rx 450h questions

stoney2016 · September 21, 2016

Hi. I am new to this forum. I am considering buying a 2010/2011 RX 450h sel-premier.

This will be my first hybrid. My first question is, if you are running about town in a lot of stop/start traffic with heater on, heated seats on and mark levingson sound system fairly loud, will the batteries drain? Are there any horror stories on this?

I've read a lot of previous posts about mpg, quite a few people a few years ago complained about the 450h being worse on mpg than the 400h, is this still the case with later models?

Is there anything I should look out for when buying a second hand one of these, I am looking at around 50k miles and paying around 18-20k.

Many thanks in advance and I apologize if you have answered these questions as I must have missed the previous posts. Thanks again

400hWBA · September 21, 2016

Hi, I recently changed from a 2006 400h I had for 6 years to a 450h. My purchase criteria was identical to yours so I ended up wth a 2010 sei from a main dealer. I have a similar driving profile without using the sound system. I used to get 30 mpg and now I get 36. I had the 12v Battery changed as I heard there are still issues which show up with age especially if parked up using items without the engine on. Overall I am pleased with the car, it has different characteristics to my 400h, but still a fine motor. Nothing has shown up as a problem, but buying from a main dealer you obviously have the comfort of the warranty which can be extended. Just noticed I need to update profile.

rayaans · September 21, 2016

If the car is ON and showing READY on the dashboard - then stop/start traffic will not drain the Battery. If you have turned the car to accessory mode, it will drain the Battery but it'll turn off before the Battery is completely drained.

MPG depends on the driver - no 2 ways about it - people can claim to drive two different cars in exactly the same way but chances are they wont. For example, I drive my RX450h in a more relaxed nature to my wife's IS300h as it encourages more hard cornering etc

Not really many issues TBH, these cars are bulletproof. Just do the usual checks, make sure there's a full service history, no crash damage and you should be fine. The leather seats are VERY soft so look out for any scuffs and marks. Kerbed wheels are annoying to get back to the original colour so ensure all 4 are the same colour. Apart from that, these don't really have any issues

stoney2016 · September 23, 2016

Thanks for the advice guys. Just one point, what is "accessory mode", what is its purpose and how would I switch that off? Thanks again

sorcerer · September 23, 2016

I'd hazard a guess that it's the first position when you turn the key so that you can listen to the radio whilst waiting outside a shop for someone, for instance.

rayaans · September 23, 2016

On the 450h, if you put your foot on the brake, the start button will show a green light and the car will turn on and say READY in the cluster.

If you don't put your foot on the brake, and press the button twice, it'll go to accessory mode where you can use all the functions but the engine wont turn on. So as Josh mentioned above, its equivalent to turning a key once when listening to the radio with the car off etc