Steven Lockey

On 2/25/2021 at 7:13 AM, Mihanicos said:

Always remove the safety plug from the boot and wait 10 minutes before you do any work, give time to the capacitors to discharge. Observe all safety rules in case you accidentally touch any high voltage cables, terminals, pins etc.

Please please please never assume the capacitors are discharged no matter how long you wait.
They can hold a shocking (literally!) amount of power for a long time after the device has been unplugged.

Always assume they are charged till you've tested and made SURE.

Gotta admit, the V6 is so quiet normally you forgot its there till you put your foot down and get a delighted purr in response

3 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

You mean "said" Stevie  ?  😜

Depends if it was him or the pink elephant 😉 

37 minutes ago, Sherra said:

Don't  know about LSD 

Thats what they all say 😇🤣

Ah ha, found it via the Lexus tech website.

Its got the stabiliser fitted, so it must be a sport which is the only one that does.

Guess the Vicar who had it before me de-badged it as he thought Sport might be a little flashy.
Where the badge would be he replaced with a (new removed) Jesus fish sticker 😉 

7 minutes ago, Sherra said:

Steven if you look at all the stickers in the B post (door jalm) on both sides it may state which model as mine does on the passenger side. Not the main VIN sticker but a small separate one.

Thanks, but I just popped out and had a look and it doesn't.

I can see the registration form says SE-A which doesn't seem to be a thing.....
 

 '06 to '08 450h SEL fitted with radar cruise and sunroof as standard.

So my 07 has ventilated seats (so SEL or Sport) but no sunroof or adaptive cruise control.
You sure about this?

Might be a Sport I guess as I've got no wood in the steering wheel at all. I think a tiny bit on the top
of the gear-stick is all.

On 9/20/2020 at 11:33 AM, Chris111 said:

There were four trim levels of the 450h when launched. Base, SE, Sport and SEL. All 450h models from '06 to '08 had a boot lip spoiler. Dropped from Base and SE after '08 facelift. '06 to '08 450h SEL fitted with radar cruise and sunroof as standard. After '08 became an option. Sunroof was an option on SE but not Sport. SE, SEL and Sport have ML sound system as standard. Cooled seats option dropped from SE after '08 facelift. Optional part wood steering wheel and gear knob available on '06 to '08 SEL now standard after '08 facelift. You can tell an '08 facelift model from the visible changes, namely the side indicators were moved to the wing mirrors from the front wings, a slightly different grille and the lower rear bumper panels are body coloured. Prior to this they were black. There was a further facelift for the 2010 model year with the differences mainly being, externally, redesigned 18" alloys on SEL and 17" alloys fitted to SE, although the 18" was an option. Front and rear parking sensors removed from SE but but were fitted if the optional 18" wheels were fitted.  Also a new front grille. Inside the infotainment system was updated with DAB introduced and the tape player removed but the ML sound system was no longer standard on SE. Wood trim steering wheel and gear knob no longer available on SEL. I believe with this final facelift Base and Sport trim levels were also discontinued.

The following may be of help. They are pages from the 2008 brochure.

 

Thats interesting, mine has no badging on it other than the normal GS450h, but according to that spec sheet,
its either a SE-L or a sport.

No idea what the trim looks like so not sure if its fitted or not.

Guessing it a SE-L but never had a smart key card so probably only in later versions.

I'd error on the side of caution with anything to do with the brakes myself 😉

On 3/3/2021 at 1:57 PM, royoftherovers said:

About 1/2 mile in my experience. One does not buy a 450h for its HB range !

I forget sometimes I purchased an upgraded 3rd party Battery with more capacity!

I'd get your brake system checked asap.
Not sure if the brakes and power steering share any pumps e.t.c. but when I had a similar
thing on a different car, it was because one of the brake pads had shattered somehow
and was causing a brake fluid leak. The noise might be the pump trying to maintain pressure.

The shuddering on the brake pedal is what worries me. 

I first had this on the way to work (1 hour each way), on the way home from work the same
day, I found I no longer had any brakes at all (including handbrake), which was fun let me tell you 😉 

6 hours ago, llyrrr said:

Also, what's the estimated range of the battery in the 450h? 

I've searched around a lot but alas, no result. 

Not more than a few miles. Maybe 10 if you are very lucky.

Its not designed as a plug in hybrid which will go for long distances without the ICE kicking in.
The 450h is all about recovering lost energy from braking and a nice little boost to acceleration.

There aren't many cars of this weight that can get to 60 in under 6 seconds while getting over
30 mpg both on the motorway and stop/start around town.

Lexus basically quote to replace the entire unit including cats.

Go to an exhaust specialist. Lexus quoted me about the same and 
Redhill classics which isn't too far from you did it for £120. 

If its just a leak, should be fairly simple to fix. They would need to take a look I would guess.
http://www.redhillclassics.co.uk/

Heres their website.
 

Could also be something that has become loose and is hitting it's resonance frequency at that speed. 

On 10/8/2019 at 10:24 PM, hondansxr said:

ERRRR 32 MPG AVE ?

I check this every time before I fill up....

Its never below 32 on the tank average and my two journeys I do are local stop/starty journeys
and long motorway journeys at rather fast speeds so not exactly driving conservatively.

2 hours ago, madasahatter said:

Do these suffer from rear tyre wear badly. I am still looking at cars and it seems to be a common fault. Looking at past Mots.

I missed out on a proper good car, by been to slow.

Its a heavy car so they do go through tyres a bit quicker than lighter cars but it shouldn't be significant and should be equal.

Excessive wear to a single side of a type is almost always a sign of mis-alignment as no matter else you do, that tyre should
be wearing equally....  Unless the person is constantly edging kurbs with the back tyres or something daft like that.

3 hours ago, Danjwilko said:

Good info in the wall that's for sure, I'll have to have a longer test drive make sure the 450 gets a decent outing too as it wasn't available to test at the time. the is250 as you say was sportier and smaller so not sure if its a contender space wise anyway so would be more gs300/gs450 the only thing that was putting me off the 450 was the hybrid batteries some horror stories that you always end up with online.

Overall I don't do a huge amount of mileage each year around 8000k used to do 30k plus commuting down south every week, obviously less now due to lockdown but we have family in Cornwall, we used a family members XC90 mk2 for a short trip down which was a breeze. I wouldn't dream of going down there in the VW, to cramped, uncomfortable after short periods its an ok A-B car in short commutes up to about 45 mins but any longer I'm wanting out.

Budget is around 3500 4000k plus whatever i can get for either selling or part exchanging the VW in.

On the Hybrid battery front I take it the battery check will be documented in the service book? Any come backs if a years is missed?

The more I look at them I want one haha, Due to where we live mind which is country side for a few miles before we hit main roads would the rx series not be a bad shout? never really liked the look of them for some reason where I think the gs series is great to look at.

 

 

 

I'd say the GS is actually sportier in terms of performance. 5.2s 0-60 vs 9s according to the specs.
Not sure it even handles that well from what I've read and I wasn't impressed with the one I test drove tbh.

I don't like chelsea tractors so not keen on the RX series either 😉

Thing is, if you can find a gs 450h with a dodgy Battery, they normally sell for about 1.5K and you can get a brand
new Battery with 3 years warranty for 2K, so thats a good car for 3.5K which is basically what happened to me 🙂
Spent total about 4K on mine total including set of premium tyres.

Otherwise the dealer should be able to confirm that it has had a recent lexus hybrid check. I believe if its up to date
on the hybrid check all is good even if it skipped a year but something to get the dealer to confirm or call up a lexus
dealership who will be able to access records for the car. You can do this on their website as well with the right details
for the car. 

As far as rough roads go, its alright if you know the roads and know WHERE the bumps are. Its only really the unknown
ones that catch you by surprise that are a bit of an issue.

 

PS. I counter your wall with a bigger wall lol 🙂

I'd say a lot depends on your budget. 

A decent 450h will probably be the most expensive, having said that mine only cost about £4k total (most
of that buying a replacement traction Battery lol) but you have to really hunt for one that cheap and if it hasn't
ad Lexus hybrid checks every year, be prepared to have to replace or recondition the hybrid Battery which isn't cheap.

For long distance cruising the GS450h is lovely. I mainly do fairly long trips (2 hours each way) so wanted
something for motorway cruising and its perfect for that. It just sits there barely straining at *ahem* fast
motorway speeds 🙂 With a 0-60 of 5.2s its not sluggish either when you put your foot down and 32 mph
is normal for me so that isn't too bad either, not great but its not a small car.

Comfort level is a++, not been in a car more comfortable including mercs and BMWs. The seating position
is a bit weird at first (for me at least) compared to european cars but very comfortable once you setup the
seat right.

Also it'll run practically forever if treated right other than normal wear and tear on parts. A lot of them hit 250k+
miles before having an issues beyond the hybrid Battery. If its had the lexus hybrid check every year (£60 a go roughly)
then Lexus will sort any Battery issues for the first 15 years. Mine is at 175k and has no major parts replaced other
than the hybrid Battery. Mechanic had a through look over it and couldn't see anything that he thought would be
an issue either. Other thing that tends to need replacement on both the 300 and 450h are the suspension struts
which can go as its a heavy car.

Only downside is really it isn't great dealing with bumpy roads at low speeds and your insurance might cost a bit more.

The GS300 is a very similar car, slightly small and lighter and has a lot less power so its no-where near as
fast. I've heard some complaints about the engine used as apparently it using a belt instead of a chain that can
go pop.

I wouldn't say the 300 is a bad car but I'd def go for the 450 unless there was a big price/quality difference.
Both are really solid build quality but the hybrid system on the 450 gives it similar fuel economy with a lot
better performance.

I'd never get a IS 250..... its one of those cars which tries to look fast but really isn't 😉
I'm not a fan with 0-60 at 9 seconds, well unless you really really want to put the top down, I just don't see
many benefits to it over the other two. 

Hmmm, perhaps take it to a suspension specialist. 

Just did a run down to Southampton from London area so a good 1.5 hours down the motorway and lets just say I wasn't going slowly 😉

When in the howling wind, car was dead stable. Road camber did cause a slight sway but thats kinda to be expected in any car at speed.

It can feel a bit 'floaty' in normal suspension mode when you hit a bump, but the car is still in full contact with the road and full control.

There should be a gas extraction tube as well to fit to Battery I believe to make sure any corrosive gasses the Battery vents don't hang around in the boot, eating the car's metal.

May also be several other factors for this like it been colder out than normal so having to run longer to heat the oil up to temp,
the 12V Battery been a bit below charge or just been a bit funky cos its cold. 

It doesn't sound like anything that unusual to be honest.

However much you pay and whatever the service history, your biggy is gonna be when is the hybrid Battery going to die.

Fairly sure its 15 years max some lexus, so when it dies, that'll cost £2kish to get a replacement or £700 for refurb (approx).

Dealer sold me my GS 450h for £1900 (2007, practically all the optional extras, 165k miles, slightly dodgy wrap on it) but repaid me £700 after I threatened to return it when it turned out the hybrid Battery was faulty.

Don't think I did too bad in the end as I replaced the Battery and it drives like an absolute dream and came to just under £4k all in including completely new uprated Battery with fresh 3 year warranty (non lexus), 4 new really expensive tyres (I spent far more than I needed to, but I don't like crappy handling. Car seems a lot happier high end tyres), replaced mid-exhaust section, full service and a few other really minor bits. Its at 180k now and smooth as anything.

So do bear in mind there might be a big upcoming cost in that department but otherwise I'd thoroughly recommend the car.
Maybe you can even use that info to negotiate a bit of a discount 😉

On 1/20/2021 at 6:41 PM, ThE_0nE said:

Then what's for the Hybrid Power button?

That changes the way the traction engine is used, so it will use it more when you put your foot down
and less for cruising. 

I keep it in power assist mode, seems to make little difference to fuel economy and makes the accelerator a bit
more responsive.

Ha, my only two other cars were a Rover 25 1.4l (78hp?) and a Citreon Saxo 1l (50hp)
Its such a big difference, particularly when at speed. First time I drove it, nearly went into 
the back of a truck on the dual carriage-way when I put my foot down to overtake quickly
and didn't realise quite how quickly it accelerated compared to my past cars! 😉

When I'm in sports mode, its incredibly responsive the the gas pedal. Might be due to the fact
I also keep the hybrid in power-assist mode which means the electric gives it a boost off from
low speed.

Automatics also naturally are slightly more laggy on acceleration than manuals so that might be
what you are noticing. One of the reasons I really like the 450h is cos the traction engine seems
to compensate for that completely in power assist mode.