RX400h

Congratulations! I tell people all the time that in most cases regarding Japanese vehicles, it is never truly cost effective to keep a new car less than 10 years. However, the many advancements that are bound to be included with your new purchase cannot be measured in dollars.

I our case, we are still very happy with our RX400h (also purchased in April of 2005). I am fairly certain, though that our next vehicle will be far lighter and more efficient - perhaps a Mazda 6 or Lexus ES300h. The consistent $4/gallon gas prices are the motivating factor.

I'm going to guess that the 12V "ICE" battery is dead.  If it's never been replaced, it's way overdue and if it's been over 4 years for the replacement, it could be shot.  Mine started losing the ability to hold a charge at 3.5 years and was replaced under warranty.

 

Someone else will hopefully give you specific directions, but there should be a way to "override" the "shifter lock" and slide it into neutral.  THIS PROCEDURE SHOULD BE IN THE MANUAL AND MIGHT BE FOUND IN A SEARCH ON THE FORUM.

 

I also found this on the other Lexus forum:

 

"at the top left of the shift plate just above the "P" for park there is a little slot, take a small screw driver and insert it into the slot and it will release your park lock and you will be able to shift to neutral!"

 

IF YOU'RE GOING TO PUSH THE VEHICLE OUT OF YOUR GARAGE TAKE EVERY PRECAUTION THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO STOP IT!!!  My driveway is sloped down and it could be a real disaster if someone isn't in the vehicle to hit the brakes.  PLUS, you will not have full stopping power on the braking system with the engine off.

 

Finally, the battery is likely to be under a plastic shield/cover that is held in place by "pushpins." You push DOWN on the center of the "pushpin" and it releases.  It's a little trickier to put them back in place.

 

GOOD LUCK AND BE CAREFUL!

Good advice! Perhaps a neighbor can help?

....not bad! However, we do expect you to buy a hybrid, the next time you are shopping for a new car.

The latest IE is actually very good. I run Win 8 Professional at work, which comes with IE 10. Page loads are lightning quick and safety features are abundant.

As an aside, my son tells me that a program called "Wine" can be used with Linux. Once Wine is installed, "Chrome" can be installed. Chrome has an IE mode, which may work to view programs that can be viewed only with IE.

According to our 2006 RX400h owner's manual:

Select Octane Rating 87 (Research Octane Number 91) or higher.

What fools many people about this statement is that our gasolene pumps do NOT display Research Octane Number (RON). Rather, they display an average of RON and Motor Octane Number (MON)    [(RON+MON)/2].

Essentially, then, you do NOT need to use 91 octane as stated on the pumps. Your 2006 RX400h will "potentially" produce more power with higher octane, but only if you accelerate aggressively. Otherwise, you are wasting your money.

I would, however use 91 octane in a very warm environment, such as Arizona or Nevada when Summer temps can climb to 100 degrees F. Conversely, during very cold temps, I'm sure any grade would provide more than adequate performance.