rx4ooh2006

OK, so I took it in to the dealer, fearing the worst with the inverter. Instead, they diagnosed that the coolant is coming from the transaxle (I didn't know there was coolant there)...the clincher...no way to fix the leak, the transaxle needs to be replaced for $5900 plus tax. Ouch. I asked if the coolant was mixed with the transmission fluid and they said it is a sealed system and so no, the coolant can't get into the fluid. So I said then as long as the coolant is kept topped off,nothing will happen? and he replied "right". So with a leak that appears to be stopped or only leaking ever so slightly, guess what I'm doing (at least until/if it gets worse)?

Definitely a coolant leak, but hard to tell where it's comign from. However, if the level in the inverter reservoir was dropping, then yes, it's the inverter leaking from somewhere. I would take it to the Lexus dealer sooner rather than later, especially since you're just over the 100000 mile warranty. With the amount of bad press Lexus/Toyota has been getting lately with recalls and such, they may ignore the fact that you're 1000 miles over the warranty. Plus, if the coolant is dried and built up like that, it's been leaking for sometime now, not jut recently, or else it would appear wet.

It might even be something simple, like a loose hose clamp or small leak in a hose. If you could see the underside of that hose that's just above the leak you could tell for sure if it's coming from that hose (there are a few other hoses connected to the inverter as well.

Where can I find information on the hybrid system being covered to 150K? CARB sounds like California Air Resources Board, but I am in Southern Cal and can't find anything in my rx400h manuals beyond 100K. I have had an extremely slow loss of coolant on the inverter side reservoir which seems to have stopped for now. There is coolant evidence on a vertical seam well below the inverter area, kind of lower and to the left of the small inverter coolant hose. I looked under the inverter area with a mirror and can't find it leaking anywhere. My car just turned 101K.

First I read about a $6000 battery and now a $7000 inverter! I find it very disconcerting that we are driving around in cars that may require a leaking $7000 part to be replaced. Owning this vehicle could turn into one giant nightmare after the 100k hybrid warranty runs out. I'm scared to even think what is going to happen to the resale value of the these vehicles after the hybrid warranty runs out and the flood of complaints about uber expensive replacement components starts streaming in.

So much for the long term aspiration of recouping this vehicle's initially high cost through longer ownership. I mean these are electromechanical devices, of which a certain percentage is bound to break sooner or later, so the more miles we put on these vehicles the higher the likelihood that something eventually will break. Doesn't anyone else worry about the potentially disastrous economic impact looming overhead?

Is it fair for Toyota to be charging $7000 for an inverter? IMHO the high cost of such parts could send current owners to the cleaners and effectively kill the hybrid's future after the public catches on.

1)

Most Lexus original owners don't keep their ride for over 100,000

2)

Some states (following CARB rules) carry the hybrid warrany out to 150,000 miles

3)

Recouping the "hybrid value" ?? um, how long 'till you recoup the "value" of a porsche ... a harlery ... a jacked up chromed up 4x4 that never gets off road ... etc

4)

Years ago, folks bought cars with only a 12,000 warranty ... and now that cars are 500% more complex, and the warranty runs for 100,000 - 150,000 we whine about "what may happen" after the warranty (that many never see the end of, because we move on to the newer model ...)

5)

Folks keep buying & buying & buying regular ol' ICE vehicles that sometimes break down and magically the population doesn't stop buying them, causing sales to dry up.

6) The point of #5 above is this: It'd take the kind of regular, consistent, poor workmanship of a large segment of a manufacturer's inventory to be bad ... and ONLY then, if the manufacturer failed to step up to the plate, would sales go away. Take the 1972 Chevy Vega for example. 100% went south. Ours went bad just 500 miles after the 12,000 warranty expired. The GM folks just laughed. THAT's what it took to make the vehicle fail. Ford Pinto would EXPLOAD on rear impact. THAT's what it took to make the vehicle fail. A little fluid leak? Bad, yes. Unexceptable, yes. Inconvenient? Yes. Fatal to continued success of the Name brand / Model brand? You'll have to decide.

;)

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