Lexus_Jim

I have 9000 miles on mine and can hardly ever physically detect when the motor is running. I think that you have a problem and should take it to the dealer for repair.

Why is that? I believe that he was referring to the idea that when they fill the tanks at a gas station, it stirs up sediment and water in the tanks. Neither is desirable in your car.

:chairshot:

Since the mid-1970's Toyota has designed its engines to be capable of surviving 400,000 - 700,000 miles on conventional oil, including the SD and SE grade oils which were the only ones available back then: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mast.../leowrfield.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/74h.jpg Over the years, thousands of Toyota owners have tried synthetic oils too, but to my knowledge, the life of their engines has not exceeded the 600,000 - 700,000 mile maximum that conventional oil users have achieved. We certainly must have a different perspective on what we want from our automobiles. I don't think that I have ever owned a car with more than 60,000 miles on it and that was likely when I was much younger. Exceeding that level is something I am extremely unlikely to ever experience and frankly I have no interest in trying. As far as your high mileage examples, I think it is safe to say that these Toyotas did not have high performance engines in them. While it may be that the few examples that you are aware of did not appear to benefit from Synthetic Oil, sweeping statements about Synthetic Oil having no value is a bit of a stretch. If you want to get some more data points, do some web searches on Google about synthetic oil and I believe you will find plenty of evidence that they have significant benefits over regular lubricants, especially in high performance engines.

Do you really think BMW, who gives free service for four years to new cars, would use synthetics in all their M cars if they didn't see a benefit? I wonder where you are getting your information. Sounds more like an opinion than a fact. I believe the issue was improved gas mileage. Does BMW claim that? I never have been too concerned about gas mileage. I was responding to the comment about engine life. Since BMW covers their high performance cars with a four year warranty and free service and repair of everything in the car, they have found that synthetic oil will enable their engines to survive through that period and therefore use of any other oil can (and does) void the engine warranty. Not all synthetics are acceptable. They have to meet some specific anti wear certifications to qualify. If you are interested in learning more go to http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/index.php and do a search on "oil".

Do you really think BMW, who gives free service for four years to new cars, would use synthetics in all their M cars if they didn't see a benefit? I wonder where you are getting your information. Sounds more like an opinion than a fact.

While you may get better mileage with higher octane, personally, I feel the real advantage of the higher octane is the small increase in power that you will get from the car. I always use 93 octane in my RX400h and in my wife's SC430. I use even higher octane (94) in my BMW M5. (Nice to live in Ohio and have the octane options from Sunoco.) I guess I'm more power oriented than mileage oriented. However the milleage in the RX400h is a nice improvement over the BMW M5. The BMW M5 only gets about 12 MPG when driven briskly.

Extended Warranties are one of the most profitable products that automobile companies sell. I considered an extended warranty due to the Hybrid technology but decided to wait and see since the standard warranties are really good. (By the way, dealers don't like to tell their customers this, but you can buy an extended warranty at any time as long as your car is still under warranty.) I've just pasted a short synopsis of the warranties (go to http://lexus.com/models/warranty_vehicle_p...tion/basic.html for full details). Basic Warranty - There's no way you can expect the unexpected, but you can definitely prepare for it with the Basic Warranty. The coverage lasts for 48 months or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. Wheel alignment and balancing, however, are covered for 12 months or 20,000 miles, whichever comes first. Powertrain Warranty - The parts of the car that do the heavy-duty work need a heavy-duty warranty. The Lexus Powertrain Warranty lasts 72 months or 70,000 miles, whichever comes first. Except for the situations listed on the Basic Warranty page, this warranty covers repairs needed to fix defects in materials or workmanship of any component listed below: (http://lexus.com/models/warranty_vehicle_protection/powertrain.html ) Hybrid Warranty - Hybrid Vehicle System Coverage lasts for eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first, on Hybrid control module, battery control module, Hybrid vehicle battery pack and inverter with converter. With these warranties as standard and no additional cost, I decided that I could be paying a lot for an extended warranty and would actually be getting very little additional protection. And if the RX400h models do start to show any serious problems, I can always buy the extened warranty before my car runs out of its standard four year warranty. JMHO

Love the RX400h. Zero Problems for ours too.

In addition to having the RX400h hitch, Sewell Lexus has the detailed Lexus hitch installation instructions posted on their site as well. You can see them by clicking the following link http://www.lexus-parts.com/5161RX34.pdf (You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader or a similar program to actually read and print the instructions. If you don't already have it, you can download a free version at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html ) Hope this helps.