Rx450 what are they like for towing

[John Catterall]

Rx450 what are they like for towing 

[Britprius]

36 minutes ago, John Catterall said:

Rx450 what are they like for towing 

I have a GS450h, and that is an excellent tow car, and there is no reason to expect the RX450H would be any worse. In fact with the electric assist to the rear wheels 4 wheel drive system it should be very capable.
I suppose the only real difference is the GS is rear wheel drive with a limmited slip diff. while the RX is predominantly front wheel drive with assist to the rear wheels.

John.

[Gliderpilot]

I tow a 1700 kg caravan with no problems, also the 400h I had for 5 years was also a good tow car. Don't expect good mpg though, the 400h was about 18 mpg and the 450 is about 22 mpg.

[Jeff Roscoe]

I tow a1600 kg caravan with my rx 450h 2013 and have done so for 4years with this car  with no issues  at all and average  about 27 mpg.

[Brian26]

I have towed with the RX400h and the 450h. I haven't as yet towed with my current 450h but I cant see it being any different from the previous 'tugs'. They make excellent tow cars although I don't quite know how Jeff manages 27 MPG, or does he mean 27 MPG including towing?( Which is about what I average including towing) I managed around 18 with the 400h and around 22 with my previous 450h, I am not expecting any great improvement so I will be happy with around 22MPG towing.

Bri

[Passerby]

When I discussed towing with a Lexus dealer in relation to the purchase of a 2010 450h on coil springs the line was 'we don't recommend it'. I forget whether it was due to gearbox design or the electric motors

[2ddesign]

Hi I have a RX450h 2010 model and three years ago when I purchased it, I had a Westfalia  detachable tow bar fitted. These are Lexus approved fittings and I had it fitted in Bristol for £896 inc vat, fitting was about 5hours in total. I pulled a Trigano Silver 310 caravan 850kg unladen. The RX450h proved to be a brilliant tow car pulling easily this light weight caravan and I found no major problems except getting used to reversing a caravan. I have since sold my caravan recently, as the weather proved such an obstacle for touring!

[Gliderpilot]

If Lexus don't advise it why do they put a complete section in the hand book about towing and also put a hefty 2000 kg limit on towing capacity. My be he was anti caravan and talking out of his rear end or am I being cruel. I have no trouble towing what so ever, yes the inverter and electric motors get a bit warmer (I have Hybrid assistant) but not beyond limits.

[Brian26]

It does seem to be certain dealerships that say this. For instance last year I had a problem come up whilst I was staying just north of London when I called in at the local Lexus dealership they wanted to know what I had been doing when the yellow warning light came up. After I explained that I was just going up a hill after I had come off the A1 and had been towing a 1750kg caravan they looked at me aghast and said that I shouldn't be towing anything that heavy and that I needed an auxiliary transmission oil cooler fitting at the very least!

Anyway to cut a long story short they reset the fault (gearbox oil pump running out of tolerance) but it recurred when I was nearly home. As soon as possible I went to my local dealership and told them what they had said. Their response was as Gliderpilot has stated. When I questioned them about a oil cooler they said it was not necessary and they had never fitted one! The fault would be cured by changing out the gearbox oil pump which it was! ( I should say at this point the oil pump in question is only the small one that circulates oil through the radiator that is I believe part of the ICE radiator.) The only caveat was that if I were taking car and caravan to somewhere very warm with a lot of hills then it may be a good idea.

Bri

 

[Keef2lexus1970]

I am amazed at the reports of towing with a Lexus RX 450. I have just returned home to Kent from Dorset, pulling my1865kg Coachman with my 2016 RX h F Sport. Because the car has a ctv gearbox, it can’t change down, so when you apply more power it just seems to make more noise, and putting it into sport makes it worse, it just revs harder for very little result. Fuel consumption dropped to 19 mpg. As a luxury car my 450 RX f sport is excellent, and driven carefully returns mid 30’s mpg, but as an suv that has to work for a living, it is totally out classed by my old Range Rover sport 3L diesel. I can’t believe nobody else has reported this.