Anything special to look out for on test drive RX450

[Old Sandy]

Bit short notice but just arranged a test drive of 17 plate RX450h tomorrow as I'm contemplating moving up in size from the NX. Just wondering if there is anything that I should really concentrate on looking out for during the test drive. All cars seem to have some common foibles that can annoy some people. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

[olliesgrandad]

Check the wheel centres around the emblem for pinhead areas of corrosion starting in the diamond cut finish (One of my wheels is being replaced under manufacturers warranty). 

Remember end of quarter is 31st December. Haggle on that basis. 

Check for any small dings in the Tailgate and bonnet . Both are aluminium and difficult /expensive to repair. See my article from yesterday. 

Fuel consumption is fantastic compared to previous version. This week tankful to tankful I achieved 37.6 mpg in my Premier Version. 

Remember that if the car was registered before 1st April 2017 it is only £115 pa Road tax. 

After that date allow an extra £350a year on top for the first 6 years. 

There are reports on this forum of vibration from the exhaust, but my certainly shows no sign of it. 

Otherwise check for usual issues. My car with 24000 miles (surprisingly) had just had discs and pads all round so do check the brakes are good. 

Any other questions feel free to ask. 

Les 

[Old Sandy]

Thanks very much Les, I certainly didn't know that was the cut off date for the higher tax. Had already thought the period between Xmas and New Year might be a good week for a better price.

Cheers  Jon

[olliesgrandad]

15 minutes ago, Farne said:

Thanks very much Les, I certainly didn't know that was the cut off date for the higher tax. Had already thought the period between Xmas and New Year might be a good week for a better price.

Cheers  Jon

Hi Jon

Forgot to mention, my cars service record shows both rear door seals changed early in its life. I recollect Rayaans had a similar issue. 

I certainly did on my 2015 GS300h - it was simply adhesive failure and was replaced under warranty. 

I chose my car because it was registered on 20th January. 

Don’t know which spec you are looking at, but I'm glad I paid a little extra for the Premier. 

The camera system is amazing and makes parking so easy. 

The ML sound system is superb, far better than my last 3 cars which all had ML. 

[Spottedlaurel]

Stop talking about them so favourably Les! I was quite happy with my 2014 model, now I keep finding myself looking at ad's for the next-gen model......

[olliesgrandad]

1 hour ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Stop talking about them so favourably Les! I was quite happy with my 2014 model, now I keep finding myself looking at ad's for the next-gen model......

I think your generation car looks better in a lot of ways. I think that in some respects it was a step back in design from my previous GS300h, but had a charm that was almost 'British Old School' inside. 

Certainly I enjoyed the 35,000 miles I covered in my 18 months ownership.