Vadim

It appears that the wheel arch can bus method may work by attaching a booster for key fob signal to make computer see the key from where it is at owners property nearby. This video suggests there is a way to disable key fob signal broadcasting:

Have my car stolen same way recently. The party did not hit the record by far and took whole 4 minutes from arrival to departure - all in front of a visible CCTV system. After the insurance procedures were followed the car was registered as stolen, and any car check clearly shows that. I was wondering where these cars go in such quantities with right side drive and “stolen” mark? It should be quite easy to spot the export flows in form of cars or parts. The UK market is not large enough to sell that as spares due to reliability of these cars and cheaply extended dealer warranty which forces to use dealer-supplied parts. Oh, actually many parts are officially supplied as remanufactured (like hybrid batteries). Just a random thought… Lexus never again unless they acknowledge the problem, apologise and see into a solution.

One remaining thing to check is stabiliser bar bushes, as this is one of the parts not replaced. Silicone spray may also help indicate issues with control arm bushes, but most other joints are sealed or difficult to access to apply spray. Note that replaced parts, even if new, may cause noises as well. Especially aftermarket. Some garages have suspension diagnostic stands which cause slight movement of the wheels in different directions while mechanic observes and listens from under the car. It may be worth spending sone £60 for such test.

I probably mixed the plugs replacement interval with something else. Indeed it is 60k miles (recommended).

Thank you. In the old plugs the upper part (the one on the “hook”) was materially eroded. I did not measure but it seemed about 0.3 mm shorter. The replacement plugs were the same brand, same code. I am not sure whether the plugs have ever been replaced before. Probably not, because I found absolutely no traces of prior work on the air intake and around, and I don’t have prior service history to check. The car is 207k miles at the moment. I think with 50k miles you would be safe to go for another 50k despite any age. Lexus might have demonstrated overadherance to preemptive servicing in your case.

Did the replacement this weekend. As it is done only every 120k miles, there is always enough of dirt you want to clean by that mileage. You may also wish to check / clean the throttle body, MAF sensor and whatever else come on the way. This is the only opportunity to get access to many of that parts, so it makes sense to do it properly and not try to save 20min. If I paid for this work, I would still ask mechanic to spend extra time to clean everything properly. Overall - 6 hours including all cleaning and oil service (after watching some very useful videos on youtube, and having all the tools required). The most difficult part was the rear bolts holding EGR cooler bracket and the air intake bracket - not saying about very tight access, a dozen times the bolts fell down during assembly / disassembly, so that at least 30 min went of searching and fetching them from under the car (some fell down to surface, some stay on the subframe and are difficult to spot). The job costs > £500, and it is worth to DIY if you have the time and experience in repairing your car and good memory of what goes where. Once done you may well wish to proudly show your oil-covered hands to your friends and boast about the accomplishment. New and old spark plugs:

Toyota hybrid system with Ni-MH batteries is the most reliable part of the car. Battery degrades slowly with mileage. Usually it becomes significantly weakened only after 150-200k miles (depending on whether it is city or motorway miles). I think what matters is battery charge / discharge cycle count.

Satnav is absolutely useless. Surprisingly it was about 5 year out of date even in 2009 when RX3 was released.

206k miles, air suspension. 3 out of 4 struts are still original. Last 20k miles in humpy school run mode. Very reliable cars.

The bearing should be 6302-2RS. They are cheap get one from a reputable brand. You can double-check the bearing model when you remove your mount: it is printed on one of the rubber seals.

I replaced mine by lowering the strut. But it was no fun, as even without air the shock is difficult to hold compressed all the way by one hand while removing / re-installing the top mount with the other hand. I would recommend removing the whole strut assembly. But then you may have a problem with stabiliser link nuts, which are often difficult to remove cleanly. As some say, suspension usually involve a great deal of controlled brute force…

These won’t work for air struts because they use very different bearing. In air suspension it is a small ball bearing.

Note on removal the struts: It is technically possible to release air, compress the shock and remove mount without unwinding the bottom of the shock (I did that on mine), but it is still much easier to remove the two bolts holding the shock at the bottom and remove the whole strut. You’ll need braker bar and 22mm socket for that bolts. You may need wheel alignment after re-installing the strut, as there is 1-2mm clearance in how you can position the bolts at the bottom. Chances are the toe and camber will change a bit. You can check toe later with a usual laser meter.

Don’t throw away the original mount - you can replace the bearing or sell it as is - these parts are in high demand, even in need of service. Also get branded Avensis mounts - some aftermarket parts start to fall in pieces in hands. Febi / BluePrint, Napa, NK - any name with at least some reputation will assure certain level of quality.

The reason why (random Lexus in London)

I forgot to mention the comparison of wheel rim dimensions and the offset: RX450h mk3 stock rims: 7.5jx19 ET35 NX (the ones featured above): 7.5Jx18 ET35 So that the wheel rim geometry and offset are exactly the same except the rim diameter. 255mm tires add 10mm width each side compared to 235mm stock tires, that is 4.2% of tire width increase. But the tire centre line remains the same relative to the rest of the car. Given that RX mk3 is barely a high-performance sport device (particularly in EV mode), this - in my experience - does not affect steering experience and high speed stability.

It is a matter of personal preference, I assume. You can find 255 tyres even on 7J wheel rims (Nissan Navara, for instance). It steers well. The point here is to use wider tyres to protect the wheel rims from curbing, which is a common problem for city dwellers. Some time ago manufacturers started using tyres which are almost flush with wheel rims, so that a lightest touch with a curb leads to scratches. I would not bother if I did not damage a set of almost perfect wheels in the first two days after buying this car. As per offset, ET35 provides sufficient clearance for 255/60 R18, so that there is at least 5-7mm to closest parts of wheel arches (with stock tyres it is about 10mm). As tyres wear the clearance increases. More rubber on the wheels also offsets some of the notorious stiffness in the pneumatic suspension of the 3rd generation RX.

The 255/60 R18 have slightly larger external diameter, but the speed measurement actually becomes closer to GPS reading. It seems that the speed indicator over-reports by about 5% with stock wheels, which is common for modern cars in general from my experience. Here is the tire dimensions comparison by one of the tyre calculators:

18” wheels upgrade Wheel rims from Lexus NX (18”, 7.5J, ET35), tyres 255/60 R18. No curbing and noticeably softer ride compared to stock 19” 235/55 R19.

There are wheel spacers with centre bore extension (the cylindrical part sticking out) to imitate Toyota spec:

In the UK any customisation may cost a fortune. Νote also that on Toyota/Lexus the wheel rims are centered on the hubs by the centre hole, not the nuts. A part of this hole is conic (narrower inside), and has to be done to the spec precisely.

Sorry for late reply. It has been 2 years since I changed the wheels, and there has been no issues: road humps on everyday school runs in London, full-load trips to France and Italy. However, it should be noted that I have air suspension model, which levels to neutral position regardless of the load. With coil spring suspension under extreme loading the rear tyres may come closer to the internal walls of the wheel arches. But you won't bring 20 bags of cement at a time in these cars anyway.

Water in the mount bearing: I don’t know how it appeared for you, but my mounts were full of water and rust when I first opened them for the bearing repair. I suspect the water gets in when pressure-washing the wheel arches and stays there because the rubber cover does not let it dry until it gets under the bearing seal and destroys the bearing. After the repair, I drilled a fee 10mm holes in the rubber covers to allow for some ventilation.

The top mount is actually a removable part. No need to send the whole strut around. Just unscrew the top nut on the strut axle (manual always suggest to do it with special tools, but it is always done with just an impact wrench with a deep socket), and knock the mount at sides if the bearing stuck on the shock axle. I am still confused by the fact that neither Toyota nor aftermarket suppliers sell the mount separately.

I doubt anyone has tried it. Best keep your car on stands while posting the mounts to Orchard Engineering and back. Mind to support the wishbone in neutral position to avoid prolonged stress to the bushes (they will crack if you leave the car with wheels all way down for a few days).