mikesands

I'm going through similar thought processes David but in my case with an RX400H that has done 160k miles. I have concluded that I am going to hang on to it until/if the used car market settles down. I too have got a surprisingly high valuation on my existing car but the problem is we may be wasting several thousands pounds on the replacement, if new car supplies return to normal (because dealers will not be so desperate to find and sell used cars). It brought it home to me when I seriously looked at buying a 5 year old Toyoata Prius last week. In March we bought one for my daughter for £15k and last week similarly specced cars were selling for 19k .... if you could grab one before it sold ... and these cars all had twice the mileage that my daughter's had. My other realisation is that £35k (the difference to trade in for a good RX450H) buys an awful lot of repairs to my 400H One final thought - I once had a BMW 7-series and at it's first service (for me .... as I had bought it used, but with only 16k miles on), the BMW dealership in Newcastle told me it needed a new shock absorber at a cost of several hundred pounds. When I queried this since it only had 16k miles on it the answer was 'well it's a big car' 😄. I took it for a second opinion to Kwikfit, who told me that it was good news and bad news. The bad news was that it needed TWO new shock absorbers, but they could do both at the same price as BMW were quoting for one. I declined both offers, and the car passed several MOT tests (including by the BMW dealership) before I parted with it at about 100k miles and all with the original shock absorbers. Of course no Lexus dealership would behave in that way, so your choice is more difficult. Mike

This is the problem John. I followed that link you gave for Thule and when you put in the ES car, this is what comes back (for rear boot mount) "Sorry, there are currently no recommended products that match your request. Please change your selections and try again" Mike

But were you trying to hang a 25kg e-bike off it. The other thread comments on this type of rack distorting (and perhaps damaging the boot lid). Am I right in thinking that the es300 has a very similar boot arrangement to the GS300. If so and people on the GSforum are using them without problems I might take a chance. Mike

I think the lack of towbar is going to be a killer. I might have got away with a boot rack for the ebike, but another thread says it distorted the boot lid and Halfords gave a full refund. The beauty of a towbar is that the bike rack can be clipped on in seconds as can the bikes themselves. Anything else is a faff, and for older people like me lifting a 20 odd kilo bike on to a roof rack is probably not a good idea (incidentally Lexus don;t even list a roof rack accessory. Mike

oh no ..... I had just sold myself on an es300 but if I cannot carry my ebike around I'm sunk 😬 Mike

Can I fit a towbar? It's the only sensible way of carrying my e-bike Reviews complain about a lack of oomph, some even saying they are nervous about joining a major road. Is this a legitimate criticism (I find my daughter's 2016 Prius amply powered) One review I read says that some spec models have special hollow alloy wheels to reduce road noise - presumably the Takugami? And connected with this - hopefully the tyres are not special tyres, as I need to fit all-weather or winter tyres to get up my drive Thanks Mike

Yes you are correct - the sunroof sliding screen makes a big difference to noise levels. I am talking about on my current RX400H, so in the ultra quiet ES it's probably much more noticeable (the difference I mean). I used to have an LS430 and I am pining for the quiet that it provided so am considering an es300. It makes me wonder though whther no-sunroof would be a better spec. These days in the UK, I never open my sunroof Mike

one of the posts above implies that some versions of the gen 4 have coils and others air suspension. When I'm looking at the specs on lexusused cars, how can I tell? (Having been burnt by air suspension on an LS430, I'd prefer coil springs - they have been faultless in 160k miles on my rx400H) Thanks Mike

Hmmmm - I suspect my Lexus dealership cannot get the part - they are not returning my calls. I have a guy who can do the intermediate service and take a look at the corroded fuel pipe. I think I will tell him to be very careful when he's looking at the corrosion in case he punctures the pipe. Did I read a post above that it's possible to do a 'wrap' on the pipe, and does this mean without removing the rust before doing so? Mike

has anyone got a blow up pic from the parts diagram to show what this looks like and where it fits (and how to access it) please. Mike

At last service (12 months ago) the dealership flagged up a corroded fuel filler pipe. We didn't do anything about it, partly because I assumed it was all part of the tank and therefore horrendously expensive. But I have since discovered that the filler pipe connects to the tank by a rubber sleeve so it's just a bit of pipe at a bargain 300 pounds sterling or so 😄. So my question is twofold - how would the dealership have spotted corrosion on this pipe without removing lots of panelling (perhaps it's visible from the wheel arch?). And secondly - how practical would it be to wire brush the rust off, and paint it with hammerite? Thanks Mike

Just following up on this - I've ordered the sensor from China, but am nervous that it's really the mechanical arm that is so corroded that the dealership only managed a temporary bodge. Anyone know where I can buy the arm at a reasonable price? Thanks Mike

Mine is the last of the 400H generation (2009) and it has standard springs and shocks. I'd be very grateful if someone could point me to a chinese version of what I need for the rear ride height sensor (sounds like I only need one). Thanks Mike

Thanks - could you explain a couple of things. Is AFS the make? Do you mean I don't need to bother about the sensor as the RX400H has good ground clearance? If you have a link on ebay I'd really appreciate it thanks. And yes I also Hammerite everything on my motorbikes once they start rusting. Mike

My RX400H (12 years old now) has been a brilliant car but is now probably worth less than the repairs that are being suggested. Item 1 is a rear ride height sensor that was seized and the techie freed it off but says it should be replaced (£600 😱). Should I have noticed any symptoms?, and is there a cheaper replacement? Second matter flagged is corroding fuel filler pipes which hasn't been priced .... but I seem to remember that aftermarket suppliers may have a fix for this? Was it some kind of plastic tube insert? Thanks Mike

Well they have had nearly 4 years and one hasn't appeared. I was quoted £1050 to have the OEM fitted to a gen 4 by the local Lexus dealer which is still a crazy price but not as bad as I was previously quoted. Mike

My 2009 works every time with phone bluetooth pairing. Never bothered with the inbuilt phone book (which I think disappears if you have to replace the 12v car battery). I bought a £15 bluetooth radio transmitter thing that links to the FM radio. This works brilliantly for streaming music (including skipping tracks backwards and forwards using the buttons on the device rather than on the wheel, but of course the volume controls on the wheel work ok). The device also has a high power and low power usb output, and I have connected a wire-free charger to the high power output - this lets me simply stick my iphone 8 to it via one of those sticky black pads. Mike

Thanks guys - took the plunge and getting teesside Lexus to replace it with genuine article. Their price of £575 inclusive of labour and fluids seems reasonable compared to some I have seen on this forum and they collect my car and deliver it back same day. I was quoted £45 for a plastic weld from a specialist but he said it was only a 50/50 chance it would fix it, and I would have had to strip the radiator off and refit it myself 🙂 Mike

it's the plastic tank that runs the full height of the radiator at the left side. Fluid is leaking from this crack which is about 75mm long, but it's hardly weeping much at all. I'm going to see a radiator specialist tomorrow to see if he can heat weld it without removing anything. Mike (But I'd still like to know how you get a warning if you have lost nearly all of your coolant)

Thanks Herbie - that's what I was thinking, but if the temperature sensor for the engine is measuring the temperature of your coolant and you haven't got enough of it left, what kind of warning do you get - there's no warning light, and even if you kept an eye on the thermometer, if the sensor isn't in any fluid how's the gauge going to read (too hot or too cold?) Mike

... and until I can get the car booked back in for a radiator change, I need to keep topping up the fluid. Can I do this with tap water, or bottled water (our area has really hard water), or must I add antifreeze, and if so what can I use which I can buy on a sunday morning? Thanks Mike

Been thinking about this a bit more because there isn't a low coolant level warning light on the RX400H. So what if you lose most of your coolant through a leak and don't know about it? Surely the temperature gauge is measuring the temperature of the coolant so if you haven't got much left, that's not going to be any use. Are there ANY warning lights that will come on telling you that the engine block and cylinder head are getting too hot because you have lost most of your coolant? Mike

There's a crack in the left tank which apparently is made of plastic. I topped up the fluid and a day or two later a lot of it has gone. But how does it go - there's no pooling under the car and as far as I can tell no steam while I am driving? And I think it's been like this for some considerable time before the dealer spotted it, and yet no warning light has come on and the temperature gauge stays in the normal range. The dealer wants £600 to fit a new one. Is there a way of fixing them in situ? Mike (RX400H)

There isn't even an independent one for the generation 4 RX450H. Lexus want best part of 2 thousand quid to fit an OEM one. If the independents haven't brought one out by now (4 years is it?) they probably aren't going to. It's convinced me to run my RX400H into the ground. It costs just £540 to get a detachable one fitted to that (Westfalia I think) Mike

My 12v battery has just started to misbehave - I assumed it just needs a replacement battery as it's probably pretty old now. But on finding this thread I'm worried that it's maybe the DC to DC converter that Herbie mentions. Hope not as the extended warranty ran out last month 😞 I'm carrying round a spare charged 12v car battery and jump leads, but it's a chew using them in the rain. I can't see from the pic how the jump start device works - or rather how it connects to the negative or ground - is there a built in trailing black lead? Mike