kmke

Colorado still had a tax credit through 2008 and it did not require the car be new ...

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/progs/view...gi?tech/EV/CO/0

We have just over 36,000 miles on our Alenza's and have enjoyed them for the whole time. Lexus pointed out they were worn down to 4/32 on the rear and 3/32 on front at 55K service - Bridgestone guarantees 65,000 miles on the tire - they gave us a 40% credit and replaced them for us before winter hit here in Colorado Springs without quibbling about getting down to 2/32. The replacements carry the same mileage warranty and with the lifetime alignment and regular rotations Firestone offer us a no hassle service.

I am at 21K on my RX400h and the Michelins MXV4 S8 only have about 5K left before replacing. Does that seem right? I was getting 65K on my RX 300.

Also, I was considering upsizing to 255/55/18 and heard that they will rub on the rear struts from the dealer. Any truth to that. I saw that a few others have used this size on this forum.

Lastly, any recommendations for tires? Strictly street and I want to maintain a quiet ride.

I have a 'firm' Bridgestone set which I got after putting 15K on my originals. I have put 25K on my new set, the Bridgestones, and am very pleased at their life. I get them rotated and balanced every 5K. I recommend having that done at the tire dealer. I am expecting at least another 25K at the current wear rate. You can look for my prior posting a long time ago. Also, make sure your alignment is good. The dealer aligned my wheels incorrectly and I had to have it redone. This can cause bad tire wear!

I'd second your comments - replaced our Goodyears at just under 20,000 with Bridgestone Alenzas - we're coming up on 50,000 miles (30K on tires) and at the last service Lexus measured 7/32nds - should easily see another 25,000 on them. We also get alignments every 5,000 at Firestone with their lifetime alignment plan.

Other than the dealer, is there an aftermarket air filter available for a 2006 RX400h? I checked the cross reference guides at the auto parts stores and could find no listing. (not interested in K&N)

We have the K&N Filter installed and it works quite well - nearing 50,000 miles on our 2006.

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/shop_par...xus/rx400h.html

Ken

We'd absolutely buy another RX400h - we have just over 40,000 and once we put the Alenza's on it have been extremely satisfied

kmke,

What benefits do you see from the Alenzas?

sorry for the dealy in responding - have been out of country. We replaced the Goodyears at 18,000 miles - just turned over 40,000 and the Alenza's still have more than half tread left. We bought the lifetime alignment at Firestone for $135 and get it aligned every 10,000 miles. The Alenzas have been everything we needed. We moved to Colorado for a temporary assignment - the tires are quite - great traction in wet conditions, much better handling. We just returned from Steam Boat Springs and 14 inches of new snow - no problems at all. All in all these have been great tires and we'd probably consider them again in another 20,000 miles or so.

Ken Hendren

We'd absolutely buy another RX400h - we have just over 40,000 and once we put the Alenza's on it have been extremely satisfied

Exactly - my OEM tires were nearly toast already at 18k miles - I'm sure due to the alignment issues known already. I will be going to Lexus in the near future for the 15k mile service and a few niggles under warranty so I'll have them check this too.

When we got our Alenzas we got the lifetime alignment at Firestone for $130 and have it checked every 5000 miles - we're coming up on 15,000 miles on our Alenzas - the Goodyears barely made 20K. Firestone mentioned rebalancing every 10,000 for an additional $40.

Hi- ON the 330 there was a screen that showed me how many miles were left on the current tank of gas. I cant seem to find this on the 400H. Does it exist? THanks

Brian

Unfortunately the RX400 does not show how much range remains - welcome to the 400H.

Now that's really strange. I have the Alenzas as well and indicated distance seems to be okay. The diameter of each tire should match the OEMs, perfectly, so I am clueless about this one!

We have the Alenzas as well - have over 12,000 miles on them and are not and have not seen any difference in distance - we routinely drive to San Luis Obispo from Sacramento - it has been 321 miles before the Alenzas and was 321 miles again this last weekend.

We bought the extended warranty through 100,000 miles - have it on our Tacoma and it paid for itself with replaced transmission, have in on our SL500 and it paid for itself with rear strut replacements and since it is transferrable we decided it was worth the cost with a new model. Prorated refund if we sell the car and don't transfer it to the new owner (e.g. selling to CARMAX).

Completed Install for an HID Conversion Kit for the factory H11 fog/driving lights. I must say, these type of kits have come a long way. If you can replace a bulb, then you can install this kit. It really is plug and play beyond anything else in lighting. The factory socket for the factory halogen H11 bulb plugs into the ballast, this is where the ballasts get there power. Since the factory bulbs are rated at 55W draw, the ballasts are completely within spec (I opted for 50Watt ballasts and 50W HID Bulbs) of the Lexus factory wiring harness despite the fact the HID bulbs draw 50W vs the conventional HID bulbs (like the factory Xenon) which draw 35W. The ballasts have there own output wiring to supply power the H11 Xenon 50W bulbs.

Here is pretty much the kit... Ballasts, bracket (not all parts are showing), 4300K bulbs.

Here is the drivers side Fog Light (I've blocked the HID Headlamp with a very thick drop cloth) with the factory 55W Halogen.

Here is the same drivers side Fog Light with the HID 50W 4300K.

Here is a better side by side comparison, can you tell which is the HID kit?

Exactly what I was looking for, perfect color match, extremely easy install, and much, much better performance.

The most difficult part was removing the front tires and unbolting the front and lower part of the wheel well skirt so as to have access to the rear of the fog lamp assembly. This is where I bolted the ballasts (complete with there brackets) up behind the fog lamp assembly there is metal structure complete with predrilled holes. I made sure to tuck everything up and out of the way as well as install all the plugs so as to allow the water or condensation to dripp down and away from the moisture sealed plug and play enclosures.

Cheers,

MadloR

Is there any further information on possibly being able to order this kit? Am not interested in the dialogue on fog lamps as we use the lamps more as driving lamps anyway. Thanks.

Ken H

Completed Install for an HID Conversion Kit for the factory H11 fog/driving lights. I must say, these type of kits have come a long way. If you can replace a bulb, then you can install this kit. It really is plug and play beyond anything else in lighting. The factory socket for the factory halogen H11 bulb plugs into the ballast, this is where the ballasts get there power. Since the factory bulbs are rated at 55W draw, the ballasts are completely within spec (I opted for 50Watt ballasts and 50W HID Bulbs) of the Lexus factory wiring harness despite the fact the HID bulbs draw 50W vs the conventional HID bulbs (like the factory Xenon) which draw 35W. The ballasts have there own output wiring to supply power the H11 Xenon 50W bulbs.

Here is pretty much the kit... Ballasts, bracket (not all parts are showing), 4300K bulbs.

Here is the drivers side Fog Light (I've blocked the HID Headlamp with a very thick drop cloth) with the factory 55W Halogen.

Here is the same drivers side Fog Light with the HID 50W 4300K.

Here is a better side by side comparison, can you tell which is the HID kit?

Exactly what I was looking for, perfect color match, extremely easy install, and much, much better performance.

The most difficult part was removing the front tires and unbolting the front and lower part of the wheel well skirt so as to have access to the rear of the fog lamp assembly. This is where I bolted the ballasts (complete with there brackets) up behind the fog lamp assembly there is metal structure complete with predrilled holes. I made sure to tuck everything up and out of the way as well as install all the plugs so as to allow the water or condensation to dripp down and away from the moisture sealed plug and play enclosures.

Cheers,

MadloR

Just curious to see how current owners reply to this poll.

Absolutely would buy another one - love the power, tranny, and smoothness - has been a great car for ~ 30,000 miles.

I'll probably buy another set of the Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 - very highly rated on all the tire websites.

Check out this site in your research ... Michelin's rated 8th - Alenzas #3 - we have nearly 7500 miles on the Alenza and are completely pleased. We have the Goodyear Tripletread on our Tacoma - noisier than the Alenza's but great traction wet - snow or rain.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresult...inSpeedRating=S

We've got 5500 miles on our Alenza's and love them - snow or rain - quiet, good traction, and a significant improvement over the originals. We coming up on 30,000 - OEM's nearly made 25K.

I was at the same event but had been using regular. Did you get better mileage now that the weather is colder? I decided today to try the premium since the price of gas is lower, but I wonder if it is worth it. They have said that there is no harm using regular. 20 cents more a gallon is going to have to come up with a lot of mpg!

We are getting less mileage with cooler temps (40s - 60s) - the engine runs more to keep at operating temp - premium has consistently added 1.8 to 2.6 miles per gallon - we have 24,000 miles on our RX400 and have averaged a true 24.3 mpg - we use middle grade as a compromise for fuel unless heading up into the mountains.

You can buy oil filters and other common maintenance parts here ....

http://lexus-parts.com/

For some reason, they don't list oil filters!

Under Maintenance Filters when sorted by model they list filters at $3.98 each.

http://lexus-parts.com/partdetail.asp?Part...ubCategoryID=41

We just replaced the Goodyears on our RX400 at 24800 with Bridgestone Dueler Alenza's from our local Firestone Dealer - 65,000 treadwear warranty - buy three fourth tire is free. With lifetime 4 wheel alignment ($139.00) total out the door was roughly $900. The tires are incredible - quiet and much better traction - we are delighted with these tires and consider them a better value than Michelin's or Goodyears.

Does anyone know how to read the GPS Information screen (hidden menu)?

I've been having problems with the navigation system intermittently loosing it's way . The dealer has been no help, as the problem is intermittent (but happens frequently), and this seems to fall outside their area of expertice....so I'm going to have to try to localize the problem to point them in the right direction. The GPS light is frequently off on the Map screen (no GPS lock). When I look at the GPS information screen, there doesn't appear to be any signal being received (LVL?), or not enough channels to plot a position.

I suspect a bad antenna, or something causing poor signal reception. The problem is more frequent with bad weather (cloudy skys), but it renders the nav system almost useless, as I never know when it's going to loose its way. Where are the antenna's located? I know there's an external one on the rear roof top...but I beleive there's another also. Location of any antenna connectors (that might be loose)? I don't have any routing diagrams.

This is the 3rd vehicle I've had with a nav system (ML430, RX330, and currently an RX400h)... There were no issues with the previous systems.

Any help greatfully appreciated.

David

This is the process we used from a prior thread on accessing the overrides on the RX400h nav system:

Select MENU, VOLUME

on the VOLUME Screen:

Press and hold the left top corner for one second

Press and hold the bottom left corner for one second

Press and hold the left top corner for one second

Press and hold the bottom left corner for one second

SCREEN should transition to the overrides and show GPS mid screen left column

SELECT GPS to show current number and status of satelites.

Hope this helps. Ken

Factory installed Goodyear tires wore out in the first 10k miles which I am told is normal. Upgraded tires might be a little better but not much. Cause: gasoline engine cutting in and out causing change in tire rotation per dealer. Have others had this experience...seems a little bizarre to me.

We've got 17250 miles on our Rx400 and are probably half way to the treadwear indicators - we have the Goodyears, should see ~30,000 on them and will probaly replace with Michelin's.

My RX with ~7500 miles has basically done this since day one, but I think it might be getting worse.

Basically if you are cruising at like 40+ mph and just turn the wheel a little bit, the steering moves, then jumps as if the gears in the steering rack are just catching. It's worse when you drive with your hand at the bottom of the wheel.

My wife (it's her car really) took it to the dealer today and they say that it's inherent in all 400h's and that they felt it on all their other 400h's (that they test drove).

A Lexus engineer will be at the dealership on Wednesday and we'll take the car back in to have them look at it.

It's to the point where if they don't fix it, I'm going to get a new car because it does not inspire confidence at all when driving (I mean, when I'm driving along, and having to make the minor steering changes to follow the track of the road or wind or whatever, the car will just jerk around instead of tracking smooth).

Anyone else having this problem?

Not seeing this on our RX400h either and we have ~16200 miles ... KJH

The manual says RX400h can use 87 grade gas. Some people said use higher grade gas is good for the vehicle, gas mileage, and the environment. Our RX400h is already a environmental friendly vehicle. I am more concern about the gas grade to the vehicle. I usually filled up my RX400h with 89 gas. What grade of gas do you use?

We also use mid-grade (89) name brand between Shell and Chevron with premium when we are heading up into the Sierras. (16,000 miles on our 400h)

13500 miles on our 400h - no brake problems - sorry to hear of your difficulty.

Am using Sprint TREO 650 and Samsung A900 with no issues other than an occassional call received message that is not really a call and requires disconnecting and reconnecting blue tooth. Did not transfer phone book and using them as simple phone peripherals to the Lexus.

We had similar difficulties with the rear window wiper in snow and road slush until we added RAIN-X to the glass - seems to have made the glass more slippery and the blades now seem adequate to squeegy the entire wipe area. $5 for Rain and 15 minutes to rub it into the glass.