goofygrin

OK, so after crunching the numbers, here's what we've seen in our RX400h over 35,000 miles:

Car bought in 05/06 of 2005 (first fillup in Jun-05)

Total Miles: 34931

Total Gallons: 1591.274

Average MPG: 21.95

2005 Miles: 6897

2005 MPG: 22.61

2006 Miles: 11706

2006 MPG: 22.80

2007 Miles: 9923

2007 MPG: 21.25

2008 Miles: 6405

2008 MPG: 20.95

Lowest month MPG: Jul 2008 19.23 (504 miles so far)

Highest month MPG: Jul 2006 23.97 (3100 miles this month, we took a trip to Colorado, around 1000 miles each way -- we got great mileage in the mountains actually [even with some trips well above the speed limit because of an emergency!]). While in Colorado (this is not the trip out) our actual MPG for the tanks were:

27.39

26.31

27.16

25.30

This is in Winter Park (9100' elevation) with trips over the passes in Rocky Mountain national park (13-14000') and trips to the surrounding area. I think part of the reason for the good mpg is the 55mph speed limit with limited stops and long sections of downhill coasting.

Note that these are actual MPG. The computer's MPG is effectively 5% optimistic in all cases, so roughly 1mpg over what the actual is (and this is the same with my coworker's dad's RX400h of similar vintage).

My coworker's dad has an RX400h and he got his in 05 like us (and lives in the same city so has the same gas and weather). He keeps detailed logs of the fuel and mileage (and mpg as reported by the computer in a spreadsheet.

My buddy sent the spreadsheet to me and he's averaged 22.5mpg *actual* over the life of his RX. I'm going to put my logs into the same spreadsheet and see what it says for our car. The computer indicated MPG is normally 1mpg over what it actually is according to his spreadsheet.

We've got an 06 400h AWD with 35,000 miles and have never gotten great mpg. In town we normally have gotten 23-24mpg. Lately (like in the last 3-4 months) it's gone down to 18-19! The best we've ever seen is 28 a couple times when on trips, but only in sections that were 55mph (construction) or downhill in the mountains.

Honestly we have been very disappointed in the RX400h (between the crappy mpg and lack of features for a $50k car), but very pleased with the Lexus service.

Since seeing this thread, my wife called the dealer and they are going to have their regional engineer look at it next week since apparently they have been hearing some sort of grumbling about this issue. I'll post if they determine anything is wrong.

Well what's even better is the replacement jack they gave us is rated for 1100 kilos. Our vehicle is over 4000lbs!!!

When you use the jack are you lifting the entire car up or one corner with only a few hundred pounds?

The reason it fell over is because the car was not balanced. So after the first time it fell down it bent the jack as the car was slipping back.

You have to block the wheels if you are on an angle to stop the car from moving or of course it is going to bend the jack and keep falling down.

It was no surprise that the car fell down as you watched it slowly move and the jack bend each turn of the handle.

I have destroyed mine doing the same thing , so i know what it looks like and why it happens . I was too lazy to do it properly and the car dropped as it kept rolling back .

Come on now....... stop trying to blame someone else for your own mistake.

You have NO idea what you are talking about.

ETA: When you are jacking up the front end of the hybrid, you are jacking up a LOT of weight. Also you have to move the car up rediculously high to get our big as tires up there. There is no way that a scissor jack rated at 1100kg was going to get the car up high enough when a 3 ton floor jack had to be raised high enough that the guy had to put his whole weight into it!

I put the jack in the right place with the parking brake on (this was actually the first thing the response guy checked and he said it was in the right place). I don't carry chocks, do you? Didn't think so. In any case, the car shifted UPHILL as the jack collapsed. If anything I would have chocked it so it didn't shift DOWNHILL so they wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference. It was also 10pm and dark, so if the jack WAS bending there was NO way I was going to see it. And if I did see it bending WHAT THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?

In any case, I've been working on cars for a LONG time, and I know what the hell I'm doing and have changed more tires in my life than I care to think about.

And I certainly feel sorry for your car if those are real pictures of it in your sig. I like a nice custom, but that just looks silly. Each to their own I guess.

That is hard to believe.

IT'S FRIGGIN' DANGEROUS!!! What the Hell were they thinking?:chairshot:

After reading that I'll never try to use the friggin' thing!

I'd file a complaint with the NHTSA. http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

Well what's even better is the replacement jack they gave us is rated for 1100 kilos. Our vehicle is over 4000lbs!!!

It's my wife's car and she's going to call on Monday and get that situation handled. What would happen if we were in the middle of nowhere and couldn't get roadside assistance?

got the car back today. Nothing damaged other than the dust shield. The service manager said that this isn't the first time that this has happened and that Lexus gives the same wimpy jack to everyone... they expect you to use roadside assistance :)

In any case, everything's fine now, but just be careful...

(and yes, I did have the jack in the right place -- even if I didn't why would the jack break, bending the center screw? Scissor jacks are worthless unless you're jacking up a civic IMO).

Had a flat tire tonight on date night. After scrambling to find the wheel lock, I started jacking up the car. It was tough with the crappy jack they gave us.

Finally got the car up high enough to take the flat tire off. Tried to get the spare on, but the car wasn't up high enough. SO I tried to turn the jack some more and it collapsed and the car fell backwards (slightly uphill!) onto the rotor!

Tried to jack it up again and it fell again! Then I noticed that the center spiral was bent as was the little handle they have you spinning the jack with.

Roadside assistance was on their way by this point and they had to really muscle their floor jack to get the front of the car up high enough to get the tire on (like higher than the scissor jack could have ever gotten). Goes into the shop tomorrow (we were able to drive it home).

So for those of you with 4wd RX400h, be careful if you have to use the stock jack to lift the front of your car up. Hopefully nothing major is wrong...

I drove it this weekend.

Notchiness is gone, but there is a definite pull to the right...

The fun never ends :)

Ha!

Anyway, it appears they just changed the ECU... I've not driven the car, and my wife wasn't paying attention (something about a headache and our son was screaming)... so I'm not sure if it fixed it... I'm sure I'll check it out this weekend sometime!

Its probably a bad steering rack.

That's my bet... but my wife get's different explanations than I do when I go in there...

Just a quick update... my wife took the car in yesterday and they were able to recreate it...

Now we wait for them to fix it (not sure what all they are doing).

I went to the dealership this morning and test drove a demo with 200 miles... I think it was a 2wd and ours is the awd, but I doubt that that's an issue.

The demo car does not do the same thing.

I'm having my wife take the car back in tomorrow to see the engineer (I'll be out of town)....

Hopefully it's something simple.

9000 miles never had that problem and it would bother me too. My steering is as solid as day one. Of course the steering does feel different compared to other vehicles, there is more torque steer under heavy power and it is more sensitive to crowns in the road. However i dont think what you describle is normal. Also i would not hesitate to mention to them that you have polled others online from a community of owners and no one has the symptoms you describe. Good luck and keep us posted.

"...more torque stear unde heavy power....."

What you are more likely experiencing is the fact that the EPS, Electric Power Stearing, reduces the level of power stearing assistance provided to the driver as more and more engine torque/HP, "power" is used. The idea, apparently, is to make it harder for the driver to enter severe steearing inputs in any direction when the front tires' roadbed traction coefficient is being dedicated mostly to forward "drive". Additionally it appears from reading the materials, Toyota documentation, that EPS is used to completely cancel any effects of torque stearing from reaching the stearing wheel.

I'm all for variable power steering, but that's not what I'm feeling.

If I go out to the garage and start the car, and, with my hand at the bottom of the wheel, slowly turn it right to left (heck or left to right), it will turn a little, then catch and "jerk" as it catches.

This sensation isn't as powerful as when driving, but it's similar... of all the cars I've owned or driven, I've never felt this except in my corvette when the steering coupler was bad and would "snap" after you gave it guidance (and was a major source of float-iness).

Have you driven another RX400h for comparison?

I've not, but I suggested that she do (I'll be out of town on wednesday)... maybe I'll stop by the dealer on my way home tomorrow...

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?

Anything directly connected to the electrical system that is added on aftermarket will void the warranty (the electrical sytem warranty at least and most likely the hybrid battery system since it is intimately associated with the electrical system)

This information comes directly from the hybrid tech support.

What you said is partially true.  According to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act a manufacturer may not void a warranty unless they can prove the aftermarket part caused the problem.  Please see http://www.granatellimotorsports.com/magnusonmoss.htm for a brief description.

So, if anything has been added and Lexus determines it caused damage to the vehicle you have no warranty no matter who added it.

Best advice, try to get a warranty from whoever sells you the aftermarket part especially if it is connected to the electrical system.  I believe the hybrid/electrical system is warrantied for 8 years.

You're never ever going to get an 8 year warranty on your $10k battery/$10k electrical system from a Circuit City type installer, so I'd not even think about that... (They'd laugh you out of the shop)

And if the "phone answer drone" told you that you'd void your WHOLE electrical and battery system warranty by installing anything, even a $20 neon kit, then they are wrong and Lexus is going to get the pants sued off them when they try and pull that BS -- because that's what it is.

Edit: Now if the neon kit pulled too much voltage and fried a section of the wiring harness? then they won't cover that in the warranty, unless you can prove that there was a defect in the wiring harness (duh). (but that fried harness in the tailgate will not void the warrany on the batteries if they were to fail down the road).

Perhaps they did not include either XM or Sirius because they have not tested it with the complex electrical system.

I spoke with the Lexus hybrid tech support concerning aftermarket dvd headrest options and satellite radio and got this: "ANYTHING added on that does NOT come from the factory will Unequivocally void your factory warranty"

This is quite concerning, since a dealership that i dealt with was more than happy to install the headrest dvd and satellite radio as aftermarket options.

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This is absolutely incorrect and illegal from some act that I can't remember from a few years ago.

The warranty can only be voided for something directly affected by the aftermarket part. So if you install new wheels, it doesn't void your paint warranty or interior warranty, but it could void your brakes and bearing warranties.

I was told that with a $5000 deposit I could have one of my choice, my specs, in as little as six weeks but not greater than 10 weeks.

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Come to Dallas... you can get most configurations here, no waiting... Be a nice trip home too, stop in Vegas :D

How does the AUX input on the Lexus RX330 work?

I have a 2004 Lexus RX330 Mark Levinson with Navigation.  I connected a MP3 player to the AUX input in the back of the car.  When I switch the radio into AUX mode, I can only hear the MP3 player music on the rear entertainment head phones.  Any way to listen to it throughout the car?  I can hear the DVD movies throughout the car.

Please help.

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This works the same in my RX 400h. I think this is a "feature."

Since I started this thread I'd like ot get it back on track.

The key word is BUMP.

The action, loss of regenerative braking at high speed,  I describe in the first note only occurs when going over a hard bump in the road. It is repeatable if the bump/pothole is hard enough.

By the way RX400h doesn't have torque converter.

Ron

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I know in my other cars (haven't driven the 400h -- wife's car) that have ABS, then I go over a bump at speed, while breaking, I'll feel something like the ABS kick in (but not the ABS I think). As soon as I release the brakes and hit them again, all is ok.

Now I've been in my 400h when coming to a stop and felt some "jerkyness" as we came to the complete stop. My wife swears it's not her... I think it's the car switching from regenerative to real brakes.

I don't think it would be worth it monetarily or for cool reasons to do this...

You'd kill your warranty (and your resale value) and I seriously doubt you'd get a 20% gain in fuel economy...

I think you'd get more bang for the $$ by coming up with a custom flash for the ECU that will make the gas engine come into play later.

The sound is pretty decent over the Mark Levinson too.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like true "surround" (5.1).  Even though all the speakers are utilized; I think it is two-channel stereo.  I will test this in the future.  Overall, I'm happy with it and I think it is defintiely worth the $1,600 cost for this option.  I'm also really glad we didn't go with the dealer installed system, the factory one is great and of course looks completely seemless in the car.

:D

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On ours I had to hit the audio button on the remote to get more than stereo... I think it defaults to stereo for the headphones.

Not sure about the RES (ours has it)...

The 110 is on the right (passenger) strut tower, and 12v on the left.

Thanks for the reply.

I would guess the 110v inverter is still in the rear?  This may be a RES feature though?

Would anyone know if the 12v plug in still located in the rear cargo area on the left side, as was the socket on the RX330?

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yes, there is a socket back there in the rear cargo area by the light

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If you want a 400h, come to Dallas...

We got ours this weekend with no problem (no waiting list either).

Sewell has like 9 on the lot and like 22 coming in. Park Place in Plano has 6-7 on the lot...