Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
(Any good sources for replacement batteries?). Thanks
it is possible that the main battery is malfunctioning and this can happen after 100,000 miles or more. I suppose the answer lies in a mechanic checking out the main battery. recently, hybrid main batteries are supposed to be better quality so look for the newest technology if you buy one. sorry I do not know more than this.
We continue to get about 25 to 26 mpg on our two 400h hybrids but I drive more conservatively than my daughter so my car gets about two mpg better than her's does.
My mileage is best when it's warm enough that I don't have to use much heat, but cool enough that I don't use much AC. It's generally worse in the heat of summer (lots of AC), or in the dead of winter (lots of heat, so the engine keeps running), or in the rainy season (lots and lots of moisture, so I keep the defogger running, which runs the AC and sucks heat).
my mpg is about 26 running air conditioning constantly in hot SW Florida. I love this car. I do not use it much because I also have the Mazda Tribute "loaded" model (SUV) with hybrid engine,2008. it has been a good car but it was only available in CA and it is driven in Florida. The Mazda gets about 29 mpg.
Regards,
Luke
Kap
. I loved my Prius 2004 but it was uncomfortable to me because of the small size.
My daughter, in Ft Lauderdale, might consider selling her Lexus 400h 2006 at some time because she has been unemployed and needs money. Her mileage likely is 50,000,,, I don't know..
what is great is that the Lexus 400h 2006 looks like a new model.
btw, in spite of the propaganda against Toyota, I still think it is a great car.
D M Burke
The on board MPG is off by exactly .5, every time - measured across 60+ tanks of gas since I got the car. The point is - MPG has been consistent for 18 months of use provided I use the same driving techniques, which I do.
Last month, the mileage number started to go down - averaging around 26, and now I'm down to 22. In addition to that, you could sense the car was behaving differently. Engine was on more often, engine came on instantly when gas pedal was touched, and sometimes it came on for no reason, even when stopped with the hybrid battery charged.
So I've tested different brands of gas for the past month - no change. Had an oil change, no difference. Since performance and behavior was consistent for 18 months and all of a sudden became dramatically different, I am concerned that something in the computer system has gone wrong.
Today when I get home, I will try the 'fix' outlined in a Toyota service bulletin to reprogram the ISC - although this fixes a problem resulting from a dead or disconnected battery, and that didn't happen to my car.
Has anyone else suffered a sudden and dramatic drop in MPG along with a change in car behavior? If so, did the dealer diagnose and problem and take steps to resolve it?
But still the vehicle runs great, No problems whatsoever. Planning to trade-in next year (early 2011) for a 2010 or 2011 RX450h (for tax write in 2011)
Any suggestions on how much I might be able to get on my car (assuming I hit close to 450k or half a million miles)
Thanks
John
But still the vehicle runs great, No problems whatsoever. Planning to trade-in next year (early 2011) for a 2010 or 2011 RX450h (for tax write in 2011)
Any suggestions on how much I might be able to get on my car (assuming I hit close to 450k or half a million miles)
Thanks
John
FYI: I have 2006 rx400h. Gets about 20mpg in town (sigh) - and I drive like a granny.
Thanks
When you reset the ISC, you idle around and drain the battery until the engine comes on, then shut the car down. You turn off all accessories and climate control (nothing electronic should be on). Put the car in run mode (start it), press the brake pedal, put the car in drive, then while holding the brake pedal down, press the accelerator pedal down.
The car will not move or rev much, but the engine will be on and start charging. Keep the gas pedal down for 40 seconds, then release it for a few moments, then down again for 40 seconds and keep doing that 40 on/10 off etc until the battery is fully charged (all green) and the engine no longer charges or revs slightly when you press the gas pedal down. Of course you're holding the brake pedal down all the time while doing this.
Shut down, put your accessories back where you want them, then you can start up and go anytime. Learn about pulse driving to maximize your mileage going forward.
Pulse & glide overview
Pulse and glide works like this: let's say you're on a road where you want to go 60 km/h. Instead of driving along at a steady 60, you instead accelerate to 70 (that's the pulse), and then coast in neutral with the engine off down to 50 (that's the glide). That's it. Rinse and repeat. And repeat. And repeat...
By doing this, you're still averaging 60 km/h, but it turns out that pulse and glide is significantly more efficient than driving along maintaining a steady 60 km/h.
If you're like me, it seems completely counter-intuitive. You're asking, "how can that possibly be more efficient than maintaining a steady speed in the highest possible gear?" After all, it violates one of the main commandments of efficient driving: conserving momentum.
Why it works
Pulse & Glide marathoners
Prius MPG marathoners at the completion of their nearly 48-hour endeavour. (Source: Toyota.com hybrid newsletter)
The secret is in the glide, and it's is best illustrated by the extreme Prius demonstration.
The Prius is particularly excellent at gliding because under most conditions when the the accelerator is released below 40 mph, the gasoline engine shuts off completely and the transmission effectively freewheels in neutral (it's actually slightly more complicated than that, but stick with me). So, while gliding, it's effectively getting infinite mpg - it's using no gas at all.
For that reason, the marathon drivers picked 40 mph as the upper limit of their pulse & glide cycle (33 mph was the bottom). So in order to achieve 109.3 mpg, they just had to average 54.65 mpg while pulsing gently from 33 - 40 mph. And it turns out, in a Prius, you can. So, assuming equal length pulses & glides, they traveled half the total distance of their trip getting 54.65 mpg, and half the total distance using no fuel at all. It averages out to 109.3 mpg.
(Their driving was actually more complex than the simple illustration above, so their pulse vs. glide proportions were not necessarily equal. But for the purposes of understanding the basics of pulse & glide, it helps to think in terms of equal halves. The drivers also took pains to ensure they were pulsing and gliding in a very specific way that minimized the flow of energy to and from the battery pack - they were in effect going to great lengths to avoid using the car's hybrid propulsion while driving. Whenever braking, however, they sought to take advantage of the hybrid system's energy regeneration. Follow the links at the end of this article for detailed Prius-specific pulse & glide info.)
We live in a hilly area, so I know that doesn't help but also do a bunch of (flat) freeway driving and still haven't seen anything better than 25mpg. I haven't been doing any pulse driving (clearly).
Btw, for the ISC reset, the instructions I found said that to only hold the gas down once for 30-40 seconds. Should I have cycled this more times?
Also, it said to shut the car down and then wait 5 seconds then start it back up and wait until the engine shuts itself off (it will automatically run on start up).
Kind Regards,
Luke
A friend bought a non-hybrid version of 400h (?RX 330 ??) and says she gets around 20 but I think that is an exaggeration...most drivers of the RX330 get around 13 - 14 as far as I have been told.
regarding batteries, I do not drive my 400h a lot so I have to be careful and drive it enough to not run the battery down. I had to get a new auxillary battery two years ago but it was in the warranty I think.
Anyone have thoughts regarding the appropriate way to do the ISC reset (ie, number of cycles, etc)?
I'm not an agressive driver.
I use all heater and AC when it needs!
It's better than many cars in the market!
I bought a certified RX 400h (2006) with 45k miles in Sept. 09. I love the car but the milage in-city has been very disappointing. I'm getting ~18-19 mpg in the city and ~24 on the Highway.
I was under the impression that a Hybrid would give better mileage in-City than on the Highway.
The service adviser at the dealer first told me the low mileage was because of using regular-octane gas. The next service I had another adviser who said that should have no influence on the mileage, and the service chief felt it may be related to the wider all-season tires (which the car came with from the same dealer).
My take is that when I spent the extra funds to get a hybrid, I would expect better in-city mileage than that. I have noticed that it does not take much for the engine to start up, when starting to drive. Often when I start the car the engine starts too (even if the battery indicator is near full). When braking I often note the gauge (on the left) not to dip into the blue zone, but it sometimes does - and I have not been able to find any related factors or any consistency.
So my question is - is this kind of mileage to be expected, or should I go back to the dealer and demand that they figure out what's the problem is?
Please take it to the dealer and find out why 'bad' mileage. My dealer seems to fix things but does not know the technology to advise why. I talked to the designer of the Hybrid at a Football game (USC), and he said Lexus hybrids are tuned for performance and not best gas mileage; Toyota tuned for mileage. Still too low for me - please take it in and let us know.
Most dealers refuse to do the reset I described earlier - not sure why, but their usual approach to mileage issues on hybrids is to become very hostile and blame it on the customer or say Lexus hybrids are not designed for improved mileage.
So - since I'm continuing to avg an indicated 29-30mpg actual, 65% hwy and 35% city, I know it can be done.
Do the reset I described upthread and learn about pulse driving. Make sure your tires are inflated properly (to spec, not overdone). Make sure you're using national brand gas - but it doesn't need to be premium (although running a tank of premium through once in awhile doesn't hurt).
Regarding dealer responses to low mileage, I had a chuckle at somebody being told that it was because they used regular unleaded. I heard the same fairy tale from my dealer: "your mileage should improve by about 10% with premium". He further said that it might take 2-3 tanks before I saw the benefit because "the oxygen sensor would need to recalibrate itself."
Poppycock. I changed to premium (made sure to get the tank below 1/8 4 times in a row, filling with premium each time) and then started measuring. My mpg with premium unleaded actually dropped by a full 1+ mpg.
I don't have an answer as to why you are seeing so much lower than advertised mpg, but I'm sure the dealer has a whole bunch of reasons that don't involve him doing work.
So with the 2006 RX330 my wife gets 14mpg! Which sucks!
When I drove it on the highway the best I got was 22mpg!
We've had it for about 3 months now...
Side note:
I own a Prius and get an avg of about 40 in the winter and 50+ in the summer. City driving it does worse than highway, I commuted in and out of DC for 3 days for training and it dropped to 34mpg in March (it was colder out). As soon as I was on the highway it jumped back up to 43mpg.
So Hybrids do worse in the city than highway, highway you can coast and are using a combination of electric and gas power at times. Unless you mash on the pedal which then you can hear the gas engine kick in.
Also about premium fuel vs regular in any car, CarTalk had this to say:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/premium/questions.html
And according to the RX330's manual it states, "If premium fuel cannot be found near you, regular fuel may be used for short periods." Consumer Reports also lists the 04-06 model's fuel type as regular, although the gas cap on the car states Premium Only... Not sure about the 400h's fuel type but premium doesnt make a difference in mileage unless the car absolutely calls for it, and even then it might not make a difference.
At 14mpg honestly I'd be happy with 24-28mpg, especially when we're gonna see $5-6 a gallon gas.
Luke :shades:
1- throttle body cleaned;
2- oil change;
3- new tires (Bridgestone Alenza); and
4- ISC reset done -- the tech did this without hooking the car up to the machine (revved the engine)
This was about 6 weeks ago and last week, we took our first extended road trip (SF->LA and back)... gas mileage has not changed... still in the 22-24mpg range. Note: I am going by the onboard display (not calculating it by hand)... I had reset the mpg counter at the start of our trip. Temperature was moderate (65-85 degrees) and there were some crosswinds and elevation changes.
I don't recall my average speed but driving on Hwy 5 generally means driving between 75-80mph to keep up with traffic.
Does anyone think that the ISC reset needs to be redone the other way? What else could be done to improve mileage (or is the very high mpg that some are getting due to living in flatter parts of the country?).
Lastly, whatever happened to Edmund's long-term test of the 2006 RX400h?
Appreciate any and all responses!
Maybe you will get better mpg when you drive a highway where you are not required to drive 75-80 mpg My mpg, with A/C in hot SW Florida, averages about 26 -27 mpg. However, when a grandkid drives my car, the mpg drops to about 24 mpg so driving patterns make a difference too. good luck.
We did decline once we left New Mexico's mountain this Sept. to 29.6 mpg. It sure seems to me that something in the repair is responsible, but the dealer says no.
1) I have a 2006 RX-400h and get about the same mileage as you. My whole family says I drive like a grandma (slow), since I'm trying to get the maximum mileage.
2) I met a Toyota engineer at a football game and complained. He said Lexus is tuned for performance (it is a fast car) and not mileage. The Toyotas get better mileage with same equipment. But..I'm like you - why does it say on the sticker?
3) Disappointed. Trying to save gas, be green, encourage innovation (all with a price tag) and it falls flat.
Please continue you inquiry and post what you find ! Thanks!
So that being said the RX330 averages anywhere between 13mpg and at best 22mpg! I dont remember what the sticker said but 2006 was BEFORE the reevaluation of the mpg estimates put out by the Fed. Supposedly the old tests didnt account for city driving and different conditions which lower full economy. The old setup was way off on every car, since the revamp every single car's mpg was lowered, even my Prius which was supposed to get in the 50's but really gets in the 40's. Also account for different times of year, hybrids dont do well in the cold or the extreme heat due to battery efficiency. My Prius will get in the 50's in the summer and the low 40's in the winter, sometimes in the high 30's.
So if you guys are getting 20-25mpg that's probably accurate compared to the non hybrid model. That and the hybrid adds a good 400lbs plus to the gross weight of the car.
Just my 2 cents!
After a couple weeks of delay, I finally got the Lexus dealership to service it to look at the MPG issue. The service folks just called and said NOTHING was wrong with it and unfortunately it depends on how you drive and warming up car/heat. I tried to ask them about an ISC reset and they said they heard nothing about that. I told them I purposely drove extremely cautiously, minimizing the use of gas and trying to coast as much as possible before I had the car serviced, but it did nothing to improve the mpg. Thus the service response to me was completely unacceptable and said the best they could do is have my salesperson call me tomorrow as he was the one to tell me repeatedly that it should get 26-28 mpg. It is unfortunate that the service people and sales people act like they work at 2 different companies. After the service person said they didn't know what MPG the car should get, I said surely Lexus should have that it print somewhere, which they conceded and then I said hypothetically that someone in the world should be able to drive the car and get the 26-28 mpg that I was told I would be getting. She finally agreed that "somebody" should be able to drive the car and get that kind of MPG.
I made a conscious decision to buy the RX 400H vs another SUV which would be less expensive as I believed I would save on gas over the next 6-8 years that would reduce the cost difference. If a car is Certified by Lexus, it should live up to the Lexus brand standards, the poor MPG is not acceptable. George, my salesperson is a really stand-up guy and a man of his word, so hopefully when he gives me a call tomorrow he'll make things right by either fixing my car or replacing it. I am hopeful Lexus will do the right thing and make things right. I'll keep everyone updated, if Lexus or anybody else wants to try to help me resolve this issue, it would be appreciated.
I would try an ISC reset procedure to reset the battery charging logic. I have copied the procedure from an earlier post. Here it is...
When you reset the ISC, you idle around and drain the battery until the engine comes on, then shut the car down. You turn off all accessories and climate control (nothing electronic should be on). Put the car in run mode (start it), press the brake pedal, put the car in drive, then while holding the brake pedal down, press the accelerator pedal down.
The car will not move or rev much, but the engine will be on and start charging. Keep the gas pedal down for 40 seconds, then release it for a few moments, then down again for 40 seconds and keep doing that 40 on/10 off etc until the battery is fully charged (all green) and the engine no longer charges or revs slightly when you press the gas pedal down. Of course you're holding the brake pedal down all the time while doing this.
Shut down, put your accessories back where you want them, then you can start up and go anytime. Learn about pulse driving to maximize your mileage going forward.
:shades: Luke
Luke :shades:
The problem with consumption is how you drive , when I am driving is 25mpg when my son driving is 19 MPG
Best,
Alice And Happy New Year All!
I recently drove the new RX 350 and averaged 17 mpg in the same type of driving. So compared to those number, my 6-year old RX400h is doing pretty well. Still, had I known that my mileage won't be higher than the 22 mpg or so, I am not sure I would have invested the amount of bucks I spent on this car. Together with its "consumption" of tires, which is a whole other issue and another thread in this forum, I am beginning to think about selling this car.