artherdaily

depends on the long term

a full dealer service history is always a selling point and may add some value to the car

but good independent service history on a 6 year old car is just as good but may not add value long term

as far as servicing

most service schedules are

for example 12 months or every 12000 miles

which every comes first

so even if you only do 2500 miles a year its still due a service every year

personally i service my cars twice a year and i only do 4-5000 a year

oil and filter change only on one and full service on the other

but i use an independent and the cost is still lower than a single service at a dealer

try some pledge on the actual plastic cowl where it touches the rubber seal between the cowl and dash board

it could just be the rubber seal making the noise as the steering wheel extends or retracts

the mechanic at my mates place said take it off road to wheels the axles up and down, thus moving the levers up and down

but he also said once they go, they go and theres nowt you can do

something to watch out for i reckon

just glad i got the RX from a main dealer and not an independent dealer and they are willing to honour there own warranty

i think its more of not getting enough use that causes them to seize, rather than water ingress

but i may get my mechanic to soak them all in wd40 on the service

yeah mines the same on my RX but not quite 55mph, mines an automatic if that makes any difference, it only controls accelerator so can only use less throttle to slow down as it has no control over the braking system

also have a new golf with active cruise control, scary, you can set it and it will maintain a set distance between you and the car in front reguardless of speed but wont go past your set top speed, it will actually bring the car to a full stop if the car in front comes to a stop, and soons as they pull off, away you go , ive driven in traffic jams and in town just on the cruise and not had to touch accelerator or brake peddle

i have to admit it takes a lot to get to trust the system not to crash into the car infront

waiting on a mechanic with the new part to fit at home

the self level switch is about £300 fitting is a matter of minutes

apparently common fault according to toyota

lexus wants to replace all 4 switch's in one go (ouch)

well mechanics been and replaced the level switch 15 minutes work, and the whole rear is now lower and level once again

seems the level switch was seized solid and was the cause of the problem, not a damp or corroded conecter as originally informed

also informed its advised to replace all 4 in one go as soon as one goes the rest will follow and the mechanic noticed a couple of the switches had already been replaced, so they were being replaced as and when they failed

hopefully this is the last post of a problem and from now on i can just enjoy the drive and 19mpg fuel consumption

well surprise surprise, first days use after getting the car back, same fault

popped into a mates garage and they had a quick look / fiddle

said common fault, needs a new switch as the switchs seize up due to only getting road use

found a load of grease in the connector and said hope they remover the corrosion first otherwise pointless fix and not the actual fault

easy job expensive part, so will be on the phone today to get this sorted, after a quick call to lexus just for advice of them

just an update

if anyone else has heard of this let me know as it sounds a bit suspect to me

apparently a connector to one of the sensors had damp in it, cleaned and resealed and all cured

im sorry if i dont trust this, but i had an independent give me this excuse on a jag and eventually had to replace the whole instrument consol which contains a ECU to cure the fault which was affecting the ABS, traction control and other minor systems and it wasnt a cheap fix

so i will see how it goes, if it happens again i wont be too polite

its back at the garage i got the car from to be repaired, fortunately they gave me 6 months warranty on everything, just waiting a phonecall to say whats wrong, when it will be fixed and when i can collect it

im just glad i have a warrenty for the first 6 months, and that i got the car from a main stream dealer (not toyota or lexus), otherwise im sure id be a few quid worse off, but thats the joys or downside of owning something a bit special

well suppose it had to happen with so much to go wrong

havnt even owned the RX for for 4 weeks and the air suspensions doing its own thing

N/S has decided its off road time and has pumped itself up to the maximun, so now its some 4 inch's (10cm) higher than the O/S

thankfully the dealer is collecting it on friday (after christmas) to take away and fix it

so should get it back sometime in the new year

not a good start, but im not going to let it put me off

only new to the forums but been on eBay for years, i have sold and bought alsorts including some cars

and have sold all over the world

the trouble with eBay is it is buyer friendly, as a seller if an item does not arrive, even with proof of postage, unless it is a signed for item recieved by the buyer, ebay/paypal will refund the buyer and the seller has to claim for loss of the item

as for offering differnt methods of postage, if you offer first class with only £32 cover on a £150 item and it does not arrive, you as the seller will be out of pocket as again the buyer will recieve a refund via ebay/paypal

royal mail is a very expensive postage option as a seller, use parcels to go, it can be linked to you eBay account and paid by paypal, and you have the option to drop parcels off or have them collected plus adding the insurance is a much easier option on each and every item

min cost to send a small packet is now £5.20 or something where as on parcel to go you can and will half that in most cases

i have had all these scenarios happen to me so speak from experience, you will always have to refund as a seller unless you have proof the buyer recieved the item, the same as if it is faulty

aslo the latest issue is sending items to russia etc, they will pay by paypal, you post recorded/signed for, they recieve it but no signiture is requested or recorded and after about 40 days they start a item not recieved with paypal, and and as you have no way of proving delivery they get a refund from paypal , the only way around this is fedex and other international well know couriers but there prices are astronomical

also beware of any high value purchase from china, honk kong or korea, they all use fedex now who will regardless charge you 20% tax as the item hits UK, they pay this on your behalf, delivery you the item and then you get an invoice for the tax and £10 handling fee about 2 weeks later

hope this is of help

not going to list them all as there are too many to list over the years

and the lexus RX is a second car

but the last car which the lexus has replaced was a ford ranger pickup

just need to find a van now for work as im damned if im throwing tools in the back of the lexus

thanks chaps, mind out at rest but will probale change the cam belt at some point next year anyway, as im fortunate enough to have access to some very good mechanics that dont cost the earth

thanks for the welcomes

ill get some photos up as soon as i can

dont know much on the details, still waiting on the log book back from DVLC

got the issue with a crackling radio when the rear window demister is on so going to fit a DAB adapter,

few marks on the bodywork to sort out

can anyone confirm at what point the cambelt needs doing, dealer informed me it was 90k

but ive seen 72k or 6 years aswell

had my first proper run out in the car today, quality for sure 85mph on the motorway, smooth and quiet

cant find a downside to ownership yet

thought id better say hello rather than just hiding in the back ground

just got myself a nice 2005, rx300 se-l with only 48k on it,

and at a nice price out of a main stream dealers

and very nice it is

its a second car for a bit luxury and for the wife

sold my ford ranger pickup to buy and now also have to buy myself a van as the pick up was also used for work

good to know theres a forum and hopefully may make a few meets should there be any up north