Barry14UK

I am sure you are right about 'plugs' being an optional extra with essential service so worth using this for low mileage cars of 5+ years. Howev,er it would appear Jeff was having a standard service at £745

I have read many (but not all of the numerous posts on this thread) and had a similar thought to Alan. Furthermore, let's consider the possibility of an accident whereby a motorist was driving along correctly in her/his lane and was involved in an accident in which s/he claimed s/he was blinded by rear reversing lights of a vehicle backing up directly in front. The stated reason for the accident was investigated and it was found that the car that reversed had had it's lights modified. I think it highly likely that the person who reversed might be landed with quite a bill. As someone said earlier in the thread, at one time only a single light was fitted, the purpose of which was to warn oncoming drivers that a car was being reversed. It was not intended as a major light, otherwise two would be have been been fitted always and the wattage allowed not limited so low. (The regs doubtless preceded the introduction of LED's). Fitting an auxiliary back up light could potentially leave you open to more criticism/risk. Having said that I sympathize with those backing out in dark lanes, made more difficult with the introduction of dark tinted rear screens. Incidentally, I find it annoying when vehicles park on your side of the road facing you with their headlights left on, which would be like having bright reversing lights on a car directly in front of you.

To my way of thinking there should be more flexibility here. Whilst used fluid can degenerate with age as well as mileage, what is the point in replaceing s/plugs at 23500 miles when they will comfortably do 60,000? Surely, this item at least could be left and an adjustment made for the very considerable time saved and the cost of the plugs?

Best to replace pads too along with rotors even if previous pads look OK.

The effects of changing to E10 will not just be limited to cars and vans, it will also affect some older motor cycles and even lawn mowers and some other appliances using the fuel.

This was my experience with a 5 series BMW but same principle and same problem - I will relate. When I bought the car the front discs were worn and rusty. I thoroughly cleaned the hub surfaces and the contact area of the inside of the wheels. calipers, piston ends, sliders etc before and lubricating where appropriate before fitting a well known make of aftermarket rotors and pads. These wheels were correctly torqued using opposing progression. It was OK for maybe 2000 miles but by 3000 miles judder and vibration was so severe that I took the car to have the rotors skimmed while still in place and the pads were ground flat and reused. The cost of skimming the rotors in place was just over half that of buying new ones. However, the same thing happened again and at the same sort of mileage. This time I decided to buy some new rotors from BMW and use ATE pads (of which I had had a good experience on a Mercedes.) These have done about 12000 miles now without problem and the car had the same tyres and tracking throughout. I don't brake for long and hard to the extent that the rotors would get to the very high temperatures the rotors would need to reach before there was a chance of them warping. The pads were free to move and run out checked on all occasions replacement rotors were fitted. This leaves the more usual possibility of pad material being picked up by the rotors and partly transferred to and fro between the two. Maybe the original pads I fitted were not good. Also, perhaps I did not break the pads in well enough or another possibility is that after the rotors were quite hot I held the brake on at traffic lights or for others reasons whilst stationary allowing the transfer of pad material.

And there I was thinking that with your experience and the high price you agree Lexus charge for servicing, you might be setting up as an independent, maybe offering members here a good rate!!

Usually it's the other way round ie owners with new or near new go to Lexus whereas after a few years they try to save by going elsewhere.

That wording is too vague as detailed by dealer because it could be construed as just topping up which is not saatisfactory. As my car will be 5 years old at the next service I was contemplating going on to 'essential service' but before doing so will again ask specicically what will be done. (As brake fluid change on my car should have been done as part of normal service this year it won't need to be done until 2021). I did ask at the service this year what difference there was between 'normal' and 'essential' service and was informed verbally that they were the same but that Lexus don't want to lose business so just use this terminology to reduce the service price.

Yes it does need getting used to. Most of the time you don't notice the slight 'roar' and to me a feeling this is like clutch slip. The changes on a good conventional auto box are barely discernable nowadays with no significant change in noise or feeling like clutch slip and I prefer this to the CVT one although it's not a dealbreaker as the RX has a lot going for it overall

A lot depends on your budget and if you buy privately non franchised dealer or from franchised Lexus dealer. You probably get better assurance and warranty from a Lexus Dealer but cheaper elsewhere which sometimes can result in a satisfactory purchase. Check service history and condition.

Not sure if the same applies with Lexus but well known on BMW - at least on my 5 series that small stones get caught up in the backplates with more chance of lodging against rotors. Had this a couple of times and reversed quite quickly in empty car park and then braked hard. Stones were ejected. This is quickest and easiest method although some people use compressed air.

I think my Premium with air suspension handles quite well for an SUV and I have had a few sports saloons to compare with. However, the air suspension was dropped for the 4th Generation and I have not been able to ascertain whether this was due to long term problems, price saving or the fact that suspension has been improved in the current models to the point where there is no significant advantage in using air suspension. I note that road testers have said that the Audi Q5 rides much better with air suspension but can't find a side by side evaluation for the 3rd Generation Lexus RX.

Well the way things are going I can see a time when you will not be allowed to touch the controls except in an emergency. Basically, with perhaps a few other instructions you will just need to say a destination and what music you want at the outset and all will be done for you. In effect we will have moved from the 'Horseless carriage' to the near 'Driverless car'!

Welcome from me too, Be sure to make yourself known on the RX model forum where there is mutual support. I find it a strange set up and feel it would be helpful if all first introducing themselves here (as I did this year) automatically have their introductory post also posted under a suitable heading within the area for their model(s) as many members do not look at this rather remote area for new members and just turn to their model category to seek and offer help.

Nav on my RX450h told me I had arrived at my home address over a mile and several turns before doing so and again when I did arrive home. It also took me out of my way a number of times on several trips. A great shame because the graphics are good and the lady giving the recorded instructions as set when I bought the car has a very pleasant voice. Also, being well recessed into the dash there is not the glare seen in some other Lexus and marques where is looks like the Nav has been perched on the dash like an afterthought. I too have opted for a TomTom (a 6 inch model) with both free maps and camera updates. I found the optimum position is to the right of the steering wheel. I made a platform for mine as after an experience on another car, I didn't wish to risk the suction arrangement to fail and startle me when driving. Pics of TT mounted seen in this thread (sorry for duplication of pics couldn't edit these out) -: Not the pic shown by radio which site has automatically embedded but as in thread several times!

Mileage at time of purchase will have a bearing on price. I believe that a properly maintained RX is a very reliable car and copes well with high mileage but Lexus maintenance is quiet expensive and insurance puts it into a high classification.

Great result. Now you need to get your neighbour to join us!

In this link the specialist says in answer to a question that he hasn't experienced the enigne rattle with the 2GR-FXE which I assume is the engine in the OP car.

I quite like the NX 300h loaned to me for a day while my car was being serviced and found the performance adequate but preferred the better performance and superior comfort of my RX. The Tesla 3 is very different from both, not just because it's all done on battery but because it is not an SUV, (The much bigger model X is Tesla's SUV). Eventually, with wider available charging facilities and longer battery range, electric vehicles will likely be the way to go. There will soon be new electric models on the market too. As regards Tesla, I would want to know what insurance is like and how good dealer support is in the UK. I did read on an American site that Tesla will not sell parts outside their dealer network and a repairer who worked on Tesla cars had to buy wrecked cars as a source of spare parts.

There will be advocates of F Sport and the others. The F Sport gives a slightly harder and tauter ride. You best bet is to have a ride in both and decide which you prefer. My car has the air suspension and I find the ride acceptable. It improved greatly after I changed the original Dunlops to Michelin Cross Climates. so tyre choice can make a difference.

Like you I didn't want to do this myself so suggest you ask auto techy what options you have? I like the higher pitch of the sounders that were fitted to my car because it comes over more distinctly above sound on radio. No extra relays were fitted and the connections were just made into the feeds for the door indicators so bleep in time with them only. The two small emitters (one for each side) terminate together just inside where the end cap closes off the dash on the driver's side.where they are cable tied to a convenient fixture. Should I sell the car it would be very easy to cut these very small sounders off and fit a miniature termination plug.

John, It's strange that you raised this because I was only thinking about this aspect recently. At one time there was the near universal (I think seven inch glass headlamp), sometimes incorporating a sealed beam available from most motor factors. This progressed to more shaped models where you could sometimes just replace the glass portion at reasonable cost. But in modern times almost all manufacturers fit models and sometimes year specific cars with purpose designed acrylic or similar intricately formed headlights. These may be a little more aerodynamic, blend better with the bodywork and perhaps be a little lighter than glass but at a very high price. These all deteriorate over time, particularly so where left in the sun. Although they can be burnished and coated they cannot be brought quite to new appearance. Then in some cases a combination of rays from the sun and internal heat causes the internal adjusters to break. I assume this arrangement will apply to our cars as on my BMW E39. Concerning this latter point , the situation is so bad that you can buy replacement adjusters either in a type of plastic again or pay more and get them in aluminium. You can also buy pattern acrylic/plastic fronts from abroad. Whilst at one time these bonded on fronts could be separated by putting the headlamp in an oven or parting them using a heat gun, Hella, who make the units for BMW, subsequently changed the glue to a type that doesn't melt at sufficiently low temperature making this much more difficult a conspiracy to make customers buy expensive complete new units? I have not given this much though yet as regards my RX but it would be interesting to know whether members with older cars are able to get even pattern acrylic/plastic fronts and adjusters if the latter is applicable. Agree the outrageous cost of new replacement headlights is likely to encourage thieves to steal

Thanks to those who have contributed and researched. The electric motors and Atkinson Cycle where employed add further possibilities to the variables that enable an engineer to tailor a basically similar engine/transmission system for different models. I appreciate that even with all the refinements that enable modern engineers to optimise performance, the timing is normally set at maximum advance and only retarded where circumstances require as lower grade fuel would be an example. Something that was not available years ago before management systems is the ability to gain more performance by having you car 'chipped' . I wonder if anybody will admit to having this done and if so what difference has it made?

Interesting. Have seen lots of stripped parts being transported in the past and was told these were going to Africa. However, I suppose that with the relative high cost of indigenous labour in the UK now combined with high land values, it is more viable for this to be done in some other European countries which then enables individuals to buy them from abroad. Some sites formerly of major UK breakers I know off have been sold off for redevelopment and there must be many others gone too. So good that used parts can be obtained. The cost of buying new replacement parts from the likes of Lexus can make some otherwise good but older cars an uneconomical proposition.