Topic: Used luxury SUV

[marcus_go]

We went and looked at another RX at a Lexus dealership. This one is a 2016. Even though it is a base model, it appears to have more features/equipment than the fully equipped 2014 Touring we looked at yesterday.

They had just brought it in on trade so was still getting serviced to be prepared for sale. Ended up test-driving a 2017 with same equipment. Very nice drive. The 8-speed is definitely snappier off the line compared to the 6-speed. Ride was firmer than the 2014s we drove yesterday. Really liked the interior. Very polished and clean design.

I think he will likely pull the trigger on the 2016. It is a bit more $$ than the previous generation, but overall, a really nice driving experience.

I think the base has back park sensors and blind spot but no front. Believe the smaller control screen too maybe. The 2017 base gained radar cruise, automatic emergency braking

But yeah, much nicer interior and the 8 speed. Very, very nice vehicles, we have been super happy with ours so far

Yeah, 2016 has no standard AEB or adaptive cruise. Smaller screen and no nav on the base too. Would be nice to have, but the price jump to a 2017 is anywhere from $4000-$8000. Still, I am surprised at how much standard equipment the 'base' 2016 has. Not much to complain about. What trim do you have?

[Ex-airbalancer]

How hard is it to upgraded the Nav on a 2016 RX 
On our 2013 F Sport it is expensive , there is no hack that you can do it your self
Waze on my phone works way better

[PJungnitsch]

We have the Executive, so everything Lexus could put in an RX at the time.

That being said, like you say the base has most of the good stuff.

I was looking at Executives at first as they all came with AEB and radar cruise, even the 2016's. Then we found out they came with the 360 camera, and my wife really took to that for parking and maneuvering. Combined with the front sensors she can wheel that thing around the city like her old CRV.

The rest of it is either just nice extras (big wheels, HUD, Mark Levinson, big nav screen) or things we don't use (Pano roof, PITA Nav system)

It had been sitting on the lot for a while and we got it just before Covid pushed used prices up so the price was pretty reasonable and not a lot over a base

[Ex-airbalancer]

We have the Executive, so everything Lexus could put in an RX at the time.

That being said, like you say the base has most of the good stuff.

I was looking at Executives at first as they all came with AEB and radar cruise, even the 2016's. Then we found out they came with the 360 camera, and my wife really took to that for parking and maneuvering. Combined with the front sensors she can wheel that thing around the city like her old CRV.

The rest of it is either just nice extras (big wheels, HUD, Mark Levinson, big nav screen) or things we don't use (Pano roof, PITA Nav system)

It had been sitting on the lot for a while and we got it just before Covid pushed used prices up so the price was pretty reasonable and not a lot over a base

We like HUD, this is the 3 rd vehicle we have had HUD
Does your RX have Apple Car , or whatever it is called ?

[PJungnitsch]

Yeah, it's a great HUD, very clear.

The turn by turn directions would be great on it but we find the NAV too much of a pain to use and no Carplay, so we just use a phone on the dash.

They didn't get Carplay till 2020 or so

[marcus_go]

Yeah, it's a great HUD, very clear.

The turn by turn directions would be great on it but we find the NAV too much of a pain to use and no Carplay, so we just use a phone on the dash.

They didn't get Carplay till 2020 or so

Oh good to know that the stock Nav isn't that great. Apparently you can put an aftermarket module in to get Apple Carplay compatibility. My dad might do that.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Yeah, it's a great HUD, very clear.

The turn by turn directions would be great on it but we find the NAV too much of a pain to use and no Carplay, so we just use a phone on the dash.

They didn't get Carplay till 2020 or so

Oh good to know that the stock Nav isn't that great. Apparently you can put an aftermarket module in to get Apple Carplay compatibility. My dad might do that.

For our RX the module is about $500 USD
I like a lot about the Nav, but  ours doesn’t have traffic unless you get xm traffic

[marcus_go]

Yeah, it's a great HUD, very clear.

The turn by turn directions would be great on it but we find the NAV too much of a pain to use and no Carplay, so we just use a phone on the dash.

They didn't get Carplay till 2020 or so

Oh good to know that the stock Nav isn't that great. Apparently you can put an aftermarket module in to get Apple Carplay compatibility. My dad might do that.

For our RX the module is about $500 USD
I like a lot about the Nav, but  ours doesn’t have traffic unless you get xm traffic

I don’t think my dad will have much use for Nav but the CarPlay integration is nice to have.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Yeah, it's a great HUD, very clear.

The turn by turn directions would be great on it but we find the NAV too much of a pain to use and no Carplay, so we just use a phone on the dash.

They didn't get Carplay till 2020 or so

Oh good to know that the stock Nav isn't that great. Apparently you can put an aftermarket module in to get Apple Carplay compatibility. My dad might do that.

For our RX the module is about $500 USD
I like a lot about the Nav, but  ours doesn’t have traffic unless you get xm traffic

I don’t think my dad will have much use for Nav but the CarPlay integration is nice to have.

What part of CarPlay do you find integrating ?
Besides having waze , I am not sure what else I would use
How old is your dad ?

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Yeah, it's a great HUD, very clear.

The turn by turn directions would be great on it but we find the NAV too much of a pain to use and no Carplay, so we just use a phone on the dash.

They didn't get Carplay till 2020 or so

Oh good to know that the stock Nav isn't that great. Apparently you can put an aftermarket module in to get Apple Carplay compatibility. My dad might do that.

For our RX the module is about $500 USD
I like a lot about the Nav, but  ours doesn’t have traffic unless you get xm traffic

I don’t think my dad will have much use for Nav but the CarPlay integration is nice to have.

What part of CarPlay do you find integrating ?
Besides having waze , I am not sure what else I would use
How old is your dad ?

Google Maps, Spotify, messaging.  That would be what I"d use it for.  That being said, I'm relatively young, so those apps may not apply to the subject here.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Yeah, it's a great HUD, very clear.

The turn by turn directions would be great on it but we find the NAV too much of a pain to use and no Carplay, so we just use a phone on the dash.

They didn't get Carplay till 2020 or so

Oh good to know that the stock Nav isn't that great. Apparently you can put an aftermarket module in to get Apple Carplay compatibility. My dad might do that.

For our RX the module is about $500 USD
I like a lot about the Nav, but  ours doesn’t have traffic unless you get xm traffic

I don’t think my dad will have much use for Nav but the CarPlay integration is nice to have.

What part of CarPlay do you find integrating ?
Besides having waze , I am not sure what else I would use
How old is your dad ?

Google Maps, Spotify, messaging.  That would be what I"d use it for.  That being said, I'm relatively young, so those apps may not apply to the subject here.

You say you are young and you are still using google maps 
Waze is better than google maps ,
Rx can already receive text messages

[marcus_go]

My dad got a call from the dealer that the 2016 RX350 had been serviced and ready for a test drive.

About halfway through the test drive, the coolant temperature gauge started to spike. Shortly after that, an engine overheating message came on, so he pulled over onto a side street and turned the engine off. The dealer came and picked us up and arranged for a tow. When we were waiting, we got out and saw that there was coolant leaking on the ground.

My dad is concerned that with the engine overheating, it will have caused damaged to the engine. Maybe the previous owner ran it hot too. I think it was a lease return. I wouldn't think the cooling system would already be needing repairs at this point and you would think the dealer tech should have caught it while doing their inspection in preparation for sale. When we got back to the dealer, there was a huge pool of coolant from the spot where it was parked before the test drive.

We will see what the dealer finds out, but he is leaning towards walking away from this one. I thought Lexus was supposed to be a reliable brand? 

[EV Dan]

My dad got a call from the dealer that the 2016 RX350 had been serviced and ready for a test drive.

About halfway through the test drive, the coolant temperature gauge started to spike. Shortly after that, an engine overheating message came on, so he pulled over onto a side street and turned the engine off. The dealer came and picked us up and arranged for a tow. When we were waiting, we got out and saw that there was coolant leaking on the ground.

My dad is concerned that with the engine overheating, it will have caused damaged to the engine. Maybe the previous owner ran it hot too. I think it was a lease return. I wouldn't think the cooling system would already be needing repairs at this point and you would think the dealer tech should have caught it while doing their inspection in preparation for sale. When we got back to the dealer, there was a huge pool of coolant from the spot where it was parked before the test drive.

We will see what the dealer finds out, but he is leaning towards walking away from this one. I thought Lexus was supposed to be a reliable brand? 

All it takes sometimes is an apprentice with a monkey wrench to ruin a good car 

[PJungnitsch]

Well that sucks. Overheating is bad, especially with aluminum heads. He may not have hurt anything but something might have been damaged before

You wonder about dealers sometimes. Often it seems to be an issue of salesman not being mechanical at all. We test drove one this year where the the brakes rumbled 'Oh, we'll fix it if you buy it' 'Oh, and don't shut it off the battery may not start it again'.

Huge BMW dealership, and they can't fix these things ahead of time?

[marcus_go]

Well that sucks. Overheating is bad, especially with aluminum heads. He may not have hurt anything but something might have been damaged before

You wonder about dealers sometimes. Often it seems to be an issue of salesman not being mechanical at all. We test drove one this year where the the brakes rumbled 'Oh, we'll fix it if you buy it' 'Oh, and don't shut it off the battery may not start it again'.

Huge BMW dealership, and they can't fix these things ahead of time?

It is crazy that they didn't catch it before the test drive and not during the mechanical 'inspection'. There was a significant amount of coolant on the ground where it was parked before the test drive. Who knows how much coolant was actually left in it by the time it started overheating 15 minutes into the test drive.

And you are absolutely right that because it is an all aluminum engine, it might have damaged the engine. I am thinking it might have already been overheated by the previous owner. The dealer only just got the car and the end of last week and the sales advisor said the techs usually don't drive them that far after servicing, usually just a quick drive around the block. That is probably not long enough for the engine to start overheating, but how did the tech not notice the coolant leaking? Total incompetence.

[JohnnyMac]

Well that sucks. Overheating is bad, especially with aluminum heads. He may not have hurt anything but something might have been damaged before

You wonder about dealers sometimes. Often it seems to be an issue of salesman not being mechanical at all. We test drove one this year where the the brakes rumbled 'Oh, we'll fix it if you buy it' 'Oh, and don't shut it off the battery may not start it again'.

Huge BMW dealership, and they can't fix these things ahead of time?

It is crazy that they didn't catch it before the test drive and not during the mechanical 'inspection'. There was a significant amount of coolant on the ground where it was parked before the test drive. Who knows how much coolant was actually left in it by the time it started overheating 15 minutes into the test drive.

And you are absolutely right that because it is an all aluminum engine, it might have damaged the engine. I am thinking it might have already been overheated by the previous owner. The dealer only just got the car and the end of last week and the sales advisor said the techs usually don't drive them that far after servicing, usually just a quick drive around the block. That is probably not long enough for the engine to start overheating, but how did the tech not notice the coolant leaking? Total incompetence.

It would be a hard no for me.  Just move on to a different RX, they sold a bunch of them so should have others to choose from that don't have this issue.

[marcus_go]

Well that sucks. Overheating is bad, especially with aluminum heads. He may not have hurt anything but something might have been damaged before

You wonder about dealers sometimes. Often it seems to be an issue of salesman not being mechanical at all. We test drove one this year where the the brakes rumbled 'Oh, we'll fix it if you buy it' 'Oh, and don't shut it off the battery may not start it again'.

Huge BMW dealership, and they can't fix these things ahead of time?

It is crazy that they didn't catch it before the test drive and not during the mechanical 'inspection'. There was a significant amount of coolant on the ground where it was parked before the test drive. Who knows how much coolant was actually left in it by the time it started overheating 15 minutes into the test drive.

And you are absolutely right that because it is an all aluminum engine, it might have damaged the engine. I am thinking it might have already been overheated by the previous owner. The dealer only just got the car and the end of last week and the sales advisor said the techs usually don't drive them that far after servicing, usually just a quick drive around the block. That is probably not long enough for the engine to start overheating, but how did the tech not notice the coolant leaking? Total incompetence.

It would be a hard no for me.  Just move on to a different RX, they sold a bunch of them so should have others to choose from that don't have this issue.

I just talked to my dad and he says he is going to pass on it.

[PJungnitsch]

We passed on a number before we got ours

The mentioned one with the brake/battery issue, one with the plastic chrome all etched that the dealer missed (there's a type of road salt they use Colorado that eats it up), one with a big dent in the hatch that the dealer (again) missed

One was a BMW dealer, two were Lexus dealers. So you have to keep your eyes open even at dealerships. Ours had a few issues but the (Jag) dealer was awesome about letting us know and fixing things, plus it still had a bit of warranty left and we got some extended as well.

So far no issues at all since we took delivery in August

[marcus_go]

Seems like dealers are pushing cars through to make a sell. The 2016 was at a Lexus dealer so my dad had confidence that it would be sorted, but that isn’t always the case.

Still waiting for the sales advisor to call. He is just more curious than anything about what is up with it.

Might go and look at a Cayenne V6, Touareg and MDX.

[marcus_go]

My dad got a call from the dealer today and they told him that the rad hose wasn’t clamped on properly and had allowed coolant to leak out.

He asked why that would be the case and apparently there was a timing cover leak and they had to remove the engine from the car to do the repair.

He is running away as far as he can from this one.