Philly400h

I always try to get a lot of "good friction" for recharging while braking - but it takes quite a bit of getting used to. When I hit a bump (and there are many in Philly) I can feel the friction disappear, see the blue charge guage getting nothing, and the regular disc brakes kick in. It can be a bit alarming if you're not prepared for it, and it's downright annoying when trying to charge while braking and you hit a small bump and the brakes switch like that - but as a safety feature, I can understand it's necessity.

If I slam them I find it jumps right to the disks. Since I'm used to it - I haven't really been concerned about safety. However I did warn my wife that if she ever has to drive it - be prepared for these braking differences.

Just to chime in.

The rear armrest was making noise for us also. Quite alarming until we figured it out. We found out it's a "tight fit" getting it to latch - so now we just make sure it's latched well - noise is gone...

This has happened to me too. It's really rare, but it happens when I'm at a standstill and the battery is charged - when the car has not yet been driven very far.

Here's a direct link to the thread with pics.

It's on the clublexus forum:

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171662

I just dropped off the 400 and they gave me a 330 to drive.  What a difference!  I immediately felt it in the transmittion and n the ride.  I am really convinced that the 400s are considerably ahead in driving pleasure and response to the OLD technology of the RX 330. Forget the fuel savings – I would pay the difference in price just for the pleasure of the driving response of the 400. :D

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You could also use the difference in price (around $10k) to buy a pretty good pre-owned Corvette and get an even better driving response.

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<sarcasm>

Yeah, I'm sure that Corvette will be great in the snow come winter... And you can pack it with so much stuff! ;)

</sarcasm>

Well really checked it out last night and test drove it and absolutely LOVE it. It's amazing. Gas mileage? WHO CARES!! Ha ha, kidding. I'm coming out of a 2003 4Runner with a V8 so it's going to be a big increase over that as far as gas mileage goes. So that's it, I'm buying it. Now all I have to do is sell my 4Runner. Unfortunately the trade in value was much much less than what it's worth and I’m not willing to take that kind of hit. By the way if there are any of you here in New Jersey interested in a Lexus go see Cal Hargrove at Prestige Lexus in Ramsey. Great guy, honest, up front, VERY knowledgeable and helpful and it looks like their prices are the best around. I originally told him what I wanted to pay for the car and what I wanted for my 4Runner and though he wasn't able to meet my requirements for the 4Runner he didn't bull*BLEEP* me. He told me straight up that it’s best if I sell it privately and told me as soon as I sell it to come see him and he'll get me a good price. I was looking for over 2 grand off sticker so it looks like he’s willing to do that and if he truly is then he’ll have my business.

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We got ours at Prestige and were very happy with the sales person (not so happy with the finance rep., but that's because he didn't like how we were resourceful enough to get our own gap insurance, etc.) but mostly that the 400h was set to proper specs right out of the lot. I've heard horror stories about other dealers setting things to rx330 specs which has resulted in pulling, etc.

Anyway, I'm up to 2500 miles and the thing is really great. Mileage has been right near or over specs for trips over 2 miles - unfortunately my daily commute is 2.5 miles! Regardless, I love the car and am able to get quite close to mpg specs the rest of the time. Lots of room, power, safety, comfort, environmentally friendly, and AWD for the winter.

I totally agree with all. It's one of the best vehicles I've had.

PLEASE tell me how you over rode the Nav lock out when moving. email me if you would . ron@ronovers.com

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Me too, would be nice to have the nav entry system.

I am EE, so that may help.

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Here's how to unlock the navigation system while moving.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171662

It sure has come in handy being able to let my wife add or modify destinations while I'm driving...

As for the thread question, I wish it were a bit better on gas for short trips - especially since I have a 2.5 mile drive to & from my train station, but it still is the only vehicle that I would want at this point. Especially with the safety, power, comfort, and what should be good handling when the snow flies. Road trips have been great, as have been the regular 24 mi. round trips I do weekly.

I'm curious to see what 1 or 2 models down the line will have, but don't see us giving this one up for years..

  Also as I understand it you are not supposed to drive the 400h on loose sand, i.e. the beach, has anyone done this? Does firm moist sand create a problem for the 400h.

  Anybody tried their 400h in real world off roading? Is it any good?

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Who needs off roading when I have the philadelphia streets department!

Seriously, there's a neighborhood called Roxborough that is like San Fran in some places- very steep city streets. Anyway, there's a road that has been closed and getting worked on. Well it was open so I took it only to discover huge potholes, loose dirt and mounds as bad as an appalachian mountian trail.

The 400h seemed to take it just fine - although I was babying it the entire way.

Not sure about water... and hope not to find out in a similar fashion!

I think I've felt this when cruising at 35-40 when really trying to really keep the ICE from turning on, however it runs smoothly all the rest of the time..

I think that's what they're referring to by "part of the hybrid experience", and it's quite rare and vague - but it sounds like yours is not as slight, and happens at a higher speed. I'm hoping they will be able to offer "upgrades" in the future as the technology gets more widespread road use, since I plan on sticking with my 400h one until at least 2 models down the line.

Keep giving em hell.

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You're darn right... that's our (eventual) resale values they're affecting with that kind of biased article.

I can't believe those mpg numbers - I haven't seen anything like those since the very first tank of gas.

The timing of the article is also suspect to me. Why- after all the other reports on the release of the 400h have died down completely - does this article come out of nowhere?

I use it to see which braking methods produced the higher charge. With it, I've been able to figure out that subtle braking methods can really make quite a difference in battery recharging - dipping into the blue farther for different distance/speed/brake pressure. I'm not sure how much I'm benefitting in the grand scheme, but it certainly must help, and is fun too.

I must agree that a tach would have been good, and they could have the smaller kwh guage next to it.

Any more word on this?

Oooh. Someone finally posted a pic of their 400h with the Thundercloud grill installed.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread...t=169514&page=2

Looks better than I though it would.

I personally find myself driving more like a granny - but actually enjoying it.

Not always, but actually just thinking - do I really need to speed up here? I am doing 5mph over the speed limit... Let me sit back try to get the mileage back up.

Let me know what you get after a couple of more tank fulls.  Make sure to not reset your MPG counter on the Nav Screen.  It sounds like you have been resetting it which does not give you an accurate average.  A longer average should include short trips to the store and such.

If you still get such great MPG, let me know why you think my MPG is so much lower. 

Please ... no posts from Lexus employees.    <_<

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Short trips in the 400h kill your mileage.

Am I wrong in suspecting that is the cause of most complaints?

I was also disappointed that the 110v is not present without RES.

It seems that no matter what I do, I can't push the Average MPG past 25.2.  I think that the people that report higher MPG must reset their computer frequently and take the best average.  That is really not the way to do it.  I believe that once you reset (using the Nav Screen) to remove the factory and dealer testing miles, you should not reset the average MPG.  A true average should be over a long period of time, not just one tank.  I now have about 1300 miles on the RX400 and have filled the tank three times.  ;)

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I've been resetting the computer for specific trips and I'm able to get more detail on where the mileage goes. One thing is for certain, short trips kill your mileage! Even more than highway miles, which is now at around 26-27mpg depending on speed.

I have nearly 1000 miles on it now. I clocked 33.7 mpg on a trip 13 mile trip through 35-40 mph suburban roads with the average hills and stop signs/lights. Coming back I didn't reset it and got 31 mpg total for a 33 mile round trip.

When I drove it during the week to work and other short ~2 mile trips, the mileage goes down quickly. If I reset the computer to check on those "short hops around town" -I get barely over 24-25 mpg which is lower than my highway mileage.

Is it my imagination or is the 400h's grill flimsy (I would never use the word "cheap" when referring to a Lexus). 

Will the Thundercloud grill fit the 400h??  Is the Thundercloud grill too much "bling?"

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I personally think the grill is okay, but you're not the only one who wanted the Thundercloud grill on their 400h!>>

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155329

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167023

Is hard or soft braking better for fuel consumption and electricity generation?

Any way to tell when the regular brakes kick in? Riding the regular brakes will get expensive.

Is there any advantage to braking even harder so that the Kw guage is hard on the bottom? My ears tell me that the generators are spinning even faster, but once again with a max of 4 electric buttons, I can't tell which is better.

It sure loves the long braking and coasting to get good mileage and regeneration.

I was told by the dealer when I test drove that slow braking just uses the regenerative braking resistance - and only fast braking uses pads.

However now that I've been driving it around a bit - I wonder if that's accurate.

It seems remarkable that the generators would be able to guage braking pressure like that and apply the right amount of resistance during changing conditions like hills, etc.

I haven't been able to tell by Kw gauge whether it charged differently with different braking.

That is very strange and disconcerting.

Any more word on what happened?

We signed up on three different lists in March '05 in the Philly/New Jersey area for a neptune blue/grey RX400h with Mark Levinson sound. The first dealer told us we could expect it sometime in the fall and took a $500 deposit. The second gave an ETA of July or August and took $1000 down. A dealer in Northern NJ took a $1000 deposit for a blue/grey coming on June 20-23, but he was under the (mistaken) impression that no 400h's would have Mark Levinson until the fall of '05. We decided we really wanted the ML, and that dealer is quite far from where we live, so we took back our cash and jumped off that list.

After reading reports of some buyers getting their cars already, we became impatient and started to follow up with dealers to see what may have opened up. We got in touch with 8 dealers in PA, DE and NJ. We got lucky with the North Jersey dealer who had originally thought he couldn't get us ML sound. As a fluke we were going to be driving right past that dealer's location last weekend to go to upstate NY.

It turns out he had one coming in "on the boat" for June 20 delivery with everything we wanted, including ML. May have been the same car we originally ordered and he was just mistaken about the ML stereo the first time(?). We put a $1000 deposit down on the car on 6/18 and got refunds on our deposits with the other 2 dealers.

The NJ dealer told us the EPA mileage estimates of 27/31 were correct and said there is no break-in period. Thankfully we were able to research the car and read current owners’ reports quite a bit, so I took those statements with a grain of salt.

So we picked it up on 6/23 and drove it several hundred miles last weekend. We're very happy with this car and it's a lot of fun to drive. I was concerned about a break-in period, so we made frequent stops on the highway. It's very hard to fluctuate speed on the Turnpike(s), so we just hit a lot of rest areas. We got around 22mpg highway mileage with the A/C cranked. I've been resetting the consumption to see which trips will fare better than others. 500 miles on it now and second tank of gas - mpg seems to be creeping up to 23mpg for short around-town trips.

Friends and family are very intrigued and we're pleased with the purchase. It seems well worth the price tag - as a bonus we got it for $500 under MSRP. We expect the mpg to increase somewhat over time, especially when we are not using the A/C and driving gently to maximize fuel efficiency.