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Lexus Owners (To share driving experience and advise)


LouislexusGS
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I reckon you mean to say km/litre. It's an IS300h or ES300h?

Yes, I meant km/l. It’s a IS300h.

Fine car but previous gen Prius derived hybrid system now very antiquated.

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Has anyone changed brake pads at Lexus workshop before?

Wondering how much are the brake pads for ES250. 

Thinking if should just change them at outside workshop

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Has anyone changed brake pads at Lexus workshop before?

Wondering how much are the brake pads for ES250.

Thinking if should just change them at outside workshop

Hi I suppose ES pricing should be around there as mine is an IS200t. That time AD quoted me $400+ for front brake pads including installation everything. I bought from stockist around $110 and go back to my own workshop to change around $30-$40 labour. Total less than $150. Hope it helps.

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It depends on how much is the re-conditioning cost. If it's a small amount, give Hybrid Automotive a try. I have read that it's no point replacing individual cells too.

 

I definitely saw that it's not $5k at HEVS. Pay them a visit and understand the options available. First of all, you need to verify the condition of your battery pack also.

Should I go back to Borneo to troubleshoot the issue with the high FC since they probably have the most experience with the GS450h or should I go with the external WS that specializes in hybrids?

 

Currently I have no idea where in the engine/drivetrain lies the cause of the high FC. It may not even be the hybrid portion for all I know.

 

I worry that BM kneejerk reaction is to replace wholesale while the hybrid specialist has vested interest to diagnose a hybrid problem and then try to sell me on an expensive hybrid battery change.

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Should I go back to Borneo to troubleshoot the issue with the high FC since they probably have the most experience with the GS450h or should I go with the external WS that specializes in hybrids?

 

Currently I have no idea where in the engine/drivetrain lies the cause of the high FC. It may not even be the hybrid portion for all I know.

 

I worry that BM kneejerk reaction is to replace wholesale while the hybrid specialist has vested interest to diagnose a hybrid problem and then try to sell me on an expensive hybrid battery change.

Bro, since you have decided to renew the COE, you have a lot of time to tackle this high FC issue.

 

I see that your annual mileage is only 10k km. Do you do a lot of stop/start trips with a lot of idling? Not enough long trips? Does the car spent of a lot of time using the engine to charge its batteries? Do you park up the car and not use if for a few days in a row? All this could account for high FC. Did you always have this high FC or you only noticed it recently? Or you don't know?

 

Do you feel a deterioration in performance? Does the battery deplete overnight? Does the battery go low after a bout of acceleration, and gets charged up very quickly? These are signs of a bad battery pack.

 

I suggest you do this:

 

1) Drive the car more frequently. Determine your true FC by measuring each tank. Divide km travelled by the number of litres pumped every full tank. Do not rely on the onboard FC meter. Do this for 2-3 tanks.

2) Get the car serviced with change of spark plugs and de-carbonisation as necessary. Also get the workshop to run diagnostics to see if the oxygen/airflow sensors are working well. If not, get them changed. Ensure your tyre pressures are correct.

3) Continue to measure and monitor FC to see if it improves to about 10L/100km. If it doesn't...

4) Pay $120 to HEVS to run a test of your battery pack. The results of the report are unlikely to be faked and the numbers in the report don't lie. It will tell the condition of your battery pack. You can then decide if you want to change the battery pack.

 

This is as thorough an advice I can think of already. Focus and follow the steps if you can. Don't go round and round liao. Let us know.

Edited by Toeknee_33
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Hi I suppose ES pricing should be around there as mine is an IS200t. That time AD quoted me $400+ for front brake pads including installation everything. I bought from stockist around $110 and go back to my own workshop to change around $30-$40 labour. Total less than $150. Hope it helps.

Was quoted also around the same price. Guessed it is a standard premium price. Thanks.
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Hi Natnut, I am driving an ‘09 GS450h. I bought the car since new. From day1, my FC has been avg between 12L~13L per 100KM as indicated on the Consumption Display in the centre console of the car. I am not a heavy footer but occasionally I do like to clear some carbon. So, unless you are a Super light footer and very cautious about stepping on the gas paddle, In my opinion, an FC of 12L per 100KM is quite normal for a 3.5L V6 GS450h even though it is a hybrid. It is of course possible to bring it down to 10L per 100KM. I had tried it but then it is tough to maintain the FC at that level because Singapore is such a fast pace environment..

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Hi Toeknee_33, I saw your comments on your FC (8L to 100KM) for your 4GS. Ok, I need to clarify firstly that my FC of 12L to 100KM is specific to the “Consumption” displayed on the centre screen console. I did not calculate the exact FC based on KM travelled per full tank of petrol pumped. I suspect the actual result may be better than 12L per 100KM. The other difference could be that mine is the older 3GS..

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Stock 7â screen

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10.25â Android screen installed and Booting up

728DABFE-2C81-4A62-9FA6-303764EE559F.jpeg

 

Apple CarPlay

AA18AEB1-9952-4FF0-94E9-DE39B21B7A75.jpeg

 

Waze in action

6D57A92A-285E-4CF2-B277-66D180EE67BF.jpeg

 

Spotify - can display Chinese characters! Yes!

C05707B7-8EDC-4095-A960-A086CE45F1DD.jpeg

the iu unit reminds me of taxi.... haa
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Hi Toeknee_33, I saw your comments on your FC (8L to 100KM) for your 4GS. Ok, I need to clarify firstly that my FC of 12L to 100KM is specific to the “Consumption” displayed on the centre screen console. I did not calculate the exact FC based on KM travelled per full tank of petrol pumped. I suspect the actual result may be better than 12L per 100KM. The other difference could be that mine is the older 3GS..

 

HI, thanks for your reply to my PM. My experience with Toyota onboard FC meter tells me that they are usually optimistic by 5 - 8%  [laugh]

 

You may be right. I checked the stated FC of the 3GS and 4GS and its 12.6km/L (7.9L/100km) and 16.4km/L (6.1L/100km). So indeed the 4GS drinks less than the 3GS. Perhaps it is due to the switch from Otto to Atkinson Cycle for the ICE.

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Bro, since you have decided to renew the COE, you have a lot of time to tackle this high FC issue.

 

I see that your annual mileage is only 10k km. Do you do a lot of stop/start trips with a lot of idling? Not enough long trips? Does the car spent of a lot of time using the engine to charge its batteries? Do you park up the car and not use if for a few days in a row? All this could account for high FC. Did you always have this high FC or you only noticed it recently? Or you don't know?

 

Do you feel a deterioration in performance? Does the battery deplete overnight? Does the battery go low after a bout of acceleration, and gets charged up very quickly? These are signs of a bad battery pack.

 

I suggest you do this:

 

1) Drive the car more frequently. Determine your true FC by measuring each tank. Divide km travelled by the number of litres pumped every full tank. Do not rely on the onboard FC meter. Do this for 2-3 tanks.

2) Get the car serviced with change of spark plugs and de-carbonisation as necessary. Also get the workshop to run diagnostics to see if the oxygen/airflow sensors are working well. If not, get them changed. Ensure your tyre pressures are correct.

3) Continue to measure and monitor FC to see if it improves to about 10L/100km. If it doesn't...

4) Pay $120 to HEVS to run a test of your battery pack. The results of the report are unlikely to be faked and the numbers in the report don't lie. It will tell the condition of your battery pack. You can then decide if you want to change the battery pack.

 

This is as thorough an advice I can think of already. Focus and follow the steps if you can. Don't go round and round liao. Let us know.

Ok so I followed your advice on tracking my FC. I pumped full tank and noted my mileage :102541km.

 

I drove until nearly empty and noted my new mileage at the petrol station : 102933km. Therefore I had driven 392 km since the last full tank pumping.

 

I pumped full tank again and noted it took 54.81 litres to reach full tank, ie my car consumed that much petrol in covering that 392km.

 

Per my calculations, my actual FC is 13.98L/100 km!!!!

 

I went to Hybrid Automotive to run a diagnostics on my hybrid system and got a clean bill of health. No error codes noted. Sparkplugs all changed 2 weeks ago. Fresh Michelin PS4 tyres installed around the same time, pressure 35psi all corners.

 

Tomorrow I'm sending my car to Borneo for troubleshooting. Wish me luck Bros.

Edited by Natnut
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Ok so I followed your advice on tracking my FC. I pumped full tank and noted my mileage :102541km.

 

I drove until nearly empty and noted my new mileage at the petrol station : 102933km. Therefore I had driven 392 km since the last full tank pumping.

 

I pumped full tank again and noted it took 54.81 litres to reach full tank, ie my car consumed that much petrol in covering that 392km.

 

Per my calculations, my actual FC is 13.98L/100 km!!!!

 

I went to Hybrid Automotive to run a diagnostics on my hybrid system and got a clean bill of health. No error codes noted. Sparkplugs all changed 2 weeks ago. Fresh Michelin PS4 tyres installed around the same time, pressure 35psi all corners.

 

Tomorrow I'm sending my car to Borneo for troubleshooting. Wish me luck Bros. ð¯

 

PS: my IROAD dash cam is giving me problems. Can a faulty dashcam overly drain the car battery and affect FC like this?????

 

PPS: Don't get me wrong, there's not a day so far I regret renewing COE on this car, the smoothness and power in acceleration and filtering lanes is addictive. Just wish the FC is better....

Gosh. Sounds bad. Even the petrol GS300 can do 11L/100km easily. How long did it take for you to cover that 392km?

 

The dashcam should be tapping power from the normal battery and not the hybrid battery, so it's not likely to be the cause.

 

Good luck, and let us know the results of the troubleshooting. Thanks.

Edited by Toeknee_33
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On 8/9/2019 at 12:07 AM, Jt0909 said:

Hi Natnut, I am driving an ‘09 GS450h. I bought the car since new. From day1, my FC has been avg between 12L~13L per 100KM as indicated on the Consumption Display in the centre console of the car. I am not a heavy footer but occasionally I do like to clear some carbon. So, unless you are a Super light footer and very cautious about stepping on the gas paddle, In my opinion, an FC of 12L per 100KM is quite normal for a 3.5L V6 GS450h even though it is a hybrid. It is of course possible to bring it down to 10L per 100KM. I had tried it but then it is tough to maintain the FC at that level because Singapore is such a fast pace environment..

Interesting to hear; I'm driving an NA 3.5L V6 (RC 350) and getting FC around 12-13l/100km, which I guess isn't bad when compared to similar for a hybrid!

Oddly, my FC also seems to be better in Sport Mode than Normal Mode. 🤔

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12 hours ago, The_sartorialist said:

Interesting to hear; I'm driving an NA 3.5L V6 (RC 350) and getting FC around 12-13l/100km, which I guess isn't bad when compared to similar for a hybrid!

Oddly, my FC also seems to be better in Sport Mode than Normal Mode. 🤔

Similarly, my FC is better in Normal mode than Eco mode. 🙄

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On 9/6/2019 at 11:31 PM, The_sartorialist said:

Interesting to hear; I'm driving an NA 3.5L V6 (RC 350) and getting FC around 12-13l/100km, which I guess isn't bad when compared to similar for a hybrid!

Oddly, my FC also seems to be better in Sport Mode than Normal Mode. 🤔

This is my IS300h. But can not compare to 450h as one is tuned for performance and the other for economy. But current hybrids by other manufacturers now offer same economy and even better performance than either Lexus’ using the old Prius type hybrid concept.

I am on my second hybrid battery. 

FCE0E8B4-DBEA-41EA-8FEC-4C202B931D04.jpeg

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