Barry14UK

Maybe the US being a much larger market with vehicles covering greater mileages, there is a bigger turn over of spares8.  Regardless, whether it's cars, car parts or electronic items of various sorts, invariably item for item it's more expensive in the UK than for the same item in the US.

I have read this from several sources and I have just linked to one.  It concerns an aspect that many would not think about, but perhaps they should.

I think a lot comes down to individual opinion of Technician.  My car has always [assed MOT's without advisories.  However, on the penultimate service at Lexus main Dealer,  they said the rear disks and pads needed replacing and they offered a price for doing it. I actually bought replacements intending to put them on (as I did the fronts a year previously). but due to my wife needing much more help these were not fitted.  I was therefore expecting this to be mentioned when they serviced my car last year but it wasn't, just that the trailing arm bushes needed replacing with an offer to do that @ circa £1500.  I will take a look myself when it stops raining and becomes a little warmer.  If they still seem reasonable and get through MOT, I will leave for another year.  Be interesting to learn what Lexus say at next service!  

Told at Lexus dealer service last year my bushes were going to need replacing and was given a price circa £1500 so will be looking for less expensive alternative.  Have to establish whether my car having air suspension has same trailing arms as coil sprung models.

haven't tried Halfords for pens but ton the two occasions I tried their shake cans for two other makes they were well out and I returned them.  I went to the official dealers and the match was much better and I got the appropriate lacquer with it.  So I would pay a little more and possibly get a better match or get somebody like chips away to do the job if you don't want to pay for a good body shop to do it.

Spare parts for Lexus I have found to be expensive and provide a good return for Lexus.  I think as long as there is sufficient demand these will remain available, at least for regularly replaced parts.  Certainly there are much earlier RX cars still in use and with a need for parts and some suitable components can be brought in from other markets.  I remember a long time ago now getting what I was told was the last available sump for my 2.5 v6 Camry.  This was shipped in from abroad but in need I could have got one from a breakers.  Other parts for that car were still available.

We all know or should do, that best the time to get a competitive quote is around 3 weeks before renewal is due. So this is what I did using a number of comparison sites among others on the same day.  Most showed Ageas as lowest price or almost lowest for their Essential and then their Standard policy for me.  However, what I find surprising is the disparity between the prices quoted for this insurer by different comparison sites, some of them quite far apart.  Do the comparison sites apply a different mark up or do the insurers give them differential rates according to how much business thay attract for the Insurer or is there some other reason I wonder? 

You could fit a separate unit as here https://www.roadangelgroup.com/collections/road-angel-devices. Depends on how much info you want, if  a lot, some people go for subscription package but basic may suffice.  Because I find Sat Nav so poor on my third gen RX, I fitted a 6" TomTom that gives side by side road limit and Sat speed you are doing with free maps updates and free camera alerts.  They also do a 5" that has the same features.

My experience with Stainless steel exhaust components is that these are longer lasting but more noisy than mild steel originals.  Having said that though some stainless steel replacements are made from thinner gauge or lower quality than others, so a good recommendation worth getting.  

It should be a requirement for long lasting material to be used in brake lines.

Flexible hoses have a particularly hard life and apart from noting obvious external cracking and stiffness can suffer internally.  Had this happen on a car where the rubber had swollen so much that it had completely stopped the passage of brake fluid to calliper.  Found this as I cut the  pipe apart.

Don't know if all tyres are the same size/directional but if same size you could try transposing front and rears to see if that makes a difference. Assume wheels are being gradually tightened in prescribed pattern.

Exterior colour and internal trim colour is less of a consideration to some if other aspects tick the box.  I missed out on a 3rd Gen Premier that had the silver exterior I wanted with beige interior, heated part wood steering wheel and more advanced cruise control and waited several months to find another the same.  In the end I found a very nice example without the aforementioned extras but with interior lifted somewhat by light grey seats, side  arm rests and top of central arm rest.  It's a long way from being the most attractive SUV but I have come to like it and find it neater than the larger footprint of the 4th Gen RX models.  More importantly, It will serve me until an all electric model is a better proposition with as good comfort and I don't see this happening for some time.

I did do a small adjustment to enable a slightly larger AGM Battery to be fitted,  (Take care not to let yours go near flat as this shortens the life/kills it).  Additionally, I installed a detachable six inch TomTom on a secure platform I made.  This provides free map and camera updates and i have found it to be more reliable than the Lexus sat nav.  I did detail these on the forum quite a while ago now.

I see you don't have the roof rails which some like.  They are difficult to find used and available from Lexus Dealers but very expensive to buy.

Enjoy your very nice motor car!

Well I started with the quote as previously mentioned for £2130 this morning and ended up with £1261.67 (including £44 for break down service), by late afternoon.  So a saving made more than I ever earned in a day!  This lowest quote was for Ageas via Compare the Market, with Ageas who I have used previously.  It was interesting that comparison sites showed considerable differences for the same insurers

Last year I paid circa £600. This was from AXA through Sterling Services.  They have now quoted £2130 for renewal in mid May.  I live in Devon and have not cost my insurers anything for years.  I was rear ended in 2020 and T boned by a driver coming out of a side road into a main road in 2022, so neither accident my fault and other drivers insurers paid full cost.  Best deal I have obtained so far is £1474-48 from RAC, also with lowest total excess. Saga weighed in with an eye watering £3759-56.  So still looking  and answering questions.

It's time consuming going through various comparison sites etc answering mostly similar questions.  How much easier it would be and time saving if there was a standard industry form listing all the questions insurers ask with ones that individual companies don't need answered blacked out so you only had to do this once for the majority of quotes from different companies.

The special plugs fitted will comfortably do in excess of 80k miles, some people have gone 100K but in your shoes I would go with 80k.  It is easy to remove and check a plug from the front bank. It's accessing the rear bank that calls for removing a lot of components and refitting afterwards.  Unfortunately, my Lexus Dealer wouldn't to the service  without plugs because although it had done only circa 40 K at the time, they were going by years. 

Have no intention of buying EV for a while so this is just looking ahead.  Let's assume that the infra structure for charging greatly improves so that you rarely have to queue for a charger, which is what I have seen happen.  The batteries (as currently available) form a large chunk of the total cost of the car.  Furthermore, in due course this Battery pack will need replacing at very high cost or at least some of the cells within it.  Also, the initial cost is more than a comparable Petrol or Petrol Hybrid.  Servicing is less expensive and less frequent and It seems highly likely that the UK Government will soon want to charge EV owners some form of road tax but not nearly so heavily as on ICE vehicles as they don't want to deter the change over to electric.  A lighter, longer lasting and more efficient Battery could make a great difference.  Generally, EV cars seem to fall into higher Groups perhaps due to costly batteries and the fact that initial acceleration is quick. I wonder why it is that there are so many and quite low mileage eVs for sale.

The following link shows the sort of cost for a replacement Battery which second or third owners might have to budget for and how Battery degradation could greatly lower the value of older cars.  Unless you are going to cover mega miles, the purchase of an EV seems to me to be a brave one at present.

https://bookmygarage.com/electric-vehicles/how-much-does-an-electric-battery-cost-uk/  

Some batteries are much better than others.  I fitted a cheapo once and it needed replacing with another after 3 months.

I wouldn't say Chinese batteries are bad because even some leading makes do Chinese made batteries but there is a better chance of longer Battery life if you get one with a reputable name on it such as but not limited to Panasonic, Sony, Renata, .Energizer  etc.

On 3/5/2024 at 5:51 PM, Ken R said:

Halfords no longer offering discounts to LOC apparently.

 

That's unfortunate.  Not all their staff are aware so hope this is not official policy.

I got the discount off a fairly small 25Lcompressor about 3 months ago when I handed them my card but the first salesman was unaware and had to check with his superior.

My yearly is due in May I belive.  Last couple of years I have been with AXA but gone through a broker which surprisingly was cheaper but they did get me a bit of extra discount for being a club member so worth asking. 

Different groups have franchises for Lexus and some allow discount while others don't. Just have to ask them. 

Fuel consumption will be worse in winter and if you do short runs or at high speed.

My previous car was a BMW E39 (which I still have but expect to sell later this year).  I changed to the top Premier model 3rd Series RX450h because of back problems. The length of the third series RX450h is the same as my E39 so probably a little shorter than the E38. The V6 in the Lexus is almost as smooth as the straight 6 in the Beamer petrol. 0-60 in both is about 7.5 seconds.  However, there is a big difference between the auto gearbox which sounds like clutch slip in the RX, particularly with hard acceleration.  So you just have to accept it and learn to live with it. As the RX is largely front wheel drive assisted by electric power on the rear, you do get a bit of torque steer when you boot it.

Many of the spare parts are only available from Lexus and are quite expensive as being a much bigger selling car in the UK and Europe, there are far more alternatively produced parts for BMW.  The RX handles well enough for a high high and heavy car and still has a spare wheel, albeit a slightly less broad space saver, one of the reasons why I ruled out a BMW SUV. brakes are good at lower speeds but don't match those of the E39 or E38 at high speed all with standard pads.

As has been mentioned the 12v Battery is low capacity and is expensive if replaced with the identical Panasonic or Yuasa equivalent AGM.  A number of members have just replaced theirs with a much  cheaper Fullflow Lead Acid one.  (There are threads on this if you search for them. 

I couldn't get on with the Lexus Navigation so use a 6" TomTom with free updates  and cameras mounted on a platform I fabricated.

Sound though the ML system provides good sound in better spec cars but infotainment system lags behind current standard but probably equal to your E38.

I plan to keep my car for a few years yet until the traction batteries in full EV vehicles are more advanced and the network of chargers improves.

Last service on my 2015 RX450 circa 50K miles revealed rubber suspension bushes beginning to delaminate and to listen out for knocks.

I wipe my blades with the solution that goes into the storage reservoir on the cars and gets sprayed onto windscreen.

12v Batteries need much more careful monitoring these days mainly due to all they have to do and if they go flat it reduces their life or can even cause them to no longer or accept a charge.  If extra drain is imposed by leaving doors open for extended periods, the Battery should be well charged before hand and immediately afterwards.  

I have always been careful not to leave the boot and doors open for long for this reason on my RX.  However, I was surprised when my radio cut out after only 15 - 20 minutes to help preserve power in the 12v Battery.  It really needs to be connected to the hybrid Battery, where provided, so it can draw power from that.

I think the lack of use, especially through the Covid shut down caused a lot of damage to 12v batteries and Lexus  emailed a general warning to regularly charge or at least they emailed me.  As I have said on a previous occasion, bearing in mind what the 12v Battery has to do, it is remiss of Lexus not to include a state of Battery voltage indicator particularly in view of the fairly small Battery.