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Not the sensors themselves. The wiring. The sensors are on the midpipes, but the wiring goes up through the floorpan of the car. On some cars, this can be a nightmare, as seats and carpets have to come out. On the IS250, the connectors and wiring are in the centre console in the footwells behind the carpet. The wire then heads straight down to a hole in the floorpan. The O2 sensors come with a rubber grommet that fits into the hole.

I ordered it from Lexus Reading and service was great. It was on 6 + 23 so about £1100 deposit and 23 monthly payments of £185 + vat. 8k mileage allowance with 10ppm excess mileage. It was a 300h exec, didn't bother with any options as already good spec, I actually like the solid black which was included.

I've taken the two year warranty plan which will kick-in when the manufacturers warranty runs out at the end of December 2016, so plenty of peace of mind there for me. I seem to remember paying something like £795.00 for that which also includes full roadside recovery for the Lexus and any other car we might be in. I thought that was pretty good, being covered up until the end of December 2018.

.., wot a dilemma then for you ................ heaven knows ..... can you really not keep both ?? The Mk1 would be better off doing low annual miles I guess and the Mk4 would be more of a daily and journeying car ................ but having said that, the USA car with nigh on a million miles underlines just how both could probably be used for everyday long driving etc ................. If it was me, I would probably keep both tbh ........ but then again I probably wouldn't have put myself in such a difficult ( but nice ) position of having to make such a choice Malc

The figures quoted for repairing these German lemons are eye watering. When you consider the cost of buying an LS 400 or 430 and even having to rectify suspension and cooling issues - the sums pale into insignificance compared with buying a new Merc or BMW. I have always been a Japanese fan - my Toyota Carina (1974) sold them to me. I saw that car do 100,000 miles and then I sold it to a friend whose wife learned to drive in it. It still had the original clutch after she passed her test. The rust worm got it in the end but the gearbox and engine were still as sweet as a nut. 8 Mitsubishis later and I have not been disappointed in their reliability. I ran my previous MKIII LS400 for a year with the only expense of two new tyres - and it was due a service when I bought it! Mpg is only one factor when owning a car. Getting 50mpg out of a Skoda is great until the turbo goes and £1300 is knocked off the economy! What do I like best about my LS 400? The quality of the engineering - once you have owned one, nothing compares in my opinion. If it does go pear shaped - I will not have lost a fortune and will probably be able to afford to buy another. It seems a no brainer to me! Am I a little biased?

Courtesy of Lexus USA - Ive definitely settled on White with Red leather now!

What will you buy to improve on this for £1200.......

It wont fit anyway - its ever so slightly wider

I was the OP with the rear wheel noise, turned out to be the nearside rear wheel bearing. I also replaced all the tyres with the Nexens, I cannot give much of a noise review on them as it is one of the things that particularly annoys me and I think my expectations and desires are a bit unreasonable when it comes to a quiet car. Around where I live most of our roads are covered in the "lets dump a load of chippings and get the car drivers to bed them in for us" type of surfaces which I find extremely noisy whatever car I am in. However on the odd occasion that I find a stretch of properly tarmac'd road the Nexens are very quiet. As a sedate driver I cannot comment on road handling and grip as I havent had occassion to need to put them to the test.

You might find after a year of driving that you won't want to drive anything else. I know I don't!

The problem is there is no precedent here. 2009 is the first year of the RX450h so we have very little data to predict longer term reliability. If we base an opinion from the RX400h then there is little need for a warranty (although anybody can be unlucky even with the most reliable car). If we base it on the GS450h series III then I'd certainly recommend a warranty as the series III GS, along with the IS220d, certainly fall short of the reliability image that Lexus has built up over the years.

FYI the hybrid warranty that comes from a hybrid health check only covers that battery. The motor(s), inverter and ECUs aren't covered. No problems with short journeys for a Toyota/Lexus hybrid system. Standard issues still occur such as corroding exhaust but warranties wouldn't cover that anyway.

Could well be the parking brake drum shoes, one simple test is to chock the front wheels and with the car in neutral, jack the rear offside tyre up and rotate by hand. Should spin very quietly and smoothly. Worth a try! Did Lexus make a note at the time on the test drive when you noticed the noise? If so you could go back and say now the car has been driven and "oxidation" removed, why is noise still there? You may still get something done under warranty or sales of goods act... I really can't stand the "they all do it" that pisses me off! They don't all do it as other 450 owners will tell you! Although, I'd love to see Rayaans turn up at your dealer complaining something is wrong with his 450 cos it *doesn't* make that sound!!!!