Les Lex 2018

2020 MPG computer test = Failed Topped off the RX with 5.9 gallons after driving 140.4 miles on the trip meter. MPG registered on the dash was 25.9 MPG. After doing the calculation, actual MPG was 23.7 MPG. That’s off by 10 percent. So when it registered 30 MPG midway on the trip, it was actually 27. Being a true combination of highway and city driving, the MPG should have Been 25 MPG, so we didn’t make the advertised government posted/tested MPG. I don’t have a led foot either. I did this same test on a Camry Hybrid and the stated MPG was a heck of a lot closer to actual than this RX. Now, I can automatically read the MPG, move the decimal point to the left one place and subtract that from the displayed MPG. Your actual results will likely vary!

Shell gas just jumped up to 3.09 a gallon Saturday. So I decided to take a Sunday morning drive to Guntersville Lake on a full tank to test actual gas milage and check the nav system in the 2020. Two alternate routes of identical time and distance showed up on Google maps. Voice command to a Mac Donalds address was accepted immediately, following an announcement that it was going to the iCloud to get more accurate information. But it was not the route I wanted to take going there due to traffic concerns. As soon as I deviated from the route, the nav started chattering for 5 long miles trying to get me to turn around, when my old Garmin would have immediately re-planned for the alternate route, as it has in the past. Now that’s a Lexus BUG to me. Coming home, while 30 miles left to go, the nav indicated that I would arrive in 41 minutes. And I still had a thousand foot climb over Green Mountain to make. Well, I got home at the exact same time it predicted. That was amazing to me. Now for MPG: At 84 miles and 30 miles remaining, the mpg finally hit 30 MPG. That’s after climbing over the thousand foot high Sand mountain on the trip over. Speeds on secondary roads did NOT reach over 60 MPH. By the time I got to the top of Green Mountain, the 30 MPG average dropped to 28.4 average and did not recover driving thru Huntsville even though most of which was interstate. That’s about 4 gallons of gas burned on the trip -- Not too bad...

Sorry to hear about the mixup. Sound like the NTSB will be asking Lexus about the validity of "Service Campaigns" vs. "Recalls".

So you did not get a recall notice from Lexus? A search of the problem will find claims like this: A total of 1.5 million cars from the U.S. have recalled for potential engine stalls and fuel pump failures. The recall covers both Toyota and Lexus models, from 2013 to 2020. I got he recall on the 2020 and got the pump replaced quickly.

Or worse, they may have built your 2021 RX, working from home ;+) BAD Joke! My 2020 was built in the middle of the China Pandemic, but it is flawless - knock on wood. And all the wood in the RX including the steering wheel is real wood (natural Bamboo). Nice!

The 2018 had cooling problems in the front seats. Lexus said seats do cool, but you just don't notice it. Funny!!! Fact is that is was just a lousy design. Either in the 19 or 20 design, they fixed the problem, meaning that either the seats and/or a better fan had been incorporated. The 2020 works like a champ. But - According to my salesman, the 21 is identical to the 20 except for the front Grill. They always change something so the sales person can tell the difference w/o looking at the sticker. S o one could believe that the 2020 seat design is identical to the 2021. Why change it if it works. And then you could deduce that the 2020 CR review will not change in 2021, unless the inspectors are more or less picky. We shell see...

The RX350 is a $ for $ direct competitor to the luxurious Lincoln Navigator. Here is the comparison that the CR Buying Guide 2020, page 160 makes between the two vehicles: The RX350: Good Ride and Quiet. Low points were agility/stopping distance/distracting controls. Navigator: Quietness/rear seat room. Low points were uncomfortable front seats/clumsy handling/ confusing gear shift and lousy gas milage. Point being, that we do know CR's savvy inspectors are looking for and testing for seat comfort. They do find problems, but not in the 2020 RX. When someone says that the Rav4 (like mine) was more comfortable than an RX, it reminds me of the Quiet rating people put on tires at TireRack. To me, all tires are quiet on brand new black top highways. And all tires are noisy on old worn down asphalt and cement. I just ain't smart enough to be able to tell tireRack that my tires are noisier than they should be. So I can't. I spend way too much Time worrying if the guy behind me is awake and/or has automatic braking...

I also traded a Rav4 (2018) for the Lexus RX350. After long trips on an eBike at speeds up to 28 MPH, with no shock absorbers, you can pretty much guess I never complain about driver seats. But (Drum Roll....) My wife thought the seats in the RX were more comfortable than the Rav4 seats. And she don't peddle her a-- all over town on an eBike neither....

Ya, you NEVER wanna go near the Hybrid battery in you Vehicle. That thing will KILL you dead. There are NO owner-serviceable parts on that battery.

Just flip up the protective cover on the Plus terminal on the battery and attach the red alligator clip there. The Negative black clip can go anywhere on the metal frame or on the negative terminal on the battery if you like. I use the 55 dollar Model# 021-0128 Deltran Battery Tender. It takes about 12 hours to bring the battery up to 14.7 volts (full charge). And that's after a short 2 mile trip to the store. I don't use a tender like you will need. I use it to test my generator's ability to keep the battery fully charged, and I found that both my 18 and 20 RXs did not keep the battery fully charged after short drives. That's probably a good thing for lead-acid batteries because the more amps you jam into the battery (charge rate), the more wear and tear on the lead plates meaning shorter the life. It's the Vehicle's Voltage Regulator that determines charge rate into your battery. And since they are all pretty much off the shelf standard units, I'll bet all modern cars charge the same way. Nothing wrong with that - it works fine. The real trickle charger is designed to charge up the battery slowly, and then, at no more than the rate of discharge according to the specs. IF this is true, your battery should not be worn down by sitting on a maintainer for 3 months. But know your charger specifications before you leaving it alone in the garage un-attended for months on end. Test your unit before you leave.

The maintenance charger is certainly a lot easier than pulling the battery. For fire safety, I would put the little charger in a metal popcorn can with a lid just in case the charger should short out and throw some sparks before tripping a breaker. My brother is a Snow Bird and does that every year when he packs up the truck and trailer in Nebraska and winters down in AZ. His Ford Hybrid seems to fire up ok when he gets home. Detached garage with zero heat. Going on 3rd year now.

You have to take into account the fact that you are putting more flexible rubber between the road and your wheel, which changes the characteristics of an emergency maneuver, like jerking the steering wheel to avoid an object in the roadway, usually at night. While you could argue that the difference is unnoticeable, the science says that it will make some kind of difference (in inches most likely), and that increased distance of forward vs. lateral movement might be just enough to allow you to hit what ever it is you don't want pasted on your expensive RX grill. The larger size rims just naturally look better and allow for making Jack Rabbit lane changes just a "little" bit quicker, based on my perception anyway.

Your Lexus dealer parts department "Should" have an app that can input your VIN and produce the code for you, if you do find you need one. You would not want some smart thief tearing up your ride cause he knew the anti-theft code was hidden somewhere. That's what I remember anyway when I gave the original Camry radio back to the dealer as part of the sale, after replacing it with an aftermarket unit. They returned my aftermarket unit as part of the deal. I hooked it up to a 12 Volt switcher supply for 30 dollars, and I use it as a component stereo. It's great for FM, USB-MP3, and CD plays in the Rec room.

Thank You, Carl. My first Lexus was a new 2018 RX in Eminent White. Nice Ride!

You generally need to know how the RX was driven. Hot weather and stop and go traffic generates more heat under the hood and car batteries don't last as long. Long trips don't use the battery. Your power is supplied by the generator via the regulator so the battery is not being used or cycled. It's the number of discharge and re-charge cycles that eventually cause enough lead particles to build up in the bottom of the battery that usually ends a batteries career. I can go 5 years on a battery. My field repairmen in Texas used to keep their cars running to stay cool on Summer calls and the batteries seldom lasted more than a year.

If the new ride is for real, I want one. Could be a mix between the LF-1 Concept and the LF-Z electric.

Caution: Just because the VIN got programmed, does not guarantee that the data link was correctly configured. Placing the key near the start button may be reading a semi-passive chip inside the FOB as a backup to low battery. Anyone know for sure about that? There is a YouTube video also that shows you how to replace the battery correctly. If that does not do the trick, the end result is: Get it pass/fail tested with the proper test equipment. And/or send it back to the seller for replacement. Or give the wife your FOB and you deal with using the Mickey Mouse pass key hidden in the FOB. Hate it!

I'd call customer Support at Lexus and ask them if a lock smith can even program one of those. My guess is that the programming procedure did not go well or it was not applied using required Lexus procedures. Lexus dealer can tell you if you have a working FOB. Don't know what they charge for that? My 2018 key FOB slipped out of my pocket and the RX still started because the wife had her FOB in her purse. So I didn't realize I had lost it. Lexus wanted 550 dollars to replace it. Then I get a call from our friends and they say: Did you know you left your key FOB on our sofa. Close call. Technology ain't cheap!

Just to be specific - You should probably change that movement to "protesting 2021 RX seats" because I forced my fist into every square inch of both the front and back seats of my 2020, and I can assure you that there are no humps of any kind in any of the seats in this 2020 RX.

Due to chip shortages and Hi-Demand, the new line of NX vehicles may be pricey and hard to get.

A search of bing: Is Costco gas certified top tier? Answer: Yes it is... Same question for Sam's Club: No it is not. But, they stress that Sam's is still very high quality gas, but the seller for some reason has not gone for the certification. That's just one opinion on the web. I only use Shell or Exxon. Just a habit, I guess...

Lexus talked me into doing the re-call. They said to run the gas down before bringing it in. Otherwise they would have to take out the back seats, so to make sure the back seat is clear of items. Took it in with one-quarter tank. They estimated 2 to 3 hours. They called 4 hours later and sent their guy to bring me back to Lexus. They ran it thru the car wash also. The RX had a heavy odor of gas in the cabin and the gas gauge still read one-quarter. Took it home and opened the back hatch and ran a fan into the vehicle. After 3 hours, I checked it. Not able to detect any odor of gasoline. Runs great! Look clean...

Reminder her to WATCH THE CURBS... Your 20 inch wheels ride below your traditional square shaped curbs. I like the tapered curves but they don't use them here. Never park in the end spot and forget it's next to a curb and cut out at an angle - OUCH!!!! Right lane turns - turn wide at intersections. I will deny that I speak from experience here... All them buttons and controls and so much to do while driving ;+)

As far as fitting, you can go to ebay and look for sellers that have fit charts and they show you which OEM wheels will fit on what year model cars. My guess is that a 2015 OEM 18 inch wheel will show that it will fit on the 21 models. The 18 inch tire you have, had to have close to the same RPM number if Lexus did not change to a different RPM number with the 16 to 21 models. Measuring the diameter of the tires horizontally, not vertically as you did is just another way of comparing the RPM.

My 2020 RX350 has Michelin Premier LTX 235/55R 20 tires. If you go to TireRack and look it up, it shows that it has a very important spec. It's called Revolutions per mile = 690. That is the number your speedometer is expecting to use in order to be accurate. So look up your older 15 inch tire and do the same thing. Tre rev/mile should be about the same. Which you already know that it is. But it's just a good exercise to do when you are replacing your tires on any vehicle.