nelmo

The H is a great car in its own right but I'd be wary of expecting large savings on fuel. In town, I'd expect between 25 and 30mpg, which is maybe 10mpg better (or is that a bit optimistic?) than your 300? A decent improvement but it will take a long time to recoup the extra expense of buying the car. Don't want to put you off (it's a great car :) ) but just to make you aware that economy alone is not IMO the best reason to change.

Good point, forgot about A/C...

Sorry but it isn't going to work - the Lexus Bluetooth system is not A2DP which is what you need to stream music on Bluetooth. There are some systems that you can install which provide an AUX and/or a USB socket but they're expensive. I just use on of those cheap cassette adaptors which plugs into my phone and slots into the cassette player. Not great quality but does the job...

At this time of year, you've certainly got heating on and that almost certainly means you will need the engine on more just to keep it up to temperature. I also find I can't just use batteries only at the moment so I doubt there's anything wrong with your car. I think heating is always going to be the bugbear of electric vehicles. Our friends have recently bought a Tesla who claim a 250 mile range on batteries alone. Now, this might be ok in sunny California or the summer here but generating heat to keep occupants warm takes a lot of electricity and I'll be interested in the range they get in winter.

I must be the most cynical, untrusting person in the world because I'm sure I've said this before; they want to make money so they make up/exaggerate issues, especially when a warranty is involved (won't get as many tricky questions from a warranty company). This is the main reason I hate taking any car in to a garage - I just don't trust them. Just to point out that bushes are rubber covers to protect moving parts from grit/weather. They are not the cause of any 'loose' feeling and you will NOT notice any difference when they are replaced.

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/87267-water-ingress-rx400h-2006/ That old thread, for reference...

I remember that thread - didn't you virtually take the car apart to fix it? I'll look it up and check mine...thanks.

That sounds like a good idea. I am also not in need of 7 seats so for me I find 7 seat vehicles a bit pointless and on the large side! Id go crazy parking it in the supermarket! The new RX is going to be larger but not by much which is fine by me! The Santa Fe is 8 cm SHORTER than the 450h and almost exactly the same width...

I don't understand why they don't do a 7 seater. Its not that tricky and you don't sacrifice much space. I had a Hyundai Santa Fe before and the 5 and 7 seaters were identical size - the extra 2 seats simply folded down into the floor and you lost a bit of depth in the boot. Those extra 2 seats is the only thing I miss from my SF - they're small and not hugely comfortable but there are regular times when those seats mean the difference between taking 2 cars or one. Hyundai sold far more 7 seaters than 5...

How do you know if they're blocked? Pour water into them? I've been having worrying issues with lots of moisture on the inside of my windscreen after heavy rain. I can't find water anywhere else (the mats are all dry for example) and I've been in the car in heavy rain and can't see any obvious leaks. I've looked at the sunroof but no obvious leaks but, like I say, how can you tell if the drainage lines are blocked?

Noseweight is purely about how you load the caravan. Anything in front of the axle(s) will increase the noseweight, anything behind the axle will decrease the noseweight. Don't put it too far back as you risk a pendulum effect which could make the whole outfit unstable. I put the awning on the floor behind the axle along with most of my chairs and I've got 75kg on the nose, even with a full gas bottle and spare wheel in the front locker. Always try be close to the noseweight limit - don't get it down to, say, 50kg just because you can. The higher the noseweight, the more stable the towing, in my experience.

Tricky one - the dealer made a mistake but your mechanic should have realised there was a problem as he obviously had to bodge it to get the part to fit. If you get no further joy from Lexus, I would go back to your mechanic and try get something back off him, even if it just means they fit the correct part for less (or ideally free).

Not negative, just realistic. I'm going through the small claims court process now and its a slow, laborious and soul-destroying process. If you seriously want to do that for every car park scratch, good luck to you ;)

Obviously, this is only going to help if they hit the front of your car ;) Also, what do you plan to do with the footage? You'll have to go to the police to track the culprit and I would doubt they'll be prepared to prosecute. You'll have to go through the hassle of a small claims court to get any compensation and there is the thorny issue of how legal the footage from a dash cam is. Definitely useful for a more serious accident, to prove your version of events but not sure how helpful it will be for a car park scenario.

All tyres have a date of manufacture on them - its a 4 digit number representing the week and year it was made eg. 0105 would mean week 1 in 2005. We bought a new caravan in 2009 and the tyres were made in 2004 - already 5 years old before we got it :( I didn't notice for the first year - luckily caravan tyres are cheap.

That's interesting - I would actually prefer mine to auto-answer. Many thanks :)

I paid £575 (including VAT) for 100k service and cambelt change at an indie dealer. Lexus quoted me about £750 for the same thing.

Hi and welcome... ;-) A Lexus is a great car and all the things you say BUT I'm not sure I would recommend it as a first car, mainly because of the huge insurance bill you're going to have as a new driver, with no previous insurance history and living in London. Insurance is based partly on engine size, then driver experience, then location - you're in a bad place for all of those. You'll need the £5k for the insurance :-). Also, as a new driver in the Hell that is London, you're very likely to have a few dings which may or may not need repairing. Not that Lexus is any more expensive than other makes but you may prefer to get something you wouldn't mind getting bashed about. Boring as it is but I'd buy a cheap, 1 litre Ford Fiesta or something and earn some no-claims bonus on that before splashing out.

H8 MMU - £250 from DVLA. My surname is Hammond but someone pointed out it might be a good plate for a Man City fan (and I'm a Man U fan) :)

I think its the driving position that is the secret to the success of 'SUV's. Once you've driven a car with a high position which is at just the right height to get in and out of, its very difficult to go back to a normal saloon that you have to bend down and duck your head to get into. We first bought a Honda Stream 10 years ago (MPV) and my wife has refused to go back to a low car ever since. The fact that the RX/X5/Q3 cars accelerate like a jet also helps a lot :)

4mpg? Nice. What car was that?

Don't understand what you mean.... Basically, I average about 30-32 mpg in summer, more like 27mpg in winter. An equivalent car like an XC90 would get about 25 and 22mpg in similar circumstances, based on figures on the Fuelly website and friends who have one. So the RX is better than its peers but not as much IMO as hybrid fans would like you to think. My point was, the 5-10 mpg extra over other similar cars is nice but not the only reason to choose an RX.

I've only just realised why this is a problem - its because the RX has a reversing camera. This sounds like a 'good thing' and normally the sort of thing you'd actually pay extra for but most cars nowadays have reversing sensors, which means you don't need any light at the back (except for legal reasons of course). An example of form over function, I guess...

Nope, no problems since I got mine. I had to do the 100k mile service and cambelt change, which cost me £575 from an independent garage. Changed the tyres and its just sailed through its MOT with a comment that the 2 front rubber suspension bushes are deteriorated and may need replacing next year, although the guy suggested it wasn't a big job. However, I wouldn't buy the car if you think you're going to save loads of money on petrol. I reckon the hybrid only gets 5-10 mpg better economy than a similar size car (X5, XC90 etc). If you do 20k miles a year, maybe thats significant... But it is the best car I've owned - smooth, fast, quiet and the first car in years that I look for an excuse to drive somewhere :-)

Mine has 110k miles now - I bought it privately with just under 100k miles on it and I've had no problems (I tow 1600 kg as well). I bought mine for £9k, which was about £5k less than an equivalent 07 RX with more average mileage from a dealer. I worked on the basis that I'll be very unlucky to need to spend £5k on repairs over the next few years. So far, in 18 months, it has cost me nothing (beyond normal wear and tear). Mine did have a full SH which made me feel better but I looked at a 155k miles example which was on eBay and finally sold for £6.5k with a full SH - that may have been an even better bargain. If you're paying about £7-8k, then I would say its worth it. Budget an extra £250 for a private plate and no-one will ever know :-)