katzjamr

Thanks to your posts i took a tire guage with me when i picked up my 400h. Sure enough all tires were at 40. I asked the otherwise helpful salesperson why tire pressure wasnt a part of dealer prep. He said he would look into it. I think pretty much dealer prep must be taking off the plastic and washing the vehicle. I also checked a flint mica 400h next to mine that sold and ready for delivery, all tires were over 40.

Thank you both for your replies. I will probably start with a barrier and work back into crating. The accident advice is true and we have been lucky so far. My springer spaniel is a smaller 38 lbs and has only seen a crate in the SUV when he is about to be boarded while i am away. Hence crate = me gone in his mind. Im sure it will take alot less time to train him than me. Dave

I plan to do a 1,000 to 1,500 oil change initially, its just a habit i have with new vehicles, also i have had cars with improper fluid levels from the factory that were adjusted at those early oil changes. I know its not necessary however it gives me piece of mind.

I finally settled for a millenium silver w/gray rx400 that will be ready this afternoon. Also added the headlight chip guard and leather protectant and extended the warranty, who knows how much these will cost to repair. My seven year old Springer Spaniel is used to sitting up front and he goes to work with me and out on estimates to customers homes. What is the best barrier for keeping him behind the front seats with the back ones folded down. (I think hes wishing we kept the old explorer where it didnt matter).

I too was chagrined by a system where i gave a deposit to a Lexus dealer south of seattle last July and did not hear anything unless i called them. I did get updates from Lexus online and all of us were informed of the delivery of the first cars, ( i was #28 on the list). Once i drove a hybrid demo at the dealership i felt the service improved, they spent alot of time with me and allowed me two long drives in their black on black demo vehicle not commenting once as we hit speeds of 90 to 95 mph on one freeway stretch. My initial salesman passed me on to another one that had intimate knowledge of the car. The first thing he established was if my driving was mostly freeway, i might be just as happy with an rx330 that could approach 24- 25 mpg. He was very honest about the initial gas mileage not being 30 mph, with the hybrid and they had been tracking six customers to see where the actual real world mpg would be. He also told me if i fell in love with Bamboo Pearl, they seemed to be comming in slower. I am confident that a millenium silver, or flint mica rx400 will find its way to my driveway in the next month.

My 1999 RX300 AWD has 168,000 miles on it and the transmission is still working perfectly.  I have read stories about the tranny's going bad, but they can't possibly ALL be faulty.  Would you rather take your chances with a Jeep's notorious rear end, or the ongoing reliability of a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge?  HA!!  I love the RX300 and until it gives me problems I will continue to love it.

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I think the fact that your neighbor will sell it to someone they know also makes them feel confident about the car, there is no gurantee with any used car that old.

Im told that 75,000 mile service can be expensive however especially if they are doing the timing chain, my neighbor who is an auto body mechanic was quoted over $2,500 for that service alone on his wifes 99 rx. good luck

Never, never, NEVER purchase tires from ANY automotive dealership - period.  You will be reamed out your rear end and your wallet will be emptied.  Go to a tire store or deal with an on-line tire specialist like tirerack.com.  But before you buy, spend some time researching tires.  There are a number of us on this forum who will be glad to help you with tire decisions.  We can save you a lot of money and you'll have far better tires than what your dealership will sell you to boot.

I hope you didn't agree to purchase new tires from that dealership.  Pick up the phone and cancel that deal as soon as you can  -  you're going to get reamed royally if you don't....

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Alot of people, who live far from a lexus dealer use Toytota dealerships for their service, often toyota franchises have lube specials and generally lower prices for the same service. My Lexus salesman offered this advice when i asked about $100 oil changes (even if they do rotate the tires LOL)

From what I have read it shouldn't be a problem. Just drain and refill with dino.

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Pennzoil makes a blend of synthetic and regular oil that gives u the benefits of both and it has cut the consumption in my older work vehicles by half. They call it 4x4 oil, have used it for years, my local quick lube station has it.

What would happen should a 400 runs out of gas?

Of course we would never let that happen, but what if??

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My salesman said that the 400h will not run if it runs out of gas. Once more gas is put in the tank, it should start fairly easily. However, if the driver tries continuously to start the engine, say more than 3 times, when there is no gas, there is a type of disabling which occurs and the car will be much more difficult to start. This is my understanding and I don't pretend to be an expert on this.

This is different from the Prius. If you run out of gas, you can force the car to run on battery alone but this ruins the battery which would be disastrous. So, I suppose the rule with all hybrids is to never run out of gas.

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I went to a Lexus dealer outside of Seattle. While they have a waiting list that i am on, they also find some people on the list unreachable for what ever reason and offer these cars to the next people on the list. At this time there are two cars on the lot, one white and one bamboo pearl. The white one is unusual in that it is a grand cheaper because of the regular sound system rather than the mark levinson. They sell them at sticker with no additional markup. thanks for all the info on this site, dave