maseace

Welcome! The hybrid warranty is 96 months/100,000 miles, and it follows the car. You probably just have a dying 12V battery under the hood, which many people on this forum say will cause strange symptoms as you describe. I would check the battery first; yours is probably due to be replaced by now if it's still the factory battery. Costco sells them for ~$56 with a 100 month warranty.

They stay on until you open then close a door (if the switch is in the ON or AUTO position). The amount of time they stay on after opening/closing the door is one of the Lexus Preferred Settings that can be changed (0, 30, 60, 90 seconds). 30 is default.

Are all the fluids at the proper levels? Can you compare the noise to another new 450h at the dealer?

I noticed that before as well. I would imagine the ECU is neither programmed nor wired to show the temperature on the mirror display. We already have the temperature on the driver display and a few of the nav screen selections.

My Paradas from Tire Rack should be arriving tomorrow. I'll report back when I've got a few miles on them. Update 11/22/10: I really like the Paradas so far. They are quieter than the stock Michelin Energy MXV4 S8s and handle great! They performed really well today in the first snowstorm of the season. Cars were slipping and getting stuck everywhere and I made it home just fine.

You might try posting an ad on your local Craigslist.

My spare came with the same tire and wheel as the rest. What does your tire sidewall say? Is the wheel the same? It would be pretty obvious if it was a compact spare.

Could there be something stuffed in the horns to muffle the sound?

You may be interested in the ScanGauge II, which allows you to read the exact engine coolant temp, among many other things. The normal operating temp of my 400h is 177-180°F, in any weather. Never saw it go above about 182°, even in 100+° heat. Its usually gets there in about 5 minutes, depending on temp, speed, and heater use. I find that when stopped at a light, the gas engine will shut off during warm-up, even with the coolant temp only in the mid-130° range. I believe the normal temp for operation in electric-only mode is 157°F. http://www.scangauge.com/products/ You can try the grille-blocking technique to help retain the heat in the engine compartment in the winter, to help improve MPG, reduce warm-up time, and get cabin heat quicker (only useful for hybrids). I have the bumper air slots blocked right now. Just use ordinary dark gray pipe cleaner you can get for $2 a bag, cut in half lengthwise. Cut a piece to length for each slot and stuff it in. There is a lot of info about grille-blocking on the PriusChat website. Here's one thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-modifications/38645-my-attempt-grill-blocking.html

I also use the pipe insulation on the garage door method, after chipping the paint on my previous SUV hatch.

Hopefully someday they will come out with DRL-capable HID bulbs so we can use them for the high-beams. Maybe they could pulse-width modulate the HID output to ~50% duty cycle (similar to LEDs) to decrease the output for DRL mode. I'm not sure this is possible with HIDs or not.

Does anyone know if the gas mileage will suffer with the Yokohama Parada Spec-X compared to the OEM Michelin Energy S8 LRR tires? I'm trying to decide between the Paradas and the Avid Envigors, and would like the one with the lowest rolling resistance. Tire Rack could not tell me which one would be better in this respect. I thought maybe someone who has either of these tires on their 400h could chime in.

I'm looking for touch-up paint for the front grille. It's kind of a semi-gloss metallic dark gray/gold color. Might have to try the mixing technique. Unfortunately the grille is all chrome underneath the paint so chips and scratches really show.

My rain sensing wipers didn't work well in fine mist (didn't come one soon enough, even on the fastest setting), so I ended up disconnecting the rain sensor above the rear view mirror, which makes it revert back to regular intermittent operation. In regular rain they worked fine, but not for mist.

Same here, they told me it starts on the vehicle's "in-service date". Mine happens to expire today. This info can be found on page 16 of the warranty booklet.

Are you using the AUTO mode? I find that in Auto mode the fan stays very low until the engine warms up, then the fan kicks on to give heat. If you turn the system OFF the fan will not be used, and you can still have it in fresh air mode with outside air coming in as you drive.

That's normal. I think it's designed this way to not blind other drivers.

Thanks for the clarification - I assumed it worked the same way as the Gen 2 Prius, which I believe is only from rear suspension travel (it does not have AFS).

The low beam height can be adjusted with a philips screwdriver, by turning the adjusting knobs just inside of the yellow warning label on top of each light. The auto-leveling feature only adjusts the height if the rear suspension travels up or down from a load in the back; it's not due to the vehicle's angle.

Won't your (or the other driver's) insurance pay for the repairs? How much are they asking you to pay for the part?

It does! Thanks, I never knew about that! (I had to go try it after reading your reply)

Try locking the tonneau cover latches in the forward position, they tend to rub against the standoffs on the rear door. I had an annoying rattle in the rear and it was all from that. There's a TSB to fix it under warranty.

Is a Toyota dealer capable of changing the Lexus Personalized Settings? I don't like having my headlights stay on for one minute after I get out of the car.

I replaced mine recently, and there is a switch on the DVD drive itself. I think there may have been some kind of sliding cover to get to the eject button, and the accessory power must be on to eject and replace the disc.

Also make sure the gear shifter is fully in Park. If it's slightly off it won't start.