the belt alone, without replacing idlers/tensioners. Of course, the question has to be, why are you even considering using a Lexus dealer? Timing belts and water pumps are bread-and-butter jobs for any mechanic and could almost be done in their sleep. No need even for a Lexus specialist, any good trusted/recommended mechanic/garage will be able to do a much cheaper job equally as good.

Just sent you a PM Ian. Herbie

I've got one of these and although I've not yet needed it to start the car, it's been in the boot for about a year and is still holding 75% charge, so I know it'll be there if or when I do need it. Incidentally, it takes very little power to get the car into the READY state but I wouldn't buy a smaller capacity unit in case someone else with a 'normal' car needs help.

Hearing water gurgling from inside the cabin could also be the heater matrix on its way out.

Not being sarcastic at all (I did put a smiley after my original reply to show that it was meant as a lighthearted comment) and I like to help people whenever I can, but I refuse to spoon-feed someone and I expect them to have done some research of their own first before asking others for help if they can't find the answer they need. Every forum I've ever been a member of works the same way. With the greatest of respect, your 'problem' wasn't a problem at all; your question was a 'non-question' because it didn't affect the running of the car, it wasn't urgent and, most importantly, if you did just wait and see then your question would have provided its own answer.

Instead of looking for a Lexus-specific connector have a look at general auto electrical supplies places like this one https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product_list/7

It's a drawER, not a draw! 😁

I'm sure we're all itching to know - did it change automatically or not?

You're welcome Geoff, I like to help when I can 😊

Not sure if this will help but it shows a 'Standard Value Table' (although it's not as easy as measuring centre of hubs to wheel arch):

Yep, the new MOT rules make it an instant failure.

Well for goodness sake, it's not like it's mission critical is it? Literally wait and see - if it doesn't change then you have your answer haven't you?

Why would you pay that? Lexus don't make dash cams so you'll probably find the same make and model for sale elsewhere but cheaper. If not, there are plenty of very good dash cams much cheaper and it really is a very easy job to install it yourself. If you don't like to DIY then any auto-electrician will do it for an hour's labour charge or less.

Drunk for 17 years? Now that IS a good party 😁

The torque steer is a well known effect, you just have to learn to handle it. Don't just jab your foot down (or if you do, just be ready for it happening) but use a lighter right foot instead. https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-tech/100190/what-is-torque-steer

We went from a 2005 RX300 to a late 2013 (63-plate) RX450h and we love it. The 300 was brilliant but the 450h is a whole order of magnitude better. Comfier, plusher, quieter, better in every way. You won't be disappointed if you go for an RX450h, I promise you.

Wait and see 😁

Get the same sort of inspection done that you did with this one which will cover the 'standard' parts, but make the sale conditional on the car passing a 'Hybrid Health Check' done at a Lexus dealership. I believe that the hybrid health check can be done for about £60 as a 'stand-alone' item.

I keep the Stoplock key on the same ring as the car key but I don't see a problem with that at all. If they really want my car and they break in the house to get the keys, then like others on here I'm not going to be a hero - if there's a threat of violence then I'll just give them the keys and be done with it. As I mentioned above though, the whole idea of the Stoplock is to act as a very bright, very visible deterrent, so that they see it and think "No, not worth the aggro, we'll just go and get one from somewhere else that doesn't have a Stoplock on" - in which case it doesn't matter whether the Stoplock keys are with the car keys or not.

Hybrids have the compressor motor windings submerged in the oil for cooling purposes or something like that, so a special non-conductive oil has to be used. The compressor is driven by the hybrid battery so any short-circuits of the motor windings will throw Check Hybrid System errors. I think I'd be inclined to get a refund as there will be better examples out there. They do indeed but at least lots of things can be bought from other places and/or breakers yards for a car of this age, that "rear motor wiring loom" being a good example. I've never known a full loom to be corroded so under different circumstances I'd think a good auto-electrician should be able to sort that or just get the whole loom from a scrapper.

Never, ever, ever leave your keys in the door lock for a start! Factory-fitted immobilisers or even third-party ones such as the 'Ghost' system are good, but only come into play once the ne'er-do-wells have already gained access into your pride and joy. Prevention and stopping them in the first place is the aim which is why I use a Stoplock Pro Elite on the steering wheel of our RX450h. It's not pretty, I'll grant you, but the idea is for it to be very visible and make them think that it's not worth the hassle of breaking in and trying to defeat it. In tests, it took more than 5 minutes with power tools, hammers and chisels to defeat it, or if they decided to attack the steering wheel instead, it would need to be cut in two places, which is still neither quiet nor quick. Both of the keys are in Faraday pouches and with the big bright yellow Stoplock in place, I'm fairly confident that they would choose to find an easier one to steal, even though it lives on the driveway and not in a garage.

Your car your choice, of course, and as long as you like it that's all that matters, but I just cannot be doing with black wheels on any car - they just don't look right to me at all.

As Richard says, it's just too old and clunky. I use it as a rolling screensaver but use a TomTom for actual navigation - or I did until very recently. I now use Waze or Google Maps on my phone, along with a brilliant free app called What3Words, which can get you to a parking space accuracy. They've divided the entire world into 3 metre x 3 metre squares and given each one a unique three word reference, such as 'Paper.Switch.Potato' or 'Carrot.Gear.Pie'. You use the What3Words app to search for the address and it gives you the specific three words associated with it and you then 'Share' that into Waze or Google Maps or whatever your preferred mapping app is, and you then get your directions as normal. It's so accurate that the front door of your house has a different three word address to your back door. It's just brilliant.