RX400h

The first thing I would suspect is installation. Are you sure that no other parts related to the installation are worn? I have had KYBs installed in my old Mazda MX6 GT for many years and never had a problem. However, that was a $2000 car at the time the struts were installed. If I were given a choice among KYB, Monroe, or OEM struts for our RX400h, I'd be tempted to go with OEM but not necessarily from our local dealership. As far as aftermarket shocks for other vehicles, my favorite is Koni. I have them on two of our cars and they have proven to be very reliable and high-performing.

While this is also true of the Toyota Prius, its 53 MPG highway is quite a bit better than almost all non-hybrid vehicles. Of course, its aerodynamic profile is much better than that of a big SUV.

One concern I'd have if buying from a retired, elderly person is oil sludge. Many older folks do not drive their cars long enough to fully vaporize moisture that can accumulate in air spaces and oil. This may be less of a problem with synthetic oil but I know that it is a common problem, given a combination of short trips and oil change intervals that are based on miles driven. Dropping the oil pan should reveal whether this is the case or not.

Have you checked around the exhaust manifold in the engine bay? If anything like a rubber hose or plastic part makes contact with either manifold (left or right), a burning smell can enter the driver's area.

I certainly understand. My wife doesn't want to give her RX up, either.

The smaller Lexus SUV is the NX200h or turbo. This is a slightly better appointed version of the Toyota RAV4 which also comes as a hybrid for approximately $35,000. The limited version of the RAV4 hybrid can come with the "bird's eye view" feature which shows an overhead view of your surroundings when backing up. There is a member of this forum (and RX400h owner) whose vehicle has 250,000 miles on it (original battery, I believe), so you shouldn't worry about having to replace yours for quite a while. By the way, I believe our batteries are Nickel Metal Hydride, not lithium.

I recall all too well when we bought our RX400h in April of 2005, all our friends and acquaintances who thought hybrids would never "pay back" their extra cost and that they were so complicated that repairs would send the owners to the poor house. As a moderator in this forum for many years, I can say without a doubt that Toyota/Lexus hybrids proved the naysayers wrong, over and over again. A hybrid may not be for everyone but for those who live in densely populated areas, hybrids can make perfect sense. Congrats, jabowsi for helping to show the world just how dependable these vehicles are.

Yes, we had to wait 1 year. However, replacing ANYTHING in a 10+ year-old vehicle, free of charge is very, very rare these days. Our RX will be 12 years old, this coming April.

It did take our dealership 1 year from the time I showed them the dash to the time they received a replacement dash and installed it.

Our dash on the passenger's side was more glossy than the other areas and had a 1-inch crack in it, closer to the windshield. It was certainly not a gooey mess but it did see some very high (Summer) temps. Are you in northern or southern CA?

We just had our dash replaced for $0.00 cost.

I forgot to mention that in California, a hybrid vehicle's (hybrid-specific) components are warranted for 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

bayray, while your statement about complexity is often true when it concerns American and German vehicles (among others), it is generally not true with most Japanese brands and especially Lexus. And of all the articles out there that you can read about reliability, there isn't any that compares to Consumer Reports, as far as size of data, unbiased testing, and consistency. Also, you cannot make a correct blanket statement that Lexus hybrids are not worth the extra cost without looking at: Length of ownership Total cost of ownership Driving environment and habits Costs when buying new Costs when buying used Government/State Subsidies (Many electric vehicles are discounted $7000 by subsidies.) Our RX400h has saved us thousands of dollars over a comparable RX330 or RX350 over the last 12 years, especially when factoring in those periods of time when gas was over $4.50/gallon and the fact that our vehicle runs on less expensive mid-grade gasoline. For some people who drive mostly highway and trade their vehicle in every 3-5 years, a hybrid Lexus doesn't make sense. But for those outside of these conditions, a closer look is well-warranted.

According to Consumer Reports and my own experience after over 100,000 miles, the RX hybrids are every bit as reliable as the non-hybrids. Also, if you look at the rankings of mid-size luxury SUVs throughout the years, the RX hybrid was and is consistently rated higher than the non-hybrid. As an example, in the 2015 year-end CR buying guide, the RX450h topped all vehicles with an overall road test score of 88. The RX350 came in 6th place with an overall score of 80. Both were rated as having "much better than average" reliability but the RX450h achieves 32% better fuel mileage on average. That is very significant if you spend much of your driving time in the city. The RX400h also enjoyed a significant fuel mileage advantage over the RX350 and RX330 of similar model years. Within a year of buying ours, the RX400h was topping the charts as best in class. So really, don't assume that because you heard of one or two hybrids having issues that they all are having "issues". That is simply not true. My advice is to buy the vehicle that compliments your driving environment - city of open highway. Hybrids will reward your wallet again and again if you live and drive in a mostly city environment. By the way, CR lists no significant issues that were severe enough to pull reliability ratings below average within individual categories within the 2010-2014 years of RXs, both hybrid and non-hybrid. Brakes on hybrids will almost always outlast those on non-hybrids if driving conditions are equal.

Have you opened the hood and watched/listened to the engine while someone else revved or brake-revved the engine? See if you can isolate the sound location.

By the way, by all means if a maintenance item is listed in your manual at a certain mileage, then it should be done. I'm fairly certain that the transmission fluid change is in the maintenance manual so do NOT skip it.

While I can't give you first-hand advice about changing the rear rotors, they should not be any more difficult than changing the rear rotors on an RX400h. One of our members of this forum did his a while back and he told us that there was nothing overly difficult about the job. I recommend that you do NOT bleed brakes by having someone pump depress the pedal all the way down to the floor. That is a good way to cut your master cylinder piston seal by extending the piston past the ear ring that inevitably forms in the master cylinder bore. You can gravity bleed or by a bleeder kit that includes an attachment to the top of the MC that is pressurized with air (over a reservoir of brake fluid). But for the cost of that bleeder, you can probably have a shop do the bleeding and take care of old fluid waste removal. Good luck.

The cabin and engine air intake filter should be changed at the same time (about every 10,000 - 12,000 miles). Some dealerships add services to "mileage maintenance" that are not even listed in the owner's manual. Always review your service interval manual BEFORE taking your car in for service.

How many miles are on the odometer? Your alternator bearing may have failed.

The huge advantage that hybrids have over non-hybrids occurs during city driving. When you are traveling at 70-100 MPH, there is no advantage over a non-hybrid. I agree with Lenore; 37 is closer to what a hybrid Camry would achieve. We average 25-26 which is typically more than 20% better than most non-hybrid RX330s and RX350s.

I have a telescoping magnet for situations like that. Harbor Freight may have them.

Did you find the directions in your owner's manual? That's the most reliable place, as sometimes instructions for model years other than your own are not exactly the same as the ones for your model year vehicle.

Did you try pressing and holding the PWR DOOR button on your remote? Really, everything should work on the vehicle. Whatever doesn't should be fixed on the seller's dime BEFORE you buy the vehicle. The shimmy could be a wheel imbalance or tire issue. Again, tell the seller that he or she needs to make the issues right. Buying a vehicle "AS-IS" is risky business.

Wow! You might want to ask a Toyota dealership or trusted local shop what they would charge. The engine stalls because there may be too much clutch torque resistance when the AC is turned on. By the way, Happy New Year, as well.

I suspect that either the AC alternator or a pulley is bad, or an idle control module has failed. Thankfully, you can still drive your vehicle while the issue is resolved.