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Pompeyscouser asked, "pick up and return [for servicing] still applies with some Lexus dealers. Is it only Hedge End that has removed this facility?" Lexus Hedge End is part of Snow's Group which has withdrawn the pick up and return service across the Group. This includes Lexus Exeter and Plymouth. My car is serviced at Exeter which, prior to this year and the removal of the pick-return service, occupied a driver for 6 hours. Now I drive myself but they give me a courtesy car for 24 hours. The car is serviced on day one and I return on day two. The removal of pick-return is a detrimental and I got the impression that the staff know it. It will cost them custom in the future and shrink the sale of Lexus vehicles across the Southwest (Cornwall, Devon, North Somerset and Hampshire).

The TPMS warning on my 2014 IS300h not only illuminates when the pressures are too low but also when too high. So, for example, if I don't lower the tyre pressure after the winter, to compensate for the warmer weather, then a long motorway/A road journey will set off the over pressure warning. Like most, my initial thought was of a puncture, but a quick pressure check confirmed the tyre pressures were 39-40 PSI.

Thanks for the replies on reversing but they do not address my possible problem. In the SWest many B roads are single track with passing places. If you meet an oncoming car between passing places then one of the cars has to reverse - this usually involves 10s of metres of reversing and at more than walking pace (or you don't get the single finger solute from the sheep farmer). It is something more tricky than reverse parking up a drive when reversing cameras and big mirrors are adequate. The long reverse in an RX450h is what I need to try.

Phil, thanks for the further description of the ride on rough roads. Useful info. Beyond the ride quality the other reason for a long test-drive is vehicle size and reversing back to a passing place on B roads - I do that a lot. Not convinced yet that reversing cameras assist much when the reversing distance is 10s of metres, meaning that using the old fashioned 'view out of the back windows' might still be best.

Phil xxkr, I'm considering replacing my Is300H SE (16 inch wheels) with an Rx 450h for trundling around the SWest area (Exmoor, Dartmoor etc.). Your comment, "On uneven surfaces however it does get you in training for a part in Bill and Ben. " interests me. Would you please expand on your observations regarding uneven surfaces/rough/country B roads. Thanks.

Bad egg smell is from hydrogen sulphide. Probably due to bacteria in the air con system. Get it cleaned. Always leave the air con operating, even in Summer.

Darrude, thanks for the reply. That is exactly the sort of information I was after. Now, if I buy an RX, my expectations will be set at a realistic level, i.e. "I'm afraid to say neither [RXs] have been better than the IS for these issues [BSR (buzz squeak and rattles)]". Out of interest, and because of your Bentley background, did you buy Lexus partly because you decided its cars (IS and RX) are the least prone to BSR compared to other comparable/affordable makes/models? Thanks.

This thread is about the robustness or otherwise of the RX 450h, specifically how it ages when driven daily over more testing roads. Material, design and build quality are the key factors - not how the car has been treated by previous owners.

So, the 4th Gen. RX 450h is more robust than the preceding generations but the squeaky rear suspension is common to all (They all do that, Sir). And 3rd Gen. cars are prone to rear seat noise - that would drive me nuts too. Thanks again to all who have contributed. As a result I will test RX 450h (4th gen.), a late GS 300h and a Honda CR-V Hydrid (CR-Vs are very popular down here in the SW due to their robustness. I have tested a 2.0 litre petrol, auto version but that was gutless).

More information = excellent. But we have contradiction: Rayaans says, "2016 RX is definitely more solid than the older 2009-15 RXs", while jumbojake says, "newer facelift model (2016+) was terrible, particularly the centre console... lean on it and it creaked". Jumbojake's appraisal is probably correct, i.e. if on leaning on something it creaks, then it creaks. Rayaan's note implies improved build quality but I haven't found any information supporting that claim. Remember I'm simply trying to find out which Lexus is more robust (over time). Thanks.

A few days have passed, have some responses and the consensus seems to be that the RX 450h is robust. Definitely more robust than my existing IS 300h. It would have been useful to hear from RX owners who lived in hillier areas where roads more often have a rapid switch in camber and direction which can really test a 'chassis', i.e. it gets twisted, which is probably part of the reason why my IS is ageing quickly. As for possible replacements for the IS: RX 450h, Honda CR-V hybrid, Lexus GS 300h (maybe). I'm grateful to all respondents - thank you.

Presently drive an IS 300h (SE, 16 inch wheels, 2014, 52k miles) around the B roads of Somerset and Devon and have done for 3 years and 22k miles. For the first six months on these B roads the car's body would regularly creak and groan but the dashboard etc. did little creaking. Now the car body flexes silently, the front doors shimmy on the B pillars and the interior plastics (dashboard etc.) creak. This can last for many minutes/miles until the next piece of smooth tarmac. On motorways or A roads the car is mostly silent. So, the IS 300h was not designed for how I use it. The body etc. are quickly getting old. No complaints because it is excellent in many other ways. I'm thinking of a RX 450h as a replacement and I don't want the next car to age as quickly as the IS 300h. The question, for you owner's of a RX 450h driven mostly on rural and B roads, is the car robust; does it creak and groan or otherwise indicate that it doesn't handle rough roads well? Is your car ageing well or badly? An indication of where you live, how long you've driven it and how far, would be helpful. Any other suggestions for replacements gladly received but not Lexus ES, UX or NX because I suspect these designs would age badly like the IS 300h. Thanks.

Have IS300H, 2014, SE, owned two years and never reset trip computer; shows 51 mpg. Seems the average annual consumption is 48-52 mpg. Overtaking: when you know you need to quickly overtake turn mode selector to Sport. Just before you overtake select a lower 'gear'. The result is a quick overtake. The trick is not to not exceed the speed limit too much.

Might be a fungal growth - mould. Note how the area appears to have grown outwards and the bright white periphery where the fungus is still active. Maybe.

As others have said it's due largely to increased tyre width, i.e. more rolling resistance. You've gone from 205 width on all four wheels of the SE giving 52 mpg (matches my SE exactly) to 45 mpg in the Sport on 225 fronts and 255 rears. The width difference between the two models is +10% fronts, +24% rears (rounded); the difference in fuel use is c. +15%. That is what you would expect; no surprise; Sport is fine.