Spottedlaurel

One of the big factors in me getting an RX450h some six months ago was using my previous Toyota Avensis 1.8 petrol on last year's holiday. It safely and comfortably got us around, but the torque-less engine didn't cope well with four passengers and lots of luggage on the mountains and hills of France, and all the time I was driving it I kept thinking how much nicer something like a big Lexus would be. I part-exchanged the Toyota after less than a year, losing a predictably unhealthy amount, so did the experience of using the RX on this year's French holiday prove this to be worthwhile?.... In short, yes! I ended up almost doubling the mileage I've done since getting it back in February, and the intensive use of it over the two weeks of my holiday showed it to be something I'd like to keep for a good while. What follows is a bit of a review of my experience. Started off with packing the car on the hottest day of the year, ready for the start of our journey the next day. Boot didn’t appear to be quite as large as Avensis, but still took two cases, 12v fridge box and bags of food, books etc with cover pulled across and rear seats slid slightly forwards. I never like the idea of driving a long way with clobber piled-up inside the rear window and limiting visibility. Despite all the extra weight it didn't appear to squat down at the rear as all my previous cars did (normal hatchbacks and estates like Primera, Accord and Avensis). Uneventful first leg down to Newhaven straight after finishing work on Friday. After experimenting with different routes and timings we’ve settled on the night-time crossing to Dieppe, getting a few hours of sleep on the ferry and getting to France for an early start the next morning. In previous years we’re broken the journey up with an overnight stop or two and relaxed driving on the rural D-roads, but this year we had a 520-odd mile trek down to our accommodation in one day. The RX coped very well with this, of course. The 81mph speed limit and generally emptier roads meant extended use of the cruise control which was an interesting experience as it's not something I can use in Norfolk/Suffolk. It's clear that most other drivers are doing the same, setting it very close to the 130kmh limit, and the minimal difference in speed makes for a much smoother, safer drive. Possibly not as economical overall, but amusing when the downhill stretches were steep enough to shut the engine down and go into full charge mode. The engine was surprisingly audible when climbing some of the hills, but in general the ability of the hybrid and CVT to let the engine run at a slow speed made for a very relaxed drive. Much of the time on slower roads the 12v fridge made more noise than anything else. The ability to quickly pick-up speed was much appreciated when joining the fast-running autoroutes, particularly with the tight radius ‘on’ curves and generally shorter sliproads meaning that getting back into the flow needs to be done in a decisive manner. It was also much more pleasant than the Avensis to have plenty of power when driving up the steeper hills. It took us around 14 hours to cover that long drive down on the first day, with a cross-country stretch of D-road driving to get between autoroutes and various stops for food, fuel and the odd catnap. All on board found it very comfortable, with my teenage children sleeping for much of the journey and my wife finding the more upright seating position much better than the Avensis. As well as comfort levels, factors such as good visibility and large mirrors made for a stress-free experience. Some sections of the autoroute on the way down were quite rainy, and the smooth asphalt surface generated a lot of spray, but the RX always felt secure and composed. No issue with my choice of Michelin CrossClimates recently fitted to the front, if finances permit I’d like to get the rears done before winter even though the Dunlops it currently has were new when I bought it. The CVT always being in the right ‘gear’ was appreciated on unfamiliar roads, in towns, when stuck in a queue on the autoroute etc, even more so than a conventional auto with its need to kickdown. As we have done before the map was used for position finding only in conjunction with a real, printed atlas (remember them?!). In this role it worked well, it was useful to be able to see upcoming bends and road layouts, and to find petrol stations, but not be a slave to the sat-nav. I don't think it could cope with my photo opportunity stops, detours and turnarounds.... The recently-introduced, slower 50mph speed limit on D-roads was a little frustrating on the long, straight roads in the north, but less of an issue in the hilly countryside of the Tarn et Garonne department where we stayed for our fortnight. Ride and handling was ideal and even on smaller roads the RX didn’t feel too unwieldy. I find the turning circle to be surprisingly tight, useful when getting around small villages and when turning round for a random photo opportunity. When I’m on holiday I usually take a few photos of old/interesting/unusual/rubbish cars (by few I mean several hundred). The extra bit of height and visibility was certainly useful to see things worth stopping for, and my family had a comfortable place to sit in a random gateway or street while I wandered off to get a photo or two. As I hadn’t used my RX on long trips like this before I was interested to see how it would fare on economy. Lowest I remember seeing was 28-29mpg on one tankful on the way down, but with cruise control on the relatively empty, flattish northern autoroutes I more usually got 31-33. When I’d filled-up off the autoroute and driven only on D-roads at 50-odd mph then I saw 40-41mpg after as much as 60 miles – I doubt the Avensis I took last year would have done as well as that, and it really tumbled when doing 80-odd on the autoroutes or when driving in the hills and mountains. Our journey home was pretty much a repeat of the way down, but with an overnight stop in Normandy at a great B&B to delay getting back home for as long as possible. We used the Eurotunnel to get back to the UK, as timings of the Dieppe-Newhaven ferry don’t work so well for us. Driving back home on the M20/M25/A12 was as awful as it seems to be every year, with lots of queues, roadworks and much lower standards of driving. Was there anything I didn’t like, or that annoyed me after this period of intensive use? First would be the lack of a simple button to turn the A/C on/off. Only other thing of significance is the keyless entry and start/stop. I’m happy to still use a remote button to unlock, there are very few occasions where it’s less convenient to do that than touch the door handle, and there are times when it didn’t ‘start’ (i.e. go into ready mode) despite me being as careful as I can be about pressing the brake pedal when I push the start button. I don't think there's a fault, it's just my lousy co-ordination. With it being initially silent I would then sometimes try and pull away, then realise that I had no drive or PAS. The twist of a key would be much more positive.... Lexus seems to be a much less common brand in France than the UK, but then that appears to be the case with most Japanese makes. I saw a UK-registered pre-facelift RX450 on the autoroute, a French F-Sport and an RX300. There was the occasional NX, CT, RC and IS, some of them belonging to Dutch and Belgian holidaymakers. Most surprising to see was a French-registered Mk1 LS400, which I just about managed to catch on the dashcam. Didn’t see any 4th gen RX at all, whether French or British. Is there a conclusion to this review? Just that the RX happily met my expectations and, as someone who enjoys cars and driving, it made the holiday even more pleasurable for me. It was roomy, comfortable, capable and relaxing, and economy was tolerable for the performance and capabilities it offered. I can’t see that a 4th gen model would do anything much better and at the end of my PCP I will think strongly about keeping this one, even if it’s as a second car to something more economical for day-to-day use.

Apart from the more basic - and rare - SE there's not really a lot between Luxury, Advance and F-Sport. They all have plenty of toys, the latter two have a deeper bumper and more pronounced version of the Lexus spindle grille so look a little different. Any of them can have a sunroof or panoramic roof. Outside/interior colour choices can have a big effect, which is best is down to your taste. I'd prioritise condition, mileage, history and price over getting hold of a particular trim level.

It was Tunbridge Wells for me. I probably should have been patient and bought something from my local dealer, especially as it turns out I've known their aftersales manager for 20+ years from our shared interest in older Toyotas, but at the time they didn't have the right car. I didn't get Lexus UK involved, maybe I should have done, but in the end I got a better car for not much more money. The one I originally had turned up at a non-Lexus sales place, but has now disappeared from AutoTrader although it still shows up as being untaxed. As long as the manufacturers/importers prefer to sell through group-owned dealerships rather than smaller, often family-run companies then I think we have to start with low expectations.... Good to know you like the 200 anyway, I'd imagine it's lighter than a 450 so has a different feel to it? I drove a friend's Mk2 LS400 recently, which reminded me of the Mk3 I used to have, and it made me realise they are still an incredible car.

Sorry to hear about the problems. I had a couple of problems with an approved gen 3 RX450 bought from a Lexus dealer but they were idiots about it and wouldn't fix the most significant issue so I ended up exchanging it for a better model. I had expected better and will be more wary next time. How do you find the 200 model? Quite a rarity.

I don't have experience of owning both variants, just a 2012-on facelift model. However, I purchased some pre-facelift mats and shape-wise they fitted fine so I imagine the same would be true for the other way round. The only issue I had was the clip design seemed to have changed and I have to live with them being loose (not a problem as they're grippy on the bottom).

Having gone through this experience coming back from a fortnight in France just two days ago, the biggest difference I find is the condition of our roads and the driving standards. Far more stupidity seen in 120 miles home from Folkestone compared to 1500+ miles in France..... Haven't flown on holiday for years, we've really enjoyed our annual driving trip to France. Particularly good this year in the new-to-me RX. Tunnel generally efficient (although it was suffering delays on Sunday PM), but going out we've settled on the Newhaven-Dieppe night-time crossing. Ideal for getting down to the south coast after work, getting a few hours kip in the cabin then being in France bright and early and getting some miles (or kilometres I should say) in while it's quiet, or taking time to visit places en-route to our destination. If it's rough then you've got your own toilet in the cabin......

I bought a 2014 Advance earlier this year which had suffered expensive-looking damage to its exhaust system and the plastic undertray was scraped and held on with a cable tie - and that was an approved car from a Lexus dealer. I swapped it for a better example under their exchange policy..... Check the one you're looking at hasn't been used by someone optimistic about its off-roading abilities (negligible). Tailored rubber mats are available which would keep it looking good inside. Be realistic about the economy you'll get, I doubt it'll be as good as the Avensis. Plenty of discussion about that on various threads here, mid 30s probably average at this time of year, which will drop a little in the colder weather. I also went from Avensis to RX. Not many choices if you're after a big Japanese estate nowadays. I'm not convinced that the boot is as big as the Toyota's, but I'll find out for sure when I pack it with the family and all our luggage for a fortnight's holiday soon. I know it's going to be a great drive though, far more enjoyable on the hills and mountains in France where my petrol Avensis struggled last year. It'd be good to see a relatively low number of owners on the V5 (don't take the dealer's word for it, have a look for yourself even if they want to conceal the previous keeper's address due to GDPR) and it having been looked after by Lexus dealers for much of its life even if it's been taken to a good independent in more recent years as it's got a bit older.

While we're talking about gen 3 RX sat-nav systems...... Is there a setting that I'm not finding which puts the map screen onto a night-time display with more muted colours? At preset, at night the mainly white display dims along with everything else permanently illuminated but I still find it to be rather bright. I've gone through the menu several times but can't see anything. On my 2015 Avensis (and probably also my older one) I could choose from several display options. I get the speed limit display in the corner of the screen, but it's not there for every road. In the Avensis it would go red if the limit was exceeded, but again the RX doesn't do that. I imagine it used GPS to determine vehicle speed so would often be a more accurate indicator then the speedo (useful when trying to maximise French autoroute cruising speed, for example).

Is it just a scale issue? I don't use the sat-nav much (25+ years of finding my way to obscure rural places with maps or an atlas means I can live without it) but I sometimes find smaller roads and lanes only appear when I zoom in a bit. I think the general consensus is the sat-nav system isn't one of Lexus's strong points.

I had the same with a pair on mine, also a low mileage example - I imagine they were probably the originals as they were on the rear so don't do much work. I just bit the bullet and replaced them myself, giving me the choice of what tyres I could select. Some sort of all-seasons would suit you well? Good to hear you're enjoying it otherwise.

I got mine up to 35-odd today thanks to some longer A- and B-road cruising, probably 37-38mpg allowing for the 32 it had done up to that point. I had the odd occasion to make use of the lovely V6 as I was 'making progress', so not too bad. Best way of looking at it isn't as being super-economical, just that the hybrid gives tolerable economy to a fairly big, powerful, very comfortable car. I really enjoyed the drive in mine yesterday, the family were on board and it was doing just what I wanted it to do. The Avensis 1.8 petrol I had before would probably have done low 40s on that journey, but would have been nowhere as pleasurable to drive.....

I can't offer anything on 1 or 2 of your list. 3. I wonder if they are too bad on tyres? I've just replaced the rears on mine, I suspect they were the original Japanese-made Bridgestones - they were badly cracked due to age (so much so I'm surprised the main dealer selling it let them go through like it) but still had quite a bit of tread depth and had worn evenly. Mine is coming up to five years old and has now done 26k miles. I've gone for the Michelin CrossClimates following good reports on here and due to this being my car of choice when the weather's bad. 4.I'm still fairly new to RX and hybrid ownership, I have the screens set-up like this so I can see how my driving style affects the economy: Yes, this photo was taken on a private road! I find the trip info screen at full-size an easy way of seeing how much difference it makes when lifting the throttle just slightly, and it's satisfying to see those bars as high as possible. That MPG is what I get running around locally, with lots of cold starts and short-ish journeys, with no use of the A/C. I try and reset the trip meter each time I refill and then see how it's doing against the cruising range figure. There are the graphics on both screens which show the energy going backwards and forwards, but I prefer to work with numbers. When I bought mine at 24k it was showing an overall average of 30.6mpg, after a couple of thousand miles that's risen to 30.8. I did use Eco mode for a tankful or two, but the difference it made wasn't enough to persevere with.

The Lexus dealer couldn't get anywhere near that price, £426 vs. £309 for a pair! Gone onto the Blackcircles site today and the 10% offer on individual tyres has gone, replaced by £40 off a set of four, so it was good that I bought them when I did. Still might be worth seeing if the "mich10" code works though?.......

That's a shame. What are you moving onto instead? I understand your reasoning and went through something similar myself earlier this year. For the previous four years I'd had an Avensis Tourer, just a 2.0 diesel but it was a useful tool - lots of space inside and plenty of torque even if it wasn't the quietest or most sophisticated thing. When the time came to change I went for the 1.8 petrol version of the same model, but it was a rather joyless car and within 2-3 months I was wishing I hadn't bought it. It had no torque, which seems to be an issue with many modern, non-turbo petrol engines. Fortunately I'd put enough of a deposit down not to end up with significant negative equity, but I lost a substantial amount having had it for just a year, due to the difference between main dealer retail price and part-ex value plus a year's natural depreciation. Oddly enough, seeing an NX was what got me thinking about buying a Lexus as a replacement for the Avensis - I prefer the look of it to the current RX. However, I fairly quickly realised that it wouldn't have the space I was used to with the Avensis and the use of a 4-cyl engine concerned me. To match the practicality, roominess and torque of the Avensis diesel I went for a previous-gen RX. Luckily I'm a bit of a Luddite so the rather basic infotainment system doesn't bother me, and at least I get a stick to control it. However, a friend was showing me what the set-up in his new Jaguar E-Pace can do and it puts the Lexus system to shame. The above being said, I'd still be interested to give the NX a go if I get offered one as a courtesy car. If they update it with the new RAV4 engine then maybe it would be a better bet? The NX's size would be fine for us when my children are driving and don't need ferrying around so much. Isn't it difficult on a test drive to pick up the everyday things that can make or break life with a car? As you also suggest, there is the tendency to overlook potential issues or think you'll be able to live with them, but the opposite ends up being the case.

Blackcircles have the 19" CrossClimates listed at £169.99 each, fully fitted at various local dealers (I have four to choose from in my local area). Apparently there's a 10% discount code that can be applied, which brings it down to just over £300 a pair. Asda's online tyre thing sounds similar to the above, they're listing them at £167 each (but no mention of any discount code).

A very small update on my RX. Even the substitute Luxury I got to replace the Advance had an issue with a noise from the rear end, which got worse on the lumpy rural lanes around where I live. Following a tip on this forum a few weeks ago I bought some anti-squeak tape - basically self-adhesive rubber/butyl with a felt face. It was cheap off eBay, just over £2 posted for a 500mm length. Having put my son in the boot one day (on a private road, genuinely) he worked out that the noise was coming from the tailgate latch area. Looking at it, I could see that the plastic hinged flap which seals around the bottom fastening was quite polished, suggesting it was rubbing against the tailgate part of the latch mechanism. Two little strips of the tape were applied to the flap and now I have silence! Any other noises I can hear are stuff inside the car, at least it's not the rear seats which I had initially thought were the problem. Since getting this one in late February I've only done a couple of thousand miles, due to a fairly short work commute and having my older cars to use now the weather is (mostly) better. All good so far, I seem to get 32-35mpg depending on whether I've managed to do some longer journeys or it's just been local running around. Now focusing on next month's holiday in France, that's where it will really excel with the family and luggage on board and wanting to cover a big distance in a day. Looking forward to having a bit of power on the hills and mountains - the torque-less Avensis 1.8 petrol I took last year was not good for that. It needs a couple of tyres, so I'm looking at the ever-popular Michelin CrossClimates and getting the almost-new Dunlops swapped to the rear. It currently has Bridgestones on the back which may have been there from new? They still have a reasonable amount of tread but certainly look somewhat aged and not something I'd be happy about subjecting to a few hundred miles of 81mph autoroute travel. Budget aside, it's a shame all four don't need replacing but the front Dunlops were new when I bought it and it'd be a terrible waste to get rid of them. If my local Lexus dealer will do them for a sensible price then I'll take it down there and get a summer health check done while I'm at it. The MoT and service isn't due until later in the year and it would do no harm for someone other than the dealer who sold it to me to give it a once-over while I'm well within the warranty period. They can also price up a service plan for me, it should be eligible for the 'essentials' package as it'll just be five years old by that time. Still happy with my choice after a few months. The particular car I ended up with is perfect for what I want out of an RX, it's only now that my local dealer has had anything which I think would have been a good alternative. I do wonder how I'd have got on with the Mazda 6 2.5 and Subaru Outback I'd also been considering, I think they'd have been good in their own way but not better (I don't need the Subaru's off-road capability). Toyota have since launched the Camry here which wouldn't have been much of a stretch on the monthly payments, but sadly there's no estate version so that's ruled out. In summary, I'm quite content to live with mine for the next three years and with how slowly I'm adding the miles it should be well worth purchasing outright at the end of the agreement and keeping it long-term. P.S. Is there a way of changing the original thread title?

Sterling work. A bit of an eye-opener to see what it looked like given the low mileage. Not sure whether I want to look too closely at mine now.....

Looks like new. Impressive economy! Any thoughts about it in real world use compared to the test drive? What tyres does it have? They do seem to be sensitive to this.

That's great. It certainly sounded like it should be a good one, pleasing to know it turned out that way.

Is it a standard torque convertor auto 'box on the 200? If so, I wonder if the lock-up feature on top is giving the same effect of holding a manual car in too high a gear? The speed coincides with when I've had lock-up operate on other Japanese automatics.

Sounds like a great example so long as the condition is commensurate with what you'd hope/expect at that sort of mileage. Even after you've had it for six years, at the annual mileage you're doing it'll be about 70k so it should be a good car for a future owner. Les has pointed out the wheel issue, and I'll reiterate my problem with the exhaust and undertray damage I found on mine doe to a careless (or unfortunate) previous owner. Some examples seem to rattle and creak around the rear - possibly the seats, but I think on mine it's something around the tailgate. If it's one owner from new you'd like to think it had been sold and serviced by the same people from day one, and hopefully find they've part-exchanged it for another Lexus. Rubber mats and bootliner are good to have, as is the rear bumper protector.

Great to hear you've settled on the RX. Yes, the camera and big mirrors do help when manoeuvring, and as you know from your Land Rover being that bit higher up gives better visibility anyway. I think RX is a bit more trim than some other cars of this type - I'm currently working on a project which includes a new car park and I've had to allow for an area with 50cm bigger spaces for the directors/visitors in their Range Rovers, X5s etc..... My search on AutoTrader was pretty similar to yours, using that it's interesting to see how many are white - 33 of six other colours versus 18 in white alone. Many of us on here have travelled to buy the right car, it really depends how quickly you need/want it. I would much preferred to have bought it from the helpful, friendly chap at my local dealer but even within their group they just didn't have the right car for me. Four months later they finally do, but I couldn't have waited that long. I believe the warranty covers the car at any dealer, so even if you have a problem you don't need to go back to the people who sold it to you. I did have to go 100+ miles back to my dealer, but that's because of an issue that wasn't covered by the warranty so I had to exchange my first RX for a better example. What sort of mileage will you be doing in it and how long do you intend to keep it? Just wondering if you want to find something with low mileage, or whether you can accept higher mileage but with good history - the latter will save you a bit. Sticking to Lexus dealers, the nearest I can find to you that meets your criteria is a black F-Sport in Sheffield with 63k at £21,450. Lower mileage examples are usually £25k and upwards. If you could make it down to the area south of London (Kent, Surrey, Croydon etc) then you'd have a good range to choose from various dealers, perhaps make a weekend of it? Shame the silver Advance at Glasgow has a tan interior, but could still be worth a look at? Having done just under 50k you'd have an idea of how well that colour takes everyday use ad they seem to be offering a good deal with various extras thrown into the package.

I bought a 2014 Advance earlier this year, but exchanged it under the terms of the Lexus policy as I think a previous owner had attempted to do what you do in your Land Rover, judging from the state of underside. This was on an approved car from a Lexus dealer, so do still check carefully. I then got a 2014 Luxury, so I can compare them on the basis of recent experience. My conclusion is that the differences aren't worth worrying about - I didn't feel short-changed in getting the slightly lower-spec Luxury, to me condition was more important. The Advance was the version with 7-spoke wheels and normal stereo, not Mark Levinson. As such, the only significant difference was that it had LED headlights which I now lack. It had a panoramic roof which my Luxury doesn't have, I can happily live without it. At 6'3" you might find a headroom issue, but I didn't at 6'0". A lot of Luxury models seem to have what I think they call the design pack, with front and rear undertrays. Mine seems to be relatively unusual in not having them. My Luxury has the metallic celestial black paint, which I don't find too bad to keep clean and easier than the solid black paint on the Advance which showed up scratches and swirl marks very easily. My ideal would have been the dark metallic blue, but it's difficult to be too choosy. I knew I didn't want white (which rules out a lot of those for sale) and I don't think I could keep the cream interior clean enough so I was happy that mine was black inside. I would have happily considered an F-Sport if the right car at the right price had been available, on the basis of a test drive I took I didn't think the ride felt significantly firmer. They have a dark headlining so without a sunroof or panoramic roof they can feel a bit gloomier inside. Whether you like the look of them or not with their mesh grilles and other sporty bits is down to personal taste but they do have some useful toys like the LED lights, M/L stereo and HUD - the latter probably quite useful in a car which is quiet and easy to exceed the speed limit in. Advance seems to be the most common variant of the 2014/15 models currently for sale on AutoTrader.

Less squeaking in mine today with a boot full of stuff.... I considered a GS as an alternative to the RX - the dealer had a 450h which was rather tempting, but the issue I found with it was the lack of practicality. The rear seat doesn't fold, which I think you do have on the IS?

I recently bought a 2014 RX with just 24k miles and unfortunately that does suffer a squeaky rear seat, which isn't cured by dropping the armrest. It's pretty good otherwise, but I suspect it had a relatively easy life with its previous owner It'll be interesting to see how it fares with my rural driving. I did have another RX for five weeks but exchanged it as it had been somewhat mistreated. It looked like it had been grounded at some point, with damage to the exhaust system and undertray and it certainly didn't drive as nicely as the one I now have. On that basis I'd say they can suffer if someone abuses them.