GSLV6

Mine came with the car, but I saw in my local dealership that they were on sale there. Mine was inside my glove box when I picked the car up. Yes, if you have the smart insurance, that'll sort it out.

I rarely allow the fuel tank to dip much under quarter of a tank. A local mech' informed me that running a car to almost dry doesn't do the fuel pump much good and any much collecting in the tank can prematurely clog fuel filters in older vehicles.

You may be able to do that job yourself with the Lexus touch up kit (£29). I have used mine on a few dings on the front valance which were down to plastic (stones coming up from potholes being flicked back by car tyres in vehicles ahead). Basecoat goes on after washing car. Leave 10 minutes and gently rub down area of over-splash around scratch using the textile tip of the applicator (after holding under a tap to dampen it). Leave 10 minutes, ensure the area is dry and then apply a coating of lacquer to seal. Leave that a few days and polish back. You can make the repairs almost invisible with care. I've invested in a DAS Pro 6 dual action polisher now and it's more than paid for itself. Two or three vandal-derived scratches the full length of the car were polished out and I use it to apply a bi-annual 4000 grit polish to freshen the finish up before sealing with Menzerna Lock & Seal. Not as good as a full Si-2 coating but cheaper and offers environmental protection. The Si-2 coatings won't prevent vandals scratch your car but will largely prevent swirl marks from polishing, slight scratches from branches and twigs or accidentally scrubbing the paintwork.

I think that there's some truth to that but it depends on the owner really and what the vehicle was used for. I'd buy and older car with twice the miles off a sales rep who just put easy but steady M-way miles on a car with no short trips rather than from a 1 lady owner who used the car for the school run/cub scouts/shopping/all round town short trips. Trouble is, without digging a bit deeper and seeing the car, it can be difficult to check so getting a remote inspection as you've had done is ideal. When I sold my last Lexus, we were the 2nd owners and it was sold after we'd had it a few years in much better condition that I bought it in. That car cost me thousands to get spot on so the person buying it got a bargain. I don't like nasty surprises so maintain a vehicle irrespective of cost and I think it's only fair to sell a vehicle like that on without any nasty surprises awaiting the new owner. Keep at it, and you'll get the right one for you. We took months to find the exact F-Sport model in the right colour with the right extras we were after but FWIW, it was worth the wait and we're so glad that we didn't compromise in the end.

I'd be walking away from that one. Sounds like an unloved vehicle, a problem child! Cost likely includes a full service at say £300; several hours of diagnosis and getting to the root of the electrical problems at possibly another few hundred; some bodywork reconditioning at another few hundred; likely a new CDP (NOT cheap in these); new discs rear (replace both at the same time) so another hundred or more, plus new pads, plus likely a hydraulic fluid change and piston service (ie £350 for the full brake service); at that mileage/age, possibly new shockers. Any vehicle run low on oil and coolant is a vehicle that I wouldn't buy. It may not have been topped up since the last service and may have accelerated wear as a result (almost certainly with a 20K oil change interval!). I'd say you'd be getting off lightly with at least a £1000 plus on top of the purchase price just to get ot to acceptable standards, never mind in good shape and then you are left with the legacy of the lack of care maybe raiding new issues after you sort that little lot out.

Yes, but the build up is still caused by the EGR gas re-circulation system. It's a flawed system.

I thought that I'd share a few observations picked up whilst the car was having its boots changed but also about the tyre choice itself. First, I took the liberty of checking the underside of the vehicle, and bearing in mind that this is only a 2 1/2 year old RX, this is what I found: Corrosion: surface rust starting on rear subframe, rear suspension arms and notably some more serious corrosion starting to eat into the top of the damper mounting bosses and the housings for the suspension bushings. These really need wire brushing and liberally coating with ACF50. Rear fuel pipe filler: I located the pipe which is visible from the bottom of the arch liner. The rust issue will be limited to the point from here up to the tank entry. No rust at all...it looks new. It would be a good idea to clean off and liberally coat in ACF50 anyway. Front suspension arms: very light surface rust spots...nothing to be concerned with; the rest of the suspension mountings look fine. Tyres: OE Dunlop Sport 270s removed. The compound had hardened with just a few years on them. We compared them against new Dunlops in the shop. BIG difference in how the compound felt. Lots of crazed cracks along the outside base of the tread which was starting to lift in a few places. This is most likely due to the vehicle not being garaged and subsequent exposure to direct sunlight as UV degrades the tyres over time. I was surprised at the number of small sharp gravel bits actually embedded into the tyre, not just in between the tread!. Tyre wear was nice and even although one tyre of the four had worn inexplicably about 1mm more all round! New tyres: Avon ZX7s...these appear to use a softer compound, A rated for wet weather grip and C rated for fuel economy. Despite being rated at 70dB, 1dB higher than the Dunlops, they definitely sounded quieter. Handling wise, they inspire more confidence, exhibiting higher grip levels and they also notably turn in better and have slightly more feedback from the road, such as it is with the electro-mechanical steering. Overall, pleased with them but the jury's out until I see what mileage they put up. They probably wont outlast the Dunlops but maybe that's a good thing! (grip and wet weather performance being more important).

I'd hold out for a higher spec SE-L and as others have said, age and mileage are less important than condition and history but obviously, the later the model, generally, the better. Make sure that you check underneath for signs of rotting rear sub frames and fuel tank feeder pipes, brake pipes and exhaust. To replace that little lot costs a pretty penny and probably more than an elderly example is worth. Hybrids are fine and you can get the hybrid system checked by independants and cells replaced pretty economically compared with Lexus. Check that the previous owner's have kept a Lexus service history including hybrid health check. Personally, irrespective of reported reliability (Lexus dealerships often replace things covered by warranty agreements and I often wonder if these get reported as reliability issues), I would steer clear of any vehicle using air suspension and go for the newest lowest mileage example that you can find with a comprehensive history, even if for the budget, that's a 120K mile car. You might get lucky and find a lower mileage example. It's worth travelling nation-wide for the right vehicle. Also, I'd avoid buying anything from coastal areas (I made that mistake with my last Lexus and corrosion was a problem). Get the right vehicle and keep it serviced and looked after and it will look after you.

Shopped around and decided to give the business to my local tyre fitter rather than give profits to national tyre centres. The price was the same at £127 per corner for the ZX7s but with no discount which I could have got via tyreshopper. I don't mind as the local guy always takes care of the wheels and is a pleasure to deal with. Ordered this morning and will be in this afternoon.

I thought that the carbon build up was due to the EGR valves fitted on modern vehicles to make EU emissions? The crank-case breather delivers an oil mist, and this often vents to the inlet "downstream" of the EGR valve. The hot exhaust re-circulation gasses contain a lot of carbon sooty particles and it's these I believe that cause the issues. If there's not a lot of oil mist from the breathers, the result is a sooty build up on the inlet valves. It's worse with an oil mist as it forms a sludge. I had the egr blanked off and coded out of the ecu on one of my cars. That cured the issue. Stupid piece of engineering designed to mess up the engine. The sensible thing would have been to engineer them with an expansion chamber and trap with an outlet filter (serviceable) but for economy, they're manufactured to feed straight back into the inlet manifold on most cars.

Yes, the last point isn't lost on me. I've never heard any knocking on the steering and am pretty sure I'd have noticed, but there could be a difference with the car on the ramps and no other noise present like the engine running. However, the ignition would have to be set to "ready" to check this as the steering is electro-mechanical so they couldn't tell by just using the ol' wiggle test! There's no way it could have been a bearing or joint at that mileage. It puts me in mind of Lexus changing all the hydraulic tappets on my GS300 (£3K bill, engine out job) and afterwards, the spanner telling me out of ear-shot that the knocking from cold was more likely to have been a noisy fuel pump cam, which are noisy until warmed up. To be fair, when the changes were made then, the cold knocking wasn't as bad as it previously had been (but still there) so it could well have been a dodgy tappet. If I ever found out otherwise, there'd have been hell to pay.

I think I'll be getting mine up on the ramps and liberally coating in ACF50! That's worked on keeping my Harley rust free so far (ok...a mid life crisis and I admit it!!!)

That's a steering column issues though and I think they said that it specifically was a steering rack issue (could be wrong though), plus my car's a late 2014 model so not covered under that TB. It's replaced now and I intend on taking out the extended warranty when mine runs out at the end of this year, so won't worry too much.

That's pretty shocking. I'd be interested to hear back when you've asked around...

Nice. I'm warming to the 4RX, and the one I sat in at my dealership certainly felt comfortable. I'm just not sure I'd wanted to have spent the £10K extra over the 3RX to get one, for really not a huge amount extra/better, but it looks as though it has moved on and improvements have been made. Must admit, I'd have expected improved MPG from the revised hybrid system but maybe it's not that much different and the car not a lot different on weight. The ride over bumps can be a bit choppy but I find that only at low speed. On the move at normal road speeds, it's seldom noticeable, although it is notable that the F-Sport is pretty firmly sprung. Whereas the GS have a magic carpet ride whilst keeping flat in the corners, I'd expect the heavier vehicle to thump a bit more on the bumps if firmer sprung. The real 4RX advances seemed to me to be twofold: 1) the interiors have moved on and are top drawer now and 2) the tech seems to have jumped another decade. Jury's out on the styling. I like the front end but still not sold on the side profile as one in black reminded me of a hearse for some reason with that chrome strip accent along the rear! You can;t go wrong with either model though, 3RX or 4RX. Both exceptional motor cars.

From my own perspective, I had a 2007 GS300 and these are the issues (all expensive) that mine suffered from: Exhaust split at the Y junction...a common well documented issue resulting in about a £600 bill for a new rear exhaust section; premature failure of all shock absorbers...again well documented and due to under-specified shocks, something which Lexus has never addressed; failure of one of the hydraulic tappet seals meaning engine out and new hydraulic tappets (had the lot replaced) but I gather this was a very rare occurrence; a re-flash of the ECU needed when the rear soft close of the boot failed to operate Failure of the wheel lacquer finish, a common issue due to poorly specified lacquer system resulting in a £340 bill to have the wheels powder coated; bubbling of the paint on the aluminium bonnet requiring a complete respray, all due to a badly done stone chip repair. That car cost me dear.

TBH, I still find the performance less than my petrol GS, but it's adequate, especially bearing in mind it's a car weighing 2.2 tonnes. One thing I do know, because I've tested it with a mate (using GPS), and that's the zero to 60 time is way under the official quoted figure, as is the 1/4 mile. We took and average of 4 or 5 timings and the 0-60 was close to 7 seconds. No slouch, but mid range urge was less than the GS which weighed a heck of a lot less. Handling wise, I can't fault it. I've found tyre pressures to be critical though. I keep mine at 36psi (cold) all round and that really is the sweet spot between handling and economy. Mine's the F-Sport and whatever the new version's handling, I find the 3RX F-Sport as good as anyone can expect in the handling stakes and better than most vehicles that I've tried of the same weight. I certainly think that the F-Sport was the pick of the bunch. I'm not worried if the newer one is better because I didn't buy it as a sports car, but the new one being a great drive I guess is a real bonus for anyone buying one. I'm just happy that the 3RX F Sport handles as well as it does....way better than the standard versions when pushed. Economy is poorer than expected. I was hoping for mid to high 30's and instead it's returned low 30's (32 to be precise) since I bought it. Still, that's no worse than a mate's X3 diesel BMW. Overall, it's a great car but not as cosseting, refined, fast or luxurious as my old GS 300 SE.

My local dealer who fitted the new rack under warranty...Listers Lexus. I tend to trust them as they have been excellent in the three years I've been using them.

Welcome to the RX club. Once bitten, forever smitten... I had a number of reservations when I bought my RX450h but it's proved to be the best car we've ever owned. Enjoy

I'm not surprised that you chose the RX. Before buying ours, I looked at or tested a similar spread to yours. The F-Pace was the one that disappointed me most. All show and plenty of go from the 3 litre engine, but poorly screwed together and just lacked room making it less roomy even than my previous GS300! It was a case of styling over substance. I too found the XC90 pretty dull to drive and definitely it felt under powered and wallowy. I looked at a few X5s too but huge running costs and known reliability issues (including the very well documented gearbox issues) eventually put me right off. Since buying our 3RX in January, I can say hand on heart that it is the best car we've ever owned, a real jack of all trades. I don't know whether yours had an issue with the rear axle, but in spite of some spirited driving, I never find the rear "bouncy" or loose. the car handles better than it has any right to although not as compliant as my old GS. It isn;t the most roomy of all SUVs but it ha more than adequate room and this is one year where we won't be needing the roof box for the family holiday. Fuel economy on mine has long-term averaged 32mpg, with the best seen having been about 44mpg on one cross country trip, and the worst being 26mpg after some heavy right foot work. To be honest, I wouldn't change it for any other car and we definitely made the right choice. If it stays reliable, I'll eventually (probably) trade it in for whatever the newer replacement to the RX is then, but it won;t be for another 9 years or so!

No worries Steve, better safe than sorry! They didn't specify whether this was a general thing nation-wide and as no recalls have been issued, it may not have been. However, of 10 Rx's in for service in recent months, 3 had to be done, all under 20K miles from what I gather. On the tyre front, mine have 4mm of tread left after 18,800 miles, so I would probably have changed them prior to winter anyway. Just shopped around and found the best deal for the Avons as £485 fitted, including VAT at my nearest National Tyre centre. At £121.25 per corner, that's pretty good really.

Great to know John, and what a great price! I'm currently looking at deals a little more expensive than that but as I need them fitted this coming week, I may just have to pay more and get them on. Compare with something like Cross-Climates, they seem remarkable VFM, besides having good feedback on performance.

Hello all. Been a while since I last posted as been flat out with other things but now I have a bit more time, expect me back in circulation I thought that I'd pass on a few things observed from my 20K service (actually carried out at 18K under my service agreement). The first shock was that on a 450RX F-Sport having covered just 18K miles from new, I was told that a new steering rack was needed as a "precautionary measure"....this is an electro-mechanical device with integral electric motors built in apparently....cost£1200! (part), Mine was replaced during the service. Apparently there have been numerous instances involving late model (2010 onwards?) 450RX's where the rack has started to make a knocking sound, which if left, can lead to failure of the part. Lexus were unable to say why or what the cause was, but most are being replaced under warranty. If you haven't already had yours checked, possibly wise to do so at your next service or MOT. Secondly, there seems to have been an issue with my original fitment Dunlop 270 Sport SP tyres. the sidewalls are cracking with the base of the tread pattern in particular very badly crazed. Left as they stand, even though there's a few thousand miles left in them, there's a risk of tread separation at the edges, so as it's close to holiday time (= big miles) I am going to bite the bullet and replace all 4 tyres. Has anyone any strong recommendations? I need to order these Monday morning latest. I was going to go with Avon ZX7s unless someone has a better suggestion for a low noise decent all year round tyre which won't perish within 3 years of new!

I never achieved mid 30's at 70mph. Even on long runs, the best has been 34mpg at a steady 70. The tyres are OE Dunlops inflated to 36psi all round. Eco mode I think is a waste of time and actually costs more mpg in hilly terrain as you're constantly having to put your boot to the floor if you don't want to creep about at 25mph on the hills. I live in the Cotswolds, so hills are a necessary symptom of the vistas! The terrain I think is the real killer for me. Yet, my MK 3 GS300 did more mpg locally as well as much more on a run, with the best on a Lake District run last year of 44mpg on the motorway at a steady mid 70's. I bought the RX partly as my mileage has increased and the fuel economy over the GS300 was just one draw. The official figures are an impossibility of you live anywhere that isn't billiard table flat. I do feel a little cheated by Lexus and whilst on a soap box, there are some totally unacceptable compromises on build quality (two meaningless words when spoken from the mouth of marketing men) too for the price of the car. Bizarrely, despite all of this, it remains the only sane choice!

Yes, that's true. The laws of physics stand irrespective of who makes a car! Disappointingly, my average since picking the car up has dropped to just 28mpg over 1100 miles. That's not good. I don't know how anyone is getting mid 30's average in one of these as I drive carefully. Mind you, to get anywhere here, you have to climb a steep hill and from cold. That, combined with a fair few shortish trips is what does the real damage.