Facebook marketplace Lexus RX400h SE-L, what could go wrong?
Discussion
This company reckons to pay you up to £250 if your cat gets nicked with their strongest clamp installed:
http://www.catsafe.org.uk/
The cost of £275 plus £85 installation fee doesn't sound too bad given the disruption of getting the cat replaced.
http://www.catsafe.org.uk/
The cost of £275 plus £85 installation fee doesn't sound too bad given the disruption of getting the cat replaced.
We decided to take the family to Euro Disney over Xmas and with that journey being well beyond the Leafs practical range, the Lexus was the only answer.
This would be a trip of firsts, it's the first european drive in the car, the first time I've used the Eurotunnel and the first time driving to ED.
Prep work was limited, at least I thought so. Then a week before the car started to not register drive correctly and would 'pop out' occasionally. The transmission shifter had occasionally been stiff in our year of ownership but nothing like this.
Cue stress and some frantic googling, images of lunched gearboxes and my bargain Facebook car being anything but filing my head. If the gearbox was toast then my options for resolution before Christmas were slim.
Some early googling indicated that a bushing could have failed in the transmission cable on the passenger compartment side and so I managed to locate a repair kit....in the USA still it was only $20 but express shipping was a lot. Still it should arrive before we left so would give me time to fit.
It did not arrive, cue more googling. The fact that the car would go into drive and shift fine in all gears/reverse etc started to suggest the gearbox was fine but the transmission shifter cable (or something connected to it) wasn't acting right. Further research indicated that the transmission position switch which the cable is connected to was mechanical. Perhaps that's where it was going wrong, so whilst topping up the brake fluid (a full change to come in the new year) my brother and I decided to investigate, eventually in spite of some crap internet directions we managed to locate said switch which was very mechanical and slightly rusty and dry looking for a moving object.
Liberal amounts of WD40 and some spare high temp grease we had lying around and the transmission shifting is massively improved! Cheap fix ftw!
With that sorted, the rest of the plan fell into place. I had purchased some Mini Jack extenders to replace the Bluetooth unit for the TV/raspberry pi to make my life easier as the Bluetooth unit forgets pairing after switch off and is generally more hassle than it's worth at the moment.
The trip itself was faultless carrying us to and from ED in comfort, although the very heavy rain on the return was stressful. 30 mpg was a little lower than expected but higher speed on the toll roads is likely the cause.
This would be a trip of firsts, it's the first european drive in the car, the first time I've used the Eurotunnel and the first time driving to ED.
Prep work was limited, at least I thought so. Then a week before the car started to not register drive correctly and would 'pop out' occasionally. The transmission shifter had occasionally been stiff in our year of ownership but nothing like this.
Cue stress and some frantic googling, images of lunched gearboxes and my bargain Facebook car being anything but filing my head. If the gearbox was toast then my options for resolution before Christmas were slim.
Some early googling indicated that a bushing could have failed in the transmission cable on the passenger compartment side and so I managed to locate a repair kit....in the USA still it was only $20 but express shipping was a lot. Still it should arrive before we left so would give me time to fit.
It did not arrive, cue more googling. The fact that the car would go into drive and shift fine in all gears/reverse etc started to suggest the gearbox was fine but the transmission shifter cable (or something connected to it) wasn't acting right. Further research indicated that the transmission position switch which the cable is connected to was mechanical. Perhaps that's where it was going wrong, so whilst topping up the brake fluid (a full change to come in the new year) my brother and I decided to investigate, eventually in spite of some crap internet directions we managed to locate said switch which was very mechanical and slightly rusty and dry looking for a moving object.
Liberal amounts of WD40 and some spare high temp grease we had lying around and the transmission shifting is massively improved! Cheap fix ftw!
With that sorted, the rest of the plan fell into place. I had purchased some Mini Jack extenders to replace the Bluetooth unit for the TV/raspberry pi to make my life easier as the Bluetooth unit forgets pairing after switch off and is generally more hassle than it's worth at the moment.
The trip itself was faultless carrying us to and from ED in comfort, although the very heavy rain on the return was stressful. 30 mpg was a little lower than expected but higher speed on the toll roads is likely the cause.
Mr Pointy said:
This company reckons to pay you up to £250 if your cat gets nicked with their strongest clamp installed:
http://www.catsafe.org.uk/
The cost of £275 plus £85 installation fee doesn't sound too bad given the disruption of getting the cat replaced.
Probably worth it if you still have the original cat that hasn't been stolen yet. Mine was nicked and the replacement was £230 to buy plus £100 to weld the existing flange back onto it. I fitted it myself. http://www.catsafe.org.uk/
The cost of £275 plus £85 installation fee doesn't sound too bad given the disruption of getting the cat replaced.
Edited by keeling54 on Saturday 11th January 20:20
I've been running one of these since August last year, utterly brilliant so far, the only costs to date being the Cat replacement which came out at £300 and the most recent problem was a misfire, which I tracked to a failed coil pack on Cylinder No2, fortunately at the front of the engine so not a big deal to swap out.
The failed coil pack also made other cylinders misfire so can be a bit misleading when trying to determine the actual problem.
I also fitted a bluetooth module to the stereo, bought this from ebay and it works a treat.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bluetooth-Audio-Freispr...
Also had to replace the battery which went flat due to lack of use during the lock down.
The failed coil pack also made other cylinders misfire so can be a bit misleading when trying to determine the actual problem.
I also fitted a bluetooth module to the stereo, bought this from ebay and it works a treat.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bluetooth-Audio-Freispr...
Also had to replace the battery which went flat due to lack of use during the lock down.
This story is coming to an end on Wednesday as I'm trading in the Leaf and the Lexus against a Outlander PHEV. The Leaf's battery is degrading and I don't want to be stuck with it, the Outlander can happily do the round town on battery aspect of the Leaf and handle the family roadtrips.
It then frees up a space for something much more fun
It then frees up a space for something much more fun
LincolnLovin said:
Yup the Lexus is still performing well and the battery has shown no issues. We’d still keep it if the replacement wasn’t an SUV type thing.
The Leaf is now on 24k and already lost a bar of capacity so want rid of it before it becomes any worse.
I don't blame you regarding the Leaf, that's pretty poor when the range isn't brilliant to begin with. I think older EVs will be pretty much worthless when the battery gets close to replacement.The Leaf is now on 24k and already lost a bar of capacity so want rid of it before it becomes any worse.
rovermorris999 said:
LincolnLovin said:
Yup the Lexus is still performing well and the battery has shown no issues. We’d still keep it if the replacement wasn’t an SUV type thing.
The Leaf is now on 24k and already lost a bar of capacity so want rid of it before it becomes any worse.
I don't blame you regarding the Leaf, that's pretty poor when the range isn't brilliant to begin with. I think older EVs will be pretty much worthless when the battery gets close to replacement.The Leaf is now on 24k and already lost a bar of capacity so want rid of it before it becomes any worse.
Wooof, well safe to say the purchase of the new car hasn't gone as planned....
Cue two weeks ago and me sending over payment for the car and agreeing to pick up in a few days time. The big day rolls around and the dealer says they haven't received payment and we hadn't spoken in a week - turns out their email appears to have been hacked and I got fake payment details.
Have escalated to the bank but not holding out much hope.
Cue two weeks ago and me sending over payment for the car and agreeing to pick up in a few days time. The big day rolls around and the dealer says they haven't received payment and we hadn't spoken in a week - turns out their email appears to have been hacked and I got fake payment details.
Have escalated to the bank but not holding out much hope.
LincolnLovin said:
Wooof, well safe to say the purchase of the new car hasn't gone as planned....
Cue two weeks ago and me sending over payment for the car and agreeing to pick up in a few days time. The big day rolls around and the dealer says they haven't received payment and we hadn't spoken in a week - turns out their email appears to have been hacked and I got fake payment details.
Have escalated to the bank but not holding out much hope.
That's not good Cue two weeks ago and me sending over payment for the car and agreeing to pick up in a few days time. The big day rolls around and the dealer says they haven't received payment and we hadn't spoken in a week - turns out their email appears to have been hacked and I got fake payment details.
Have escalated to the bank but not holding out much hope.
Keep us posted - hope the bank/dealer helps you get the money back.
LincolnLovin said:
Not heard from the dealer in nearly two weeks, despite chasing and leaving messages. They’ve washed their hands of it (at least that’s the impression I have) and are leaving it up to the bank to sort.
Not good enough.IF they usually send payment instructions via email then they created the mechanism for the fraud via the email takeover, I'd expect them to be a lot more helpful.
Take it you still have the Leaf/RX at this stage?
That’s really bad news, check if you have legal cover on your home insurance and give them a call.
If the agreement was they would contact you with payment instructions and their system was hacked I suspect you could claim against them.
If the agreement was they would contact you with payment instructions and their system was hacked I suspect you could claim against them.
Edited by Captain_Morgan on Monday 27th July 12:49
LincolnLovin said:
You’d think that but apparently they’ve taken an alternate view.
Frustratingly the Leaf is still with them (I paid to have it transported there as it’s an hour or so away).
Ultimately the fraudster is to blame, so I get that they might want to distance themselves a little as both of you are on the rough end of it, (especially if numerous customers have been duped at the same time) - however, they have one of your cars now and you still don't have the money or the new car.Frustratingly the Leaf is still with them (I paid to have it transported there as it’s an hour or so away).
What are your bank saying?
Have you had something "official" from the dealer about what happened, or just a telephone call?
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