buying advice A bit of help with one particular RX450h and a company that is trying to sell it

[PCM]

Looks a lovely car.

Enjoy!

Nice colour.

[Chris111]

7 hours ago, BartLexusFan said:

Does anyone know why DVDs show blue screen? Audio plays just fine, but there's no video. Tried two different DVDs, both purchased in UK. 

Looked up page 202 in the Navigation system manual, but all it explains is how to operate the DVD player, what each button does etc. Car is in Parking mode. 

The parking brake needs to be applied. If it isn't you will only hear the audio.

[BartLexusFan]

15 minutes ago, Chris111 said:

The parking brake needs to be applied. If it isn't you will only hear the audio.

Yes! Thank You, it worked!

[BartLexusFan]

3 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

Why on Earth, would one not Bart ?

You have made a wise purchase, a significant investment and you will want a Hybrid Battery check annually.

You know it makes sense amigo !

Just not sure what's covered in Warranty, what's covered in Service Plan, and what's covered in Minor and Major Service, but I'm currently browsing website and it does make sense to have both warranty and service plan 👍🏻 Good shout 

[Spacewagon52]

On 10/4/2020 at 2:03 PM, royoftherovers said:

"No no no! Stop it David!!!! (My wife’svoiceagain!)"

s*x in the afternoon....................some people have all of the luck !

 

After 7 pm I am all in John! Even in the afternoons I need to book! A bit like a Lexus service!

[BartLexusFan]

A bit of an update, as some people might find it useful, if they're thinking about jumping from GS/ES/LS to RX. 

1. This thing is YUGE. I thought the 3008 we drove down to Cardiff was big, but for tight (?) British roads it's indeed YUGE. Really struggled in Manchester City centre, as there's lots of road works, wasn't really sure where to go, and the turning circle is rubbish. A lory would probably turn around in less turns than RX, but it is what it is and I love it for being so YUGE as I can now pack my car to the brim. I understand in US it's like mid sized SUV, as LX and GX exists, but here over the pond it's YUGE.

2. You need some sort of boot net, as otherwise all the groceries will be nicely running around all over the place 

3. It's kinda loud-ish at the back (suspension) when going through holes, but I think anything that is an estate/SUV is louder than saloon, which most of the times separates road noise from the boot to the cabin. 

4. MPG, it's been 2 weeks so can't really comment on that, it does 30 currently but it's cold outside, I have too much fun with the accelerator and it's still better than LS430/GS300 in town.

5.  Left HID went, soon followed by flickering right BULB, called up Cardiff, they said they'll reimburse me whatever Lexus Stockport will charge me for replacwment, sorted both bulbs in Lexus Stockport for £175 (labour was free)

6. Left rear passenger parking sensor was constantly beeping when reversing even though there was nothing behind the car, booked in Stockport for Tuesday, will be sorted under warranty (part excl labour is £80). 

7. Car appeal. Not sure what's going on, if it's women's car or something, but I get a lot smiles and looks from ladies when driving RX450h. With the GS450h/300 I had a lot of guys looking at it, LS430 mainly elderly gents giving thumbs up and commenting on the looks, but driving ReX, I feel like I've done something special as there's a lot of looks. Like I don't know how to describe it, like I would be driving naked or something? Weird, but nice. Mrs doesn't approve that, but she loves the car as well. She wouldn't drive a GS or LS but she was like "ReX? I want to drive it now!". Win win for me as I can now go out and drink. The remote trunk opener is still my favourite feature and Godsend on weekly shopping trips.

8.Acceleration is dangerous. It's nowhere near GS450h, but from 50MPH ona motorway this thing picks up and goes without taking any prisoners. And it's kinda scary when you're driving something that looks like a house on wheels.

9. Parking is easy,as easy as GSes. Not sure if it's the same length or something but it's dead easy to park. I don't even use the camera as mirrors are big enough. Parking sensors even though I've adjusted them in settings do beep quite late (both front and rear), but they're alright. 

10. I know it might not be revelant to people in UK that much, but it has Polish language in menu and polish voice guidance. I've ordered Map updates from that Toyota website as currently running on 2012 ones.

11. Quick question, I was told that Extended warranty is currently 2 for 1, as in you pay £995 for one year and you get it for 2 years, but I thought that was always the case? Has anything changed? The great thing about these is that they cover you for literally anything including MOT failures. Yes it's nearly 2 grand, but I've learned the hard way on GS450h what it means to not have a warranty (£3500 in engine repairs and £2400 for hybrid Battery at the time, but let's not go there)

12. Driving is a bit numb especially for a car that has been tuned on Nurburgring (have you guys seen the Edmunds video about it?), it's too artifical for my liking, and there's 0 poise, so not sure why it was advertised as a car that feels like a saloon on the road (just reading through a brochure I bought in eBay about 3RX450h), but it's not bad per se, just not involving that much. Acceleration fixes most of the numbness though 🙂 

[PCM]

Great post - great reading. 

[royoftherovers]

Bart, Many thanks.I agree with the comments of Piers.

My thoughts;

Did you not test drive an RX before you bought one,as you seemed surprised at its size ?

Para`s 2 & 3, I agree with, having a large Merc Estate myself.

Para 4 surprises me as the vehicle has a slightly lower co-efficient of drag than a housebrick !

Para`s 5 & 6 reflect well on Cardiff and Stockport owned by the Motorline and RRG Groups respectively.

Para 10 was the vehicle an import from Poland ?

Para 11 The Lexus Extended Warranty costs £995 for 2 years,but to be paid over the first 12 months.Roughly £45 per month over 2 years for cover against Electrical or Mechanical Breakdown. It has been that cost for at least the last 6 years. The 2 for1 phrase is a marketing term to suggest you are getting a good/reduced priced deal.

Very grateful for your post.

[flookyk]

Having come from a Range Rover (Hyundai Tucson in between) to me the RX450 I got first (2011) was not as big so did not feel the "huge" you feel it is.

This 2017 RX450 I have now is a little bigger but still not "huge" size of the Rangie which I sometimes feel a little lacking when trying to get all my camping (glamping) equipment in it.. but that is my fault liking luxury camping as i get older, maybe have to treat myself to a roof rack and topbox to help.

Parking is easy enough, my only concern is others scratching the paintwork with coat zips and bags etc so I try and park it in quieter parts of carparks.

[Spottedlaurel]

Being used to things like LS400, Toyota Camry and various large Nissans the size wasn't something I really noticed when I got my RX - the large mirrors, rear camera and better visibility from being higher-up all help it feel reasonably wieldy, certainly in the rural area where I live. Narrow parking spaces are probably the only time I have to really consider its size.

I think the boot should be bigger (and better-designed generally) - I'm sure it's not as large as the Avensis estates I had previously, and the Camry estate's loadbay is definitely longer. I fear this comes from being designed with the US market in mind, which seems to have a dislike of 'proper' estates/wagons.

I find the steering lock to be pretty good for what is essentially a FWD car, definitely better than the Camry.

At the end of the summer I was getting close to 40mpg much of the time, now it's colder and wetter I'm down to 36-ish. That's with some reasonable length journeys though, on shorter runs I'll be down to 32-34mpg.

[BartLexusFan]

Re: John

I did test drive it for 30 mins but it was in a remote area in Manchester and Cardiff so couldn't really test it in city centre, tight spaces, and there were no roadworks and closed lanes either. 

I thought LS430 was big but this is way bigger for me, however I'll get used to it like I did get used to LS430 (the biggest car I've owned, not driven, but owned, as the biggest car I've driven for a week was Land Cruiser 160, and I still feel RX is somewhat wider than L Cruiser but it's been so long that I'm probably wrong). 

It wasn't imported from Poland, turns out that if there's a map for a certain country in the 7 gen Nav then there's a corresponding language for the whole Menu and voice guidance as well. I've found French, Spanish, Slovakian, Russian, Czech, Romanian and so on, and more so that's a really nice thing. I thought it would be the main 5 languages like English, German, Spanish, Italian and French, turns out there's more. Thank You for clarifying with the warranty, as always your knowledge is unprecedented and really helpful. I remember 2 years was the case with GS450h 4 years ago but I thought something has changed. 

 

Re:Spottedlaurel

Definitely because of US market as I think that because GX and LX exists they didn't want to design RX this way. In the "Lexus  The Relentless Pursuit Book" author explained that when designing the very first RX300 they didn't want to bite in to LX450 sales, but wanted something a bit more upmarket than RAV4. While this doesn't explain why the boot of RX450h is smaller than BMW X3 not to mention X5, for our family of 4 it does the job better than Lexus GS did 🙂 I do wonder how families with  NX and UX cope though, as when I asked in Cardiff (it's a YUGE dealership) it turns out that the most popular choice for families is NX300h rather than RX450h. 

 

Re: Flookyk. How are you finding comfort and gadgets vs RR? We've fitted all out camping gear in to GS, but it wasn't a nice ride and suspension needed replacing as the back was nearly scraping the road so really pleased with boot size, however I think we will need roof box for when we go around Europe (in 2030 considering current climate, that is)

[royoftherovers]

Many thanks Bart. I know what you mean as I thought my Merc was big,but I found the GS more difficult to move about, initially.

[Prince Bob]

On 10/15/2020 at 4:15 PM, BartLexusFan said:

A bit of an update, as some people might find it useful, if they're thinking about jumping from GS/ES/LS to RX. 

1. This thing is YUGE. I thought the 3008 we drove down to Cardiff was big, but for tight (?) British roads it's indeed YUGE. Really struggled in Manchester City centre, as there's lots of road works, wasn't really sure where to go, and the turning circle is rubbish. A lory would probably turn around in less turns than RX, but it is what it is and I love it for being so YUGE as I can now pack my car to the brim. I understand in US it's like mid sized SUV, as LX and GX exists, but here over the pond it's YUGE.

2. You need some sort of boot net, as otherwise all the groceries will be nicely running around all over the place 

3. It's kinda loud-ish at the back (suspension) when going through holes, but I think anything that is an estate/SUV is louder than saloon, which most of the times separates road noise from the boot to the cabin. 

4. MPG, it's been 2 weeks so can't really comment on that, it does 30 currently but it's cold outside, I have too much fun with the accelerator and it's still better than LS430/GS300 in town.

5.  Left HID went, soon followed by flickering right BULB, called up Cardiff, they said they'll reimburse me whatever Lexus Stockport will charge me for replacwment, sorted both bulbs in Lexus Stockport for £175 (labour was free)

6. Left rear passenger parking sensor was constantly beeping when reversing even though there was nothing behind the car, booked in Stockport for Tuesday, will be sorted under warranty (part excl labour is £80). 

7. Car appeal. Not sure what's going on, if it's women's car or something, but I get a lot smiles and looks from ladies when driving RX450h. With the GS450h/300 I had a lot of guys looking at it, LS430 mainly elderly gents giving thumbs up and commenting on the looks, but driving ReX, I feel like I've done something special as there's a lot of looks. Like I don't know how to describe it, like I would be driving naked or something? Weird, but nice. Mrs doesn't approve that, but she loves the car as well. She wouldn't drive a GS or LS but she was like "ReX? I want to drive it now!". Win win for me as I can now go out and drink. The remote trunk opener is still my favourite feature and Godsend on weekly shopping trips.

8.Acceleration is dangerous. It's nowhere near GS450h, but from 50MPH ona motorway this thing picks up and goes without taking any prisoners. And it's kinda scary when you're driving something that looks like a house on wheels.

9. Parking is easy,as easy as GSes. Not sure if it's the same length or something but it's dead easy to park. I don't even use the camera as mirrors are big enough. Parking sensors even though I've adjusted them in settings do beep quite late (both front and rear), but they're alright. 

10. I know it might not be revelant to people in UK that much, but it has Polish language in menu and polish voice guidance. I've ordered Map updates from that Toyota website as currently running on 2012 ones.

11. Quick question, I was told that Extended warranty is currently 2 for 1, as in you pay £995 for one year and you get it for 2 years, but I thought that was always the case? Has anything changed? The great thing about these is that they cover you for literally anything including MOT failures. Yes it's nearly 2 grand, but I've learned the hard way on GS450h what it means to not have a warranty (£3500 in engine repairs and £2400 for hybrid battery at the time, but let's not go there)

12. Driving is a bit numb especially for a car that has been tuned on Nurburgring (have you guys seen the Edmunds video about it?), it's too artifical for my liking, and there's 0 poise, so not sure why it was advertised as a car that feels like a saloon on the road (just reading through a brochure I bought in ebay about 3RX450h), but it's not bad per se, just not involving that much. Acceleration fixes most of the numbness though 🙂 

I agree with 1. The turning circle seems to be very poor, definitely the worst of any car I have owned, sometimes it feels like an oil tanker. I also agree with 2,3 and 4

I think ladies tend to like SUV type vehicles. It's always interesting talking to the better half about cars. She hates Porsche 911, but loves a Macaun. Doesn't appreciate a Jag XK with loves an F-Pace. Other than the RX the one car that attracted attention from ladies I owned was a CLK convertible.

I wasn't aware of the Nurburgbring ring Edmunds video, do you have a link? 

[Barry14UK]

Was it this earlier one?  

 

[PeterI]

On 10/17/2020 at 11:13 AM, BartLexusFan said:

I thought LS430 was big but this is way bigger for me, however I'll get used to it like I did get used to LS430 (the biggest car I've owned, not driven, but owned, as the biggest car I've driven for a week was Land Cruiser 160, and I still feel RX is somewhat wider than L Cruiser but it's been so long that I'm probably wrong). 
 

I checked this when I got my 2020 RX (I thought it was YUGE too), so for the three cars I've driven into my driveway the sizes are:

4996 x 1829 - LS400
4652 x 1884 - BMW X3 - 2096 inc mirrors
4890 x 1895 - RX450h - 2180 inc mirrors

In terms of getting in between the gate posts the LS400 was the easiest and the X3 didn't feel too bad but the RX which is only 11mm wider feels a lot tighter. I suspect it's the mirrors the extra 84mm feels like a lot and it's very obvious to the eye as you drive past the post.

Also I think the RX turning circle is bit bigger but I haven't pulled the numbers.

[Barry14UK]

From what Bart has posted, his car will have overall length pf 4770 and width of 1885. The dimensions you have given for the RX450h Peter, seem to be for the 4th Generation. 

Even the 3rd Generation RX450h seemed to be large to me notwithstanding my having owned cars with a larger footprint.  In my case at least, I think it is due to the much higher driving position 

[BartLexusFan]

Hey 

Any ideas what this "thing" next to rear view mirror mount, is? I can actually press at the front and it slides out. I can actually see it in the manual, on the first couple pages of the interior pictorial, but funnily enough not a single arrow points to this "thing". I thought maybe it's the remote for garage doors, but usually there should be associated buttons to it, and I don't have them, so no clue to be honest. 

[Spacewagon52]

How interesting! As long as there is not a button that says DO NOT PRESS!  you should be OK

[royoftherovers]

22 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

How interesting! As long as there is not a button that says DO NOT PRESS!  you should be OK

Be careful Davey as Bart is a Lancastrian who bought his RX in Wales. Can`t be too many of those about! (lol)