JN74

A class action lawsuit wouldnt work in the UK, as I explained above Lexus has no legal contract assumed or otherwise with an owner only if they recall the cars to fix the problem which they wont do. The reason diesel owners have an action is that they were deceived by the manufacturers

Not really, Which Legal explained that the 'contract' you have when purchasing a Lexus is with the Dealer not Lexus itself. Unless the dealer delibarately misled you then you have no claim against them and only against Lexus if they recall the cars to have the problem resolved (hence they haven't recalled cars or they would be hit with a wave of lawsuits). I did write a number of emails/letter to both the Lexus dealership and Lexus and got back bland nothing replies but one would hope that given the number of people complaining they finally realised that they were losing their market. Interesting, where I live in London there are now virtually no Lexus 450h parked on the streets and speaking to a few people they have all moved on, as I have, and purchased BMW or Volvo SUVs.

I posted this on another forum but please be aware that the latest RX450h models (mine was 2018 Sport CVT) have a massive vulnerability. They can be stolen in under 45secs, they stole mine in 44! This is not a relay theft but known (as I discovered after the event) as CAN BUS theft. Basically the thieves punch a hole above your front left wheel arch to access a cable that connects the the headlight to the controlling computer, connect their own computer and start the car. Mine was stolen at 8.43pm on a weekday night in a residential street, took 44secs from approaching the car to driving off. My keys were over 100m from the theft in a Faraday pouch and I had CCTV, unfortunately not clear enough to see their faces, showing what they were doing. Lexus know about this vulnerability but neither tell customers or recall the cars to fix the problem (as the latter would create a liabliity and allow customers like me to recover thier loss ie excess on insurance etc). For example if you insure your RX through Lexus they offer a second immobiliser to counter this vulnerablity (albeit your car will have a hole in the front wheel arch). But in the UK as a customer your 'contract' is with the seller of the car, even if it is a main dealer, not the manufacturer unless they recall. This was confirmed by the team at Which Legal who said unless the dealer has deliberately misled you about this vulnerability then you have no potential case to recover your loss. Currently a steering wheel lock may deter the thieves (as if it is a good one will add a couple of minutes to the theft), a second immobilser will mean you dont lose the car but it will still be damaged. But the police confirmed that most of the London thefts are a professional gang, any car stolen is highly unlikely to be recovered and that 'a lot' of Lexus RX and UX are being stolen up to 10 in one night.

New to this thread, my Lexus was stolen on Tuesday night 8.45pm in Kensington, CCTV shows 44secs from arrival at the car to driving away. Clearly using the CAN BUS method (working on front left wheel arch etc). Got a reasonable night time image of main thief which the Met now have (balding middle aged thin guy surprisingly) they also had another two watching out so clearly a reasonably professional operation I have seen other posters receive standard responses from Lexus fobbing them off, however also that if you insure certain models through Lexus insurance they offer you a free second immobiliser ie they know of the vulnerability and are protecting themselves against it but have not bothered to warm their owners or recall to fix the weakness. Knowing the chances of a few angry owners getting Lexus to do something is very small I have an appointment with Which Legal next week (as a member) as their magazine rates the RX450h as a Best Buy and they have significant clout when they get stuck into a big brand. I will let you know the progress