Facebook marketplace Lexus RX400h SE-L, what could go wrong?

[LincolnLovin]

Me too, the hybrid set up is heavily weighted to kick the engine in at all times rather than rely on the battery.

This means you need to lightest of touches on the accelerator to have battery only. So much so that it won’t really maintain speed on anything else but a flat road.

[LincolnLovin]

The petrol engine acts as generator when the battery runs low.

I've just ordered some fresh tyres for the car, also going to get a full front/rear alignment and geometry check at the same time.

[LincolnLovin]

I would assume so? Guess we'll find out when it gets colder

[LincolnLovin]

Pictures to follow, but new front tyres are on and a full 'hunter' alignment has transformed how the car feels! Looking at the print out, the O/S front wheel was out of alignment, which was the cause of the steering shake.

I'll be getting the rears fitted tomorrow.

[LincolnLovin]

The car on the hunter machine, dead fancy:



The result:



If anyone can translate the above that would be useful

So some photos, first up the discs, a little rusty but nothing hurrendous:



Handy spiders web:


Front engines, the sump on the V6 is tiny.



This seems greasier than it should be:



Overall it seems pretty solid for 116k miles, no body rust that I can see.

Edited by LincolnLovin on Tuesday 8th January 20:35

Edited by LincolnLovin on Tuesday 8th January 20:59

[LincolnLovin]

Yes I spotted that as well, it was clear rather than PS fluid, I am going to have a good look around the engine bay later today.

[LincolnLovin]

Fingers crossed mine is the same, I really am growing fond of the car - the new tyres and alignment have really transformed the way it drives.

[LincolnLovin]

The engine coolant looks to be low and there appears to be a drip directly under a radiator hose so I suspect that may be the cause. I've booked the car into my local garage to get a coolant change and general investigation.

Luckily the inverter coolant level looks spot on and there's no leaks near it.

[LincolnLovin]

Further investigation indicates coolant at the bottom of the radiator. Common problem on the RX series as far as I can see, I’ve updated the garage and asked them to take a look instead of the coolant flush.

Hopefully it’s just a hose but I suspect it’s the rad, not the end of the world and I’m glad I caught it before another long drive.

Edited by LincolnLovin on Thursday 10th January 19:04

[LincolnLovin]

Mmmm overall I’m happy with the MPG, any ICE powered car is going to seem thirsty compared to the Leaf but I am happy with the performance so far.

[LincolnLovin]

Confirmed it needs a new radiator, I might get them to check the car out in total for peace of mind.

[LincolnLovin]

aaron_2000 said:

Are these CVT? I always assumed they were which is what put me off.

Yes indeed, it means the V6 never sounds that amazing but it does the job.

[LincolnLovin]

The car is off the road at the mechanics atm but I’m in the USA for business this week so it hasn’t been much of an issue.

Driving wise it feels great, no creaks or groans from the suspension. I do wish the electric only mode was more aggressive as it would mean higher MPG. But I love the car, it’s my first soft roader and so the increased ride height is great.

My failure to spot the radiator issue when buying the car has annoyed me, clearly I am rusty at the second hand car purchase game. I hope the mechanics don’t find anything major wrong with the car during their inspection as I don’t want to have bought a nail.

It’s so much less stress to drive on longer trips compared to the Leaf, faster too as we don’t have to stop as often. I’ve missed driving a Lexus, it feels solid. As mentioned earlier the wheel alignment and geometry has transformed the way the car feels on the road, it’s far from a sports car but it now drives properly.

With the repaired radiator the only things that need to be sorted are:

Lacquer peel on the bonnet,
Reinstallation of DVD player
Raspberry Pi installed

Then a general service a few months down the line. I’ll probably get the transmission fluid and filter changed at the same time. I need to review the service history and figure out when the timing belt was last changed. It’s either 2012 or 2014 but either way it will be due at somepoint soon.

[LincolnLovin]

Car collected and new radiator is installed, nothing appeared amiss with the rest of the car.

I even have coolant in the expansion tank and everything.

[LincolnLovin]

Some crappy pictures of the radiator and expansion tank:




Difficult to see but if you zoom in you can see some shiny silver of the new radiator:


I need to get a new key as the car only came with one but it appears to be a master rather than a valet key so that’s something.

Edited by LincolnLovin on Saturday 19th January 14:53

[LincolnLovin]

We took an unexpected trip to Colchester Zoo which had heavy traffic and a great test of the new radiator.

Fortunately it performed fantastically, as did the car in general. I’ve built up a decent enough amount of confidence in the car that we are now planning a longer road trip at the end of the month.

[LincolnLovin]

Well, let's hope so! My long distance driving record is not filled with success of late.

[LincolnLovin]

So far I've spent about £650 ish for the new tyres, alignment and the radiator. I need to figure out the cam belt history and due date.

[LincolnLovin]

Yup battery needs to be replaced, it looks to be the wrong size for the space as well.

[LincolnLovin]

Hoofy said:

Why was using an EV stressful? (Genuinely curious.)

Day to day, the Leaf is still my go to vehicle as its so cheap to run. Longer trips are inherently more stressful because of the unknown for example:

Will there be traffic?
Will it rain?
Are the roads greasy?
Will it be dark?
Will it be cold?
Will I require heating?
How hilly is the route?
How far is the route?
Will the charger function, in use or ICE'd?

All of the above sit in your head as you drive an electric car with a range as low as our 24 kWh Leaf, (60-90 miles), a wrong turn, cold weather and an inoperative charger is potentially catastrophic. Luckily forward planning has avoided any breakdowns but we had a few close calls in the early part of our ownership.

Now, with the newer generation of EVs a lot of these problems go away to some degree or another, but they are also much more expensive. We got our Leaf second hand at 3 years old on a three year lease in 2016 for £150 a month - it's going to be hard to find one that matches that!

I'm convinced that EVs are the right choice, however I did not want to drop £30k on a car just yet when range questions are still apparent.