RX450h - Air Suspension

[Bl1ng]

Hi all,

A couple of questions on the air suspension on the 2009+ RX450h

1) What is the ride quality like? Is it better or worse than the standard spring suspension ?

2) How reliable is it ? For those thta have have 10 year old cars where they have done over 100k miles, what has gone wrong / needed replacing ?

 

[Barry14UK]

My impression from what others have said, and indeed some have replaced the air suspension with springs due to high cost of repair, there is not a great difference in the ride quality.  (In some marques air suspension makes a bit improvement according to road testers). I have no complaints about the air suspension on my 3rd Gen RX450h  but in hindsight wish I had tried a version of the car without it, due to potential for future replacement of expensive air suspension parts in the future.  It is interesting that Lexus dropped  air suspension for the 4th Gen RX, whether due to containing costs, reliability or finding a spring/shock replacement combination that was just as good and more reliable. 

Really, the best thing to do is to try cars with both types of suspension and then decide if you feel any advantage of air suspension is or is notnot worth the potentially higher cost of replacement at some point.

[Herbie]

I've never driven on air but been a passenger and my honest opinion is that I really can't tell much difference at all. Certainly not a 'justifiable' difference from a future repair bill point of view anyway.

I would have loved to go for the Premier variant and the extra toys it has but specifically avoided it for that very reason.

[Bl1ng]

Thanks chaps. These are my thoughts. With some other marques, the air suspension is often highly recommended as an upgrade due to the difference it makes.

As you corroborate here, I have not heard the same of Lexus and therefore I don't see the sense in buying a used car that will likely be nearer the point of time needing money spending on air suspension due to age and miles.

[stanheolddu]

My Second Hand Lexus RX300 - has cost me thousands - over the space of 2 x years - all 4 x suspension units front & back needed changing - at £1000 each thats a lot of money!!!!

[Barry14UK]

25 minutes ago, stanheolddu said:

My Second Hand Lexus RX300 - has cost me thousands - over the space of 2 x years - all 4 x suspension units front & back needed changing - at £1000 each thats a lot of money!!!!

That's certainly worth bearing in mind.  It would be interesting to learn how old the car was and the mileage covered before this expenditure was incurred.  However, it could be that improvements have been made in the interim.  I must ask Lexus when they do my delayed service on this aspect.  It could mean moving on before this is likely to happen with my car.

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, stanheolddu said:

My Second Hand Lexus RX300 - has cost me thousands - over the space of 2 x years - all 4 x suspension units front & back needed changing - at £1000 each thats a lot of money!!!!

Was it really worth it Stan?

You could have converted to all coils - full set of four can be had for just under £800.

[hprice1099]

15 hours ago, Bl1ng said:

Thanks chaps. These are my thoughts. With some other marques, the air suspension is often highly recommended as an upgrade due to the difference it makes.

As you corroborate here, I have not heard the same of Lexus and therefore I don't see the sense in buying a used car that will likely be nearer the point of time needing money spending on air suspension due to age and miles.

I wouldn’t let it put you off, if you get a good deal on an SE-L with it and the car is under 10 years old. You could buy a Lexus warranty 👍🏻

[Bl1ng]

Sorry to hear your experience Stan. Thanks for the useful feedback. 

[Bl1ng]

2 hours ago, hprice1099 said:

I wouldn’t let it put you off, if you get a good deal on an SE-L with it and the car is under 10 years old. You could buy a Lexus warranty 👍🏻

How much does a Lexus warranty cost ?

How can the car qualify for a warranty ?

[hprice1099]

4 hours ago, Bl1ng said:

How much does a Lexus warranty cost ?

How can the car qualify for a warranty ?

Its £995 or pay monthly for a 2 years warranty. The car at to be under 10 years old and under 140k, but if already in place you can carry it on after that. That’s why i bought a 60 plate so if qualifies. Also during the warranty period it has to be serviced by Lexus.

 

[Bl1ng]

12 hours ago, hprice1099 said:

Its £995 or pay monthly for a 2 years warranty. The car at to be under 10 years old and under 140k, but if already in place you can carry it on after that. That’s why i bought a 60 plate so if qualifies. Also during the warranty period it has to be serviced by Lexus.

 

 

 

Thank you.

Once the car is over 10 years old, for how many years can you keep renewing ? Just the once for 2 years just before it turns 10 years old ?

Also, if the car is under 10 years but is not under warranty, does a Lexus dealer have to perform an inspection before it will allow a warranty to be taken out ?

[Ainis]

On 6/27/2020 at 2:05 PM, Bl1ng said:

Hi all,

A couple of questions on the air suspension on the 2009+ RX450h

1) What is the ride quality like? Is it better or worse than the standard spring suspension ?

2) How reliable is it ? For those thta have have 10 year old cars where they have done over 100k miles, what has gone wrong / needed replacing ?

 

Hey there, I have 2010 (10 plate) one for 2,5 years. It was 78k miles and now it has 118k miles. It is for sale now as I have upgraded to a 2016 (66 plate).

The problems I have had during the ownership was:

Anti-roller bar rubber protection gone, hence changed both sides, costed 160 in my local garage.

Then brake pads and tyres only.

I service my car at Lexus.

No problems with air suspension, super option in my opinion. 

[hprice1099]

On 6/29/2020 at 10:26 AM, Bl1ng said:

Thank you.

Once the car is over 10 years old, for how many years can you keep renewing ? Just the once for 2 years just before it turns 10 years old ?

Also, if the car is under 10 years but is not under warranty, does a Lexus dealer have to perform an inspection before it will allow a warranty to be taken out ?

After 10 years you can renew it up to the 140k mark, it would take me 4/5 years to do that hence why I’ve bought the warranty. 
techniclly yes an inspection is required, I got away with it due to all the garages shut at the time.

[Bl1ng]

28 minutes ago, hprice1099 said:

After 10 years you can renew it up to the 140k mark, it would take me 4/5 years to do that hence why I’ve bought the warranty. 
techniclly yes an inspection is required, I got away with it due to all the garages shut at the time.

Thanks. So if it is over 10 years old, as most cars are that I am looking at, being 2009 or early 2010, you can only extend an existing warranty ?

Are you sure you can continue extending over 10 years old. When I read the terms, it said you can pay for an extended warranty if the car was up to 10 years old at the point of purchasing the warranty ?

"you can renew your warranty cover now and continue to extend it until your vehicle is 10 years old."

Extended Warranty Booklet

47 minutes ago, Ainis said:

Hey there, I have 2010 (10 plate) one for 2,5 years. It was 78k miles and now it has 118k miles. It is for sale now as I have upgraded to a 2016 (66 plate).

The problems I have had during the ownership was:

Anti-roller bar rubber protection gone, hence changed both sides, costed 160 in my local garage.

Then brake pads and tyres only.

I service my car at Lexus.

No problems with air suspension, super option in my opinion. 

Thanks. I responded on your other post

[hprice1099]

2 minutes ago, Bl1ng said:

Thanks. So if it is over 10 years old, as most cars are that I am looking at, being 2009 or early 2010, you can only extend an existing warranty ?

Are you sure you can continue extending over 10 years old. When I read the terms, it said you can pay for an extended warranty if the car was up to 10 years old at the point of purchasing the warranty ?

"you can renew your warranty cover now and continue to extend it until your vehicle is 10 years old."

Yes that's correct, when you buy the warranty (not extending it) it needs to be under 10 years old at the time of purchase.

In    order    to    be    eligible    for    LexusCare    Extended    Warranty    your    vehicle    must    be    a    Lexus    vehicle,    and    must    be    less    than    10    years    old    (from    the    date    of    first    registration)    with    less    than    140,000    miles    at    the    start    of    the    warranty.