Could be looking at an RX450h

[bluenose1940]

I am of a mind to change my car in the near future and, I would like if possible to stay with Lexus.

I am quite keen on the RX450h and am looking for some pointers please. 

I will only be able to go to a maximum of £24k and, as I am a real fan of all the goodies, such as SatNav, rear camera, front and rear parking sensors and the like, I am wondering if I should go for a higher mileage/older car that could have these goodies or, should I forego some of them in favour of a lower mileage/newer model.

Are there any particular things I should be looking out for when buying a used 450h?

Many thanks.

[rayaans]

2 hours ago, bluenose1940 said:

I am of a mind to change my car in the near future and, I would like if possible to stay with Lexus.

I am quite keen on the RX450h and am looking for some pointers please. 

I will only be able to go to a maximum of £24k and, as I am a real fan of all the goodies, such as SatNav, rear camera, front and rear parking sensors and the like, I am wondering if I should go for a higher mileage/older car that could have these goodies or, should I forego some of them in favour of a lower mileage/newer model.

Are there any particular things I should be looking out for when buying a used 450h?

Many thanks.

Not really many issues with these to be honest and those that do happen tend to be bad luck!

With your budget, I presume you'll be going for the facelift model? There wasn't much change over the years from 2012 when the facelift came out until 2015 when the 4th Gen RX came out so I would always say go for an older one as the price will be better. If it has decent mileage, then even better.

The main thing to look for on these is the wear and tear. Being an SUV, tends to attract families and some examples are real dogs. 

My RX F-Sport with ML and Tracker sold for £23500 at a dealer and it was in better condition than some 1 year old ones they had. Mine was a 2012 with 46k miles so I would expect a Premier with all the toys would be roughly around the same price with slightly more mileage on it provided its a 2012.

The Premier model has air suspension. It could prove costly in the future if you're not going for the Lexus Extended Warranty but I am yet to hear these fail on the 450h. It seems to be a common problem on the 400h however. 

I would probably go with an F-Sport, Advance or Luxury and give the Premier a miss. It doesn't really have much more than the luxury for how much extra it is either.

[The Sat Diver]

Hi .. if I could put my six penneth in .. I have the 2011 model and bought it from Lexus Stockport with 33k on the clock one previous owner who obviously owned a large dog !! and had it now for just over 2 years and apart from the bad luck factor of a broken rear spring probably from speed humps not a single thing has gone wrong with it and that has impressed me more than anything

My biggest moan is getting driver information .. almost anything you want to know requires you to take your hand off the steering wheel .. ie.. what radio station are you tuned into .. what is the car temp .. pulling up the central driver information display requires more input than it should as whatever icon you select on the screen when turning it on .. it defaults back to the road map so you have to re-select again .. with your budget follow Rayaans advice but don't go for the 2011 model

 

[bluenose1940]

Thank you once again rayaans.  I have had a look at the specification listings at the head of this forum and yes the F-Sport does look a good bet.  I'm not clear where the Advance model falls in the hierarchy, could you clarify for me please.

Pity I wasn't looking when you sold yours, sounds as though I would have got me a good 'un there.

I'm always a bit wary as regards high mileage cars.  I don't do much myself these days, probably about 12K p.a. split more or less equally between mine and wife's car.  Because of this, if the car had only just above average mileage on the clock I would pull it back over a couple of years.

Thanks again for your input.  Thank you too Malcolm for your 'six penneth'

[rayaans]

2 hours ago, bluenose1940 said:

Thank you once again rayaans.  I have had a look at the specification listings at the head of this forum and yes the F-Sport does look a good bet.  I'm not clear where the Advance model falls in the hierarchy, could you clarify for me please.

Pity I wasn't looking when you sold yours, sounds as though I would have got me a good 'un there.

I'm always a bit wary as regards high mileage cars.  I don't do much myself these days, probably about 12K p.a. split more or less equally between mine and wife's car.  Because of this, if the car had only just above average mileage on the clock I would pull it back over a couple of years.

Thanks again for your input.  Thank you too Malcolm for your 'six penneth'

The advance was a run out model which had the F Sport bumper and choice of pan roof or sunroof as standard. I think they also had ML. The rest was the same as Luxury spec. The F Sport is technically a higher model as it has the HUD which was unavailable on the advance.

The F Sport has a slightly stiffer ride but doesn't wallow as much in the corners so worth considering that. 

The Luxury and F Sports seem to be the pick of the ranges depending on what you desire as there are more of them than the others.

[steveledzep]

Hi Geoff.  Had my RX for just 6 months now and delighted with it.

Previously had an IS250 and IS250C, so other than the hybrid bit, similar cars to yours.  I changed to the RX because my back was suffering climbing in and out of the 250C.

Mine is a 2013 (March) Luxury and is the facelift model, easily spotted with the DRLs.  It has everything my IS250 SE-Ls had except for illuminated scuff plates and ML stereo, so very well equipped.  The standard stereo is more than adequate in a motor vehicle, I didn't notice a difference from the ML (and I'm a bit of a HiFi geek).

My vehicle is a 2 owner with full Lexus SH and the 60,000 was done at 53,000 including the spark plugs.  I paid just under £20k for mine at 55k miles, so you have plenty of scope with your £24k budget.

My advice is to take your time, the right one will come along.  I searched for a few months before settling on mine.

Good luck with your search.  Let us know what you buy please.

[bluenose1940]

Important question, does the RX450h have a spare wheel?

[rayaans]

16 minutes ago, bluenose1940 said:

Important question, does the RX450h have a spare wheel?

Yes it does. Or it should do anyway unless someone's removed it!

[steveledzep]

24 minutes ago, bluenose1940 said:

Important question, does the RX450h have a spare wheel?

It's a spacesaver.

[bluenose1940]

9 hours ago, steveledzep said:

Hi Geoff.  Had my RX for just 6 months now and delighted with it.

Previously had an IS250 and IS250C, so other than the hybrid bit, similar cars to yours.  I changed to the RX because my back was suffering climbing in and out of the 250C.

Mine is a 2013 (March) Luxury and is the facelift model, easily spotted with the DRLs.  It has everything my IS250 SE-Ls had except for illuminated scuff plates and ML stereo, so very well equipped.  The standard stereo is more than adequate in a motor vehicle, I didn't notice a difference from the ML (and I'm a bit of a HiFi geek).

My vehicle is a 2 owner with full Lexus SH and the 60,000 was done at 53,000 including the spark plugs.  I paid just under £20k for mine at 55k miles, so you have plenty of scope with your £24k budget.

My advice is to take your time, the right one will come along.  I searched for a few months before settling on mine.

Good luck with your search.  Let us know what you buy please.

Thanks for your input Steve.  Looks a very nice motor, I should think that you got yourself a good deal there.  Did you buy privately or through a dealer?  What car reckons I should get about £19k for mine.  It's in excellent condition with only 13k on the clock.

I will take my time as you suggest.

Thanks too to rayaans for the info re the spare.  My current car didn't have one and so I purchased a spacesaver.  Trouble is it takes up so much room in the boot.

I don't like the gunge and wouldn't be without a spare.  Where is it stored on the 450 then?

[steveledzep]

The spacesaver is stored in a well under the boot floor.  It is accessed by removing the boot floor, it's not exposed to the elements.

Got my RX from an independent dealer in Wolverhampton.  It was a little unusual as he was selling the vehicle on behalf of a friend who had been made redundant and needed to offload the finance.  Didn't get as much for my 250C as I'd have liked, but the RX was 3 or 4k cheaper than a Lexus forecourt.  All about the cost to change and on that basis I was happy with the deal.

Good luck with your search.

[Guest]

As the guys have said above they are great cars and for that budget you should get yourself a nice facelift model with most of the toys,we have the Advance model with the sunroof,adaptive lights and sport front bumper.

Good luck with your search.

 

[rayaans]

1 hour ago, bluenose1940 said:

Thanks for your input Steve.  Looks a very nice motor, I should think that you got yourself a good deal there.  Did you buy privately or through a dealer?  What car reckons I should get about £19k for mine.  It's in excellent condition with only 13k on the clock.

I will take my time as you suggest.

Thanks too to rayaans for the info re the spare.  My current car didn't have one and so I purchased a spacesaver.  Trouble is it takes up so much room in the boot.

I don't like the gunge and wouldn't be without a spare.  Where is it stored on the 450 then?

I wouldn't use Whatcar as a basis to value the car on - they seem to be very very optimistic.

The only 2 I use, and the dealers for that matter are HPI valuations and Autotrader valuations. They'll give you a P/X price and a private price and ultimately up to you on how you want to sell the car. Private price would be around £18.5k and P/X around £17.5k but dealers usually go under this so I would say expect £17k from a dealer.

I've found HPI valuations more accurate (formerly CAP) which the dealers use so they know what price to fling the car off in auction if it doesnt sell on the forecourt

[rayaans]

Admittedly, if you do the Burgundy Red colour, this F-Sport has been on for a while at Lexus Sheffield with only 39k on the clock. The interior pretty much looks pristine and its actually under budget at £23450. Should be able to get atleast £500 off that as well

https://usedcars.lexus.co.uk/en/used-lexus/Lexus/RX-450h/35-F-Sport-mqbhusu

[bluenose1940]

Wow! It looks as though I will have to try to sell privately. Wouldn't be happy with £17K.

I don't think that I want to go any older than a 2012 model.  Could get newer by going to something like Honda but I'm not that keen.

[The Sat Diver]

On the subject of the RX .. can anyone tell me what the Shift Lock is for ?? .. Ive never used it and don't know how too

If someone could explain it would really be appreciated

Cheers

[Ian M]

23 minutes ago, The Sat Diver said:

On the subject of the RX .. can anyone tell me what the Shift Lock is for ?? .. Ive never used it and don't know how too

If someone could explain it would really be appreciated

Cheers

It does no more than allow you to move the vehicle from "Park" to "Neutral" without the engine running.   My little Toyota IQ has the same feature and it's not something which gets used!

 

Edited September 12, 2017 by Ian M
Typo removed - but not quickly enough to avoid Rayaans quoting it!

[rayaans]

2 minutes ago, Ian M said:

It odes no more than allow you to move the vehicle from "Park" to "Neutral" without the engine running.   My little Toyota IQ has the same feature and it's not something which gets used!

 

As above

Its useful when the transmission gets stuck or when the car won't start and car needs to be moved. 

[Ian M]

If I might add my thoughts: my spec was a 2012 onwards facelift model with black lather and a sunroof in any colour except grey or silver.  Somewhat surprisingly, that became a combination I had to hunt for and in effect meant an Advance, F-Sport or a Premier.  In the end I got a Premier, fully aware that the major difference and potential future cost problem is the air suspension.  Time will tell, but the next 3 years at least are under warranty.

About 5 weeks in, I am very pleased with the car I bought, a late 2012 model.  It really does everything I wanted it to, although being such a low mileage (22.5k) and from a Lexus main dealer, its screen price was over your budget.  The colour is gorgeous, when it's clean it really sparkles in the sunshine.

 

 

[bluenose1940]

That looks a real treat Ian!

[steveledzep]

26 minutes ago, Ian M said:

 The colour is gorgeous, when it's clean it really sparkles in the sunshine.

Totally agree, I get lots of comments about mine when it's gleaming.  Really catches the light with the metallic flake in the paint.

[bluenose1940]

What are the real MPG figures like folks?

[steveledzep]

Here you go Geoff.  Mine since I got the car.

Mostly rural driving around here.  30mph to 50mph on my 5 miles commute to work (no traffic jams). Fortnightly 40 miles round trip to Asda on the motorway.   I was impressed with the Scotland trip averaging close on 37mpg.  I tend to drive on the speed limit with gentle acceleration.  Not averse to booting it occasionally to overtake....it don't half go !!!!

 

rxmpg.xlsx

[rayaans]

33 minutes ago, bluenose1940 said:

What are the real MPG figures like folks?

26-28mpg in town, 32mpg or more on a run depending on how fast you're going. It used to sit at about 35mpg at 70mph

[Ian M]

Only 2 tank fills so far for me, and I have been exploring its performance when appropriate, but average is 30.7 which is pretty similar to Steve for everyday driving.  It is a lot more ecconomical than either of my previous cars, the old IS300 and an Audi S4.  Road tax is a lot less too!