RolandB

Wow, what timing... Several months ago I purchased a Magellan Maestro 5310 (good coupon took it to $250) as my birthday present and have been using it in my old '98 LS400 (bought new in 1998 without Navigation)! It is :P fantastic even as I compare it to the navigation in my RX400h. I am disappointed in the $300 charge for upgrading the DVD it has. Upgrading my Magellan won't come for a while but I love it and doubt I will need to spend anywhere near that... unless I want to buy another 5310 completely! I can take the Magellan with me as I travel via plane and rent a car! I can take it when travelling with friends! I can put data into it in my home/hotel in comfort! I therefore can say that the integrated Nav has the advantages of that being an integral part of the car and looks nice and clean along with the display's other uses but for navigating, I don't appreciate the exorbitant cost for maintaining currency of an inferior navigation system. Try a 5310! The smaller screen size of the Magellan isn't bad and last but not least, a 'passenger navigator' can certainly operate it very easily and comfortably!

Billy, I was wondering why I had to go to another site (Login to Owner) to read up. I have bought three Lexus vehicles and still not a member there! I would tell you I still drive my first Lexus... a '98 LS400 which I bought new and without a Navigation system. My wife drives our RX400h which does have a Navigation system. I will say I am extremely pleased with having purchased (on a special) for under $300 a Magellan Maestro 4350 for use in my '98 Lexus. I am ecstatic with this little box and I recommend anyone interested in a good price performer navigator to check it out! To pay $300 for a DVD for our navigation system it pretty extreme in consideration of what you get!

We have a 2006 RX400h that was the second hybrid delivered here in Dallas by our dealer. Overall, we've been satisfied except for mileage. We currently have 167 spreadsheet entries regarding gasoline. The lifetime rating has 22.56 MPG. The indicated MPG on the display is usually around 5% higher than actual. The most interesting experience is our performance in Colorado in the Denver area. Our consumption rate improves dramatically by around 15%... I can't get any dealership (Dallas or Colorado) to give me an explanation. My conclusion per a friends suggestion is that the computer does a more efficient job in that mountain's higher altitude. I always 'Reset' the mileage indicator when I refill the tank. My refills are usually done in the same manner. I am a strong 'cruise control' user and hope that properly applies the accelerator when needed up and down the road.

I have a 'firm' Bridgestone set which I got after putting 15K on my originals. I have put 25K on my new set, the Bridgestones, and am very pleased at their life. I get them rotated and balanced every 5K. I recommend having that done at the tire dealer. I am expecting at least another 25K at the current wear rate. You can look for my prior posting a long time ago. Also, make sure your alignment is good. The dealer aligned my wheels incorrectly and I had to have it redone. This can cause bad tire wear!

Has anyone explored having them disabled in the 2006 RX400h? The linked article is very good and seems well written. Again, I think an owner should be given the ability to make the determination for themselves and either disable or enable them the same way other features are allowed. In the absence of FACTUAL information regarding the usage, I believe one should, if they wish, be able to evaluate 'power' consumption or any other that they wish to consider. Can anyone give the procedure to disable/enable this on the 2006 RX400h?

How many miles did you get out of Bridgestone tires ? My Goodyear tires only gave 20k. We need new set and reaserching around. My apology and regrets... I've been out of pocket with my forum checking... this reply comes almose 2 months late!! Aghhh I got our Bridgestone's at ~15,000 and have as of today ~40,000 ... I'm very happy to say that the 25,000 miles on them are barely visible. This coming week I will have them rotated and balanced as I have done every 5K! I will have Lexus do 40K maintenance (except no tire rotation or oil/filter change). I'm not sure what that maintenance will be with my handling oil/filter and tire service. I have put these 25,000 miles on in almost exactly 2 years and am still very pleased.

My experience also has been that you must be 'rolling' downhill for some time. I have experienced 100% only a couple of times but have made it to 7/8ths frequently even last evening while driving after dark. The A/C will have a good draw which will usually prevent the 75%+ indication (light green).

The Lexus comparison may well be worth consideration but with 37,185 miles on my RX400h, my REAL lifetime average is 22.52 miles per gallon. Most of my driving has been in town. I have NEVER seen 25 mpg for in town driving in Dallas Texas. Bottom line, don't take those numbers too serious except possibly their relative values. As I drive down the street in my old LS400, my V-8 gets as good or better mileage that the RX400h. Those stops at traffic lights allow the V-8 to guzzle the gas. Hmmm, maybe I need to turn off the engine at traffic lights ... well, maybe not! The 'MPG' monitor is usually 2 mpg greater than actual mpg achieved!

I failed to make another suggestion... I looked at the MAINT option on my display and found where to 'update' Cabin Air Filter maintenance and have set it to 5,000 miles and/or 6 months. This will cause you to get a message when that distance/time approaches! Nice to have a little 'support' for the maintenance effort!

I personally have made it a practice to clean/replace the cabin air filter every 5,000 miles regardless of dealer/service locations functions at that time. I find checking and cleaning is pretty simple for the benefits gained. I keep a new one on hand in case the installed one is too dirty. If it is a 'little grey', that's okay after using vacuum cleaner and compressed air!

Per the 2006 RX400h Nav manual, the DVD reader is in the compartment closest to the rear seats. That's under the deck at the back of the SUV. If you have the Nav manual, page 20 shows where the NAV DVD is located. Last year, I was able to find a site at www.lexus-parts.com which told you how to determine which 'Generation' you car used. (The 2006 RX400h uses Gen 4!) It also had a link to 'Navigation System Installation Guide' which I fortunately printed. It is no longer available I'm sorry to say. Its instructions (with pictures) said: 1: Replace the navigation DVD a. Turn the ignition switch to the "ACC" or "ON" position. b. Open the rear hatch. c. Open the deck board sub-assembly. (picture shows section closest to rear passenger seats) d. Support the deck board via the supporting rod. (rod lifts from front, close to seats, to upright to fit in deck slot 'hole') e. Disengage the 2 claws. (DVD is on the right side and drive faces left) f. Remove the navigation ECU cover. g. Press the "PUSH" button and slide it to the left. This will open the dust cover and eject the DVD. h. Remove and discard the old DVD. (I don't think so... keep just in case!) i. (this step didn't print but I think it probably read something like 'insert new dvd') j. Press the "PUSH button and slide it to the right. This will close the dust cover. k. Reinstall the navigation ECU cover. l. Return the support rod to the closed position. m. Close the deck Board sub-assembly 2. Verify the search area is set to the local area described in the navigation system owners manual. 3. Your navigation system will now update on its own. I think it's important to get the right "Gen" update... for the 2006 RX400h is Gen 4. I hope the above helps. I think just knowing where the drive is located is a good start. If you want more help, reply.

I managed to peel mine off without much damage but as I think of it, I would suggest to anyone else that they might try my trick for removing mailing labels, price tags, etc... use a hair dryer and with the heat going, use tweezers (keep from burning your fingers) and try lifting it off. I've successfully removed many mailing labels from boxes as well as price tags from gifts I was giving. I think it would be worth a try!

Your point about a response "Read the Manual" is well taken. My only defense to such is that MY MANUAL does not say it applies to a 2007 or 2008 so I don't want to !Removed!ume the instructions would be the same. Your point is that it is not in the 2007 RX400h manual! I don't know why Lexus chose to exclude it! I suppose I should have read the post and pitched rather than suggest the path I personally followed since my vehicle is a 2006 RX400h. I have read some responses for problems which suggested they applied to my vehicle when in fact they did NOT apply to mine! I spent a lot of time going down the primrose path for a solution only to have the respondent confess he had a different year and his solution MIGHT NOT apply to my car. I was a bit peeved especially when I asked about the solution for my model/year! The point is that for items documented in the owners manual, and I have that year/model, I would always suggest the search start in the manual and would provide the key word for the search in the index such as MAINT! If the question is regarding my year/model, I'd still probably quote the page number and then might extend additional comments regarding the procedure if I felt they were justified. Just my preference rather than suggesting a procedure which Lexus may have chosen to change for a year/model. In the mean time, I'll check around to find a 2007 RX400h owner's manual!

At the risk of insulting one's intelligence, have you checked the owner's manual? I have a 2006 and maintenance manual, in the scheduled Maintenance Log has a note by the "Replace engine ooil and oil filter" which points to a note which reads, "Reset the oil replacement reminder ("MAINT REQD") light after replacing engine oil. Referring to the Owner's Manual, the index led me to the section discussing "MAINT REQD SOON" and "MAINT REQD". A line there reads "See following "resetting the system" of (4) "MAINT REQQD" for the procedure to reset the system. Lo, on the following page is "Resetting the system". It then lists the three steps for resetting! The first step is a little confusing but essentially it is saying that you need to have the odometer reading in the display when you turn your engine off prior to following the procedure. Net is... read your Owner's Manual if you're going to do service yourself! Which leads me to ask if you 'serviced' the A/C filter while you're changing the oil. I make it a habit to remove the A/C filter and vacuum it as clean as possible and then use my compressed air to finish cleaning it. You can extend the life of the filter and quality of your A/C air will be consistently cleaner!