400h Won't Run

[silvercorvette]

I got the DRL turned off and i think I wasted enough time on the NAV system. On my last trip from TX to NY I had a Garmin GPS on the dash board and used both the Lexus NAV and he Garmin GPS. I think from now on I will just keep the Garmin stowed in the back and put it on the dash when I take long trips. I think that there comes a point in time to realize that it isn't worth spending more time trying to get the NAV to work. It really is a minor issue, I really love this car but it is more a matter of principle. I just am annoyed that Lexus has made a decision as to what they will allow me to do. The most annoying thing is that they make me push the agree button every time I start the car and then they Lock out the NAV. The agree screen seems pointless if they block out the NAV. Maybe if enough people complain they may change their mind. They may have won the war but they probably lost the battle by encouraging me to get a different brand when my lease is up

[RX400h]

I'm probably the only one that changes their own oil here.

you are one of many. A lot of people dont want to give Lexus 100+ dollars to do something so simple. I still go there cause i dont know how...lol...and dont care to learn any time soon. seems so icky. :P

Good Year sends out coupons a few time a year for $12 oil changes. With a price like that ... hassle of dumping, etc ... you'd be nuts to do it your self. Let the dealer do it? Yea, that's nuts on TOP of nuts :P

I once worked with a guy who was semi-retired and had always changed his own oil and filter. One day, he announced to me that he was tired of doing it himself and would start bringing it to the local tire/quicky lube place. The first time he did, he asked the service guy how long it would take. "...about a half hour", the guy replied. So, Gene took a stroll to pass the time. When he got back a half hour later, his car was still where he had parked it. 3 hours later, his car was finally done. The next day, he noticed some oil under his car - yep, a loose oil filter. He told me the next day that he would continue to change his own oil - "too many imcompetant techs out there", he commented.

I tend to agree and would never take a $55,000 vehicle to a quicky-lube or local garage. Either I do it myself (which I do) or I have the dealership do it. Besides, not only do I like choosing the oil and filter, but I take the time to check other things while my oil is draining.

Dave

[Jim Nazium]

Oh, and nobody mentioned the "secret, hint hint" extra special initiation feeling you can only get when you change your own oil and filter the very first time on your very own 400H.

Aaaaw laddy, it just warms my heart just thinking about it when I changed it the first time myself this past winter.

Cheers,

MadloR

[silvercorvette]

What do you home mechanics do for proof the oil was changed? I put the old filter in a zip lock baggie and put the old filter in the box the new one came in. I write the date and miles on the outside of the box and save it.

[jerryray]

What do you home mechanics do for proof the oil was changed? I put the old filter in a zip lock baggie and put the old filter in the box the new one came in. I write the date and miles on the outside of the box and save it.

Take a photo, time date the imprint with your favorite photo program.

A little safer to store the photo than a used filter.

Save receipt as well.

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

What do you home mechanics do for proof the oil was changed? I put the old filter in a zip lock baggie and put the old filter in the box the new one came in. I write the date and miles on the outside of the box and save it.

Take a photo, time date the imprint with your favorite photo program.

A little safer to store the photo than a used filter.

Save receipt as well.

For me, decades ago when do-it-yourself was the only affordable option, you just saved your filter/oil receipts that you got, every 2 or 3 months. That way, if it were to ever come up as an issue for warranty, the receipts served to show the change happened.

Realisticly . . . how many here, have had their ICE freeze up during the warranty period, where oil changes was an issue? I'd guess none. And who hasn't seen crusty thick oil / under maintained filters where the engines continure to run past the warranty period? It's amazing how forgiving the ICE is, when under maintained.

[nick49]

You probably wouldn't let some unskilled $10/hr worker in your home to start working on your furniture, in your bedroom closet, your gourmet kitchen, so why let them potentially damage your car in a way that you may not notice for some time if at all. I had a very high end body shop do some work on my Porsche Carrera last year and what appeared to be a good job on the surface was absolutely horrible when I found several areas where they had actually broken things because they were unfamiliar with the proper disassembly/assembly technique. Plastic rivets and fasteners were broken and omitted, weather stirpping snap pins were broken off, and it goes on and on. I change the oil on my daily driver Jeep too and rotate the tires on all my vehicles. This reminds me too that the body shop way over torqued the lug nuts on a wheel on the Porsche, lucky my brake rotor didn't warp which they often will. I also insist on torqueing my own lug bolts at the tire store whenever I have tires installed or rebalanced. You would be shocked what you would find if you rechecked all the work that people have done on your vehicles. I'm in the business and have been for 30+ years, I see it daily and it won't change any time soon.

[silvercorvette]

You probably wouldn't let some unskilled $10/hr worker in your home to start working on your furniture, in your bedroom closet, your gourmet kitchen, so why let them potentially damage your car in a way that you may not notice for some time if at all. I had a very high end body shop do some work on my Porsche Carrera last year and what appeared to be a good job on the surface was absolutely horrible when I found several areas where they had actually broken things because they were unfamiliar with the proper disassembly/assembly technique. Plastic rivets and fasteners were broken and omitted, weather stirpping snap pins were broken off, and it goes on and on. I change the oil on my daily driver Jeep too and rotate the tires on all my vehicles. This reminds me too that the body shop way over torqued the lug nuts on a wheel on the Porsche, lucky my brake rotor didn't warp which they often will. I also insist on torqueing my own lug bolts at the tire store whenever I have tires installed or rebalanced. You would be shocked what you would find if you rechecked all the work that people have done on your vehicles. I'm in the business and have been for 30+ years, I see it daily and it won't change any time soon.

How do you get to the Jeep oil filter, I have a lift in my garage and I still have a hard time getting to the Jeep filter. Do you have the GC with a V8 engine?

[Still]

SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME'

Lastly, try taking your vehicle to a large Toyota dealer. Often, their tech's have more experience w/ the hybrid system as there are a ton more of them on the road than the lexus. YES, you clearly ought to be able to obtain at least 24mpg from the 400h. My spouse's lead foot gets even that much. Sorry to hear about all your grief, from a manufacturer that prides itself in being tops.

Let me see if I got this straight? I could take my Lexus to a Toyota dealership for servicing? That could come in handy sometime. couldn't it?

[katzjamr]

Toyota dealerships also have someone trained in the hybrid chasis because the toytoa highlander is identical to the 400h under the skin. Also toyota has more dealerships and that would help with a breakdown on vacation or away from home. In some areas the toyota and lexus dealerships are owned by the same corporation and forbid the lexi to be fixed at the toyota dealership. You can ask in your area.