panoramic sunroof

jamesinchamonix · March 12, 2016

Hi. Im just considering purchasing a 450h and love the look of the panoramic roof , but would appreciate some feedback on its practicality .

First off, I can't work out whether roof rails or roof racks can be fitted . Otherwise are there any drawbacks I should consider ?

Im struggling to chose between a 2014 advance , f, or premium . Or NX !

(Living where I do I dont think that the NX is powerful enough to cope with all the hills).

Are the ventilated seats or hud worth the upgrade over an Advance ?

My 2003 RXSEL is soldiering on but now exhibits ALL of the common faults (laminated alloys,errant air suspension , wing mirror fluid has leaked out , brake cable seized (salt!), ignition key sometimes won't go in( ...hammer in glove compartment !...) cd error 3,4 1 , and yet , for 10 years now, it starts every day whatever the weather and the interior looks no different to the 2014 model.

Thanks in advance.

ChrisKaye · March 13, 2016

I love the panoramic roof on that Gen RX, the interiors are dark and black so to let extra light into the cabin, that for me would be essential - although as other posters have mentioned, it eats into the rear headroom.

I'm not sure about the roof rails, but my gut feeling says you can still have them.

If you do long journeys, then the cooled seats would be fab but on the whole you probably wouldn't "miss" them if you didn't get a car with them fitted. As for the HUD, it is a bit of a gimmick so although might be handy at times and not having it on your previous RX would again make you less likely to miss it in everyday driving - heck if it is on a car that you like and end up purchasing, great! If not then it wasn't meant to be!

Test drive both models if you haven't already, as this is the best way to see what you like/prefer. At least you have a couple of things to run through all ready including your hill climbs!

As for poor old Lex, grab some dry or normal silicone spray and lubricate the key well, it is amazing for sorting out the issue with the ignition barrel, and should tide you over until you get a new ride.

Chris.

rayaans · March 13, 2016

18 hours ago, jamesinchamonix said:

Hi. Im just considering purchasing a 450h and love the look of the panoramic roof , but would appreciate some feedback on its practicality .

First off, I can't work out whether roof rails or roof racks can be fitted . Otherwise are there any drawbacks I should consider ?

Im struggling to chose between a 2014 advance , f, or premium . Or NX !

(Living where I do I dont think that the NX is powerful enough to cope with all the hills).

Are the ventilated seats or hud worth the upgrade over an Advance ?

My 2003 RXSEL is soldiering on but now exhibits ALL of the common faults (laminated alloys,errant air suspension , wing mirror fluid has leaked out , brake cable seized (salt!), ignition key sometimes won't go in( ...hammer in glove compartment !...) cd error 3,4 1 , and yet , for 10 years now, it starts every day whatever the weather and the interior looks no different to the 2014 model.

Thanks in advance.

1) Roof rails can be fitted to any RX without a panoramic sunroof. Looking at the ones with panoramic sunroof on the Lexus used website, none of them seem to have roof rails. Having said that, the roof rails look a bit naff IMO anyway due to their "fake aluminium" plastic look which doesn't match the chrome on the car

2) The panoramic roof does eat into headroom as well but again, only you can decide whether its enough of a problem.

3) From what I can remember the specs are as follows -

Advance - everything from luxury + sunroof/panoramic roof + Mark Levinson stereo + Mercury grey front grill splitter + dark silver wheels

F-Sport - Everything from luxury + stiffer suspension + HUD + Darkened wheels. IMO the HUD is absolutely awesome. I cant remember the last time I looked down to check the speed and it also shows navigation, gear selection etc etc. The stiffer suspension leads to more stability at speed and its much flatter around the corners (night and day with the RX300, I had one!). The downside is the ride is obviously stiffer but it depends on what you want.

Premier - Vented seats (not even that good, don't work as well as in the new RX) + HUD + Mark Levinson + kerb view + air suspension

If you want the better ride comfort but OK handling then Id say the pick of the range in terms of value is the Advance model. If you want better handling then go for the F-Sport. Of course if you want all the gadgets then Premier is your best bet but a good example can be hard to find.

On a side note, if you get an NX, be prepared to rag it as it doesn't cope well with hills (the NX300h). I live in an area with a lot of hill too and when I drove the NX300H, it was constantly revving quite high due to needing a lot of gas and this inevitably lead to 25mpg!

DanD · March 15, 2016

I really wanted the panoramic roof when I bought mine, but my two teenage sons complained about the restricted headroom during the test drive so decided to go for a car without.