thelazydogsback

I still doubt this very measurable in practice in the case of particular ICE in the 400h - especially given that when you put the petal to the metal the ICE is assisted by two electric motors all through the CVT.

I've never used anything but regular in my 400h - there's really no reason to pay the premium for, ah, premium. The more expensive fuel is not likely to effect performance or economy except in very high compression racing engines. It may effect pre-ignition/knock and how the ICE starts/stops - it may help when the ICE does not stop running immediately when you're at a light, etc. (Hardly worth the price.)

I'm not sure the 400h with it's milage is what they had in mind :)

I think that rating is unrealistic - I get a little under 24 in mixed driving conditions (42/mi round-trip commute/day, highway+street, 20mph-70mph) - and this seems avg FWICT.

> if the battery is 5 years old, it should be replaced. They generally don't last much longer than that. Of which battery do you speak??

There's no oil light or anything else. Cool. I thought if it was that then I'd see the OIL or one of the other items hilighted. They have a strange definition of REQUIRED... thanks The oil light usually means that the oil pressure is critically low (e.g. leak or burning it off), which is different than a pre-set time or mileage having been reached. I think the conventional wisdom is: Maintenance light goes on, you make an appointment when convenient. Oil light goes on, you pull over right away (ASAP) and get some oil in the crank case before driving again because you may be damaging the engine. Cheers.

Cool. I thought if it was that then I'd see the OIL or one of the other items hilighted. They have a strange definition of REQUIRED... thanks

I see MAINT REQD, but no other warnings and nothing lighting up in the maintainance section. Anyway for me to tell what this is, or do I need to bring it in? thanks

No, there's no way to upgrade - I've asked. (I suppose of course there is, but there's not something avaialble that they can do at the dealer or aftermarket.) I've had bad luck with both cassette adaptors and FM transmitters - the former cut off frequecy response much more that expected for a direct inductive coupling, and the FM transmitters are so bad they hardly make it 6 feet - this appears to be especially bad with our hidden FM antenna. I think they want you to buy a new car to get BT streaming :)

Replaced OEM Bridestones @ about 40K w/hardly any tread left. After about a month of use on dry and wet (and one day of minor snow) use in Seattle (including some flood condition days) I can highly recommend these. Dig into the water well, and great general handling -- seem to "roll over" less than the Bridgstones on corners - maybe stiffer sidewalls? (Also about 20% cheaper.) Performed a last-minute emergency manouver yesterday, and the car seemed like it was on rails. Could be a little louder, but hard to tell - but if so, not by much.

I think it's because the 400h is so close to being a perfect car that we can afford to pick on it. For me, having no choice but to pay for the Nav/Bluetooth system (there were none w/o it) and then having it suck is a pet-peeve of mine...

You're a frekin' madman ;) Doing all the work for what most would consider a minor change - I hope you put this same patience and passion into your day job! Now if you can only totally replace the center console (especially the silver side w/the vents) - then I'm sold B)

I would say to save your money on the NAV. I was pretty excited to get an integrated nav, but they're always years behind the state-of-the-art of a 3rd party one. If you happen to need one in the future, grab a Garmin Nuvi (or whatever) and you'll be better off and have lot's more money in your pocket. Have fun w/the 450!

Well, I'm both sad and happy to hear this story. I'm sad for you, but I'm happy for me as now I don't have the urge to go run out and lose money on trading in my 400h for the 450... It's hard for me to beleive that they screwed the pooch on the Nav system again. After all the complaints for years, and on a brand-new 2010 model... The Nav my 400h is so bad, I've also had to use my external Garmin. This is really embarassing. And not being able to do anything while the car is moving - have they ever heard of thing called a passenger?? Or how about seeing the bluetooth stack in the 400h doesn't support the dailing profile, I can't use the great voice-dialing on the blackberry, so I have to take my eyes and hands off the road to dial the phone? Can you use phone voice-dialing now with the 450h? The built in voice control is worse than useless. Seems like a great market opportunity so special order a 450h with no dash :) and have a decent 3rd-party control system put in...

Alas, this is not possible - it's a real PITA. I have a Backberry w/great voice reco, all synronized over-the-air to my Exchange server, and I can't use the voice dialing. Not only can't you use the microphone in the Lexus, but because you're connected to BT, the phone's mic. is shut off, so you can't use phone voice dialing at all in the car.