Spottedlaurel

Is it just a scale issue? I don't use the sat-nav much (25+ years of finding my way to obscure rural places with maps or an atlas means I can live without it) but I sometimes find smaller roads and lanes only appear when I zoom in a bit. I think the general consensus is the sat-nav system isn't one of Lexus's strong points.

I had the same with a pair on mine, also a low mileage example - I imagine they were probably the originals as they were on the rear so don't do much work. I just bit the bullet and replaced them myself, giving me the choice of what tyres I could select. Some sort of all-seasons would suit you well? Good to hear you're enjoying it otherwise.

I got mine up to 35-odd today thanks to some longer A- and B-road cruising, probably 37-38mpg allowing for the 32 it had done up to that point. I had the odd occasion to make use of the lovely V6 as I was 'making progress', so not too bad. Best way of looking at it isn't as being super-economical, just that the hybrid gives tolerable economy to a fairly big, powerful, very comfortable car. I really enjoyed the drive in mine yesterday, the family were on board and it was doing just what I wanted it to do. The Avensis 1.8 petrol I had before would probably have done low 40s on that journey, but would have been nowhere as pleasurable to drive.....

I can't offer anything on 1 or 2 of your list. 3. I wonder if they are too bad on tyres? I've just replaced the rears on mine, I suspect they were the original Japanese-made Bridgestones - they were badly cracked due to age (so much so I'm surprised the main dealer selling it let them go through like it) but still had quite a bit of tread depth and had worn evenly. Mine is coming up to five years old and has now done 26k miles. I've gone for the Michelin CrossClimates following good reports on here and due to this being my car of choice when the weather's bad. 4.I'm still fairly new to RX and hybrid ownership, I have the screens set-up like this so I can see how my driving style affects the economy: Yes, this photo was taken on a private road! I find the trip info screen at full-size an easy way of seeing how much difference it makes when lifting the throttle just slightly, and it's satisfying to see those bars as high as possible. That MPG is what I get running around locally, with lots of cold starts and short-ish journeys, with no use of the A/C. I try and reset the trip meter each time I refill and then see how it's doing against the cruising range figure. There are the graphics on both screens which show the energy going backwards and forwards, but I prefer to work with numbers. When I bought mine at 24k it was showing an overall average of 30.6mpg, after a couple of thousand miles that's risen to 30.8. I did use Eco mode for a tankful or two, but the difference it made wasn't enough to persevere with.

The Lexus dealer couldn't get anywhere near that price, £426 vs. £309 for a pair! Gone onto the Blackcircles site today and the 10% offer on individual tyres has gone, replaced by £40 off a set of four, so it was good that I bought them when I did. Still might be worth seeing if the "mich10" code works though?.......

That's a shame. What are you moving onto instead? I understand your reasoning and went through something similar myself earlier this year. For the previous four years I'd had an Avensis Tourer, just a 2.0 diesel but it was a useful tool - lots of space inside and plenty of torque even if it wasn't the quietest or most sophisticated thing. When the time came to change I went for the 1.8 petrol version of the same model, but it was a rather joyless car and within 2-3 months I was wishing I hadn't bought it. It had no torque, which seems to be an issue with many modern, non-turbo petrol engines. Fortunately I'd put enough of a deposit down not to end up with significant negative equity, but I lost a substantial amount having had it for just a year, due to the difference between main dealer retail price and part-ex value plus a year's natural depreciation. Oddly enough, seeing an NX was what got me thinking about buying a Lexus as a replacement for the Avensis - I prefer the look of it to the current RX. However, I fairly quickly realised that it wouldn't have the space I was used to with the Avensis and the use of a 4-cyl engine concerned me. To match the practicality, roominess and torque of the Avensis diesel I went for a previous-gen RX. Luckily I'm a bit of a Luddite so the rather basic infotainment system doesn't bother me, and at least I get a stick to control it. However, a friend was showing me what the set-up in his new Jaguar E-Pace can do and it puts the Lexus system to shame. The above being said, I'd still be interested to give the NX a go if I get offered one as a courtesy car. If they update it with the new RAV4 engine then maybe it would be a better bet? The NX's size would be fine for us when my children are driving and don't need ferrying around so much. Isn't it difficult on a test drive to pick up the everyday things that can make or break life with a car? As you also suggest, there is the tendency to overlook potential issues or think you'll be able to live with them, but the opposite ends up being the case.

Blackcircles have the 19" CrossClimates listed at £169.99 each, fully fitted at various local dealers (I have four to choose from in my local area). Apparently there's a 10% discount code that can be applied, which brings it down to just over £300 a pair. Asda's online tyre thing sounds similar to the above, they're listing them at £167 each (but no mention of any discount code).

A very small update on my RX. Even the substitute Luxury I got to replace the Advance had an issue with a noise from the rear end, which got worse on the lumpy rural lanes around where I live. Following a tip on this forum a few weeks ago I bought some anti-squeak tape - basically self-adhesive rubber/butyl with a felt face. It was cheap off eBay, just over £2 posted for a 500mm length. Having put my son in the boot one day (on a private road, genuinely) he worked out that the noise was coming from the tailgate latch area. Looking at it, I could see that the plastic hinged flap which seals around the bottom fastening was quite polished, suggesting it was rubbing against the tailgate part of the latch mechanism. Two little strips of the tape were applied to the flap and now I have silence! Any other noises I can hear are stuff inside the car, at least it's not the rear seats which I had initially thought were the problem. Since getting this one in late February I've only done a couple of thousand miles, due to a fairly short work commute and having my older cars to use now the weather is (mostly) better. All good so far, I seem to get 32-35mpg depending on whether I've managed to do some longer journeys or it's just been local running around. Now focusing on next month's holiday in France, that's where it will really excel with the family and luggage on board and wanting to cover a big distance in a day. Looking forward to having a bit of power on the hills and mountains - the torque-less Avensis 1.8 petrol I took last year was not good for that. It needs a couple of tyres, so I'm looking at the ever-popular Michelin CrossClimates and getting the almost-new Dunlops swapped to the rear. It currently has Bridgestones on the back which may have been there from new? They still have a reasonable amount of tread but certainly look somewhat aged and not something I'd be happy about subjecting to a few hundred miles of 81mph autoroute travel. Budget aside, it's a shame all four don't need replacing but the front Dunlops were new when I bought it and it'd be a terrible waste to get rid of them. If my local Lexus dealer will do them for a sensible price then I'll take it down there and get a summer health check done while I'm at it. The MoT and service isn't due until later in the year and it would do no harm for someone other than the dealer who sold it to me to give it a once-over while I'm well within the warranty period. They can also price up a service plan for me, it should be eligible for the 'essentials' package as it'll just be five years old by that time. Still happy with my choice after a few months. The particular car I ended up with is perfect for what I want out of an RX, it's only now that my local dealer has had anything which I think would have been a good alternative. I do wonder how I'd have got on with the Mazda 6 2.5 and Subaru Outback I'd also been considering, I think they'd have been good in their own way but not better (I don't need the Subaru's off-road capability). Toyota have since launched the Camry here which wouldn't have been much of a stretch on the monthly payments, but sadly there's no estate version so that's ruled out. In summary, I'm quite content to live with mine for the next three years and with how slowly I'm adding the miles it should be well worth purchasing outright at the end of the agreement and keeping it long-term. P.S. Is there a way of changing the original thread title?

Sterling work. A bit of an eye-opener to see what it looked like given the low mileage. Not sure whether I want to look too closely at mine now.....

Looks like new. Impressive economy! Any thoughts about it in real world use compared to the test drive? What tyres does it have? They do seem to be sensitive to this.

That's great. It certainly sounded like it should be a good one, pleasing to know it turned out that way.

Is it a standard torque convertor auto 'box on the 200? If so, I wonder if the lock-up feature on top is giving the same effect of holding a manual car in too high a gear? The speed coincides with when I've had lock-up operate on other Japanese automatics.

Sounds like a great example so long as the condition is commensurate with what you'd hope/expect at that sort of mileage. Even after you've had it for six years, at the annual mileage you're doing it'll be about 70k so it should be a good car for a future owner. Les has pointed out the wheel issue, and I'll reiterate my problem with the exhaust and undertray damage I found on mine doe to a careless (or unfortunate) previous owner. Some examples seem to rattle and creak around the rear - possibly the seats, but I think on mine it's something around the tailgate. If it's one owner from new you'd like to think it had been sold and serviced by the same people from day one, and hopefully find they've part-exchanged it for another Lexus. Rubber mats and bootliner are good to have, as is the rear bumper protector.

Great to hear you've settled on the RX. Yes, the camera and big mirrors do help when manoeuvring, and as you know from your Land Rover being that bit higher up gives better visibility anyway. I think RX is a bit more trim than some other cars of this type - I'm currently working on a project which includes a new car park and I've had to allow for an area with 50cm bigger spaces for the directors/visitors in their Range Rovers, X5s etc..... My search on AutoTrader was pretty similar to yours, using that it's interesting to see how many are white - 33 of six other colours versus 18 in white alone. Many of us on here have travelled to buy the right car, it really depends how quickly you need/want it. I would much preferred to have bought it from the helpful, friendly chap at my local dealer but even within their group they just didn't have the right car for me. Four months later they finally do, but I couldn't have waited that long. I believe the warranty covers the car at any dealer, so even if you have a problem you don't need to go back to the people who sold it to you. I did have to go 100+ miles back to my dealer, but that's because of an issue that wasn't covered by the warranty so I had to exchange my first RX for a better example. What sort of mileage will you be doing in it and how long do you intend to keep it? Just wondering if you want to find something with low mileage, or whether you can accept higher mileage but with good history - the latter will save you a bit. Sticking to Lexus dealers, the nearest I can find to you that meets your criteria is a black F-Sport in Sheffield with 63k at £21,450. Lower mileage examples are usually £25k and upwards. If you could make it down to the area south of London (Kent, Surrey, Croydon etc) then you'd have a good range to choose from various dealers, perhaps make a weekend of it? Shame the silver Advance at Glasgow has a tan interior, but could still be worth a look at? Having done just under 50k you'd have an idea of how well that colour takes everyday use ad they seem to be offering a good deal with various extras thrown into the package.

I bought a 2014 Advance earlier this year, but exchanged it under the terms of the Lexus policy as I think a previous owner had attempted to do what you do in your Land Rover, judging from the state of underside. This was on an approved car from a Lexus dealer, so do still check carefully. I then got a 2014 Luxury, so I can compare them on the basis of recent experience. My conclusion is that the differences aren't worth worrying about - I didn't feel short-changed in getting the slightly lower-spec Luxury, to me condition was more important. The Advance was the version with 7-spoke wheels and normal stereo, not Mark Levinson. As such, the only significant difference was that it had LED headlights which I now lack. It had a panoramic roof which my Luxury doesn't have, I can happily live without it. At 6'3" you might find a headroom issue, but I didn't at 6'0". A lot of Luxury models seem to have what I think they call the design pack, with front and rear undertrays. Mine seems to be relatively unusual in not having them. My Luxury has the metallic celestial black paint, which I don't find too bad to keep clean and easier than the solid black paint on the Advance which showed up scratches and swirl marks very easily. My ideal would have been the dark metallic blue, but it's difficult to be too choosy. I knew I didn't want white (which rules out a lot of those for sale) and I don't think I could keep the cream interior clean enough so I was happy that mine was black inside. I would have happily considered an F-Sport if the right car at the right price had been available, on the basis of a test drive I took I didn't think the ride felt significantly firmer. They have a dark headlining so without a sunroof or panoramic roof they can feel a bit gloomier inside. Whether you like the look of them or not with their mesh grilles and other sporty bits is down to personal taste but they do have some useful toys like the LED lights, M/L stereo and HUD - the latter probably quite useful in a car which is quiet and easy to exceed the speed limit in. Advance seems to be the most common variant of the 2014/15 models currently for sale on AutoTrader.

Less squeaking in mine today with a boot full of stuff.... I considered a GS as an alternative to the RX - the dealer had a 450h which was rather tempting, but the issue I found with it was the lack of practicality. The rear seat doesn't fold, which I think you do have on the IS?

I recently bought a 2014 RX with just 24k miles and unfortunately that does suffer a squeaky rear seat, which isn't cured by dropping the armrest. It's pretty good otherwise, but I suspect it had a relatively easy life with its previous owner It'll be interesting to see how it fares with my rural driving. I did have another RX for five weeks but exchanged it as it had been somewhat mistreated. It looked like it had been grounded at some point, with damage to the exhaust system and undertray and it certainly didn't drive as nicely as the one I now have. On that basis I'd say they can suffer if someone abuses them.

I recently bought a 2014 Luxury, following five weeks when I had a 2014 Advance, slightly older and with higher mileage (although still fairly low) but I exchanged it as I found some problems which I was surprised to see on an approved model from a Lexus dealer. The exhaust had suffered some damage and an undertray had been scraped then secured with cable ties, making me question about how it had been looked after (that car is now for sale at an independent dealer). In day-to-day use a Luxury doesn't appear to lose anything from the Advance. LED headlights are probably the main thing, but the standard ones are still good. Advance has a different bumper and wheels, all a matter of taste. A lot of Luxury models seem to be upgraded with under-run trays front and rear and roof-rails, again up to you whether you like them or not - I'm happy without them on mine. The Advance I had was solid Velvet Black, which looks to be difficult to keep clean and it certainly shows swirl marks from polishing. Metallic Celestial Black seems to be a bit more forgiving, as I imagine would be any of the lighter shades. My Advance had a panoramic roof. It may be coincidence, or perhaps down to tyres, but I think the Luxury without it drives more tightly. A little more headroom too. A sunroof would have been nice, and is probably the best compromise. I only saw a stamped service book on mine, but I think any dealer can print off the previous history. I personally didn't bother with any checks beyond what the Lexus dealer does, but I wish I'd looked at the first one a bit more closely myself before I agreed to buy it.....

It's certainly something I'll contemplate if/when sections need attention. I've had three full stainless steel systems on various older Japanese cars where it's been more cost-effective to do that than find replacement mild steel stuff (if they've even been available).

£3800?!? Now I know why the dealer didn't want to replace the damaged one on the 2014 Advance I recently bought then exchanged........ Well done on getting it sorted for rather less, but sorry to hear you've had to go through this.

Yes, I think they suit it well, perhaps better than how they were originally. Even though they're both 15-spoke style, they differ from those on my Luxury. The central spoke on your wheels is more pronounced.

I'll send you a message with my location and an idea of when I'm free. Jumpingjehovahs on here (who I knew through another forum) kindly did the same for me before I got my RX, it was very useful. Ipswich are my nearest dealership and I found them to be very helpful there, but they didn't have the right car even amongst their other branches. It's quite useful that they currently have both a 400 and 450 at present, so you can make a side-by-side comparison. I ended up travelling 100+ miles down to Kent for mine and had been considering a trip up to Bradford.

Doesn't sound like you're too far from me Aaron. If you'd like to look at a 450 and see if you think it's worth the extra cost over a 400 then you'd be welcome to come and have a chat and a play with mine. Easier to take it in than when you've got a salesman alongside you, and I can give you my real world thoughts about its pros and cons. Mine's a '14, but I don't think there's too much different on the earlier pre-facelift models.

A leak and/or a bit of air in the cooling system? Other than the comfort aspect, sounds like something to be investigated sooner rather than later.

It doesn't help reduce the biggest items on your list, but brake discs can be skimmed if they have enough thickness left on them. I've had this done on a Camry and LS400 before, both of which had been unused for a while until I bought them, and it was very successful. They do it on the car and take the pads out, so these may as well get changed at the same time. Hopefully a good independent will have a more sensible pricing strategy.