katabrontes

Just as well Ken because you will need it to pay for it!

Thank you Colin for these helpful observations. Mostly I avoid very short runs. In UK most are about 15 miles or so to do shopping. Occasional longer runs. Speeds are usually about 30-50 mph. In France runs are about the same for shopping and speeds a bit faster as the roads are clear. About 4 round trips of about 350 miles mostly motorway when speed is more or less constant 85mph. I haven't ever bothered much with fuel consumption. I think in terms of full or empty! Petrol is a relatively small part of the cost of running a car. If you buy and change new ones it's trivial. I tend to buy a good example at about 5 years old and keep it until it starts to cost more to service than it's worth, or even longer if I like it. The inevitable odd scratches neither matter not bother me. The first one on your shiny new car must be very upsetting. I dislike new cars. They smell horrid, everything is stiff and differs from its predecessor. My experience has been that they often go wrong soon after you buy them and depreciation is massive. Although I still enjoy driving I regard a car as a useful tool and instrument of freedom of choice. I like it to be comfortable, quiet, big enough to provide for my needs and easy to drive. A few bells and whistles are nice if they enhance safety or the driving experience.

I was surprised by your observation about ac Rowley. I have only tested this on my Saab 900 turbo (sadly long defunct). I ran two full tanks one with ac on and the other with it off and could barely detect any difference in mpg. It was over 25 years ago and I can't remember the figures but it usually averaged about 24mpg. I have always left ac on all the time ever since. I am sure the benefits far outweigh any effect on mpg. I agree about E10 and always buy E5 when I can get it. In France E5 is readily available as either 95 or 98 octane. In UK it's getting hard to find and only in 98. Advice from the Lexus agent in Bordeaux was to stick with E5 as the saving on cost was more than offset by the poorer mpg.

Two regularly occurring themes on the Forum have puzzled me for a while. They need an expert to consider them. First is MPG. My 2006 RX 350 averages about 24-25 mpg over a variety of uses. However on a recent motorway run in France over about 300km it averaged 26mpg. Others regularly claim much better figures for RX400 or 450. Given that the hybrids have the disadvantage of carrying heavy batteries and, at motorway speeds rely entirely on the petrol engine to drive them how are these figures obtained. Could it be regenerative braking which makes the difference - I am not sure how and I hardly touched the brakes on this motorway trip and used cruise control set at 130 kph throughout. Could it be that certain accessories (eg Aircon compressor) might be driven electrically on the hybrids - I don't know about this? Could it be the effect of the permanent AWD on the 350? After writing this I can't remember the second! If I do I will post it separately.

I had the compressor fail on my Saab900T in about 2004. It just suddenly seized and the belt burned on the pulley. A bit dramatic. It appeared that one or more of the blades had broken and locked the rotor solid. The best price I could find at the time was about £1,800 from an independent Aircon specialist so your quote of £1,200 if it includes fitting is pretty good.

Good argument for hanging onto earlier models of RX. The premium hikes more than wipe out any modest savings on mpg and VED if I traded up my ICE 2006 350.

Well spotted Neil. I also had this email and after using the 'Go to this post' link noted that there was no additional post. Inspecting the links in the email also raised suspicion as it is unusual for any to appear in the notification emails.

I have always kept my Aircon running permanently. After my son told me that it dropped his mpg (Toyota Supra) by more than 5 I checked my Saab900 and ran a full tank with Aircon on and again with it off. I don't recall the actual figures (it was about 30 years ago) but it was only single figures on a whole tank. I also read about oil seals drying out if Aircon wasn't used for several weeks or months. Additionally it keeps the air in the car much dryer so demisting is much better in winter. Given the ratio of power used by the compressor compared to the engine you wouldn't expect it to affect mpg very much anyway. As to your problem my guess would be it needs a regas. I would expect to do this every few years so if it hasn't ever had one it probably needs it. An independent should be able to do this for you for less than the diagnostic cost.

Thanks to Colin and Mick. I have looked at Rock's website andthe front end is also available and looks a lot cheaper than the Lexus parts.

£537 with Saga for my 2006 RX350 in West Sussex including 12 months European cover

Very bad luck John. My 2006 350 has only had one leak in the NS corner under the boot floor which I found when the aftermarket parking sensors stopped working. Easily fixed by replacing a short section of the bottom end of the sunroof drain with copper pipe. Fine since. I would start by checking the roof rail mounts if you have them and clear the sunroof drains. Check under the boot floor in case it's running forward from there in which case you might have the same problem as I did which was an easy fix. You advice about the headlining is right it's a huge job.

I understand Waze I'd very good but it does rely on a live mobile data link to work so unless you have a generous contract for data it could be quite expensive to run.

When I asked my independent garage about replacing the bushes only they told me it wasn't possible as they are integral to the arms. I am sure they did replace just the bushes on my old Saab or Toyota Surf (I cant remember which).

Buy a TomTom GO5200 preferably an older version which includes lifetime free map and other updates, free live traffic and speed cameras. Sits on top of the dash so it's closer to your eyeliner as well. You could probably get one for less than £100 on eBay. I have had two for years and they work faultlessly.

Good decision. I wish you lots of fun with it.