sdrose

I've been having some issues starting the car. When I start the car, it does not alway go into READY mode. I instead get a message "SHIFT TO P WHEN STARTING" as shown in the picture. However, the gear lever is in park. I would then try a few more times and sometimes on the next few tries the car would get into READY mode. Sometimes the retries don't work. I then would put the key into the ignition position and move the gear lever from P to D back to P. That sometimes works.

I've called the Lexus dealership, but because this is a intermittent issue (maybe 5% of the time this happens) they said it's hard to diagnose thus I have not brought it in yet. I'll bring it up again the next time i'm in for service.

Any ideas out there on what's going on and what I should do. I've never gotten stuck yet as eventually I'll get it going but this is not normal and it shouldn't happen.

This has happened to me on a couple of occasions, and once it wouldn't go into Park so I could turn off the car. I used to keep an empty reusable shopping bag hanging off the gear shift so I'd remember to use it. I took it to the dealer the time I couldn't turn it off. First thing the guy did was take the shopping bag off the gear shift and tell me not to put anything on it. Sounds benign, I know, but those things are very sensitive and even if the handle didn't look like it was interfering with the movement of the shifter, it apparently was just enough to interrupt the electronics and cause the problem. Now I have to rely on my memory to bring shopping bags into the grocery store. ;-(

When I first got the car 14 months ago, I used regular gas. I was very disappointed at the low 20's mpg I was getting. Then I read, think it was here in one forum or another, that some people were getting better mileage with higher grades.

I drive most of the time with the display showing current mpg. My driving habits have changed drastically. Used to be I only did the speed limit if a cop was behind me or when I was passing the speed limit by on my way to something just short of unsafe, charging up hills, that kind of thing. After watching the effect of such behavior on the actual mpg, dropping down to the single digits, that's a thing of the past. My kids say I now drive like an old lady. Whenever my 16yo daughter wants to use my car, she does so knowing she has to protect my mpg.

I have a 2006 model RX200h which I love. I've found that it gets the best mileage when I use the middle grade of gasoline. One thing I find puzzling is that when I fill up and do a manual calculation of the mpg, I consistently come out with a number about 2mpg less than what the car says I'm getting. I know it's not a huge thing, but I do find it mildly annoying.

Is anyone else seeing this? What grade of gasoline does everyone else use?

Julia

San Diego