Hi

I am looking into purchasing 2010 rx450 or 2011 rx450 with both having 82k miles on the clock. Both cars have original owners and dealer serviced. The 2010 is for 20K AND 2011 is for 24K. Can you please give me some advise on reliabilty and maintinance cost in the feature. The miles are high and I am not familiar with the hybrid technology. Also what should I look for when I inspect both of these cars.

 

The hybrid system in the RX450h does not have any significant additional maintenance costs or specific reliability issues. For the most part, you can assume the hybrid will have similar maintenance costs as the RX350 would have. The RX450h has two cooling systems, so you can expect some incremental maintenance costs for coolant changes once you hit 150,000mi (The secondary cooling system, for the inverter, requires changing every 50,000mi starting at 150,000mi). Only other minor maintenance difference, instead of changing auto-trans fluid, you'll change the CVT fluid.

On the positive side, the brakes on the RX450h should last much longer because of the regenerative braking system, so you can expect to pay less for brake service over the life of the vehicle.

Inspect the vehicle as you would any vehicle, there is nothing special to look for regarding the hybrid system. Other than what I've mentioned above, the rest of the hybrid components are maintenance free and are intended to last the life of the vehicle, just make sure the vehicle's maintenance and accident history check out, a general physical inspection of the vehicle is good, and the rest is up to your own likes or dislikes.

 

I checked Edmunds and the Trade-in value for the 2011 RX450H AWD is approx 26K. Based on that, getting it for 24K is a good deal and its too good to be true especially for a Lexus. So make sure to check the History of it and it possible, get it Certified or get extended Warranty.

 

I subscribe to Consumer Reports' car-pricing/buying service (for fun, mostly), but unfortunately they don't have any info on used Lexus hybrid SUV prices. So I turned to Kelley Blue Book's Web site. Without knowing what's on the cars in the way of packages and options, I assumed they have the comfort and premium packages, with heated and cooled leather seats, moon roofs, NAV systems, Lexus Enform and a number of other items that seem to come with the most common manufacturer's configuration. I first searched for certified pre-owned (CPO) prices for cars with 82K on them, but Kelley didn't return any, informing me that there hadn't been enough of these transactions recently to provide an estimate. So I simplified the search to used cars purchased from dealers in "good or better" condition. Kelley's says that the fair-market price for a 2011 RX 450h with 82K on the odometer is on average $32,377 in our area, which would make $24,000 one helluva deal, especially if this car is dealer-certified and comes with a three-year warranty. If I were you and not concerned about the mileage, I'd go for it. With proper care, these cars can easily go 300,000 miles, I think.

I found my CPO 2010 RX 450h on a dealer's lot last November, with less than 15,000 miles on it, believe it or not. And the asking price was already several thousand dollars below Kelley's lowest dealer price. Plus there wasn't another CPO car of that vintage with those few miles on it within a 100-mile radius. I hesitated for a day and then went back and bought the car. I don't think it would've been around much longer. Even as we were going through the paperwork for the deal, somebody else was calling in to ask about it. "That car has been sold," I heard from the neighboring cubicle.

Presently, KBB says that an average fair market price for a CPO RX hybrid like ours (it also has a towing package) is $42,366 and that the lowest recorded price (in our area, I think) is $41,639. When I bought ours, the dealer was asking $40,992. Needless to say, there wasn't much haggling.

 

Both of these cars were not CPO. The 2010 rx450 hybrid had around 80K and was being sold by a family friend who dealer serviced the car but didn't really take good care of it. The other 2011 rx450 hybrid was on autotrader and sold for 24K which I didn't get to see. I decided to purchase a new 2014 rx450 for 53,600 including remote start and trailer hitch. Window sticker price is 58,144 not including the trailer hitch. There is 0.9 financing on the car now. I feel like I made the right choice but a much more expensive one. My deal is currently pending. Do you recommend getting the protection film applied by lexus?

 

Congrats driveinsty. More money but less worries. That's a great interest rate too. I assume the protection film you're talking about is a clear bra on the front. It's definitely worth it since Lexus' paint is on the soft side. Mine was installed at the dealer by an outside company. Two reasons why I went with the dealer, it was on the RXh from day one and it included lifetime replacement warranty. I also added the A pillars and chose full hood instead of partial. You might want to call around and get a few quotes. Do you know what kind of film it is?

 

I live in Ct but I ma getting my car from prestige lexus in NJ. My colorCombo is starfire pearl with black interior and Bamboo wood trim.

I am not sure what film they use but will check with my salesperson tomorrow. Do you have any recommendations in NJ for the clear Bra?

 

Nice color combo. I'd get in touch with Phil at Detailer's Domain. He's a CL vendor located up that way who does clear bra installations. Great guy. I think the place my dealer used is in Stanhope. Also search the regional forums for recommendations. There's bound to be a few more in there. Good luck.

 

Before you let them install the protection film, check out you local window tinting shops. Chances are that Lexus will be taking it to them to do the work. These shops would save you come $$$.