A pal in the car trade contacted me 2 days ago and offered me a 400h, '05 plate with 70k miles for £10k. Fairly high spec, but I have no idea of its history. Should be ok otherwise he would not offer it to me.
He knew I was in the market to change, and I have been trying to decide between similar aged 330 estate and a A4 Quattro petrol estate. This has really thrown me as I thought my mind was made up. I quite like the idea of a higher driving position, although the novelty could soon wear off (as it did with the Defender 90). Not as much fun to hustle along as the aforementioned (goodbye shed tuggers) but allegedly excellent build quality and very similar daily running costs, maybe even lower depreciation.
Hopefully the temptation will wear off by the weekend.
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Is the hybrid system working 100% on it, including batteries?
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That's just out of warranty on the batteries.
If you should get a failure (actually very unlikely on that mileage and age but all things are possible) the bill will be big. Not as in all the horror stories of four grand, but could top £1000 easily enough.
You could probably, however, get a year's Toyota extended warranty on it that will cover the batteries and everything else, pretty much, but that would be nudging a grand anyway....
Nice vehicle though, and might have lots of toys.
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>> I quite like the idea
>> of a higher driving position, although the novelty could soon wear off (as it did
>> with the Defender 90).
Been there, it does. Don't do it. Get a normal/proper estate car.
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Didn't you have a Galaxy Alanovic? The novelty of mine wore off too, but mainly because it was slow and horrible, not (for me) because of the higher viewpoint. Same with Land Rovers - I loved my S3 but never went more than about 10 miles in it.
A 400h to me would be a different case. I'd be tempted on the basis I could offload it after a while if I hadn't paid too much in the first place and I became bored with it.
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Sis in law just traded her Grand Picasso for an 06 plate RX300 from a Lexus dealer. 90-something on the clock and she paid £10,700. Not sure how this was 'sweetened' by the trade-in offer for the Citroen, but it is a very clean full history Lexus-backed car. I think the 300 has the 3.3, whereas the 400 has a bigger engine and the 600 has a V8 (could be wrong).
She likes the car, but then she is from North London, and so the car is ideal for her ;-)
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>> Didn't you have a Galaxy Alanovic?
Aye, lack of power for the size of car was what did for it in the end, but I also got fed up with the high driving position - I like to be low down, legs straight out, steering wheel flat and not tilted like a bus. No doubt a Lexus SUV is a different proposition, but it's still too high a vehicle, unnecessarily so, and will suffer from the leaning and wallowing which a proper car, designed primarily for road, not off-road use, won't suffer from.
The OP likes his 330 - an SUV will surely be anathema, and a huge mistake.
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Neighbour has one and, as he's hung on to it, I assume he enjoys it.
Two others further round the cul de sac are on their second pair of Toyota hybrids - three potentially silent cars is a hazard to be aware of!!
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the 400h is shed loads better to drive than a landie or a Galaxy. Sure its no 330d on low profile tyres, but it will hustle far better than you imagine. Drove one bout 4 years back. Very nice indeed.
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It was foretold many years ago that we'd be driving around in sitty-uppy wobbly cars.
newsmanone.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/master_jetsons.jpeg
That does look quite a lot like my mother-in-law in the back btw...
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If I had the money, yeah id buy it, very nice cars. I have cleaned a few RXs and they are really beautifully built, the paint is gorgeous quality.
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It is one of the early 400h models. A very different animal to the RX300. Lots of toys, all working, including the compulsory sunroof.
Totally different to my 330 soft top, but, and this is the crux of the matter, when I get bored of it, and I shall, if bought at the right price I can offload and not lose too much. Then I can use my auction buyer to source my bucket list Boxster from the auctions in the depths of winter.
I emailed customer service @ Lexus and a very pleasant gentleman rang me back within the hour to reassure me re the battery being out of warranty, and the three electric motors. Nothing in writing of course, but I shall investigate further.
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>> a very pleasant gentleman rang me back
What did he say?
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I was told that instances of battery pack failure were very rare. Presumably as the battery ages it loses its ability to hold charge. Next job is to visit my local dealer and speak directly with a member of the service team. Much better done face to face rather than over the phone.
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If it was an RX300 then I'd say buy it if you like it - not sure I like the ergonomics of Lexus' but that's just me. But this being an RX400h means it's hybrid - the petrol engine is the same 3.3l petrol as the RX300.
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Thanks Crankcase
After some earlier 'googling' I had read those comments.
If I did purchase it, the hardest part would be being stuck behind a queue of several slower vehicles, in turn stuck behind an artic. With my current wheels, and a good sightline, I keep well back, drop into third and redline past the lot.
Not being able to do that might frustrate me, and it would probably not be safe to do so in a 400h.
OTOH, my style of driving could change so much that it would be of no concern. Heated leather seats, lower noise levels, better ICE.
By the way...my favourite choice to change, until 48 hours ago was an S4 3.0 petrol estate, just edging out a 330 petrol estate. And the insurance quotes and funds were all in place.
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I was overtaken by a 400h (damn big thing!) when flooring it in my 2.0 litre Civic. The 400 fairly flew away!
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>>If I had the money, yeah id buy it, very nice cars. I have cleaned a few RXs and they are really beautifully built, the paint is gorgeous quality
No you wouldn't!!! Far too mainstream for you Stu!
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Think you might be surprised how rapid this 400h thingy is LL, not quite as quick as the Porsche chasing GS450h but not far behind i'd wager.
I'd have no hesitation if it ticks all the check boxes re history etc.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Wed 6 Nov 13 at 17:02
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Must admit I have not even looked at this particular vehicle. I have looked at the odd one when customers have driven one, but never got behind the wheel.
After what seemed like a lifetime in retail, out of respect I hate wasting anyone's time, and would only take the matter further if I thought it could be a genuine contender.
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>>No you wouldn't!!! Far too mainstream for you Stu!<<
Nah, an X5 or ML would be mainstream, I have cleaned too many of them over the years. I have cleaned a few Lexus and I am yet to clean one I didnt want and they are pretty dull in the styling dept, I dont do pretty cars :-)
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A mate of mine is a big fan and has had a couple and I have travelled a few times with him. Smooth and quiet and of course Lexus is always up there on the reliability front
I am not a fan of the interior , a bit too much plastic for me but it does have all the bells and whistles and is surprisingly economic for such a large and powerful motor......
..... it is a £40 - 50 K motor new .......70 K is not a large mileage so I would go for it....
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Lexus RX400h - Just been offered one.... - rtj70
