Newbie with first Lexus

[Barry14UK]

Hi all,

Had many 6 cylinder petrol engine cars over last 30+ years but due to arthritis needed an SUV.  Bought this 2015  RX450h Premier from Lexus Cheltenham last November.  It has FLSH and only the original owner who traded it for the latest model.  The one extra seems to be 2 fixed monitors within the backs of the front seats for gaming and watching DVD's.  Must get myself a chauffeur! Only kidding LOL.

Find Steering and grip (for a large SUV) better than I anticipated from reviews but ride is harsher at times  than I expected with air suspension on this Premier model.  Don't like the satnav and will fabricate a bracket to take my TomTom which is much easier to use, has speed  camera warning and free map updates.

This car is a keeper! It's comfortable and has  reasonable fuel consumption (about 32mpg) for a large and heavy petrol, certainly better in this respect than my 5 series BMW, particularly about town.

I find that with my driving position it's difficult to see the turn indicators on the dashboard and I can hardly hear click of the flasher unit even without the radio on.  I note that on some Lexus models it's possible with dealership coding to select low, standard or high sound level for flasher units but Cheltenham told me it's not possible with this model. I will therefore have to find a way of getting round this situation as at best a non cancelled indicator can be annoying or worse still could lead to an accident.

I had the 40,000 mile service done at Cheltenham last week but may well service the car myself in future, although Techstream is needed to bleed rear brakes and hybrid healthcare check perhaps best left to Lexus.

I have since replaced the number plate with a private one.

 

 

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum Barry and glad to here you are enjoying your RX450H.

[N.WORMALD]

Hi everyone.     Today I have just purchased a 2015 IS300h. I have traded in my BMW Z4 so it will be a total  change of driving experience. I was a bit apprehensive before having a test drive but after the drive I couldn't believe how comfortable and quiet the car was and I was a total convert. I am picking the car up next weekend and I will post pictures then. 

[Barry14UK]

On 6/1/2019 at 5:55 AM, Eame64 said:

Welcome to the forum Barry and glad to here you are enjoying your RX450H.

Thanks for welcome Nigel.  I expect this is not part of the forum that many people visit so will address any 'cries for help' as  separate subjects.

Barry

[Herbie]

I'm not really sure why there's a 'New Members Area' because you obviously get the best response from the forum dedicated to your own model, but welcome  

The reach in/out and height up/down of the steering wheel, along with numerous adjustments up/down, in/out and more of the driver's seat is such that you should be able to find a comfortable driving position and clear view of the instrument binnacle. You'll just have to play about and be prepared for it to take a while. Sometimes I think there's almost too much adjustment but you'll get there in the end.

I, too, cannot abide the factory-fit satnav, it's awful. I used to use my TomTom on a suction bracket in the bottom-right corner of the windscreen and it worked well. However, I now use Waze on my phone and it's brilliant. Any user of Waze can update the traffic information live and it's pushed out to other users very quickly, so if you happen to see an accident or something happen right in front of you, you can post a message such as "Accident just happened here" and anyone using Waze and travelling the same road as you will know about it within two or three minutes.

I use a CD mount to hold my phone but they will easily hold TomToms too if you prefer that - can be got here: https://www.cdslotmount.com/

Here's how it looks in my RX450h Advance:

Techstream can be freely downloaded from Toyota and/or Lexus websites and you can pay for a block of time to use it, such as 1 hour, 4 hours, 1 day etc., etc.

However, in order to use it you'll need to buy a miniVCI cable from eBay or amazon and these almost always come with a pirated copy of Techstream. You'll need the cable anyway so it's up to your conscience which way you actually use Techstream. This is the cable I bought from eBay and I can confirm that it works well.

Hope that all helps - enjoy your lovely car 

[steve2006]

Hello and welcome to the LOC to both of you

[Barry14UK]

Herbie,

Just like to thank you for your reply with pics and link which has provided food for thought.  I can see from your various posts that you are a very helpful member of the club.

I think it best if I refer specific problems/modifications as threads under the section that includes the 450h as on reflection this is probably the way it was intended, leaving this part just for newcomers just to introduce themselves. 

Barry 

[HMS]

Hi all, After considering what to go for as my next car I have decided to go for a IS300h 2016 make. I am looking at some alternatives in 16/66 regs and there are thousands of pound difference in prices depending on iles on the clocks. This is normal and I want to know that I decided to save a little by going for say 50-60k miles instead of 30-40k, will I be losing out on a ot of things?

Also, I would like to know from you guys what is maintenance cost for this car and do you save in road tax?

Thanks

[Herbie]

Welcome to the club HMS.

I can guarantee that you'll get faster and better replies if you just copy what you've written here and post it in the dedicated IS300h forum here:

https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/forum/175-lexus-is-300h-is-250-is-200t-club/

[Guest]

On 6/3/2019 at 2:13 PM, Herbie said:

I'm not really sure why there's a 'New Members Area' because you obviously get the best response from the forum dedicated to your own model, but welcome  

The reach in/out and height up/down of the steering wheel, along with numerous adjustments up/down, in/out and more of the driver's seat is such that you should be able to find a comfortable driving position and clear view of the instrument binnacle. You'll just have to play about and be prepared for it to take a while. Sometimes I think there's almost too much adjustment but you'll get there in the end.

I, too, cannot abide the factory-fit satnav, it's awful. I used to use my TomTom on a suction bracket in the bottom-right corner of the windscreen and it worked well. However, I now use Waze on my phone and it's brilliant. Any user of Waze can update the traffic information live and it's pushed out to other users very quickly, so if you happen to see an accident or something happen right in front of you, you can post a message such as "Accident just happened here" and anyone using Waze and travelling the same road as you will know about it within two or three minutes.

I use a CD mount to hold my phone but they will easily hold TomToms too if you prefer that - can be got here: https://www.cdslotmount.com/

Here's how it looks in my RX450h Advance:

Techstream can be freely downloaded from Toyota and/or Lexus websites and you can pay for a block of time to use it, such as 1 hour, 4 hours, 1 day etc., etc.

However, in order to use it you'll need to buy a miniVCI cable from eBay or Amazon and these almost always come with a pirated copy of Techstream. You'll need the cable anyway so it's up to your conscience which way you actually use Techstream. This is the cable I bought from eBay and I can confirm that it works well.

Hope that all helps - enjoy your lovely car 

I had one of these holders delivered yesterday after reading this and it’s looks like a very useful bit of kit to have so thanks for the link Herbie.👍

[Nick W858]

Welcome Barry. - great car, we bought a 2011 one in 2014 with 72k on the clock, now got 122k and still drives like new and we have had no issues at all - one of the great all round, do it all cars - enjoy.