Tickedon

I was originally going for the NX 350h, but got a too-good-to-pass-up deal on a plug-in hybrid (the 450h). I now really enjoy doing all my local trips and shopping etc. purely on electricity, with the security of a large petrol tank to travel the longer distances when needed. The increased bhp and reduced 0-60 time is also very nice. There are incentives for manufacturers to sell more hybrid plugins (due to lower co2 ratings)… and so my understanding is the RX 350h has a £1000 deposit contribution and 5.9% PCP finance vs £4000 deposit contribution and 1.9% PCP finance on the 450h+ plugin. Should mean the bigger engine and plug-in works out cheaper for most…

The satnav audio preference should hopefully be stored in your Lexus profile - have you set one up and logged in? sadly the speed limit bong is an EU rule, and manufacturers are required to have it turn back on each time you start the car… every new car launched from now will include this lovely safety feature, and so we’ll all need to get used to either living with it, or, an extended period of time tapping away at a screen to turn off all these annoying “features”.

We don’t even know if the new UX 300h is vulnerable. Both the 250h and 300e were - so it’s plausible it’s still vulnerable. The same for the ES - unclear if there have been any changes. The original article provided dates, now it just lists lots of models and only says the new NX and RX, plus LBX, have the new platform with security changes…

Lexus sales so far this year (2024)... Jan: 676 Feb: 429 Mar: 2758 (hello new 24 registration and lots of new LBX models!) Apr: 1318 A sale is a new car registration (i.e. cars ordered will count as a sale weeks/months later when registered) Watchdog ran their story in mid-March. Given cars are often on a lead time, we probably won't see any impact for a while. But given the new LBX, even if other existing customers choose to go elsewhere for their next new car, the new buyers brought in by the LBX will likely compensate... A long way of saying Lexus UK probably don't have too many incentives to do anything that quickly - sadly!

One “young and affluent” here, new to the Lexus brand, guilty as charged… Lexus had their highest ever sales in the UK in 2023 (the same year they had the highest thefts, as a percentage of cars in the road!). Their first quarter sales in 2024 so far are very similar - so I’m afraid there hasn’t been a crisis-creating drop in demand. Even a 20% drop would just put them back at what they were around pre-pandemic. Before my Lexus I had an Audi, and before that a Volvo - I put 70k miles on a S60 over 4.5 years. I would never go back. Servicing is extortionate and I had enough problems that I had to find a friendly independent to keep the costs reasonable. I’m not saying Lexus are doing a good job on this issue (far from it) nor that they should get a free pass - but the grass isn’t always greener.

Don’t want to burst your happy car moment… but as you live in the SE, you need to be aware Lexus was the most stolen car brand in 2023 (2% of all Lexus cars on the road were stolen last year!). Thieves mainly target the larger RX (1 in 46 of those stolen last year….) but sadly plenty examples on this forum of ES and NX models being targeted and stolen too. Thieves break part of the front bumper off, plug a device into the car’s wiring (“canbus”), and can unlock your car and drive off in about 60 seconds… https://mag.lexus.co.uk/lexus-uk-statement-on-vehicle-theft/?fbclid=IwAR2u1DC_0mAo4_kSpK_1FLViLNyHJq0nAKctwfXCMxQi1CwuNiGBA10yY0w_aem_ATXzc0mSafM1xX72JZyfSo-7KpoTKXtkPQjmf6ToRhjQ_4GsDaGMH6Nf5ACoFWEW2pE Lexus finally said something about the issue after watchdog ran a segment on it. Originally they’d promised a “solution” by the end of April - now that timeframe has been deleted from their statement, with no timeframe now given. Ahead of whatever solution Lexus are working on, you may want to consider an Autowatch Ghost or similar.

quite a few of my relatives have them… Mazda 2, Mazda 3, Mazda CX5. Never heard them complain of any issues (unlike the VWs and Fords before!).

Yes. Read this and other threads. RX was the UK’s most stolen car last year (as a percentage of cars on the road) - one in every 46 RXs were stolen in 2023. it even eventually hit watchdog… resulting in this statement: https://mag.lexus.co.uk/lexus-uk-statement-on-vehicle-theft/?fbclid=IwAR2u1DC_0mAo4_kSpK_1FLViLNyHJq0nAKctwfXCMxQi1CwuNiGBA10yY0w_aem_ATXzc0mSafM1xX72JZyfSo-7KpoTKXtkPQjmf6ToRhjQ_4GsDaGMH6Nf5ACoFWEW2pE

Have you tried a slower type 2 (7kwh) ? Or if you’ve only been trying those, try a CCS fast charger? otherwise I’m afraid back to your dealer - ideally before your battery runs out…

There are nearly new examples of the RZ on Autotrader from just under £43k - including from Lexus dealers. The depreciation on them is ridiculous, at these (nearly new, very discounted) prices they are much more reasonable!

Spot on, they are indeed a posh Hyundai.

There are instructions on the Lexus website detailing how to do it yourself… but I couldn’t get it to work either (you need a license code for the new update, and the part code showing was invalid according to the Lexus system!).

Yes, Lexus is Toyota’s premium brand. The point I was making is that the Jemca dealerships are ultimately owned by Toyota. Most dealership groups are normally entirely independent and not owned by the car manufacturer (e.g. Steven Eagell also mentioned are entirely independent). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_dealership

Jemca are owned by Toyota themselves - so not surprised they are clued up!

Insurers are getting around this by making minor changes to policies - thus arguing the cover isn’t equivalent and so the pricing doesn’t need to be the same.

Lexus changed their public update from “April” to “coming weeks” - suggesting a delay…

Lexus were the most stolen car brand in UK 2023. More than 2% of all Lexus cars on the road were stolen. It’s entirely understandable that insurers will therefore decline to cover them, reducing competition, and both the higher risk and less competition inevitably feeds through to higher prices for consumers. It’s not a scam - it’s the market working exactly as you’d expect. Overall, insurers were predicted to lose money in 2022 and 2023, and plenty lost rather a lot. https://www.ft.com/content/5dca87fb-1e03-4309-8a4a-01dee4fe4748

No-one wears a tie anymore. Except perhaps lawyers in court!

The RX500h should support Android Auto - however, at this time, it’s not wireless and you need to connect via a usb cable. Note that only one of your usb sockets in the car connects data to your screen (the rest are for charging only), so you also need to ensure the right cable is connected to the right usb port.

The other factor now is the ZEV mandate. Manufacturers, and thus dealers, need to ensure 22% of their vehicles sold in the UK this year have an EV certificate credit. They can get a certificate by selling an EV, borrowing against a future year, buying certificates from other manufacturers (e.g. Tesla)… or earn partial credits by reducing their fleet emissions (as it’s the government, there’s of course a complex formula to work that out). This latter point helps PHEVs as their emissions are a quarter or less of a typical car now - so more incentives to sell PHEVs can be expected, just as manufacturers (including Lexus) are now offering ridiculous discounts on new EVs. Every certificate (car) short of the 22% will cost the manufacturer £15k per vehicle - so there’s big money on the line. Much better to e.g. give a £8k PCP deposit contribution (as Honda have for their EV) or other discounts on PHEVs, than pay a £15k penalty later!

We passed a tipping point a few years ago - the majority of the UK population now get more from the government in public expenditure and tax credits / benefits than they put in. A smaller and smaller top slice of the population are paying for nearly everything. The top 10% of earners pay more than 50% of all income tax. The top 1% pay 28%. And 40p? Top rate of tax is 45p plus 2p national insurance - meaning 47% of every £1 earned disappears. And if you’re lucky / unlucky enough to earn between £100k and £125k, your marginal tax rate is *60%*. It’s a small miracle anyone still works hard and pays taxes. I am however very grateful for anyone who buys a new car - as without those purchases, there’d never be any used cars for everyone else to benefit from…

Just note that only the first year (at time of registration) VED is cheaper - since April 2017 VED rates aren’t based on co2. It’s a fixed annual fee, and in the NXs case, as models are above £40k you’ll be paying the luxury rate - approx £600 per year. personally the savings with FWD are minuscule in the overall picture of purchase and running costs.

It’s detailed in the T&Cs: https://www.lexus.co.uk/content/dam/lexus/nmsc/united-kingdom/cross-model/Lexus-Reserve-TandCs-2.pdf 3.1 You must book your Reserve Days by emailing lexusreserve@lexus.co.uk.

Lexus NX cars in the USA are manufactured in North America. We get our NX from Japan, so it may be we’re not impacted.

Some owners are having to make considerable use of the warranty - Google “kia mild hybrid tensioner” - due to an engine that seems to have a reoccurring and very expensive fault. Sadly many vehicles have been off the roads for several months waiting for the parts as well. It hasn’t been a positive experience for them. Excepting the engine issue, I would tend to agree with this… except probably not the Picanto. I drove one when my partner was looking for a small car… absolutely awful thing and engine. Only thing worse was probably the Honda Jazz. Went for a 2 year old Yaris in the end… The rest of the Kia range seems pretty good though from what I’ve experienced. Kia have also shown that they can build good EVs - and we have to be honest that the EV6 is a much more realistic EV proposition (with a real world range of 300 ish miles) than the Lexus UXe and RZ with their very limited ranges (170-200ish).