08ISF

For those who might be interested RX450h F sport LN16EMV has had the CANBUS plate fitted and is now on a forecourt somewhere. I traded it a week ago for a Mustang. Not a change directly influenced by the thefts, but I got to thinking about what I would replace it with if it went missing. The Mustang was the only car that pushed any buttons and we all know how that thought process goes..... If anybody sees it, it is a good car , I had it for 4 years and it performed faultlessly. I expect Lexus Customer Services and their CEO will be happy to see the back of me. One point though, the Mustang, despite 450+HP, cost half as much to insure, which is a measure of how insurers are viewing RX's at the moment!!

From what I understand it is the 4th Gen RX which is vulnerable, along with current RAV4's and possibly NX's and ES's. Earlier models such as yours did not apparently use the CAN BUS system of wiring which the plate is to protect. This is nothing to do with the cat converter which your post mentions. Other means are available to try and protect that. Oh, and by the way my insurance renewal has just come in , about 100% up on last year but a lot less than I was expecting so I'm happy.

I don't know how the plate was installed or even what it looks like. I think it better that those details are not bandied about on a public forum as the longer it takes the scrotes to figure out how to defeat it, the better. No rattling so far. Lexus Customer Services arranged for my local branch to fit it.The local branch service people didn't seem to know much about the issue and were gobsmacked when the guy who came to fit it demonstrated how the thieves accessed the CANBUS cabling. As I've said before I don't know how Lexus are going to take this forward. Enquire at your local branch.

Yes, it was FOC and they washed and vacuumed the car as well. It was done at very short notice so I didn't ask for a courtesy car.

Update on the protection plate: The protection plate is now in play. I had it fitted to my RX at the local dealer's today. From what I understand they are trialling this on a few customer's cars and then will presumably roll it out. Whether it will be a recall or a service bulletin subject I do not know, or it may be you have to ask, but it does exist. Whether it will be effective remains to be seen and I don't suppose it will help with this year's insurance renewal, which by the look of it will be 100% up on last year.

These cars are among the most reliable on the market and there are few known problems but if they do go wrong expect a big bill. I've had mine for 4 years and the only thing that failed was a door mirror motor, fixed under warranty.Just as well as I saw the bill (£800+) They have been known to need the water pump changed at around 70-80K and this is a £2K job, but if you have Relax warranty cover, I'm informed it will be covered. Damp carpets can be due to blocked sunroof drains - not covered on any warranty. The 12v battery doesn't like being left for any length of time without the car being used or it will go flat. They say it needs to be used in "Ready" mode for an hour at least every week to keep it charged. One thing I would say is that they are big and it is difficult to see the sides of the front wings, and the end of the bonnet, so a version with the all round camera would be worth considering. A lot of them are getting stolen at the moment so in the short term a steering lock or aftermarket immobiliser would be a good idea until Lexus come through with the fix for the security vulnerability - see other subjects on this forum Buy carefully and you will love it.

You'll probably find that only Lexus can actually provide them and the price will be eye watering. This is what I found with my GSF (might be better now). There are so few of the cars on the road, it is not worth any other suppliers stocking them so Lexus get to charge you what they like. I didn't like the idea of being charged £350+ for four pieces of steel plate with some friction material glued on but that was the only thing on offer.

Just heard back from Lexus in response to my email over the weekend. They are assuring me that things are moving towards a programme of remedial action and have advised that the police have seized a load of equipment used for the CAN BUS thefts in the London area. Also they have stated that the new RX/RZ is on a different platform with different software so should not be as vulnerable. How quickly this translates into positive action for us I cannot say. I will keep in contact with Lexus.

Nothing concrete yet, but I chased them up this weekend, and sent them a copy of the Honest John article which shows the RX running Range Rovers a close second in the theft stats.

If it's been recently serviced and the battery is bad, there should be a "fail" on the hybrid health check, which also looks at the 12v battery. They should have told you about it.

I have done and it was cheaper than reducing the excess on my insurance when I had a GSF. Search Google for "Car insurance excess protection UK" You'll have to filter out all the companies offering car hire excess protection. ALA , Aegeas and Questor are 3 names that come to mind.

When this CANBUS issue was raised I did a quick punt around the comparison sites for my RX and it looks like I will be paying about 100% more this year. A friend with a Range Rover is in a similar position. If you accept a high excess to get the premium down, you can separately insure this. This sometimes works out cheaper than going for a policy with lowish excess.

Don't waste your time emailing Customer Services. Their job is to deflect and BS. You all need to write to Chris Hayes their CEO ( by snail mail , I couldn't find his email address) . Address is on Lexus UK website. Customer Services do not have the authority to give us the assurances we require, unless they are being driven by the boss. If their CEO gets enough complaints they might just react a bit quicker than they would otherwise. My recent response from Customer Services after my letter to Chris Hayes was slightly more positive. "I have been advised that we have tested prototype blanking plates successfully and what we would like to do, is obtain some before we decide on the route/process for our Lexus Centre partners, and install one of these blanking plates to your RX at your designated Lexus Centre, which I presume may be Lexus XXXXX. I will then coordinate with our Repair Support team to look at possible dates and times to fit this blanking plate to your car. If this is agreeable please do let me know and I will start this course of action." Like most big companies they will not react quickly unless something is pushed up the priority list.

The protective plates have apparently been successfully (?) tested for the RX and they are looking at when they can get them and roll them out. However, my original enquiry was specifically about the RX, before theft of other models came to our attention so they may not be looking at the ES. You all need to get on their case. I bypassed Customer Services and went straight to their CEO. If you get a BS reply from Customer Services, write to Chris Hayes at Lexus UK Head Office. It worked for me! This probably affects a lot of cars especially when you include the NX and Toyota variants, so it might take some time to get the work done.

For me reliability is key. A car that will go round the Nurburgring in under 8 mins is no good if it is going to spend most of its life in the workshop ( no names!). I am afraid that I and most of the people on here are in a minority as the motoring press are obsessed with performance and style and that is what most people seeking a new car refer to. The other elephant in the room is the Alan Partridge issue, from p*** taking references made by a certain comedian many years agoabout Lexus cars which fixed them in the national psyche as a bit naff and boring. I am personally happy for Lexus to remain in its little niche. All we need to do now is convince the criminal fraternity that our cars are not worth nicking.