New Owner 05 Rx400H Se-L

[v3ttrx4h]

Good evening

Im not sure if this is the correct area for a newbie post so apologies if its not in the right place!

I have recently purchased the above vehicle and i must say i am very pleased with it so far.

After a weeks ownership i do have a few minor concerns but lets just say i have more positives than negatives!

Its silver with black interior, sat nav & headrest dvds which work fine i might add.

The timing belt was changed along with the water pump before picking it up with a full mot, no advisories.

It has 108k with 3 owners and part service history but in spite of this im hoping it serves me well for the future.

Im happy to say everything works fine apart from when i select intermitted wiper.... nothing at all.

Its not an issue for now but its something i will look at fixing in the near future.

If this vehicle does serve me well without too much repair bills i have plans to change the appearance.

Before i purchase any vehicle i always look at any tuning options and see if its viable to change anything and im happy to say with the items ive seen, changes will be done!

At some point the standard alloys will be changed to a wheel size of 8.5/ 9x 22" with either 255/265/35/22 inch tyres,

For now though, it looks like i may need to purchase some brake pads/disc with 2 tyres.

Ive seen some genuine front & rear discs/pads on eBay for £300....is this a good price?

Tyres im thinking of the Hankook ventus st.

Im about to wrap this thread up now with a few questions about the Rx

Does they have air suspension? How do i check to see if it has?

I will be looking to change the head unit to double din. Has anyone done this?

After searching the only solution to make it work without loosing the factory settings is to purchase the beat sonic rx 82. Its not cheap but im off to the states next month so thats top of my list?

Last week filled up with shell v power while the petrol light was on, 50 litres to full.

Car has just returned 270 miles mixed driving of A road and local to petrol low level light with average reading 25.8.

Is that about right?

Either way thats better mileage than my previous volvo v50 d5 auto so im very happy.

Regards

[Boxbrownie]

Welcome in.........I see your in Essex, there is an excellent specialist in Rawreth, Westfield Lexus.....I have used them since I got my RX some 7 years ago, never had a problem or cause to think they were doing anything but what was needed.

I have Hancook Ventus ST fitted to my '10 ML and they are very good, nice and quiet too, much more so than the Contis originally fitted.

Those wheels and tyre wish list should fill the arcxhes out very nicely but what they will do for the ride is another thing altogether

Air suspension? I would have thought you should have some kind of manual overide switch for the height, that should be a giveaway, unless Lexus do thier own thing and restrict adjustment to auto all the time, I am sure somebody with a SEL will be able to confirm soon.

You only got 26 odd mpg from a V50 D5 auto I'd have been looking at a reason for that other than a very heavy right foot :D

[lurch]

The RX 400's do not have air suspension, was never fitted not even on the se l models. On a run I can get 32-33 mpg around town 30 ish never any lower.

Hope this helps.

[stevet]

Same here. I usually average around 32-33 with about 350 miles on a full tank.

[v3ttrx4h]

Anything I should do to try to get the mpg in the 30's?

Ive also been driving in the energy zone as much as possible, braking gently, accelerating gently and driving under 30mph when possible.

How much do lexus charge for a health check?

Are you guys getting over 30mpg using shell v max or normal unleaded?

[Boxbrownie]

What type of tyres are you running at the moment? Difference between enrgy saving and performance tyres can make as much as up to 8-10% gain in economy, also if they are cheap tyres they can be very inefficient also.

Tyre pressures have to be spot on or a little higher can help gain a few mpg.

From what I have read the gain in any kind of performance and or economy using higher octane petrols can be offset by the higher price, its a bit of a balancing act.

[DanD]

I think that before you start worrying about fuel return, there arre a few threads that you should read. There are a lot of parameters to consider before you decide whether or not your Petrol consumption is good, bad or just acceptable. to name but a few...

- hills vs flat

- short vs long journey

- heavy vs light foot

- weather

- aircon switched on or off

- motorway vs town & A roads

- seize of wheels + type of tyres

All these - and others - will have an impact on how much you use and rely on the electric vs petrol driven components

[It wasn't me]

Hi

No need to buy genuine discs n pads as they are expensive and are all made to the same specification (reg90) which is within 10% of the originals fitted at the factory.

I use Pagid from Euro car parts, made by TMD friction and zinc coated for so the don't go rusty like other that aren't coated.

Do it on line and u even get free delivery within a couple of days and would think you are looking around £100-115 for the fronts and £95-105 for the rear all inc vat.

Regards Shaun

[Boxbrownie]

Sorry I missed your mention of the pads and discs, got to agree with Shaun, buy Pagid if available from Eurocarparts.

I fitted these to my ML all around as they are OEM for MB and they have been great.

[It wasn't me]

Ref the wipers they will be rain sensitive surely , so u won't have intermittent. Operate once to clear the screen on entering the vehicle then it will work from the rain sensor if it set correctly on auto.

On my wiper stork it says

Mist (manually operated)

Off

Auto

Lo

Hi

Or something like that.

[nelmo]

I think that before you start worrying about fuel return, there arre a few threads that you should read. There are a lot of parameters to consider before you decide whether or not your Petrol consumption is good, bad or just acceptable. to name but a few...

- hills vs flat

- short vs long journey

- heavy vs light foot

- weather

- aircon switched on or off

- motorway vs town & A roads

- seize of wheels + type of tyres

All these - and others - will have an impact on how much you use and rely on the electric vs petrol driven components

Yup, totally agree - my wife does lots of short journeys round town and in this weather (heating on full all the time), we're getting 22mpg :eerrrmm: - in the summer, it was more like 30mpg...

[v3ttrx4h]

What type of tyres are you running at the moment? Difference between enrgy saving and performance tyres can make as much as up to 8-10% gain in economy, also if they are cheap tyres they can be very inefficient also.

Tyre pressures have to be spot on or a little higher can help gain a few mpg.

From what I have read the gain in any kind of performance and or economy using higher octane petrols can be offset by the higher price, its a bit of a balancing act.

At the moment the car is running 4x Bridgestone potenza, 235/55/18.

What is the correct tyre pressures?

[v3ttrx4h]

The RX 400's do not have air suspension, was never fitted not even on the se l models. On a run I can get 32-33 mpg around town 30 ish never any lower.

Hope this helps.

Mmm, that was one of the main reasons why i wanted one.

I also read a statement from what car which said ' The Lexus SE-L has air suspension so its the one to go for out of all the RX vehicles.

Looks like the air suspension could be next on the list but after a lotto win :)

[RXJasonRX]

i have the same tyres and use the handbook figure.. (i think) of 33psi all round.

[v3ttrx4h]

I think that before you start worrying about fuel return, there arre a few threads that you should read. There are a lot of parameters to consider before you decide whether or not your Petrol consumption is good, bad or just acceptable. to name but a few...

- hills vs flat

- short vs long journey

- heavy vs light foot

- weather

- aircon switched on or off

- motorway vs town & A roads

- seize of wheels + type of tyres

All these - and others - will have an impact on how much you use and rely on the electric vs petrol driven components

Hi, At the moment im happy with my petrol consumption but id really like to see it in the 30's one day.

with regards to my driving style i'll answer in percentage

Hills vs Flat 30 -70

Short vs long journeys 40-60

Heavy vs light foot 30-70

Weather - rainy,cold & windy

Air con is hasn't been used - Just normal usage setting low @ 23-35

Motorway vs Town vs A roads 10 - 50 - 40

Size of wheels & types of tires 18" wheels & 235/55/18

Regards

[v3ttrx4h]

i have the same tyres and use the handbook figure.. (i think) of 33psi all round.

Hi & Thanks,

I will try the nitrogen air tomorrow.

[v3ttrx4h]

Ref the wipers they will be rain sensitive surely , so u won't have intermittent. Operate once to clear the screen on entering the vehicle then it will work from the rain sensor if it set correctly on auto.

On my wiper stork it says

Mist (manually operated)

Off

Auto

Lo

Hi

Or something like that.

Mine is exactly the same but it doesn't move :(

[v3ttrx4h]

Sorry I missed your mention of the pads and discs, got to agree with Shaun, buy Pagid if available from Eurocarparts.

I fitted these to my ML all around as they are OEM for MB and they have been great.

Great, i will check these out.

[Boxbrownie]

What type of tyres are you running at the moment? Difference between enrgy saving and performance tyres can make as much as up to 8-10% gain in economy, also if they are cheap tyres they can be very inefficient also.

Tyre pressures have to be spot on or a little higher can help gain a few mpg.

From what I have read the gain in any kind of performance and or economy using higher octane petrols can be offset by the higher price, its a bit of a balancing act.

At the moment the car is running 4x Bridgestone potenza, 235/55/18.

What is the correct tyre pressures?

It'll be in the handbook and on a sticker either on the door Bpillar or the fuel filler cover.

[Parrot of Doom]

Hello, I'm also a new owner of a 2005 RX400h SE-l, formerly an LS400 owner. I've attached a pic. All seems well, but I have a few questions. Firstly, what's the best way to get an aux input or Bluetooth audio from my Android phone into the stereo? Obviously I want to retain Bluetooth call functionality and satnav voice interruptions, etc. Secondly, it has the Mark Levinson stereo but medium wave (I listen to 5 Live a lot) seems awfully dull - is there a way to boost treble on MW but not on FM or CD? Thirdly, er...there is no thirdly actually. The car seems to be bloody brilliant.

PS the wonky headlamp is going to be fixed next week.

PPS I've seen a few posts about getting your phone's contacts list into the car's memory. I managed it very easily with an Android app called "Bluetooth file transfer". Took about a minute.

[Boxbrownie]

Looks lovely........like the colour a lot.

[DanD]

There is more than one app called "blue tooth file transfer". Which one did you use?

[Parrot of Doom]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.medieval.blueftp&hl=en_GB

[DanD]

Thank you! Will try and report back!

[NEV72]

Noticed the bit about types of pads, for the RX300 I went with the EBC Green stuff, heavy duty 6000 series, reccomended for 4x4's. Now I know each and everyone has their own preference ,but thought I'd throw another option in.

Plus just checked and see they lasted 52k before renewing them.

I'll also be putting them on the RX400h when the time comes.