jaroph

Tommo & Ulevi, so you guys are ready to cash a EUR 5.000 option and do not bother being unable to use it when - guess what - you happen to drive and then need it the most. Sure, Lexus Europe must be used to dealing with such perfect-all-but-demanding-clients. At least, that could explain why they don't feel the need to improve such a poor customers relationship experience. Of course, you are so smart you had been given (and read) the 500 pages - and the 120p. navigation system - user guides BEFORE buying the car and were ready to test the system when you tried the car... Incredible, yes, I hardly believe I can find such good candidate for buying my own car when I resell it! Think you have missed the point Fidback!

Hi Trevor, That behavior is not typical. You should name and shame them, and write to LexusGB. I have dealt with Lexus Guildford, Croydon, Parklane, Bristol and Reading. They have all been excellent. If there is a bad apple out there then we might as well highlight it before someone else tries to eat it ! J ;)

Find another dealer - obviousy this particular crew do not care much for your custom. On the other hand it might just be their opening position. I traded in an 03 RX300 SE with 38k miles in Nov last year for £21,000 and got a nice disciunt off the RX400h, with parking sensors, GAP insurance and paint protection thrown in. It is possible to get a good deal with sensible dealers. Even Lexus Hyde Park offered the same trade in value, as did Lexus Reading, Swindon and Guildford. Whis dealer is being silly then? - name and shame !

Saw a rare blue RX in this part of the world - not many around there !

Perhaps you ought to name and shame the dealer. I have bought cars from Lexus Croydon and Lexus Guildford, and both dealerships have provided excellent levels of services. On all five occassions, the cars were provided with a full tank, all services over a five year period at Guildford have ended with the car being cleaned - sometimes with a box chocolates left in the car. The wheels on my 03 RX300 were replaced twice with no quible - in fact they offered to replace them before they actually had a chance to confirm my complaint. So far, I have not had the corrosion problem on the RX400h. My first service on the 400h cost 150 pounds and the car has been cleaned for free on many occassions because Guildford offers customers a free clean and coffee on Saturday mornings ! I think Dealers who let the side down should be named and shamed into behaving properly.

Have you had legal advice on this? Wondered if there are strong grounds for taking them to court.

Agree with your frustration but what would be better then an LS460? I have an RX - still looking for an i-Pod solution so would be interested to know how you get on.

When do you have to decide? You could ask the Service types at the Dealer to confirm, or try an 04/05 disc from another Lex before you buy

I fully understand the frustrations from people like Michael and others who have had problems with their cars but some of the things that are the subject of complaints are just comical and unreasonable. Of course I would prefer an MP3 connection in my Lex but I knew it did not have one when I ordered the car, so I do not see the need to complain about it now. Had it been such an important item at the time, I could have ordered another car - the BMW 1 series had one ! But that is not the point is it? Let us blame Lexus for genuine problems; attributing our own failures of judgement in car selection to Lexus does not make sense to me. If other manufacturers have better cars and they are cheaper then by all means change the thing. For me, the 400h is ideal, seat belt beeps and all !

Hi Gazman, Lexus Guildford charged £150.

Like Leland I too have not had any uneven tyre wear. I have had mine for six months and it has now covered 11,000 miles at an average of 28.8MPG. Took it in for its first service at 8,000 miles and then covered 2,500 miles in France over 10 days - incredibly comfortable, smooth ride and amazing acceleration when required. No rattles apart from some leather squeak when the rear armrest is in the upright position. No complaints other than that. First 10k service cost £150 including tyre rotation, so good news all round from me!

This is the headline in the April issue of 4X4 Magazine. A few pages in and we discover that they did indeed test the three machines, and surprise, surprise the Lexus was rated in third place - criticised for lacking power and an indecisive auto box with the words, ' ... the [RX300] is left trailing on the highway.' That's all well and good until you look into the vehicles used: Range Rover Sport V8 Supercharged at a price of 58k Porsche Cayenne S V8 costing 46.6k and.... Lexus RX300SEL V6, costing 39.5k Yet again, a so-called objective test is based upon what in boxing terms would be a heavyweight fighting for the title against a middleweight opponent. But hey, the Range Rover should come first or second right? Wonder if an RX400h would have been 'left trailing', but I think they knew the answer to that - what do you think? It certainly would not be down rated for indecision in the gears department would it? Jaroph :)

From lexus.co.uk .... "At night, a Lexus with i-AFS lets you see around corners. It estimates where you will be in three seconds' time, using sensors that monitor your speed and the angle of your front wheels, and shines the car's headlights in that direction. The left and right headlamps swivel by different amounts depending on the way you are turning - one swivels by 5°, and the other by 15°. So when you approach a corner, your lights follow the road ahead rather than simply illuminating the edge of the road. It helps take the strain out of night driving, especially on unfamiliar winding roads. "

TonyUK, I took my GS300SE 2005 (new shape) with corrosion on the wheels, back to the stealers at 3.5K, they said it was stone chipped and were NOT prepaired to replace them, this along with other niggles ( poor fuel economy) pushed me to out the car, luckily did not loose as much as I would have buying another lexus. I have not seen "stone chipped wheels" without stone chips on the front of the car.!! These cars seem to "stone chip" quicker than any new car I have ever owned. Paint quality is an issue with these cars, along with poor wheel finish quality, I went into the dealership complaining about the wheels only to find engineers from the main company in japan over inspecting the alloy wheeels on the cars in the showroom, they mensioned to me what I thought could be contributing to the loss of finish. I said, poor paint quality and lack of laquering on the inside of the wheels was not helping and of course the salt administered to the british roads will find the lack of laquer on the inside of the wheel. I wonder if the quality control will be tightened up on the wheels now. :winky: Well rant over :shutit: Had the same problem with the wheels on the RX300 but these were replaced on warranty without hesitation. So far no issues on the 400h. I resorted to using PaintShield film on my current car to protect the front and the back of the wing mirror housing from stone chips - excellent product. I remember reading something about new regulations on Car paints making it difficult to have paint that would be as durable as before in terms of resistance to stone chips - any one know if this is the case, or is Lexus behind on paint quality?

Unless there is something radically different about the lights on the 400h, you should be able to get converters from Halfords. One of their packs specifically lists the RX300 mark II. I would try a different Lexus dealer to confirm that particular story !

you might be right fergy - I love the RX but would like to change every 2 years but if they ain't going to hold their price - might just keep and sell the other car (not for a Lexus!) I should have know as my 2 year old IS300 sportcross got 55% of what it cost new when I traded it in If you're changing cars after short ownership periods, are there not some companies out there that can offer 12 month leasing contracts? Would be interesting to know how these costs would compare to the impact of depreciation. If you are paying £5k a year in depreciation anyway, then perhaps £5k a year on leasing costs with the bonus of a new model every year might be better?

SJT, who did your convertion and how much boot space have you lost? :) No boot space is lost because the gas tank is where the spare wheel used to be. The spare is left at home and is replaced with one of those aerosol things...............although personally I have never had a puncture in the last 20 years of driving. I will PM the contact details of the conversion Co which I used. SJT Are there any issues with getting onto a Ferry with an LPG tank?

Glad you're enjoying the vehicle. Yes, bit weird if people are switching off heating to get better MPG as I'm running my 400h with everything on and still getting 28-29MPG without being overly gentle. Perhaps it is only one or two, can't believe any one would wear mittens just to get an extra 1mpg ! I have always been a huge fun of Mercedes, especially the E-Class - unfortunately as a package, the Lexus experience makes it impossible to switch back to paying extra for everything and coping with Dealers who are still trying to define 'customer service'. Good that the quality is coming back though.

Changing the RX300 for the 400h in order to save money on fuel does not make economic sense. It will be many years before you can recoup the difference in price. If LPG is a viable solution that does not invalidate any warranty on your existsing car, and saving on fuel is your main objective, then that would definately make for a better decision. On the other hand if you are seeking more power for no extra fuel costs and a better auto box, then the 400h is tempting ! Good luck. :D

My dealer has provided excellent levels of service over the last 4 years. They even clean the car for free on Saturdays while you have a coffee and a danish ! I've had 4 Lexus cars from them and they have all been reliable. The Mark 1 RX had some irritating dash-board squeeks, which were eventually sorted out on the 4th attempt under warranty. On each occassion a courtesy car was provided, or the car was picked up and dropped off The wheels on my Mark II RX had to be replaced as they were corroding - apparently some batches were faulty. Lexus appear not to have publicised the fact so I would check that your wheels would be covered or at least the Dealer should confirm that they have been, or will be changed under warranty if there was a need to do so Paint protection is a good idea. Paintshield.co.uk have an even better solution than the standard paint protector (VPP in Lex speak I think !) No cause to look at other makes so far. The new Merc R-class was tempting until the pictures of the LS460 were released. If only the RX was not such a competent all rounder !!

2 months, 4000miles, 29MPG and still very happy.... so far ! Cannot fault it - only wish I could get a proper Ipod solution but that is minor. Seatbelt buzzer does not bother me as I only hear it when a passenger forgets to put on their's. I have my regular destinations in the 'marked points' and so I can always enter my destination when I need to. I also have used the one touch option to register my regular numbers so no issues there. Would you trade yours in for the new LS460? Jaroph

I'm getting 29MPG, Can't complain as this is achieved without trying. Will be interesting to compare this MPG in spring/summer but 29 is still amazing given the performance and low emissions !

I'm not sure why you would compare the RX400h with an X3. If you can afford either then there is no contest RX400h wins on all counts. Perhaps you meant an X5. Although personally I would still opt for the lexus, I think the comparisons would get much more complicated, unless you could write down what you 'need' as oppossed to what you 'want' !! I need a car and want a lexus RX so its an easy choice. Anyway the X3 is an inferior car to the Lexus especially when you can look at the X5, Range Rover Sport, Land Rover Discovery, Porche Cayenne, VW Tourage, Volvo XC90 etc etc for similar money as the RX400h. None of them will have the extensive array of standard equipement as the lexus at that price though. And as for reliability, refinement, running costs, Dealer Service...... There just a few too many points for Lexus to pick up. Leave the X3 alone and pick another competitor vehicle unless you absolutely love it and will not be changing it in the near future ! Or, try borrowing the X3 for the weekend and do the same with the 400h - if that does not make the choice easier, nothing will ! Good luck.

Mmm... If a smooth ride was the prime criteria, I would have opted for the LS430. However the RX, for me, is far more versatile. It does everything with such ease and without fuss that it will be difficult to move to another car or SUV. For those who love adrenalin the RX might not be as good as the X5 but the X5 never knows when to stay in the back ground when you're not in the mood continuous exhileration ! The RX not only knows how to glide you home when you're tired but it also ferries bulky items, can master four wheel drive when required and is one of the smoothest and most reliable SUVs around - the LS therefore comes second, for being less versatile ! Might be difficult to get an SEL 400h at that price. Good luck.

Are the rules being tweaked to ensure the revenues do not take a tumble as more manufactures begin to comply? That would be shocking would it not? Still, 12 months to enjoy the savings for some !