Gs 450h Drop In Fuel Consumption

[manxy]

Hi everybody. I have a GS450h that I bought new in 2009. After owning 3 gs 300's this was the obvious next move. All was brilliant until about 3 months ago when I noticed a couple of niggles. The first one was that when I pulled up at say a traffic light the change from petrol down to Hybrid was quite harsh. Quite a judder in fact. Secondly when the car was still cold first thing in the morning when pulling away slowly it felt like it was driving over a couple of small bumps in the road. The final problem was the opposite : if I had to pull away sharply from a standing start it would fade and then pick up which was not only annoying but could be dangerous. Also not what you expect from this car. The dealer I bought it from (Lexus Stoke) took it back in and reset the software with an upgrade and a service. When I got the car back it was driving brilliantly at first, but now the small niggles returned but now the average consumption has dropped considerably. I never got below 31 before and now cannot get it above about 25 mpg.

Mike Casson the centre manager who by the way is a great guy ( I have bought my last 3 cars off him ) today told me that a few customers had mentioned poor consumption on their hybrids lately. He bought it up with Lexus and the guy he spoke to blamed the cold weather as the cats take longer to warm up and therefore the car was operating as a normal petrol model as the Hybrid was not cutting in.

Now call me a cynic if you like but this sounds like so much bull**** to me.

If the Hybrid did not work in cold weather properly there would have been so many complaints that the programme would have been discontinued years ago. Also the problems with my car started before this cold weather really set in so that is not the reason.

Sorry for the long winded post but any help would be appreciated as the car is due to go back in to be sorted as soon as the weather permits and could do with a bit of ammo to counter any excuses Lexus may make.

Best wishes, Manxy

[Rillo]

I have RX450 and can confirm that consumption does increase in cold weather - defrost, heated seats, heater etc etc. However the the operation and smoothness is not affected.

[jamesholden]

I suppose not only the extra electrical load in cold weather as stated above but also batteries do not operate as efficiently in the cold so the amount of energy stored and consumed would be different to that in more clement weather.

[PQuist]

I suggest you insist on taking a car similar to your car's age from the dealer's forecourt overnight and see if you have the same symptoms.

[tonyricha]

Hi everybody. I have a GS450h that I bought new in 2009. After owning 3 gs 300's this was the obvious next move. All was brilliant until about 3 months ago when I noticed a couple of niggles. The first one was that when I pulled up at say a traffic light the change from petrol down to Hybrid was quite harsh. Quite a judder in fact. Secondly when the car was still cold first thing in the morning when pulling away slowly it felt like it was driving over a couple of small bumps in the road. The final problem was the opposite : if I had to pull away sharply from a standing start it would fade and then pick up which was not only annoying but could be dangerous. Also not what you expect from this car. The dealer I bought it from (Lexus Stoke) took it back in and reset the software with an upgrade and a service. When I got the car back it was driving brilliantly at first, but now the small niggles returned but now the average consumption has dropped considerably. I never got below 31 before and now cannot get it above about 25 mpg.

Mike Casson the centre manager who by the way is a great guy ( I have bought my last 3 cars off him ) today told me that a few customers had mentioned poor consumption on their hybrids lately. He bought it up with Lexus and the guy he spoke to blamed the cold weather as the cats take longer to warm up and therefore the car was operating as a normal petrol model as the Hybrid was not cutting in.

Now call me a cynic if you like but this sounds like so much bull**** to me.

If the Hybrid did not work in cold weather properly there would have been so many complaints that the programme would have been discontinued years ago. Also the problems with my car started before this cold weather really set in so that is not the reason.

Sorry for the long winded post but any help would be appreciated as the car is due to go back in to be sorted as soon as the weather permits and could do with a bit of ammo to counter any excuses Lexus may make.

Best wishes, Manxy

Hi Manxy

I have noticed the consumption on my 450h is a bit heavier when used locally in this cold weather but stays at about 34 MPG when used on a run almost regardless of the weather. Having had a good think about this (took a while) I have decided it is because the only way you can generate heat for the climate control is by burning petrol so even after a short stop ie fuel station or if I just increase the interior temperature she fires up the petrol engine and so affects the overall figure simply because the engine is running more at low speed when in the summer she would be running on batteries.

I do agree about the harshness of switch over at times but never has felt like running over something.

The only fade in power delivery is at about 90 when it seems to have a short rest then pulls really hard again, but I am getting too old to drive at these speeds now so really does not matter

Hope this make sense to you

Regards Tony