Spottedlaurel

I recently bought a 2014 Luxury, following five weeks when I had a 2014 Advance, slightly older and with higher mileage (although still fairly low) but I exchanged it as I found some problems which I was surprised to see on an approved model from a Lexus dealer. The exhaust had suffered some damage and an undertray had been scraped then secured with cable ties, making me question about how it had been looked after (that car is now for sale at an independent dealer). In day-to-day use a Luxury doesn't appear to lose anything from the Advance. LED headlights are probably the main thing, but the standard ones are still good. Advance has a different bumper and wheels, all a matter of taste. A lot of Luxury models seem to be upgraded with under-run trays front and rear and roof-rails, again up to you whether you like them or not - I'm happy without them on mine. The Advance I had was solid Velvet Black, which looks to be difficult to keep clean and it certainly shows swirl marks from polishing. Metallic Celestial Black seems to be a bit more forgiving, as I imagine would be any of the lighter shades. My Advance had a panoramic roof. It may be coincidence, or perhaps down to tyres, but I think the Luxury without it drives more tightly. A little more headroom too. A sunroof would have been nice, and is probably the best compromise. I only saw a stamped service book on mine, but I think any dealer can print off the previous history. I personally didn't bother with any checks beyond what the Lexus dealer does, but I wish I'd looked at the first one a bit more closely myself before I agreed to buy it.....

It's certainly something I'll contemplate if/when sections need attention. I've had three full stainless steel systems on various older Japanese cars where it's been more cost-effective to do that than find replacement mild steel stuff (if they've even been available).

£3800?!? Now I know why the dealer didn't want to replace the damaged one on the 2014 Advance I recently bought then exchanged........ Well done on getting it sorted for rather less, but sorry to hear you've had to go through this.

Yes, I think they suit it well, perhaps better than how they were originally. Even though they're both 15-spoke style, they differ from those on my Luxury. The central spoke on your wheels is more pronounced.

I'll send you a message with my location and an idea of when I'm free. Jumpingjehovahs on here (who I knew through another forum) kindly did the same for me before I got my RX, it was very useful. Ipswich are my nearest dealership and I found them to be very helpful there, but they didn't have the right car even amongst their other branches. It's quite useful that they currently have both a 400 and 450 at present, so you can make a side-by-side comparison. I ended up travelling 100+ miles down to Kent for mine and had been considering a trip up to Bradford.

Doesn't sound like you're too far from me Aaron. If you'd like to look at a 450 and see if you think it's worth the extra cost over a 400 then you'd be welcome to come and have a chat and a play with mine. Easier to take it in than when you've got a salesman alongside you, and I can give you my real world thoughts about its pros and cons. Mine's a '14, but I don't think there's too much different on the earlier pre-facelift models.

A leak and/or a bit of air in the cooling system? Other than the comfort aspect, sounds like something to be investigated sooner rather than later.

It doesn't help reduce the biggest items on your list, but brake discs can be skimmed if they have enough thickness left on them. I've had this done on a Camry and LS400 before, both of which had been unused for a while until I bought them, and it was very successful. They do it on the car and take the pads out, so these may as well get changed at the same time. Hopefully a good independent will have a more sensible pricing strategy.

They look very good, glad it all worked out for you. Regarding the reverse camera, when you say slow how slow do you mean?

Surprisingly little weight difference. 140kg = a couple of kids/one adult passenger and a bit of luggage? Just looked on HowManyLeft - it says at the end of 2018 there were 22 F Sports, 48 Luxury models and three "S 2wd Auto". I can't immediately think of any other Lexus/Toyota that uses the same engine. I presume this model makes sense for markets where tax bands are based on engine size (back in the '80s there were a lot of JDM models available as 2-litre turbo that we got with bigger engines).

Bristol have one of those 2-litre RXs for sale as well. They seem to be a bit of a curio, apparently 238bhp from a turbocharged '4'. I wonder if the turbo is sufficient to give it the torque that modern multivalve engines lack? It strikes me it would have to work hard to haul the RX around and that economy would suffer as a result. First week in with my new 64-reg Luxury, all very good so far. Doing everything I hoped it would and my first tankful worked out at 33.5mpg. Cleaned it up today and no nasty surprises, indeed I was impressed at how tidy it is.

Thanks Herbie, I already do! Useful info Les, thanks. Maybe it was set to 'off' in the Advance? I have to confess to not having read or even looked at the manuals yet, so there's probably all sorts of handy features I'm missing out on.....

A little bit has happened since I last wrote about my RX. I wasn't happy about the exhaust but they didn't want to fix it. I then found that one of the undertrays had been scraped, with the clips broken and it then secured with a cable tie - not something I'd have expected or hoped to see. In fairness they did offer to replace the undertray, but it raised questions about how the car had been driven and cared-for. Fortunately I was in the period/mileage when I could ask for an exchange, so that's what I did today. With a bit of additional deposit and a small amount extra per month, I've just brought home a six-month newer 2014 Luxury: Very happy with it, drives really nicely. Fractionally lower spec than the Advance, but the only thing of significance I'll miss is the LED headlighting. I have a personal preference for this bumper style and the metallic Celestial Black paint which highlights the shape well. Just one previous owner who'd bought it new at Guildford and always had it serviced there. It's covered 24k and the overall feel and visible wear and tear is commensurate with that. Strangely, this one has brand new Dunlops on the front and older Bridgestones on the back, the complete opposite to the Advance - Motorline's different branches obviously have differing views on what they fit. Difficult to know why - and maybe it's my imagination - but it seems to drive better, with a supple but tight feel with less rattles. Maybe the lack of panoramic roof, or just tyre pressures? It was showing 30.6MPG when I collected it and I again managed just under 32 on the cruise back home (in sport mode). A few very subtle differences noted, like the switch panel above the rear view mirror being slightly higher (so I won't now get annoyed by the bit of plastic that obscured the top of the view seen in the mirror) and it has lane-change indicators giving four flashes from one gentle push - I'm sure the Advance didn't do that. Hoping for more typical RX ownership from now on and looking forward to a few years of relaxed driving.

Interesting to hear about RX ownership elsewhere in Europe. Are they a common sight in Sweden?

Derby still have this car for sale, it's now down to £22,994. Cambridge have been reducing the price of their white Premier and Bradford have knocked a couple of hundred off a smart silver F-Sport they've had for over a month now. Bit of a shame about that last one, it ticked a lot of my boxes and if the salesman had indicated there was a bit of room for negotiation then I'd have gone to see it, but he was adamant they price their cars competitively and didn't need to do that sort of thing..... Other cars appear on AutoTrader and then go very quickly, so I guess there's a still a good market out there. For whatever reason the odd one hangs around for a bit. In an ideal world I wouldn't still be looking at adverts, but due to being in a situation where I'm looking at exchanging what I bought last month I need to know what's available out there.

I don't know, it's probably a personal thing - I don't dispute that technically a 450 does do those things better, but I have several older cars on my fleet and I enjoy them all for how they do things. I still regularly drive my 1993 Camry and much preferred it to the 2015 Avensis when I had that. I think it's really good to see Michael commit to a job which I imagine a lot of owners would ignore.

Sounds like a goodun and well worth the TLC you're giving it. I'd love to try an older 300 or 350 now I've got used to my 450.

I recently bought an RX450. Despite being low miles and slightly newer than you're considering, it had picked up some impact damage to the exhaust and a scraped undertray held on by a cable tie. Maybe a previous owner thought it was more of an off-roader than is really the case? As such, I'd say do give the underside a good look as well as the interior, bodywork, service history etc. In the current cold weather with lots of short journeys and cold starts, having to let it warm up while I clear frosty windows, I'm getting something like 28-29mpg. On longer runs I'm getting more like 32-33mpg. On the one I bought when I picked it up it was showing an average of 29.6mpg. Because of the exhaust issues and questions that raised about how it was looked after I'm now looking to exchange it for another model, and the alternative car is showing a more healthy 31.8mpg average.

When I recently bought my used RX from a Lexus main dealer the salesman was saying people with cash in the bank are using their finance options as the costs are so low. Sell your car privately, or to a local trader who retails similar age vehicles or the likes of WBAC? I did that last year when the main dealers wouldn't offer more than £2500 for my clean 2010 Avensis estate, in the end I went to a local guy who gave me £3400. I've had my last three cars on a PCP. I suppose the downsides would be if you want to get out of it early and you haven't put a decent deposit down you could find yourself in negative equity, keeping yourself to whatever mileage allowance you've chosen, or if you let it run the full term, want to hand it back and there is any damage and you have to get into a debate over what is fair wear and tear (there is a guide to this within the pack they send you). Good luck if you go for it, the ES appeals to me too. The issue of not having a really well-specced, non-sporting model isn't exclusive to Lexus.

Sounds like a nice example you've just let go, wish I'd known about it 3-4 weeks ago......

An interesting discussion. After seeing an NX a year or two ago and liking the look of it I got thinking about what Lexus offered that would be an alternative to my daily driver Avensis. When I changed cars this time last year I wasn't in a position to stretch to a modern-ish Lexus of any sort other than a CT, but they are too small and I soon realised this would be the case with the NX too, so I ended up with a petrol Avensis. A year on and doing less mileage I have just been able to buy an RX. It's all that Lexus do that offers the space and versatility I've been used to. A shame there is no estate version of the IS or GS (or new ES), but maybe they wouldn't be popular enough in America or Japan? The one thing that surprises me about it is that the ride isn't quite as cushioning as I'd have hoped. I would happily trade a little handling sharpness for the sort of ride offered by the LS400 or various examples of Camry I've owned in the past. I still own and run a 1993 Camry estate. It's a rather tatty but mechanically sound thing which my wife dislikes quite intensely, but having persevered with repairing it after it got written-off several years ago I'm loathe to let it go. I much preferred driving it to the Avensis and it still acquits itself well against the RX. It's only a 2.2 manual so it has very modest levels of kit, but it has an incredible feeling of built-in quality that I don't think Toyota/Lexus will ever match despite what they might say. The comments made by Jay about his Gen 1 RX rang true with me - when I had a 1997 Camry alongside the older version there seemed to be very little progress and I ended up selling the newer one. For a while I had five Camrys all at the same time, so I was in quite a good position to compare their strengths and weaknesses....... I disliked the 1.8 petrol engine in the Avensis, very characterless and no torque. Other modern, 4-cyl petrol Toyotas I've driven seem to suffer the same thing (my wife has a 2010 1.6 Auris). The previous diesel I had was a more relaxing thing to drive. Admittedly I haven't tried any Lexus with a 4-cyl engine, and maybe the combination of hybrid running gear and better levels of refinement mask the issues I perceive, but the idea doesn't enthuse me and that was another reason for choosing the RX. I'd still be interested to try an NX, maybe I'll get one as a courtesy car at some point. It could offer a good option for me when I don't have two teenagers to carry around. Sounds like it needs an upgrade with the new RAV4's running gear though?

Nearly three weeks into my RX ownership and I'm getting used to it, and just as importantly enjoying the overall experience. Fuel consumption has dropped a little due to short journeys and the recent cold weather. Looking forward to some longer trips. Ride is a little firmer and more jiggly than I'd have expected. Maybe I need to experiment with tyre pressures? The TPMS display tells me I'm at 2.4-2.5 all-round - I'm driving mainly on rural A- and B-roads not hammering up and down the motorway, so I could go a bit softer? Perhaps also the tyres I have are a factor? New Bridgestones on the front and part-worn Dunlops on the rear. My other RX drives have been of a Premier and an F-Sport so I can't directly compare it to any others. Still getting used to how it gathers speed without the usual audible signals. It's only when I realise how easily I've got up to 60 on a stretch of road I drive very regularly then use one of my other cars and see how hard they have to work to do the same thing that I can appreciate it. Got a slight issue which I'm in communication with the dealer about. When I was giving it a good clean-up I took advantage of the height to wash the salt off underneath and have a bit of a look at it myself. Maybe I'm wrong, but the shape of the central exhaust silencer didn't look right to me: Appears to have taken a bit of a clout, and it certainly wasn't me - I took a photo of the rear subframe when I first viewed it and the damage is just visible then. Assuming it shouldn't be that shape, it makes me question what sort of treatment the previous owner gave it and whether it will fail prematurely due to that seam being distorted and opened-up. I'd be grateful if someone could poke their head underneath theirs and say whether I'm right or wrong about the damage - if possible I'd like to see a photo for comparison. As that length of exhaust is more than just the silencer, and not something I'm likely to get replaced for £50 at ATS, I don't feel this is something I should just forget about. Or am I being too fussy? Maybe it wasn't overly expensive for an RX, but it's hugely more than I've ever paid for a car before and I hoped that buying an approved Lexus would give me some peace of mind which I don't quite feel at the moment.

Thanks all. I've been getting around 31-32mpg so far. Just as importantly I'm enjoying the whole driving experience.

Brief update - my Advance collected yesterday and I've been enjoying wafting around in it. All good so far! Still getting used to the hybrid side of things, but I'm planning on keeping this one for a while so that'll come. Was interesting to compare it with a customer's 2010 SE-I that they had at Tunbridge Wells: Have since seen a couple of others when I was driving around over the weekend. I haven't got used to what mine looks like yet, they're not particularly common around this way.

Good luck! A couple of the wheels on my forthcoming Advance should have been refurbished today, it'll be interesting to see how god a job they've done. Fortunately mine are the earlier 7-spoke type, so no diamond cut finish to worry about. One of the diamond-cut wheels on my Avensis was suffering a bit around the rim from kerb damage, but otherwise they were in good shape after four years and 60-odd thousand miles.