fabben

I don't do a lot of driving in these conditions but when I've been out and about (fresh show - night time black ice) The 400h has never given me a problem. The yellow warning light only flashes now and again to let me know that there's no traction - but that's only for a brief moment. When everyone is staying on the gritted main roads, with massive congestion, I just go through the "back doubles" on ungritted roads, up and down hills. The only problems I have had is getting stuck behind someone else on a hill. Even starting on a hill, going up it, has been fine. I've had no real issues driving in snow and ice. Obviously in these conditions I drive more cautiously but I don't use "B" anymore that I usually do. So I have nothing but praise for the 400h's handling.

My mission was to replace the head phones that came with the car with a cheaper alternative. I've got two young boys that have managed to pulverize the headphones in less than 3 years and I expect these replacements to go the same way. But the ICE system is great solution for those of us with kids and long journeys so my search for replacements began. My search went as far as ebay. There's loads of IR headphones and they all seem to work over the same IR frequency range. The pair I found cost £11.12 each and that included P&P (I made a mistake in my previous post - P&P was free). They were sent from Hong Kong by a company called SinoITproducts. It took around three weeks (over the Christmas period) before they arrived but they weren't boxed, just bubble wrapped in a jiffy bag. below are the details that were on the ebay listing

A little sad answering my own post but I managed to get a pair of these, £11.12 each plus P&P. I added the two AAA batteries to each headphone and they just worked flawlessly. I didn't realise how cheap they would be. :) But how long they last well that's a different matter.

I've got a 2007 RX400h, I've got ICE installed, I've got kids. Letting the kids watch dvd's on long journeys is perfect combination. However the Lexus branded headphones have become a bit tatty. The leatherette covering around the earpiece have completely worn (not the best quality in the world). So I'm after replacement headphones. Does anyone know if there are any alternatives to the Lexus supplied ones? Or do I have go with Lexus, which I know will be expensive and end up tatty in two or three years time.

I did subscribe to Lexus Online, but they were using my old email address. I went onto their web site but couldn't see how to change it, so I unsubscribed, with the idea of re-subscribing but using my new email address. After 15 minutes of getting nowhere, I thought I check here. And see if anyone has managed this quest.

I was in the car, in the garage, setting up my wife's new mobile phone. I switched the electrics on, because I was only going to be 5 minutes but I always find these bluetooth things a bit fiddly and I started messing with phone books and stuff. Then everything went off, except for the headlights. "Oh dear," I thought (or something along those lines), I forgot the headlights had been on the whole time. I started trying to fully start the car. The panel lights would blink then I'd get a red square with an exclamation mark in the middle. I tried a few times but nothing. I went inside the house to get the phone number for the RAC, my wife keeps the little credit card in her purse. Ten minutes later got back to the car, gave it one final try before I called the RAC - then it started. Immediately, I checked the trip info and the battery had lots of blue bars. I then set off for a quick drive around the block. Now I had all green bars and the car has been fine every since. I just thought I'd like to share this with everyone.

In the good times, an RX400 normally had around a 3 month delivery time, I know you could get them quicker than that if you weren't fussy about the colour or spec. But I'm curious, in this climate, whether the new model is flying of the shelf or if the dealers are having problems drumming up any interest in them?

I've always used the "B" position to to help with my braking. What I've found over the last six months is that this is having less and less a affect. So now it's almost of no use, there's just a slight sensation the the car is slowing. My question is how does the "B" position work in practice, can it loosen up over time and just require some adjustment. Or is it suggesting something more serious is happening in the automatic transmission. The RX400h is almost two years old and is due it's second service at the end of May.

Proud of you, keep it up. (As the actress said to the Bishop) That's really good. Is the driving mainly on the flat? What is the mileage on your car i.e. how nicely has everything bedded in now? I took my RX350 to Holland a couple of weeks ago and was getting 29 mpg - because the roads are flat! At home in hilly Yorkshire, economy was killed back down to 23 mpg. In contrast, I am currently getting 31-34 mpg on the same roads in the new RX400h. Type of roads makes a big difference, as does driving style. And that goes for any car. Oxford to London is fairly flat, just gentle hills (no mountains in sight). The car is almost 2 years old and it's done around 13,000 miles. My wife just drives to get from point A to point B - she normally gets in the mid to high twenties. Which is still a big improvement over the RX300, where she averaged around 18mpg.

On a family day out to Oxford, I managed to get 40mpg on the trip home to London. This was 60 miles, avoiding motorways. This is two year old, "07", RX400h and I'm very pleased. Admittedly you have to be light on the pedal. But I imagine there's a benefit here as well - your not straining the engine, which should reduce ware and tare. 40mpg is rare but I'm normally get around 35mpg and above.

Here's some pics or the Westfalia detachable towbar (model 335305) and my bike rack an Atera Strada 3 Below is the back of the RX400 with no towbar attached - note: no holes in the bumper Next, remove the plastic cover and insert towbar until it clicks. The red circular thing on the end is the key used remove it. nice focus on the tyre but I was trying to show the electrical connector which pivots downwards when required On goes the bike rack And on go the bikes This is quite neat, the bike rack slides away on an arc. So instead of dropping down, and taking the whole weight of the bikes it's a fairly painless exercise. also there's plently of room to get to the boot. The last one shows my two kids bikes in place. I managed to get them in the boot (once) but it was almost impossible. That's why I decided the time was right to get a bike rack. This prompted me to get a bike as well, which is what the third slot is for. Hope you find the pictures useful

I recently got mine installed on my RX400h by a company in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. It's a Westfalia detachable type, it took two hours to fit and cost £585. Which is £400 cheaper than the best Lexus quote I received.

Went to my local bike shop and asked if they could recommend any independent tow-bar fitters. They came up with two. One of them will fit a tow-bar for £509 but a small hole has to be made in the bumper. But the spare wheel will still fit (I checked that) The other will fit a tow-bar for £585 but this one requires no hole in the bumper. So both these independents will fit for almost half of what a Lexus garage will charge (no surprise there). But what did surprise me is that one of the independents actually does the work for one of the Lexus garages. That's £400 for booking the car in and giving it a quick valet service on its return.

I've been contacting a few Lexus dealers and fitting a removable tow bar is around the £1000 mark. Seems very expensive to me but is that what I should expect to pay? I also found a web site called "Just Tow" They will give a quote for the tow bar/car model combination. But they're asking what type of electrics I want (I haven't a clue). Does it make any difference for bike racks? The choices are; 1. 12n Single Electrics 2. 12n/12s Twin Electrics 3.13 Pin Electrics Also has anyone every tried the "strap-on" bike racks. I know the plastic spoiler on the tail gate would get in the way. But maybe there's a version were any straps would come away horizontally from the top of the tail gate (just a thought) Fabben

Thanks for spotting my error Vadre, it saved me making a costly mistake. Reading through the posts I got the impression that only fixed tow bars were fitted by Lexus. But I'm pleased that that's not the case.