Sudden Stall Of Hybrid

[amh]

Has anyone experience a sudden stall of the car where you loose all power and the engine will not start again? This happened to me the other day in traffic on a hill, which was pertty dangerous. I was told this was "rare". The problem was with the hybrid system and the dealer said it was the "inverter". I have read posting that Toyota hybrids have this issue due to a software problem. I have a 2006 400h.

[SW03ES]

I've heard of a couple Inverter failures on the Prius board. It is very rare.

[larrytrk]

I had an inverter wiring problem on my 06, last year. The inverter was replaced twice before they found out there was a short in the harmess, which, once replaced, fixed the problem. Guys flew in from Japan to check out the problem!

[LS/RXKevin]

My wife was backing our 06 RX400h out of a parking spot in a strip center last Friday and went to put the car into drive when there was a (as she said a huge clunk) -she thought she hit something -and the car died. We have 44,000 miles on it. The dealer called me Saturday and said the inverter crashed. Fortunatly my wife was only 20 miles away. My wife had just returned from a trip to Dallas the week before after driving there alone. Wow would i have gone over the top if this had happened to her 400miles away. I am now very concerned about the reliability of this vehicle. Dealer said they modified the inverter and I would be getting one --on order now. I am considering trading this unit in on a conventional internal combustion vehicle. This is the third Lexus that I have owned and am for the most part very disappointed in their products. On my 04 RX330 the ECU on automatic lift gate was was intermittant --I had to print the solution from this site and convince the dealer to repace it.

[RX400h]

Wow, if those were the only problems you've encountered and yet are planning to buy any of the competitors' vehicles, you will be in for a shocking surprise. Ask any Mercedes, Audi, or BMW SUV owner how often he or she has had to bring the vehicle back to the dealership for non-maintenance issues and you will most likely change your mind.

We've never owned a more reliable brand of vehicle in the 35+ years of owning many, many others.

[lemon]

Whoever is having an inverter replaced, I hope you're still within the 'hybrid' warranty. These suckers are about $7000. Mine was leaking coolant and was just replaced under the hyrbid part of the warranty.

[fogcutter]

Wow, if those were the only problems you've encountered and yet are planning to buy any of the competitors' vehicles, you will be in for a shocking surprise. Ask any Mercedes, Audi, or BMW SUV owner how often he or she has had to bring the vehicle back to the dealership for non-maintenance issues and you will most likely change your mind.

We've never owned a more reliable brand of vehicle in the 35+ years of owning many, many others.

Amen. BMW is better than Benz. We owned a 2000 S class that needed a new nav computer 4 times in 2 years @ $8K a pop. Our X5 BMW had many electrical issues, some of which we never resolved.

I'm hoping that Lexus is better than they were. We'll see. 1200 miles and it's still running.

[RX400h]

45,000+ miles, 4.5 years and not a single problem with our RX400h. I am amazed (and very happy)!

[SW03ES]

I am now very concerned about the reliability of this vehicle. Dealer said they modified the inverter and I would be getting one --on order now. I am considering trading this unit in on a conventional internal combustion vehicle. This is the third Lexus that I have owned and am for the most part very disappointed in their products. On my 04 RX330 the ECU on automatic lift gate was was intermittant --I had to print the solution from this site and convince the dealer to repace it.

I have to agree with the others. You had one failure...and they are going to cover it. An intermittent problem with a power rear gate? Thats hardly a critical failure.

The Lexus is a machine...a reliable machine...but a machine. Its not perfect.