RX400h

When I lived in CT, a friend was horrified after taking his car through a car wash - millions of hairline scatches throughout the clearcoat. That is when I swore off car washes, FOREVER! Seriously, now that I live in San Diego, there is never reason for me to take any of our vehicles through an automated car wash. Besides, hand-washing is good exercise.

If you are moving in a straight line, it is certainly far easier to stop a car that was in a full-throttle condition, if the engine is off - even if there is no vacuum boost to the brakes.

Here's the latest news from an article in Design News magazine:

Have you tried www.tirerack.com?

I'm really sorry that this happened to you, Jim and I understand your bitterness. Believe it or not, my wife once had a lemon Honda Accord. For years, I swore off ever buying a Honda. "They're junk!" I'd tell everyone. Eventually I realized that no one else was having the same problems we did. In fact, year after year, car & driver and Consumer Reports rated the Accord as the best or right near the top. My son has a 97 Civic that is a model of efficiency and reliability. It puts all German cars in its class to shame. Another true story..... I worked with a girl who always drove MB vehicles and ALWAYS had issues - no engine or transmission problems, but many irritating electronic ones. When it was time for her to buy a new vehicle, I suggested the new RX400h. Instead, she opted for the ML320 SUV that averaged 16 MPG on premium only. As gas priced rose above $4.00/gal, I asked her why she would continue to spend $60/week on gas expenditures. She told me she was always treated like royalty at her local MB dealership and that was worth more than the thousands of dollars and countless trips to the dealership over the years. ....very odd, to say the least. Car and Driver recently completed a long term test of the BMW M3. The transmission was making strange noises and like most German vehicles, other issues were beginning to surface. The bottom line in my book is that you can always switch dealerships, but switching vehicles because of quality issues is a far worse scenario in almost every way. The general saying among car enthusiests is that if you buy German, make certain you own the car ONLY while it is covered under a comprehensive warranty.

I change the oil, myself but have never noticed this. However, I will scrutinize the oil more closely when I change the oil next month. If you really wish to know exactly what is in your oil, you can send it out for an oil analysis. Before that, here is a quick and dirty way to analyze used oil: http://members.themotoroilevaluator.com/index.php?id=162

This just goes to show us that there are bad dealerships of every brand vehicle. Fortunately, most larger cities have more than one, making your chances of finding a good one, much better. Our dealership has been great.

....this coming from a guy who is trying to convince us to mod our RXs????? We are all in BIG trouble!!!

I wonder if it's because you live in beautiful CA where the roads are perfect. We here in Winnipeg Canada have pretty bad roads. I would say I encounter this more often than not. Well, I wouldn't call them perfect, but they surely beat the roads in many cold climate areas! Regarding the weather: We are currently experiencing the most rainfall I can ever remember. So far, it's been raining every day this week. Last night, it was raining so intensely that my neighbor's two plastic garbage cans were picked up by a stream of water and slammed against my son's car. Bizarre sight for San Diego.....

After driving our RX400h for almost 5 years, I must say that this scenario occurs very infrequently, so I don't worry about it.

We bought our 2006 RX400h in April of 2005 and the battery is still doing well. What was wrong with your brakes?

I'm a bit surprised you feel that way about red. My daughter's Mazda also has red gauge illumination and in most cultures, red signifies "warning", "caution", or "danger". I find it somewhat distracting compared to the soothing blue color which for most people signifies "cool" or "calm". Also, I think Lemon found that a red tint results in a pink hue, not red. If you're not female, having pink gauges can easily be misconstrued....

I believe GM's been including the volume boost for more than 13 years now. I have it in my 01. However, it may not mean much if the tone is changed in a sportscar that doesn't have much insulation in it. Now a luxury vehicle - makes alot of sense.

I can generally feel whether the outer or middle treads are wearing faster, but other than using a penny to gauge tread depth, a great way to do this accurately is to buy a digital tire depth gauge. MSC industrial supply has a Fowler unit at a reasonable price. What I'm getting at is that if your tires are wearing evenly, there is no reason to change the pressure in each. I am certain, however, that the 30 psi listed on the door jamb sticker is too low, especially for the OEM Goodyears. Dave

My Corvette had runflat tires from the factory but when it came time to replace them, I went with non-runflats, a tire repair kit, small 12V compressor, some pliers and an aluminum lift jack. The difference in ride quality was staggering - much smoother. Runflat tires typically weigh 6 lbs more than non-runflat tires (18" size), so that explains some of the ride quality improvements. The other reason for the ride change is that the sidewalls of most runflat tires is much stiffer than that of non-runflat tires. And since I hadn't had a catastrophic blowout in 20 years, odds are in my favor. Most tire leaks are slow enough so that you can get to a tire shop. Often, the nail that punctures the tire provides adequate sealing. Now, there is the "peace-of-mind" factor that ecourages many folks to keep buying runflat tires. Those who take long trips or are female are typically included within that crowd. As for brand of tires, I'd stay away from the OEM model but not necessarily the brand. Both Michelin and Goodyear make some excellent aftermarket tires and there are plenty of other manufacturers who produce very good ones as well. I generally use Consumer Reports as a quide to which ones represent the best value.

And THAT'S the beauty of regenerative braking!

She saw too many movies where the vehicle would plow into another and the two would explode in a huge fireball!

Ah, that makes perfect sense. It was below zero when this happened. And the day before all this started I had gone to the car wash and I swear that everything started after that. Thanks to all for the good advice, Josie I guess you're better off than I was when I lived in CT. If I washed my car during cold Winter months, on the following morning, I couldn't unlock the door. I had to pour hot water on it and quickly insert and turn the key. Those were the days!

I totaled my first car (a Mazda RX4) at age 20, so don't feel so bad. Of course, I was racing a BMW 2002tii and the crash made the "Naugy Daily News", but that's besides the point. I've had a few back up mishaps as well, but the first accident in the RX400h was when it was less than one three months old. Some guy in a pickup decided to try to back out of a crowded gas station parking lot and put a big dent in the bumper. If I recall correctly, the damage was about $1200. Luckily, it came out of the truck guy's insurance. My advice, pull a Tony Stark and install a scanning laser in the bumper. Include a digital readout of scanned object distances, along with a bar graph for quick reference. This should prevent such occurances from rearing their ugly heads again.

Josie, I answered your IM but essentially, your vehicle "brain" will sense slip and back off power until traction is gained, often by the transfer of motion to the opposite wheel. We know for certain that having good snow tires makes a huge difference when it comes to traction on snow, especially for vehicles that employ a type of traction control that cannot be switched off. I'd say that what you are experiencing is perfectly normal, especially if you have all-season tires from the factory. Dave

Hello, Josie and congratulations on joining the hybrid club. When you do this, are you on an incline? Is there snow or gravel underneath the tires. If the answer to question number two is "no", then I would recommend that you mention this to your service advisor, the next time you bring your vehicle to the dealership. I've never experienced this with my 400h, but then again it never gets colder than 40F here in San Diego. Still, this type of behavior should not happen on dry ground, IMO. Dave

Deep cycle batteries are best suited for vehicles with powerful audio systems, as the heavy drain from big amps will kill a normal battery, very early. Costco Kirkland batteries are inexpensive but last quite a long time. I haven't checked to see whether they have the right size, but I'll bet they do. The Walmart MAXX battery is also a very good battery for the price. The best starting battery may well be the Sears Platinum AGM battery but it costs $180 and weighs as much as a boat anchor.

That's gotta be a Lexus record (780,000 miles in less than 5 years) if I ever saw one! How far is your commute, 300 miles????

If those guys can do it, so can you! Thanks, Rey for coming up with this qiuick and easy mod, Thanks, Lemon for proving Rey correct, and last but not least, thanks, cduluk for starting this whole thing!

The baffle plates may be an attempt to allow simple impaction to separate oil from blowby air. Still, it is certainly not common among other vehicle manufacturers. Our oil fill hole is so deep in the engine bay that I honestly never noticed that textured surface. Your engine doesn't look too bad, Lemon. My daughter's Mazda Protege lived a couple years of its life in New York and I almost didn't buy it because of the rust that seems to be everywhere. However, after spending over an hour cleaning it up, it is okay for now. I guess we are spoiled here in San Diego. Even my 89 Mazda MX6 GT's engine bay looks great compared to those of cars from inclement weather states.