Wannabe RX400h owner

[Rutlandlex]

Hi all,

I'm Neil from England's smallest county of Rutland and I have been looking at RX400h's for a few months now but due to circumstances haven't been able to commit to buying one.  I am now seriously looking and went for my first drive in one of these machines today.  I will put a separate post in the RX section with a specific question about the brakes and sunroof but overall I was impressed with the comfort, space, ease of driving, the V6 howl and the performance of the car.

What I was less impressed with was the condition of the paintwork with the lacquer peeling in places on the front bumper as well as odd places on the bodywork.  The interior was in pretty good condition in the front bar quite a few chips on the lid of the cup holder in the centre console but the rear doors were showing signs of abuse.  The alloys were in need of a refurb, the brake calipers were quite rusty too and the headlights going yellow which I know is a common problem with plastic lenses on a lot of cars.  On the outside it just looked tired and in need of some TLC.

I also noticed in the service invoices that the cambelt kit was changed at 95k but it stated that the waterpump wasn't changed "as instructed" which I read as the garage advised the owner to change it but the owner declined.  I decided to let that one pass me by but there are better examples out there just further afield.

I look forward to joining in the forum and I'll post when I get one.

[ColinBarber]

Welcome Neil.

Some people change the water pump, others don't if it isn't showing signs of wear - it isn't part of the schedule maintenance schedule.

It sounds like the one you went to see was a little tired. I'm sure there are better examples out there. They can suffer from corrosion on the underside so check that if you can.

[sorcerer]

I've never had a 400h (I had an RX300 and now a 450h) so I don't know about the 400h specifically, but the reason most people change the water pump at the same time on most cars is that they are usually in the same area.

Taking the RX300 as an example, about 90-95% of the work involved in changing the cambelt would have to be done again to get at the water pump if it wasn't done at the same time. The water pump itself may cost about £40 and given that a goodly chunk of the cost of any job is usually the labour charges, it makes sense to just spend that little bit extra at the time, rather than pay (for example) £350 to have the cambelt/idler/tensioner changed and then later on, another £300 to have the water pump changed.

[ColinBarber]

18 hours ago, sorcerer said:

I've never had a 400h (I had an RX300 and now a 450h) so I don't know about the 400h specifically, but the reason most people change the water pump at the same time on most cars is that they are usually in the same area.

Taking the RX300 as an example, about 90-95% of the work involved in changing the cambelt would have to be done again to get at the water pump if it wasn't done at the same time. The water pump itself may cost about £40 and given that a goodly chunk of the cost of any job is usually the labour charges, it makes sense to just spend that little bit extra at the time, rather than pay (for example) £350 to have the cambelt/idler/tensioner changed and then later on, another £300 to have the water pump changed.

It's the same for the 400h. The counter argument is that there really isn't a need to replace items before they show signs of wear and the pump could last another 30k+ miles. Even when replaced at the same time, the cost for the water pump is close to £300 at a Lexus dealer.

[sorcerer]

2 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

 Even when replaced at the same time, the cost for the water pump is close to £300 at a Lexus dealer.

But who would be daft enough to go to a Lexus dealer and pay their grossly inflated prices? If the car is only a year or two old then fair enough, maybe even I would.

However, the latest 400h available is 2009 I believe, making it about 9 years old which is far too old to be going to a main dealer. I had cambelt, idler/tensioner and water pump changed, and 10 litres of new Toyota Super Long Life Pink coolant, labour, VAT, job done, all for about £440-£460ish on my 2005 RX300 at a local Toyota indy specialist.

[ColinBarber]

I think you are calling quite a lot of people on these forums daft.  Especially as you will get a 1 year hybrid Battery warranty with a service for vehicles up to 10 years old. Also the Lexus extended warranty is excellent, but with the caveat that it has to be services at a Lexus dealer.

I'd agree that for a 2005 vehicle it isn't really cost effective to have major work done, such as a cam belt or water pump replacement, at a main dealer.

[Rutlandlex]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  Yes I'm well aware of the reasons for doing the waterpump at the same time as the timing belt, it is more economical to get both done together rather than separately.  It may last the life of the car but then again it could spring a leak which wouldn't be so easy to spot with the engine undertrays we have nowadays or it could seize altogether throwing that shiny new cambelt off!  I would rather it was done just for peace of mind.

Some garages go even further and replace the auxiliary belt too.  My local garage had an Audi in where the aux belt had failed and it got trapped in the bottom pulley and threw the cambelt off.  Result - knackered engine.  They now quote for the works including aux belt and inspect the aux belt for signs of wear.  If it looks OK they leave it and don't charge but any signs of wear and they change it.  I know this doesn't apply to the RX400h but I was just saying.