I got my first solicitation from Lexus to trade in my 2018 recently. I was a little surprised -- to me, it's still relatively new. I still learn new things about it frequently. I just put a set of new tires on it in August. I don't feel the slightest urge to trade for a newer one -- something will have to change a lot to make me feel that way.

 

I don't think I will be trading up unless the engine or transmission significantly changes from the current one. Sometimes I feel Lexus really need to increase the 4x4 abilities and torque of this vehicle. When I drive on the back roads of Canada during winter with lots of snow, I feel the 2017 RX lacks the torque to pull it through snow and dirt (it slides sideways even with snow tires or gets stuck in the mud+snow mixture). I hope Lexus come up with a better engine and 4x4 torque. My old Toyota Rav4 4x4 handles thick dense snow on back roads better than my RX.

But I bet most of their customer base don't even drive their RX on snow covered muddy backroads for fun as I do. More like a soccer/hockey/football mom/dad SUV for most customers. I am not expecting Lexus to change their powertrain, engine or transmission anytime soon.

 

Was the note from Lexus Canada or from your dealer? This is a trick often used by dealers to get a previous customer to trade/upgrade. They did it with my 2015 2 years after we bought. Said they had a customer looking for one just like it and were "offering" a big trade bonus. I wasn't interested at the time.

 

I got it from Lexus Canada. It has an Ontario return address and I am in Calgary, Alberta (my local dear's info is printed on the letter, but the letter says it is from Lexus Canada, Markham, Ontario L3R 9Z5)

 

My letter came from my dealer -- it said they were looking for well-maintained used Lexi. I have heard that the supply of late-model used cars is tight these days, so I don't doubt them. I didn't view it as a "trick" -- they have my address and they know my car, so probably it was worth a postage stamp to find out if I could be tempted. I'm not.

 

Well, perhaps they are looking to move more cars in Alberta. I guess with the slowdown, their numbers must be off.

We bought our 2015 at Royal Oak Lexus. Really nice store! Love the cappuccino bar. Wife always wanted to get the car checked over so she could have her nails done in the spa (LOL). We lived in McKenzie Town. Royal Oak gave us a much better deal than Lexus of Calgary would and we took that even though Royal Oak was at the other end of the city.

 

You're fortunate to have two dealers who are in competition within your market. Here I've got Lexus of Dayton, and then it's an hour drive east to Columbus, Ohio, where there's at least one dealer, and an hour drive south, or maybe a bit less. to Cincinnati where I'm sure there's also a dealer or maybe two. It doesn't feel very competitive here. Lexus of Dayton was sold by the original owner in 2018, and the new owner has a chain of other brand dealerships, none of which are luxury brands. It feels like he's running it more like a Chevy dealer of late.

 

I go to Lexus of Royal Oak too. In Canada, our 36+ million people are spread thinly across the country from one end to the other. Except in major cities like Vancouver. In Calgary, we have limited options for everything. I remember two years ago my furnace broke down in the middle of the Winter and I had to pay $1000 for a part that only cost $250 to get it fixed the next morning shipped to Calgary from Vancouver or I am going to freeze to death. A new furnace cost about $4000 so I save some money. LOL

 

Am in the Niagara region of Ontario now. Bought the 2020 at Performance Lexus in St. Catharines. We had our 2015 serviced there for the past year and a half we've lived here. Also had our 2019 serviced there for the 3 years we lived in this area before we moved to Calgary in 2012.

We do have another store in Oakville, about an hour away. That's where we got our 2019 RX. From there you go a further 1/2 hour or so into Mississauga/Brampton/Toronto/Markham where there are several dealers. Lots of choices!

 

$4? LOL, I don't think you've bought a furnace lately! I paid over $10K this past summer for a complete heat pump system replacement.

 

Traditional gas furnace is in the $4k range. Heat pump is different.

 

FWIW I just went from a 16 to a 21 and there’s a fairly noticeable difference in handling feel and infotainment. I had been looking for a ‘19 but for the used prices these things are going for, I was able to buy a new ‘21 under the depreciation curve of the used ones in my area. I expect pre-20 models to take a little bit of a dip in valuation since the 20 refresh but it hasn’t happened yet in my area.

 

Id try to get a 20 opposed to a 19 if you could. 16/19 there shouldn’t be a hugely noticeable difference if it was properly maintained. 2020 gets you the apple play, touchscreen, cool phone pocket by the shifter and usb chargers in the back in the technology area. They claim the suspension was improved but I couldn’t tell a difference in the 2020 loaner I had for a week opposed to my 19. You might not care about the technology upgrades but I anticipate the used market will in a few years kinda like when Bluetooth became standard on 2010 ES nobody wanted the 07-09 in the used car market which didn’t have Bluetooth (for music streaming only calls).

 

The complete redesign came out in 2019. It dose have Apple CarPlay and the phone pocket up by the usb inputs. In 2020 they added the power folding mirrors.

 

That is not correct. Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and the phone pocket in front of the cupholders came with the 2020 model year, not the 2019. The 2016-2019 models had the Lexus joystick infotainment controller. The 2020 introduced the Lexus touchpad to the RX, and of course, the touchscreen interface.