DocT

Strange, as the quoted site states it relates to UK market models. Oh well, just shows you can't believe press releases from Lexus UK. Anyway, it answers Sorcerer's original question on whether non-air suspension is available on a 7-8 year-old SE-L. Yes it is.

Just to clarify things regarding air/no air suspension, attached is the relevant page from the 2010 brochure. You can see that active stabilisers with steel springs were an option on the Premier. They seem to have been dropped late 2011 but reintroduced in 2015 on the F Sport - see HERE. Lexus suggest HERE that they reduce roll by up to 40% which seems a little optimistic, but I can confirm that they do allow the car to corner very flat. I haven't driven an air-suspended RX so can't really compare the two. RX Options.pdf

Hmm, I have a 2010 SE-L Premier without air suspension! It came with Active Stabilisers which are brilliant. I think this was changed at the 2012 facelift when air suspension became standard instead.

That's excellent news. It's good to see that Lexus dealers seem, in general, to be on the side of their customer. It's sad that Lexus themselves now seem to delegate all warranty claims to TWG who, in turn, appear determined to refuse as many as possible.

That's really useful information. Thanks for posting it.

They have that covered! The Ts & Cs state: 2.2 We will not pay for the cost of repairing or replacing any Protected Part that suffers a Mechanical or Electrical Failure as a result of wear and tear. The problem is that the warranty is administered for Lexus by TWG who provide many of the junk warranties around and who, I know, seem to do their utmost to refuse a claim. Once the claim is referred by Lexus to a TWG-appointed assessor the scene is set!

Is any car dealer honest? I know that their pre-sale preparation is not up to much. When the sun came out after I first collected my car from them you could see it was covered in micro-swirls. I spent a day with the DA polisher and when I took my car back to them for service they (jokingly, I think) offered me a job valeting their cars. To be fair they didn't have to change the column, they could have just accepted the assessor's report. The new column has definitely made a difference, previously you could feel the (very slight) play if you moved the steering wheel from side to side when the car was stationary. As it didn't cost me a penny I'm not complaining.

I have recently had a similar experience on my car, which has a Lexus Extended Warranty until 2019. At a recent MOT my car was found to have slight play in the bottom steering UJ. This was checked with Lexus Warranty and the go-ahead for repairs given. When the car went in for the work it was found that the fault was actually in the column (which has had a recall in some markets!). As the cost for this work was higher, Lexus Warranty called for an independent engineer to inspect the work. He refused the claim stating "fair wear and tear" for a 7 year-old car. The dealer was as surprised by this as me and offered to pay for the work themselves. Whether they can claim this back from Lexus I have no idea but I have nothing but praise for the dealer (Cheltenham Lexus) who have been extremely supportive. The work has now been done and it has made a huge difference to the car. The steering is now much smoother. I think the issue is with the independent engineer whose sole aim seems to refuse as many claims as possible. If I had one of the many dubious third-party warranties I would half expect this but surely Lexus should be keen to ensure that their much-vaunted reputation for reliability and customer support is maintained. Cost of repairs really shouldn't matter in the pursuit of this, it should be purely based on whether the part is expected to fail or wear at the age/mileage. In my case the dealer certainly considered this premature failure and thought it should have been fully covered. I have written to Lexus Warranty for clarification about their policy on this and their MOT protection built into the warranty but have yet to receive a reply. I'll let you know what transpires.

In general, yes. However, the 2010-2012 RX450h SE-L Premier had the option of Active Stabilizers - explained HERE. This came with steel spring suspension. For some reason (cost perhaps?) it seems to have been dropped following the 2012 facelift. I have this on my car and it is superb, no noticeable body roll in corners whatsoever and a really smooth ride on the straight (when the stabilizers are turned off completely). It doesn't have the ability to lower the car, as the air suspension does, but then there are no leaking bladders to replace. It's also great fun when you connect the car to Techstream and do a test on the stabilizers - the car does a sort of waggle-dance! I've also attached a list of features across the 2010-2012 RX models. I hope this is helpful. David. Lexus RX Featrures (2010).pdf

Hi guys. I've just had an Essential Minor (i.e. Intermediate) service done on my 2010 RX450h and the service book was stamped as normal. They just wrote "Ess Care" alongside the stamp. With the Gold Member discount it was £195, which is considerably cheaper than the normal intermediate service and seems to cover the same items. (Interestingly the Minor Essential service lists 38 items whereas the Intermediate service lists 34 items although I suspect this is just down to wording.) There certainly seems no downside to the Essential service and it is acceptable to the Lexus Warranty team. I'll manage to grease the door hinges myself.