Legacy400h

Since you maintain it in a spreadsheet, you should know not only your tank-by-tank mileage, but a running average as well. I doubt many people are that diligent, but I don't know. RX400h owners are a different breed, it seems. You mention getting 25-35 mph when you're careful. I'd kill for mileage like that. I also anticipate stops as much as possible, yet cannot get it above 25-26 in the summer months on an occasional half hour trip, which is the longest trip I'm likely to take. After almost 3 years, I only have 20K on it, yet it doesn't seem to stay on electric as much as it used to. Thanks for your feedback.

Brief question... When all of you are stating your mph, are you resetting it to zero with each tank of gas? It may seem obvious to most, but when I see some people reporting that they couldn't get less than 25 mph if they tried, it makes me wonder. If I tried, I could easily get it down to 15-16 --- if I tried. But as averaging goes, as you get more miles racked up (250-300), it's harder to change the average. I do, and I don't get nearly the mph you all do. I got better mileage when my '06 was newer, but it seems to have fallen. I always watch the mileage screen, as well as the little battery/ICE display above the steering wheel, and I try to keep it on battery as much as possible. However, the winter has been -really- cold here near Chicago, and I make mostly shorter trips of less than 5 miles each. I've recently been getting 18-20 mph, and I always use premium. In warmer weather, I was getting 22-24 mph. It doesn't seem to keep the ICE off as much as it used to. Perhaps I'm not being quite as careful as I used to, but I try to use the cruise control as much as possible, which seems to help. So, do you reset it with each tankful, or not?

Thanks, everyone is alright. I was the only person "in the car," and I wasn't even in the car at the time. I had stopped next to my friend's car to transfer something large into his pickup, with my flashers on. I got out and was walking around the back towards his car, when my friend (who was directing traffic) yelled "look out!" I took an extra quick step or two and the car just missed me as it slammed into my 400h. A woman was alone in her car, and was fine. She had obviously been drinking, but I didn't press the issue. The 20 or so cars before her went around just fine. Strangely enough, she rolled down her passenger window and asked what to do. I told her to turn off her engine and wait for the police, which she did. A few minutes later, she started her engine and began backing up. I dove through the open window, put her vehicle in Park, turned off the engine and took her keys. It took around 30 minutes for the officer to arrive. I gave her keys to him and he wrote her a ticket. Then they towed away her car. It didn't dawn on me until later, that this occurred around 11:50 PM on Friday the 13th. I'm sure there is more than just the minor bumper damage. The gas tank may be dented, and maybe more. At least it's not a rear wheel drive.

Tonight my 2006 Lexus 400h was parked, when a 2005 Toyota Matrix ran into the rear end at around 30 mph, I would guess. I don't know what the Toyota driver was thinking (or not), but she finally applied the brakes within the last 20 feet on a wet road and plowed into the rear of my 400h. Her front end went under my rear, and my rear bumper destroyed her hood, radiator, etc. There was some, but very little discernible damage to my car, but we'll see what the body shop thinks. It really surprised me that there was such an incredible amount of damage to her Toyota, while my car was completely intact. My rear bumper seemed pushed in around 3/16" on the left side, maybe some gas tank denting (don't know), definitely a scuff mark or two on the bumper itself. Overall, I am pleased with the results. Strangely enough, her air bag did not deploy...? (Are you listening, Toyota?) It would appear that the 2006 Lexus 400h is pretty well protected from the rear, at least. Makes me feel good, since my last 3 cars were big, heavy Mercedes, and the Lexus always struck me as rather "tinny" in comparison. Just thought I'd mention it.

Although I'm not a paranoid person, I just don't like a car locking me in. I had the dealer change it on my first service. It still unlocks (if locked) when put into "park," but it doesn't automatically lock. Often, when going near a questionable neighborhood, or in the wee hours of the morning, I'll lock the doors myself. I just don't like the car doing it. Btw, my dealer did the first settings changes for free, but any more are chargeable (at $50 per occurrence, I think).

Not sure I understand. Oncoming vehicles are on the -left- side, at least here in the US. 1. Moving headlamps -left- would illuminate oncoming traffic more than not moving them, which it often does. 2. Normal Low-beam headlamps shouldn't pose a problem to oncoming traffic. 3. Whether or not headlamps move right, oncoming traffic would still be illuminated during a right curve. It would seem to me that moving headlights to the right would help to keep them illuminating the right side of the road, which is my lane of traffic. I would think that's more desirable than not moving them at all. Doug

I brought this up at my last (only) 2 dealer services, that the right wasn't working like the left was. Both times, when I picked it up, they said they had checked it, it was working fine, and there where no error codes. This last time (15,000 checkup), I was angry, and said "I don't notice it, yet you keep telling me it works fine. Did anyone actually take it out on the road and check it?" They said they had, and it works fine. That was all they told me. NOW, in a forum, I finally know the reason why it works fine, yet I don't notice it. I would have hoped the dealer's mechanics would have explained it to me. If they had, I wouldn't have gotten angry with them. I feel they should turn 15-20 degrees in -each- direction, as it's just as valuable to see to the right on a winding road in the dark as it is to see to the left. However, at least now I know it's a design flaw, not a malfunction, so I can live with it. Thank you for explaining this point. I thought I was going nuts. Doug

I'm 6' 6+", and the headroom in my 2006 RX400h has been my main complaint. Unfortunately, the largest Caddies and Lincolns I tested where no better. My Mercedes had a lot of head room, so I was spoiled for 20 years with them. My question: How much did it cost for your guy to lower the seat? I only need the driver's seat lowered, of course, but an extra 2" would make all the difference in the world.

It depends on your meter. I think you'd need to check for any amperes flowing through the positive battery cable while the car is off. May be a slight trickle or may be more. Some meters clamp around the cable, while others have to use probes. Check the booklet which came with your meter.

I have around 800 miles on my 400h, and I can definitely feel it when the ice kicks in. Also, the engine rumbles a bit at low speed. I've only used premium gas in it. I'm hoping this will improve as the car breaks in. I do, however, occasionally notice the brakes "slipping". Sometimes, while slowing down, the brakes will seem to slip, then grab again. I'm hoping this will improve as the car breaks in, too.

Not a problem? In a luxury car costing that much, I would say it IS a problem if there's only an inch or two for a 5' 10" driver. Quite a few of us are well over 6 feet tall.

Thanks to all who have contributed answers to my questions. I've been noticing that on cruise control under 40 mph, after the ice engages to go up an incline, it doesn't seem to want to disengage on level ground. If I "help it along" by accelerating a mile or two above the set speed, then let it coast down, the ice will disengage until the set speed is reached, then the electric will take over. I guess the ice has a little trouble determining if it's needed anymore, maybe to prevent it from starting and stopping too often. I wish it would use the rear motor on electric-only. Also, I cannot seem to get the "door lock" setting to work. I've done the "start, neutral, lock door for 10 seconds" procedure, yet it still locks the doors upon shifting out of Park, and doesn't respond by locking and unlocking the door. The car IS fun to drive, though. :D

Agreed. At the current prices, it would probably go largely unnoticed if a 10-15 cent per gallon tax was added for research and development of fuel-saving technology, especially if the prices were more regulated to begin with. It might also help if the weenies in Congress hadn't backed-off the EPA miles per gallon requirements.

I've owned 2 Mercedes diesels in the past. Granted, they were powerful luxury cars, and as such, didn't get over 30 mpg. The first one had problems starting on very cold days, while the second never had a problem at all, so I guess they redesigned it pretty well. They were much quieter than people think diesels are, and they had a lot of pickup, although not -quite- as much as a gas car. While I drove them, I used to think back of the days when gas was 34 cents per gallon and diesel fuel was 17 cents --- half the price. Now, good diesel fuel costs almost as much as premium. My next car was a gas Mercedes, and now an RX400h. So, in 22 years I went from diesel to gas to a hybrid. For me, it's not just saving gas, it's the principal of the thing. Most people have misconceptions about diesel cars. Probably because the U.S. never produced a good one ourselves. Bio-fuel and alternatives are fine, but we could have been doing a lot better all these years with diesel, and even gas. In Europe, the cars are lighter and smaller, and most have manual transmissions. Yet, even then, they get much better mileage than one would expect. I think this is because fuel has always been much more expensive for them. I remember 25 years ago, when they were paying around $2.00 per gallon. Now I think they're up around $5 or more. I hope gas prices stay high, so maybe we'll see more demand for hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles. We Americans tend to be extremely short-sighted lately (last 20 years), and only change when we're forced into it. As long as fuel is cheap, nobody cares much. I just wish U.S. automakers would lead, not trail, the Japanese. Maybe next year...

I just bought my RX400h 10 days ago. I like it more every time I drive it, although I wish it had another inch or two of headroom. After all, it's a luxury car, so I'd hope it would accomodate my 6' 7" height better, as my last car did (Mercedes S420). I also wish the fold down arm rest was wider, and that the ML audio was better, but nothing's perfect. I believe strongly in hybrids, and it's an interesting vehicle. It's teaching me to drive all over again, watching my acceleration and slowing down more when approaching a stop. I have a few questions, though. 1. Sometimes it will run on electric up to 32 mph (on cruise control) on a good level road before using engine, whereas at other times it will do as much as 40 on electric power alone. I understand that the engine will often initially run to heat the exhaust system or recharge the batteries, but these findings occurred after driving for awhile and engine had shut off with 70-80% in the batteries. Is there a reason I can't get over 32 mph on electric sometimes? What can I realistically expect? 2. Will the characteristics of the motors vs. engine change as the car breaks in? I've seen where it can take up to 5,000 miles before it breaks in. Will the mi/gal get better during the initial time period? 3. I'd like to put a synth oil in it, but I want to wait until it's broken in. My dealer recommended having an initial 1,000 mile oil change, then the 5,000. Should I change to synthetic at 1,000 miles, or wait longer? I remember reading articles years ago about how, with synthetics, the engine may not wear in enough or hardly at all. 4. I've read the articles referenced here about synth oil, and I think I'm more confused than ever. Would Mobil 1 or AMSoil be reasonable choices? Then again, I don't want to pay $90 for 1 change of oil. I used Castrol synth in my last car for 9 years, a Mercedes S420 (they recommend Castrol synth), and had no unpleasant experiences. However, it looks like it isn't as good as I thought, judging by the test results I've seen. 5. Do the batteries charge any better (faster) when slowing down with pressure on the brake than they do when just coasting? Would it be better to slow down by braking lightly, or to coast further then push harder on the brakes, or does it even matter? Thank you in advance to anyone who replies with their thoughts.