Things To Look Out For When Purchasing A Used Rx 400H

[alitech]

I have reserved an 05 RX400h on autoquake.com. I think the price £12.5k was good for 74k on the clock. Would you consider that a good price? The car can be viewed here: http://www.autoquake.com/used-lexus-rx/400h-3.3-se-5dr-cvt-auto-hybrid-automatic/inspid=25286

I am in London and secured the car in Leeds. I will be travelling over to have a test drive and inspect the car. I am looking for pointers on what to look out for on this car. Things like what to look for in the service manual, which parts wear out fastest and what is the least reliable problem that these RX 400h's are renowned for? There is always something specific that goes wrong in every car. What is it for the RX400h? I would appreciate some help on this. I will do the usual checks including paperwork, engine leaks, tyres, shocks, internal electrics and of course the test drive.

Some follow up questions that I am sure every Lexus owner can easily answer:

1. What is the average insurance cost on this? I can see its insurance group 16 but I dont know what that means. I will be insuring myself and the mrs with 9 years no claims insurance. Should I be ready to be hit hard on that?

2. Anyone owning this car in London know if there is congestion charge on this? I am always cautious of this one as I have never owned a car that has no congestion charge.

3. What are your usual repair costs, i know this can be a stupid question as anything can go wrong but in terms of car part costs, am I screwed?

4. What is the yearly car tax on the RX400h?

5. How much are new tyres?

6. Does it come with a spare remote key fob? Should I be asking for one?

7. How much does servicing cost every year?

8. How much do those £10 hand car wash people charge you for the RX400h?

9. Do we get parking sensors as default? They are not mentioned anywhere and I cant find any 05 RX 400h's on google which mention parking sensors.

10. What sort of after market music system can be fit into this? I have a all in one Bluetooth, cd, mp3, ipod system already but I am unsure how it will fit into the V shaped dash.

11. How good are the batteries that run the car? I am sure they can fail, but is there a qouted life?

12. I use the following websites for price comparison on insurance quotes. Should I consider any others for this car type?

www.comparethemarket.com

www.gocompare.com

www.beatthatquote.com

www.confused.com

www.moneysupermarket.com

Apologies for the exhausted list of question but I feel the community here would be able to help me and others like me in smooth transition to a Lexus. FYI, I am moving from an Audi A3.

[PhilB911]

Hi Alitech.

I have just bought a 2007 plate with 55k on from lexus for £18.5 with a £6k trade in on my BMW330d. Parkers reckon it should have been over £21k and looking at your Parkers reckon yours should be over £15k.

I had an IS200 a few years ago and it was bullet proof, I foolowed the hype and swapped to a BMW330d, now after endless trips about my brakes, a new turbo, and finally this month a new auto box, Ive had enough and come back to the roost.

I think the RX400h is unique in the fact you can travel around a city in complete silence, complete luxury, you wont pay congestion charge and around town is where its most economical. I also need to tow, but I have already been bitten by BMW and Im not going to give all my hard earned cash over to land rover to cover their notorious reliability issues. I went to Lexus main dealer because I wanted the security of their warranty, I do believe you can buy these for a second hand car even if not bought from them and that might cost you a few quid but youve saved three grand not going to a main dealer. Ive heard parts are dear but being a Lexus they are renown for their reliability, so you shouldnt ever have to buy any :-). I also pay £150 a year for AA and that gives me roadside assistance, relay to anywhere in UK, 3 days in a hotel or rental car and also (the best bit) if they cant fix the car at the roadside they will fix it and pay the first £500.

My insurance is the same as my 330d and its about £700 a year.

Tyres for a decent set are about £150 each go to www.parkers.co.uk for a detailed breakdown of the car and its spec, then go to www.blackcircles.co.uk for a tyre quote.

the stereo is supposed to be superb and I think the solution im going to is a radio transmitter for my ipod and you simply tune the stereo to it, not ideal but a lot less messing around and expense than fitting another stereo.

parkers website details all the tax band etc but i think its about £255 a year.

I havent actually picked mine up yet just waiting for the paperwork for the private plate to go through so hopefully someone that actually owns one could give you more help.

take the plunge i have!!!!

Phil

[PCthug]

Got my '06 (on a '55 plate) a couple of weeks ago.

Insurance wise, i pay £48 per year more than i did my old Saab 9-3 1.9TiD i traded in, so its less than £400 per year FC (41yo, 5year NC, NE UK).

Servicing is actually not too bad, and about £200 from a main Lexus dealer.

Mine had 6 months tax put on it when i got it, and its £123(ish), so about £210 per year.

If it had SatNav it would have reversing camera, as it hasn't i am not sure.

If its the same stereo as mine (sure it is), its great, and also has blue tooth built into it that works fine.

You will love the car, it is very quiet, and feels quite high up and very safe and great quality.

The stereo is very good, but doesnt have iPod input. A connector can be fitted for around £200, but i think this does away with the CD changer (wish it did away with the tape player personally).

[alitech]

Got my '06 (on a '55 plate) a couple of weeks ago.

Insurance wise, i pay £48 per year more than i did my old Saab 9-3 1.9TiD i traded in, so its less than £400 per year FC (41yo, 5year NC, NE UK).

Servicing is actually not too bad, and about £200 from a main Lexus dealer.

Mine had 6 months tax put on it when i got it, and its £123(ish), so about £210 per year.

If it had SatNav it would have reversing camera, as it hasn't i am not sure.

If its the same stereo as mine (sure it is), its great, and also has blue tooth built into it that works fine.

You will love the car, it is very quiet, and feels quite high up and very safe and great quality.

The stereo is very good, but doesnt have iPod input. A connector can be fitted for around £200, but i think this does away with the CD changer (wish it did away with the tape player personally).

Thanks for your reply guys. I wanted to know if the parking sensors come by default or am I looking at after market ones?

Also, whats the main gripe people would have with the Lexus 400h? Is there any one thing that always goes wrong with it? I just want to be prepared to ask the question when I visit the inspection site.

[alitech]

Heres the cockpit of the car. As you can see its in good shape.

Does anyone know if there is an aftermarket stereo / Sat nav system that you can install in here? Are there any mounts or fitting you can buy? All I need is to replace either the CD player or the casset player with a stereo with a swivel out LCD.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Valkirk]

Hmm, 1 owner is good however I would be wary of any owner that has ended up with 3 different makes of tyres on their car...

[alitech]

Hmm, 1 owner is good however I would be wary of any owner that has ended up with 3 different makes of tyres on their car...

I wont be able to afford new tyres, I would do the same really.

Would appreciate some answers to the questions raised above.

THanks