vinovelo

If my car weren't recalled, I wouldn't have to drive the 45 miles back and forth to the dealership. But that's not the only gas I had to use; the gas in the loaner represents another 45 miles, so the total number of gallons of gas consumed because Lexus had to fix their mistake amounts to almost 4 gallons or about $10. Of course, since I wanted to have the brake fluid flushed, I had to bring the RX there anyway, so the expenditure to get back and forth to work was only $5.00, but still......... If I recall correctly, the Lexus dealer fills your fuel tank to FULL after any recall work. This is true! Blew me away. I just had my 2008 400h recalled for a hybrid power system module replacement and not only was that done but the vehicle was washed and detailed and the fuel tank topped off! Dang, had I known that I would have run her dry before the recall. :^) I was also treated to a nice 2013 450h as a loaner. Very nice vehicle. Not enough to make me want to jump out of my 08 but some nice features. Overall: - 2013 was quieter, especially the engine under moderate to heave acceleration. - The Nav system is MUCH bettter. Voice regocnition actually seems to work now. Real time trafic alerts are nice. Helped me avoid a jam. - Rear view mirror warning lights for close vehicles in potental blind spots is very nice. - Key FOB system is better - Gas milage seemed about the same (but I only drove it about 40 miles. So, there are a lot of technology features that have been introduced in the last few years. But I still ove my 08 (and it IS a bit faster). /Steve

I have never heard of having an electrical harness needing replacement because of batrtery terminal corrosion. The problem you describe at the battery posts is common (to all behicles) and can usually be eliminated or at least severley reduced by applying spme terminal sealant / conditioner that is available at most auto supply stores. Having it completely eat up the battery cable is pretty extreme in sucha stort time. I would check on it every 4-6 months and keep it cleaned. Moisture maybe? /Steve

Is there a way for the owner to reset the ICU? /Steve

That certainly IS true. My Acura 01 TL tranny failed at 49995 miles. It failed in a VERY dangerous way too. At 45 MPH the tranny went into failure mode and downshifted into 2nd gear. Nearly caused an accident. Acura treated me well with the repair and loaner but the engineering flaw remains. It will most likely fail again in the future. If you research Acura tranny failures for 01-03 it was a big black eye for Honda. I still keep the car because it is more economically feasable to replace the tranny one more time in the life of the car than to replace it. Other than that (yeah, it's a biggie) not one other item has failed in 10 years of service. /Steve

This is an excellent post and accurately describes conditions vs results for this vehicle. Myself I have gotten as low as about 22-23 hot footing it in stop & go traffic or at high highway speeds and as high as 33.5 once when caught in terrible traffic over a 100+ mile trip where there was not a lot of stop and go but very slow and rolling speeds. Yes, short trips kill mileage just as a non-hybrid vehicle. You are right about the feeling as well. The combination of the CVT tranny and the engine switching off does indeed have a calming effect under bad traffic conditions. In my other vehicles I get steamed knowing I am grinding my tranny up and just wasting fuel in traffic. There are some things that bother me about the hybrid system such as no economy mode, but it does give reasonable fuel mileage and the smooth power delivery is very good. I have nick names for my vehicles. My Miata (old 94 HIGHLY modified) is named Sparky, the RX400h....Prozac. /Steve

Oh sure! It'll getcha home, for CERTAIN . . . IF: Your ICE is warmed up to S4 (157 degrees f.) Your traction pack is on the top blue line, or in the green, and, You're less than a half mile from home, and, Your drive is on level ground. Now, do you REALLY feel any better? Run the traction pack down to where you get a (red triangle of death) full on shut down, and your recharge will NOT be covered by your warranty. And there's always that embarrasing phone call where in essence you have to call for assistance, in essence admitting to being a couple sandwitches short of a picnik. So true! I live 1.5 miles from a Costco and on the return to the house if the vehicle is warmed up SOMETIMES I can drive 98% of the way on batteries if I am REAL careful. I will have 3-4 bars left after. Normally on flat and level roads I can go about 1/3 - 1/2 mile before the engine wants to kick in at about 32-35 mph. But, it's flaky. Sometimes I cannot get more than 1/10 of a mile and the ICE keeps cutting in. Even after a long run to warm up the coolant, catalyst, etc. Sometimes it's quite frustrating. I am hoping stronger batteries and a different algorithm on the hybrid control chip might be available a few years down the road. Aftermarket perhaps. /Steve

If I remember correctly the laser cruise option was only available in certain configurations. I have the towing package for instance and it was not available with that. Too bad as I would have liked that. THE only feature I am sorely disapointed in is the voice recognition NAVI. Useless. /Steve

Has the voice recognition command list changed in recent years? I took the above posted docs (again, thanks for posting them) and found that there were entire classes of commands that would not work at all. For example: The A/C commands would not work. There is s list of commands for turning it on/off, raising/lowering temperature or setting it to "n Degrees" that not only would not work but seem to get misinterpeted as other commands. Every time I tried to set the temperature by saying "75 Degrees" for example the NAVI wound turn on random icons (ATM, gas stations, etc...) on the map. Quite frustrating. If I look at the screens "help" voice command list none of these are listed. /Steve

"Remember that the mighty Oak was was once a nut like you" I have always found voice command, entertaining!! I agree with GRYPHON. Sometimes it easily recognizes names and other times not even close for even easy street names. Try seeing if you can get it to recognize "Grove" st. in San Fransisco. I have no regional accent at all and this thing was so far off it was silly. /Steve

FWIW, I did not see this listed on the personalized settings sheet. But, I notice the sheet had a 2006 date. Was this added as a setting recently (i.e. 2007-2008 models)? /Steve Lexus_Personalized_Settings.pdf

Yes, I'm with you there. I believe Lexus should have included the ability to change many of the settings by 'code' for the owner via some of the buttons such as the info. buttons. I do not have experience with many other car-makers, but unfortunately BMW has the same approach: any change of settings must be done by the dealer (and here in Miami Braman Motors - which I highly recommend avoiding - wants to charge $60 per change of settings EVEN ON A NEW CAR!!). So, in a way, Lexus dealers are kind to offer change at no cost. But not all changes are available: for instance, I would like to 'delete' the automatic re-setting of the avge. fuel consumption whenever you refill the gas tank. The old RX300 had a continuous 'avge' irrespective of refills, and that made a lot more sense, particularly since you can 'reset' the counter/computer whenever you want. This confuses me. My 2008 RX400h does not do this at all. I have to manually clear the mileage every time I fill up. One thing that drives me nuts personally is that the doors do not auto lock if I forget to lock them. All of my other cars both with OEM and after market systems do this as default. There have been a few times I have been shocked to find out the next day that my vehicle has been unlocked all night. Here is a scenario. Shopping, hatch filled up. Exit vehicle. Open hatch, close doors. Unload hatch area. Carrying in last load of groceries, close the rear hatch with the remote. vehicle doors are now left unlocked (as I forgot to hit the lock button after the hatch close button). This drives me NUTS! /Steve

I also have a Miata as a fun car. I once drove a Boxter-S that I thought would give it a run for it's money as well. Mine is a 94-b Laguna blue, HIGHLY modified: - Jackson racing supercharger - Toyo (wider profile) performance tires. - Jackson sway bars - Custom shock towers - Brainstorm low profile headlights - and...tons of small mods. The nice thing about the Miata is you can easily modify the hell out of it and have fun. It's noisy and you feel every bump in the road but, you just cannot drive it without a smile on your face (or you don't have a pulse...) My other ride is an 2008 RX400h. I love it but am afraid to tough the thing. (actually it's amazing how well the RX handles for it's size, height and weight). /Steve Newark, CA

If by breaking even on costs you are mean the savings in fuel costs it will take a long time (unless gas goes to and stays at $5 a gallon). The biggest advantage with the 400h is not so much the fuel savings but the difference in the drive trains. If you do a lot of driving in traffic the 400h is much more calming because of the CVT transmission. The feel of acceleration is markedly different as well. Climbing mountain passes for example is effortless. Under normal throttle (not wide open) it is also quieter. /Steve

Looks like an RX400h alright. No mention as to the model and year in this article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/04/doctor.car.blast/index.html /Steve

Been there as well. Yes, the cables to the dome top are something else. Standing on top of Half Dome is an experience you do not forget. /Steve