Spottedlaurel

Does it make a difference if the AC is on or off? With no engine noise much of the time that's much more audible.

Sorry to hear of your issues. When I bought an RX last year I made the mistake of thinking the Lexus approved scheme meant I didn't have to check it too carefully. When I was cleaning it at home a week or two later I noticed the plastic undertrays were damaged and held on with cable ties and the exhaust system had a reasonably sizeable dent in it. Seems like it had been off-roading (intentionally or not). I got into a rather protracted debate with the dealer principal, he was an idiot and got rather upset, admitting at one point that he didn't know much about cars. In the end they agreed to replace the plastic undertrays but wouldn't do anything about the exhaust (probably because it wasn't a warranty item and would cost them ££££s). Fortunately I was within the period where I could exchange it for something else, luckily they'd had something better come in and I had that instead. The car then turned up at an independent sales place and I believe has now been exported. All in all not a great experience. I shall certainly be more wary next time.

I have a 2014 RX with standard suspension and I don't think the ride is particularly good, certainly like as cushioned as my '92 LS400. I suppose the suspension is doing a lot of work if you think about it, these are heavy, tall things to keep on the road.

Welcome James. My low mileage 2014 model certainly isn't quiet around that area, on mine it feels like it's interior components rubbing against each other. Make sure all the rear seatbacks are firmly clicked into place for a start. I got caught out by that on a journey once, it was the small centre seat not quite in place. Just remembered I put some felt tape on the small plastic cover that sits around the boot latch, I could see that had been rubbing against the tailgate. Are all the tools firmly in place? Nothing loose in the spare wheel well? That's not to say you haven't got any suspension noise, just try and eradicate a few easy things first. As a general comment, I don't think the ride is spectacularly good, it's a bit more jiggly and firm than I had expected it to be.

Sorry to read about the issue with your 350. I've seen that car listed, looks good to me. Pretty much exactly what I have as a 64-reg Luxury, except that one has the extra undertray parts and roofrails. Mileage is even quite close (I'm just coming up to 40k). It's low for the year, just make sure it has good ownership and service history. I haven't bought a car from the Lexus side of Ipswich, only an Avensis from their neighbours. Given the experience I got at another Lexus dealership when I bought my RX, I wish I'd been patient and waited for the right car to turn up at Ipswich (or at least in their group). I take the RX there for servicing and they're fine on that. An Advance has a slightly higher toy count, but the Luxury has pretty much everything you'll need and definitely avoid the Premier if you don't want air suspension.

Good to know you found the right car, hopefully in a colour acceptable to all concerned?!

My 2014 Luxury has what Lexus call darkened alloy wheels. On the black of mine it's not particularly noticeable until seeing a pre-facelift model where they're a bright silver. I think the darker shade looks good with the black, not too OTT like gunmetal or straight black.

Just had a look at mine - with low mileage and just one former owner I'd expect for it to be reasonably intact - and I can see nothing beyond what you describe. I have a few tool pouches from various Toyotas (and Datsuns/Nissans) I've had over the years - the only items from them that I use with any regularity are a 10mm spanner when swapping batteries around and a screwdriver for taking paint tin lids off. The Mk1 LS400 I've just bought has a neat toolkit in a dropdown panel inside the boot: It's all branded Lexus as well (unlike many of the components on the car) and there's another tool underneath the wheel chock. Looks like it's barely been used in 161,000 miles and 28 years. What's nice is I can get to it without having to remove all the clobber out of the boot first, which I just did to remind what the RX had.... While I was in the back of the RX, I'll give the boot cover a minus point for being a poor design that doesn't cover all of the luggage space and is easy to misalign when pulling it closed, but the solid boot floor panel is good and I like the way it folds in half then has a little clip to hold it out of the way when retrieving the jack etc. The 2015 Avensis had some flimsy bit of plastic with carpet that wasn't very substantial.

Thanks Phil and Piers. Good tip about the PCV valve. Just enjoyed a trip out to take daughter to work - any excuse! I think last week I used my 1973 Datsun 1200 which is the most ludicrously basic car you can imagine, so it was a bit of a contrast.... It definitely feels like something to keep, even if I have to store it for a bit until I can get it really nice. Everything here seems to work, and more importantly go out when it should. The floating effect is so cool. I built this Tamiya 1:24 kit version of the Celsior back in the early-mid '90s, never thinking I'd end up with a real example one day.

Crikey, the one I've just purchased was a rather small percentage of that price! As noted in another topic, I found yesterday that some insurers don't list any Lexus models, of whatever age, as 'classics'. After 25+ years of being involved with various Japanese car clubs, forums etc it's amazing that there is still this prejudice.

As alluded to in my message yesterday about classic insurance (thankfully resolved at sensible cost), I've just got myself back into LS ownership: Camry and Lexus by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr 1992 Lexus LS400 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr As purchased, unseen after I first had a chat with the owner back in 2013 and left my number with him. Have seen it every so often since then, he finally rang me in the week and we agreed a price that meant I could try and give it a long-term future. It'd sat unused in his garage since Christmas but fired-up first time on a battery I took with me. MoT was just about to expire, but just today it got extended so I can use it sympathetically and then work out what to do with it. Treated it to a wash on the way home. Three related cars here. Very interesting to see the similarities between the Camry and LS. LS has more sense of occasion to drive than the RX, lovely as that is. It's done 161k and runs nicely, temperature good. Cam belt probably well overdue, if it doesn't need too much else on brakes/suspension/bodywork then I'll get that done as a priority. Edit: Just found that it was changed in 2011, 15,000 miles ago. So OK on mileage, but probably several years beyond the recommended change interval? All the family mucked-in with giving it a good clean-up inside, for the mileage it's worn its years well. Most things seem to work. I think the pearl white and silver colour scheme is fantastic. All present and correct, barely used. The chap I bought it from said he got it from someone who'd had it as a company car. It was sold new by Cooper Park Lane, London, and I still have the Club Lexus cards for the first keeper. Looks like Park Lane serviced it until 2001/118k miles. It drives really well, looking forward to enjoying it over the next few months then thinking about its future. Always wanted a Mk1 and this seems like a good start.

Interesting that you're also with FJ, presumably for several years? You might not get the same offering if going to them as a new customer. My renewal also went down last time, apparently because a couple of no-fault accidents were sufficiently far back in time to be disregarded. Slightly odd that my premium rose when they weren't my fault............

Thanks for the prompt response Alexander. Happily, FJ have seen sense and they've just added it to my current policy until May 2021 for a mere £36 🙂 I have all my other cars down for commuting and business use. I couldn't get business but they did offer commuting which is good - in these current times it's not like there's much other driving that I do...... More to come about the car itself at the weekend.

I'll tell more about the car soon, but for now I would be grateful for a quick bit of advice please. My current insurers, who I have five cars with including my daily driver RX and four classics, are saying their list specifically includes the LS400 as a classic. Without any additional NCB I dread to think what the quotation is going to be. They currently insure my '93 Camry, apparently that's OK as it's been with them for several years before this list came in ('grandfather rights' effectively). They might be able to use some discretion as I have been with them for a few years and have the RX as my modern car, but in case they come back with a "no" I need to look at someone else. I used to go to RH Specialist Insurance before swapping everything over to FJ, is there anyone else that others on here use successfully? I'm looking to collect it over the weekend so I'm hoping to get this sorted ASAP. I'm 50+ and live in a quiet rural area.

There's a place I drive by regularly that specialises in 4x4s and SUVs. He's had an RX or two in previously, the last 450h went fairly quickly. I noticed a smart red 60-reg RX appear on his forecourt earlier in the week: https://www.tradex4x4.co.uk/cars/lexus/rx/450hv6vvt-ie-cvtautose-i/345344/ I had time to stop today and have a look at it, when I found he'd got another one as well: https://www.tradex4x4.co.uk/cars/lexus/rx/450hv6vvt-ie-cvtautose-l/346876/ Red car would be the one for me if I had to choose with the great colour and interior combination, lower mileage, one less owner and no air suspension, and it's £1500 cheaper. Both had full matching sets of tyres and looked like decent examples, interesting to see what mine could look like in a few years' time. He might be a buyer for mine in years to come (although I'm still thinking I'll buy mine at the end of the PCP, with fairly low mileage and known history I'd be silly not to). Cheapest RX at Steven Eagell is a 2011 with 66k miles at £15.975. I haven't noticed any signficant price drop on any of their cars, wonder how they'll do for sales in the current climate? I bet if they were offering a part-ex valuation, they'd say the market is flat and no one's buying anything, but if wanting to make them an offer the opposite would be the case.....

Lots about mine here: And after my first year with it: From my experience, don't assume that if you buy an approved used car it will be really good and you won't need to give it a good lookover yourself, or that if there's a problem it will be smoothly dealt with. I won't be travelling to a certain dealer in Kent to buy any future Lexus.....

I have a 2014 RX450h, which I think is equivalent to what you're looking for? It's now on about 37k, I bought it last year with a low mileage of about 23k. There has been no appreciable wear and tear during that time, I wouldn't worry too much if you have to go for something of 40-50k which is probably more in line with cars of that age. At 40k it should have a major service, if you get something with 30-something bear this in mind or see that its gets done by the dealer. The spark plug change comes at 60k, regardless of age. RX definitely has a bigger boot than NX, having gone through two young children that's definitely something to bear in mind. I wouldn't say the RX has a particularly big boot, certainly not as large as the Avensis estate I used to have. I'd say the nex RAV4 is better in that regard. On the RX you can slide the seat forwards, which would be OK with young children who don't need the legroom, but then it opens up a gap between the parcel shelf and the back of the seat. As others have said, RX will cost a bit more to run and fuel than NX, but it is a lovely thing to drive.

Indeed. A low miles car can be neglected/abused, and a high-miler honest and well-maintained. Before my current RX I had a 14-reg model with relatively low mileage (30-odd thousand from memory), but that had some issues with damage to the underside from a less-than-careful previous owner. The dealer wouldn't fix it so I exchanged it for what I have now.

There's an expensive service at 60k, when the spark plugs need changing. If yours is beyond that then you'd want to see they were done. I'm getting similar MPG to Robert with my facelift model (I don't think there were any significant mechanical changes). Economy definitely improves in warm weather.

Could you jump it from a loose battery, so you don't need to worry about getting another car close to it? Mine went flat several weeks ago, but 'luckily' just enough to mean it wouldn't start but I could get into the boot etc. Not having a reliable set of jump leads and being frustrated that a £75 charger I bought didn't work, I got the AA round. He jumped it OK but said the battery was in need of replacement, However it's been fine since I've used the RX more regularly again. Maybe something to watch for in the winter, but I'd like to avoid spending £200 right now if I can.....

Sterling work Barry. After it recently went flat enough not to be able to start the RX I need to keep an eye on mine. The AA man reckoned it needed replacing but it seems to be working OK again for now, will see how it goes when I put the car back into everyday use next week.

I've just ordered one of those (also branded as Sealey). My RX's battery no longer has enough power to start it......

Cartell says it's a Luxury, and DVLA says first registered Sept 2014 so similar to what I have. Most of the Luxury models I've seen have the Design pack with undertrays front and rear. Mine doesn't, which gives it an odd look from some angles. MoT site says it'd done 54k at its last MoT, going up by about the typical 10-12k a year. It'll be close to 60k now, if not already passed it, so you'll want to see that the expensive 6yr/60,000 miles service has been done including changing of the spark plugs. If the dealer has changed tyres for the sale then in my experience they'll fit Dunlop or Bridgestone. It'd be nice to see it with a set of Michelin CrossClimates or similar all-seasons. I can't do much more than look at mine at the moment, and give it the odd run up and down the track - I look forward to doing some decent drives in it one day.

Fair point, that doesn't always mean they give anything back to us!

Got my renewal from FJ today. With all the current bad stuff happening, plus the issue with Lexus/Toyota hybrids and cat thefts, I was expecting a rise and to have to search for something new. Not easy with five cars to consider. But, the all-in cost came through at less than £660! The first benefit to me turning 50?........ Policy is with Ageas again, which I'm happy about.