nelmo

According to various sources, lots of Toyota Prius's with 200k+ miles and no battery issues (replacement is about £2k, I believe?). As I only expect to do a max of 5k miles a year, that will give me at least 10 years before I have to worry too much?

I was considering changing my car to a second-hand RX but the wife has thrown a spanner in the works by saying she would prefer a small run-around for herself as well. So, my great idea is to get a older, cheaper RX (just for caravan towing duties). A friend has recommended an eBay seller who specialises in selling high-mileage cars cheaply - they have an '07 RX400h with (take a breath) 155k miles on the clock Now, it's obviously been a company car as it is only one owner and has a full Lexus SH (14 services!) and a very high spec. I was considering bidding up to £6k and taking out an extended warranty to cover the big bits breaking. What does everyone think? Crazy idea? As an idea, a 100k mileage '05 RX400h is on sale for £8k. Anyone know if there any big servicing jobs due after this mileage on a hybrid?

Can I ask where you got the towbar from?

Half the price of the Lexus - are you sure? According to the respective manufacturers websites, £43k for the Touraeg, £44.5k for the Lexus and Lexus normally have a very high spec as standard - I doubt you'd need £40k of options to bring the spec up to the VW Also, there is a fuel economy website called Fuelly where owners record their MPG figures - the 2013 Lexus averages 32 mpg, the 2013 VW 29mpg - not a huge difference but shows that diesel isn't the miracle fuel everyone makes it out to be - and it's 10p a lite more!

Thank you all for your comments so far - very useful. I'm still ummhhing and aahhhing, trying desperately to justify the change. Looking in the classifieds, what is the general consensus on age v. cost v. mileage? For example, 2 cars for sale: 1. RX400h, 2006, £15k, 57k miles (trade) 2. RX400h, 2009, £16k, 65k miles (Car Giant, so ex-company car probably) All else being roughly equal, which do we think is the better buy?

I've also been looking at the GS450h (sorry - I prefer saloons but the wife prefers the RX). I put a post on that forum but it seems no-one on there tows with a 450h - any idea why that might be? Is the GS in some way mechanically different to the RX meaning towing with it isn't recommended? The GS is a bit lighter but still a good match for my van and it has more power than the RX. An old post states that Lexus wanted £1,300 for a towbar for the 450h - someone suggested the cost is because an extra oil cooler has to be added but surely that's unlikely in this day and age? EDIT: Hmm, the Witter website doesn't show any towbars available for a GS and the official Lexus accessories catalogue states the towing limit is reduced to 1500kg for the 450h - bugger

No, I'm only a recreational caravanner, so max of 1500 miles a year towing...I'm sure I could get a towbar for less away from a dealer. I was hoping to find someone else who towed with one...

I'm surprised you have so little faith in your manufacturer . Lots of people tow with Mondeo's, Passats etc - much lower quality and weight than a GS. More specifically, others tow with RX400h's - is there any significant mechanical difference between an RX and a GS hybrid? I've thought about getting a specific tow car but an old hack like that is a false economy IMO - at that age and mileage, things will go wrong and they could be major, expensive things(gearboxes, turbos etc). Then there's the second lot of insurance, road tax etc.

A search on here brought up one old thread suggesting: a. caravans are the Devil's roadblock b. a towbar for a 450h was stupidly expensive (£1,300!!) c. anyone planning to tow with an 450h is a brick short of an outhouse. Ignoring a and c for now, is b true? And is there anyone out there towing with one? (my budget is £18k for an '08 model).

The 50k service on my previous SF (this is my second) needed a cambelt change, which was £500 alone (I didn't get it done - sold the car instead). Also, my 30k mile service on my IS200 (10 years ago - included 4 new tyres) was an eye-watering £1,100 . A quick search on Google found a post from someone complaining when he was quoted £500 for a major service on his Renault Clio!! My point is, servicing costs are diabolical no matter what car you have and I have never bothered taking it into account. I'm considering doing what I do with my motorbike - change the oil and filters myself and only take the car to a dealer if it stops working. I'll just take the hit on re-sale (I had to drop the price of my old SF just £200 because of the missing SH). Just done some boring maths (slow work day) - the difference in annual fuel costs between a diesel at 24mpg and petrol car at 26mpg (just 2mpg different) is £350 (assuming 10k miles and 8p difference in price between petrol and diesel).

I got the impression that Dan was suggesting it IS cheaper to run than other makes? I've had BMWs, Hondas, VWs, Peugots, a Lexus (IS200) and now Hyundai and I've never noticed any huge difference in servicing costs, assuming nothing goes wrong (and I seem to have been very lucky in that respect). My last Hyundai 'minor' service was about £200, the next one is bigger and I guess will be £350+ - I don't recall my BMW or Honda being any more expensive than that. Compared to petrol costs, servicing is pretty minor IMO. The urge to go back to a Lexus is partly what I hoped would be better fuel economy for the way we use the car (ok, maybe not going to happen) but also the oomph of a 3 litre petrol engine, the gadgets (I love gadgets ), overrall quality and the dealers (the best I've ever had to deal with).

Ahh, that's exactly what I was doing...good point... So basically, if I change, I'm not going to improve my fuel economy (or very little) and I lose the 7-seat option BUT I am going to improve the power, car quality etc ....hmmm....tricky....

Hi, First post and, depending on the replies, may be the last Some history - I currently have a Hyundai Santa Fe which I need to tow a 1600kg caravan. However, my wife uses it during the week for ferrying kids to schools/parties/activities etc. Thus, the diesel engine rarely warms up on these sub-5 mile trips and we average 24mpg, less if we don't do any longer weekend trips I was an early adopter of the IS200 - bought one new in 1999 and it was the best car I have ever owned. If it wasn't for the kids, I'd probably still have it...so I'm considering returning to the fold with an RX hybrid (£18k budget). My thinking is that the hybrid will be more economical for the 75% of our driving done doing school runs etc. However, I have seen an earlier thread on here suggesting that for very short journeys (the ones we do), it's no better than anything else. Also, there's the caravan towing issue... So my questions are: 1. On a cold winter morning, will the hybrid run on battery only for the 3 mile stop-start trip to my kids schools (all less than 30mph)? How long/far can the battery alone power the car for? 2. Can a hybrid tow a caravan? Does anyone else do it? Thanks in advance for any replies.