First thoughts on my RX300 SE

robski · May 18, 2016

Today I picked up a dark metallic grey RX300 SE with Navigation. The car has 124k miles and at a shade over £3k I wasn't expecting too much but thought it would make for a reliable, comfortable option when the weather gods see fit to do their worst.

Today was a bad day to buy a car because of the rain but that's the way the cookie crumbles! The car had been unused over the last winter and I noticed a bit of mildew on some of the surfaces., however the carpets seemed dry and there were no obvious signs of leaks. What surprised me was that absolutely all the bells and whistles worked exactly as they should and the test drive was super smooth engine / gearbox wise, there were also absolutely no creaks, squeaks, knocks or bangs. It came with a full service history (Lexus & independent) including cambelt and plugs. Suitably impressed, the deal was done and I drove my new toy the 50+ miles home using mostly motorways. It was raining and I was driving like Miss Daisy but was still surprised to achieve an indicated 35mpg on the info screen! By the end of the journey I couldn't believe how tight the car felt, it literally drives like a brand new car!

The RX was going to be a utility vehicle but I'm starting to really like it already... all that mildew is going to go and it's going to get a fair amount of TLC inside and out when we get a few sunny days! I just hope the supercharged vx220 doesn't get too jealous!

Thanks to all the members here for the wealth of information on these great cars! I wouldn't have known what to look for without you guys and gals! I even know what to do to reset the sunroof limits....or at least I will when I find that post again! lol

Now to search for the best cleaning products for the interior! Any recommendations are much appreciated but of course I will be searching too!

Thanks again folks, I'm unexpectedly ecstatic with my new toy!

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Chris Skelton · May 19, 2016

THanks for this! Just getting tempted myself, find an lpg one.

PCM · May 19, 2016

Sounds great!

I like Autoglym products - but maybe any good quality stuff, and lots of elbow grease!

rayaans · May 19, 2016

Great cars the RX300! I can still remember mine which I had for 8 years!

Whats the problem with the interior? Is it smelly or dirty? (or both?!)

robski · May 19, 2016

6 hours ago, Chris Skelton said:

THanks for this! Just getting tempted myself, find an lpg one.

It really is a huge amount of car for the money! If I'd known how good they are I'd have bought one years ago!

Good luck in your search and hold out for a good one!

robski · May 19, 2016

2 hours ago, PCM said:

Sounds great!

I like AutoGlym products - but maybe any good quality stuff, and lots of elbow grease!

Yes, Autoglym leather cleaner & balm are high up on the options. I'm sure I used to have some in the garage but...erm...they seem to have been stolen by the garage gremlin!

1 hour ago, rayaans said:

Great cars the RX300! I can still remember mine which I had for 8 years!

Whats the problem with the interior? Is it smelly or dirty? (or both?!)

The interior is generally fine but it needs a good clean. No nasty odours! The products I'm looking at are:

Dash & other plastic trim - ArmorAll Protectant - Semi Matt Finish (because I have some already)

Leather - probably Autoglym Cleaner and Balm - unless there are other recommendations for cleaning / preserving cream leather?

Carpets - This is the big one! As I have cream carpets they obviously look dirty after 11 years of use even though they're not that bad at all. This is the thing that makes me think I should just pay for a full valet! That kind of defeats the reason I was looking for something like this car though! I'll try some carpet cleaner and elbow grease and see if I can give them a new lease of life that way. I don't want to get the carpets too wet though as it's not yet hot enough to dry them properly.

Interior roof liner - This is where there are a few spots of mildew (or similar type stuff!) where the car was left unused over the winter. It comes off easily just by rubbing your finger on it so I'm sure a general purpose cleaner and a damp cloth will work a treat for that!

Then there's the exterior.... but I'll leave that discussion alone as I've seen wars over the best way to clean and polish bodywork! Hahahaha The paintwork looks in really good shape actually but I'll have a much closer look when I get round to giving it a wash & polish.

Still loving it!

Spacewagon52 · May 19, 2016

Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care is excellent for plastic and rubber surfaces. Carpets - try Vanish foam if you do not want to get them too wet. You might need to do them a couple of times at least. My LS 400 ceam carpets came up well.

robski · May 19, 2016

12 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care is excellent for plastic and rubber surfaces. Carpets - try Vanish foam if you do not want to get them too wet. You might need to do them a couple of times at least. My LS 400 ceam carpets came up well.

Thanks for that, it's good to know that the cream carpets can be cleaned up! I'll have a rummage around in the cleaning cupboard as I'm sure there's some Vanish foam stuff in there somewhere!

robski · May 19, 2016

12 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care is excellent for plastic and rubber surfaces. Carpets - try Vanish foam if you do not want to get them too wet. You might need to do them a couple of times at least. My LS 400 ceam carpets came up well.

Thanks for that, it's good to know that the cream carpets can be cleaned up! I'll have a rummage around in the cleaning cupboard as I'm sure there's some Vanish foam stuff in there somewhere!

robski · May 19, 2016

12 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care is excellent for plastic and rubber surfaces. Carpets - try Vanish foam if you do not want to get them too wet. You might need to do them a couple of times at least. My LS 400 ceam carpets came up well.

Thanks for that, it's good to know that the cream carpets can be cleaned up! I'll have a rummage around in the cleaning cupboard as I'm sure there's some Vanish foam stuff in there somewhere!

rayaans · May 19, 2016

Just to clear up some confusion here!

Dash and plastic - the Armorall semi matt finish is fine to use.

Leather - I presume you have cream leather. By all means give Autoglym Leather cleaner a go but its not great at getting any serious dirt out. If you struggle, buy a dodo juice leather kit and a leather brush. Itll get rid of pretty much everything. Of course, make sure you use clean microfiber cloths to ensure you're not just distributing dirt to other areas of the seat

Carpets - Ideally you want a wet/dry vacuum for this and a stiff brush. Use a good carpet cleaner NOT the conventional household carpet cleaners like vanish etc. You want one with no bleach in it! Vanish and other household stain removes have bleach which will mask the stain and may also change the colour of your carpet over time! I use the 1001 3-in-1 Machine carpet shampoo from Wilco by hand and a stiff brush + water. Then just suck up all the water and dirt with the vac.

If you don't have a vac, you're not going to remove much. Carpet cleaners dont magically dissolve dirt/mud etc so its just going to stay inside the carpet unless you have something to remove them with. Another option is to use plenty of lint-free towels.

Headliner - all purpose cleaner and water. You'll need to remove the excess water with towels otherwise, like carpets, you won't actually remove anything. Also, be careful with the headliner, its stuck on with glue so you don't want to expose it to too strong a dilution of APC.

If you get the time, take a look at the following thread:

robski · May 20, 2016

4 hours ago, rayaans said:

Just to clear up some confusion here!

Dash and plastic - the Armorall semi matt finish is fine to use.

Leather - I presume you have cream leather. By all means give Autoglym Leather cleaner a go but its not great at getting any serious dirt out. If you struggle, buy a dodo juice leather kit and a leather brush. Itll get rid of pretty much everything. Of course, make sure you use clean microfiber cloths to ensure you're not just distributing dirt to other areas of the seat

Carpets - Ideally you want a wet/dry vacuum for this and a stiff brush. Use a good carpet cleaner NOT the conventional household carpet cleaners like vanish etc. You want one with no bleach in it! Vanish and other household stain removes have bleach which will mask the stain and may also change the colour of your carpet over time! I use the 1001 3-in-1 Machine carpet shampoo from Wilco by hand and a stiff brush + water. Then just suck up all the water and dirt with the vac.

If you don't have a vac, you're not going to remove much. Carpet cleaners dont magically dissolve dirt/mud etc so its just going to stay inside the carpet unless you have something to remove them with. Another option is to use plenty of lint-free towels.

Headliner - all purpose cleaner and water. You'll need to remove the excess water with towels otherwise, like carpets, you won't actually remove anything. Also, be careful with the headliner, its stuck on with glue so you don't want to expose it to too strong a dilution of APC.

If you get the time, take a look at the following thread:

I take my hat off to you Sir!

That's a superb source of really useful information, I really do appreciate it. On top of that, you've convinced me that I need a wet & dry vacuum cleaner, it makes perfect sense! Screwfix seem to have a few at very reasonable prices. Job done.

It's just a shame that the weather isn't ideal at the moment...

rayaans · May 20, 2016

9 hours ago, robski said:

I take my hat off to you Sir!

That's a superb source of really useful information, I really do appreciate it. On top of that, you've convinced me that I need a wet & dry vacuum cleaner, it makes perfect sense! Screwfix seem to have a few at very reasonable prices. Job done.

It's just a shame that the weather isn't ideal at the moment...

I use the Screwfix Titan wet vac. Cost like £35 or something and it pulls water and mud out just fine. Not had a single issue with it.

Spacewagon52 · May 20, 2016

I stand corrected on Vanish! It did work for me but Rayaan is your man for detailing! Well worth reading his post on detailing, very informative.

rayaans · May 20, 2016

1 hour ago, Spacewagon52 said:

I stand corrected on Vanish! It did work for me but Rayaan is your man for detailing! Well worth reading his post on detailing, very informative.

Generally speaking on light carpwts it's not as noticeable. On darker carpets I've seen prolonged use turn it almost dark grey.

Usually the ones containing bleach say something like "5% oxidising agents" or something