barry mason

When I decided to buy my 450 H, all the advice that I received was that they were one of the most reliable vehicles on the road, and that a relatively high mileage was not a problem. I am really disappointed that such a major (and expensive ) component failed after only100,000 miles. I used to drive Audi Quattros and had no serious mechanical problems with them. (I clocked up around 150,000 or 200,000 miles in them , and then gave them to my son, who drove them until they died! at well over 200,000). I find it Interesting that Lexus gave me a significant discount on the cost ; maybe this is a more common issue than has come up on this forum?!?! Anyway, I'm glad to have the car back. Interestingly, my garage gave me a Subaru Forester RX as a courtesy car, with similar mileage. I really enjoyed driving it, but it really was knackered. The gearbox was like a bag of spanners and the steering sloppy, the windows didn't fit properly, and the fuel consumption dreadful. In comparison, my Lexus drives like new and everything works beautifully so far.... Fingers crossed!

Oil change is specified at 60,000 miles. I assume that this was done, as the car has a full Lexus main dealer service history.

My thanks to everyone who took the time to post . Sadly the insurance company have declined to cover the damage. The car did come with a full service history from Lexus Hatfield. However my local excellent garage, Holbrook in Bisley , Stroud did find , after its first MOT after I purchased the car, that it was actually missing an anti- roll bar bracket.. (They replaced the rubber bush itself, but found that the metal clamp that holds it in place was either missing or was never fitted! If a Lexus main dealer engineer can miss something as obvious as this, may be they didn't change the transmission oil either - resulting in my £6,000 bill .. I will be asking Lexus Hatfield to check their service records, as from everything I've learned so far, a mechanical breakdown of this sort is extremely rare, and that it was just co-incidental that it failed just after driving through the water... !?!?!?

I have owned my RX450 H for 9 months. Its 8 years old, and has just clocked 100,000 miles. It came with a full Lexus service history, and everyone I spoke to said that having a relatively high mileage car wouldn't be a problem as they rarely developed mechanical faults. Just under a month ago I was caught on a B road in torrential rain, and the road ahead was flooded for 50 yds or so. I watched a Ford Fiesta drive through it slowly, and gauged the the water depth to be no more than 4 to 6 inches max. So I took it nice and steady, maybe 10 mph. As soon as I reached the other side the dreaded "HYBRID SYSTEM WARNING" light came on.... On the Monday morning I took it into my local garage, who are pretty experienced with electric and hybrid vehicles. They checked the batteries ; all fine, but they couldn't trace the fault code for one outstanding system.. So next part of the saga was to take the vehicle to the Lexus Main dealer in Cheltenham.. At this point, worried about the rapidly escalating bill, I contacted my insurers, Direct Line, who seemed happy to accept the claim as ' accidental damage", but the claim would be subject to a vehicle inspection by one of their own engineers. I have heard today that they have declined the claim as they could find no evidence that water caused the damage. I am now faced with a bill for a complete new electric motor and transmission, which will be around £6,000 . The engineer phoned to say the they had found lots of metal fragments in the oil, causing the motor to fail.. I find this all highly suspicious ; the odds of having the HYBRID FAIL light come on after 100,000 miles , immediately after getting the bottom of the car wet are so unlikely... Lexus did offer a discount on the purchase price of the motor however... is this a problem common to this model I wonder ? ( I found Lexus promotional photos of RX 450's being driven through far deeper water too.)

I've owned my 450h L on an 11 plate for about 9 months . It has a full service history from Lexus. It has just gone over the 100,000 mark, and the insurance that the dealer supplied has run out too. I love the car, but nearly a month ago I got caught in a flash flood, and had to drive about 100 yds through standing water. I could see the kerbs on both sides of the road, so judged that it wasn't more than 4 to 6 inches deep, and took it really steadily and at low speed but immediately I got the dreaded "HYBRID SYSTEM FAILIURE" light. on the dash. I took the car into my local garage (Who had recommended the purchase, and said that they were fully equipped to service it , could check the condition of the batteries etc, and could take on the servicing). After 2 weeks of poking about they admitted defeat , and now have sent my car to the Lexus main dealer in Cheltenham. Lexus have come back to say that the entire front electric motor and transmission needs renewing. They don't take them apart, and apparently there are no spare parts available either - its just a bolt on bolt on deal. The cost of course is astronomical ; £6,000 + nearly half the value of the car, but unless I cough up I am left with a scrapper! I can't believe that the hybrid system chose to fail after 100,000 miles randomly so the water must have been the cause. I live in deepest countryside , down a track which often has a few puddles.... and water filled potholes are a way of life in Gloucestershire. Has anyone else had problems with water, or am I just really unlucky? I will probably be buying a 2CV to drive in the wet after this experience!!!