Notamech

I see this with most car manufacturers these days. Their entry level cars are a disfigured "SUV" they're killing off all the sedans and compact hatchbacks and pushing these ugly small SUVs. But to be fair its probably what most of the market wants. Most people arent car enthusiasts they want a functional comfortable car and dont care so much about "sportiness". Despite me choosing an IS because personally i like sedans and i like reliablity more. I see the impracticality everytime i try strapping my kid to the child seat and her head hits the ceiling when getting her in. At those times i feel like a taller car would make sense. Also while i love the IS for what it is. It honestly isnt the best sporty compact sedan out there and those looking for a compact sporty sedan probably buy BMWs

In my experience the biggest thing affecting MPG on motorways is speed unfortunately. On motorways i easily manage anywhere between 45-53 but i keep my speed between 60-65. On trips where ive gone faster i.e 70+ its similar to what you are seeing. Most of my daily driving is short city driving and because for most of my 2 -3 mile trips the engine is constantly running trying to warm itself and the cabin i get an abysmal 24-34 depending on the weather. So in this case despite low speeds other factors such as the trip being short saps my MPG. So your MPG on B road journeys would also depend on factors like weather, your climate control temp, length of the trip, terrain type e.g. hilly vs flat and your speed.

Some do it. Most dont. I personally didn't. You should still get a decent 20k+ out of your tyres. The original bushings cause some premature inner tyre wear but not something you would fail your mot for.

See if they can do a video walk through so that you can see the actual paint condition small scratches dings seat wear or anything that would be a deal beaker for you before you make the trip. Also look through the reviews of the dealership. The only benefit of buying from lexus directly is that they provide a 1 year warranty. However, given it was serviced at lexus last it will be covered under the 10 year relax warranty anyway. If the car is good and you like it i would say go ahead. In my experience these family based dealerships are much better to deal with than corporates and buying from lexus a similar spec / age / mileage car will cost more. Also chances of things going wrong with the is300h are very slim. Its a great proven reliable car with no major issues so your risk of buying a lemon are extremely slim. Just do the usual car history checks etc that you would before buying any car.

Is this Lexus Twickenham by any chance? This experience sounds all too familiar. When I bought my first Lexus I had high expectations too but had a similar experience to you. Never went back to that dealership again. My advice would be to continue looking for another dealership / workshop.

Unlikely. Its probably something else like an improperly fit piston seal. Better to take it to a dealer or a hybrid specialist. As far as I am aware dot4 can be used in dot3 systems but better to use the correct spec just to be safe.

Thats the wrong brake fluid. You are meant to be using SAE J1703 or FMVSS No. 116 DOT3

No i don't think those are the ones. Even i tried looking for those but didn't find the exact ones on ebay / amazon. The ones you linked to are the expansion type where when you press it in and it expands to fit. I did install a reversing camera recently and broke a few of the boot lid liner clips and am pretty sure they arent the expanding type. They are friction fit and i endend up using some other generic friction fit push rivets that fit the hole from an assorted bunch of rivets i bought on amazon. The original ones lexus use look like these i.e they are ribbed and hold in place with friction against the ribs. https://vehicleclips.co.uk/products/fir-tree-style-upholstery-trim-clips-toyota-90467-08186

Unfortunately the fan and filter cleaning is not a something on any service schedule as far as I am aware. Depending on the age of the car and how much use the rear seats get the filter tends to accumulate quite a bit of crud that reduces air flow. While it still works its not at its best and hence battery usage reduces. You wont get any error on the display until its severely blocked and thats the only time lexus will clean it. I did mine at ~90k miles/8 years old and was surprised at the crap that came out. If your car is relatively new / low miles its probably working optimally already. Heres a thread on it in case you fancy having a read or plan to do it yourself.

Is this with the climate control on? If so once summer rolls around and if it isnt too hot outside you can get away with just using the fan and your mpg will go up even further. The highest i seen in the summer was 53 with climate control off cruising at 60-65mph on a motorway. This was just on the display though like you say could be off by a bit. Also depending on how old your car is you might want to get the battery fan and filter cleant. Anecdotally it helps stretch your mpg a mile or so more.

I would like to think so given how pricey they are. Almost all dashcams even the cheap chinese ones offer a parking mode where it takes images / snapshots at fixed intervals and records in case it detects shake / motion in the car. But for parking mode to work you need to hardwire your cam to a fuse thats always on. Detailed instructions from a previous thread can be found here I installed a chinese one a few months ago but power it through the cigarette lighter. Managed to hide the wires well enough so they're not visible.

Exactly this. Typically you would hardwire it only if you wanted it on all the time. Else most people just use the cigarette lighter - that switches on with ignition.

Not surprised. I was in a similar situation last year and was on the motorway halfway back to London from Southampton when i reached the red-zone where it asked me to refuel. I just ignored it and continued driving some 30-35 miles till i reached the fuel station close to home (its much cheaper than ones on motorway services) and filled around 58-59 litres. Like you I was pleasantly surprised that there is a lot of range left even when the refuel light comes on. This is the complete opposite of "range anxiety" more like range tranquility. And for this reason alone i wouldn't buy an EV yet.

I second this recommendation. I used to use them back when I used to live in the area and have had good experiences. Also as others have recommended i think get a 2nd opinion and also a quote to fix it with original parts. Its definitely not a common problem we've heard of on the forum.

I could be wrong but this sounds like the pedestrian warning system. Since hybrids and electric cars are so silent they are designed to make these humming sounds when reversing to alert pedestrians.

Congratulations! 1) Hard to say without hearing the sound but i think it could be the brake actuator. The brakes on a hybrid are very different to normal cars and is completely computer controlled. When you apply the brakes the computer decides whether to use hydraulics or re-gen braking depending on the situation. There is a pump that pressurises the hydraulics and keeps it ready for the next time you press the pedal. You normally hear this pump when you open the drivers door before setting off and also when you park. It does pump during driving as well but less audible due to other noises. 2) This only works when conditions are right i.e your engine needs to be warm, your battery must have sufficient charge your climate control must not demand heat etc. Even then you can only use for speeds up to 30 mph or something and the range it offers is just around a mile or so on these older hybrids so pretty useless. There is this YouTube channel called car care nut. He does a series where he explains all different aspects of a Toyota hybrid might be worth watching the videos on there to get an understanding of the peculiarities of a hybrid

Depends on what type of tyre you want all seasons or are you fine with summer tyres? If summer is fine then I think the best eco yet reasonably priced one will probably be the Bridgestone turanza 6 or the older Turanza T005. Both are B rated for fuel and A rated for wet performance which i think you will need on motorways. There may be bette( A rated for fuel )tyres out there e.g Michelin primacy but i reckon they would cost more. Have a look around different comparison sites sometimes there are discounts available.

It is an unfortunate reality with hybrids / electric cars. The 12v battery is a small one only meant to boot the computer and power the security systems when locked. Maybe keep a jumpstart pack in your boot. Theyre essentially like a powerbank which you connect to your battery and can jump start it yourself if you get stuck. Maybe learn how to access the car if the battery dies. Calling the AA everytime will be very inconvenient.

Exactly this plus the NHS isnt just one organisation from what I understand. While there are some guidelines that are applicable to all each trust is run as its own separate entity with its own rules and schemes / benefits for employees. Given the way things are I reckon eventually the big insurance companies will have their way and all of us will be having the same discussion about how our health insurance has reached crazy heights with them being hand in glove with big pharma.

I remember reading on this forum a while ago someone complaining about insurers wanting to charge him £5000 to insure a newish RX350 as his previous RX350 got stolen. I think with lexus some models are definitely affected due to high likelihood of being stolen.

I can double check. But as far as I am aware when you work in the community, the role requires you to have a car as you do around 4 - 5 visits a day. The only thing you can claim back from the NHS is the money you spend on fuel. I don't know what the exact rate is but they pay this out based on the no of miles done. Unless this is what you are talking about too and you're saying the fixed rate they pay is not for fuel only but for personal car usage? Even so the rate per mile has stayed the same for several years. I remember them complaining about how bad they were hit at the peak of the energy crisis. The NHS do not cover any additional costs like insurance (they have to buy business insurace which costs more) or maintenance. So they would often end up being out of pocket on an already not very high salary.

I agree owning a car is not mandated by law but neither is having children. Also you can't argue against the fact that it is a necessity for some. I personally know people who serve as community nurses and physios who literally need to own a car to do their job and make ends meet. The NHS does not provide them with a car or pay for their insurance & associated costs. The NHS only pays a fixed rate for fuel used and thats it. Even that has been the same for several years now and has not risen with the rising cost of energy. I know some of these people personally and they struggle to make ends meet as their salaries have not gone up commensurate with the cost of living. This is just one example I am sure there are 100s of people out there with jobs like these. These are not people slacking it off and living on benefits that just expect the govt to bail them out. And it is these people that are squeezed the most. And yes the government is there to regulate and solve these problems. Else your argument about poorly run nationalised companies should apply to education and helathcare as well. Would you rather pay for education and healthcare too? If not the government then who should be solving these issues? What else are we paying such high taxes for? Bailing out banks?

Ooh the level of judgement. You shall refrain from further participation? Ooh no! we're going to miss out on all the condescending comments. Its laughable that you think you're better than others because you drive a Lexus. Goes to show the size of the peanut where your idea if your "expertise" comes from. Also since you're such an award winning expert on commerce you should know these business are all intertwined. The best example is AIG that tanked and was bailed out at taxpayers expense. But you already know that since you're a baller award winning, lexus driving, rolex wearing commerce expert 🤣

I for one find it really hard to believe that if the insurance companies charges us the same price as last year for example (assuming nothing has changed) that they will go bust.

Sure that only applies when you are not a bank or financial institution. Else everything flies. If you're a bank then you're free to do whatever...tank the economy at taxpayers expense gamble away like its a giant casino. Do whatever when you have friends who are bureaucrats and policy makers. Laws apply only to us regular people. Also when I say cartel obviously it's a metaphor. These companies have the best lawyers money can buy and often find grey areas.