Greisingel

Put a trickle charger on it. Left mine for a month and Battery was well maintained. Shouldn't be any parasitic drain. Alarm/Immob is main draw

17 hours ago, Sundance said:

Hi Charlie,

I replaced my rad just a few weeks ago with a proper Lexus product having been advised by my mechanic that other 'less expensive' options (eg. starline, even nissens) may not be a proper fit & sometimes have to be adapted, however slightly. There's also the ongoing warranty issue.

Don't forget that old saying "if you buy cheap you buy twice" so if your car's a 'keeper' and worth looking after then I suggest it's also worth the extra spend on a quality rad.  Your choice. 😉

Rowley absolutely right – do not skimp. Pay the extra for OEM when it comes to your cooling system

OP you are leaving the world of Mercedes very sensible. Welcome to quality build, reliability, bells and whistles as standard – and as yet none of the subscription options lunacy.

The 400 is a terrific car (go to Autotrader and see how many are sold in the 3-5K bracket still in spite of 15-20 years age)

Belt and water pump
Trunk chassis area water ingress – via rear seams, hinges, roof rack joins. LS-X these. Use an endoscope v bright LED light viewer attached to Iphone. It's a quick way to see
Plugs – useful to know if changed – but with regular oil changes and good maintenance I for example am still running very well on factory plugs (2005 model 126K mileage)
If with sunroof – check front footwell areas for damp – press carpet to listen out for squelching. The A frames can clog
Get TIS on to it if you have it on a laptop and they let you to check stored CELs if any existed.
Check for rust – get under the beast. They are older now and rust can be a problem on underside members/edge of body – sills etc. If buying from seaside town doubly important.

But you'll probably OK – great cars to drive. Plenty of poke, V smooth. MPG Hmmm they're heavy and the hybrid was as much about boosting ICE power as offering good MPG. On long motorway drives using cruise control I have climbed to 35MPG. The EV part is good for town and traffic – but it is early tech (groundbreaking at the time)

Enjoy the 400!

Hope the car wasn't damaged. Scumbags. Conscription and off to the Russian front with them.

Yes, I was on about 24 MPG – but on a long cruise control drive to south of France I got up to 35MPG. And I believe the cruise control application seems to get the best performance on longer open drives rather than foot. Though it isn't adaptive (which is the one thing I'd like).

The ISC reset is a good idea

16 hours ago, Cocker said:

Not too worried about the cam belt and water pump as I’m a mechanic although I work on classic Mercedes. Probably a bargaining tool if it hasn’t been done, I just needed to know what to look out for, thanks all, I’m going to have a look at it on Saturday.

Well, you are in an excellent position to manage a mechanically relatively fixable motor. I have had my 400 since 2018 and put 26K on its now 126K mileage. I bought like you at 100K – 2005 jobbie.

It is a smooth ride. Plenty of ooomph (7.5 secs to 62 MPH – I have tested it and in fact it is a bit quicker by .3).

Plugs are a bit of a mare – east west front bank easy, back 3 pain. But should be straightforward for you.

Can see some brittling of vacuum hoses.

The headlights – upgrading HIDs can actually be done reasonably easily (though your hand takes a bit of a clobbering).

And if you live where I do – Kent – you need something that can handle the road craters Grrrr!!

Sounds like you've done well.

Ask to see the trunk chassis and frame area – to check for water ingress – it can be a bit of an issue with our 400s.

Know when the belt and water pump were last done

Service history is nice to see (20 year old motors may have a mixed heritage in that regard)

Nice to get 2 working, unbroken fob keys and maybe a valet if your lucky

Check radiator plastic for hairline cracks and scalding marks (rad replacement needed).

11 hours ago, Sundance said:

That's the one Andy, same place, same crack, same result.  Being sorted today.

It's a classic design fault. The rad replacement was a 2 star easy job. However, I did find that quite a lot of the bolts were absolutely rust melded. Once out I lathered base with high temperature copper grease. Here's to us 20 year old Lexus owners keeping'em going.

This is what happened to me. And the coolant leak manifested itself as liquid around the condenser pipe and the bumper area like Rowley posted Friday

check it isn't water weeping under pressure from the plastic radiator shoulder. If it's that you'll need a replacement – reasonably easy replacement

my 400 has 235/60s. The spring pan or cups on mine look very close to tyre. But they move in unison. They will never touch. Never have done.

On 4/23/2024 at 7:09 PM, Sasbambam said:

Hi All

i had same code. Took it to Lexis to diagnose and they took back seats out. Said it was full of water. They have had it for four weeks and now say that it is beyond economical repair. It’s a 2008 RX 400 H I paid 6K . it’s in mint condition,  they want 12 K to repair it. They have stripped it down completely what do I do please help???. Any suggestions where I could take it ? 

Good grief. Really not a great idea to leave the car with Lexus open ended. Always get a call before they eviscerate a vehicle. Often a very intense dry out and diagnostic error clear or aux Battery isolation. Get them to put it back together.

Stone caught in dust guard? Something amiss on the rear suspension arms? Rear diff bearing?

I had the POA66 codes for wet Hybrid Battery. Dry it out. And I mean dry it out properly, bone dry.

LS-X trunk door hinges welds, seams, aerial area, roof rack plastic infill area.

Remove rubber bungs on metal floor behind Battery. The drainage is poor. Look for ingress too around lights clusters.

Plumber's LS-X good sealing stuff.

Clear codes with TIS.

The above happened to me. Thought the Battery was dead. Now fully recovered and car working like a beaut (126K miles). Had an industrial drier in the back of the car. Drier than a crisp after I'd finished.

On 4/21/2024 at 5:52 PM, Watty1 said:

Same here - definitely differential bearings.  I've just had the rear discs off and the noise is only coming from the diff.

Seems to be a weak point as I've seen lots of posts about this.

How many miles on the clock?

8 hours ago, long_ollie said:

I also have a RX400h and suffer with water leaks. I’d like to understand where you seaked your leaks as it might help me, thanks in advance 

Yup the 400s can provide an indoor swimming pool. I LS-Xed the trunk hinges and all the rear seams, round the aerial, and it is worth checking under the roof rack plastic infill. You don't sat where you are leaking (do you have a sunroof?). Classic leak area down blocked drain pipes along A pillars to front footwells.

I put in several silicate box humidifiers to dry the car out and removed rubber drain plugs under the trunk area, and I hammerited the unrubbered drain hole edge against rust.

2 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

European ports are completely full with Chinese EVs. Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Antwerp, Rotterdam and so on. Previously cars were unloaded and then disappeared to the end customers mostly through dealers. The Chinese have a different approach they just use those ports as storage area. Some cars have been there for 1.5 yrs. Chinese manufacturers get paid per car by the Chinese government so keep producing my friends happy days and who cares if nobody buys them ?!

Demand for 2nd hand ones is very low out of consumer fear. What are you buying? what is the state of the battery? High electricity prices make EVs as expensive as petrolcars? In most countries you pay roadtax based on weight and that is much higher with a battery? How about value will they continue depreciating like crazy? From the model you are interested in for sure there will be newer versions withmore range faster charging so why buy this one? In short there are too many uncertainties for private buyers. Like before the market is driven by companycars only.

Make no mistake the elitist powers to be will enforce EV market through by a gradual though quite quick penalising of ICE ownership. One way or another. The EV market may look f***** now but these manipulators will not be giving up even if it means blatantly lying about CO2 or failing to mention the devastation to the environment of EV production (eg lithium mining, ridiculously incapable grid charging capacity)

While driving at 65 mph average in France over 1000 miles on those wonderful long straight autoroutes (typically 2-lane) I crept up to 36 MPG (much of the driving I left to the cruise control). I had wondered if the quality of French fuel was in some way superior to the Brit E10 I typically use or that the CC was more accurate than my lead foot.

I am back down to 24 MPG for my typical station run and short journeys.

The video is of a different engine to the 3mzfe? A 3.3 litre in the 400H

15 hours ago, b4u2 said:

@Greisingel

AGREE! I want to buy one.

How much are you asking? They hold their value well for near 20 yr old vehicle.

Passed MOT with flying colours. All the old advisories have disappeared.

Sealed all the leaks. Dried the hybrid Battery out. Replaced a radiator. Replaced the AFS, Replaced a blown main fuse, replaced HIDs, LED's interior lights – next year she'll be 20 years old with 130K on the clock.

Been through thick and thin with the old gal. Great motor. Think it still has the original plugs. Next job if I can find the right price is water pump and belt (no idea when / if it was done). Might buy the OEM kit and do it myself.

Lexus build solid motors. Love'em

New RAV4 compares most closely with which RX in your opinion?

I like the look of the new RAV

Assume it is the same Hybrid system as the RXs. Good MPG? Feel solid on the road? They look quite beefy. I ask as in the south east the roads are infested with potholes

How much?

Running your HVAC fan? It's common for the vent to malfunction creating the sound of critters behind the dashboard. Sounds like it has happened to you. I have it on my 400. I've learnt to ignore it but it can be annoying. Fix? The dash has got to come out. Not cheap I imagine.