Here is an age-old predicament - I am trying to buy a RX450h to upgrade from my current RX400h 2007. I have found one used RXh 2011 at 49k and two other RXh 2010 (42k and 36k miles) - all loaded with everything I wanted including CPO and 2011 has LED headlights. 2010 ones are starfire Pearl or Tungsten Pearl and the 2011 RHx is Smoky Granite. Difference is the 2011 is only $1000-2000 higher depending on my final offer and Lexus dealer's willingness to negotiate.The 2011 has Falken tires which I will get rid of in 6 months.

Which one should I buy? I generally keep these cars 3-4 years at most and I dont drive more than 10k miles per year. So, with 8-13k miles between the models and one year difference in age, which one would you go for?

Thanks for your help!

 

I would go with the 2010. Reasons 1. 2010 is a good year. 2. I always look at miles vs year. My kids hate that. One has a 1996 Sebring, but it only has 30k, and the other has a 98 impala with 35k. My other child has a 2009 Tiburon with 60k. I will take those older cars any day. 3. Dealers look at the year. If I save 1-2k for a model year older, with apples to apples, is something that my wallet likes. I own a 2010 RX and love it.

 

Thanks prmdc1. I am thnking the same although 2010 are too high in price in my opinion. There should be at least 4k difference in pricing between 2010 and 2011. It looks like the low supply of RX450h is keeping the price up for 2010. So, $2000 seems too little a difference between 2010 w 42k miles and 2011 with 49k miles. I will drive the 2011 tomorrow and make a decision.

 

If you factor in new tires for the '11, the price difference will be closer to $3K. A set of Michelins will run you at least $1,200. What kind of condition are the vehicles in? That would influence my decision more than anything else. At least they're all CPO which will cover you for about the length of time you expect to keep the RXh. Good luck tomorrow.

 

The vehicle is in immaculate condition with all the bells and whistles except HUD. It was picked by Lexus from a auction. One dealer friend of mine offered to look up the current ongoing cars in dealers only auction. He found a slightly less loaded RXh 2011 going for $39k as starting bid with 24k miles. I'm sure that some lexus dealership will snap it up and offer for $44k with CPO stamp. I'm in awe with LED lights in the other car. Looks like if it drives well, I'll fall for it even with higher miles.

 

This weekend, I got the 2011 RXh at 50k miles with LED headlight w AFS, Luxury package, comfort package etc. Smokey Granite with Light Grey interior plus LED headlights is uniquely RX 450h. The car does take an MPG hit when driving at 75-80 mph in WA state highways - got only 23.5 MPG average on my drive from Portland to eastern WA during 370 miles road trip. It should improve in my otherwise mostly in-town driving. Also the Falken ze-912 tires although are new felt quite harsh on smallest cuts at highway speeds. It is probably noisy too... just the car is so well insulated that hard to hear noise. Still need to sell my 2007 RX400h this week with 76,000 miles. Sorry to let it go... it is still a great car getting me 26 MPG in hilly areas with all the ethanol blend in the gas.

 

Congratulations on your new Baby!