Xez

This was my experience also.

You are correct that purchase incentives have been removed from BEV/PHEV vehicles. Dealers are still able to offer discount and pass on their manufacturer rebates to offer improved prices when it suits them as they approach their sales targets. Lexus still operates a dealer rather than agency structure, thus dealers can, and do, compete for business. With regard to your point about the opaqueness of lease/PCP deals I would expect that the deposit and underlying interest rate charged within the calculation must be shown before committing to the deal. However as you say on a simple headline table as you provided it is quite possible that there are differences hidden beneath the surface.

I would assume that the desirability of the 450h+ would produce a much higher residual value at the end of the contract compared with the 350h models. Thus the significantly lower monthly payments despite the probably higher interest charge of the original capital sum.

Sorry if you are already aware that by toggling the HV/EV button it should force the car to run in either of those modes. Having said that with the car in EV mode I and others have experienced the car running in HV when there’s enough EV charge remaining (this is to be expected according to the manual). Also I’ve noticed when in HV mode the car will occasionally drop into EV mode but this is mainly when going slightly downhill on a motorway or at low manoeuvring speeds. Hope you can solve the conundrum.

This is my status following the charge yesterday….. keep the faith 😂

I agree that the weather has helped to increase range, but also it’s worth noting that last summer when I purchased the car the expected range was showing 41-42 miles and that it has steadily improved since.

Thanks for the heads up about the new version. I’ve not had much joy using the online version on my iPad as the search and page jump functionality doesn’t seem to work very well. My dealer downloaded the full version and emailed it to me in two parts which I’ve found very useful. I’m also a confirmed Luddite that still prefers paper and being able to flick back and forth between the index and other pages!

Hi Tom, if you search on Lexus Parts Direct you’ll see that it’s available there…. at a price!

I’ve checked that the manual with reference PZ471-U0142-EN is in fact a user guide, which is a cut down version of the full manual.

FYI I’ve found that the EV range has gradually increased over time. Mine now shows 48 miles on a full charge.

Thanks for your update Ken, it’s always interesting to hear from other drivers about the RX. I’ve been driving mine sine July last year and have pretty much managed to train myself to mute the excess speed warning sound (although I do like to have the visual warning still on) each time I set off. As I’ve stated elsewhere I also find supermarket car parks challenging and that’s after downsizing from an L322 Range Rover! I suppose that was rather slab sided and a higher seating position, but I also think that there’s a lot of information being sent to the brain in the RX with all the camera angles, warning symbols and sounds plus good, old-fashioned mirrors going on. I need to spend some time in a quiet car park and use the automated parking function. I’ve tried it 4 times to date and each time it’s not been a comfortable experience so have ended up overriding it.

Top Gear magazine has changed their long term test from the RX450h+ to an RX500 F-Sport

Ah, okay…. so there are actually a number of different versions of the manual. The screen shot I provided is from a download provided by my dealer ahead of the delivery, but is very similar to the hard copy I requested with the original purchase that is referenced PZ471-99Y61-EN and is 804 pages long. There’s a shorter version that is normally provided with the car. And, of course, there’s a completely separate manual for the infotainment system….

Hi Tom, I believe that this section of the RX manual will explain the circumstances where the EV mode is overridden. There is a point in the list about cooling the battery; were you setting off immediately after charging the car? Cheers, Kev

Hi, I’m convinced you should be able to send/reply to text and WhatsApp messages as I’m able to on the same operating system. As a suggestion perhaps check that Siri is enabled for ‘Allow Siri when locked’ switched on. Good luck…

Hi, just caught this headline today after coincidentally seeing a glowing report of the Century on the Driven to Write website. Hopefully this link works ok. https://driventowrite.com/2024/03/15/a-dtw-kind-of-car-toyota-century/

I’ve also spotted that Top Gear online is into its third month of long term testing an RX 450h+ Takumi.

I do find with the RX that despite all the cameras and colourful lines parking is still tricky due to its length. There’s a surprising amount of space used at the front end of the car which makes parking in multi story parking spaces interesting. Earlier this week I reversed into a space until the braking warning stopped the car and was told by my wife that the nose was sticking out by about 3 feet (I assumed she meant the car not me!). It was due to the concrete supporting pillars so I moved to a more open part of the car park and just managed to get parked with a minor overhang of the marked space at the front. Best wishes for enjoying your new RX, I look forward to seeing your future posts

Welcome to the RX side of LOC. Which trim level have you opted for?

For those interested Car magazine has just started a long term test of the RX450h+ in Premium Plus trim.

According to the online brochure the NX 350h has a 10 speaker Pioneer Audio System.

I would recommend seeing or speaking with your dealer. However if you are confident and want to get into the boot the manual has this advice.

Before we decided on the RX we tried an NX F sport with the standard stereo and was appalled by the tinny sound quality. We then tried a Takumi with the ML system and thought it much better. However on returning to the F sport and delving into the settings we found that the balance of the speakers was completely to the front and that the bass was set low. Once corrected it was difficult to discern a noticeable difference between the two. So in essence I agree with Eggie, have a back to back sit in some demo cars and play around with the settings as it does make a significant difference to the sound.

Hi Tom, yes I get a very similar experience going along a country lane that is signed at national speed limit (60mph) but the car shows a 40mph limit. It always changes to 60 mph at exactly the same place along the road despite there not being any signage present. The RSA is reputedly using the front camera to indicate the applicable speed limit, however when coming back along this road the speed limit displayed changes from 60mph to 40mph with no signage present.

I agree that parking spaces are too tight for modern cars. I’ve found the length of the car to be a bit of a challenge when parking despite all the aids (but that’s probably my poor spatial awareness 😉) The NX that we tested was definitely easier to manoeuvre but we needed more in car space etc. I guess it’s just the trade off you need to decide upon.