Issues With The Rx400h

[NY_RX400h_Savanah]

Guys I'm the owner of a RX400h for a year now. This is my 4th luxury car-Audi and Alfa Romeo back in Europe, BMW here and now it's Lexus. The only reason I bought RX400h was not to get better mileage but to be more environment friendly and at the same not to trade off luxury feeling while driving it (because if you're not into luxury cars get Ford or Honda). First and foremost:

RATTLES

As I said on the other topic-any car with over $40k price tag should have none-period-use the plastic and engineering resources to make sure that it's not acting like sub $20k car. If they claim to be a Luxury car makers-than they're falling short of Daimler-Benz or BMW

ELECTRONICS

Well-let's be honest-it's cool to see how your hybrid system is working- but what use does it have??-I'd rather see what my average speed is or how many miles I can make on fuel left in my tank (even Ford hybrids give you that option).

Two sets of keys should automatically select different user modes so when you open the door it adjusts the car to your likes-and if your wife does it-car changes settings (like other cars do).

Interior Driver and Passenger lights-it's so stupid that they don't turn off when you lock the car-I could forgive it if the car didn't need Hybrid System Calibration every time you run down AUX battery like it happens in this case

And not being able to work on radio using GPS display is just ridiculous.

RIDE

Agree that the car has a smooth ride but try to accelerate quickly- engine noise is annoying-did you guys try driving ML500??

Also lots of wind noises getting into the car.

FUEL CONSUMPTION

Not that I care but this is the biggest joke of all. Driving normally like any other car you would - there is no way to get even close to EPA number-and I don't care that RX330 has worse mileage and doesn't get close to it's numbers-think out of the box-there are other car makers than Lexus. My BMW was of by 10%-not 30-40%.Driving it in the city (live myself in NY) like a normal car - there is no way to get even close to 30. How about average 20. And I did try to challenge myself once-drove like a grandma for entire tank-what did I accomplish?- 24. But it gets better on highway-if you don't exceed 60-65 you can get something like 26-but who drives that slow??

TIRES

Enough topics here about that issue-nothing to add

Sure car has few other cool features but this is what the others have to offer-nothing special in case of Lexus.

For sure this is my last experience with that automaker-and definitely I can't recommended them to any of my friends.

[gordonw]

FUEL CONSUMPTION

Not that I care but this is the biggest joke of all. Driving normally like any other car you would - there is no way to get even close to EPA number-and I don't care that RX330 has worse mileage and doesn't get close to it's numbers-think out of the box-there are other car makers than Lexus. My BMW was of by 10%-not 30-40%.Driving it in the city (live myself in NY) like a normal car - there is no way to get even close to 30. How about average 20. And I did try to challenge myself once-drove like a grandma for entire tank-what did I accomplish?- 24. But it gets better on highway-if you don't exceed 60-65 you can get something like 26-but who drives that slow??

TIRES

Enough topics here about that issue-nothing to add

Sure car has few other cool features but this is what the others have to offer-nothing special in case of Lexus.

For sure this is my last experience with that automaker-and definitely I can't recommended them to any of my friends.

Many valid points, especially the dash rattles and cheap tires. Its funny though, that you mention you didn't buy the vehicle for gas mileage and then complain about it, but the gas mileage issue is not new. When the first hybrids came out from Honda and Toyota, people noticed that the mileage was nowhere near the stated fuel economy. People tend to forget that the fuel economy standard is derived from a close to 30 year old controlled test procedure in a controlled enviroment. Unfortunately, it's results are skewed in favor of hybrids. If you see www.epa.gov, a new a fuel economy standard has been implemented for 2008 that will revise the fuel economy numbers for all vehicles, gas and hybrid.

Personally, I'm not a fan of full hybrids. I prefer hybrid lites since it fits my driving habits.

[jditom]

Fit and finish was better in my BMW X5. This is also coming from a person who does there own work and rips into everytinng. But the 400h gets 10mpg better then the X and that is why we bought it.

[Gryphon]

Some good points Savanah about what to expect in a $50K Lexus.

I, for one, have no rattles in either of my 2007 400h's. Perhaps I am lucky, or they made some running changes since 06.

The revised EPA figures on our cars are now City 27 and Highway 25. I get a fairly consistent 26 in both cars with a mix of city and local freeway driving. That's acceptable to me for the size, weight, and features of the cars.

I agree the the electronics could have been more inventive. My 94 BMW 740iL had a much more fun trip computer than our new RX's which are 13 years newer.

I agree that the engine/motor sounds under acceleration are very harse. Demonstrating the performance to passengers isn't high on my list for this reason.

I don't notice any significant wind noise.

I got lucky with Michelin tires on both RX's.

I"m not sure what interior lights you are referring to that don't turn off with the key. If you mean the reading lights, I don't know of any other cars that override the on position when the car is locked, although it's not a bad idea at all. I, too, have run down my battery by leaving these on overnight. It would be easier to notice if the interior lights didn't have a delayed turn-off.

Tom

[NY_RX400h_Savanah]

Many valid points, especially the dash rattles and cheap tires. Its funny though, that you mention you didn't buy the vehicle for gas mileage and then complain about it, but the gas mileage issue is not new. When the first hybrids came out from Honda and Toyota, people noticed that the mileage was nowhere near the stated fuel economy. People tend to forget that the fuel economy standard is derived from a close to 30 year old controlled test procedure in a controlled enviroment. Unfortunately, it's results are skewed in favor of hybrids. If you see www.epa.gov, a new a fuel economy standard has been implemented for 2008 that will revise the fuel economy numbers for all vehicles, gas and hybrid.

Personally, I'm not a fan of full hybrids. I prefer hybrid lites since it fits my driving habits.

I complain about fuel economy just because it's another factor that might be deciding for future buyers-my message is "Don't get fulled and expect to much from it" it's not a big factor for me-but another thing that this car doesn't deliver-just wanted to get all "Cons" in one place.Remember that besides that this car has absolutely no advantage over other luxury cars (and finish is one of them).And I Agree 100% with old test procedure for EPA-unfortunately European cars some how are very close to them.

[NY_RX400h_Savanah]

Some good points Savanah about what to expect in a $50K Lexus.

I, for one, have no rattles in either of my 2007 400h's. Perhaps I am lucky, or they made some running changes since 06.

The revised EPA figures on our cars are now City 27 and Highway 25. I get a fairly consistent 26 in both cars with a mix of city and local freeway driving. That's acceptable to me for the size, weight, and features of the cars.

I agree the the electronics could have been more inventive. My 94 BMW 740iL had a much more fun trip computer than our new RX's which are 13 years newer.

I agree that the engine/motor sounds under acceleration are very harse. Demonstrating the performance to passengers isn't high on my list for this reason.

I don't notice any significant wind noise.

I got lucky with Michelin tires on both RX's.

I"m not sure what interior lights you are referring to that don't turn off with the key. If you mean the reading lights, I don't know of any other cars that override the on position when the car is locked, although it's not a bad idea at all. I, too, have run down my battery by leaving these on overnight. It would be easier to notice if the interior lights didn't have a delayed turn-off.

Tom

The light I'm talking about are reading lights-the problem is that Lexus uses simple mechanical On/Off switches and you can't override those with locking the car-unlike in BMW i.e where those switches are Electronic Interlock that is getting reset while locking a car. It's a big deal for Hybrid since you have to recalibrate the system at dealer location every time your battery gets down. It's a little of an engineering flow-they could have design it so whenever you pull out a key-relay for those lights will go off(similar to what it does for AUX 12V lighters)

[Gryphon]

Thanks, Savanah. I understand the lighting issues. But I have run by battery completely down twice and not had to recalibrate anything. It worked fine after I charged it overnight.

Tom

[RX400h]

Guys I'm the owner of a RX400h for a year now. This is my 4th luxury car-Audi and Alfa Romeo back in Europe, BMW here and now it's Lexus. The only reason I bought RX400h was not to get better mileage but to be more environment friendly and at the same not to trade off luxury feeling while driving it (because if you're not into luxury cars get Ford or Honda). First and foremost:

RATTLES

As I said on the other topic-any car with over $40k price tag should have none-period-use the plastic and engineering resources to make sure that it's not acting like sub $20k car. If they claim to be a Luxury car makers-than they're falling short of Daimler-Benz or BMW

I guess you never read anything about the first-year Mercedes SUV. It was so full of squeeks and rattles that sales plummeted for years. I don't think they ever fully recovered from the bad press they received after that fiasco. Even today, Mercedes Benz has one of the worst reliability ratings of any carmaker. I think if you were to poll RX400h owners, you'd find that the majority of them have few-to-no rattles or squeeks. Ours is virtually perfect in that regard.

ELECTRONICS

Well-let's be honest-it's cool to see how your hybrid system is working- but what use does it have??-I'd rather see what my average speed is or how many miles I can make on fuel left in my tank (even Ford hybrids give you that option).

Two sets of keys should automatically select different user modes so when you open the door it adjusts the car to your likes-and if your wife does it-car changes settings (like other cars do).

Interior Driver and Passenger lights-it's so stupid that they don't turn off when you lock the car-I could forgive it if the car didn't need Hybrid System Calibration every time you run down AUX battery like it happens in this case

And not being able to work on radio using GPS display is just ridiculous.

My interior lights turn off after a few seconds of closing the door.

Not being to use the GPS protects Toyota from getting sued by all the sue-happy leeches out there. It's sad that there are so many, but they are there, waiting to sue after a collision that happened while they were entering an address in the NAV system.

RIDE

Agree that the car has a smooth ride but try to accelerate quickly- engine noise is annoying-did you guys try driving ML500??

Also lots of wind noises getting into the car.

The ML500 gets 12 MPG in real-world city driving - no thanks! Yes, other gasoline-only vehicles are quieter during brisk acceleration, but that is a small price to pay for the extra power and twice the fuel mileage if the RX, IMO.

FUEL CONSUMPTION

Not that I care but this is the biggest joke of all. Driving normally like any other car you would - there is no way to get even close to EPA number-and I don't care that RX330 has worse mileage and doesn't get close to it's numbers-think out of the box-there are other car makers than Lexus. My BMW was of by 10%-not 30-40%.Driving it in the city (live myself in NY) like a normal car - there is no way to get even close to 30. How about average 20. And I did try to challenge myself once-drove like a grandma for entire tank-what did I accomplish?- 24. But it gets better on highway-if you don't exceed 60-65 you can get something like 26-but who drives that slow??

Have you ever compared the "real world mileage" to that of any competing SUVs? The Mercedes and Volkswagens are horrible and the BMWs are not far behind. I'd go broke driving any one of the German SUVs, believe me.

TIRES

Enough topics here about that issue-nothing to add

Sure car has few other cool features but this is what the others have to offer-nothing special in case of Lexus.

For sure this is my last experience with that automaker-and definitely I can't recommended them to any of my friends.

It sounds like you never test-drove your RX before you bought it. While this is not the vehicle for everyone, it is rated #1 by Consumer Reports for very good reasons. I kindly suggest that you buy the Mercedes and don't forget to wave to us as we pass you at the gas station.

[NY_RX400h_Savanah]

Thanks, Savanah. I understand the lighting issues. But I have run by battery completely down twice and not had to recalibrate anything. It worked fine after I charged it overnight.

Tom

Well car runs smoothly every time after a recharge (that was not a problem)-the issue is that after loosing power Lexus forgets it's optimal settings for hybrid system and that requires recalibration every time-also there was other topic on this forum for that specific issue and dealer knew right away when I called them about it. Basic symptoms are higher fuel consumption and in some cases rough engine cuts going on and off.

[NY_RX400h_Savanah]

I guess you never read anything about the first-year Mercedes SUV. It was so full of squeeks and rattles that sales plummeted for years. I don't think they ever fully recovered from the bad press they received after that fiasco. Even today, Mercedes Benz has one of the worst reliability ratings of any carmaker. I think if you were to poll RX400h owners, you'd find that the majority of them have few-to-no rattles or squeeks. Ours is virtually perfect in that regard.

My interior lights turn off after a few seconds of closing the door.

Not being to use the GPS protects Toyota from getting sued by all the sue-happy leeches out there. It's sad that there are so many, but they are there, waiting to sue after a collision that happened while they were entering an address in the NAV system.

The ML500 gets 12 MPG in real-world city driving - no thanks! Yes, other gasoline-only vehicles are quieter during brisk acceleration, but that is a small price to pay for the extra power and twice the fuel mileage if the RX, IMO.

Have you ever compared the "real world mileage" to that of any competing SUVs? The Mercedes and Volkswagens are horrible and the BMWs are not far behind. I'd go broke driving any one of the German SUVs, believe me.

It sounds like you never test-drove your RX before you bought it. While this is not the vehicle for everyone, it is rated #1 by Consumer Reports for very good reasons. I kindly suggest that you buy the Mercedes and don't forget to wave to us as we pass you at the gas station.

Never owned Mercedes but drove few of those and Lexus has long way to catch them with Luxury finish or feel.

The lights-again-not the interior but reading lights-check this ones and you'll know what I mean.

GPS screen-somehow no one else is being sued by drivers so it's just a silly explanations-it looks more of a bad design than anything. Doesn't really make any sense considering that the same attention would have to be used to operate the radio i.e. regardless where is it being displayed.Remember that you have to click on the disclaimer every time you want to use GPS-and it's extremely easy from engineering point of view to allow using GPS whenever your passenger seat is occupied.

Now speaking a "real world " and "real driving"-problem is that most RX owners here don't apply it to their cars.If you're talking about ML500 getting 12mpg - than please apply the same driving style to your RX400h and than compare-I did try a performance driving that I used to do on my BMW and on RX I got mileage in "teens" (anywhere from 14 to 18). It's so easy to say -" Ohh well I get 28mpg in the city as oppose to 12 or 14 that BMW gets"-what a joke. No one here wants to do honest comparison-I don't argue that RX has definitely better mileage but it's not as shocking as everyone pictures-therefore it shouldn't be a greatest factor.

I think more honest way to describe that car would be to say that it gives you an option to save gas if you're ready to give up you driving habits and enjoyment from performance that the car delivers.

Saying that you'd go broke with a German car- come on if you can afford 50k+ car I think you can afford gas for it.

I did take a test drive-but it's a little hard to get all the cons from using a car for 20minute-don't you think?

[Jim Nazium]

RATTLES yes, I do have to agree with you. For this level of luxury and price there should in no way be these many "squeeks, rattles and noise". Period. No excuse. But, I have owned many vehicles from many different manufactures and unfortunately at some point or another have experienced my fair share, be it when new or well after 1 year of ownership.

The benefit in the case of the Lexus RX 400h is that Lexus warrants all these well beyond the traditional warranty period of all other manufactures. IOW, you only get 12 months to get all of the squeaks, rattles and groans otherwise your SOL, and your out of pocket expense. Not so with Lexus.

ELECTRONICS I agree with the GPS, and the key fob 1 and key fob 2. Huge and Big oversight. Then again, my M5 doesn't offer that either, in fact all other vehicles I've owned in the past didn't either. You can get lexus personalised settings to adjust the dome light on and fade feature. Average speed and miles to empty, hmmm, personally I never really relied on that too much. In fact, I make a point to never run fuel low, especially since if it is my wife driving I always fill up the RX for her just in case.

RIDE Hmm, I think your reaching on this one. Don't compare an engine to an 8 cylinder since nothing in it's class can ever be that smooth. Also, not alot of SUV's when floored sound exactly like a symphony due to the balance of torque and hp requirements as well as fuel economy and exhaust tuning and design. I've heard worse and heard better, but at least it doesn't sound like a diesel pinging every last ounce of hp as it tries to hurl 4k lbs beast while merging onto the freeway (exceptions are V8's). This has been the quietest SUV I've ever owned on the open road. I have had many SUV's and they simply do not compare... Pathfinder, Grand Cherokee Limited, Forerunner, QX4... Windnoise on the RX 400H is simply non existant.

FUEL ECONOMY I do not know of one SUV that approaches the RX 400H and yet sacrefices so little in return. NONE. Own and drive a V8 SUV or and underpowered V6 SUV and either way you cut it, they both suck back gas like there's a hole in the tank. At least if you lay off the power in the RX 400H you can achieve remarkeable high twenties average fuel economy. Wow! You lose on this point big time. I've never, EVER owned a vehicle that achieved posted EPA, period.

TIRES I have always pretty much been disappointed with all factory tires, because they are usually four seasons and they are neither efficient be it winter, summer, snow - rain - dry. I stick around that long with the factory Good Years, and quickly swapped them out for 4 full blown Bridgestone Blizzaks and 4 GoodYear Eagle Responsedge. I have been disappointed for way too long with factory equipped tires (except on my 99 Pathfinder SE that came with Toyo Transpath).

As no car is perfect, if you compare what available at the moment in the marketplace I came to the conclusion like many other RX 400h owners here, that this is the Best All around SUV, period. Though not everyone can be satisfied, I believe you either do not own an RX 400H or you simply bought the wrong vehicle for you and you have never really owned an SUV before.

Cheers,

MadloR

[RX400h]

Never owned Mercedes but drove few of those and Lexus has long way to catch them with Luxury finish or feel.

I've driven in many Mercedes vehicles and I'm not sure what you are talking about. Lexus is known throughout the industry as having one of the best interiors. Audi does a good job, but I'm not impressed with Mercedes.

The lights-again-not the interior but reading lights-check this ones and you'll know what I mean.

GPS screen-somehow no one else is being sued by drivers so it's just a silly explanations-it looks more of a bad design than anything. Doesn't really make any sense considering that the same attention would have to be used to operate the radio i.e. regardless where is it being displayed.Remember that you have to click on the disclaimer every time you want to use GPS-and it's extremely easy from engineering point of view to allow using GPS whenever your passenger seat is occupied.

Lawyers would eat that up and go directly at Toyota's juggular on that one. As I said, what makes sense to the average person does not necessarily make sense to a lawyer. I can almost guarantee you that you don't trim a tree that hangs out over a sidewalk, some jogger will wack his or her head on a branch and sue you for failing to provide safe passageway. It doesn't matter if any normal person would see the tree limb and move out of the way. Again, lawsuit-happy gold-diggers could care less if their actions cause the rest of us to suffer daily.

Now speaking a "real world " and "real driving"-problem is that most RX owners here don't apply it to their cars.If you're talking about ML500 getting 12mpg - than please apply the same driving style to your RX400h and than compare-I did try a performance driving that I used to do on my BMW and on RX I got mileage in "teens" (anywhere from 14 to 18). It's so easy to say -" Ohh well I get 28mpg in the city as oppose to 12 or 14 that BMW gets"-what a joke. No one here wants to do honest comparison-I don't argue that RX has definitely better mileage but it's not as shocking as everyone pictures-therefore it shouldn't be a greatest factor.

If you get only 14-18 MPG with an RX400h, then you are driving like a maniac, pure and simple. I drive very briskly and my wife, as an average driver and we average 25 MPG. My previous coworkers, who both had RX330s, average 16 MPG. Both are VERY conservative drivers.

I think more honest way to describe that car would be to say that it gives you an option to save gas if you're ready to give up you driving habits and enjoyment from performance that the car delivers.

Saying that you'd go broke with a German car- come on if you can afford 50k+ car I think you can afford gas for it.

I did take a test drive-but it's a little hard to get all the cons from using a car for 20minute-don't you think?

I blast past X5s all the time and STILL average 25 MPG. I guarantee you, I am having fun when I see the look on their faces!

"Affording" the gas has nothing to do with it. I refuse to waste my money on gas for a vehicle that can't get better than 14 MPG in the city. Even my Corvette gets better than that. The German SUV manufacturers were caught flat-footed by the RX400h. How embarrasing to Porsche that an RX400h is faster than their Cayenne S, yet trounces it when it comes to efficiency. Where is the high-level engineering? It's at Toyota!

[MyToys]

Guys I'm the owner of a RX400h for a year now. This is my 4th luxury car-Audi and Alfa Romeo back in Europe, BMW here and now it's Lexus. The only reason I bought RX400h was not to get better mileage but to be more environment friendly and at the same not to trade off luxury feeling while driving it (because if you're not into luxury cars get Ford or Honda). First and foremost:

RATTLES

As I said on the other topic-any car with over $40k price tag should have none-period-use the plastic and engineering resources to make sure that it's not acting like sub $20k car. If they claim to be a Luxury car makers-than they're falling short of Daimler-Benz or BMW

ELECTRONICS

Well-let's be honest-it's cool to see how your hybrid system is working- but what use does it have??-I'd rather see what my average speed is or how many miles I can make on fuel left in my tank (even Ford hybrids give you that option).

Two sets of keys should automatically select different user modes so when you open the door it adjusts the car to your likes-and if your wife does it-car changes settings (like other cars do).

Interior Driver and Passenger lights-it's so stupid that they don't turn off when you lock the car-I could forgive it if the car didn't need Hybrid System Calibration every time you run down AUX battery like it happens in this case

And not being able to work on radio using GPS display is just ridiculous.

RIDE

Agree that the car has a smooth ride but try to accelerate quickly- engine noise is annoying-did you guys try driving ML500??

Also lots of wind noises getting into the car.

FUEL CONSUMPTION

Not that I care but this is the biggest joke of all. Driving normally like any other car you would - there is no way to get even close to EPA number-and I don't care that RX330 has worse mileage and doesn't get close to it's numbers-think out of the box-there are other car makers than Lexus. My BMW was of by 10%-not 30-40%.Driving it in the city (live myself in NY) like a normal car - there is no way to get even close to 30. How about average 20. And I did try to challenge myself once-drove like a grandma for entire tank-what did I accomplish?- 24. But it gets better on highway-if you don't exceed 60-65 you can get something like 26-but who drives that slow??

TIRES

Enough topics here about that issue-nothing to add

Sure car has few other cool features but this is what the others have to offer-nothing special in case of Lexus.

For sure this is my last experience with that automaker-and definitely I can't recommended them to any of my friends.

Really not much I can say, but since you so unhappy with the car you should sell or trade in or sell

and find something that makes you happy :) After all thats why Baskin-Robins has 31 flavors. I'm happy with mine overall and have expernced few of the problems you mentioned, perhaps I'm just lucky :whistles:

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

Like another post'er wrote (re: 1st year MB squeeks / kinks / etc) sheesh, what do you expect for 1st couple year's vehicle runs? As for the gizmo MFD, we who DO drive conservative enjoy being able to gauge when using gas / electric power, to improve mileage (we're up to 26mpg after 18K). As for driving lead foot and not getting EPA estimates? Does the work 'estimate' really need "your mileage may vary" written behind it? Most recent EPA estimated DO show what lead foot drivers get, BTW. As another poster also wrote, it's always amazing that other car's mileage being horrible doesn't seem to bother folks, as it does with a hybrid.

[JimsGX]

Like another post'er wrote (re: 1st year MB squeeks / kinks / etc) sheesh, what do you expect for 1st couple year's vehicle runs?

I don't consider the RX400h to be a first or second year production run vehicle. Other than the drive train/hybrid technology, I'd have to guess that it shares 95% or more of its components with the RX330 that was introduced back in early 2003 (2004 model year). That being true, I consider this vehicles body parts to be in their 5th year of production. I didn't expect to be having to deal with rattles and squeaks in a 5th year production vehicle. I previously owned a 2004 GX470 that I purchased new. This was a vehicle in its second year of production. It had a few bugs (drive train related) that were worked out over the first six months of ownership. From that point on, the car was solid as a rock. I never had any squeaks or rattles in it. I guess my expectations were pretty high of the RX400h based upon my previous experience with the GX, as well as owning three other Toyota products over the years (from 1995 to 2002). The GX was built in Tahara, Japan. I 've read articles stating that this manufacturing facility has won many awards over the years including JD Powers Platinum Award for best vehicle manufaturing facility worldwide.

Tahara Japan Production Facility Article

Knowing the RX400h was being built in Kyushu, Japan (albeit a different factory on an island away from the mainland) as opposed to being built in Canada, it gave me some comfort as to what I could expect of the build quality. Not that I mean to knock Canadian manufacturing, moreover, the philosophy of continuous improvement, or Kaizen, has always been so highly touted as being so deeply engrained into the culture of the Japanese people. Thinking that a Japanese built vehicle would be more sound than an American, Canadian, Australian, or European built Toyota may be completely unfounded. The truth may be, "don't believe everything you think"...

Toyota Kyushu Factory Article

When I would bring my GX in for service, most often they would give me an RX330/350 loaner. I did notice on many occasions that there were rattles in the dashes or from the rear cargo areas on the RX's, but I guess I chalked it up to the loaner vehicles not being properly prepp'ed as they would be when being sold.

Besides the obvious convenience to its customers, I've always looked at the loaner program as an opportunity for Lexus to generate additional sales. By giving its current customer an opportunity to try out some of their other product offerings.

I always looked forward to getting back into my GX.

Jim

[ravenwood]

Fit and finish was better in my BMW X5. This is also coming from a person who does there own work and rips into everytinng. But the 400h gets 10mpg better then the X and that is why we bought it.

Same for me. I had a 2000 X5 4.4 and it rattled VERY loudly. Especially in Winter. And there was also the problem that when it rained, and I turned off my headlights, the rear hatch would pop open. (Faulty Switch Seall) Very annoying. Also, the problem where the air conditioner stopped working intermittently and several dealers did not know how to fix it. (Faulty Relay) I also had part of the suspension wear out prematurely which cause a very loud knocking. And the headlight seals failed as well, causing one of the headlights to fog up.

Needless to say, I was very dissatisfied with my $57k Sport Activity Vehicle.

Since trading it in for the RX 400h, I've been satisfied with the reduction in rattles. I will try these fixes to further reduce them.

My only beef's with the RX 400h is premature tire wear and some eccentricities with braking on bumpy roads.

[Jim Nazium]

I think the majority of squeeks and rattles can be fixed and requires a little mid afternoon free time on your hands on a nice lazy sunny afternoon...

Hook and loop tape, especially the kind found at Staples. It is sold in a kit, and comes with something like 50' male (hook) and female (loop) that is approx. 1" wide. This is really helpful in that you use the female portion to like all the contact points found in the various cubby holes and trays in the rear cabin. You use alot less of the male portion on the underside where the top of the door sits against the bottom portion (the male hook snags the underside carpeting of the door bins and keeps them firmly in place).

Also, you need to lock in place all the various tools in the main tray bin, a mega source of rattles. As well, under the shell housing of the main tray bin there are various computer modules that need to be dampened and I used some bubble wrap place between the tray bin shell and the tops of the various modules (basically taking up slack and keeping everything from resonating).

I also found recently that the drivers (on mine anyways) rear seat map pocket squeeks and I sprayed some automotive "Armorall" around the bottom map pocket hinge (got rid of that squeek for now).

The spare tire circular cover rattles against the spare tire main plastic housing. I fixed this with more of the female loop tape in between the two contact pressure points (about 10 of them).

My truck is pretty much quiet as a german uboat...

Cheers,

MadloR

[rbh1515]

I have to agree with you. I have owned our 400h for about 7 months now. The hybrid battery system has had to be replaced. I get at best 23mpg--driven about 60% in the city. I don't have rattles, and the car drives nicely, but it is not what I would expect from a Lexus. Also, my dealer is really subpar when it comes to dealing with a hybrid vehicle, and when I have questions and call Lexus corporate it takes over a month for someone to call me back.

I bought the car because it seemed to make good sense for short trips in city driving. I wish I had gotten the Mercedes diesel. Live and learn. rob

[RX400h]

If you are like the majority of Mecedes SUV owners, you'd surely come to regret THAT decision. MB vehicles have some of worst reliability ratings of all the manufacturers. You couldn't pay me enough to own any one of their vehicles, based upon not only Consumer Reports' findings, but also upon many acquantences' personal experiences.

[Robl45]

I wasn't going to reply to this but when I saw the part about most rx400H's don't have rattles and squeaks, I about fell out of my chair. Do you work for Lexus? I call BS on this post, who are you kidding? I'm back at lexus after this weekend so for the third time they can tell me they don't hear the roof rack banging away while I drive down the highway and they dont' hear the back of the car squeaking away. My corvette corvertible has less squeaks, as does my jeep wrangler. I had to take the privacy screen out of the car. The thing comes with a privacy screen, it should not need to be removed. They said throw it in its compartment and it will be quiet, yea right, it made more noise. So plain and simple, BS BS.

Guys I'm the owner of a RX400h for a year now. This is my 4th luxury car-Audi and Alfa Romeo back in Europe, BMW here and now it's Lexus. The only reason I bought RX400h was not to get better mileage but to be more environment friendly and at the same not to trade off luxury feeling while driving it (because if you're not into luxury cars get Ford or Honda). First and foremost:

RATTLES

As I said on the other topic-any car with over $40k price tag should have none-period-use the plastic and engineering resources to make sure that it's not acting like sub $20k car. If they claim to be a Luxury car makers-than they're falling short of Daimler-Benz or BMW

I guess you never read anything about the first-year Mercedes SUV. It was so full of squeeks and rattles that sales plummeted for years. I don't think they ever fully recovered from the bad press they received after that fiasco. Even today, Mercedes Benz has one of the worst reliability ratings of any carmaker. I think if you were to poll RX400h owners, you'd find that the majority of them have few-to-no rattles or squeeks. Ours is virtually perfect in that regard.

ELECTRONICS

Well-let's be honest-it's cool to see how your hybrid system is working- but what use does it have??-I'd rather see what my average speed is or how many miles I can make on fuel left in my tank (even Ford hybrids give you that option).

Two sets of keys should automatically select different user modes so when you open the door it adjusts the car to your likes-and if your wife does it-car changes settings (like other cars do).

Interior Driver and Passenger lights-it's so stupid that they don't turn off when you lock the car-I could forgive it if the car didn't need Hybrid System Calibration every time you run down AUX battery like it happens in this case

And not being able to work on radio using GPS display is just ridiculous.

My interior lights turn off after a few seconds of closing the door.

Not being to use the GPS protects Toyota from getting sued by all the sue-happy leeches out there. It's sad that there are so many, but they are there, waiting to sue after a collision that happened while they were entering an address in the NAV system.

RIDE

Agree that the car has a smooth ride but try to accelerate quickly- engine noise is annoying-did you guys try driving ML500??

Also lots of wind noises getting into the car.

The ML500 gets 12 MPG in real-world city driving - no thanks! Yes, other gasoline-only vehicles are quieter during brisk acceleration, but that is a small price to pay for the extra power and twice the fuel mileage if the RX, IMO.

FUEL CONSUMPTION

Not that I care but this is the biggest joke of all. Driving normally like any other car you would - there is no way to get even close to EPA number-and I don't care that RX330 has worse mileage and doesn't get close to it's numbers-think out of the box-there are other car makers than Lexus. My BMW was of by 10%-not 30-40%.Driving it in the city (live myself in NY) like a normal car - there is no way to get even close to 30. How about average 20. And I did try to challenge myself once-drove like a grandma for entire tank-what did I accomplish?- 24. But it gets better on highway-if you don't exceed 60-65 you can get something like 26-but who drives that slow??

Have you ever compared the "real world mileage" to that of any competing SUVs? The Mercedes and Volkswagens are horrible and the BMWs are not far behind. I'd go broke driving any one of the German SUVs, believe me.

TIRES

Enough topics here about that issue-nothing to add

Sure car has few other cool features but this is what the others have to offer-nothing special in case of Lexus.

For sure this is my last experience with that automaker-and definitely I can't recommended them to any of my friends.

It sounds like you never test-drove your RX before you bought it. While this is not the vehicle for everyone, it is rated #1 by Consumer Reports for very good reasons. I kindly suggest that you buy the Mercedes and don't forget to wave to us as we pass you at the gas station.

[Timdf911]

If you are like the majority of Mecedes SUV owners, you'd surely come to regret THAT decision. MB vehicles have some of worst reliability ratings of all the manufacturers. You couldn't pay me enough to own any one of their vehicles, based upon not only Consumer Reports' findings, but also upon many acquantences' personal experiences.

Having just sold my MB SUV after nothing but endless problems and 14mpg round town or 18MPG freeway and new brake pads every 16,000 miles (the V8's eat brakes like they're going out of fashion) - the RX400h I've just bought is light years ahead of any MB SUV currently on the market, at least imho. I base this on being a long term MB owner (always bought new) who has had the opportunity to drive MB's latest offerings at length. I also looked at the X5, but settled on the Lexus.

To date it's been pefection on wheels and 25mpg plus overall - lets hope it stays that way !

[louis'ride]

Guys I'm the owner of a RX400h for a year now. This is my 4th luxury car-Audi and Alfa Romeo back in Europe, BMW here and now it's Lexus. The only reason I bought RX400h was not to get better mileage but to be more environment friendly and at the same not to trade off luxury feeling while driving it (because if you're not into luxury cars get Ford or Honda). First and foremost:

RATTLES

As I said on the other topic-any car with over $40k price tag should have none-period-use the plastic and engineering resources to make sure that it's not acting like sub $20k car. If they claim to be a Luxury car makers-than they're falling short of Daimler-Benz or BMW

ELECTRONICS

Well-let's be honest-it's cool to see how your hybrid system is working- but what use does it have??-I'd rather see what my average speed is or how many miles I can make on fuel left in my tank (even Ford hybrids give you that option).

Two sets of keys should automatically select different user modes so when you open the door it adjusts the car to your likes-and if your wife does it-car changes settings (like other cars do).

Interior Driver and Passenger lights-it's so stupid that they don't turn off when you lock the car-I could forgive it if the car didn't need Hybrid System Calibration every time you run down AUX battery like it happens in this case

And not being able to work on radio using GPS display is just ridiculous.

RIDE

Agree that the car has a smooth ride but try to accelerate quickly- engine noise is annoying-did you guys try driving ML500??

Also lots of wind noises getting into the car.

FUEL CONSUMPTION

Not that I care but this is the biggest joke of all. Driving normally like any other car you would - there is no way to get even close to EPA number-and I don't care that RX330 has worse mileage and doesn't get close to it's numbers-think out of the box-there are other car makers than Lexus. My BMW was of by 10%-not 30-40%.Driving it in the city (live myself in NY) like a normal car - there is no way to get even close to 30. How about average 20. And I did try to challenge myself once-drove like a grandma for entire tank-what did I accomplish?- 24. But it gets better on highway-if you don't exceed 60-65 you can get something like 26-but who drives that slow??

TIRES

Enough topics here about that issue-nothing to add

Sure car has few other cool features but this is what the others have to offer-nothing special in case of Lexus.

For sure this is my last experience with that automaker-and definitely I can't recommended them to any of my friends.

GAS DISPLAY--does anyone know how much fuel there is left when the indicator comes on? the gauge looks like there is alot, but who knows and i dont want to find out the hard way. yes, i was surprised to find that there is no fuel until empty indicator. i do miss that.

[katzjamr]

louis: most of us agree there are about three gallons of gas in the tank at the point the low fuel light comes on. tires i agree, im not happy that mine are needing repacement at 24K, mostly because my vehicle doesnt stay in alignment, so there is premature wear on one edge. Yes the dealer has aligned it twice.

because the hybrid battery can be damaged if you try to drive with an empty tank, and if you run out of gas on this vehicle you only have three tries to start it before it shuts down and needs a tow to the dealer, I think lexus purposly left miles to empty off this vehicle so you are not tempted to run it dry.

the low mileage you are getting is not the norm, less than 20% of people who respond to mileage questions get your mileage, over half of us are reporting 24 mpg or more.

keys for each driver are already on some lexus models and most likely will be on the next version of the hybrid

this vehicle is much quieter than most except under hard acceleration, which u must do alot since your mpg is so low. the CVT transmission design results in higher rpms under hard acceleration and that is what you hear. personally it doesnt bother me.

I was surprised at the rattles too, however lexus has fixed each one the first time i asked and they have not returned. I will agree with you i am surprised they allowed a seatbelt rattle against the passenger pillar post to be designed in there.

As far as alfa romeo, what a handsome car, but dont you have to marry a mechanic when you own those?, mercedes...consumer reports after polling 400.000 subscribers noted that a NINE YEAR OLD lexus will have less problems than a NEW mercedes.

[RX400h]

Katzjamr,

I believe Louis questioned only the reserve fuel indicator. The other comments were posted by the originator.

[katzjamr]

thanks did not mean to jump all over a new member, keep posting louis and i will try to learn to read in my old age...