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If you can get one with a huge discount it's a no brainer. But do not pay list price or anywhere near that.

This is why our insurance premiums are going through the roof. Everyone from manufacturers, body shops, hire companies and dealerships all making easy money from insurance work.

Please please think of us poor souls that bought - the market is floored and more incentives on new ones will only kill it even more ! Seriously, where will this all end - the big manufacturers will just stop competing in markets with fines and disincentives and the Chinese will then just dump substandard cheap cars (even after paying levies) as they control the cost of batteries and other EV components. Once they have the market, they will turn the screw and as they are really the Chinese government it will set the agenda. The Chinese importers have no fear of the fines as they easily beat the 20% threshold as they are mostly bringing in only EV’s. You couldn’t have designed a more Chinese favourable regime if you had tried. The US has a far more sensible approach, they incentivise US manufacturers with subsidies for US sourced parts and gives credits on EV’s off personal tax, not the cost of the car. Lexus US will reduce the lease cost as they offset the tax saving, not by reducing the cost of the car - you have to be a tax payer to receive the subsidy. We just lump on fines and remove incentives - there are London Boroughs ramping up parking according to weight and as EV’s inevitably weigh more, they will pay more ! Governmental rant over - apologies for disturbing the peace on a Sunday

Indeed. They have been removing incentives over the last few years.

Bus is a computing term meaning a shared communication path between components, essentially via copper wires either within a system or allowing multiple systems to communicate with each other. CAN is an acronym for controller area network (hence why it is written in capital letters) - it is the specific protocol, or language, that is sent over the bus - like humans, two items communicating need a common language to understand each other. Within the auto industry there are many different protocols used. Toyota/Lexus commonly use CAN, LIN, AVC-LAN and MOST. The reason for using buses rather than discrete wiring is to save cost and allow more sophisticated features. Take the rear light clusters, (Toyota don't typically use CAN for rear lights but just as an example) - traditionally you have multiple wires, one for each function: rear light, brake, left indicator, right indicator, reverse and fog. That's 6 controls wires + ground. If you had sequential indicators you need two more wires for sequential mode rather than standard on/off required for hazard, so a total of 9 wires. If you had CAN controlled light clusters you can reduce to just 4 - +12v, ground and two CAN wires. If you want your mirrors to drop when in reverse, rather than a signal wire going to the mirror ECU, it can just listen for the reverse communication without needing any additional wires. If you take it to the extreme, where modern matrix headlights are made up of 1,000+ individual LEDs that each can be controlled individually to block out the beam to oncoming traffic then that wouldn't be economically possible or reliable using discrete wiring.

Kevin. Thorough test but pre-update - check the dash. John & I have been getting far far better figures. What Car are a very reputable testing house but for some reason they and most other tests result in far worse figures than those actually experienced. You’ll see from earlier posts that post-update 200+ real miles are easily achievable and efficiency upwards of 2.9 miles / kw. Comparing a BYD with a Lexus is like comparing a Dacia with a Lexus ! Look at the difference in claimed efficiency and actual at the end of the video and you’ll see even pre-update Lexus’s actual is better than claimed. I totally agree with John that the RZ was marketed far too early - they have totally blundered as all the reviews are for cars pre-update and the car shouldn’t have been released without it. Now the drop for heating is significantly less and use of the radiant heaters means ‘UK winter running’ is not an issue. Do I regret buying the RZ - yes. Am I happier since the update - far happier. With what has happened to EV residuals, would have I been happier with a different EV - no ! Lexus will be in a very difficult place this year as they have to achieve 20% of all sales being full EV, every car sold below that accrues a £ 15k fine - one of the main reasons in the drop in RV’s is manufacturers will reduce prices to sell rather than pay a fine to achieve nothing. There is no hope of Lexus getting anywhere near 20%. We have been totally misled by the government into buying EV’s as they then changed the rules by removing the 2030 ban at the same time as levying fines - total idiocy

I’ve got a series of test drives booked for later in March, and I’ve decided to bail out while my RX still has some value. I want to downsize anyway, but this issue has brought my decision forward. My RX is my third Lexus, and I’ve loved the cars and the dealers. However, none of the cars I’m testing is a Lexus - I cancelled the test drive in the LBX because I feel it’s just too expensive compared to the alternatives and, to be totally honest, all of this malarkey has made me think twice. I fully accept that other manufacturers have, have had, and will have similar issues. I also accept that Lexus may come up with a software solution for the Mk4 RX which helps or solves the problem. That said, I’m of the opinion that a smaller and less desirable car, and one without this specific CANBUS vulnerability is the right thing to do in the circumstances before my insurance renewal in May. Personally I think the damage to the Lexus brand among previously loyal owners is, and will continue to be, significant. Shame.

Just got my GS back from it's annual service and MOT, 7 years old now but still looks and drives beautifully. Total clean sheet from Lexus, no advisories at all. Thought I'd treat her to a full detail to celebrate. Kudos to Lexus Hedge End for their usual spot on service. I was just thinking, what else could you buy now in the Lexus range (excluding LC/RC-F) that can rival the comfort, power and economy of this GS ? It's a keeper for sure! Dave.

When it’s in the kitchen?

Rachel, I agree with John. Buying one of the used RZ’s with the update and a huge discount is a no brainer…! I see that Lexus Scotland have a few in the £40,000’s… You should get some more discount…! I have bought several cars from Eastern Western in Scotland. Two Mercedes, three BMW’s, and my Lexus LC500 Convertible were delivered to me to Cornwall from Scotland… I didn’t view any of them before I paid for them… I just got photos and videos... I did have a £5k deposit with them for an RZ in September 2022. I got my deposit back because my wife unfortunately can’t come out with me unless we use our VW Caddy WAV. If I could take my wife out in another vehicle. It would be one of the current used RZ’s. And I would have one in my garage… I regularly read posts on the Lexus Owner’s Forum… And from what I have read. The update has sorted the range issue for the various owners…

As it happens I own nearly 20 years old Lexus (2005)... does it have rust? Ohhh yeah! But more important question is what kind of rust it has... So first of all it is clear that it wasn't always cared for, there is little spot of rust where rear fender was scratched (so accident damage), the suspension bolts and nuts in particular have rust on them (I was told by mechanic this is typical for all Japanese cars, compared to say German), there is rust around lifting points (so again damage from improperly lifting the car) and exhaust is rather rusted (so that is wear an tear)... but there is no rust whatsoever on typical spots for older cars, floors, sills, inner fenders etc, because all that is covered by plastic. What is most important - all the areas that would be protected by "rubber undercoat" are not rusted. That is not to say rust protection is not needed, but as I said the focus should be primarily suspension components, not the underside of the car. Also they will rust anyway, if not themselves then they will be covered by brake dust which will rust on top of them. But using something like Bilt Hamber Atom-Mac is basically what is needed, something that could easily be sprayed on intricate links and suspension components. You can even do it yourself, it requires application maybe every 2-3 years, but as a matter of routine could be done once a year. The process itself would be rather simple - lift the car (ideally without damaging the floor 😄), remove 1 wheel (if you have nice even parking and jack stands could be done on all 4 wheels), spray it with APC, let it sit for 5 minutes, pressure wash all the lose dirt, let it sit for maybe 15 minutes for most of the water to run down (compressed air would be ideal here), then spray Atom-Mac focusing on suspension components and all of key things can be reached easily from wheel well. Also wand sprayer (like the ones used to kill weeds in garden) are ideal for this. Repeat on all 4 corners and your car should be protected from rusting for good 3 years.

I agree if you can get a great deal, it's worth going for it. The prices for nearly new, very low mileage (perhaps pre-reg) RZ's at some dealers seem very good. Some brokers are discounting the UXe by around 30% but am not sure if that level of discounting applies to the RZ. Bob is right that Lexus are in a difficult place with EV sales- I'd imagine there will be bigger incentives as the year progresses. Perhaps the rumoured reduction in the VAT rate to 10% on new EV's in next weeks Budget will help to increase demand.

Absolutely! Some Lexus dealers doing very good deals and offering more discount than other carwow dealers. I’ve used carwow for years and it gives me a good benchmark as to how much dealers have to play with on discounts. Most car manufacturers are doing good ev deals at the moment, they need to get their March numbers up, so deals are not bad.

Moreover, dare I say many people have no quantitive idea what they are talking about when it comes to public pensions. For example, historically many people with private pensions chose when and how much to contribute towards a pension. By contrast currently in the NHS as an example my daughter has a personal contribution to that pension that deducts 9.8% of her gross income towards that occupational pension. Dare I say if anybody in any sector contributed 9.8% of their pay over a period of 40 years towards their pension then it would be job done. I am not coming back for a dialogue on that issue as it's not really appropriate to the thread, but I thought a balancing comment worth doing.

What Lexus owners need to do is get together, use an RX as bait, and when the thieves appear, all jump out and ... (of course for legal purposes, I was going to say make a citizens arrest)

Thanks, I knew my car was rubbish! 🤣 Still none the wiser.

Good question - I will try to explain for you. We have dustbins for recycling tin cans and plastic. To save the planet we re-use these materials to make cars from the tin/steel/aluminium cans. The plastic makes the faux leather and other cheapo bits. So the CAN bus is a description of what your SUV or BUS like vehicle actually is - which is a bus made out of cans. Hence CANbus - QED.😉

Yes Ed, I think I am in the same mindset too. Just like you I love the brand, the quality, the dealers, and in all honesty it’s not the cars fault, it’s the thieving scumbags that are the problem. I have no doubt at all this will affect the brand, and take loyal customers elsewhere, ( just avoid Audi, there dealers are crap)and who can blame them, at the end of the day cash is king, and if owning a Lexus means being fleeced by insurance companies I don’t see an alternative really, sad situation 😩

Regarding advice be aware if it's the 'black' stuff these days it brings an advisory on MOT's to the effect the underside is not visible. When transparent stuff is now available it's easy enough to avoid that.

You are so right Paul. I've just had my council tax bill for the new year and they have put a £30 levy to help fund their gold plated pensions. Yet my private pension was reduced after a certain Mr Brown withdrew dividend tax credit all those years ago which finished off DB pension in the private sector years ago. I know this is not the place for this type of conversation but it annoys me that I have to fund a gold plated public sector pension out of my reduced private sector pension. Rant over and mods feel free to delete my post if you think it is inappropriate.

No Lexus should be handed over to the customer with over inflated tyres. Yes they are over inflated on the RORO ship to avoid flat spots from the weeks a sea strapped down to the deck but each vehicle should go through a PDI before customer handover where these things are corrected.

Just an update to my search if anyones interested (probably not! :)) Went out today to have a look at a few 250 IS just to remind how they felt to sit inside. The front seating is amazing, so comfortable and stylish. Its amazing how Lexus managed to put this amount of luxury in cars 17+ years old and the fittings look almost like new. The right passenger door inerior arm rest probably the only thing I didnt feel 100% comfortable with. I tend to rest my arm on it whilst driving. The back although comfortable for 2, not so much for 3 (although thats not a n issue for us for 95% of the time). I sat in the back and felt I had enough leg room with the driver seat quite a way back. Unfortunately I didnt get to drive one as seemed no point with out the OH and didnt make an appointment, besides the first was a cat S and I was only going to have a reminder to how it felt, the 2nd was a Advance from 2012 and over my budget at 8.7K, 73k miles, not particularly well looked after imo, seems like its been in the courtyard for some time and overpowering dog blanket smell despite the dealers effort to wax it out. Lovely colour though. I got a video of a IS 250 SE L which was in Essex, nice blue colour and looks spot on but it didnt sound too healthy, you can hear a humming almost like a iffy flymo as the engine is idling. Im no carexpert but it definitley didnt sound healthy, also felt like way too much smoke from the exhaust. I wanted to sit in a GS 300 but the nearest I could find was a 450h but couldnt find the owner, didnt manage to get inside the car but I am pretty sure Im not going to be able to go for the bigger car anway, too big for my wife, given she thinks the IS 250s are too big aswell! At least its narrowed down my search a bit. What are peoples thoughts on Maxton kits on the IS 250? Do you have to be extra careful on speeds bumps with them?

Foundations of Stonehenge are deep you know. Like an iceberg.

The first owner was a retired gentleman from Kensington and I guess he didn't venture out of London too often. When I purchased it in 2021 from Lexus Hedge End it had just 3649 miles on the clock from new.

From what i remember, the whole place in 1980 was pretty bad, so it all needed a radical plan to get it up to date. i guess there are no jobs there still. In the summer, the odd thing, i distinctly remember being the only person on the beach and in the slot machine arcades playing pinball. i still play pinball today over in the VPF forum and on the steam platform with Zen studios

Changed and changing immeasurably …… with projected zillions of new homes with roads to match and de-supamkts …….. indeed a relatively newish Morrisons and within half mile a brand new Aldi AND Lidl being built …….. housing galore a’coming methinks …….. new roads, cones by the miles and potholes from all those heavy trucks earth shifting forever …… potholes pot’oles and more putoles……. traffic calming for sure …….. blessed by the Queenborough Town Quay for me ……… so where can I possibly go motoring to excess in my 4ltr V8 bliss-machines …… 20mph zone here toooooo ….. Gawd ‘elp us 🤣 Malc

If you are on Octopus Intelligent Go tariff then continue to fill it 7.5p overnight and get 15p export for your solar.

That’s where a home battery comes in. Charge it in the off peak window at 7.5p at the same time as the car is charging. Use the stored energy to power the house all day at the off peak rate. You are using the battery to time shift so you use no (or barely any) peak rate electricity. With solar too, aside from Nov-Feb you can generally charge the battery from that, in a few weeks I will be switching from charging the battery at night on off peak to just filling it with solar.

The oil leak looks like it could be just the sump gasket or even the sump plug.

I think what is already clear is that it was the right thing to do to get two different make of cars. I can already see that the differences are going to be a source of appreciation rather than irritation. If I had bought two SC 430's inevitably I suspect I would have gravitated to one with the other doing more standing until I sold it off. With the SC and XK to move between I think there is less chance of that happening. Bit like a great roast dinner and baked pasta dish. Both to be enjoyed for different reasons. You don't have to choose between them !

I would be amazed if they lower the VAT rate to 10% on new ev's but you never know.

WAW! Many thanks, never too late to learn. It all makes sense now.

In terms of the electrical safety of regular use of a granny charger, I can recommend the Speak EV forum. It’s a discussion point that crops up a lot and there are a fair few electricians in the group. There is certainly not consensus on the issue. The best advice seems to be that if you want to rely on the granny charger as the primary method of charging, the circuit for the socket being used needs to be investigated. Is it on a ring, is it a spur off a ring, is it something dodgy like a spur off a spur. Is it a radial circuit. What else is on the same circuit sharing the supply etc The granny is going to be pulling over 2kW constant draw for many hours, likely at night, unattended. This comes down to risk judgement. Would you happily leave a fan heater running all night on full power while asleep, and do so using the same plug and socket several times a week for years. It will likely be ok, but think of it in those terms to judge the risk. Personally, I would suggest getting a Zappi or similar spec home charge point. Aside from the safety, which is a subjective point as detailed above, you unlock the convenience of charging far more quickly, and the ability to take advantage of cheap time of use products like Intelligent Octopus Go. You’re not going to get your money back on the cost of the install in cheaper electricity, but the convenience and safety are metrics only you can judge the merit of. You may decide that once you’ve enjoyed the electric experience, you want a full EV as a second car, and the Zappi will better suit that. Once you get a car with a plug, many will start to consider how they use electricity, and often solar panels and a battery follow. Funds allowing, an EV (or PHEV), solar and battery are together greater than the sum of each part. We did this some years ago and even running an EV our annual electricity bill is less than a tank of petrol. If you decide to switch to Octopus feel free to use my £50 referral code “Warm-Burn-664”

At least it is the pre-update version, as at 10:26, the screen does not show battery percentage.

I ordered my LBX at the end of August, I was told it would arrive at the dealership on the 27th Feb, my latest update is that it’s at the depot (Derby maybe?) but like everyone else I can’t insure it yet, when I checked yesterday the LBX was listed on comparison websites but no quotes available yet. I’ll try NFU tomorrow as they’re my insurer of choice. Good luck everyone, I’m so excited to get mine!

A car charger will complete a full charge for the 450h+ in circa 2.5 hours. I have a Zappi charger and moved my electricity supplier to Octopus as they have a tariff from 11:30pm to 05:30am at 7.5p. the Day rate is standard. All other electrical house items will benefit from this rate too. I let Octopus control the charging schedule and not either the car or the Zappi so it's really easy. The 3 pin standard charger provided will take several hours. I only plugged it in once to make sure it worked then put it away in the garage. We also have solar panels but at 7.5p it makes sense to use Octopus and use the solar for everything else. Hope this helps.

From what I understand, mark 5 is fully encrypted. But I cannot confirm.

For the Takumi models like mine they come with Real soft Leather

Pin 3 on the fog light connector is for cornering lights, which is controlled via the headlight ECU. I don't know if it would be as simple as removing that pin from the connector and putting insulation table around it. Some duct tape over that element of the fog light lens would be the simplest solution.

……… and never been undercoat / “ protected “ I’d be amazed if a modern day new car couldn’t last 20 years before becoming an MOT Advisory for rust ……. except the exhaust course We are no longer in the realm of 1970’s Lancia dreadful steelwork Malc

Is it only me who, if my car is stolen, really doesn't want it back? Wouldn't know how it was driven or what damage had been done to shocks or frame. I really would rather get the insurance and buy another.

If they are now at the stage of cutting the wiring loom to gain access they would not even need to smash the plate. The plate only covers the connector area, not the entire loom. This was only a matter of time. The plate should have bought enough time to engineer a software fix.... But here we are still discussing the lack of solution...

You will probably find that a large percentage of the council tax levy is used towards funding their gold plated defined benefit pension schemes. This is one area of spend breakdown that they never provide. These schemes are so costly to keep funded that they were closed by private businesses many years ago.

OEM would probably be your best choice, aftermarket maybe Mintex. Bit of a discount here https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product-category/brakes-transmission/?make=316&model=337 Preparation goes a long way when replacing discs, rust left on the hub mating surface can create problems with warping and avoid heavy braking where possible until everything beds in.

I live on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, my mate lives in Great Barr. I pay £480/year full comp. with protected NCB, all mods declared like for like & 10,000 miles. I checked a comparison site earlier, just out of curiosity and the cheapest quote was £2100.. that's assuming my car is "stock"... ridiculous. People need to start ringing around rather than rely on online quotes, it's extortionate. I am not 100% about stickers (I doubt it because cars leave the dealership with stickers in the window) but tints being classed as mod is down to the insurance company. My I.C. (Brentacre) says tints are not classed as mod to them, but my ex from like 10 years ago had an issue with tints (not factory fitted).. A bloke came out to fit a blackbox and spotted the tints so she had to get them removed. Really depends on the insurance company, it's quite dumb that there are no set guidelines for consumers.

Mercs are great, they are very similar to Lexus. BMW and others, not so much.

If anyone steals my car I don't want it back. They can ship it off to wherever.

As Phil above said, do your best to report as you find them and once the council is notified they then have a duty to log a pot hole. Importantly if anyone subsequently puts in a claim they cannot plead ignorance and say they knew nothing of the offending hole. It might also be the case that your new found "pothole" has already been reported which in turn will make your claim far easier to establish. I typically use "Fill that hole" who in turn report a hole to the responsible council whilst physically displaying its whereabouts on a map. The responsible council is then aware and must inspect/resolve. Surrey County Council also has a reporting facility but frankly I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw them and invariably after I have reported by "Fill that hole", paint markings of one colour or another is applied. There is then a duty to get the hole or defect repaired in a given time frame. Some of these so called pot holes are more like cave entrances and I frequently see traffic cones inside them to help drivers to avoid. In regards road maintenance, then SCC are bad but West Sussex Council are now worse still. Chalwood could be in either councils area of responsibility a fact that will be established when you file a report by the likes of "Fill that hole". I sincerely hope you get some satisfication and that the responsible council don't play too many silly games as is their normal want!

I have been advised by LV Insurance that they would not renew my insurance on a RX450h because of the perceived theft risk and occurances, I live in a midlands County town and park the vehicle alongside two other vehicles on my drive. With CCTV coverage. Not wishing to be held to ransom I elected to renew early with another major insurance company. The premium although a significant increase was inline with the expected, based on media expectations.

Hi Guys, posted a couple of times over the past while, and a few members have asked for better interior photos of my USB IS-F Never actually taken any half decent photos of the of the cars interior since fitting the seats and having the steering wheel re-trimmed. Quiet afternoon at work and an ideal chance to give the car a wash an hoover, and take a few pics. Hope you like them! The Seats are Recaro CS Sportsters from a Lotus Evora and came with manual runners. Yes, I've lost the heated seats and electric adjustment, but small price to pay for the perfect seating position as I've always found the standard seats didn't' quite go low enough for me. I must admit though, the heated seats were missed over winter, but it is nearly summer :) There is quite a bit of wiring involved to address the PCS and Airbag lights. This was taken care of by a professional Auto Spark. The bases came from the states, using IS350 mounts, although if I'm being 100% honest, the drivers frame isn't perfect and I'm going to have the original adjusted or an entirely new subframe fabricated. I used Optimus Trimmers up here in Glasgow for the wheel. They are top notch. Even did the wheel in once piece, unlike my GT3 which wheel uses three sections. I wouldn't ever have known, but Del the owner wanted it to be like the factory finish. He's some man! This is my third IS-F and chose to address all the little things I didn't like about the model with this car. There isn't much, but always room for improvement. I'm not into going overboard - Prefer to get the car like they way I imagined it might have come from the factory. OEM+ I think its called on the 'scene' :) Cheers, Stevie