Rx350 buying advice

Thedempsey · May 13, 2019

Hi all,

Took my friends 2006 rx350 out last week and was so impressed Im thinking of buying one for winter and leaving my Alfa GTA as a summer only car. The prices seem amazing value for circa 2006, I was wondering if there is anything I should be looking out for now these are approx 13 years old, does the mileage cause any issues other than the obvious perishables (suspension etc)?

Any other feedback advice would be more than welcome, my last car was a Saab 9-5 as the daily, highly tuned 310hp but not that comfortable and like an unsettled barge in the corners.

Hope to me an owner soon, so nice to meet you all.

Demps

Gliderpilot · May 13, 2019

Don't get a 350 get a 400h hybrid, less to go wrong and slightly better fuel economy.

Jaystar77 · May 13, 2019

Welcome aboard,

I can only offer what odds and ends I've picked up during ownership but it might help.

Alongside the usual checks for service history / tyres / crash damage / etc / etc have a good look round the interior and sniff for water ingress. That was one of the things we've seen a few times on these pages. The body seams aren't great around the tailgate from what I've seen. Mine needed a few lines of sealant to sort a trickle into the boot and a few of the tail lamp gaskets could do with replacement.

The 2GR can suffer from an oil leak at the back of the engine. There's a pipe that feeds oil up to the cams that can perish and you get a trickle of oil down the engine as a result. Mine is actually suffering a bit of mist from it and will need addressed. Pipe is around £100 plus some curse words if I remember right.

I've had a few worn out bushes in the rear DS hub as well. They are a big heavy bus so you'd expect that sort of thing.

Handbrake is rarely used so make sure the cables haven't seized in the off position.

Other than that it's just the basic maintenance that you would expect (a lot of the above is probably in this category for a 13 year old car anyway).

Oh and fuel. Lots of fuel.

But that being said I'm loving it, in no rush to drive anything else!

katabrontes · May 13, 2019

I bought a 350 (56 plate) about 5 years ago and it has been trouble free apart form one spark plug coil failing and problems with the sunroof both fixed under the dealers (not Lexus) warranty. The coil was done by Lexus in Bordeaux and the garage paid the bill! (They underwrite their own warranty).

I have had a small leak from one of the rear sunroof drains caused by a kink in the pipe inside the trim in the boot. Fixed by inserting a short length of 15mm copper pipe at the bottom (both sides done) which solved it. Also replaced the sensor for the headlight leveling system (bought from USA for about £80 delivered, took me about 20 minutes to fit it). Otherwise nothing apart from service items. I get about 24-28 mpg depending on whether local or motorway use.

On the 400 if you are going to lay it up in the summer you will need to do something about the small Battery as I understand that these run down over about 2-3 weeks if they are not used.

I believe the handling of the 350 is better than the 400 as the suspension and geometry was revised. I am not convinced that the mpg on the hybrids is sufficiently better to justify the extra servicing costs as most seem to have them serviced by Lexus agents although I understand that little or nothing is done to the hybrid system in the services apart form changing the coolant on the inverter occasionally. If the inverter fails (some have been reported on the forum) it is expensive. Battery failures seem to be rare and usually confined to only one or two cells so replacement is not expensive (but potentially dangerous to do yourself).

Running costs (fuel & road tax) are a bit more but I suspect that you would pay less for the 350 and you get quite a lot of petrol for the money. When I bought my 350 a 450 of the same age and spec would have cost about £6-8K more. I reckon it costs us about £6-700 a year more than running a hybrid excluding any higher service costs because of using a Lexus agent so over 10 years its on all fours. I haven't regretted my decision.

Jaystar77 · May 13, 2019

Oh yes. The tax.

Probably best not to mention that bit till it's too late 😄

katabrontes · May 13, 2019

Why not? Its part of the evaluation you need to do to make an informed decision.

Connoisseur · May 13, 2019

Bought a 2006 RX350 SE in February from a Lexus Dealer with 94000 miles. Done 5000 + miles since, including a 2000 mile stint over two weeks around the Scottish Highlands (NC500), which is what we bought it for. The car is a very comfortable cruiser and not too shabby off road - the 4 wheel drive system is a step above the one in the RX400 which we also looked at. New Battery and plugs is all the work we’ve required, plus have installed digital radio. The difference between buying the 350 compared to the 400 (circa £4K) helped the decision! Power steering pump is worth a check for leakage, but it plus other items will be covered if necessary by the warranty. Rear callipers, as with many/most Lexi, maybe shot but repair/refurb costs are reasonable, so check them out and use to negotiate price down...

As per above take time to check the car out, there are a fair few good ones available so no need to settle for one that has been mistreated or had a bash.

mpg for us is anything from 23 to 30 according to how we drive and type of road. The 3.5 motor comes complete with a satisfying rumble from the outside, but quiet as a mouse inside.

Tax is high, but the difference in price covers that plus lots of petrol. It’s a Lexus so beautifully well built, lots of space, well equipped, very comfortable and the front seat folding arm rests are to die for he heh. No hesitation in recommending. Models without nav are rare and you lose associated sound and screen goodies, but they are keenly priced. Bluetooth works perfectly with my Samsung S7 and wife’s late model Iphone, and the Mark Leveson ICE is superb, even now it’s 13 years old.

Good luck!

Michael

Connoisseur · May 13, 2019

ps buying an SE-L with air suspension carries more risk due to the costs of getting the system fixed if it goes, which there is more of a chance of at middle age! But it does offer advantages so if buying one then go in with your eyes open. Plenty of threads on here via a search for more information if you are interested....

Thedempsey · May 29, 2019

Thankyou all for your responses, and sorry for the late reply, pregnant wife and a teething 1 year old!

Well I've been convinced, I have literally heard nothing negative about the car other than with obvious costs for a car of that age, but not nearly as many scary things to look out for than what I am used to with cars. Business case stacks up!

I've got a few months to ponder over "the one", if it crops up I'll have it now and it can sit in the garage over summer but I can leave it as late as October before I put my rust machine away.

I quite like the look of the blue, and black, seems to have aged better in those colours? There is a silver one near me that's very competitively priced but for some reason I'm not sure it suits the car? maybe because it exposes the giant gap in the arches more....weird, because silver is my go to colour.

Anyone got a silver one with some decent snaps?

Cheers

Demps

Jaystar77 · May 29, 2019

I got lucky with black and black interior, the cream upholstery doesn't age well IMO. Really like the dark grey and dark blue in them.

Silver would hide a lot of the scratches and swirls that black really doesn't!

PCM · May 30, 2019

15 hours ago, Thedempsey said:

Anyone got a silver one with some decent snaps?

Cheers

Demps

GrahamG · May 30, 2019

I would definitely buy my '06 RX350SE again.

Do not buy the air suspension models. No gain just an expensive pain and I would only renew with Lexus parts.

Do not assume just because it is a Lexus it will be rust free. Some are, some are not. It is easy enough to look underneath especially at the rear.

To check for rain water ingress you need to remove the plastic tray under the parcel lids at the back of the loading bay.

PCM · May 30, 2019

50 minutes ago, GrahamG said:

To check for rain water ingress you need to remove the plastic tray under the parcel lids at the back of the loading bay.

Can I ask ... just curious...

Do you mean just behind the rear seats, or nearer to the rear?

The tray that holds the jack etc?

Regards.

GrahamG · May 30, 2019

I refer to the tray at the very rearmost part of the load bay, right up against the tailgate. The central black plastic tray needs to be removed and with a good torch you can then just see to both side corners below the separate trays in those corners. In my experience the water ingress will show in the corners and not so much in the centre section.

The metal of the body shell is not covered with any traditional rust proofing goo on the inside but the surface treatment is very effective against rust. Rust is not however the main problem which is in fact damp affecting the carpet which can develop mould if the water runs forward.

There is another strange water ingress problem from the sun roof which affects the front footwells. Simply check the carpet in the wells just ahead of the hinge edge of the front doors. Tubes inside the body work run down from the front corners of the sunroof and weirdly do not continue right down and out of the car underneath. Water can back up in a cavity in the wall of the bodywork and overflow into the floor wells.

Just be aware but do not be put off by my warning about the possibility of these problems. My car has not suffered from these but from ingress from collision damage.