RX450h - Air Suspension

Bl1ng · June 27, 2020

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 · June 27, 2020

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 · June 27, 2020

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 · June 27, 2020

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 · June 28, 2020

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 · June 28, 2020

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 · June 28, 2020

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 · June 28, 2020

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 · June 28, 2020

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

Bl1ng · June 28, 2020

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 · June 28, 2020

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 · June 29, 2020

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 · June 30, 2020

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 · June 30, 2020

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 · June 30, 2020

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 · June 30, 2020

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.