dwlink

Hey everyone - just wanted to introduce myself real quick.

Last week I purchased a 2010 RX 350 for the fiancee (pics coming this weekend after I detail it). Vehicle is smokey granite mica with a black interior. It came equipped with comfort/premium/nav. Some of the other small options include the 12 speaker audio system, tow prep, and wood trim on the steering wheel and shift **** (wheels locks too FWIW). It also has a semi-after market rear entertainment system by Advent. It seems this is a dealer installed option, but is not the same as Lexus's standard rear entertainment system.

Seems as if the previous owner had it on a 3yr/36k lease and had a least 1 daughter and a dog based on some of the items I found between the split folding rear seats. Car was purchased for a steal for $30,xxx in Princeton NJ so if this sounds like you please give me a shout haha.

Still waiting on some bumper plugs for the front and a new license plate frame for the rear, but other than that the exterior is in great shape and the maintenance records are complete through the 30k service.

anksagr

Congratulations on your purchase. RX350 is an awesome vehicle. I bought mine recentlyand has similarspecs as yours except that it does not have HID lights and rain sensing wipers. I did pay more than 31k for it though, so you got an excellent deal on a fine piece of machinery.

Sevn86

Congrats on the RX! Cant wait to see those pics!

go3Ds

Congratulations on the RX purchase for your fiancee. $30,xxx is an excellent price for a 3rd generation RX, especially for all the options you mentioned. Looking forward to your pictures after the detailing. Welcome to Club Lexus.

dwlink

Thanks for the nice welcome everyone. I've attached the output of a little program I wrote that helped me determine what a good price for a 2010 RX 350 was.

I've highlighted the point corresponding to the car we purchased. If anyone wants me to run a price comparison for a particular vehicle in your area just let me know. Consider it early payment for all the useful information and knowledge that appears to be available on this forum.

DunWkg

Thanks, very informative graph.

dwlink

As promised....

I also learned that claying and waxing an RX 350 is a half day task (I can do my 530i in just under 3 hours). I also applied Rejex, which is popular surface protectant for small aircraft, to the wheels. This makes it so you can essentially hose off any brake dust, although it seems that Lexus has a much better brake pad compound than BMW when it comes to wheel cleanliness.

If you're interested in what I used on the body, it has 1 coat of Zaino on it. I was going to do 2 originally, but as I mentioned above this car is a beast to wax. Maybe in the spring if I can find a whole day to dedicate to detailing the exterior, I'll take on that ambitious task.

Also, noticed that I have Michelin Latitude HPs on the car. Looking those up on tire rack, it seems as if they are an expensive tire that has fairly mediocre performance. They still have a decent amount of tread left, but wanted to get your thoughts about whether it might be worth it to sell them and put on some Conti Crosscontact LX20s?


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http://www.flickr.com/photos/79462777@N06/7859168934/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79462777@N06/7859367096/Free goodies from previous owner: Expired $2 puppy chow coupon, thin red lego piece, depleted AAA battery, green bouncy ball, pink surgical grade forceps, acrylic blue stirring rod, some paper pipe thing

dctex99

Great pics and a beautiful RX350. I want your opinion on Clay Barring an RX; I have a Lexus dealer that advertises that their Detail people will Clay bar and wax my RX for $129.....with all the work it seems it is I am wondering how good a job they do, but I don't have the energy to do it!!! It is a Huge dealership! I understand they have had it on "sale" for $99 even!! Any comments?

dwlink

$99-$129 seems like a massive bargain for thorough clean/clay/wax. I'd imagine the figure is approximately their hourly labor rate - and if so that is an extremely quick time to really detail a car this size.

My breakdown was as follows:

30 mins: Gather stuff to wash car and then wash car using dawn soap. Need to use a strong detergent to remove any wax that's still on the car.

1 hour +: Clay off car. Major areas to pay alot of attention to are the front and rear bumper. All areas around the wheel wells. Bottoms of the doors - especially the chrome accent strip.

1.5 hours: wax on, allow to dry, wax off. Use a microfiber cloth if possible. Takes a little bit more elbow grease, but you won't end up with any swirly marks (especially if you have a dark color exterior).

Combined with giving the wheels a good clean as well as putting all my detailing junk away, I spent a good amount of time the other day detailing the car.

I'd shop around if you're looking to get a good detail job. I'm sure your car would come out looking great from the dealership's detail job, but I doubt they would be as thorough as a good independent detailer. I'd expect an excellent job on a vehicle this size to be around $200-$300 given the condition of the exterior an how much you want done to it.