So it begins...

lockeyboy · January 29, 2017

Still looking at insurances and waiting on the dealer to respond with gold members discount on a service plan (and associated additional warranty). Bearing in mind its four years old I may just move onto the reduced cost servicing they offer next year.

2013 with the exterior styling pack, couple of marks on it, and a little dirty, but I was surprised at the level of service when we bought it (green tea and presentation box)

any advice on a rubber boot protector (space saver wheel if that's relevant) greatly appreciated

rayaans · January 30, 2017

Very nice, same colour as mine.

I presume they sorted out the dirt and the marks?

DanD · January 30, 2017

I recommend the rubber boot protector, especially if you have a light coloured carpet. Also stops things from sliding around in the boot.

If I were you I'd ask the dealer if they have one hanging around: I got mine for free.

GSLV6 · January 30, 2017

I bought a rubber boot protector from eBay for about £47 delivered and it fits exactly. Well worth having. Looks like a tidy RX, enjoy! (is that a metallic Polar White?) If, like me, you're a little surprised with poor fuel economy, it 's a bit of an education with these as they deliver the reverse of what you'd expect of a smaller non-hybrid, in that best mileage seems to come from medium speed cross country where the hybrid operates frequently, and around town, and worst from motorway runs and A-road runs, where the speeds mean it's on the petrol engine all the time (or most of it). Get used to that side of things and it'll start to feel like a favourite pair of slippers in no time!

lockeyboy · January 31, 2017

On 30/01/2017 at 2:45 PM, rayaans said:

Very nice, same colour as mine.

I presume they sorted out the dirt and the marks?

I wasn't too fussed to be honest it's a 4 year old car I'm just waiting to get the cleaning products on. However as it's been purchased on pcp I wanted to make sure we weren't accepting a perfect car from the off . Now I've just found a huge dent and paint missing from the rear roof area by the boot so I'm taking it back for them to have a look at tomorrow.

On 30/01/2017 at 4:46 PM, GSLV6 said:

I bought a rubber boot protector from Ebay for about £47 delivered and it fits exactly. Well worth having. Looks like a tidy RX, enjoy! (is that a metallic Polar White?) If, like me, you're a little surprised with poor fuel economy, it 's a bit of an education with these as they deliver the reverse of what you'd expect of a smaller non-hybrid, in that best mileage seems to come from medium speed cross country where the hybrid operates frequently, and around town, and worst from motorway runs and A-road runs, where the speeds mean it's on the petrol engine all the time (or most of it). Get used to that side of things and it'll start to feel like a favourite pair of slippers in no time!

On 30/01/2017 at 4:36 PM, DanD said:

I recommend the rubber boot protector, especially if you have a light coloured carpet. Also stops things from sliding around in the boot.

If I were you I'd ask the dealer if they have one hanging around: I got mine for free.

I'll check on that, they've discounted the service plan so it's now at least a little more affordable

lockeyboy · February 1, 2017

Took the car back today, within seconds they've seen it's an old dent and are fixing next week

10/10 for service at Lexus Stoke, also noticed one of the keys had a flat Battery they swapped both!

Had to buy the boot mat, but got my 10% discount.

just waiting for some dry weather to wash and wax

rayaans · February 1, 2017

1 hour ago, lockeyboy said:

Took the car back today, within seconds they've seen it's an old dent and are fixing next week

10/10 for service at Lexus Stoke, also noticed one of the keys had a flat battery they swapped both!

Had to buy the boot mat, but got my 10% discount.

just waiting for some dry weather to wash and wax

Good result

How did they check it was an old dent? Makes me think they knew it was already there but decided not to fix it and see if you'd notice.

Glover · February 1, 2017

Looks a great car; I'm sure you'll be very pleased with it. I always look forward to taking mine out even if it's only a short journey; it's simply a great place to be. Definitely the most comfortable, relaxing car I've ever had but also great to drive with lots of go if needed.

An example of how relaxing it is. I was stuck in a queue this evening, moved about half a mile in 30 minutes. In any other car I'd be thinking when will this end, in the RX I just sat back, relaxed in my heated seat and listened to the radio over the sound of complete silence! (except for the air con fan occasionally kicking in). How often can you say being stuck in a jam was relaxing and stress free!!!

Glad you sorted the boot protector. If you're after other parts e.g. mats, bumper protector try Lexus Birmingham. Brilliant prices and great service; even with post and packing they were cheaper than local dealers.

lockeyboy · February 2, 2017

23 hours ago, rayaans said:

Good result

How did they check it was an old dent? Makes me think they knew it was already there but decided not to fix it and see if you'd notice.

I did wonder that... I've given them the benefit of the doubt to be honest. When the boot was opened there was an obvious amount of dirt/grime directly under the dent, everywhere else was pretty clean. They also mentioned it looked like it had been touched in, again I'd really have expected them to see it.

my wife would never have noticed due to her height...

lockeyboy · February 2, 2017

23 hours ago, Glover said:

Looks a great car; I'm sure you'll be very pleased with it. I always look forward to taking mine out even if it's only a short journey; it's simply a great place to be. Definitely the most comfortable, relaxing car I've ever had but also great to drive with lots of go if needed.

An example of how relaxing it is. I was stuck in a queue this evening, moved about half a mile in 30 minutes. In any other car I'd be thinking when will this end, in the RX I just sat back, relaxed in my heated seat and listened to the radio over the sound of complete silence! (except for the air con fan occasionally kicking in). How often can you say being stuck in a jam was relaxing and stress free!!!

Glad you sorted the boot protector. If you're after other parts e.g. mats, bumper protector try Lexus Birmingham. Brilliant prices and great service; even with post and packing they were cheaper than local dealers.

I've been driving past there funnily enough over the past month on work trips, don't they have a Lamborghini dealer nearby also? I will be after a bumper protector, so will give them a try next week or possibly Saturday as I'm off down to Gloucester for some bits for the LS.

ive not found a comfortable position yet to be honest but the wife loves it. I'm still favouring the ls400 but the rx is such a beautiful machine, and for me, makes driving a pleasure rather than a chore or an effort.

Glover · February 2, 2017

I bought mail order so must admit I don't know where they are in Birmingham although I may take a trip over one day as I was very impressed with the service from their parts people. If you want to compare prices you can always check on eBay before you pop in just to see if it's worth it. They've got the bumper protector on at the moment http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Lexus-Birmingham-Parts/Lexus-Accessories-/_i.html?_fsub=723477013

I took a while to find my optimum position; the problem with seats with lots of adjustments I suppose:-) Totally agree about driving being a pleasure; for me it's no longer about how quickly can I get there; I'm happy to be in it for hours. Apart from the RX I've never driven another Lexus just sat in the showroom models but I've recently been following LS threads out of idle curiosity! From owners' descriptions and the interior photos they sound and look like the ultimate in comfort and luxury. If my local dealer ever has one in I'd be tempted to have a test drive!

GSLV6 · February 3, 2017

I almost did book a test drive of a 2012 LS460, and did have a sit in one and a good look around with a view to buying. The best word to describe it was "sumptuous". The one I looked at was in metallic black with privacy glass, ivory interior with every gadget except rear entertainment pack. New cost was probably north of £80K. It was on the forecourt for about £28K. Now that's devaluation! What put me off it were several things. Firstly, boot space (that old chestnut again). You don't buy something like an LS to moan about lack of space, and it's not the sort of car I'd spoil with roof bars and a roof box! Their just wasn't enough boot space for us. It was surprisingly tiny for such a lrage car. Two sets of golf clubs would probably have filled it. The other two off putting aspects were fuel economy (claimed 24mpg...actual probably in the teens) and HUGE running costs compared with say an older LS400 which would still be the one I'd like to own oddly enough! I reckon you'd have to double your running costs (or more) over a Mk3 or Mk4GS. Big car, big bills and later ones do seem to have had their reliability niggles like all large complex luxury saloons, which may partly suggest why so many relatively recent examples (say under 6 years old) have such wicked devaluation. That, and compared with a used S-Class of similar spec, and the S class starts to look like a relative bargain (I wouldn't go there personally, as Merc reliability and build quality simply isn't what it once was). In that market, I'd rather take time and hunt out a minty LS400.

We ended up with an RX, and I think this bridges the gap between the GS and LS in some ways (with less gadgets though), such as the room, comfort and refinement but with lower running costs. The seating position I found took a bit of faffing around with to get comfortable, but once set, I could sit in it all day now (and may have to next week!). I find the opposite with seats using lost of adjustment. The more, the better as each person can more accurately tailor it to their needs, then hit the memory button to make sure it stays where they work out the best setting. I preferred the 3GS 10-way seats to the 8-way RX ones, but tbh, the softer RX seats are fine and better than most.

The RX has so far, for us, been an enjoyable drive and a pleasure to be in. The largest annoyance has been the poor fuel economy.

kenc · February 4, 2017

Hi Paul, I'm quite surprised by your comments regarding fuel costs. Maybe it's an F-Sport issue. With my new 2015 Premier, I get about 40mpg around town or near 34/35mpg on long motorway journeys. I was getting about 24mpg on my 2005 GS300 and only 18mpg on my previous 2001 GS300, so it's quite an improvement. I see the F-Sport has a standard (8 speed?) gearbox. The Premier has a CVT transmission. Could that account for the difference?

rayaans · February 5, 2017

4 hours ago, kenc said:

Hi Paul, I'm quite surprised by your comments regarding fuel costs. Maybe it's an F-Sport issue. With my new 2015 Premier, I get about 40mpg around town or near 34/35mpg on long motorway journeys. I was getting about 24mpg on my 2005 GS300 and only 18mpg on my previous 2001 GS300, so it's quite an improvement. I see the F-Sport has a standard (8 speed?) gearbox. The Premier has a CVT transmission. Could that account for the difference?

8 speed is on RX350 F Sport which we don't get. All RX450Hs have the same engine setup.

On a side note, I've been getting 23 mpg this last week! Been cold though and only covered 50 miles

GSLV6 · February 5, 2017

20 hours ago, kenc said:

Hi Paul, I'm quite surprised by your comments regarding fuel costs. Maybe it's an F-Sport issue. With my new 2015 Premier, I get about 40mpg around town or near 34/35mpg on long motorway journeys. I was getting about 24mpg on my 2005 GS300 and only 18mpg on my previous 2001 GS300, so it's quite an improvement. I see the F-Sport has a standard (8 speed?) gearbox. The Premier has a CVT transmission. Could that account for the difference?

I managed about 27mpg average with my 2007 GS300, and 38mpg on the motorway which I thought was superb for such a large car/engine. I'm beginning to realise with the RX that it's all about mass. As soon as you start lugging that 2.2 tonnes up hills, it drinks fuel, and I live in a particularly hilly area. On the motorway, the electric motors don't contribute much if anything at 70mph, so it's down to a 3.5 V6 petrol pushing a large frontal area, hence I wouldn't expect the economy I got from the GS which was lower, lighter and more slippery through the air. The RX over a month has now returned an average of 28mpg and a best on one run of 44mpg.

As Rayaans says, once the air temperature drops, you soon notice a big difference with the RX. Mine is only a month old to me and 3 weeks of that have been in very cold conditions, hence denser air into a big engine = lower economy but more power. I don't seem to do well through town, as my EV seems very temperamental. Even if I have plenty of charge, often it refuses to go into EV mode, even when the engine's warm and speed kept below 27mph. Show it anything over a slight incline and the engine kicks in. It's really annoying to keep having to fiddle and press the EV button to constantly try and keep in in EV mode around town, so I hardly bother anymore and just leave it on the standard setting which defaults mostly to electric anyway at low speed and where low torque is needed. It also defaults to engine if you show the EV mode more than even a hint of acceleration. A pedestrian walking from standstill-type-pace seems enough to bring up the "excessive acceleration" message! I will be at my Lexus garage this week for another minor issue to be sorted so will talk to them about that then to see if this is normal.

malcolmw · February 5, 2017

28 minutes ago, GSLV6 said:

... once the air temperature drops, you soon notice a big difference with the RX. Mine is only a month old to me and 3 weeks of that have been in very cold conditions, hence denser air into a big engine = lower economy but more power. I don't seem to do well through town, as my EV seems very temperamental. Even if I have plenty of charge, often it refuses to go into EV mode, even when the engine's warm and speed kept below 27mph. Show it anything over a slight incline and the engine kicks in. It's really annoying to keep having to fiddle and press the EV button to constantly try and keep in in EV mode around town, so I hardly bother anymore and just leave it on the standard setting which defaults mostly to electric anyway at low speed and where low torque is needed. It also defaults to engine if you show the EV mode more than even a hint of acceleration. A pedestrian walking from standstill-type-pace seems enough to bring up the "excessive acceleration" message! I will be at my Lexus garage this week for another minor issue to be sorted so will talk to them about that then to see if this is normal.

This is exactly my experience with the 4th Gen model. The difference in behaviour compared to my partner's IS300h is quite marked. Almost any uphill slope or more than just a trace of throttle puts the engine on. I also get the "too much throttle" when creeping into my drive up a slight slope.

lockeyboy · February 5, 2017

Hi Malcolm is that also with the eco setting on?

I also felt it accelerates very heavily when it conditions aren't deserving of it, but I changed to eco and it appears less stressed when accelerating up small hills or slopes

whe trying ev even the slightest acceleration turns it off, to the point where it feels like it doesn't actually work other than in central London rush hour traffic

GSLV6 · February 6, 2017

It feels like a bit of a con unless you re-tune your mind to remind yourself that this is a petrol V6 which uses hybrid recovery of energy to help offset petrol costs, rather than a straight EV type vehicle. The EV is nothing more than a delicate tool to be used when conditions are optimal (eg on the flat or downhill, to run on electric for half a mile or so before the engine and hybrid recovery kick in to recharge the batteries). It's very unlike the plug in EVs in this respect as they can be run quite hard on acceleration. A neighbour's family member has a plug in Fiesta, and she can rocket off in that on electric only. Different beast entirely. It's a mindset challenge when acquiring one of these for the first time!

malcolmw · February 6, 2017

@lockeyboy,

I have tried ECO mode but this appears to make almost no difference to the engine cut-in point. There is a change but it is very slight.

This doesn't really matter much but I notice it as it is different from the IS300h.

Britprius · February 6, 2017

EV mode should not be used to try to improve economy on the road. It is useful to operate EV before the engine starts when cold if your doing a manover such as changing cars around on the driveway. This saves a cold start when most fuel is used.

Using it on the move is counter productive in the long term. The electric drive system is primarily there to assist acceleration from rest "the period that most fuel is used when the engine is warm". If you use it to drive the vehicle on it's own, after a very short distance the engine will have to start to power the car as well as recharge the Battery with all the associated losses. Every time you change the energy type there is a loss. Petrol to mechanical, mechanical to electrical, electrical to chemical, chemical to electrical, and electrical to mechanical to drive the wheels.

The electricity from the Battery comes from the petrol engine, and as such has losses in the process of running the engine to turn the generator (a loss) to charge the Battery (a loss) to discharge the Battery (a loss) to turn an electric motor (a loss) to power the vehicle (a loss). All this when the engine could have powered the vehicle in the first place.

I know some of the energy for the Battery is so called regenerated from the inertia of the vehicle as it is slowed down, but even that energy came from the petrol engine originally.

John.

GSLV6 · February 7, 2017

I'm not sure that I understand that John, as my car cannot be used in EV to move cars about on a driveway for example, unless the engine is first warm. It does not work from a cold engine on my car, as I get the message "EV not available. Engine warming up". Where I do use it is when in slow moving traffic coming through town, I depress the EV button and glide along on electric. The engine eventually has to recharge the Battery but the Battery never gets much below half charge before the engine cuts in anyway, so there's always enough left in the Battery to assist forward motion, EV or not, when the engine does kick in. All that happens is that the engine recharges the Battery until it's past the half way mark again before I can use EV. It has limited range, but I've found that using it definitely does help increase fuel economy.

lockeyboy · February 18, 2017

Just to carry this thread on and not start another

i noticed lots of salmon pink and white spots on the car when washing it (look like paint) which could be overspill from the roof repair but I thought I'd just clean them off, however on checking tyre pressures today one tyre has a lot of splits on the tyre wall, and another seemed to leak air when filling and took considerably longer to fill

ill be going back to the dealer on Monday (again)

Normski · February 19, 2017

Her RX is the first white car we've had I noticed lots of pink/brown spots particularly on the lower valence/sides/tailgate quite soon after buying. I think it's tar/iron deposits. So a quick blast with something like Autosmart Tardis and Iron-X worked wonders. Perhaps worth a try in case it's not paint??

As for the air leak...our chrome dust caps are welded on. Guess it's the steel reacting with the stem. I didn't want to try to twist too much but wouldn't be surprised if a leak develops if I were to continue to try and remove them. Hope the dealer manages to sort.

steveledzep · February 19, 2017

Chrome dustcaps can be a disaster, "welding" themselves so tightly that any attempt to remove them damages the valve stem. Very expensive with TPMS.

I use them because they look good, but I advise a smear of oil on the stem and gently finger tight only......they only have to stop dust entering, not air escaping .

Hope they can release yours Norman.

GSLV6 · February 19, 2017

13 hours ago, lockeyboy said:

Just to carry this thread on and not start another

i noticed lots of salmon pink and white spots on the car when washing it (look like paint) which could be overspill from the roof repair but I thought I'd just clean them off, however on checking tyre pressures today one tyre has a lot of splits on the tyre wall, and another seemed to leak air when filling and took considerably longer to fill

ill be going back to the dealer on Monday (again)

The dealers really ought to have inspected and replaced those tyres Mark. I'm assuming that this was a Lexus Approved vehicle? If sou, it would have gone through a full Lexus inspection, so someone hasn't been paying attention! The other tyre issue sounds like either corrosion/dirt on the rims or a leaky valve. Hopefully they'll sort for you.

How are you finding the car otherwise? I must admit, it's taken close on 2 months for me to get used to mine, but now, I wouldn't want to drive anything else. What sort of economy have you been getting from it since pick-up?