rocky2

First Year 2005 - April - October 28 City - 24 Hwy November - March 24 City - 24 HWY Second Year - 2006 April - October 28 City -24 HWY November - Feb 27 City - 24 Hwy City Winter improved second year

Discounting on the RX400h will start if it has not already. I guess the number of people willing to pay between $8,000 and $10,000 more than for a RX350 has been exhausted. I know whe we purchased our RX400h between paying list for the RX400h vs buying a heavily discounted new RX330, was almost $9,000 at the time. As discounting begins on the RX400h the price diferential will not be so great and sales will gradually go up again.

We have an early 400h and have not received any recalls. What were the recalls you received?

I know that the discussion of winter vs. summer MPG has been brought up but has anyone determined why in the winter the MPG drops, We got one of the first RX400h so we were able to drive it in the summer in the Midwest. Our immediate MPG was 28+ city, and 24 hwy at 75 – 80, maybe 25 mpg at 65. In the winter, below 50 degrees, our city MPG dropped to 24 mpg and hwy stayed the same. Now it's warm again and were back to the 28+ city. We are still happy with the 24 MPG city in the winter because the ML320 our RX400h replaced was getting 14 city MPG and 19 hwy. The RX400h is a much more comfortable vehicle to spend time in. Additionally, to get the same performance I am getting from the RX400h I would have had to buy an ML500 I have spoken with both my dealer and Lexus about this winter vs. summer issue and really have not received an explanation. As an aside I have no issue with the mileage representations or marketing claims from Lexus or Toyota. Before we bought the RX400h it was well documented that there was a greater disparity in the claimed US Government EPA MPG figures of hybrids and vs. non-hybrid vehicles. My dealer even pointed this out before I took delivery of the vehicle. Considering we were one of the first to take delivery from our dealer, its clear early on there was no attempt to deceive the public that the RX400h was capable of the matching the EPA mileage figures. Bottom line, I have a vehicle that is as fast as a V8 ML500 or BMW X5, gets better mileage, and cost less, and from my experience needs less visits to the dealer.

Keep in mind that the 2006 $2,200 tax credit is subject to AMT which the 2005 $2,000 deduction was not. Under AMT the $2,200 Tax Credit could be wiped out.

The trip from my house to Ohare airport on the tollway is on a perfectly flat road. The wind was calm. I have driven on flat midwest roads at 75 mph for several hours and never saw the bars go into the last two bars and turn green. I wasn't using my brakes. We were not in the car more than 30 minutes when this happened. Oh well, who knows. Hasn't happended since. I would not have likely even noticed what happened except we were very low on gas an I was paying attention to the instruments.

Just thought I would share with you an interesting experience I had last week. We were very late to dropping someone off for a flight in Chicago. When we realized our gas tank was almost empty it was too late. We had to keep going and take the chance of running out. The gauge said empty. On the way there the hybrid display said we were on electric only, 99 MPG pegged, and 65 mph. It stayed that way for approximately 3 minutes. I saw something I never saw before. The bars that show the charge on the battery were lit green, with the top two bars filled in for the first time ever. I have never seen the top two bars filled in, or all the bars green. We made it to the gas station just after we left the airport on the way back. Based on how much fuel the vehicle had ½ gallon of fuel left. After we fueled up the car acted like it normally does. Don't know why the vehicle charged up so much. Maybe because of low fuel? Don't know why it ran at 65 mph on electric only. Also, we generally get best mileage above 60 degrees. Usually around 26 / 27 mpg (85% city / 15% Hwy). However for every 10 degrees drop in temp we loose 1 mpg. Don't know why.

Definately a rattle.

I could only tell after a while it was coming from somewhere behind the front seats towards the back. I was just a rattle, not a clunking sound. It didn't need much speed or even a really rough road to get it to rattle. The only way I finally figured out it was the rear hatch was I drove the car a short distance with rear hatch open over an area of road it always rattles, and it went away. I didn’t even need to tell my dealer where it was. He zeroed in on it immediately from past experience.

I just brought in my RX 400h to fix a very noticeable rattle in the rear lift gate. The dealer knew immediately what it was. He said he had the same problem on 4 or 5 RX330 this year. The plastic panel on the inside if the lift gate immediately below the window is what was rattling. My dealer removed the panel and put a felt spacer between the panel and metal door. Rattle happily gone. I hope if any of you experience this same rattle you find this info useful. Dealer had me in and out in less than an hour.

I know some time ago it was decided that owners of the RX 400h should have their own forum. Unfortunately for the 75% of the RX400h that’s the same as the RX 330 it would be helpful to be able to share info. The RX 400h user base is a much smaller and less experience with the RX platform than the RX330 user base. I just brought in my RX 400h to fix a very noticeable rattle in the rear lift gate. The dealer knew immediately what it was. He said he had the same problem on 4 or 5 RX330 this year. The plastic panel on the inside if the lift gate immediately below the window is what was rattling. My dealer removed the panel and put a felt spacer between the panel and metal door. Rattle happily gone. I hope if any of you experience this same rattle you find this info useful. Dealer had me in and out in less than an hour.

Except when temp is below 32, I can accelerate to about 25 to 30 normally, usually with combo of gas/battery. I lift off the pedal and gradually press back down on the pedal and can usually hold the battery on for a period of time at 40 -45 mph. This is very difficult to make happen when temp is below 32. MPG above 50 degrees 26 – 28, below 40 degrees 25 -26, and below 32 degrees 22 – 23. 75% city – 25% HWY

We notice the same thing others have notice regarding the gas mileage going down recently, most believe because of the cold. We were consistently getting 27+ until recently. That was with AC off. Since winter our mileage has dropped into the 23 mph range or less. Just noticed with “auto” climate off mileage jumps back to 27+. With “auto” climate switched on we notice we can barely keep the engine off. With “auto” climate off we can keep engine off up to 40 mph like we were able to in the summer. What give?

What about snow tires. Not so much for TRaction but stopping. RX came with MICH tires. First snow experience in RX seemed superior in traction, control, and stopping than our rwd car.

Please give me name of dealer in TX. My dealer said he would pay $1500 - $2000 off retail list to any Lexus dealer for any new RX400h and pay me $500 for everyone I find. Thanks

I stopped by a couple of Chicago dealers last weekend. Neither had one on lot. Both were quoting 30-60 days depending on color. Neither said out right they wouldn't discount the RX 400h, but suggested unless they began to have a few on the lot for more than a few days, it wasn't likely. One offered me a $500 off courtesy discount as a previous customer. Looks from your posting these aren't as popular in TX or Southeast.

We have averaged 28.9 for last 1056 miles. 90% City. Very little Hwy so far. On Hwy at 75 mph we seemed to get about 25 - 26 mpg. Don'y know at expected epa 55 mph.

JUST AN ASIDE, MT DEALER INFORMED ME TO BE CAREFUL, ESPECIALLY ON WARM DAYS NOT TO OVERFILL TANK. STOP FILLING WHEN PUMP SHUTS OFF. UNLESS MY DEALER IS SEVERLY MISINFORMED, THE TANK ON THE RX400h , IS A COLLASPESABLE BLADDER, AND WHEN ALSMOST FULL CAN SQUIRT GAS BACK OUT WHEN FULL.

THANKS

Select mixed, dash & footwell, air outflow mode. ← THANKS

Does anyone know how to turn the center blower vent speed down? Even in the slower speed setting air seems to blow too hard. There seems no way to block the airflow as on side vents, other than shutting down the system entirely. On my BMW in the slowest position you can barely feel the airflow. This question is on a RX 400h. I was told however, except for certain features of the ac compressor, evaporator, and use of touch control on nav screen to control screen to pick 1 of 5 fan speeds, the system is same as RX 330.

Does anyone how to turn the center blower vent speed down? Even in the slower speed setting air seems to blow too hard. There seems no way to block the airflow as on side vents, other than shutting down the system entirely. On my BMW in the slowest position you can barely feel the airflow.

Really, the highlander synergy drive hybrid system is DIFFERENT than the Lexus ? I was under the impression they were identical? ← The Highlander has a CVT trans also.

After first 500 miles, the next 1000 miles, 90% city, 26.1 mpg. After additional 500 miles, almost all hwy (which at 70+ mpg got about 25 mpg), for the next 500+ miles, all city, we are getting 29.4 mpg. The 29.4 mpg is without AC on, and not trying to beat everyone off the line at the stop light. My mileage improved when I tried something new. I accelerated normally from light to approximately 20 - 25 mph which includes initial no engine, and then engine/electric or just engine coming on. I then lift off pedal and electric only comes on and I can cruise at 30 - 40 mph electric only. Because of the CVT and smoothness of engine/electric transition, no one notices me coming on and off the pedal. We traded our 2002 ML320 in on the 400h. We never got over 14 in the city or 20 on the HWY. We had a 1998 ML320 which did approximately 16 city but still 20 on hwy.

I had the same problem. Dealer said it had a cracked evaporator and Freon had leaked out. Part took 1 week to get but got RX 330 loaner. Instrument panel pod needed to be replaced. Part took 10 days to get. Again gave me RX 330 loaner. As an aside, after first 500 miles, the next 1000 miles, 90% city, 26.1 mpg. After additional 500 miles, almost all hwy (which at 70+ mpg got about 25 mpg), for the next 500+ miles, all city, we are getting 29.4 mpg. The 29.4 mpg is without ac on, and not trying to beat everyone off the line at the stop light. My mileage improved when I tried something new. I accelerated normally from light to approximately 20 - 25 mph which includes initial no engine, and then engine/electric or just engine coming on. I then lift off pedal and electric only comes on and I can cruise at 30 - 40 mph electric only. Because of the CVT and smoothness of engine/electric transition, no one notices me lifting off on getting back on accelerator.