plastic orange

Best colour - I agree, well done. Pete

If only. Having said that, you were spot on at 24.5 mpg on the outward trip, but return trip knocked it down a bit. Pete

23.9 for round trip - mostly dual carriageway at cruise controlled 75 plus a bit of A roads. Not as good as anticipated, but it is what it is. Strange to think that my most economical car is my 5.7 litre Morris Minor. Pete

Fuel consumption so far - on computer is 21.5 with mixed driving of over 150 miles. This isn't as good as my LS, but will be going on my usual trip to Aberdeen on Sunday where my LS manages 30 mpg, so will be a good comparison. Pete

I tried the roof this morning and as expected I had to reset it (had to do windows too) because battery had been disconnected. It's now working as it should (as you found out on your own thread) Pete

I'll do that tomorrow Chris and let you know, although I did try it before I bought it and it worked as I expected. Pete

Picked up a 2005 RX 300 SE with 100k on the clock to replace my wife's Yaris T sport (grandkids to transport). I purchased the car locally - about £1k cheaper than others I'd seen, but in much better nick coming with a complete lexus stamped book. We weren't too sure if cambelt had been changed, but dealer said he'd do it along with full service, plus powdercoat the wheels(did them anthracite to compliment the metallic black/grey paintwork) and put 6 months tax on it. Observations so far, and comparisons to my Lexus LS 400 dhp. Build quality as I'd expect, but underneath not as well protected as I'd like - not as good as the LS, but that was £20k more expensive new. Driving, gearbox nice and smooth, all controls easy to use and less body roll than we'd thought it would have. Fuel consumption - much the same as the LS really. General - it's a nice place to be, and certainly a cut above the other SUV's we'd looked at. Niggles - none really, but had to reset a few things including windows due to battery being disconnected. Hopefully we'll keep it for around 5 years, or until something that takes our fancy comes along. Future work on it will really only be general maintenance and apply better protection underneath. Pete

I'll be waiting for the better weather to do the rustproofing, but I'll let you know how it goes. Pete

If the RX is as reliable as my LS I'll be happy. However, if my wife doesn't gel with it, my daughter in law wants it. The underside of it looked not too bad in my inspection of it prior to purchase, but it will be getting additional rust treatment so that it lasts - and it should be easier to get under it to do. I'll be using bilt hamber products as they get the best write up at present. Pete

I pick up a 2005 SE on Monday, so will look forward to your comments on your purchase. The dealer I bought from changed the cam belt (although he reckoned it had been done), gave it a full service and had the wheels powdercoated. I'll post an update when I get it - wife's car as I've got an LS 400. PO

As has been said earlier, have a look at the thread about UCA's. A new ebay set hanging on my garage wall suffered from disintegrating ball joints covers in around 6 months. They were replacements(which I never fitted) for a previous set which wore out the ball joints in about the same time period. I bought ball joint gaiters from another source and am leaving them in the open to see if they disintegrate too, but they've lasted a year so far without any visible defects. I'll possibly try fitting the UCA's and these ball joint gaiters sometime in future and see how long they last, but I wouldn't hold my breath. You tend to get what you pay for really. Pete

I'll be giving it some decent rust proof treatment underneath when I get it, so hopefully it will last a while. Pete

I decided to purchase the one I looked at today. 2005 in metallic black, 100k on clock with full Lexus history - major service in 2014. The wheels need refurbed and the cambelt needs done, both of which they agreed to do, plus a full service, 3 months warranty and 6 months tax - £5700. I felt this was a good price as the car was in superb condition in and out and drove very nicely. It's also got an ageless plate on it, so a good result. My wife liked it too, but just needs to get familiar with it. Thanks for advice folks. Pete

We don't do sensible - most of my cars are V8's. I sometimes have to use the Yaris, so I'd rather something bigger, and being used to an LS it kinda made sense. Yaris is a 3 door, so it's awkward. No way would I consider anything really boring like a Focus or similar, and certainly not any VAG stuff with all their electrical probs. I didn't really like the Honda CRV, and the RAV 4 has problems, so Lexus seemed a good option. We tend to keep cars for a long time and mpg really isn't a big consideration. Pete

I'm off to look at another tomorrow - actually only 22 miles away. Autotrader is strange as I'd put in RX as search, but the one I'm going to look at is under RX 300 and didn't appear on previous searches. It's higher mileage (100k), a year newer with full history and £5995, but no belt change listed which is a negotiating point. Pete

I looked at my first RX 300 SE today for my wife as we need something bigger than her Yaris for the grandkids. It looked great in the ad - 2004, 80k miles and £6500. However, it had a rusty N/S rear passenger door bottom, badly corroded rear wheel arch on N/S, looked pretty scabby underneath, plus had a limited service history which stopped in 2010. No cam belt change plus trans fluid was black/brown. As these cars are thin on the ground up here I may have to travel a bit further than 50 miles to find one, but to be honest was a bit put off by rust issues. My LS 400 isn't like this at all, so are they all like that? Pete

I'd certainly get it done if it's a recall item. My starter was fine one day, but not the next, so you never know. Pete

I went down the route of replacing suspension parts as my discs looked fine. This was a waste of effort as it was the discs that were the problem. A large number of large heavy automatic cars have the same problem and new discs, (or perhaps skimming) solves the problem. I had a brief respite from shimmy by aggressively buffing discs, but it returned quickly, so just bite the bullet and fit new. Pete

I used Pagid discs with Ferodo premium pads and have found them to be fine so far - about 4k now. Pete

Only cure I've found is to replace discs. I didn't like blueprint pads as they squealed rather a lot, so I replaced them with Ferodo Premium. When replacing discs, ensure that the mounting surface is totally clean and don't use copaslip or similar on the mating surface. My latest discs are Pagid and they seem to be of good quality. Pete

To be fair, my Falkens are very grippy in the wet or dry - that's why I continue to fit them despite them wearing very quickly. It's hard to get a compromise really, but I'd rather my car stayed on the road rather than going through a hedge backwards. The rear tyres on one of my V8 minors (BF Goodrich) are hardly worn despite numerous trips up the strip, and 10 years of road use. I really should change them due to age, but they are mint, but are obviously pretty hard compound. I haven't visited a hedge yet, either backwards or otherwise, but it's been close - choices. Pete

I think it's caused by general suspension wear and tear. It's a heavy car, plus it's got power steering, so wear in this area is expected. I get around 15k out the fronts including moving them to the rear when shoulders start to wear. Now rears, that's a different story - less than 10k - Falkens. Pete

Sods law, the one closest to me sold yesterday. Pete

Complete kit for me too. Apparently the contacts are a stock item at some auto electricians. Pete

I'm also think about an RX to compliment my LS400, but they all seem miles away as usual. I'm hoping to try one to see if my wife likes it as it will be for her. I really don't want a hybrid or CVT, nor air suspension, so it's looking like an RX 300 SE will fit the bill. There is one about 100 miles from me that seems ok, so may travel for a look - only 69,000 miles too. Pete