Rx400h - In My Garage...excellent Car..

[pfang56]

Wow. After many months of waiting, it finally arrived. Picture attached for all of you RX400h launch naysayers...

Package: RX400h Millenium Silver / Grey interior w/ML/heated seats

Some initial impressions:

- REALLY quiet startup. So quiet, that I was a little confused whether the car was on. They probably could have done a better job providing some warning beep to notify that the engine was running :(

- REALLY quiet interior. Looked in the manual and they state the inclusion of some special noise reduction front glass found only in the LS430. :)

- Laser guided cruise control. Surprised that this model has it. Can't wait to try it out on Saturday on the 101 :)

- Power? Plenty of it. This one really wants to be pushed. :)

- Brakes. Hmm. More mushy than I'm used to...perhaps this is the regenerative breaking on tap? :(

- Battery under rear seat. I'm wondering if the interior would ever get super hot with the battery underneath the rear seat. Let's hope not.

- Bluetooth. Yes. It integrates reasonably well with my VZW equipped v710, save for the crippled OBEX support.

- Rims, Rims, Rims. I considered getting the chrome rims, but with the Silver exterior, I didn't think it would look right. Glad I passed on them.

- Manuals. Whoa. Here are some of the docs that came with the car: a) 621 page owner's manual, B) 169 page navigation manual, c) 76 page owner's supplement, d) 51 page lemon law supplement, e) 23 page RX400h hybrid overview, and f) 36 page rx400h valet. Well, at least I'm saving some fuel :)

Overall, very happy with the purchase. We'll see in the coming days. Wish me luck!

Regards,

Peter

[SW03ES]

Congratulations!

[patt]

Thanks for all the details. My sales guy said mine was scheduled to arrive this evening so there is hope it will be ready to pick up tomorrow. Waiting is so hard.

[RX400h]

621 page manual? Wow, that's the size of a full service manual! Congratulations. I'm next in line (This morning). Now let's see about that break-in procedure.......

[lexususer]

Congrads!!!

This whole process is like winning the lottry!

Picking 1 up saturday -- did ya get a warranty?

General question to Ca winners of the 400H -- did any one pay above list?

curious about that...

Nice surpise about the laser guided system!!!

WHat kind of suspensions is it? air adjustable? haven't read anything about it in the literature

Thanks & ENJOY the ride!

IMWTK

[pfang56]

Some responses to your questions:

a) Purchased the extended 7yr/100k platinum warranty. Oh well. Peace of mind for the next 7 years (really costing less than $1 per day over 7 years) exceeded the cost of the warranty, especially given the "first year" status of this vehicle. There are a LOT of nifty electronics followed by nearly 1000 pages of instructions with all of the new features, there is a LOT that could go wrong, especially with a "first year" vehicle.

B) I paid at MSRP. Nothing above. Negotiated price down for platinum warranty.

c) Suspension system. I'll need to read up on it. I don't believe I read anything in the manual that mentioned the adjustable suspension. My guess is that it DOES NOT include any notion of adjustable suspension because of the new VDIM / Stability system.

Cheers,

Peter

Congrads!!!

This whole process is like winning the lottry!

Picking 1 up saturday  -- did ya get a warranty?

General question to Ca winners of the 400H  -- did any one pay above list?

curious about that...

Nice surpise about the laser guided system!!!

WHat kind of suspensions is it?  air adjustable?  haven't read anything about it in the literature

Thanks & ENJOY the ride!

IMWTK

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[jerryray]

Wow. After many months of waiting, it finally arrived. Picture attached for all of you RX400h launch naysayers...

Package: RX400h Millenium Silver / Grey interior w/ML/heated seats

Some initial impressions:

- REALLY quiet startup. So quiet, that I was a little confused whether the car was on. They probably could have done a better job providing some warning beep to notify that the engine was running :(

- REALLY quiet interior. Looked in the manual and they state the inclusion of some special noise reduction front glass found only in the LS430. :)

- Laser guided cruise control. Surprised that this model has it. Can't wait to try it out on Saturday on the 101 :)

- Power? Plenty of it. This one really wants to be pushed. :)

- Brakes. Hmm. More mushy than I'm used to...perhaps this is the regenerative breaking on tap? :(

- Battery under rear seat. I'm wondering if the interior would ever get super hot with the battery underneath the rear seat. Let's hope not.

- Bluetooth. Yes. It integrates reasonably well with my VZW equipped v710, save for the crippled OBEX support.

- Rims, Rims, Rims. I considered getting the chrome rims, but with the Silver exterior, I didn't think it would look right. Glad I passed on them.

- Manuals. Whoa. Here are some of the docs that came with the car: a) 621 page owner's manual, B) 169 page navigation manual, c) 76 page owner's supplement, d) 51 page lemon law supplement, e) 23 page RX400h hybrid overview, and f) 36 page rx400h valet. Well, at least I'm saving some fuel :)

Overall, very happy with the purchase. We'll see in the coming days. Wish me luck!

Regards,

Peter

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Great news on the laser guided cruise, I was told that was nixed. Wonder if it is in all the 400h runs.

Can you confirm if the air conditioner compressor is dc, or does the engine start when you turn the air cond on?

Thanks

[Unlisted]

the only 3 build options were supposed to be Heated Seats, Mark Levinson and Rear Entertainment. I got a copy of the windowsticker from a 400h that my dealer had got in and saw no mention of the laser guidied cruise. must be a west coast thing. I have 3 on order one im supposed to get in the next 2 weeks and the other 2 I will hopefully get by June., they will be for business. can not wait

[jerryray]

Wonder why the West Coast would get that and we would not?

I know the guys at my dealer must be reading this and will have an answer tomorrow....

And yes the dealer guys are reading these threads..

[patt]

The sticker on the California ones I've seen (two) also doesn't mention Laser Guided Cruise - only says Cruise Control. One sales man told me that it wasn't included because it hasn't been a popular option.

I guess we will find out for sure when we read our manuals. Mine arrived this afternoon rather than last night. They are trying to get it ready for us to pick up this evening.

Pfang, could you share what you were able to negotiate for the warranty?

100,000 miles is about 5 years for us and the base warranty is covers the first year and a half of that. If I can get a good price for the extended, I would do it but probably not for list.

[pfang56]

Okay, my apologies in advance (probably due to new car giddiness), but the basis of my observation on the laser guided cruise control was simply through the 621 page owner's manual. In fact, the manual has an entire section dedicated to the darn feature, but today, after trying to find the special stick, there was none.

To all Lexus Forum Readers - Really sorry about this one...:(

Okay. In terms of the warranty (hope this is not too late for you), I took off $200 off the warranty in the span of about a few minutes. I think I could have pushed further (if they can move that much in a few minutes, they can probably move more), but I was probably too giddy to get the keys quickly.

Good luck with your purchase. It is a wonderful vehicle.

Regards,

Peter

The sticker on the California ones I've seen (two) also doesn't mention Laser Guided Cruise - only says Cruise Control. One sales man told me that it wasn't included because it hasn't been a popular option.

I guess we will find out for sure when we read our manuals. Mine arrived this afternoon rather than last night. They are trying to get it ready for us to pick up this evening.

Pfang, could you share what you were able to negotiate for the warranty?

100,000 miles is about 5 years for us and the base warranty is covers the first year and a half of that. If I can get a good price for the extended, I would do it but probably not for list.

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[RX400hGirl]

Congratulations on your new baby - she is beautiful!! My husband and I are picking ours up tomorrow morning (I'm up reading the forums because I'm too excited to sleep!), and I'm curious to see how the brushed steel will look with a light grey interior. Do you have any thoughts? Does it look nice or does it fade a bit?

[cruznroadking]

I test drove the car today while having my car serviced at the dealership. All I can say is LOT'S OF POWER! The transmission is silky smooth without any hesitation. Reminds me of a couple of Hot Rods i've built in the past.

[pfang56]

Dear RX400h:

By now, you should probably have your car. Some observations nonetheless:

a) Personally, I think the Light grey interior matches extremely well with the exterior (millenium silver) as well as the dark charcoal / black covered dash and the brushed steel electronics

B) Will it fade? Absolutely. My guess is that the light grey interior can only get DARKER after some use. That's expected with any light colored interior I guess.

Congratulations on getting the vehicle - we are not looking back whatsoever (of course, until they come out with the GX000h :). Now, the hunt for a nice license plate frame begins! (the only one that Lexus had was an "RX400h" plate, which was $49 for each side!!!)

Regards,

Peter

Congratulations on your new baby - she is beautiful!!  My husband and I are picking ours up tomorrow morning (I'm up reading the forums because I'm too excited to sleep!), and I'm curious to see how the brushed steel will look with a light grey interior.  Do you have any thoughts?  Does it look nice or does it fade a bit?

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[patt]

Just a short note to let you know we got ours this morning. Pickup took a long time - about 3 hours because of the amount of stuff they wanted to go over with us. In addition to all the reading material, there is an interactive CD. I haven't played it yet.

[RX400hGirl]

It's in the garage looking absolutely beautiful! The drive home was a blast, and I can't wait to take her out for a longer ride tomorrow.

I agree that the Light grey interior looks really nice - it also makes the inside seem very roomy.

We posted pics over here:

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/..._rx_hybrid.html

Enjoy!

Dear RX400h:

By now, you should probably have your car. Some observations nonetheless:

a) Personally, I think the Light grey interior matches extremely well with the exterior (millenium silver) as well as the dark charcoal / black covered dash and the brushed steel electronics

B) Will it fade? Absolutely. My guess is that the light grey interior can only get DARKER after some use. That's expected with any light colored interior I guess.

Congratulations on getting the vehicle - we are not looking back whatsoever (of course, until they come out with the GX000h :). Now, the hunt for a nice license plate frame begins! (the only one that Lexus had was an "RX400h" plate, which was $49 for each side!!!)

Regards,

Peter

Congratulations on your new baby - she is beautiful!!  My husband and I are picking ours up tomorrow morning (I'm up reading the forums because I'm too excited to sleep!), and I'm curious to see how the brushed steel will look with a light grey interior.  Do you have any thoughts?  Does it look nice or does it fade a bit?

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