Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


Things I Would Change On My 400h


Recommended Posts

Have had my 400h for about 6000 miles now and I remain very pleased with my choice. However, nothing is perfect so here are the things I would like to see/change on the car:

A switch or mode where the driver could bias the electric motors to drive the car (at the expense of outright performance of course). It requires a lot of concentration and effort to pull away and drive up to 40mph without the petrol engine kicking in, so it would be nice to have an economy (eco-friendly?) mode for town use.

The Lexus does "nanny" you quite a lot so I would like to have a lot more control over the sat-nav and Bluetooth phone when on the move.

The Bluetooth facility itself is very basic in this day and age. It could make more use of the features available. For example mine doesn't "ring" when I have an incoming call (I only know I have a call when the radio goes silent). Also, it only occasionally shows me who is calling. Personally, I would like to be able to access my whole address book, scroll through it and select a person to call from my steering wheel. Having to take my eyes off the road and my hand off the wheel to select a 1-touch dial number (not always easy to get the one you want on a bumpy road) is far more risky in my opinion.

The switch-gear and warning lights are a bit haphazard, in shape size and location, and not all of them are illuminated. I would like to see a bit more thought here.

Reversing lights that throw out enough light to see behind you (with or without the camera) at night would be a good idea.

I would have liked to have the option of air suspension (on the hybrid). The standard set-up is a bit harsh and robs me of valuable bootspace. I didn't realise this until I bought the car because I had checked the boot on another car which must have been a non-hybrid with air suspension.

I'm nit-picking a bit here, and wouldn't swap my car for anything else comparable on the market, but we wouldn't be human if we didn't moan about something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just order an RX400 SE with Multimedia but had a demo car for 24 hrs recently and would like to see the following:

1. Front rear parking sensors as standard..Reversing camera is good to have but how many people like me have ordered sensors with their car?

2. There is no reading telling you how many miles left in your tank. For a car so advanced that seemed like a certainty but is not on the 400, but is there on the 350 I am told.

Other than that I think it is a perfect all round family car and look forward to getting the keys to my car.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just order an RX400 SE with Multimedia but had a demo car for 24 hrs recently and would like to see the following:

1. Front rear parking sensors as standard..Reversing camera is good to have but how many people like me have ordered sensors with their car?

2. There is no reading telling you how many miles left in your tank. For a car so advanced that seemed like a certainty but is not on the 400, but is there on the 350 I am told.

Other than that I think it is a perfect all round family car and look forward to getting the keys to my car.

You cannot have an "estimated distance to empty" calculation on the hybrid as there is no way of knowing how much driving on the electric motors or how much on the ICE you will be doing.

Regarding a switch to bias economy/electric operation as opposed to "performance",I have read on the US forums that the next generation RX hybrids will have just that.Whether we get that switchable option in the UK is another matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreed there is no way of knowing how much electric vs engine driving will be done in future. But you have an average mpg reading at all times. The same uncertainty is there on conventional engines...town vs motorway, hard driving vs cruising etc. Surely the calculation should be based purely on average mpg, and depending on what happens to that average mpg calculation the "miles to empty" reading will change.

Am I missing something here?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Another thing I've thought of:

With such a high-technology car, I'm surprised we need to actually turn a key to start it. I would have thought a push-button start would have been far more appropriate.

In fact, I can almost guarantee that everyone, when they get in a 400h for the first time, turns the key, and then turns it again because "nothing happened" - not a problem, just an observation

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I hear what you are saying regarding key - obviously the implementation of the hybrid system into the RX set-up was not as total as we would all have liked it to be.

Don't get me wrong a great car and I'm very happy with it.

Personnally I'd like to see a seven seat option, not a monster but perhaps a bench seat in the back, good when you've got small kids and you want to take grandma and grandad out too. Trouble is, with batteries under the current rear seat this is probably really hard!

But everyone else is doing it, Disco 3 much better, new X5, Q7, mitsubishi outlander etc etc.

Does anyone know when we are due to see a full revamp on the RX? Obviously the 450h version would be good, 600h version better!

Cheers

Jon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
I hear what you are saying regarding key - obviously the implementation of the hybrid system into the RX set-up was not as total as we would all have liked it to be.

Don't get me wrong a great car and I'm very happy with it.

Personnally I'd like to see a seven seat option, not a monster but perhaps a bench seat in the back, good when you've got small kids and you want to take grandma and grandad out too. Trouble is, with batteries under the current rear seat this is probably really hard!

But everyone else is doing it, Disco 3 much better, new X5, Q7, mitsubishi outlander etc etc.

Does anyone know when we are due to see a full revamp on the RX? Obviously the 450h version would be good, 600h version better!

Cheers

Jon

The information we got in Germany are late 08, early 2009 for two new RX. The first will be a 7 seater, that means long version and a normal like the 350/400h. Only the long version will have the hybrid. But its still a long time to get more information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting, and thanks for the info, my 400h will be 3 years old then, so perfect time to change.

Given the lead time on cars to market, I'm surprised that we don't hear of more details earlier, maybe manufacturers think no-one will buy the old model?

Cheers

Jon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting, and thanks for the info, my 400h will be 3 years old then, so perfect time to change.

Given the lead time on cars to market, I'm surprised that we don't hear of more details earlier, maybe manufacturers think no-one will buy the old model?

Cheers

Jon

This site gives a bit more info on the new RX:-

www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=116536#11]2008 RX350

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share



×
×
  • Create New...