Leaderboard

Hi Steve I tow 1650kgs with Gen3 (2013) RX450h Premier and it is a brilliant tow car, ample power, stable and of course sheer luxury. Fuel low twenties per gallon. Good job your potential RX already has a towbar - saves you around £1200 after market fit on a Gen4. I use cruise control as often as possible because it can be easy to exceed limits without noticing but probably not so much with another 250kgs behind. I assume you will be towing a twin axle caravan and at 1900kgs fuel consumption will probably drop to high teens. Over the last 15 years or so, I have towed our various caravans all over the UK and Europe with a Lexus RX400 and now RX450 totalling around 50,000 miles with caravan in tow. My RX400 was one of the first batch of retail RX Hybrids imported into the UK in June 2005 and I had done 186,000 miles when I sold it still going strong last year. Any specific question let me know - I wouldn't tow with anything else but I am biased.

https://www.theclayclothcompany.co.uk/car-insurance-post-code-ratings.html This may be of interest to a good number of folk on here.

Sorry to learn of your prang Bilal. What Linas has put may sound daunting but very well put and gives you a great insight. To repair that car with used parts would be high hundreds but thousands in new parts. If you are that way inclined as to do the repair yourself then I wonder if its possible to withdraw your car from the claim and cover the costs yourself or get some advice and quotes from any garages you know of. Keep us informed.

What about that other character with the SC430 that was 17 years old and only done 5,500 miles? He came in to "ask questions" and it's now sold and the whole thread has been deleted - so we'll never know how much it made in the end! That's more annoying to me.

Swapped the cars on the drive, nothing else to do!

Did the annual service at the dealer and got the car cleaned.

Just an update, had a phone call from the wheel refurb company, apparently only 1 sensor is required and all in with the coding will be £65 on top of I am paying for the wheel refurb, not too bad! I would pay Lexus about £150! I also hope the garage didn't take advantage of me, I use them 1st time, and decided to make some money on me. Will be checking my sensors, at least visually! 🙂

I've had a reply and they are currently out of stock, so they raised their price to prevent orders. When they get new stock in, they say they will correct the price. Strange way to run a business, but OK. 🤣 I ordered these in the end. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-FRONT-BONNET-HOOD-GAS-STRUTS-FITS-LEXUS-SEDAN-LS430-2001-2006-5344059115-/183390158334 They come with a 3 year warranty and for £17 for the pair I'm not going to be too upset if they fail after that.

Did I just notice you are looking at RX450L? A far as I am aware, a towbar cannot be fitted to the L version. You need to check before commiting to buy !!!!!!!!!

Don’t answer Royoftherovers!

here an image of glyn's premium audio boot install

I see from your profile that you have been driving for less than 2 years and currently pay about £140 a month for your IS250 insurance, sadly after this (fault) event they ( insurance company’s) will hike your premiums sky high so trying to insure the ( now repaired) IS250 may be another factor in the decision.

If you looking to keep the car I would rather negotiate with insurance and insist not to write it off. I know it is not always possible to do it, but you can argue with assessors report and even insist on using different assessor. If they write it off, then not only it will have category attached to it forever (affecting the price etc), but as well I think it will have kind of moral value of the car depreciated for you (at least I would feel that way). My car was written-off and I just could not justify spending on it's maintenance after that e.g. thought in my case the accident was just a scratch and did not impact the car at all. Besides you right - some companies simply won't let you keep it anyway, so when it is written off you may not have a choice. So just going through the options again: Insist on fixing it and not writing off = you will have same car fixed to reasonable standard and no material loss. Basically, if you challenge the list of fixing needed and insurance sees the benefit in it (e.g. you say that based on their quote you only consider that £1800 ow work is actually necessary and remaining £2000 is made up as it always is), then they may actually agree with you. Paying £1800 to fix the car is cheaper for them than paying say £5000 for it to be written off. If financially viable buy it back (it may be most financially feasible as well) e.g. in my case Insurance offered £3800, whereas I only valued my car at the time ~£3000 and let me buy it back for £531 and I knew the repair prices is 15 minutes and some polishing compound. And even with cat-N the car was still worth £2000. That was my case - you may be completely different depending on options, mileage and what your insurance actually offers. But bear in mind moral issues - as I said knowing it was write-off I could not put myself to spend any money on maintenance and keep-up. Take the car what they offer, but likely that is going to be below market value and you are unlikely to be able to replace the same car like for like. Bear in mind that your insurance will go ballistic next year regardless, what options you choose here won't matter. Generally, the worse is the condition of you car pre-accident, the better is to take the pay out and leave the car. Ideal situation newer car with lover mileage, but really poor condition - insurance will price it high where actual condition would not justify it. The worst starting position is - high mileage, older car in excellent condition (that was my case) - Insurance does not want to pay anything for it, even if car was excellent condition before crash. As for actual repairing of the car - I can see myself completing it under £1000. Bumper is £160, used headlight £150, decent shop will take another £300-450 for painting the bumper, minor pieces and sundry parts. There may be some minor details which could not be seen, but this is clearly not a major damage. Obviously, Insurance estimate I would expect here will be at least £3000-4000, new light alone with fitting will be £1000 on it's own. Bumper with all internal pieces and painting another £1000, probably part blend on bonnet, and side panel.. they usually add charges for inspection, storage and unknown sundries etc. And it suddenly turns into £1000's. Here is my damage which was £3200. Yes it includes refurbishment for both front wheels and missing piece for headlight washer witch turned out to be £487 + VAT, but still... it was "just a scratch".

Many thanks! All I can say is WOW! Due to the lockdown I only managed to drive the car on the Saturday afternoon. However, due to some essential chores I managed to put approx. 100' on it - mainly on 'A' roads with a bit of motorway work. The roads were wet with dissolved salt and very slippy, so I had to take it fairly easy. However, as the miles piled on I got more and more confident with it's grip and handling. So much so, that I was driving it at the end as if the roads were dry. I knew it was a pretty quick car, but what impressed me the most was the steering / handling. It felt so sure-footed and went around corners like it was on rails! Just superb. The displayed fuel consumption was far better than I expected too - high 20's 🙂 Can't wait for the lockdown to lift and take it for a decent run 🙂

Not a huge amount of new information in this piece, and the spy shots seem only to suggest a relatively conservative redesign. https://www.motor1.com/news/465781/2022-lexus-nx-spy-photos/amp/

First thing tomorrow I will be out there wearing my deer stalker!

In all intents and purposes, if the ICE is off, therefore not providing power, and it’s running purely on battery, that is EV mode. Even the little green light agrees and states the car is running EV mode As to the pedantry of EV mode / in operation, is simply semantics

Thanks for all of the replies. I have decided to buy out the finance and keep the car for another coupe of years and then see what is on offer then.

Being as no one has replied to you Leslie, I'll say that yes, you can put photos on here to sell it but you have to become a Gold Member of the club first. At least that used to be the rule and I think it still is - if anyone knows different please speak up.

Just been on My Lexus. Both rear brake calipers were replaced on my car in June 2016 @ 58k miles. I looked at my calipers in autumn. The pins and sliders came away easily so I greased them up and put them back in. So definitely yes to checking them at least once a year depending on mileage done.

Rattles, creaking trim and things not working the way they are supposed to. These are what caught my eye.

The HSE are the enforcing authority for most workplaces, although for some it is the Environmental Health/Health and Safety section of the local authority. Don't expect much from the HSE, they are chronically understaffed, and it's not easy to get them to take action. If appropriate, they can serve an improvement notice or even a prohibition notice. They have extensive powers, e.g. of entry etc.

I guess we knew all along that Lord Lucan had class and hiding in your car proves it, although I can't imagine the chip is his, croquettes maybe..look further.

Looks lovely Oliver

Okay thanks for your help 😀

Love my H&S pipes awesome sound 👌 IMG_3828.MOV

Yes, that's true. According to Martin Lewis http://www.moneysavingexpert.com about 21 to 25 days is the sweet spot. Leave it to the last minute and they think you are unorganised and prone to making rash decisions that will translate into your driving. I'll try that trick with the AA, thanks.

Try getting a quote from The AA on line, then ring them to speak to a living person and ask if they can give you a better price. It worked with me - it seems they have access to another group of insurers they can call on - I ended up paying just over £400 for a 63 reg RX450 Premier 14yrs protected NCB and business use, drivers 72 and 68 living in Staffordshire, originally over £500. Also, the earlier you get quotes before the renewal dates, premiums tend to be lower than just days before renewal, it appears the insurers consider you a lesser risk???

Yes they're 18"s and feel no different at all

Not sure if this is just the 2020 onwards but I spotted this a few days ago to answer someone asking about towing with an ES Towing capabilities of new Lexus range

Yeah... £95 is amazing. Mine is now lower ... £750, but it used to be £3000 for a while.

I like the look of them too....

I also bought these on wish as well. Very comfortable and tucks nicely into my neck. They do them in black as well

Rotten luck, Bilal, what a pisser

That surprises me Paul. On my SE-L and come to think of it every car I've had with built in nav the nav screen and clock display the illumination dims automatically when the light outside gets below a certain level. Does your SE-I have on lights stalk a position named auto? If so then leave it on that setting. I don't know of a night mode but I'll look at mine just to look and see. Pity you didn't plum for the SE-L coz they have cornering lights.

I think we (both) just focusing to much on the words rather than substance. To be clear I never said CT was "poor quality", what I said is exactly that: I just expect any car with Lexus badge to be at that level of "true" Lexus. CT quality is good, but it is overall closer to Toyota Auris, then it is to say Lexus IS... that is my point . Upon the launch of CT, it was the only Toyota derived car in range with this noticeable step down from Lexus quality. So if somebody is asking - "are Lexus quality is becoming worse?"... my answer is "yes in some cases - like introduction of CT, ES and UX", but "no in some other cases, like with introduction of LC... the rest LS, RX and NX are still representing the Lexus quality). I guess in summary, it is not that Lexus quality is becoming worse, it is more like their range is diverging in terms of quality - high-end models are becoming better, low-end models are becoming worse.... and they just removed all the middle ground.

I dropped my keys twice (!) in the gap today, but the chip catcher saved the day. I remember thinking then, that I was so happy that Lexus has these and now I found this thread here to share my joy.

They really are a surprising car, the handling surprised me too when i first had a proper play on mainly dry roads, was sticking with a friends modified M2 quite easily. It seems to hide its weight quite well too, i was surprised how nimble it felt for a big old thing! Glad it lived up to expectations, enjoy!

Just a slight update on this, it's a bit bizarre, it may make you laugh, it may help someone or people may have noticed this as well. It is a bit difficult to explain but I'll do my best🙂 So I've been travelling in the dark to work since I got the car a couple of months ago and have had the sat nav/multimedia display on all the time. Start of the journey to work entails a narrow dark country road with no street lights and some left hand 90 degree bends. When going round the first left hand 90 degree bend I struggled to see the left hand side of the road, so much so I was making sure I was compensating right so as not to clip anything. I could see the right hand side ok but I literally couldn't see the left hand side of the road unless I put the front fog lights on, which prompted this post about brighter bulbs. On Monday morning I decided to to turn off the sat nav/multimedia display because it was very bright and annoying me. The next morning when going round the same left hand 90 degree bend in the dark with the sat nav/multimedia display off I could see the left hand side of the road ok. Mmmmh that started me thinking and I can only assume that because the screen was so bright it was blocking my vision to left, similar to a car coming towards you with bright headlights and it blocks your vision. The display is in the middle of the car but it's on the left when driving. I'll play about with the display brightness or put it on night mode.

After many secondhand cars, my first new car was a 2002 Skoda Fabia. Close inspection by myself and friends showed that virtually every part was stamped or labelled VW. We all know why, and it gave the impression to many people that the Skoda brand was a reliable bargain. Indeed today, Skoda has a better reliability record than Audi because older 'sorted' technology is passed down. So my lowly Skoda had just one spelt Skoda name on the hatch, with nearly all other parts saying Volkswagen. My Lexus has one spelt badge on the boot lid, and just about every other part stamped or labelled TOYOTA. If you go into a Lexus dealer to purchase screen wash, it comes in a Toyota bottle!! So, yes the present and future Lexus models, will really be a re badged Toyota. I hope Lexus don't go the same way Mercedes has. Most think the W124 and W201 series were the best they produced. Now they just churn stuff out for the leasing market.

You aren't in EV mode. Driver forced EV mode is limited to around 25 to 30 mph (lower when cold). The petrol engine being turned off by the hybrid system isn't EV mode, that, for want of a term is EV in operation which can happen up to around 55 mph on the NX. Vehicles with a newer generation of hybrid system will allow higher speeds, around 70 mph.

It absolutely is the case, or certainly was. Look at a 2010 Auris hybrid compared to a CT. The CT has higher quality, softer touch materials, improved NVH, better specifications where certain options just aren't available on the Toyota, and it is assembled in a plant which has higher quality control standards for paint finish and panel gaps etc. Where the CT has fallen away is that it is essentially the same vehicle now as it was when launched whereas the Toyota went though a complete redesign with the later Auris and now again with the Corolla - each time improving. Reliability is the same - the vehicles underneath are the same. Differences between the two in surveys are normally down to statistical insignificance due to sample size.

..this from Car and Driver has the same shots, plus rude remarks about the current NX interior which I think is still one of the best cabins available. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a35194149/2022-lexus-nx-spied/

Excellently put Lucas. There's nowt wrong with modding the gen 2 is as its a fabulous looking car in standard form but stunning in molded form. Your car as others I've seen online are a credit to you and their owners. Have you considered using a 225 on the front to see how it affects handling?

Beautiful looking car!

I would say there is truth in the statement, but it is not universal. For example LC is bet best quality car I have ever been inside by far... and I mean that in comparison to Royce Royce, Bentley or S-Class - yes they will have something silly inside like thick planks of wood and starry sky headlining, but overall quality will be hit and miss. I mean the will be uneven stitching and especially with wear and tear, there will be creeks and rattles etc. In Lexus LC there are none - it is just perfect... or at least as perfect as I have seen to the date. Just before current lock-down I was enquiring on BMW i8 went for test drive, but they didn't have it ready so ended-up just looking at it on the lot and trying new 8-Series instead. Inside it feels solid... but just as solid as new 3-Series... Lexus LC on the other hand feels special, every button and every stalk feels like custom made and fitted to perfect fitment. I cannot compare it to anything, because there are no comparison to my knowledge. If I would need to guess then maybe some higher-end Porches are similar in build quality (not in terms of design which is quite basic/boring), but I am not big fan of them so I don't know. Last one I been in was like 2006 997, so not exactly worth comparing. Next thing, I feel like RX is very well built car, generally Lexus SUVs seems like segment where Lexus pays special attention, better than similar BMW/Audi SUVs... again probably the only comparable cars would be Porsche SUVs, I am sure Cunnilan and Bentayaga are in the level of their own, but so is the price. Going further down the tier list the NX for example is much better equipped (base equipment and options) and more solidly built than say RC or IS, both of which I consider to be worse built quality than mk2 IS. It is weird as NX in the price range sits nicely between IS and RC, but RC is by far the worst equipped car from all 3 and NX is best put together at the same time. GS was probably the last saloon (I consider LS a limousine) with true Lexus quality and roughly equivalent to RX overall. However, there are few models where I feel Lexus quality is not that great. The mentioned IS/RC were not as well built as models preceding them. CT from the begging was not a Lexus, even when compared to say Golf or especially Audi A3... it felt far closer to Toyota than any other Lexus at the time (and still does). I have tried both UX and it's twin Toyota CHR and they are exactly same quality, both ugly but I consider Lexus less ugly, especially inside, but quality is the same. Same goes for another badge engineered car - ES... just feels like a model of Toyota. In blind test I would say it is definitely Toyota and not Lexus. One model I don't know is LS, I have once driven very tired LS460 in Bahrain and wasn't impressed. Not sure if it was the condition of the car or because rental company provided it as "equivalent" to IS-F which I rented. I would assume LS ~ LC, but I don't know speak from experience here. So in conclusion, I think the overall trend is that Lexus is becoming less special and more like badge engineered Toyota, but there are still some exceptionally well build models which they offer. In terms of quality I would go from the best: LC ~LS? RX NX GS IS ~ level of new 3 Series which is kind of baseline for "Luxury cars" RC ES UX CT

oh dear, Iceland the shop ! Malc

Because SCALLOPS is code for MALBEC !

You know what you're going to have to do don't you? Lock wife in the boot with a good torch, leave hosepipe playing on car around boot area. Go back an hour later and check 2 things: 1. Did she spot any water ingress? 2. Is she pleased to see you? Looking forward to the outcome of this strangely compulsive thread 🙂

Wax cylinder for me, mate. But that was only a recent innovation. I much prefer the actual artiste in the car, nothing like a live performance.