stringbender

I can probably replicate the vibe as I throttle back and the revs. drop to around 1,200. ( at any speed) . Not that this happens every time though. Knock her out of gear. Vibration gone. Drop a " cog " vibration gone. Something in the engine, transmission, gearbox, exhaust or silencer box is not happy at all at these revs. I can't help thinking that whether this happens or not must be to do with where the engine is sitting on its mounts. As I said before I'm bewildered ! Alan

Thanks Mark. When the new service manager took over at Bristol it was agreed that he'd use it as his own car for 3 days. That idea didn't last long. They drive the thing for just a few miles and say there is no problem. I will do as you say as I'm now seeing the only solution is to sell her and then buy .... what ? I love all the smooth , silky image building that Lexus employs but they've written me off or so it seems. Alan

I like that angle Mark. The trouble is that I've been at this for a year now. Neither Cheltenham or Bristol take me seriously or think there's an issue. As I said there are times when it can be really bad but what makes that happen is beyond me. I wish I could film what the hell is going on down there. I keep thinking that the engine is not properly mounted or that a mount has become damaged. In truth I've no idea ! Alan

Yes Les. I was advised to go there and explained that the vibrations are more easily felt coming from under the drivers seat. When I was pretty sure it was playing up the technician (Mark) who was driving said " Oh they all do that ". Well none of the other six I'd driven did ! I thought I was getting somewhere when Lexus HQ offered to replace the silencer. Turns out that she meant the last little section and not the section with the big boom box in it. I find it hard to understand why 4 of the six rubber hangers allow maximum back to front movement (with a mall amount of side to side movement) whilst the other 2 prevent back to front swing! They allow a tiny amount of back to front swing and every time I look underneath the rubber is crushed against the mounting bar. That's why I wanted to try a new section to see if it was the cause of the problem. Such a shame for such a lovely car.

Does anybody know an independent Toyota specialist in Bristol ? Lexus just want me to shut up and go away. It is a problem replicating the judder. I've become sensitive to it and I know exactly when the engine is spinning at 1,200 revs. Unlike a proper car you can't just hold your foot on the throttle and feel for vibration. The engine decides when it's going to spin and at what speed and for how long. On some occasions the judder is truly awful but they say they haven't noticed it. I wanted them to test out a new exhaust on it but they aren't going to do that. I can see underneath that the silencer is pressed hard against the supporting bar ( as if it were made too long ) but every avenue I've explored I've drawn a blank. Alan

After driving an 05 RX300 for 13+ years I bought a 17 plate RX450h Premier last year. It's driven me mad ever since. On its battery and when cold the car is perfect. Once everything's hot is when the problems start. There can be a nasty judder when pulling away that's felt across the front of the car and up through the steering wheel. At just over 1,000 rpm there can be a deep, deep low frequency rumble and I have no idea where it's coming from. To my mind it's the main exhaust pipe vibrating and the large silencer box which may be the cause. Drop the car out of gear and it disappears as it does when you shift to a different "gear". Neither Lexus Bristol nor Cheltenham think there is anything wrong but none of the 450h courtesy cars have had this kind of issue. Could there be a problem with the engine mounts ? or the CVT ? or the drive train ? Can anybody help please ?

I always thought that the engine was secured to the car body with shock/vibration absorbing mounts and that there was no direct contact between the engine and the body. On my 4 series RX there is a strong metal tube/bolt that is bolted to the passenger wing and to a part of the engine. This is at the front of the engine on the passenger side. Please would members confirm that they have this bolt on their cars and why is it there, what does it do ? Alan

At night I put my 3 keys in a tin and put the tin in a cast Iron casserole pan with cast iron lid. Worked so far but you do wonder if even doing that will stop the transmissions getting out ! Alan

I went to Lexus Cheltenham this week and they only gave me 10%. How long ago did they give you 15 % ? Have I been "done" ?

This whole topic strikes a chord with me. I've had 8 months to acclimatise myself to the 4RX but I find myself regretting my decision to have sold the 05 SEL that I'd driven for 13 years. Yes, the 4RX does a hell of a lot that the 05 didn't so it's hard to fathom why she lingers on in my mind. The one thing I'd miss most would be the Head Up Display. I find that incredibly useful to help me stay within the legal limit. Alan

I thought I'd found a place in the menu's to switch these on and off as I chose. If I had then I can't seem to find it now ! On local journeys I don't need any advice and find it annoying when they keep cutting in. Can anyone advise how to do this in the 4th gen RX450h please. I used to have a button in the 2nd series and it was simple. Not so now ! Alan

Sorry to sound a bit dim but I've only ever been used to an engine starting by cranking with a starter motor. How does the engine on the 450h start if it isn't cranked by a starter motor ?

I wouldn't buy another car with air suspension as there's too much to go wrong. Mine was registered just before the tax changed so the current VED is £110. I haven't used enough fuel to accurately state the MPG but it's at least 60% more than the 05. I'm looking forward to a warm steering wheel this winter ! Alan

Hello Ian, If you could stretch to a 17 plate Premier ( before the VED changed ) you'd get everything you need. Having driven an 05 plate for 13 years there are huge improvements. MPG for one and the HUD is fabulous. Most surprising is the composure of the ride. I always believed that 20 inch wheels would give a rougher ride but I've found the opposite and am amazed how good the springs and dampers are. Alan

I've had my Premier for 3 months now and I'm hoping that the computer is more accurate than the one on my old 05 ! My old car had always done about 23 mpg but then it dropped to just over 21 mpg. These figures came from over 5,000 miles so were fairly accurate. I would have been happy with 30 mpg on the Premier and am amazed that it's reading 37 mpg. Even if the real figure ( after more tanks full ) drops to 35 then that's a whole lot better than 21 ! You should never have been told that it could return 48 mpg and I'd want to speak to them about that. I wish I could get more distance whilst on the EV mode as it drops out very quickly on mine. Alan

After 13 full years of ownership and just into the 14th, I stayed with the brand and was seduced into buying a 450h Premier. I've never had a car like the 05 before. The only ever fault was a seized front caliper and everything electrical still worked except for the passenger side wing mirror ( which went cloudy). Never changed a bulb, exhaust was the original one, and she even still had the original starter battery! It's been quite a steep learning curve going from an '05 plate to a '17 plate and there are still things I've yet to understand. No doubt I'll be posting some questions soon ! Alan

Do you know if that was the original battery Piers? Mine is the original, and will be 12 years old on March 1st. Is it common for a car battery to last that long? or maybe I've just been lucky. Anyway glad you got it all sorted. On the subject of batteries I have a Motorhome with a 3 litre diesel engine that has not liked the recent cold weather. It was really flat so i thought I'd try a Jump start pack from CostCo ( PSX3). I was amazed to see the van leap into life and the unit now has a permanent home behind my seat in the RX for emergency use. It has an emergency light, a 12 volt DC out as well as a 5 volt USB out and a tyre inflator that pumps up to 150psi . So it won't be going back to CostCo !

I've recently had exactly the same kind of treatment from Toyota Patchway and Toyota Brislington in Bristol. I thought that had all stopped years ago as it was a restraint of trade. Not so. Last time I spoke to Simon they'd never done a conversion from air to coil on an RX300. If any members have had a conversion it'd be nice to hear how they got on. Adrian, I hope Bristol can help solve your problem next week. Alan

I started having the high pitched squeal from the rear brakes so booked it into a Lexus main dealer to get it sorted. They had the car for 4 days and put new disc/drum assemblies on but the problem wasn't solved. The disc was way too hot to the touch after rolling to a halt ( > 10 miles) so I got a local "back street" firm to see what they thought was going on. They said that in their opinion the slide pins had never, EVER been out and greased - this despite the car only ever having been serviced by Lexus. They solved the problem and also I think the brakes were much , much better. Back street is an insult to the likes of who I used and I will use them from now on. Alan

I've done over 100,000 miles on Bridgestone Potenza tyres. Now they're discontinued I went for Michelin Latitude Tour HP as they'd been well spoken of on here. I can't believe the difference ! Wish I'd have changed tears ago. Feels like a different car. Alan

Ouch !! That's way more than I was thinking ! There was a thread on here recently about coil overs and reverting to springs. have you given that any thought?

Thanks again Steve, it would be nice to have a new part and to keep the dimmer function as it works really well. I think this is the first electrical thing to go wrong with the car in almost 12 years and I might go mad and get it sorted as she's worth it. In the meantime it's very nice to have that shiny "mirror" back - even if there's no glass there now ! It always seems to be the passenger side that fails. Wonder how that can be ? Alan

Thanks for that Steve. I've just bought a ( lovely) replacement mirror but wasn't able to get the original one out. Do you know if the mirror on the SE L ( 2005 ) has a different fitting mechanism? I managed to get the glass layer out and remove all the goo that does the dimming. I've now polished up the silver material and can at last see clearly as it's been fogged for some time now. It seems that the auto dimming mirrors don't go wrong very often but when they do you certainly know about it. Now I've got to decide whether to leave it as it is, or get a brand new one (£££) or attempt to glue the new glass onto the shiny backing. Alan