John Walker

Is Lexus fitting the canbus anti theft plates to the LS? Anyone heard about an LS being stolen so far? 

Also is there a “hole” in the back seats armrest that you can potentially use to carry skis or longer items? 

Has anyone tried or heard if it’s possible to fit roof racks on an LS500h? Hopefully I don’t sound ridiculous, but I m considering buying one and having owned an RX for a while now I might find it more difficult having a limousine with seats that won’t fold. 

I wouldn’t buy anything rather than the top spec Premier 2016-2019 but being a pre facelift shouldn’t cost more than 26-27k regardless the mileage. 
 

For your 35k budget get the facelift 2019+ facelift Takumi (you will recognise it by the front grill). 
 

Something like this : https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202308221054624

Way better value for money. 
 

Or of a lower budget : https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309202170277 (mileage doesn’t really matter to these cars if they been maintained correctly) 

The F-Sport is the “cooler” version that has better seats (for my particular back problems) and nicer speedometer (similar to the one in the latest model) but you would need to find one with Premium or Takumi pack to get all the extra optionals like : Marks Levinson, HUD, Heated steering wheel, 360 cameras, Sunroof/ Panoramic, Rear electric and heated back seats (on the 2019+ facelift one) and probably i m missing a few other options. In conclusion they seem to be harder to find and more expensive. 

11 minutes ago, Fsport said:

Many CC2 in 235 55 20 size is for cars.  Not sure if Michelin have recently updated them with the SUV version.

CC2 in 255 50 20 is for SUVs and have stiffer sidewalls.

Yes you can put 235 55 20 on a SUV but just be aware that they were made for cars.

But the 4th gen RX comes standard with 235 55 20, does anyone has 255 50 20 on a 2016+ RX? 

And remember with all the security fitted (lexus plate, steering wheel lock, immobiliser, alarm, tracker, home cameras etc.) doesn’t mean that your car is 100% safe, it will just take them more time to take it away and most of them might give up. 
 

PS : I haven’t heard of any RX thefts outside London so probably living away from big cities is your best bet for a decent stress free life. 

1 hour ago, CaptainB_UK said:

I've just had my beautiful RX 450h taken in the early hours from outside my home in North London.  Incredibly easy for them to do via this hack and, of course, car was due to be patched by Lexus in the coming weeks.  I'm really very upset with this manufacturer for not stepping in fast enough to secure the car.  An unencrypted bus just sitting behind a few bits of plastic does not team with the level of sophistication found elsewhere in the technology on these cars.  This was my only new car, fully spec'd and really well looked after for 4.5 years so I doubt I'll get the same level of car spec again with the insurance money.  Anyone with a similar RX model who has not fitted a secondary immobiliser should do so now!

I completely ignored everything i was reading online and didn’t put any protection on my stolen RX which probably a big mistake. You didn’t have any protection at all? Not even a steering wheel lock? 
 

Also try to park your cars in a way that would be more difficult or would take more manoeuvres to drive away. 
 

Did you get any video footage? 

Most of the people seem to be ok with Michelin CC2 however since the RX is my only car i drive it a bit like I shouldn’t sometimes therefore I was looking for the “perfect” all weather tyres but probably doesn’t exist. A good option would be Michelin CC2 in the winter and Pilot Sport 4s or 5 in the summer but that’s too much hassle 

On 9/27/2023 at 1:52 PM, J Henderson said:

In the case of Michelin CrossClimate 2s, this doesn't appear to be a factor. I had a set fitted last July (lol) and removed them last week due to a puncture. 10K miles covered, mostly in warm/mild weather and they still look brand new. 

As for wet performance, no complaints here either. There's been a few nasty storms during the past 16 months or whatever and the tyres have never felt anything other than totally safe. They're rated "B" according to the EU label

They are rated C in the rain for the size 235 55 20 unfortunately 

15 hours ago, BlackCat said:

I had a set of Nokian All Season all round, and found them absolutely excellent in the wet. But because the front pair wore down very bad, despite being tracked, balanced etc, I replaced them with 2 Michelin Cross Climates (largely due to the support on this forum). However in the last big storm in August I found they aquaplaned 3 times on heavy motorway rain. It is fair as someone said, slow down, but I have never had that happen in 4 years with the Nokian - and always felt completely safe on them in the wet.

Did you tried the Nokians in the snow? What model exactly it was? 

12 minutes ago, Danny Cowell said:

On the 14th of February My Mercedes AMG E43 was stolen. It was fitted with a Scorpion S5, tracker Immobiliser. The tracker was showing it was in Newham ( Not far from Ilford)for two days. The Police did not attend. That is how serious the Police take car theft in this part of greater London. Hence  I am now the owner of a Lexus RX450    

Hopefully i m not offending anyone but East London seems to be one of the worst places to buy a car, a lot of crime (theft) going on in there. This is also where they seem to take the stolen cars. 
 

How did they manage to bypass the immobiliser and the alarm? 
 

Carefull with your RX, try Pandora security, a good package is around 1.5k but well worth it. Try a good steering lock as well. 

Police doesn’t seem to care much as the car is still up for sale. 

14 hours ago, steve2006 said:

I think the advert says it has been hpi checked, the problem is that if the legit car shows clear the cloned one with exactly the same details will also show clear on checking

Exactly 

Will soon have to get new tyres for my RX and was thinking if any of you have some good recommendations for all weather tyres? 
 

I was considering Michelin CrossClimate 2 but apparently they are not great in wet which is what we mostly get in UK (excellent on snow and dry though) 

Then Hankook Kinergy 4S2 SUV (great in wet and dry but just average in snow) but couldn’t find anywhere in the right size (235 55 20) 

Or someone innocent will buy and will lose almost 30k. Because the dealer will say he bought it from somewhere else and it’s not their fault. I ve heard a similar story before. 

Only someone who lives close to the dealer that can go and have a quick look at the car and then call the police. 

28 minutes ago, rayaans said:

I have strong suspicions that this is a cloned car - I have reported it to the Met Police online so will see if anything comes of it. 

It looks like the dealer has bought it from an auction as the previous pictures before the dealer ones are all auction pics

100% it’s a cloned car. I have reported it as well but nothing yet. Trying to call the dealership but it always says “the person you re trying to call is on the phone, please leave a message” 

6 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

You would like to think that the systems in place with DVLA would make it very difficult to clone and sell a car in the UK through legitimate channels.

Hence most stolen cars are broken up for parts or exported to countries less diligent on the provenance of a vehicle.

Trust what i m gonna say, not the system. My friend has bought many years ago a CT200h which he used it for more than two years. When the time came to sell it to a dealer, he discovered that it was a cloned car. Dvla has released a logbook for a cloned car without any fuss. 
 

So before trusting “the system” (any system) or any dealership you d better do your own research on how to check properly that you’re buying a genuine car. 
 

My friend’s car was taken by the police and he asked the officer if they will look for the guilty ones. He said the case is now closed as they found the stolen car. This is a lesson on how to lose over 10k. 

14 hours ago, Mossypossy said:

This reg would make the car appear older than actually is.

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202308291322617?sort=relevance&make=Lexus&maximum-mileage=50000&minimum-mileage=40000&page=3&postcode=NG15GA&price-from=25000&price-to=30000&year-from=2016&year-to=2018&advertising-location=at_cars&fromsra

 

Ownership and history

Info given by the seller

The below information (except History Check) has been provided by the seller. It's always best to check details with them before you buy.

Previous owners

2

Good to know: This vehicle may have been driven by more than 2 people, but only if it was used as a rental or fleet vehicle.

Service history

Full history

Full history check

Status: All checks passed

• Last checked29/8/2023
• Not recorded as stolen
• Not recorded as scrapped
• Not an insurance write off
• Not imported
• Not exported
• No third-party interest
• No mileage discrepancies
• No colour changes
  This check shows if the vehicle has had any colour changes. Vehicle owners are required to notify the DVLA of any colour changes which will then be recorded the V5C document.
• No outstanding finance
• No plate changes

 

This reg is definitely genuine the car underneath it’s not. 
 

14 hours ago, Spock66 said:

Maybe registration is genuine but car for sale has been cloned.

This is exactly what they do. 

Good or bad didn’t stay long on the market, like I thought. 

2 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

How do you know it has been stolen?

It’s a 2019+ car with a 17 plate on it? What other options are? This is how they sell these cars, they change the vin and plates. 
 

PS : When buying a Lexus check the last few digits of the VIN from the windows. Lexus engraves them on EVERY window but not too many people pay attention to that, they only check the vin under the seat/ windscreen which can easily be changed and looks like the original one. 

I was just looking on Autotrader and saw a 2017 RX F Sport which clearly it’s a 2019 or newer facelift. You can tell by the front exterior bumper, it has the touch pad and touchscreen display etc. 

Look for it on Autotrader MW17FUO, £27.995 with 49.000 miles. 

43 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

230,000 miles?

 

Check the mot history for this one YG66XAP. It’s a GS300h with 320k+ miles. My friend had it and it still runs impeccable to present day. You would never tell the mileage. Maintain these cars as you should and they will never let you down.
 

Btw this GS still runs on the original hybrid Battery. There’s a reason Lexus gives 15 years warranty without mileage restriction for the hybrid Battery right? 
 

Saw this RX on Autotrader and seems to be good maintained. It won’t be there for too long. Would rather buy a high mileage hybrid than one that has done 4-5k miles a year for school runs. You will also save a fortune. 

On 9/8/2023 at 12:20 PM, Greisingel said:

Am I mad? I love my RX400H but it's starting to show its age tech wise.

Did you like it/ buy it? Must be cheap for a reason but if it’s well maintained go for it 😃