Why did they do this?

[Herbie]

The only thing that I don't like about our RX450h is why Lexus, in their infinite wisdom, did not provide a proper cover for the luggage area.

My wife needs to use her mobility scooter on a daily basis and I've got a bad back injury, so to minimise the stress on my injury we leave the scooter in the boot all the time rather than keep swapping it between the house and the car. In the photo below the seats are back as far as they will go but that leaves a hell of a gap for some scrote to look in and think "Ooh, there's something in here".

What do people do to try to improve security?

[Illogan]

I have to agree with you - - - - Seems to a too obvious flaw - though I can't offer any advice on how I counter the issue, for it's not really affected me - because as we're still paying for the RX450 - I cannot afford to put anything in the back!

 

[Barry14UK]

I suppose most people rely on the dark tinted rear and side windows.  Perhaps the gap is shown up more because you have cream seats and rear parcel cover.  My cover is black so gap less obvious.  Strange though it will seem , my parcel shelf that came with the car was lying loose on the boot floor and when I tried to fit it I couldn't because it was for a HONDA!!  Lexus Cheltenham subsequently provided replacement.  Anyway, point of mentioning this is to say that the Honda one has several adjustable clips along the rear edge that must engage with a transverse tube behind the rear seats or maybe to a fitting in each back seat of their car. On the Honda the cover must stretch far enough forward to enable this I would think. 

It would be difficult even for an upholsterer make anything that would harmonize I think, whilst maintaining versatility of  seats and not mark them.  At the same time you would have to consider whether any modification might draw attention and expectation that you had something easily marketable hidden beneath. 

If of any interest I can send some pics as Lexus didn't want the Honda one back and I have not got round to putting it on eBay yet! 

[NemesisUK]

Do the rear seats also recline when in their rearmost position?

[olliesgrandad]

40 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

Do the rear seats also recline when in their rearmost position?

Yes they do

[jumpingjehovahs]

This I find very interesting, SpottedLaurel of this forum has a post facelift which has this same issue, when comparing our cars we saw my 2010 has some flaps that clip onto the back seat covering up that gap. I wonder if it would be possible to fit this to yours?

However, my car has a huge gap against the tailgate that you can see through so it’s not perfect!


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[Herbie]

2 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

Do the rear seats also recline when in their rearmost position?

 

2 hours ago, olliesgrandad said:

Yes they do

Now you're telling me something - I had no idea. Then again, there's only my wife and I so neither of us have ever sat in the rear.

1 hour ago, jumpingjehovahs said:

when comparing our cars we saw my 2010 has some flaps that clip onto the back seat covering up that gap.

My 2005 RX300 had the retractable cover as normal but on the 'seat side' of that there was a length of material with clips on the end that clipped around the headrest posts, thereby covering the gap. I'm just amazed that they didn't carry that idea forward into the more modern variants. Just goes to show that 'progress' isn't always for the better.

We've actually got some 'leatherette-type' material that's quite a good colour match to the interior and my wife is going to try to make something like the RX300 used to have, but I still think it's poor that Lexus removed it.

[Britprius]

12 hours ago, Herbie said:

The only thing that I don't like about our RX450h is why Lexus, in their infinite wisdom, did not provide a proper cover for the luggage area.

My wife needs to use her mobility scooter on a daily basis and I've got a bad back injury, so to minimise the stress on my injury we leave the scooter in the boot all the time rather than keep swapping it between the house and the car. In the photo below the seats are back as far as they will go but that leaves a hell of a gap for some scrote to look in and think "Ooh, there's something in here".

What do people do to try to improve security?

Off topic slightly. I also have a mobility scooter kept in the rear of my GS450H that is actually for my use. Also having back problems I found it difficult to lift in and out of the boot without dismantling it to reduce the weight lifted at any one time.
To overcome this I built a crane powered by a windscreen wiper motor meaning I can lift the scooter complete into, and out of the boot with no effort. Cranes for this purpose can be bought, and are easy to fit in vehicles like the RX It also means I do not have to assemble or dismantle the scooter when it's raining, and handling heavy dirt wet parts against clothing.

John.

[Herbie]

It's a great idea John and one that we may have to consider in the future, but we're putting it off as long as possible because the RX doesn't really have as much luggage space as people would think. The scooter itself takes up about two thirds of the room so having the hoist as well would make it difficult to get much else in.

[Britprius]

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

It's a great idea John and one that we may have to consider in the future, but we're putting it off as long as possible because the RX doesn't really have as much luggage space as people would think. The scooter itself takes up about two thirds of the room so having the hoist as well would make it difficult to get much else in.

The ready made hoist fits snugly in the corner of the storage area mainly consisting of a vertical post, and a swinging cross bar so it takes up little space. The version I have made is from 1" square section tubing in the form of an inverted "L". The bottom of the inverted L slots onto a 2" long stud in the corner of the boot floor to form the swinging action required, but can be lifted off the stud, and laid flat so taking up virtually no boot space.
The lift is operated by radio control from a key fob with two buttons "up and down" meaning there are no wires to get tangled.
The hybrid GS has very little boot space, but with this lift fitted I can put either of my two scooters in there with very little effort. The smaller scooter is 18" wide at the wheels while the larger one is 24" wide a snug fit between the HV Battery, and rear boot wall.

John.

[Herbie]

In case my earlier description made no sense, this is a cover from an RX300. The clips on the two flaps clip onto the rear headrests - why they couldn't have done the same with the 450h is beyond me:
 

[jumpingjehovahs]

In case my earlier description made no sense, this is a cover from an RX300. The clips on the two flaps clip onto the rear headrests - why they couldn't have done the same with the 450h is beyond me:
 

That’s almost identical to the load cover fitted to my pre-facelift RX450 mentioned earlier. It’s a shame they didn’t carry it over as it’s a really clever design.


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[Gliderpilot]

17 minutes ago, jumpingjehovahs said:

 

That’s almost identical to the load cover fitted to my pre-facelift RX450 mentioned earlier. It’s a shame they didn’t carry it over as it’s a really clever design.


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My 61 450h have these flaps to fully cover the rear area also.

[Lager shandy]

Mine has the beige leather colour rear boot cover with the hook on extra cover which hooks onto the rear seats allowing full boot coverage .even the new jag SUV dosent 

[Illogan]

Could one not purloin an appropriately sized piece of ripstop fabric, cut and seam to shape, and then simply cover in £20 notes with adhesive such as Copydex?

 

It would likely be more cost effective than using Official LexusMart merchandise......