Lexus RX 400h and 450h

falconone

Sometimes it's best to call a dealer on a car that's hot and have them ship it. A few folks have done that with the Prius. Usually Lexus has decent dealerships, and I am surprised they gave you the cold shoulder. Did you drive up in your LS?

lexrexblue

That sounds like a terrific idea. However, after waiting this long, knowing they "built" my car on April 27, I'm assuming it'll arrive soon. Besides, they're giving me a loaner until it arrives. Has anyone else been offered one? Is this standard practice?

gagrice

No I drove onto the lot with the Passat. Not sure they saw what car I came in. I have not been thrilled with their service after the warranty was up on my wife's LS400. It was a happy day when we found a good Lexus repair shop. About half the cost for parts and labor.

They did not have an RX400h on the lot. I wanted to see if they were adding a premium as some dealers in the Bay area are doing. They were not unpleasant, just when I mentioned the RX400h, it was "your in for a long wait". So evidently they are selling out down here pretty fast. It is not just Lexus the Honda dealer was overcharging on the HAH and not letting people test drive them either.

headless

CNN Headline news today nice piece on Lexus pulling the RX400h adds due to increasing wait list...now over 6 months...the Prius now at 2 months nationally and the new Highlander hybrid at 6 months...

There is no slow down in hybrid sales...they're going to really help the companies that are producing them...

Welcome to the future boys and girls!

Headless

pinzabu

The difference is in the driving style.

I get 28 - 29 and my husband gets 25 at best. We have each put on about 500 miles in the last three weeks of owning the car.

I practiced coasting etc before the car arrived and I think it is paying off.

jdt

Although my 400h won't play MP3 files, I just discovered that it will play a CD-RW that's been formatted as an audio disk. So, at least it's possible to make reusable CDs with your favorite road songs.

I still haven't been able to program my garage door opener buttons, but I'm still working on it...

mirex

I was 38th on my dealers list and the car arrived last night. I will be picking it up on friday.
I am paying MSRP plus I added a LoJack auto security system. They gave me a free loaner last week. This is the 4th Lexus I have bought from this dealership.

Will have a month of combined city highway driving and then leave on a 2,500 plus mild trip that will combine driving at sea level and several mountain passes up to 7,500 feet. This will include several hundred miles at 4,000 plus feet.

When I get back I should have a pretty good record of mileage and performance and will post here then.

molokai

Great news. Just don't get the lojack. It is a waste of money!! Even a police officer has posted on another site that it is worthless. Don't buy into the hype. Trust me!!!!

stevedebi

"The RX400h has a slightly pointier 'nose' as well as functional air vents on the bottom to better cool the engine. I think they tweaked it a bit for a better drag coeffecient...hmmmm....

The MDX isn't so great in this category...it's based on the Honda Pilot which is like a brick on wheels (nice vehicle but very boxy!)..."

The MDX has a "pointy nose" as well, though I'm not aware of the Cd.

However, we should remember that it is not only CD, but also frontal area that determines the actual drag. A small car will have less drag than a larger, taller SUV, even if they both have the same Cd.

durbangirl

Has anyone experienced the engine hesitation problem that RX330 owners complain about?

eman5

yes or no? We're in the Houston heat... Will the dealer-added tint fade, splotch, or dimple? Does it actually help with interior comfort? Or does it just pimp my ride?

BTW: I put a deposit down a month ago and was told it'd arrive maybe late summer/early fall; all of a sudden, it's due in several days. Makes you wonder about these waiting lists.

larsb

metallized tint. Most "tint specialty shops" do a better job and guarantee the tint.

As far as heat blocking, good tint ABSOLUTELY does the job of cutting heat. And it protects the interior fabric and plastics from the UV damage also.

I live in Phoenix and we KNOW how tint helps in the heat...I have never had a car out here which was not tinted with the GOOD STUFF.....:D

dmbflorida

I would never recommend LoJack for the RX 400h from what I heard re: Prius. I am sorry I don't recall the exact reasons, but LoJack interferes with some Prius computer functions.
This was a problem in 2004.... So Cal dealerships were adding the LoJack a lot (to make money) and it was contraindicated (according to many Prius owners). I imagine that the Lexus RX 400h would have the same scenario re: LoJack.

Re: tint-- we have two RX 400h SUVs with full legal tinting which was done by the Lexus dealership on all windows. The windshield is not tinted. We live in very sunny Florida and the tint knocks off a lot of sun. We like this tint.

eman5

Doesn't the 400h come with tinting from the factory?

pinzabu

Yes, noticed hesitation around 60 -65, almost like there is wind or air holding the car back.
Once you go over 70 it is gone, Have had the car briefly up to 85 and still not there. But it happens often in the 65 ish range.

Is that when you get it too? What does it feel like?

love2scuba

3,000 miles on my 400h and never had a problem with engine hesitation.

headless

1700 miles, no hesitation...at 65 mph your ICE is more often than not going to be on...so, acceleration is instant...even if the ICE shuts off for a bit, like when coasting, once you hit the gas you're going to get ICE power as well as electric motor torque for a second or two...also,

CVT in conjunction with electric motors, pickup should be seamless....there is no lag with this transmission...I actually find the acceleration from 45-65 to be one of the most impressive stats on the car...this thing rips into highway traffic with ease...

Headless

fizban

What's the problems associated with Lojack and what do you recommend in its place?

mzuckerman

My headlights aim left when I turn left, and snap back when the turn completyes. They don't seem to aim right, however, when I turn right. Has anyone else noticed this?

molokai

Lojack in theory works but the police have to coordinate with each other to triangulate on getting the car. I rather make the insurance claim and get another car. Statistically, the RX330 is not a hot item for thiefs. The RH will be even more difficult to steal. Lojack only works in some areas. Thiefs are so quick today that even if the car has lojack, the parts will be harvested before the police even get to it. If it is merely a joy rider, then you have a chance of recovery. I doubt many thiefs are looking to joyride the RH.

wwest

The ones in the UK turn 15 degrees to the right but only 5 degrees to the left.

vauvrille

I spent some time trying to read all your comments... but as there are many, I would really appreciate getting a kind of summary of your feedback and impressions on the RX400h - for European drivers waiting for theirs to be delivered.

So is this car worth while?

Thanks for your answers!

mzuckerman

That explains my experience. The next question is, why does Toyota think that right turns (in the US) and left turns (in the UK) require less lateral illumination.

stevedebi

"The next question is, why does Toyota think that right turns (in the US) and left turns (in the UK) require less lateral illumination."

Because you drive on the right in the US and on the left in the UK. The beam has to travel further when you cross an oncoming lane of traffic.

mzuckerman

Aha! Makes sense. Thanks.

wwest

keep in mind that setting on the left side of the vehicle your vision to the right is already impaired by the structure of the vehicle. Think about how often you make a really tight left hand turn around a close-in obstacle vs one to the right.

Unless you have a passenger in the right front seat as a "guide" more light on that side wouldn't be of much help.

wwest

It appears that most RX400h owners posting information are reporting better highway MPG than city. Example, 28 hwy, 24 average.

Many owners are seemingly struggling to find the "proper" way to drive the RX400h in order to get better fuel economy....

Puzzling, VERY!

The Prius DEFINITELY has better city fuel economy.

I have NEVER heard anyone say that special driving techniques are needed for the Prius.

Yet both the Prius and the RX400h use the very same Toyota hybrid design concept.

What went wrong?

molokai

Maybe the fact that the Prius is an atkinson cycle and the RH is the Otto. Please chime in if anyone knows.

wwest

is supposed to be the ability to recover inertial energy via regenerative braking. That would mean, quite logically, that lots of stop and go driving would yeild the most significant "returns".

Obviously that has proven to be the case with the Prius, stellar city MPG, highway MPG worse than comparable vehicles.

molokai

My Prius II just yielded 48.1 on the highway back from Canada to NJ. Average highway speed was 75. I'd say that's pretty good. Interesting is that I never get better city mileage than highway. I really love the car. 30,000 trouble free miles. I am sure the RH will provide similar results.

skyfish400h

I've seen some video simulation of headlight function somewhere on one of the Lexus sight (or maybe it was the Japan Lexus site) which show the angle of deflection from straight ahead is not the same for left as it is for right turns.

If I remember correctly tho the deflection was greater for the Right hand turn... I'm guessing that so there is less chance of blinding on coming traffing if you are making a Left and start to turn the wheels before the traffic goes by you. (this is, of course, very bad form.. .but Lexus cannot count on everyone beign a safe driver

FYI this is my perspective from a US drivers POV.

dylan hixon

Perhaps this is what you are saying, but the low beams are already aimed right (left in UK), or at least the bulk of the beam is, to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. So 5 right and 15 left is actually equal travel when you start at something like 5 right.

vdoc

One option would be to move to Florida. If you are driving a hybrid, for $5 a year you can buy a big red HOV sticker for your back window that lets you drive in the carpool lane even if you're by yourself. It's amazing that Florida could come up with this in an otherwise sea of lunacy!

editmax

It's too bad if you are a 400h owner in California you will never drive, driver only, in the HOV lane. :mad: Check this out

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/proposedhybrid.htm

mirex

My Lexus dealer had a 650 customer waiting list prior to April. Once the RX400hs started arriving the list dropped to 450. I was number 58 and moved up to 35th. A few days before the Memorial Day weekend my sales consultant called with a VIN number assigned to me. He asked me to come in to make a deposit at that time. I charged the $5,000 deposit on my Alaska Airline credit card. It missed the credit card cutoff date so I won't get that bill until the middle of this month.

Last night I took delivery of my Savannah Metallic 400h and paid full sticker price which included heated front seats with headlamp washers and the Mark Levinson Audio system.

There are several differences from my RX300 especially in the navigation system. I will be spending several hours reading the 600 plus page manual and the separate navigation manual. So far I have my two rolling code garage doors programed as well as my Bluetooth Nextel i605 cell phone.

It is way to early to comment on all of the aspects of this amazing automobile, but as Tom Cruise said in Top Gun, "it's looking good so far!"

fluffy3cat

I've been a waiting list for about a year but no deposit required. The dealership would regularly call with updates. Then in March, I was asked what color I wanted. I picked Crystal White. In April, I was told that my car would be here soon. It took a bit longer but not much as I got my white 400h on May 21st. The dealership had one 400h in April that I went to testdrive so I knew what my car would look like. I paid full sticker price.

So far, I have been getting an average of between 27-28 mpg with a combination city and highway driving (with 750 miles on the car to date). I watch the hybrid system and try to maximize the gas mileage as a game. I have done this with all my cars-trying to get as close to the EPA rating as possible. I have found with the 400h learning to coast more and better/more efficient braking seem to make the difference.

I have yet to figure out the navigation system fully and haven't been able to program my garage door yet. But so far, this car has exceeded expectations.

wwest

is that when you get to the point where you think you're finished then continue on through the next several paragraphs of the directions.

eman5

I posted this query over on the Bluetooth forum, but no answer yet:

Is there a Verizon network-compatible cell phone that has full Bluetooth functionality with the RX400h? If not, will there be one available soon?

mirex

Go to
http://www.lexus.com/home/faqs/bluetooth.html
then scroll down to Verizon.
I found this page by going to www.lexus.com and then clicking on RX and going to FAQs. I would think that it should be compatible, but check with Verizon to make sure.

shackman

About three weeks ago I bought the only Verizon bluetooth compatible cell phone that they had available. It was the Motorola VX-710. I assumed that it would work with my new Lexus RX 400h which I have yet to get. The good news is that it will be able to be used with the hands free option. The bad news is that I wont be able to dial up calls or will I be able to transfer my address book. I guess that I should have waited until Verizon comes up with a more compatible cell phone. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?? I don't think so!!

phil15

Has anyone had this problem? mainly happens at stop lights when starting up. There is a slight shudder (as the dealer calls it, says it is normal in all RX400h Hybrids) when the ICE starts up when you accelerate from a traffic light or sometimes hear it it stop & go traffic when going from battery operation to the ICE start. Mainly felt in the drivers left foot rest area.

I also hear it in the morning when the car is cold & start backing out of the driveway, only it is louder in the morning.
Did stop buy the dealer last Saturday & took their demo for a ride, I noticed it in the demo also. Seems to less of a problem after the car is warmed up, but you can still feel it. Is this just something you have to get used to.
Thank You, Phil

eman5

Has anyone actually used this Motorola phone in their RX400h? If so, can you describe what it can and cannot do?

maxamigo

I have the latest Prius as well as the very first model back in 2001.

With the new Prius, I get 55+mpg in the city and my wife gets 46+mpg in the city. When we do longer distance HWY travel, I'd get 50+mpg. I tend to coast a lot in my driving. It is really dependent upon the style of driving.

Your 48mpg is well within what I'd expect.

We are waiting for the RX400h. Being a real estate agent in FL, I do a lot of in city driving, some where around 35k miles a year. And the $2k tax credit is cool, too.

Cheers.

maxamigo

If you read in the documents, the left headlight would swing 15degree and the right one would only swing a few degrees. The theory is that you need the left side (driver side) to be illuminated more than the right side.

maxamigo

There are 4 Rx400h sitting on the lot right now in FL waiting for an owner. Dealer proposed to me $1k off of stick price. But they are not in the colors that my wife likes.

cyclone4

My wife and I took a long trip that started on May 26 on the RX400h. Here are the details on the gas mileage experience, etc. On May 26, we headed east on I-80, southeast to I-70 and on to Dayton, OH from IA. The car was loaded with some heavy luggage plus a heavy desk (taken apart) with the back seats down. The gas mileage on the I-80 stretch was spectacular at 29.4 mpg helped along by about a 15mph tail wind (from the west). On the I-74 portion, the mpg was likely down to about to 27.5 (a bit of a guess here since I did not reset it). The reason for the lower mpg was that now the west wind was a bit of a cross wind. By the time we got to our destination that evening in Dayton, the computer read 28.4 mpg. I was going at about 70 mph most of the time but there were times I had it up to over 80 in passing situations. By the way, there was no need for air conditioning since it was in the lower 70s outside during most of the trip & cooled down to the 60s in the evening. A few days later we headed north on I-75 to Detroit. This was a totally different story. There was a stiff northwest wind at about 20 mph & gusty. It was also up around 80 degrees and the AC needed to be on. By the time we got to Detroit (about a 3.5 hour trip), the gas mileage for this leg of the trip was only at 24.7 mpg. We headed back west home yesterday on I-94 and then on to I-80 (about a 10 hour trip counting an hour break for lunch). It was a very warm & humid day with temps well up into the 80s and a strong southwest wind at 15-30 mph (very detrimental to good gas mileage). The average for the trip was right at 25 mpg (AC always on and set at 76-77). Again, most of the time I was going at about 70 mph.

As you can tell, I did all of the driving for this trip. I love driving this vehicle. It is very comfortable, quiet, and has tremendous power for an SUV. I couldn't help but wonder what other drivers near me thought when I would step on it to pass, and the RX would take off like a "rocket". An additional bonus is that the Navigation system must be the very latest technology. It is version 4.2 just as the one on my LS430, but this must have some software upgrades on it. It is awesome.

The main lesson to be learned from my experience on this trip is that wind direction and velocity is extremely important in determining what kind of gas mileage you will get on the Interstates. The bottom line is that my wife and I are extremely happy with this vehicle and we both think that the extra cost over that of the RX330 is well worth it.

cyclone4

About 2 weeks ago we purchased the new Motorola V330 (with T-Mobile) for our RX400h and it works just great. I did have to download the phonebook from the phone to the car one at a time, but it is not that big of a deal unless you have hundreds of names & numbers in your phonebook.

kibble

my blackberry works handsfree although i haven't tried to set up the address book yet.

headless

Cyclone,

Glad to see you're back...and it seems like your vehicle is just like the rest of ours...

My numbers are similar to yours...I thought those 30+ mpg numbers you were talking about were off base...

The numbers you on your last post are in line with what I'm getting...25 mpg 'normal' driving, 27 on the highway...30+ when in bumper to bumper traffic...

Do me a favor, if you don't mind...I have found that the vehicle computer is about 1 mpg off than when I manually calculate it...being, it's saying I'm getting 1 mpg better than I really am...I'm being careful not to top-off, but I'm sure each gas station has different pumps...guess I'll have to use only 1 station and 1 pump to accurately assess...

Know of any place to get hard copy of voice navigation commands?? There are hundreds of them and I can't find them in print!

Headless

krellu

I called lexus and they mailed a list of all the voice nav. commands.It is on paper but the list is complete.