gtoph

Following up. I had planned to talk to headquaters about this again, and try to contact the state board as well, but a lot of unexpected things had come up and I hadn't gotten a chance. But today, I got a call out of the blue from Lexus, and they informed me that there is an offical campain now for this issue and they will be reembursing me the full amount.

I would like to think that all of us here had a little to do with that. :)

I'm not sure you could go somewhere else, but I kind of doubt it. $180 is better than my deal which was over $200. I'm still kind of bitter about it, even with a $125 service credit for next time... which let's face it, isn't going to get you too far at the dealer.

I could understand if my sensors was actually bad, and needed replacement, but like DJ said above, a simple software upgrade so we can pass emmisions should be done under a recall free of charge. I don't know how much farther we can get on this though... other than to have as many people with this issue call corporate as possible and hopefully when there is enough, they do actually issue a recall.

German,

did you have to push to get reembursed? They did the same thing to my rx; simple computer software update and road test. Charged me about twice as much for 2 hrs of labor though.

Dealing with customer service all I got so far is a little service credit, but no reembursement. Did yours happen to be under warentee still? Aprantly, the 8/80k expired for me this last January.

Thanks guys, I just ran into an identical issue. Smog guys said o2 sensor wasn't ready. Have an appt with the dealer tomorrow, hopefully it's just a matter of doing the upgrade.

Chris,

I can't say how close to dealer invoice you can get a 400h, but you should email the local dealers and provide specifics. You can go to the Lexus web site can 'custom build' your car. then email the specifics to the dealers and ask them how much they would be willing to sell the car. If you email them, these inquiries would be forwarded to their Internet sales rep if they have one. If you want, go to consumer reports web site and you can pay them to provide information on the model you are interested in. They will tell you the dealer's actual cost, not just dealer invoice (but including incentives that they get.) This will tell you how much above their actual cost they are asking. Consumer reports says 4% to 8% is a reasonable price which allows the dealer to make some profit.

Just to add, Archie is correct for the most part. Only I wouldn't bother with paying for the consumer reports report. (I did and there was nothing I didn't already find for free, and I actually found more info than they provided anyway).

I would hit the lexus forums (this one and carspace.com seem to be the better ones) to see what other people are getting them for.

Of course the forums are no substitute for actually having the real figures. There are a slew of free sites out there (google is your friend) that will tell you the real cost. edmunds.com and cars.com are good starts, but they pretty much only list the basic info. If you dig deeper, you'll find the holdback (edmunds mentions it actually), the wholesale holdback, the TDA, and of course the invoice price.

For a jump start (this is all from memory) for lexus, the holdback is 2% of base MSRP, the wholesale is another 1%, and I believe the TDA varies with models (this one is harder to dig up) but I think is around $400-$600.

Subtract all that from invoice and you'll have what the dealer really pays for the car.

FWD is the accepted term for Front Wheel Drive, which is what I have. Check the Lexus web site.

Ok, so ... hoping the point didn't get missed ... trying simply to say that the 400h ONLY comes in 2wd (which is driven from the front two wheels only) or AWD (which is different from the typical type that has a physical connection to the ICE).

Is that more understandable? Trying to keep it simple :D

Not really. Again, the 400h comes in FWD or AWD. 2wd could imply only rear wheel drive as well (which is still around), it would be better to say FWD, (which is 2wd using the front wheels).

For our 400h, yes the ICE is not connected to the real wheels, but that doesn't matter, they are still powered.

Bottom line, it comes in FWD and i would say part time AWD.

(though I've seen debates on the latter.... how is AWD vs 4wd vs full/part time defined exactly.... not that I'm opening up that one again)

5. LEXUS PREPAID MAINTENANCE - Did you guys go for this with your car? $4000 for 4 years of maintenance seemed steep, so we passed at purchase, but we still have a chance to add it later. The kicker with this dealer is that they would pick up and drop off the car on a flat-bed and they included an Extended Warranty to 7 years... The last part was only if bought at time of original purchase.

6. FINISH PROTECTANT - For $1500, they offered an protector package that included insdde and out protectant install with detailing annually for five years. Again, we told them we would have to think about it...

Just my .02 on these as well...

5. My purchase was from out of state so I didn't get the usual add-on BS speech, but I assume this is just for routine things like oil, tire rotation and such. I would just get your free one (at 5k) done at the dealer and then you can take it to any reputable (ie not jiffy-lube or some other crap chain store) place and have the same stuff done for a lot less. If you have an issue with using a dealer, take it to Toyota and you can get offical parts, and it'll still be a lot cheaper.

6. Likewise, todays paints hold up just fine without any add-on spray crap. If you really want it, check your local shops. Just as an example, they wanted $200 to tint the front two windows at the dealer, where all they do is sub it out to some local shop anyway. I actually got a recommendation from the parts guy and we ended up paying about $80.

Detailing, just go to your local carwash anytime you feel the need to have it detailed.

When I bought my 2001 Corvette and later my 2006 Corvette, I was disappointed with the local Dealers who didn't have the specific car and was determined to sell their Vettes at MSRP, sometimes higher or at best, just a bit lower.

So, with the help of CorvetteForum.com, I was able to locate a dealer in the midwest who I sold me the specific car I wanted at a great price. The key was what is called a Courtesy Delivery. The selling dealer never took delivery of the car, instead it was sent directly to a local dealer, who charged $300-500 to take delivery, besides that cost, there was no other costs associated with this type of purchase. The bottom line, is that this method allowed me to get the car I wanted at a price that was not inflated by the local market.

Anyways, does Lexus have something like this? Am I likely to get a better deal this way or will local dealers sell me a 400h at anything near invoice?

I'm not sure about the "courtesy delivery" thing, but here's my 2 cents.....

1. Don't pay MSRP, you can at least get 4000 off MSRP, probably more now.

2. My local dealers wouldn't do a whole hell of a lot, I think the best I could do with them was 48k on the 51.3k MSRP one

3. I ended up purchasing my out of state and having it shipped. Doing that I got a few more thousand less and shipping cost me 600 (which is pretty close to the delivery you mentioned above).

There were no other fees associated (ok other than $50 to overnight paperwork) except of course local TTL.

If you can get it into the top 2 bars it'll change to green. Try going down a big-ol' hill and put it in 'B' or use your brake ever so slightly.

I drove too carefully my first year,'06, and now I drive with less concern and just enjoy this amazing car and it doesn't seem to matter that much, not enough to be a nervous nellie while driving, what's the point of that,right? I think that now that I have my tires at 34psi, it seems to make a wee bit of difference, haven't had that change for too long so the verdict is still out. It does seem to ride much better than the 30psi that the dealership had them at. Anyway, relax and you'll see that the loss of MPGs isn't enough to ruin your enjoyment of driving an amzing piece of technology. If you want great mileage,get a Prius but,I don't think any of us want that. Rey

I was was the dealership the other day and asked about the inflation. They said something like upto 40psi in winter and a few less in summer. I've been running them at ~37 and haven't noticed anything unusual. The higher pressure does help with MPG.

Just wish lexus would actually revise the official recommended pressure.

I have a 2006 AWD. I user Premium gas, and have my tire pressure at 36 psi. I got 28.2 during the Summer months, and have gotten 24.9 during the Winter months, so I am averaging around 26.5 overall.

You can improve your mileage results a couple miles per gallon by observing the driving techniques discussed in other posts.

You might have mentioned it before, but have you noticed any unusual wear on your tires at 36psi? I'm actually running them around there as well but mine still still to new to tell anything yet.

Anyone know if Lexus officially changed this yet?

One dealer came back and he is at $3000 below MSRP!

We are looking better.

Don't be afraid to shop out of state, you can probably still do better. :)

Jditom, here's a previous post I made about my 07 RX400h purchase:

Husker. I only made a few calls, mostly adjacent states. Then I called three local dealers and essentially told them I had firm quotes as low as $1500 over invoice. Two immediately said they would match the price The third didn't call back. Be careful however to get the out-the-door price as doc fees etc can vary. My 07 came out to be:

$48,306 invoice

$42,772 dealer cost

$ 1,500 dealer profit

$44,272 my price

$ 412 misc fees

$44,684 total before sales tax, license and registration fees

I don't think that there is any shortage of RX400h's, so a dealer will likely do whatever he needs to do to keep from losing a sale. Also there is always additional profit for the dealer with end-of-the-year holdback, which is a somewhat guarded number.

Hope this helps.

Tom

See http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX?14@@...a30.ef79a27/259 for my story...

In short,

MSRP: 51346

Public invoice: 45741

Payed 46650 (without TTL) with no fees or dealer prep. (ok $50 for overnight documents back and forth, but no biggie).

Holdback isn't that guarded anymore, and I did find out a few other numbers as well... I might have been able to do a little better, but it was still a reasonable deal.

The local dealers would do a whole heck of a lot for me, so I bought it out of state and had it shipped.... still cheaper than the best deal I could get here.

Lexus doesn't use the word xenon anywhere on their website in relation to the 400h, but they are indeed xenon from everything I've read.

they are. It's pretty cool to see them move and "self level" when you start it.

Looking at a 2007 400h for my wife. She is in a fully loaded X5 4.4.

Are the adaptive lights Xenon's?

Thanks all

By the way, if you end up trying to purchase one, you can get a decent deal on them, so don't let the dealer sell it to you for MSRP. :)

I know this might sound naive...and I am at times,but I thought all 400hs were 4WD? Now I see on sites that ask for model,year,ect., that they have a box to check for RX400h for 2WD and one for 4WD. I thought there was a motor for the rear wheels? Argh. Naively yours, Rey

There's two versions... the 2WD and an AWD.

4WD is not the same as AWD... the difference has to full time vs part time wheel driving.

The 400h does not have a drive shaft from the engine to the rear wheels, only an electric motor is connected to them.

Hope that helps.

It has been done by hacking the upgrade DVD ... you'll have to search around for the data as it's not at my finger tips.

It is all over the lexus forums.... basically you take the operating system file from the old nav DVD and the data files from the new one and burn a hybrid DVD.

It would be nice if someone knew of a similar touch screen hack like the old one had. I'm sure it's still in 6.1 version, just a matter of someone finding the right combo.

I'll just harass the parts guy next time I'm near my dealer (20m away) :)

If you ever do remember that website let us know :)

Does LockPick work with the 2007 version 6 Nav (RX350)?

last I have seen no, LP doesn't work with the '07 (yet). There is info all over the net on how to create a "hybrid" nav CD by using the 5.x OS with the new 6.1 map data. Personally, I haven't done it, but many have had success.

Hopefully it's just a matter of time before someone figures out the sequence of buttons presses for the new system.

I am purchasing a new RX400h in the next month or so. I live in the Baltimore area. How much are people paying over dealer invoice for their vehicles? What is reasonable?

When people are posting discounts off of MSRP that gives me no frame of reference since I shop from cost up. After deciding on how I want the vehicle optioned, I only discuss dealer margin in my negotiations.

Are there dealer or mfg incentives I should be aware of? I know there is a tax incentive if I buy before 3-31-07.

Who are the best dealers in the area? Sales reps? Any other info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your reply.

Well this post is a few days old, so I don't know if you have bought anything yet. But if it helps, I payed around 4700 less than MSRP for my fully loaded '07 RX400h. (around 900 over invoice if you include the TDA in the invoice).

There are several posts on the edmunds forums with other peoples deals as well (and more details of mine as well).