Tell me about the Lexus 450H

pepsilol · 4 Jan 2013 at 17:15

Skyline said:
Ah yes thats right i have the SE That said its never been on a motorway in the 9 months i have had it.. lol.

Eugh what a peasant with a poverty spec engine..

[TW]Fox · 4 Jan 2013 at 17:17

pepsilol said:
Eugh what a peasant with a poverty spec engine..

Should have bought a prefacelift E60 or a Ford Mondeo.

Nocturne_sa · 4 Jan 2013 at 17:20

DiG said:
Thats not a bad price, but these surprisingly cheap cars! I paid £6300 for my '07 GS430, again with everyone on it (even the radar cruise). To be fair it is on 120k

Fantastic cars, I just hope Lexus never get popular...

Did you go for the Lexus warranty or banking the £1,850 and taking your chances?

miniyazz · 4 Jan 2013 at 17:56

[TW]Fox;23491374 said:
Should have bought a prefacelift E60 or a Ford Mondeo.

Vs a prefacelift GS? Oh my, shocker of the century. Firstly different situation and secondly back to the OP, I agree it's a decent deal, just that everyone's being a bit OTT with quite what a good deal it is.

So what's your point?

[TW]Fox · 4 Jan 2013 at 18:01

Nobody is being OTT. We just think its a good deal.

Why not link us to some more BMW's with no service history or perhaps a Cat D Audi or something to show how expensive the Lexus was?

£5.8k for a 2005 sensible mileage executive car is a good deal - end of.

ZXSpectrum · 4 Jan 2013 at 18:05

[TW]Fox;23491374 said:
Should have bought a prefacelift E60 or a Ford Mondeo.

Never again will i buy a mondeo.. I will leave them to the common folk..

pepsilol said:
Eugh what a peasant with a poverty spec engine..

LOL.. You wont be saying that when you realise how much that beast you have drinks.. :O And mine has more horsepower so nerrrrrr...

Westyfield2 · 4 Jan 2013 at 18:33

Well the dodgy parking sensor on the Leux was fine when I went into town an hour ago :confused:

. Will wait and see if has resolved itself!

ZXSpectrum · 4 Jan 2013 at 19:10

They also tend to go off a lot when they have rain or snow on them.

miniyazz · 4 Jan 2013 at 19:45

miniyazz said:
It's a good deal

[TW]Fox;23491757 said:
We just think its a good deal.

Glad we're singing from the same hymn sheet..

Nocturne_sa · 5 Jan 2013 at 13:25

So turns out that the front discs were warped so Lexus changed the discs and pads for £295. The cost seems reasonable. However, the tech mentioned that the front brakes are missing the shim kit and guess what the brakes now squeal like a **** and are doing my head in.

I'm slightly annoyed that they told me this when I went to pick up the car not when they were servicing it (I could've just told them to put in replacements). The shims seem quite cheap (can be had for around £10-15 off ebay) but now sure how much labour is involved. Should i book it in again at Lexus or get this done privately?

I could try and argue that they weren't squealing before Lexus replaced the pads/discs so they should sort it out for free but not sure if thats going to fly.

Axeboy · 5 Jan 2013 at 13:28

The pads are really easy on the car, you could do it im sure.

I done the pads at home and it was as simple as you could ask for, no complications.

pepsilol · 5 Jan 2013 at 13:42

If its like the LS then you dont even need a tool set, just a screw driver. The calliper doesn't have to come off, just pull out a pin, pads slide outand put some ceratec grease on.

Mine were squealing aswell, took me 2 minutes per side.

Axeboy · 5 Jan 2013 at 14:11

Its the same yeah

Nocturne_sa · 5 Jan 2013 at 14:33

pepsilol said:
If its like the LS then you dont even need a tool set, just a screw driver. The calliper doesn't have to come off, just pull out a pin, pads slide outand put some ceratec grease on.

Mine were squealing aswell, took me 2 minutes per side.

I want to add the shims rather than just putting grease on, is that simple as well? (I'm a complete n00b when it comes to repairing cars !)

iaind · 5 Jan 2013 at 14:34

The shims just clip on the back of the pads, so it's just as simple

pepsilol · 5 Jan 2013 at 15:36

Yeah makes no difference.

I greased the shims with that ceratec stuffed. Worked great.

Nocturne_sa · 5 Jan 2013 at 16:15

Cheers guys. I just spoke with a mate's friend whose a mechanic and he said that I should really go back to Lexus on this in the first instance as they were meant to replace the missing shims when replacing the brakes and pads (should be included in the part/fitting cost). He also said that only Lexus will have the genuine shims which will fit properly.

I realise that it is a pretty straightforward job but trying to get it done free of charge by Lexus (especially when they were meant to sort it in the first place) seems more tempting. Just wanted to get ppl's opinion here before chasing Lexus.

Rilot · 5 Jan 2013 at 16:46

I can echo what others have said. Pads on these are very easy. 5 mins it too me to do them on my GS430 I used to have.
But yeah, if Lexus will do it for free, might as well.

I ran a GS430 of the same revision as your 450H for 2.5 years and it never let me down. Never went wrong and not even a bulb blew in nearly 50k miles.
My main issue with the car was that Lexus, in an effort to compete with the 5-series, gave it sporty suspension. Unfortunately, they didn't give it the steering feel or geometry to take advantage of it. This made the car feel a little harsh over bumps but without the benefit of sweet handling on the limit. I found that the 430 could get out of shape really easily when pushed.

Nocturne_sa · 19 Jan 2013 at 17:56

Hi guys - anyone know how to access the hidden menu on the GS? I'm trying to override the nav menu so I can use all the features while driving (the system automatically blocks some of the features when the car is no longer stationary)?

It's quite annoying especially when it doesn't even show you the incoming call number on the screen !

morgan25 · 19 Jan 2013 at 18:03

The only way you can do it is with the speed sensor wire hack which is basically cutting the wire from the ECU