Connoisseur

Bought a 2006 RX350 SE in February from a Lexus Dealer with 94000 miles. Done 5000 + miles since, including a 2000 mile stint over two weeks around the Scottish Highlands (NC500), which is what we bought it for. The car is a very comfortable cruiser and not too shabby off road - the 4 wheel drive system is a step above the one in the RX400 which we also looked at. New Battery and plugs is all the work we’ve required, plus have installed digital radio. The difference between buying the 350 compared to the 400 (circa £4K) helped the decision! Power steering pump is worth a check for leakage, but it plus other items will be covered if necessary by the warranty. Rear callipers, as with many/most Lexi, maybe shot but repair/refurb costs are reasonable, so check them out and use to negotiate price down...

As per above take time to check the car out, there are a fair few good ones available so no need to settle for one that has been mistreated or had a bash.

mpg for us is anything from 23 to 30 according to how we drive and type of road. The 3.5 motor comes complete with a satisfying rumble from the outside, but quiet as a mouse inside.

Tax is high, but the difference in price covers that plus lots of petrol. It’s a Lexus so beautifully well built, lots of space, well equipped, very comfortable and the front seat folding arm rests are to die for he heh. No hesitation in recommending. Models without nav are rare and you lose associated sound and screen goodies, but they are keenly priced. Bluetooth works perfectly with my Samsung S7 and wife’s late model Iphone, and the Mark Leveson ICE is superb, even now it’s 13 years old.

Good luck!

Michael

The courtesy light door sensor push switch shown above was the problem, and the fix doesn’t require a new switch.

It transpires that the switch(shown in the pic above) is single pole with the circuit completed via the bolt holding the push switch to the body acting as ground/earth - over time grunge and other materials come between the bolt where it makes contact with the switch body.

I undid the bolt with a star drive, cleaned it up and the metal plate on the switch body it mates with. Cycled the ignition once and voila, the courtesy light now comes on when the door is opened, and, with ignition on, the door specific open warning on the panel also lights up (hadn’t noticed that was not working duh!). 

Thanks for all the assistance, was a  2 minute job to fix. No more loud false alarms going off.

Michael

10 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Not 100% sure on the RX but normally the sensor/micro switch is built into the door lock rather than an old fashioned separate push button switch - which is nice and neat but a pain if it fails.

Look what I've found! Am hoping this is the source of the problem. Will try to remove and test when the rain stops. Thanks again..

Thanks everyone for the feedback and info. Just went out to the car and I think Colin has it (cheers Colin) as opening the passenger door does not bring the courtesy lamps on. 

So next question is location of the sensor or is it a push button.  Will look tomorrow.

A great forum  thank you👍👍

Plenty of n/s SC door handles on eBay, which are likely to be affordable alternatives compared to going to a Lexus Dealer....

hth

Looking good, enjoy👍 The white with those wheels fitted just looks the DBS.  There are two things that will, I suspect, eventually get me into the latest RX; one is the hud and the second is the overlooking camera view which, when I had an RX-L for the day impressed no end...

Michael

Also, apols if it’s a daft question, but in Bluetooth settings on your phone, sms/texts are a separate setting from phone audio. The sms option is ticked? Am sure it is but no harm in asking.......

Michael

That’s not good. Last thing I can suggest is to delete your car record from the phone Bluetooth in its entirety, then restart your phone and pair from scratch. Unlikely be it might be worth a try. If no joy then try and find someone with an S7 to see if their phone will pair. Has your car got the latest software installed?

Michael

Have you tried the link below?

put all your car and phone details in, it will tell you all the services available, and then follow the instructions to try and get it working.

Good luck!

Lexus Bluetooth

2 hours ago, DocT said:

A quick update. DON'T buy one of these batteries as it has just failed completely! I contacted the seller requesting replacement under the 4-year warranty and they said because it has a breather hose connected (original and essential) they wouldn't replace it. I explained that the battery should have the breather attached and that it wouldn't affect the life of the battery but they are adamant they won't honour the warranty. 😠

It just shows how untrustworthy and dishonest some so called specialists can be and reinforces the benefits of buying a battery by a recognised manufacturer. I've certainly learnt a lesson.

It will be worth going back to them. Explain that under consumer laws they are liable. The owner’s name and address is on the listing. Just explain the if he chooses to not replace then Bedfordshire Trading Standards will get involved, and you will issue a summons in the small claims court.....doing so will cost him money and time so it’s cheaper for him to cough up.....

So if I exit the RX with the key and walk away without locking the car then within a minute or so the car automatically locks itself, a useful security feature.

But recently on several occasions, when I was installing a digital radio set up and beavering away with just the front passenger door open and the keys on the seat, I’d hear the car mechanism try to auto lock and then the (v. noisy) car alarm would trigger. If I make sure that another door or the tailgate is also open then no attempted auto locking and no alarm noise!  Doesn’t do this if drivers door left open....

Has anybody else experienced this or know what’s behind the behaviours? Another concern is that if I happen to leave the keys in the car and close all doors then it will self lock thus stranding me! Am I worrying unnecessarily?

Michael

Powerful images Stephen, really enjoyable to spend time viewing them. Carcassone is a wonderful place for me, your pictures brought back memories.

 Picked up an Olympus Pen camera for a two week drive around the NC500 a few weeks ago and came back with these below, amongst others. The resolution setting was (clearly!) low, but never mind, after days reading the manual I have finally worked out how to change that setting for future reference! Am reasonably new and inexpert to this photography thing.

Michael

One to put a smile on our faces........As an ex SC430 owner still looking for an opportunity (and cash!) to return to the fold I keep a lazy eye on autotrader to see what pops up. The Lexus Dealer in Hatfield  has a gorgeous 2004 SC with only 31500 miles up for £12950, a not insignificant price but look at some of the things you get:

Optitron instruments, adaptive front lighting/AFS, LED rear lights and Bluetooth......... link to ad below

Except you don’t get any of these because the car is 2004 and the above only came with the facelift car in 05/06. They even include a photo of the instrument panel which proves the car doesn’t have an Optitron panel. Lexus Hatfield also describe their SC as a ‘Sports Coupe’, which is the first time I’ve seen that phrase and the SC put together.

Should they be told......?

I guess someone will pay that price, but I hope they check the spec first.

Lexus Hatfield

Forth quarter 2020 is the latest talk for the ev version, with other models to follow. Ultimate aim is to have an ev version choice across the range..  

Over the last ten days we have driven the NC500 Highlands road trip starting at Inverness and travelling anti clockwise via John O’Groats, Kylesku, Torridon and the renowned Bealach na Ba. On Thursday we return to the start at Inverness for completion of the 500 ish mile trip. All done in our 2006 RX350 with 96k miles. The car has run perfectly, and proved a good choice for some of the tougher trails, including snow above 2000 feet yesterday on the Bealach na Bar! As it is a 350 we won’t mention mpg now will we.....but a smooth and reliable drive was what we wanted and why we stuck with a (veteran) Lexus.

Here’s some pics, one taken yesterday at 2000ft as we went to the aid of a couple stuck at the top of Bealach na Bar in a snowstorm with a puncture on their BMW touring bike, plus a gratuitous shot of just one of many beautiful highland vistas we we fortunate to come across during our NC500 trip.

Section 10 of this USA market handbook explains use and operation of the side camera:

 https://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/omnav-s/OM48B55U/pdf/OM48B55U.pdf

Suspect you might need to press the operation button on the wheel, or check the button works..

good luck and let us know how you get on?

M

This is from the USA market Lexus press release:

Quote

The available wide-view side camera and back-up camera each help provide the driver with a wider range of visibility when driving at low speeds. The driver can check hard-to-view areas by simply pressing the camera-select button on the steering wheel or, when in reverse, viewing the camera images on the navigation screen. An optional back-up camera displays images on the eight-inch navigation screen; systems without navigation have an optional 2.5-inch display in the rear-view mirror.

Do you have the camera select button on the s/w? Is the button working correctly?

hth

Michael

Already being discussed here:

DZUS fasteners! Now that brings back memories........thanks for posting Herbie.

The white wire with black line on a Lexus is usually a ground/earth connector...........

hth

So apologies for the quality of pic 1 but thought this might be useful for anyone on here looking to wire in a dash cam or  DAB etc. to a series 2 RX.

My solution was to remove the entire glovebox (two screws + 2 bolts + two connectors and 5 minutes of time) which gives full access to the in car fusebox which I piggy backed off for the required permanent and switched live power feeds. For earth I connected to the manufacturer ground/earth point in the kick panel lower left (with the help of C McLean on here thxs Colin).

pic 1 is the passenger front area with glovebox removed (the fusebox can be seen with the lettering KF middle ish left in the pic

pic 2 is the of the fusebox with the two piggy backs attached - they fitted perfectly and tightly!!

pic 3 is a close up of the manufacturer earth/ground point behind the kick panel. Note the 'E' marked on the bolt! (thanks again Colin)

ps, and yes Herbie, the fuse box cover does not now fit so into the glove box it has gone he heh

Just to sign off this thread and give my thanks to Herbie for his sound advice and guidance; fitting is now complete and all is working.  I used my noggin instead of a multi meter (a high risk approach lol)

So tested what equipment would still work with ignition off, and found that the fuel cap opener is a constant live, 12v power sockets inside are not. So piggy backed the permanent live on the fuel cap opener fuse  and the switched live on the power sockets fuse. Unit is earthed at the oem earth point behind the passenger side kick panel and all good to go.

Will post a few pics tomorrow in case they help others. Removing the entire glovebox assembly took only 5 mins and gave me full access to the fuses and earth point, so very worthwhile. 

Michael

13 minutes ago, welland said:

that's interesting.  The RX400h has a timing belt.  I realise that the rx400h and the rx350 have a different size of engine, but i had thought that they were otherwise closely related.  They must be more different than i thought. 

Yes, though what we gain by not needing a belt change we really do lose on the mpg😅

4 minutes ago, C Mclean said:

Yes, that’s an earth point.

Many thanks, much appreciated.

Michael