watch37

Hi all,

Two years ago (August 2010), I purchased a pre-owned 2010 RX 450h. At the time, the vehicle had about 22,000 miles on it. I purchased it for $40,700 from a Lexus dealership. Although I did not buy the CPO warranty, the dealer did all the CPO work up on the vehicle, including putting 4 new Michelin tires, full reconditioning inside and out, new brakes, new wipers, etc. When I picked it up, it looked and even smelled brand new.

My wife drove it for over two years and put another 24,000 miles on it. We had zero warranty work done. We took it in for oil changes and tire rotations, and that's it. I think we might have spent a grand total of $300 for the oil changes/tire rotations.

We traded it in recently and got $37,000 on the trade in. Now, I'm not great with math, but where else can you own a luxury car for 2+ years, put almost 25,000 miles on it, and have it depreciate only $3,700??? When I factor in the savings on gas and vehicle depreciation over what my wife was driving before she got the 450h (a Ford Expedition), we basically owned the 450h for free for the last two years. Heck, we may have actually made money. Incredible. By the way, I got a tremendous deal on the car I purchased (an LX 570), so it wasn't like I got an artificially inflated trade value on the 450h only to have to pay a higher price on the LX.

The obvious questionn is why we traded in the 450h for the LX. Well, there are several reasons, but mainly because our needs changed with the kids getting older (and taller), the need to carry 4 bikes, and quite frankly, we missed the feeling of driving a big rig. I've long admired the land cruiser, my wife wanted to stay with Lexus, so that left us with the LX

In retrospect, we enjoyed our time with the 450h, and considering what we got on the trade, how can we possibly complain?

Here are some of my departing thoughts based on our 2 years of ownership:

What we liked:

1. Great gas mileage for the size
2. Nice looking vehicle, especially in the color combo we had IMHO (starfire pearl, parchment leather)
3. Very roomy front and second row seating. I am now using the all-weather Lexus floor mats from my RX in my LX, and the floor mats for the front seats are a bit tight in the LX. I also tried to fit my RX floor mats in a GX460 that I had test driven, and they didn't even fit at all. That suggests that the leg and knee area in the RX was just as big if not bigger than in the LX, which seems odd. Also, the second row seats in the RX were quite spacious and had plenty of hip and shoulder room. When recently sitting in the GX, the GX seemed tight and cramped as compared to the RX.
4. Really nice soft leather.
5. We both liked using the "mouse" controller for the stereo and navigation. Very easy to use.
6. We liked that the screen was higher and forward, which minimized having to look away from the road.
7. Of course, Lexus reliability. Zero mechanical or electrical issues.

What we didn't like:

1. A few annoying squeaks and rattles. Not alot, but when you're driving a Lexus, you'd like not to hear any of those things.
2. The trunk area is reduced by the slopinng rear hatch. There were times when I was going to transport something and thought "of course this will fit," but only to discover that the hood would not close. I wished the rear hatch provided more trunk room than it did.
3. I don't like the large doors. I saw in a video one time from a Lexus rep (or engineer?) that the doors had the bottom sill "attached" so that mud and dirt that might be on the bottom sill would not brush off on you when you opened the door and got into the car. Still, I think the larger doors give it a mini-van kind of feel and look.
4. Underpowered. Yes, I know it's a hybrid, but we often times had trouble carrying heavy items in the car uphill. And if the ground was wet going uphill, we really had problems. I had the 2 wheel drive model, so maybe having the all-wheel drive would have minimized these issues. For these same reasons, we didn't think the car could carry 4 bikes if we required going uphill.
5. I didn't like the sound of the regenerative brakes. It didn't bother my wife as much, though.

Thanks to everyone for their insight and thoughts. This forum is a wonderful way to share ideas with fellow Lexus enthusiasts.

Here are a couple of last shots of the 450h before I let her go:

cossie1600

Good luck and good deal

corradoMR2

Truly incredible resale value and you'll need the extra cash for the added fuel consumption.

Putting that aside, congratulations on the LX. It (and Landcruiser) is one of the most capable if not the most dependable off road vehicle in the world for over 6 decades. No wonder you always see it in nature shows as the crew's trusty vehicle to take them to the most remote places in the world.

RXSF

interior of the LX is much more luxurious and the quality of materials is on a different level. Congrats!

kitlz

Glad to hear you kept it in the Lexus family. The LX sounds like it'll suit your needs better. That's a really nice vehicle too. Happy trails and post some pics of your new ride. We'd love to see it.

watch37

I will post pictures soon, I hope. In the meantime, I've posted my story about how and why I purchased the 2009 LX 570 in the LX forum. I also posted a couple of photos of the LX at the time of purchase, when it was up on the rack for a visual inspection.