Newbie 450H Observations

[Greaseater]

Hi All.

Been around the houses with loads of company issue cars and including Audi A6, BMW 2.0D up to 335 coupe and many more too numerous to mention. Even an IS200 years ago.

A few bullet thoughts...

Opted out of company car scheme and went sensible with a BMW118D at 52mpg and although it was a nice car I missed the space/comfort.

Opted for an 09 and went for a 450h L and wow what a car....

Took a test drive and could not believe that the car had 57K on the clock as felt like new.

Thought I would be doing few miles but racked up 13K in 4 months and observations so far....

Economy poor? Hardly, as averaging 37mpg and that includes 2K road trip to South of France. Engine acoustics don't encourage vigorous acceleration.

Reliability? No issues and only niggle is squeaky drivers seat but can live with that for all the other plus points. Other issues in previous ownership were listed as siezed caliper and dodgy Xenon.

Handling? Not a 335 but not on Nurburgring and on M6.

Levinson sound system is a big WOW.

What a hidden gem and probably need to book a service as no sign of the oil service light but guees it needs a change.

More kit than any car I have owned.

Depreciation? Done that with a 335 coupe from 34K t0 17.2K in 13 months and only added 11K miles.

Be diiferent and buy one while they still make them.

Happy camper...

[tonyricha]

Hi and a warm welcome to LOC, please dont wait for a service light to come on as there is not one, it is every 10K alternating between minor and major services.

Good to hear how pleased you are with the car, mine has done 100K more than yours with no issues, still looks and drives perfectly,not even had the air con serviced yet! cheapest car I have ever owned by good economy and no repair bills.

Enjoy, regards Tony

[Greaseater]

Yes cheers for that and yes I now realise that and have it booked in with the lovely Lexus people.

Wow great news about the mileage you have done and was probably only going to run it up to 100K but might change my mind!

[pgg450h]

Afternoon all,

Just picked up my used 56 plate 450h today and wanted to join the club to add a comment too.

I held onto my e39 BMW 525d for as long as I could, simply couldn't find a car I was happy to replace it with...and now I have. What a machine. 6 years old, 53k and it drives superbly.

Just a little rattle from the glove box but aside from that, I couldn't be happier.

Question to those who have owned one for a while, I am planning to pop into Lexus Coventry on Tuesday to put a Lexus warranty on the car (for 2 years). It's nigh on £2k for the 2 years, wondered if anyone can comment on whether it is money well spent or should I perhaps bank it over the 2 years and shell out if something goes wrong?

There are good and bad stories out there but, in my mind, knowing my luck I'd be in the latter camp if I didn't.

On a real high for now though..

[PJ S]

Personally, if the Battery side of things needs fixing, I'd be banking on a fair bit of goodwill from Lexus, so the £2K saved will go most, if not all, the way to covering it.

That warranty covers cars up to 7 years old, so you could play it by ear for the next 6-10 months before deciding to take the plunge or leave it.

[Valkirk]

Thought the drive train was 5yr warranty?

[PJ S]

No, purchasing the Lexus warranty is only possible if the car is 7 yo or under.

Over that, you need to look at 3rd party warranties.

[pgg450h]

Thanks for the comments so far. Leaning towards setting the funds aside and taking a chance without a warranty.

Are items such as the shocks trouble free for those big mileages too? Hear they are very pricey if they go wrong. I'm likely to be doing 20k plus miles a year so just trying to get a feel for what wear and tear items may be on the horizon.

As an aside, has anyone been running their car on Mobil 1 (0w40) at all, found it was very good with my BMW.

[PJ S]

40 weight will eat into mpg.

0 or 5-30 will be more than suitable.

Not seen any mention of the shocks giving grief over on the US Club Lexus forum, so I'd be very surprised if you had trouble.

[pgg450h]

40 weight will eat into mpg.

0 or 5-30 will be more than suitable.

Not seen any mention of the shocks giving grief over on the US Club Lexus forum, so I'd be very surprised if you had trouble.

I understand the dealer's are using 0w 20 fully synthetic now

[PJ S]

Insufficient engine protection in my view - a 20 weight has pathetic HTHS numbers, and even 30 weight is just okay on an absolute level.

Best all round compromise if you won't be spending much time with the engine revving over 2.5-3K rpm.

If you do fancy playing or doing a bit of 'bahn storming, then a good 40 weight will offer improved protection.

[pgg450h]

Insufficient engine protection in my view - a 20 weight has pathetic HTHS numbers, and even 30 weight is just okay on an absolute level.

Best all round compromise if you won't be spending much time with the engine revving over 2.5-3K rpm.

If you do fancy playing or doing a bit of 'bahn storming, then a good 40 weight will offer improved protection.

That was my view too esp. along the lines of shearing stresses over time.

Looking on some of the US forums though the Toyota (I'm assuming that Lexus just use a rebadged version) synthetic 0w20 is reporting good viscosities and wear life after lab analysis and aside from a potential increase in mpg can't see a reason why Lexus now retrospectively recommend this oil grade now even for the older hybrids unless it offered sufficient protection over the 10k interval?

[ColinBarber]

That was my view too esp. along the lines of shearing stresses over time.

Looking on some of the US forums though the Toyota (I'm assuming that Lexus just use a rebadged version) synthetic 0w20 is reporting good viscosities and wear life after lab analysis and aside from a potential increase in mpg can't see a reason why Lexus now retrospectively recommend this oil grade now even for the older hybrids unless it offered sufficient protection over the 10k interval?

Toyota also wouldn't be offering 5 year/100k mile warranties with their vehicles if they didn't think their 0w20 oil would protect the engine.

[ColinBarber]

Are items such as the shocks trouble free for those big mileages too? Hear they are very pricey if they go wrong. I'm likely to be doing 20k plus miles a year so just trying to get a feel for what wear and tear items may be on the horizon.

do you have air suspension? These systems are expensive and not the normal in terms of Lexus reliability.

[PJ S]

Don't think Lexus use air suspension any more, since it's a bit of a known issue on the previous generation LS, but I could be wrong and learn that it's still in use on the big bus.

The hybrid and 430/460 share the same AVS suspension.

[pgg450h]

Are items such as the shocks trouble free for those big mileages too? Hear they are very pricey if they go wrong. I'm likely to be doing 20k plus miles a year so just trying to get a feel for what wear and tear items may be on the horizon.

do you have air suspension? These systems are expensive and not the normal in terms of Lexus reliability.

I simply know it as adaptive suspension - sport/normal settings etc.

[ColinBarber]

Don't think Lexus use air suspension any more, since it's a bit of a known issue on the previous generation LS, but I could be wrong and learn that it's still in use on the big bus.

The hybrid and 430/460 share the same AVS suspension.

It was available on the RX450h when it first came out, whether is still is, or is called something else, I don't know.

[Greaseater]

Car went in for service and all well but was a little surprised at the high cost of the extended Lexus warranty at £95.00pm that was offered by the dealer.

Think I will take my chances with one of the most reliable brands on the planet.

30K miles later will see who is right!

[pgg450h]

I bit the bullet and took out the warranty, knowing my luck if I didn't I'd be sod who beat the odds!

[Greaseater]

My extended warranty quote was only for 12K pa and would no doubt be more if I went for 20K pa which is more realistic.

[Greaseater]

Still doing the miles with 180 mile round trip 3 days a week and still in love this car as no matter what you throw at it...Traffic...Cruising...It eats up the miles and still 38 mpg from a big gas guzzler.

Now 72K but no murmers from engine and guess it will go for another 100K without issues.

No more new cars for me and will keep with high class second hand metal.

IS200 was good 10 years ago but this........WoW.

BMW335 coupe was nice but.......