katzjamr Posted October 15, 2005 Posted October 15, 2005 A 400h owner in Illinois posted this experience with his 4 month old rx at 5900 miles. "Last week with no warning the car stopped suddenly as i was accelerating from a stop. I heard a loud 'clunk' from under the hood, and a lot of warning lights came on (HYBRID SYSTEM FAILURE, VSC SYSTEM FAILURE). The engine was still running at fairly high RPM but the car would only move about 2 mph, it seemed like the rear wheel motor powering it only. The car was flatbedded to the Lexus dealer. It was late in the day and the hybrid tech had gone home. The service tech called the next morning and said Lexus was flying in two engineers and not to touch the vehicle until thier arrival. After 8 days the car was repaired. There was in internal short in the inverter, requiring replacement of the inverter, hybrid cooling system, and battery pack. The dealership mentioned this was one of the most expensive repairs they ever performed. The cost of the parts alone were valued at $10,000. The 400h is now running fine. This owner was satsified with the dealership service and the long warranty on the hybrid system. Makes you think twice about ever purchasing a hybrid system that is out of warranty! This post came from the ClubLexus forum as a point of reference, i post it just for information as we are all interested in how our vehicles perform. I continue to be very happy with my 400h.
wwest Posted October 16, 2005 Posted October 16, 2005 "Infant" failure of electronic components is fairly common and totally unpredictable.
SKperformance Posted October 16, 2005 Posted October 16, 2005 Some how i do not think the word "Catastrophic" has anything to do wit this problem. You tell me the batteries exploded and sprayed on the passangers maybe, you say the anything which totally destroys the vehicle and its occupants then yes. Other than that your just over hyping a problem, did anyone expect to be the first one to have an RXh on there block would not have issues?
katzjamr Posted October 16, 2005 Author Posted October 16, 2005 I used the exact words from the origional post, and perhaps i should have edited the catastrohpic, if you look it up in the dictionary it is more about something in ruins that cannot be fixed, or utter failure. Obviously this person was made whole again. It is an event that did happen and i think we all should be aware of it. For those of us who keep vehicles a long time it does bring up the issue of repair cost out of warranty. As i mentioned in the post, im happy with my 400h, however i may not keep this vehicle as long as previous ones for this reason and by 2008 or so there probably will be a new model out.
SKperformance Posted October 16, 2005 Posted October 16, 2005 I agree it WILL be better as the technology gets its bugs worked out as nothing is perfect the first time around
jerryray Posted October 16, 2005 Posted October 16, 2005 Love the 400h, you can bet Lexus will take care of whatever problems thay may have pronto. The Synergy drive system is a really remarakable, that's why other car MFRs would like to purchase it.
LCB Posted October 18, 2005 Posted October 18, 2005 Haha Catastrophic. I thought you were going to say it blew and killed a busload of school children or something. Looks like all is well now.
400h4me Posted October 19, 2005 Posted October 19, 2005 Some how i do not think the word "Catastrophic" has anything to do wit this problem.You tell me the batteries exploded and sprayed on the passangers maybe, you say the anything which totally destroys the vehicle and its occupants then yes. Other than that your just over hyping a problem, did anyone expect to be the first one to have an RXh on there block would not have issues? ← I would have to say that if "YOU DIDN"T HAVE A WARRANTY" and you were going to be out $10,000 for the repair "THAT WOULD BE CATASTROPHIC" to your wallet! Just my thought!!!! :cries:
SW03ES Posted October 19, 2005 Posted October 19, 2005 But by the time it was out of the 8 year warranty the parts wouldn't cost $10,000. I know someone with a GS400 that had to have the entire engine replaced for nearly $22,000. Bad things happen.
ArmyofOne Posted October 19, 2005 Posted October 19, 2005 But by the time it was out of the 8 year warranty the parts wouldn't cost $10,000.I know someone with a GS400 that had to have the entire engine replaced for nearly $22,000. Bad things happen. ← yeah, those 1uz's are expensive. he must have bought a brand new one! i can see here they run $13,555.34 on discounttoyotaparts.com, and this doesnt include any electroncis or manifolds. its long block only, cylinders, block, heads.
SW03ES Posted October 21, 2005 Posted October 21, 2005 Actually Jiffy Lube bought it. Kind of a funny story, they either refilled the engine with not enough oil or they used ATF fluid or something stupid like that. 10,000 mile GS400. Moral of the story? Don't use Jiffy Lube LOL
augkuo Posted October 25, 2005 Posted October 25, 2005 I had an experience with Jiffy Lube where they didn't even screw on the transmission fluid cap - needless to say, I've never used them again!
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