Prospective RX Purchase

[Spacewagon52]

Well, after trawling through many posts on here, regarding buying from Franchise Dealerships, Warranty, Extended Warranty, Service Plans, I decided to take the plunge and purchase my next Lexus.

Here are my initial thoughts and observations on my search. After weighing up the pros and cons I decided to go “cheap” and buy an RX 400h. My initial plan was to go for the 450h or possibly an NX.

The 450's work out about £5,000 dearer than an equivalent age/mileage to a 400h. Before you start typing, I do realise there is a difference in technology and refinement! Yes, I would have preferred a 450h but the Memsaab put in her views!

I view the 400h as a........... stepping stone ….. alas stones that are far apart! (Don't tell the wife!)

I have come to the conclusion that I enjoy the chase more than the purchase! Once the purchase has been made the sphincter muscle begins to twitch!

Questions flood into the brain!

Did I do enough research?

Is the dealer dodgy?

Is the MOT history dodgy?

Is my judgement dodgy?

Calm yourself sir! Well, as I have explained in a previous post, I try to observe due diligence.

I found a 2008 RX 400h SE-L. No 400h's have air suspension, so those not in the “know” don't panic for me! It had less than 50,000 miles – full service history (mainly Lexus dealership) – No major issues on the MOT history AND the dealership had 36 x 5 star reviews on AutoTrader. Good photos and description sounded ace!

DOWNSIDE - The car was 200 miles away.

Fearing a Boris lock down, I contacted the dealer on Saturday, who was away for the weekend and would not be back until Monday! Monday looked like a Boris LOCKDOWN, according to the news!

RULE 1 - buying a car – NEVER, EVER be pressured! My wife came to the rescue (you can guess my age by my not using the word partner!). “Why not go down on Sunday and IF there is a lock down, we can say we are travelling home!”

I truly LOVE my wife! She understands my needs!

Off to the South-West on the GWR! (With wife!) - Premier Inn booked, SINGLE ticket (yes I expected to buy the car).

The plan …..... stay at hotel as near to dealership as possible …....... phone dealer at 9 am and ask to arrange a viewing. Taxi to dealer ship ….. test drive car …... buy and then tax and insure over the internet!

Arrived at the dealers “house” in a 2013 BMW 5 series taxi, who the the owner said, he bought at auction for approximately what I was going to pay for a 12 year old Lexus! This really boosted my confidence! The car was waiting on his drive.................

 

 

 

 

What happened next? What did I find? Please wait for the next episode, as I am too tired and drunk to continueeeee …..........................................

[royoftherovers]

All good stuff so far Davey. I look forward to the next thrilling episode. Do tell us who the Dealer is as I have a nose for spotting suspects !

[royoftherovers]

If it is this, then we must speak in the morning David !  https://www.southwestlexus.co.uk/results.php

[Rxowner]

i am in the south west good luck

[Spacewagon52]

7 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

If it is this, then we must speak in the morning David !  https://www.southwestlexus.co.uk/results.php

No, not that dealer John. Thank you!

[Spacewagon52]

7 hours ago, Rxowner said:

i am in the south west good luck

Thanks Adam, I have the same year RX 300 as you. It is a fantastic car and I am sorry, in many ways, to lose it - but you do crazy things for your kids! I should have kept my big mouth shut!

The ONLY downside running the car (particularly short local journeys) is the high fuel consumption. My annual mileage using the RX is relatively low and I can afford the costs. It is mainly psychological when you fill up and find you get 22 mpg, even when driving like Miss Daisy. I have two Lexus dinosaur cars on the drive - 3 litre and 4 litre petrol engines. 

Tightness, I am half Yorkshire, and plainly just not wanting to waste money would prevent me buying a newer RX like the RX350 by purely having to pay £580 a year Road Tax.

If you rack up the miles, then MPG is very important but for low mileage peeps, depreciation, repairs and servicing are a much larger factor. Depreciation being the main one for younger Lexus cars. I will post the conclusion to my tale, when I have had more sleep!

[Spacewagon52]

The RX 400h looked really smart from a distance. My wife and I (she is good at spotting things!) gave the car a good look over. We were allowed to test drive the car provided we followed the dealer in his car. He uses the same route to review his cars on YouTube. John (Royoftherovers) knows my mantra about finding faults.

 

“For every fault you can find …... there will be 3 or more others!

The car had been cleaned but not valeted. The engine oil was as clear as a bell and the engine bay had been cleaned. We examined the car better than Inspector Morse and found three age related marks. The wheels, small mark on the plastic trim inside and a stone chip that had rusted a little on the door. Checked for water ingress in boot and footwells. Full service history, mainly Lexus plus another garage where the car came from. The car had been originally bought from Lexus Sidcup but had mainly been serviced at Lexus Croydon. The MOT history/mileage checked out and looked good. Well worth looking at that before buying any car over 3 years old. It can give an indication of possible issues caused by neglect.

I test drove the car and was impressed how perky the acceleration was for such a heavy car – seemed far more spritely than my RX 300. Though I am not really interested in 0-60 times. All four tyres were the same make (Dunlop). Just under 50,000 miles. It was the SE-L which gave it ML sound system, illuminated Lexus badges on the door sills (?) - silver door handles and gold rear badge plus front and rear sensors. So we bought it and drove it home (200 miles) home. Tax was done on line and insurance on the phone. Managed to get a small discount which paid the train fare!

 

So …. what do I make of this particular RX 400h hybrid? Give a me a few more days of ownership and I will tell you! HONESTLY!

[rich1068]

Excellent thread. You won't regret the 400h. It's a great car. At a bit of a loss as to why I sold mine.

[royoftherovers]

A great write up David. Pleased for you. Remember that a few have had Battery discharge problems with the 400h.

Have jump leads, or ctec mx5, or one of Herbie`s much publicised Battery jump start packs, handy.

[Spacewagon52]

1 minute ago, royoftherovers said:

A great write up David. Pleased for you. Remember that a few have had battery discharge problems with the 400h.

Have jump leads, or ctec mx5, or one of Herbie`s much publicised battery jump start packs, handy.

Yes, thanks I remember an old thread on this. I am hoping not to leave it standing much, as it will become our main car. 

 

I need to read that part of the handbook carefully!

[royoftherovers]

 

I need to read that part of the handbook carefully!

 

Just be ready for the examination old buddy !

[BartLexusFan]

I've been toying with the "do I go Rx400h or RX450h" idea for past 8 months. Current 2GS just doesn't cut it anymore for family of 4 who loves camping. I'm in the same boat, and not sure how I'm going to avoid Boris lockeown, as mine is in Cardiff and I'm in Manchester.

I actually started with budget for 400h (the first facelift in 2007), then though well I'm close to 7k so might as well go with 450h, but then decent ones were for 10-11k, which swayed me over to facelift at 15k. I'm glad I stopped as I could end up with brand new for 50k damn it! Anyways, I'm not really sure why I'm going for 450h over 400h. Same performance more or less, same MPG more or less, kinda updated nav with Bluetooth A2DP, but this can be sorted with GROM V line on previous gen, same spec like previous gen, I literally have no idea why I'm going for 3rd gen over 2gen apart from one thing. THE SEATS. Wow, just wow. My LS430 seats were amazing, so were my 3GS450h ones but the ones on 3RX are next level. Worth extra 10k over 400h? Nope.

But the rest of the car comes with them, so why not.

 

Glad to heat you're happy with 400h, I might reconsider. Keep your cat safe ❤️

[royoftherovers]

Bart,

Your ticket for life`s journey was stamped "single", so just do what you want to do, if you can afford it and so long as you are not upsetting anybody !

[BartLexusFan]

Also, pics or it didn't happen Davey! Let's drool  over it together! 🙂

[Spacewagon52]

49 minutes ago, BartLexusFan said:

I've been toying with the "do I go Rx400h or RX450h" idea for past 8 months. Current 2GS just doesn't cut it anymore for family of 4 who loves camping. I'm in the same boat, and not sure how I'm going to avoid Boris lockeown, as mine is in Cardiff and I'm in Manchester.

I actually started with budget for 400h (the first facelift in 2007), then though well I'm close to 7k so might as well go with 450h, but then decent ones were for 10-11k, which swayed me over to facelift at 15k. I'm glad I stopped as I could end up with brand new for 50k damn it! Anyways, I'm not really sure why I'm going for 450h over 400h. Same performance more or less, same MPG more or less, kinda updated nav with Bluetooth A2DP, but this can be sorted with GROM V line on previous gen, same spec like previous gen, I literally have no idea why I'm going for 3rd gen over 2gen apart from one thing. THE SEATS. Wow, just wow. My LS430 seats were amazing, so were my 3GS450h ones but the ones on 3RX are next level. Worth extra 10k over 400h? Nope.

But the rest of the car comes with them, so why not.

 

Glad to heat you're happy with 400h, I might reconsider. Keep your cat safe ❤️

I am not certain but I think you will find the 450h is more economical than the 400h, as the technology has improved. MPG is very difficult to work out on an individual basis. Weather, roads, hills, heavy right foot. Peeps living in Norfolk will get better mpg than those in the Yorkshire Dales !

Hybrids are not meant to be good on mpg, on long motorway journeys at 70 mph+

My experience WAS interesting .... await the next instalment!

[Spacewagon52]

With photos? Possibly!

[flookyk]

2 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

I am not certain but I think you will find the 450h is more economical than the 400h, as the technology has improved. MPG is very difficult to work out on an individual basis. Weather, roads, hills, heavy right foot. Peeps living in Norfolk will get better mpg than those in the Yorkshire Dales !

Hybrids are not meant to be good on mpg, on long motorway journeys at 70 mph+

My experience WAS interesting .... await the next instalment!

From what i experienced with my 2011 RX450 it got better mpg than what owners had been saying with the RX400.

Over the 3 year I had it I got an average of 28 mpg driven enthusiastically.

In the one month I have had my 2017 RX450 it has achieved an average of 32mpg .. again driven enthusiastically.

Looks like they are definitely improving it over time. I have noticed that my 2017 RX seems to want to use EV more than my 2011 did at just under 40mph.

[BartLexusFan]

4 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

I am not certain but I think you will find the 450h is more economical than the 400h, as the technology has improved. MPG is very difficult to work out on an individual basis. Weather, roads, hills, heavy right foot. Peeps living in Norfolk will get better mpg than those in the Yorkshire Dales !

Hybrids are not meant to be good on mpg, on long motorway journeys at 70 mph+

My experience WAS interesting .... await the next instalment!

True. I used to have 3GS450h, I once achieved 614 miles from a tank with avg MPG 43 on a journey from Manc to LDN when I was going to HTC HQ to review HTC Vive, but obviously I could get around 22MPG when I was chasing C63 and BMW M5s on motorway. Heck, I could get 35MPG out of my LS430. I never treated 3GS450h as something that will save me moolah, but more of a performance hybrid. Not sure where RX450h slots, but being faster than Evoque HSE and returning better MPG is a win for me. I believe Porsche Cayenne 4.5 (non-turbo) 0-60 time is similar to RX450h, but returns 18 MPG so that's that. One of my customers today (I'm a Virgin Media Tech), had 3RX450h in I think luxury spec (no sunroof, life pack), with standard non-advance/f-sport grille and he was over the moon with it.

[royoftherovers]

" I once achieved 614 miles from a tank with avg MPG 43 on a journey from Manc to LDN "

That is incredible Bart. I have tried over the years to achieve 500 miles by adding miles covered and miles remaining and have only achieved that twice. Inevitably. mine was a mix of town and long distance driving, but never in my imagination did I think that 600 would be achievable from a V6. Did you encounter long periods of 50mph,or during a long hot dry spell or what ? Please explain.

[BartLexusFan]

On 9/23/2020 at 8:51 PM, royoftherovers said:

" I once achieved 614 miles from a tank with avg MPG 43 on a journey from Manc to LDN "

That is incredible Bart. I have tried over the years to achieve 500 miles by adding miles covered and miles remaining and have only achieved that twice. Inevitably. mine was a mix of town and long distance driving, but never in my imagination did I think that 600 would be achievable from a V6. Did you encounter long periods of 50mph,or during a long hot dry spell or what ? Please explain.

Apologies it took so long to reply, as You know I'm entangled in the RX450h buying extravaganza, so took me a while. It was a trip   from Manc to HTC HQ in Slough (around 220 Miles one way and back).  Yes it was mainly 50MPH, sometimes dropping to even 40MPH. Very rarely 70MPH. It was at a time when the main road through Birmingham was under construction, I believe it was M6 running through Birmingham. So there was a lot of stop and go traffic there, and approximately an hour of driving around 40/50MPH closer to Slough. That's both ways. There was some town driving involved around Slough, and when I got back trip was showing 514 Miles done that day. The remaining 100 Miles (50% of which was done on reserve) was done around Snake Pass (one way uphill, and downhill on way back). It was a pre-facelift 2007 GS450h fully serviced by Lexus with 110.000 Miles, I've bought privately from someone who was part of LOC as well. I remember that reg plate was P10 RMR. I can't remember the gents name, but do remember RMR were his initials. I think Romuald or Roy. I miss this car so much it's unbelievable, unfortunately I lost it due to theft in our house.  

[BartLexusFan]

Also 2 adults, air con and radio on, I believe it was in July 2016 or something close to that, was driving down to pick up HTC Vive to do a review on my YouTube channel. 

[Spacewagon52]

Bart, your GS stolen?

[royoftherovers]

Many thanks Bart for providing a helpful background.

[Spacewagon52]

On 9/23/2020 at 3:08 PM, BartLexusFan said:

Also, pics or it didn't happen Davey! Let's drool  over it together! 🙂

It did happen! Though I wish it had not!   Another story, nothing to do with the car!

[Spacewagon52]

RX 400h 2008 SE-L – 50,000 miles First Impressions and Faults!

It is very hard to compare this car directly with my RX 300. Firstly I much prefer the colour combination of my RX 300 – blue (grey on the V5!) with cream interior. Overall this 400h is not as immaculate as my 300 but everything is present. The silver looks good and does not show up slight body imperfections scratches / small marks etc. as a dark colour would. I can live with the black interior as there is plenty of silver bling to brighten it up. Apart from colour, the cars look identical from the outside.