Large SUV, massive options list, comfortable ride - what's not to like?
This is something I've been toying around by myself and I'd like to share this personal journey with you.
I used to have the Lexus IS250 which I love a lot but on account of insufficient rear legroom and potentially growing family needs, a car with a larger rear compartment may be in the cards.
The previous generation Lexus RX came in two engine sizes, being the Lexus RX350 and Lexus RX270. But I'm your average Joe, and I'm sure as hell not going to fork out the $$$$s for road tax on a 3.5 litre engine. But a 2.7-litre 4 cylinder? That's only a marginal step up from my Lexus IS250, which ran on a 2.5-litre V6. In my mind, perhaps the incremental cost of an additional 0.2-litre displacement could be offset by the gains from running a 4-cylinder engine, two strokes less than the Lexus IS250. There are as many gears in the Lexus RX270 as with the Lexus IS250: both are motivated by a 6-speed auto transmission. This, for my growing needs, could be the answer I'm looking for.
So I looked on various classifieds and this is what I've found on mudah:
Don't you agree that looks pretty sweet?
Love the colour combination. Light grey leather has a classiness to it only black can match. Beige leather used to be my favourite but the appeal has worn off. Grey is in, guys.
The listing says it was manufactured in 2011, so it's four years old. In the world of Lexus, the most reliable car in the world, that's considered a car with the soul of a growing infant with many, many miles left in its robust engine still left to go. I have no problems with buying a four year old car - but only when it's a Lexus. A four year old BMW or Mercedes, hmm, you'd better have deep pockets for frequent repairs.
Piqued by the ad, I went over to Cheras to view the car. I managed to find one of those afternoons when it wasn't raining and the sun was shining bright as a Maglite. It gleamed, I tell you. Perhaps with a layer of polish, it's virtually indistinguishable from a showroom car.
Stepping inside, you get the familiar nappa leather common to the higher end Lexus. It feels supple, the best in the business, and when you run your fingers along its pretty hide, the leather feels buttery smooth. I love Lexus leather for this reason; next to it, BMW and Mercedes leathers feel like dry skin in need of moisturiser.
If you're largely familiar with Lexus, getting to grips with the cabin of the Lexus RX270 entails a very shallow learning curve. Everything will look familiar, the controls are where they should be, and it's easy to work it all out in 5 minutes. There's a colour 7" display for your navigation, sound system and vehicle settings - all controlled by the mouse-like touchpad called the Remote Touch Control System, collared at the base of the neck by two buttons: Back (to get to the previous menu) and Enter (to make your selection). So far, so good...
I tested the power windows, everything works, tested the AC, yup that's fine too, and all the buttons on the steering provide the things you're most likely to alter when you're on the move: change the music to the next track, change the volume up or down, change the source of music (if you're flipping between the radio, CD, AUX or Bluetooth). It also allows you to activate voice commands for these functions in addition to the air conditioning. So it's all good. I counted the number of airbags and summed up 10 in total.
I mean, really, what's there not to like about this car?
In the back, there's ample space for a growing family, say you have kids in the back, there's ample room for their legs to stretch (and kick the back of the driver's seat). A 6-footer would not complain about the legroom or headroom here. And even from the back, the all-round visibility is fantastic, so your rear passengers never feel claustrophobic.
The boot is very big, cavernous in fact. Though I doubt it'll ever find itself filled to the brim, it's good to know when the need arises, the space is there. And it's a power boot mind you, so it closes at the touch of a button. Never had a car with that before, so it'd be nice to enjoy a little upgrade. :-)
In the unlikely event the space in the boot isn't enough (say you're hauling a dinosaur), the rear seats fold back to provide best in class space. I didn't test this feature myself (silly me, I only thought of it AFTER seeing the car), but here's a picture of what it looks like:
Little dino would be quite happy here.
The burning question now is, say I'm a cheapskate (which I am), how do I own this car on the cheap? Like, really cheap. In other words, how do I make it economically viable for myself?
First up, it's a 4-cylinder so immediately I know it's not going to be heavy on engine oil. In KL, spare parts for servicing are quite easily obtainable and I usually get mine from TTDI. I've known the guy for several years, and he supplies genuine fully synthetic Lexus oil and his prices are reasonable; far cheaper than bringing it into a dealer. My modus operandi is to buy the servicing parts (oil, engine oil filter, air cond filter - rarely do I need to buy spark plugs) and then I'll pay another mechanic RM30 for the labour to change these parts. So when it comes to servicing, I know I'm covered.
But what mechanical parts can potentially go south with this vehicle?
Troving through the net, and asking Google Einstein 'problems with Lexus RX270', a few answers came up. Firstly, the air conditioning system may give up (and I guess in our humid tropical country, that could be a big problem). It reminded me of the time I brought my Lexus IS250 in to a mechanic to change the rear brake calipers. Next to my car was a Lexus RX270 with the entire dashboard removed so as to allow the mechanics access to the internals of the air conditioning system. It looked pretty major from where I stood. I asked the mechanic and all he could offer me was 'air cond problem' and he shrugged and walked off. Settling the bill for my bake calipers, I asked the owner of the mechanic shop, what it cost to repair the air conditioning of the Lexus RX270 (fearful of my own Lexus IS250 now). He said it cost about RM1,300. Okay, that could be an 'ouch.'
The other answer I found was that the brake actuator could become faulty and as you drive, the driver instrument binnacle flashes three warning lights. I say 'could become' because an owner who had this problem was told by the Lexus dealership he bought the car from that the brake actuator was the problem and quoted the owner Australian $7000 (remember this is from the authorised dealer, NOT an outside mechanic). Unsatisfied, he sought a second opinion, and found that the brake actuator was in fact working perfectly and all that was needed was a replacement for the brake light SWITCH which cost all of $42 with labour. Hence, when you get an outlandish quotation, especially from a dealer, it pays to get a second opinion as it can save you loadsa mulla...
The other potential fault I could find with the Lexus RX270 is engine oil leak. Normally, this would entail an engine overhaul, to replace the contact gaskets which wear out due to heat. This could cost thousands but mind you, no car on earth is spared of this malfunction.
Other than those three, every owner of the Lexus RX270 seem to enjoy their vehicle. Let's remind ourselves nobody builds cars like Lexus and on the whole the engine reliability, transmission robustness and electrical sophistication are industry benchmarks. But to give my awesome readers a fair view, I thought I should share with you what type of problems may crop up if, like me, you too are in the market for a Lexus RX270.
Other things to get out of the way, formality really, is the road tax. This will set you back RM1,377 annually based on a 2.7-litre engine. I'm not going to lie, that's still quite a lot. But it isn't enough to pour cold water on my acquisition plans just yet.
Hope you enjoyed this review of a second-hand Lexus RX270. If I do get this, I'll post some more pictures up.
...with the dinosaur in the boot.
Cheers!
All Lexus
This is something I've been toying around by myself and I'd like to share this personal journey with you.
I used to have the Lexus IS250 which I love a lot but on account of insufficient rear legroom and potentially growing family needs, a car with a larger rear compartment may be in the cards.
The previous generation Lexus RX came in two engine sizes, being the Lexus RX350 and Lexus RX270. But I'm your average Joe, and I'm sure as hell not going to fork out the $$$$s for road tax on a 3.5 litre engine. But a 2.7-litre 4 cylinder? That's only a marginal step up from my Lexus IS250, which ran on a 2.5-litre V6. In my mind, perhaps the incremental cost of an additional 0.2-litre displacement could be offset by the gains from running a 4-cylinder engine, two strokes less than the Lexus IS250. There are as many gears in the Lexus RX270 as with the Lexus IS250: both are motivated by a 6-speed auto transmission. This, for my growing needs, could be the answer I'm looking for.
So I looked on various classifieds and this is what I've found on mudah:
Love the colour combination. Light grey leather has a classiness to it only black can match. Beige leather used to be my favourite but the appeal has worn off. Grey is in, guys.
The listing says it was manufactured in 2011, so it's four years old. In the world of Lexus, the most reliable car in the world, that's considered a car with the soul of a growing infant with many, many miles left in its robust engine still left to go. I have no problems with buying a four year old car - but only when it's a Lexus. A four year old BMW or Mercedes, hmm, you'd better have deep pockets for frequent repairs.
Piqued by the ad, I went over to Cheras to view the car. I managed to find one of those afternoons when it wasn't raining and the sun was shining bright as a Maglite. It gleamed, I tell you. Perhaps with a layer of polish, it's virtually indistinguishable from a showroom car.
Stepping inside, you get the familiar nappa leather common to the higher end Lexus. It feels supple, the best in the business, and when you run your fingers along its pretty hide, the leather feels buttery smooth. I love Lexus leather for this reason; next to it, BMW and Mercedes leathers feel like dry skin in need of moisturiser.
If you're largely familiar with Lexus, getting to grips with the cabin of the Lexus RX270 entails a very shallow learning curve. Everything will look familiar, the controls are where they should be, and it's easy to work it all out in 5 minutes. There's a colour 7" display for your navigation, sound system and vehicle settings - all controlled by the mouse-like touchpad called the Remote Touch Control System, collared at the base of the neck by two buttons: Back (to get to the previous menu) and Enter (to make your selection). So far, so good...
I tested the power windows, everything works, tested the AC, yup that's fine too, and all the buttons on the steering provide the things you're most likely to alter when you're on the move: change the music to the next track, change the volume up or down, change the source of music (if you're flipping between the radio, CD, AUX or Bluetooth). It also allows you to activate voice commands for these functions in addition to the air conditioning. So it's all good. I counted the number of airbags and summed up 10 in total.
I mean, really, what's there not to like about this car?
In the back, there's ample space for a growing family, say you have kids in the back, there's ample room for their legs to stretch (and kick the back of the driver's seat). A 6-footer would not complain about the legroom or headroom here. And even from the back, the all-round visibility is fantastic, so your rear passengers never feel claustrophobic.
The boot is very big, cavernous in fact. Though I doubt it'll ever find itself filled to the brim, it's good to know when the need arises, the space is there. And it's a power boot mind you, so it closes at the touch of a button. Never had a car with that before, so it'd be nice to enjoy a little upgrade. :-)
In the unlikely event the space in the boot isn't enough (say you're hauling a dinosaur), the rear seats fold back to provide best in class space. I didn't test this feature myself (silly me, I only thought of it AFTER seeing the car), but here's a picture of what it looks like:
Little dino would be quite happy here.
The burning question now is, say I'm a cheapskate (which I am), how do I own this car on the cheap? Like, really cheap. In other words, how do I make it economically viable for myself?
First up, it's a 4-cylinder so immediately I know it's not going to be heavy on engine oil. In KL, spare parts for servicing are quite easily obtainable and I usually get mine from TTDI. I've known the guy for several years, and he supplies genuine fully synthetic Lexus oil and his prices are reasonable; far cheaper than bringing it into a dealer. My modus operandi is to buy the servicing parts (oil, engine oil filter, air cond filter - rarely do I need to buy spark plugs) and then I'll pay another mechanic RM30 for the labour to change these parts. So when it comes to servicing, I know I'm covered.
But what mechanical parts can potentially go south with this vehicle?
Troving through the net, and asking Google Einstein 'problems with Lexus RX270', a few answers came up. Firstly, the air conditioning system may give up (and I guess in our humid tropical country, that could be a big problem). It reminded me of the time I brought my Lexus IS250 in to a mechanic to change the rear brake calipers. Next to my car was a Lexus RX270 with the entire dashboard removed so as to allow the mechanics access to the internals of the air conditioning system. It looked pretty major from where I stood. I asked the mechanic and all he could offer me was 'air cond problem' and he shrugged and walked off. Settling the bill for my bake calipers, I asked the owner of the mechanic shop, what it cost to repair the air conditioning of the Lexus RX270 (fearful of my own Lexus IS250 now). He said it cost about RM1,300. Okay, that could be an 'ouch.'
The other answer I found was that the brake actuator could become faulty and as you drive, the driver instrument binnacle flashes three warning lights. I say 'could become' because an owner who had this problem was told by the Lexus dealership he bought the car from that the brake actuator was the problem and quoted the owner Australian $7000 (remember this is from the authorised dealer, NOT an outside mechanic). Unsatisfied, he sought a second opinion, and found that the brake actuator was in fact working perfectly and all that was needed was a replacement for the brake light SWITCH which cost all of $42 with labour. Hence, when you get an outlandish quotation, especially from a dealer, it pays to get a second opinion as it can save you loadsa mulla...
The other potential fault I could find with the Lexus RX270 is engine oil leak. Normally, this would entail an engine overhaul, to replace the contact gaskets which wear out due to heat. This could cost thousands but mind you, no car on earth is spared of this malfunction.
Other than those three, every owner of the Lexus RX270 seem to enjoy their vehicle. Let's remind ourselves nobody builds cars like Lexus and on the whole the engine reliability, transmission robustness and electrical sophistication are industry benchmarks. But to give my awesome readers a fair view, I thought I should share with you what type of problems may crop up if, like me, you too are in the market for a Lexus RX270.
Other things to get out of the way, formality really, is the road tax. This will set you back RM1,377 annually based on a 2.7-litre engine. I'm not going to lie, that's still quite a lot. But it isn't enough to pour cold water on my acquisition plans just yet.
Hope you enjoyed this review of a second-hand Lexus RX270. If I do get this, I'll post some more pictures up.
...with the dinosaur in the boot.
Cheers!
All Lexus
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