Niggles

[Chris Davis]

I have had an RX 400h SE-L since February.

Totally agree with the comments about fuel consumption .... very disappointing so far .... 27.5 overall over 4000 miles .... BUT it has been cold .... it is still new ..... large percentage on high speed motorway driving .... SO I'll reserve judgement.

More disappointing is the range. I'm getting just about 300 miles on a full tank, 100 less than on my SAAB 9-5 SE. Very annoying! A bigger tank would be nice but I guess there's little room left after adding two electric motors?

And what about the indicators?

Mine refuses to self cancel on leaving roundabouts, etc.

Lexus Leicester tell me it's a recognised Lexus quirk but not regarded as a fault and there's no remedy.

Is this correct or does anyone know better?

Generally, I'm still delighted but there are some things I miss from the SAAB Information system, notably Distance to Empty; Estimated Time of Arrival; Speed Warnings.

And why oh why do the wretched windows and Moonroof open if you hold the remote button for too long?

What is that all about?

I didn't know about this and came back to find a very wet interior on one rainy day.

Sound system is great but why is there a cassette player and no MP3 option? Very dated!

Mostly minor niggles. It's still a super car.

[fergy]

No issues with indicators on my RX300 (and guessing same as the RX400)... might be worth trying another car and see if it acts the same.

And opening of car with button...can't fathom how you'd hold the open vbutton for long enough to get it to do this....and then leave the car ?.....oooohhh and it will be in the manual :winky: so might be worth reading ?? Oooo... if you hold teh button long enough it will close teh windows and sunroof for you...

Will be interesting to see how the mpg increases in the summer...

Stereo...definitely a missed upgrade when they brought out the RX400h, mates IS250 plays MP3's...and has bit in arm rest to feed in sound from an iPOD, pity RX's dont have either option.

[Jabiru]

I have had an RX 400h SE-L since February.

Totally agree with the comments about fuel consumption .... very disappointing so far .... 27.5 overall over 4000 miles .... BUT it has been cold .... it is still new ..... large percentage on high speed motorway driving .... SO I'll reserve judgement.

More disappointing is the range. I'm getting just about 300 miles on a full tank, 100 less than on my SAAB 9-5 SE. Very annoying! A bigger tank would be nice but I guess there's little room left after adding two electric motors?

And what about the indicators?

Mine refuses to self cancel on leaving roundabouts, etc.

Lexus Leicester tell me it's a recognised Lexus quirk but not regarded as a fault and there's no remedy.

Is this correct or does anyone know better?

Generally, I'm still delighted but there are some things I miss from the SAAB Information system, notably Distance to Empty; Estimated Time of Arrival; Speed Warnings.

And why oh why do the wretched windows and Moonroof open if you hold the remote button for too long?

What is that all about?

I didn't know about this and came back to find a very wet interior on one rainy day.

Sound system is great but why is there a cassette player and no MP3 option? Very dated!

Mostly minor niggles. It's still a super car.

Absolutely no problems with the trafficators.

On fuel consumption it must be very dependent on the individual car and driver. After 5000 miles with air con always on I've got 34.1mpg for the last 1500 miles. The best milage seems to get returned by stop start driving in motorway queues!. I've a reasonably light right foot and normally get close to the mileage quoted as the 'combined' consumption on vehicles. getting the maximum out of the regenerative braking may be one of the key factors in better mpg. Car did appear to improve slowly over the last few months in this respect. hope this helps

[lelandv]

Stereo...definitely a missed upgrade when they brought out the RX400h, mates IS250 plays MP3's...and has bit in arm rest to feed in sound from an iPOD, pity RX's dont have either option.

The ICE plays MP3 CD's, but a fat load of good that does since the ICE is not interconnected with the stereo system at all... it would be nice to be able to pipe the ICE audio through the Levinson, and have a video feed from it on the centre screen (even with the parking brake engaged) like they have on the US models.

The audio quality through the infrared headsets for the ICE is just too naff to even warrant clambering into the back seat in a motorway service station on a rest-stop just to listen to a CD of MP3s...

Leland

[Ullevi]

The DTE feature,I believe has been left out of the 400h because of the electric/petrol duality making such calculations impossible.Plus apparently it is imperative not to run out of fuel in a hybrid,so presumably they don't want drivers driving right down to the wire.I gather the RX300 does have a DTE feature.

All I can say is that when putting in petrol soon after the fuel warning light coming on,there seems to have been about 3 gallons left in the tank.From that you can make your own calculations.

Like you,I came from SAAB to buy my RX400h,my first Lexus.I am delighted,however with performance and fuel economy.I went from a SAAB 9-5 Aero automatic,so with the RX400h I have better performance than the 9-5 Aero with better fuel economy.I do a mix of driving,but with a lot of urban short journeys.With the Saab I used to get under 22mpg over prolonged measurement.With the RX400h I'm getting 29mpg without trying hard.Now for a 2 ton "brick" of a car,I don't think that's too bad.Plus don't forget your CO2 emissions are similar to many hum-drum saloons.

You don't expect a 2 ton SUV to be economical do you?

[bill jarvis]

I have had an RX 400h SE-L since February.

Totally agree with the comments about fuel consumption .... very disappointing so far .... 27.5 overall over 4000 miles .... BUT it has been cold .... it is still new ..... large percentage on high speed motorway driving .... SO I'll reserve judgement.

More disappointing is the range. I'm getting just about 300 miles on a full tank, 100 less than on my SAAB 9-5 SE. Very annoying! A bigger tank would be nice but I guess there's little room left after adding two electric motors?

I get around 32mph around town and 28-29 on motorways, more if I keep the speed down, and almost 400 miles on a tank.

Perhaps you're heavy on the accelerator

And what about the indicators?

Mine refuses to self cancel on leaving roundabouts, etc.

Lexus Leicester tell me it's a recognised Lexus quirk but not regarded as a fault and there's no remedy.

Is this correct or does anyone know better?

I don't have this problem.

Generally, I'm still delighted but there are some things I miss from the SAAB Information system, notably Distance to Empty; Estimated Time of Arrival; Speed Warnings.

Doesn't the Satnav give ETA?

And why oh why do the wretched windows and Moonroof open if you hold the remote button for too long?

What is that all about?

I didn't know about this and came back to find a very wet interior on one rainy day.

The only way you could have done this, is to have held the unlock button down, hardly what you would do if you were leaving the vehicle.

Sound system is great but why is there a cassette player and no MP3 option? Very dated!

I agree about the casette, sound system is good though.

Mostly minor niggles. It's still a super car.

Yup.

[paolo137]

I can see your point, but comparing a large, heavy SUV with the aerodynamics of a brick wall to a sleek and "light" coupe' such as the Saab does not make sense to me...

The 400H is not about saving on petrol, it's about getting more from the petrol you pay for.

Compare it with other large SUVs (X5, Ml, Range, even Cayenne), and you'll find out that it's the one giving you the best performance/consumption ratio, or the other way round.

Given that, any large diesel engine will give you better mpg on a motorway, but then you'd be driving a truck... :winky:

[Steve L]

I can see your point, but comparing a large, heavy SUV with the aerodynamics of a brick wall to a sleek and "light" coupe' such as the Saab does not make sense to me...

The 400H is not about saving on petrol, it's about getting more from the petrol you pay for.

Compare it with other large SUVs (X5, Ml, Range, even Cayenne), and you'll find out that it's the one giving you the best performance/consumption ratio, or the other way round.

Given that, any large diesel engine will give you better mpg on a motorway, but then you'd be driving a truck... :winky:

one other point to mention about the 400H fuel consumption, lots of members have different views on whether it is as good as the book says. But it is not just about what the mpg computer tells you, thats only the start. Remember when you are standing in traffic with no engine running, the computer is NOT incorporating the standing time in the MPG equation hence (MILES per Gallon). if you are not travelling anywhere how can it tell how much petrol you are not using over a distance of 0 miles. You just have to accept that whilst you are sat in traffic all the other cars around you are sipping fuel whilst you are not. Try having your consumption screen on as you decelerate to a stop. It goes all the way upto 99.9mpg until you hit stand still and then goes to zero.

[Ullevi]

Just had it's 1 year service at 7,000miles.

currently getting 32-33mpg on mainly urban runs.

Did get 37mpg on a 160mile run in May-being very careful-A-roads and M-way at only 60-65 mpg

[lelandv]

And what about the indicators?

Mine refuses to self cancel on leaving roundabouts, etc.

Lexus Leicester tell me it's a recognised Lexus quirk but not regarded as a fault and there's no remedy.

Is this correct or does anyone know better?

I don't have this problem.

Neither do I... actually mine self-cancel BEFORE the roundabout (well.. as I'm entering it really...) I don't find this too much of a problem as every single car I've ever owned self-cancelled at weird times on roundabouts.

Doesn't the Satnav give ETA?

It does, but it's a 'fixed' ETA based on a pre-determined average speed which you program into the options of the nav box. It's certainly not a dynamic auto-calculating ETA taking into account your actual average speed and traffic conditions. Seems to me that this wouldn't have been too difficult to calculate though, so why they didn't do it (I think BMW and a few others do this) I have no idea.

And why oh why do the wretched windows and Moonroof open if you hold the remote button for too long?

What is that all about?

I didn't know about this and came back to find a very wet interior on one rainy day.

The only way you could have done this, is to have held the unlock button down, hardly what you would do if you were leaving the vehicle.

I have actually found this quite useful... if you hold down the lock button they close as well :)

Especially useful on the hot days we've been having where the car has been sitting in the sun for two hours and you want to get some air circulating in it before you get in.

Though I can't see how this feature would be a problem.. the vehicle beeps (and rather loudly) telling you that it's opening or closing the windows and sunroof anyway.

Sound system is great but why is there a cassette player and no MP3 option? Very dated!

I agree about the casette, sound system is good though.

Agreed on both points.. I would still like to see the ICE audio integrated into the Levinson as well though...

[ColinBarber]

one other point to mention about the 400H fuel consumption, lots of members have different views on whether it is as good as the book says. But it is not just about what the mpg computer tells you, thats only the start. Remember when you are standing in traffic with no engine running, the computer is NOT incorporating the standing time in the MPG equation hence (MILES per Gallon). if you are not travelling anywhere how can it tell how much petrol you are not using over a distance of 0 miles. You just have to accept that whilst you are sat in traffic all the other cars around you are sipping fuel whilst you are not. Try having your consumption screen on as you decelerate to a stop. It goes all the way upto 99.9mpg until you hit stand still and then goes to zero.

Does your average mpg go down when you are at a stand still? I don't believe it does and therefore it is taking it into account.

When I have to wait in traffic in my non-hybrid vehicle the average goes down and down. It's just your instant mpg figure that isn't accurate.