Glover

Thanks Steve. Couldn't believe the price; it's unusual for anything to do with cars being less than a pound or even less than a fiver!

I'm a bit late on this thread but the comments about Nextbase are obviously not based on experience. Nextbase dashcams have been a Which best buy for a number of years; that is a totally independent view based on testing in real life conditions. But Halfords may not be the best place to buy them price wise. I bought mine from Costco but still plucking up courage to fit it!. I'm really worried about damaging the trim, do I need any special tools or is it just a case of gently easing the cable in with my fingers?.

Amazing. I wonder if any modern cars will ever do that?

Gulp! I last looked at prices about a year ago; can't believe how much they've increased. Better than buying gold!

I've got an SEl Advance and mine does the same. Door mirrors can be set to auto fold by pressing the auto button on the mirror control switch (a green indicator light on the switch will come on) . See page 117 of the manual. Hope this is what you mean.

I love my Lexus but the Goddess is in a completely different league; have you got the rest of the car Chris? In my opinion the best car ever made; it has everything style, comfort, innovation. A time when car makers didn't follow the pack. My top 3 which you might find bizarre are DS23, Alvis TD21 and 2CV! Although I do have a penchant for Triumph Herald/Vitesse convertibles, Karmann Ghias, SAAB 93, 95, 96, Volvo Amazon etc! Maybe one day one of that list will sit next to the RX on the drive. Sorry to go off topic guys but just couldn't stop myself once I saw the words DS23:-)

I think you're confusing Northern Ireland with the Republic, which has completely different taxation laws. NI has the same rules (broadly) as the rest of the UK

I don't find a problem with response in Eco but then again I moved from a 1.4 diesel to a 3.5 petrol with a couple of electric motors if you need a real shove! I quite understand about Eco and hills; I've noticed that too in fact until things kick in it feels like I'm back in the diesel! So although I've not done it before (although reading the earlier replies I should have when we went on holiday to North Yorkshire) I'll definitely revert to normal if I'm anywhere hilly but fortunately round here with the exception of part of the city it's either flat or rolling so Eco isn't an issue. As for the Cross Climates I've done about a 1,000 on them and they are brilliant; excellent handling and really quiet I've not noticed any compromises on build quality but perhaps I haven't been looking, what in particular have you found

Hills are a killer and from cold will I suspect have a real impact. Luckily I either start off down hill or on the flat so by the time I reach a hill (and there are some beauties in Nottingham!) the car is warmed up and most of the time I have the bonus of a downhill stretch to partially compensate, which is probably why I find mid 30s very achievable. Did about 30 miles of mid to high 70s dual carriageway on Wednesday, which dropped my average by about .5/6 mpg (from 35.8 to 35.2/3) but recovered it to 36.2 once I started following tractors through Lincolnshire! My overall average over about 9,000 miles is 35.6, which should start to climb now the warmer weather is here. I think terrain and temperature are the biggest factors; the slightest incline seems to put the dial into the power zone and the bar mpg indicator drops below 20. Move onto the flat and even at 70 it's in the mid 30s on the bar if you're on a flat, smooth dual carriageway. The RX450 definitely doesn't like hills when it comes to fuel consumption. And if its cold it's hard to get the right side of 30 except on a run

Does anyone know the answer to Silver Salmon's question i.e. how do you access it to clean it. Presumably once cleaned a suitable protector e.g. Bilt Hamber would be the best means of preventing corrosion

Great explanation thanks. All the cars I've owned in the past have been pretty unsophisticated when it came to battery demands so could run on the 12v for quite a while (don't know exactly how long as I never had one that drained whilst on acc. I'll leave it in the ready mode in future; definitely don't want to sit in a cold car on cold leather seats so a few start ups are a small price to pay for the creature comforts!

Thanks Nemesis, The reason I've been doing it is to stop the engine cutting in whilst parked (which it seems to do even if the battery pack is almost fully charged), whilst still enjoying the radio. In every other car I've had I've always turned the engine off and switched to acc. mode regardless of how long I'm in the car e.g. having a break after 2 hours driving etc.. Is the RX battery undersized for the car or does it have a lot more to do than non-hybrids? Is it possible to buy a higher rated similar size battery?

Thanks Daniel, why is that? I obviously wouldn't want to do anything that affects the system.

Switched back to eco mode a few weeks ago having seen my round town mpg drop 24-25. Immediate improvement to 32 and last weekend a combination of city, cross country and 70mph dual carriageway saw 40.1. My average since last May when I bought my 3RXh is 35.8; my best last summer was 45.1. I'm now running on Cross Climates at 36PSI all round; previously standard factory fit Dunlops with the same pressures. Re the EV option on the steering wheel menu; try as I might I can never get it to go into that mode even with a fully charged battery. I don't know what I need to do to get it to operate but any advice gratefully received.

Thanks Peter; that will save a lot of hassle:-)

Thanks I'll try that. Incidentally to get into accessory mode after stopping I turn the power off (green light off) then turn it back on again (amber light on). Is this the correct way or is there a short cut?

Hi. Is there any means of either turning off, toning down the door open, key not present (or whatever activates it!) buzzer. If not is there a way of reducing the length of time it's on? My wife sometimes stays in the car listening to the radio e.g. when I pop into a roadside café to get drinks for us, fill up etc., so whilst I'm getting out of the car the buzzer just keeps beeping and beeping. I've looked in the handbook and the various settings but can't find any way to get rid of it. Is it powered by the same make of batteries that Volvo use for their day time running lights!!!

That's quite common. I suppose they look at it and say what is the risk to the passenger if the mat slips. Answer: I they're sitting down none and standing up their weight is probably securing it. But a slip for the driver whilst driving could be fatal. Saves a few pence not putting it in but with volumes they make saving 50p on an output figure in the millions across all models is straight on the bottom line. That's the problem when accountants build cars!

Ambrose John, did you race at the Pod? I used to go there in the 70s in the days of Dennis Priddle, Clive Skilton, Gary Goggins, Stripteaser etc. Halcyon days. Also saw Big Daddy the great Don Garlits. I can remember a Chevelle SS; was it yours (sorry guys going way off topic!)

I always use supermarket fuel and never had any problems. The biggest change I've had is this weekend, changed back to eco from normal mode previous mpg 25; new mpg 35.1. Not totally similar conditions but big enough difference to suggest that eco has some impact. Roll on summer and high 30s, low 40s (temperatures and mpg) Although unless I start driving in the Sahara the temperature figure is highly unlikely but judging by last summer the mpg is definitely achievable.

Mpg improved considerably since last fill up yesterday. I went back to Eco mode, which I know isn't everybody's favourite but it's responsive enough for me. Difference is about 3-4mpg (25/26 round town has increased to 29 and motorway constant 70 33.4 from 30/31). No plans to go off terra firma! but the Cross Climates are definitely quieter and seem to be have better grip. The problem in doing a direct comparison is that when I got the car it had 7mm on the front and 4mm on the rear whereas now I've got 8mm all round and I don't press on through the bends so not sure if they are any better on the limit. I think you've raised an interesting point; some of the controls might be hard to find/reach to make it difficult to fiddle with them when you're on the move. And the controls that you use most of the time are on the column or wheel. If that is the rationale it's very clever! Mind you that doesn't explain why they made the centre console box so difficult.

That's good mpg in the winter (I think it's good but as this is my first winter with the RX 450h I'm probably not the best judge!). In the summer I was averaging over 38mpg; now rarely see over 30 but most of my driving since November has been round town with lights, air con, heated seats etc. on. Totally agree about the power and usb sockets, really stupid place to put them. The car is great (and I'm more and more amazed the difference that the Cross Climates have made to what was already a quiet car) but some of the switch gear etc. positions are bizarre e.g. heated seat controls in the centre console box, clock obscured by your arm. The under gearbox tray is a great idea but spoiled by having a hard surface and unless I've missed a hidden catch the storage? box on the passenger side of the boot is only big enough to fit an emergency credit card! The one on the driver's side isn't great but at least it's got a bit of depth. And why isn't that storage box or the glove box cooled? But it's still brilliant.

I stopped using the Eco engine setting a while ago following a comment on the website but following your and Rayaans comments will continue to use the Eco tyre setting, which is 36psi although I may add that extra 1lb as per Rayaans. Fuel consumption is definitely worse in the winter (this is my first winter with the RX); I was getting high 30s low 40s in the summer, when I was using Eco engine setting too. The only problem with making any changes is that it's impossible to tell if consumption would have been any better if I'd kept it in Eco but at least it's nice and warm! I've given up on EV mode too. Fully charged battery, doing 20mph try to switch to EV mode and the not available message comes up!

Thanks both. I inadvertently had it on 38 front 42 rear when I had them fitted (mistook 160 kph plus for less than 160kph!). Was a little bit more road surface intrusion on those settings but on 36psi it's a magic carpet. Given your comments Rayaan about the mpg impact I'll continue with the Eco setting as detailed on the door pillar sticker or might even try a sneaky psi extra! I'm all for saving fuel:-). Incidentally it was your posts that encouraged me to look at the Cross Climates; glad I did they're the first tyres I've had where I can really recognise a difference in noise, comfort, grip etc. So thanks for the tip. Big Rat that's useful to know re Michelin customer liaison; I'll give them a ring. Lexus give 3 options in the RX handbook and on the door pillar, two are dependent on speed (over or below 160kph (100mph) and Eco is mid way between these settings

I've got a 2012 RX450h and just fitted Michelin Cross Climates. I'm confused about tyre pressures; should I run at 33psi or the Eco 36psi setting. Are there any benefits in fuel economy by using the Eco setting?