s10

The manual actually says if you're leaving it for 2 weeks or more, have someone start it and leave it in 'READY' mode for about 30 mins. You should be OK for nine days. Just make sure the battery is charged up before you park it.

The manual has to be extremely on the safe side because of the whole bonkers legal system in the US. I have left my RX standing still for over 2 months without any issues.

If only the HS was a WAGON!

How do I keep the audio screen static? Especially when I'm flipping through my XM stations to see song titles. Everytime I activate the audio screen, it only statys for 10 sec and then reverts back to the previous screen.

I think the manual indicates which preset to change if you don't want the screen to go back to maps automatically.

Any thoughts?

All these prepaid offers never pay off in the end. I made the mistake of taking the service costs prepaid program; it is a waste of money.

Is it just me, or do these think look entirely inappropriate for a luxury hybrid STREET vehicle?

Tom

No, it's not just you. I think it looks absolutely hideous, and useless and even dangerous for anybody who comes in contact with it, instead of the front part of the car that is designed to minimise impact with pedestrians and such.. but hey.. if you really like it.. why not.

You have something configured wrong. Either on the car or on your cell phones. You need to find the setting that tells the phone/vehicle's bluetooth to automatically reconnect... I had a 2007 400h that worked fine with my Blackberry phone and reconnected automatically. I now have an 08 GX470, and the phone reconnects automatically whenever I restart the car. Your car is fine, it's your service advisor that needs some work.

Correct, but with 2 different phones you have to go to the menu and tell the car that it has to look for the other phone. Unfortunately it does not change these settings by itself.

Here's my list of +'s and -'s for the 450h:

+'s

better suspension, wider track

performance package (but may only be the tires)

more leg room, longer seat cushions (I'm tall)

ventalated seats (yum)

more cargo room

front grill and bumper treatment (much better)

lazer guided cruise missle...er, I mean control

XM traffic and weather on the nav

pollution sensing recirrulate button (very thoughtful)

over all less "egg" shaped

hidden rear wiper

-'s

wood on the steering wheel (just does not belong there, sorry)

less ground clearance (but now has plastic skid plates ;o)

roof rack does not come with cross bars (sold separately, I hope?)

chrome trim around the windows (why?)

"shoulder" body feature along the sides (looks like it got squashed)

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Some good things also may have some bad sides...

-Hidden wiper: nightmare to replace

-front bumper/ grill treatment: expensive damage in a small crash

The shape is another question, a matter of taste. Personally I think the new RX is way to bland. It lost character, looks like many other cars around and will not end up on my drive way.

Happened to me too. Dealer replaced the windshield in warranty.

Yep, depending on the amount of extras on the car, around 40K would be good. Do not wait for the new RX, save your money on a car that is almost identical and much better looking. (Yep Lexus, you lost me as a potential new RX buyer, it is way to bland looking)

I tried the new Rx, albeit a non hybrid version. Here some of my impressions:

-Exterior, design wise, it starts to grow on me.. I still prefer the 2nd gen RX though. Some clever details; I like the new mirrors and their placement, I like the hidden rear wiper, although wonder how to change it, I like the keyless entry

-Trunk: wider loading areas, but no more little compartments underneath, no easy way of keeping grocery bags or similar right up. Hatch opens a bit higher than previous, but still to low for me (6.3), easy handle to flatten rear seats.

-back seats: noticeably more legroom. 2 dvd screens seem a bit to much to me, I prefer 1 roof mounted screen.

-Drivers seat: even more comfortable than 2nd gen RX, cooled seats are a nice touch, dash is nice, navi screen is better placed, the control thing is easy to use, much better than I thought, one large centre armrest with deep bin underneath. I did pinch my fingers badly while moving the arm rest forward, so watch out! Shift stick is hiding heating controls when in P, heating controls are a bit random, no logic there, interior color schemes are as before, and personally I think they are very ugly.. The only combinations acceptable for me are al black with darkwood or what I currently have grey with black wood, if only Lexus would offer a choice of wood replacements, like brushed metal or full leather or piano finish or just a more modern type of wood...

Nav is much better, voice control is usable now.

Drive: nice, a little bit more sportier than before, a bit better in the corners, a bit faster, less noise.

All in all small improvements, nothing dramatic.

O yes, the new red is nice!

Heated windshield wiper... I think most drivers in snowy areas seem to be able to cope without.

I noticed that the statement includes "if necessary". That may indicate that only certain conditions will merit the replacement of the steering rack. Of the many tens of thousands of RX400hs on the road here in the US, I haven't heard of more than one that has had power steering issues, and I've been on this forum for more than 4 years now.

remember our discussions about the first thred here!?

if your car was manufactured between 04/03/2005 and 06/10/2006 expect a recall to replace the power steering of your car.

here is the customer satisfaction campaign for europe power steering replacement

in europe we had three, china had some. the recalls started in china and please note that this problem is affecting IS and GS as well, but see yourself here Toyota to highway administration

So, from what I read the potential defect could lead to some loss of power assistance when turning, not inverting.

But it was fun to read this thread again...

It is a rebadged Toyota Avensis. I was hoping for a wagon, so ot happy personally. But since there is a wagon version of the Avensis.. I have hope.

Anyway, the exterior is rather bland and bourgeois, so it will sell well, but it is not my taste.

THe inside.. from the pics I've seen looks hideous. That square part of the dash sticking out, the placement of the wood here and there.. just don't get it.

I'm not a believer in this whole nitrogen for tires thing.

Air is 78% nitrogen anyways, do you really think that additional 22% is going to make that big a difference?

On a race car or a plane's landing gear maybe, but on your car? I ain't buying.

Agreed.. it is just another way of making money.

Looks too similar to the 2nd Gen Rx.. They didn't do much work on that blindspot issue on the sides. <_< Front came from a mix of an ES and IS, interior resembles the slope in the Acuras, and the iDrive obviously came from BMW lol..

Plus they're keeping it as an RX350? I would have thought that they would upgrade the displacement of the engines, but it's still about a year away before this bad boy's released so we'll see what Lexus will really decide to do with the 3rd Gen RX.

My understanding the new model is coming out Feb 2009.

Exactly, it is coming out Feb 2009, and the hybrid a few months after that.

A bigger engine? No way... why? To go even faster from one stoplight to the other? I was hoping for a smaller engine, the 2.5 they offer in Japan.

I had a Rx 350 before, with air suspension and a Rx 400H now, obviously without.

The 350 had a nicer ride, suspension wise, more stability, more comfortable.

The 400H points are the fantastic gearbox and the silence. I don't think it is more noisy than the 350H although sometimes, have no idea why, the engine is more noisy and vibrating than other times, but mostly for brief periods and if it disturbs me I just take my foot for a few seconds of the acc. and it is fine again.

Braking with the 400H is something you have to get accustomed to, it can be awkward at times.

All in all I'm extremely happy with the 400H, I get on average around 400 miles out of a full tank.

A shame the new model they presented on the LA autoshow is so bland.

The nav display on my 01 LS430 adjusts from day to night. During the day, the map has a white background and at night, it changes to dark.

My 08 RX400h does not seem to make this adjustment. The white map on the dash is very stark for nighttime driving. I can't find a setting to change this. Is it there?

JPF

If your dashboard lights are on max, the display ha white backdrop instead of black.

Here some more pics...

http://www.autoincar.com/

All new 400h have the Blue badge on the back only.

it does seem to good to be true, and probably isn't entirely accurate if you were to do more complicated math to determine the mpg. But in my simplified way of looking at it, when i sold my expedition last weekend, the avg mpg on the display was 8.5. (for the type of driving i do, mainly city with stop and go and sitting at traffic lights, i could be at a stop light and watch my mileage literally tick downward while waiting on a green light.) so on the surface my avg mpg has tripled from 8 to 25 - i agree i'm blown away by it, especially since i just got the car last night. i did reset the avg mpg through the info screen after i left the dealership, then again after my husband drove it (he drove it like it was his bmw :chairshot: ) because i wanted to see the calculation reflecting my driving style (light foot and coasting). maybe that skewed the avg. calculation, i don't know, but i'm feeling good thinking in my mind that i've tripled my mpg.

congratulations on your purchase. Enjoy the RX400H!

Hi - I'll shortly be purchasing either an RX400h or RX350. I'm really torn between the two in terms of will I see a big enough benefit to justify the additional expenditure for the hybrid. Briefly, my driving habits are 85 - 90% city, weeks can pass without me getting on the highway. Most of my city driving is within a 10 mile radius, the majority of my trips are short. In theory, it seems like the hybrid would be the better choice. In practice, I'm not convinced the extra cost is justified. I've been driving an Expedition for just over 4 years now (I know that's terrible for gas, environment, etc. and now I'm willing to try to atone for my sins), so even the 350 I think will give me a nice difference in mileage while being better for the environment as well. Any thoughts/advice/suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Also, these 2 cars are my only choices - there's no other hybrid I like, and the 350 from what I've researched gets the best mileage of a midsize SUV. So it's one or the other! Many thanks, :)

In any case the hybrid is the better buy.... the extra money you invest in it will come back at the end when you sell it... it depreciates less (and that difference will grow when the new model will come out!)

I can't tell you the part numbers but I can tell you how the missing parts look:

I have ordered those plastic pieces as well and have the same problem. However I finally decided not to use those plastics yet they did cost me a lot of money.

after roof rail removal:

I don't like the look of this:

However, the thing that really had me worried were the missing screws. The screws from the roof rail are too long, so I had to get stainless screws in order to fill those holes in my roof (thank god it didn't rain) after the roof rack was removed.

I'm looking for some rubber moldings similar to the ones already in place adjacent to the gaps. I don't want nothing to stand up there. In the mean time, I have covered them with some thick rubber stripes used to cover carpet gaps in buildings.

Anybody interested in the official Installation Manual for the roof rail, PM me with email address (752 KB, pdf).

So 4 of these and the correct screws is all that's needed? I got the order no for both now... hopefully I can install everything before it rains here in LA.

I like the other solution too.. a wrecked RX would be a great source... where to find one?

Finally I received the desired four little pieces of plastic that cover the holes when you remove the roof rack.

I had ordered them thru family in the Netherlands.. it took some months.

So today I removed the roof rack... piece of cake... and wanted to install the 4 pieces of plastic.

Only to discover that you need more then just that.. you also need "something" that goes under those pieces, something they "click" on.

So I have to order 4 more pieces, but first I have to find out their codes....

For the moment some gaffertape covers the gaps.. nobody will notice.. and it never rains here in L.A. anyway...

But hopefully I will be able to finish this job properly soon.

And the RX looks so much better without! :)

my 3G iPhone connected right away with my '08 Rx400H.

Hi, I'm considering a Lockpick too... but I have the cd/dvd changer and the rear seat dvd system... from what I understood from the Lock pick website, with that kind of set up it is more complicated to install.. anyone with experience here?

First, your avatar doesn't show what year your 400h is, so there's no way to say w/ accuracy. Best bet? call costaletech's toll free # and ask them. Generally, if you have the DVD screens built into the rear of the front seat headrests, you'll be able to access from the VAV DVD box under the rear compartment ... which is easier then accessing behind the MFD. But even getting behind the MFD really isn't too hard. But don't just presume the 'general rule' applies to you. Check w/ coastaletech.

I have a 2008 RX. The rear entertainment is roof mounted, not in the headrests. I emailed and called costaltech... without much success