08ISF

Thanks, Lexus have apparently tried this but no joy.

Hi All, My car (Gen 4 RX450h) is in at Lexus at the moment to fix the seat memory setting which doesn't work any more. Seats adjust fine on the seat controls and everything else seem to work. This came about after the drivers door mirror refused to fold or adjust. This has been fixed under warranty, but they seem to be scratching their heads over what is causing the seat memory problem and they've had it two days so far. Has anyone else experienced this and if so what was the fix? Any assistance much appreciated. Graham

I used to have my RX washed by the car wash boys but the local place changed hands and they wanted £15 to wash my RX which I thought was a bit much. After washing it myself it didn't seem such a bad deal. It's big and the roof is difficut to get at. However, I persevered and now I have a way of washing it that doesn't break my back or the bank. I bought a fleece wash mitt on an extending pole on the internet to do the front screen and roof , makes life much easier. I use Bilt Hamber shampoo (expensive but only 5ml required in 10 litres of water) after flushing the dirt with a hose , rinse off with the hose, then some CarPlan Trade Hi-Wax Rinse mixed 50/50 in a spray bottle. Spray over while the car is wet and wipe off /drywith one of those noodle mitts then go round after with a large microfibre cloth to finally dry it and remove any smears. Leaves the car shiny and nice and slippery to the touch and the wax coating seems to shed water and dirt and stay shiny until the next wash which might be 3-4 weeks away. I've tried all the reassuringly expensive waxes etc in the past and never been that impressed. This way seems to work and it's cheap.

Like you I considered a GS450h against a GSF. I opted for the GSF in the end as although the fuel consumption on short runs is higher, on a long motorway run it didn't look that much worse than the 450h. The GSF I had returned 17-22 mpg in urban driving but that went up to low thirties on a decent run involving motorways. Best I ever saw was 36mpg. For what it's worth I found the GSF to be very frustrating to drive in urban traffic. It is a very fast car and it needs to go fast. This and the local council's stupid 20mph blanket speed limit led me to change to an RX which is much better suited to the type of driving I am allowed to do.

Before you go ahead and get rid of a car you obviously like try these people: http://www.catsafe.org.uk/ I haven't any experience of this product but it looks like a universal fit and might discourage the criminal with an angle grinder.

I challenged my local dealer (Twickenham) on this issue specifically for the gen 4 RX, and the response I got was: 1. The primary cats are located high up in the engine bay and probably quite difficult to access. 2. There is a secondary cat under the car which is used for "advanced engine heating" (?) and which apparently does not contain as much precious metal as previous generations, so of less interest to thieves. 3. Lexus are not aware of the 4th gen RX being targeted and so are not developing any protection devices. It might be worth asking the question of your local dealer to see what their story is. Has anyone on here had a gen 4 RX cat stolen?

Yes , it happens on mine. Seems to happen when the sun is at certain angles, probably because of the extreme rake of the screen. Not really a problem, you get used to it.

If they are denying, the only thing I can suggest is do a Google search on "Potholes report" This will show up a number of independent online sites where you can report potholes. Go through each of them and see if your pothole was reported by anyone prior to you hitting it. Most of these report immediately to the council so even if the council's own records have been "amended" they can't change what is on the reporting sites servers. You will find that there are also some ambulance chasing lawyers out there who might take up your case but you will have to use your own judgement about whether to go this route. If you can find any evidence that they knew about the pothole before your incident, I would make copies of it and then threaten the Small Claims procedure ( does this work in Scotland?) Faced with the possibility of having to go to court and employ solicitors (£££) they might just decide it's worth paying out. Good luck Graham

The councils always try the "we didn't know about it " ploy to abdicate responsibility. What were the dates of the online postings? Before your incident? Generally when I report on Fix My Street it is sent to the council immediately so they cannot claim they didn't know. This is the beauty of using online 3rd parties to report it. It makes denial that much more difficult. I'd keep after them and if you can provide evidence of a report prior to your incident then they should roll over. The other thing you might try is to ask for a copy of their inspection report for the road prior to the event. They won't be able to provide it because it won't exist.

Hi, I have a 2016 RX450h and, concerned about cat thefts in our area, I challenged the local dealer's service manager about Lexus' response. The information I got in reply , over a series of questions and answers was: 1. The Gen 4 RX primary cats are in the engine bay and hence not that accessible for theft. 2. There is a secondary Cooler cat device located under the floor of the drivers seat which is used for "advanced engine heating" what ever that is. 3. Lexus "are unaware of the RX450h being targeted at present which is due to the Cat containing less precious metal than the RX400h. With this in mind, there is currently no locking device in development " This was in March this year so if your dealer was now offering a fix, perhaps the position has changed. Does anyone else know any different?

The Sales guys I've dealt with in thempast are Marcus Powling in 2012 and James Greenaway in 2019. Both easy to deal with. I can"t remember who I bought my GSF from but I think he's left anyway. I see you're some way away in Suffolk, are you thinking of buying via the net? Graham

Hi, I'm on my 4th Lexus, 3 of which were bought used from Lexus Twickenham over the last 8 years, which must say something in itself. My experiences have all been positive. Obviously, like all Lexus dealers they don't like giving big discounts , but I've always ended up with a deal I could live with. Servicing has been fine apart from one instance where things were not up to their usual standard , but they sorted it out pretty quickly once I had drawn it to their attention. All in all, as car dealers go they are Ok in my experience. Graham

You could try turning the key fob off when you're not going to use the car for a period of time, say overnight. Try this : To disable the key, hold the lock button down while you double-press the unlock button. The red light on the key will flash four times to confirm the wireless transmission is turned off. You can also check this has worked by attempting to open the car by holding a door handle. The doors won't open when the key is turned off. To turn back on press the unlock button. Works on my RX. The other thing is make sure you are using decent batteries. Poundshop ones where you get about 8 for a pound are a bit variable in quality. You don't need to swell Lexus' coffers but a couple of quid should get you a decent battery. I've used GP, Varta, Panasonic in the past all OK Do you keep the key fob with the spare key or next to a mobile phone or other electrical fitting? I've been told that this can cause the fob to keep seeking its partner i.e the car, and empty the battery prematurely. Does the spare fob run down as quickly? Hope this helps.

I had the same experience insuring my RX last year. Eventually got the price down to about £450 after a bit of negotiation. Strangely the RX was more expensive to insure than my previous GSF. Just reinforces the advice that you have to renegotiate every year. Loyalty counts for nothing with insurers. Interesting note about Saga though. I'll try them this year although I've always found them pricey in the past.

I don't think the fact that it was a press car should really worry anyone. After all the journos would only use it in the way it was intended to be used and the only things that would suffer would be consumables like brakes and tyres. I had this car for four and a half years and it was no problem at all , never used any oil. I think the price is a bit ambitious though. It's more than I got for it on trade in over 3 years ago.

It would be worth checking on FixMyStreet or similar , to see if anyone else reported this pothole before your incident. The council will claim that it had just occurred and they cannot be held responsible for it as they didn't know. If someone else has reported it on a public forum that argument will fail. The fact that it was fixed 2 days later suggests that it had already been reported as councils take weeks and months to react to potholes reports. We should all report potholes and the like on public forums as it puts a public marker down as to when the pothole was reported. and stops them wriggling out of their responsibilities Good luck and don't give up. Graham

Hi Miguel, If I'm understanding your post correctly, you have been drifting a 13 year old example of an IS220d ( not the most reliable Lexus ever produced) on a roundabout on (public?) roads. I think one of three things might have happened: 1. The sideways g force has pushed a load of debris in the tank toward the pick up and partially blocked the fuel feed. or 2. The engine, known to be troublesome on this model, has objected to being ragged and failed. or 3. The car has decided to save your life and that of others and gone in to limp mode to stop you carrying on with what is a stupid and dangerous practice. If you like to drift I suggest you find a suitable car and carry it out off road away from other road users. The boys in blue ,if they see you will not be sympathetic. You should pray that nobody has sent dash cam footage of your antics to them.

I think the GSF is a slow burn and that as the cars become older and more affordable, more and more people will see the attraction of a car that offers this type of performance, with Lexus quality and reliability. New, the car was well received by the motoring press but that wasn't enough to tempt the German fan boys so they only sold 50 or 60, about a third of the ISF sales number. This will keep prices up as demand will start to outstrip supply. My normal strategy is to let someone else pick up the initial depreciation and buy at 2-3 years old, secure in the knowledge that I can run the car for 7-8 years before it can no longer be covered by warranty. I broke this rule with my GSF, buying at 8 months old and 300 mls on the clock, because it was heavily discounted (20k+) and due to the low numbers around I was doubtful about having a choice of 2-3 year olds when the cars reached this age. It was an awesome car but it's now gone because for all it's good points there are some downsides if you live in an urban environment as I do: 1. No spare wheel. Given that the car has low profile tyres and VERY expensive wheels, the prospect of wrecking a tyre or even a wheel on the potholes and speed bumps that our local councils are so fond of, became very real. Get a puncture , even if the tyre is not wrecked, fill the tyre with the goo that Lexus supply and even if it works you're looking at a new tyre and probably a new pressure sensor because nobody wants to clean out the tyre to repair it. If you can get a new matching tyre quickly....... Lexus are not interested in supplying spare wheels in the UK and even if you could get one there's nowhere to put it as they've filled up the wheel well with TVD electronics. Oh, and the tyres are shallower than most kerb heights so those beautiful wheels are vulnerable. 2. In an urban environment this type of car is a dinosaur, there is absolutely nowhere you can use even a fraction of its power. Flooring one of these is a bit like launching a missile, and even if you can find somewhere to give it its head, other road users are simply not aware enough of what is going on around them to cope with it. I got so frustrated at dribbling along in queues - average speed over my period of ownership - 22mph! 3. Cost of brakes - £350+ parts cost for 4 pieces of steel plate with some friction material bonded on is nothing short of ridiculous and there is little other choice apart from Lexus parts. Happy to pay what is necessary to maintain the car but I have a deep rooted objection to being shafted. 4. Possible issues with supply of spare parts. This may or may not be a problem but I had to wait 3 weeks for a new windscreen after one was cracked by a stone and I got to thinking, GS's never sold in vast quantities and GSF's sold in tiny quantities so if you need a spare non consumable part are Lexus going to have it or will their bean counters dictate that they only keep a very few spares? If you are unlucky enough to require something that has gone on back order because they don't have enough orders to make it worthwhile having a production run you might wait a long time. This is how the car industry works, they make a certain number of a component, use them up and then order some more but if the numbers are low the supplier won't make some more until they have a decent number ordered. Might be just paranoia on my part though. I now have an RX450h which suits my driving environment much better, has a spare wheel, goes well enough without being a missile, doesn't eat brakes as retardation is mostly electronic and hopefully sold in enough quantities that spares shouldn't be a problem. Still think that in the right location the GSF is an awesome tool, just not for me.

Interesting numbers. When I changed from a GSF to an RX450h earlier this year I was surprised to see my premium jump from about £300 to over £400. and that was the cheapest I could get after a bit of negotiation. How can an RX be higher rated than a 470hp 168mph super saloon? Mystery.

Hi all, I've now left the fold, my GS F has been traded for an RX. Reasons? Well, increasingly of late I've found that I can't drive the car in the way its meant to be driven. The traffic in my area of West London means that I just dribble from one queue to another. I looked at the trip computer and found that my average speed since I got the car was just 22mph and the local council is now imposing a blanket 20mph limit. No doubt other councils will want to jump on this bandwagon... It seems ridiculous to have the pain of the car tax and the fuel consumption if you can't have the fun. No regrets, it was an awesome car and with my previous ISF I've had 7 years in total of F ownership, but things have changed and will continue to change, so a hybrid is better suited to the sort of driving that I now do. Lexus have had the GSF for a week now so it's out there somewhere although no adverts are visible. If anybody on this forum is looking at it (LN16EGZ) pm me and I will try to answer any questions. I'll still be reading this forum . Enjoy your cars as much as you can while you still can.

Good news that Brembo are starting to list them, but it seems strange that they only list rear pads. Front pads are available from EBC in various grades (according to their internet shop) but no prices are shown for rears. I've actually trawled the internet for possible alternatives to being ripped off by Lexus (I'm retired and have the time) and there are a number of sellers offering pads which are allegedly compatible with GSF/RCF but some of these are only £25-£50, so are most likely fakes. There are apparently a lot of counterfeit brake parts around, even in the motor racing fraternity (!!) I think the problem is going to be persuading the likes of ECP to stock the Brembo stuff. When you consider that there are only about 300 RCF's and GSF's in the UK then their likely customer base is very small and it might not be viable to keep a stock of the parts just in case 1 or 2 of us come knocking. Perhaps if enough of us asked them they might think it worthwhile. If anybody has anything to add please share.

Finest 1, you are quite right owning, an F car or similar makes no sense at all in today's world but they are among the last of the naturally aspirated V8's and the decision to buy one is usually made with heart not head. However ,the running costs of an ISF are not as bad as you think. I had an IS 250 and changed to an ISF intending to keep for a couple of years until I got fed up with the running costs. I ended up keeping it for 4.5 years. OK the car tax is expensive and more fuel will be used, but insurance was surprisingly cheap if you shop around. An 09 car could still be warrantied with Lexus for £795 for 2 years, exactly the same as for an IS250 and the prices do seem to be bottoming out as people realise that they are more affordable and reliable than the German equivalents. Tyres and brakes are more expensive than an IS250 but not that much more , ditto servicing. You need to drive one to "get it". My current GSF was purchased with heart not head ( and a little man maths related to a 30% discount on an 8 month old car with 300 miles on it) and I regularly ask myself why I am running a car like this where you cannot even use a fraction of the power and the local council wants to impose a blanket 20mph limit. But, it is a rare car, I have never seen another one on the road ,and every time I drive it, it makes me smile. The noise and the pull when you can open it up is worth every penny of the extra running costs. Might be your last chance to drive a dinosaur, the powers that be will have us all driving eco friendly electric pods before much longer, if they even allow us to drive. By the way an Aston will cost far, far more to run, and will spend more time in the workshop.

Late to the party again... I think the issue is purely image and because Lexus only aim to sell a couple of hundred of each F model, they don't care. Let's face it, boasting to your mates down the pub that you have a V8 Lexus, is not going to produce the same envy as saying you have an M3/M5/C63/RS4/5/6 etc (delete as appropriate) Lexus have no competition history and the Alan Partridge thing from way back doesn't help level the playing field. It is perhaps a sad reflection, that courtesy of various marketing departments and the media, we as a nation have become totally label obsessed, so excellent engineering and reliability doesn't cut it amongst people looking to buy a new car. The cars come into their own later on in their life when costs of ownership start to play a bigger part in the decision and buyers realise that owning a used German supersaloon is going to be a very expensive experience. Of course someone has to buy a new one for it to become a used buy later on. Just my opinion.

Hi For what it's worth I had similar problems with my cheap Moto E2 . When I first got the GSF the phone paired right away no problem. Then about 18 months later the car and the phone didn't want to talk to one another. After a lot of fiddling with settings I came to the conclusion that turning bluetooth on and off on the phone was causing the problem. Sometimes the phone said BT was on but it wasn't being seen by the car. Check that the phone can BT photos etc to your computer. If you can get it to send a photo it should be able to talk to the car. Then leave BT on permanently. I did this and the phone has paired with the car OK since. If it won't send a photo you need to fiddle with the BT settings on the phone. In my experience the Lexus BT set up is pretty robust, and the phone is more likely to be the problem.

Thanks Big Rat. Looks like its sorted now, we have 2 possible sources of pads apart from Lexus. All we need to do now is source some reasonably priced rotors. I like to think ahead,you see!