Young Kids In Rx400

[Nightstalker]

Hi all...

Looking for a little advice here...

Is there anyone out there who owns a RX400h who's got 3 kids who require booster/child seats which fit in the back of this car?

We currently have an Avensis Tourer and find that eventhough our ankle snappers (3,5,7) can fit in the car, getting them in there on their booster seats and the youngest on his booster seat with back rest, is really akward and they do look cramped up a little - specially when on our bi-annual trips to Scotland (from Reading) they try to sleep and end up fighting over head resting on sholders or legs kicking others..

Anywho, if there is anyone oot there who's in a similar possition, or has been in this scenario with their RX400, can you let us know how bad it is in the back.

The fuel consumption seems to be all over the place - well, when reading reviews on it, so we gathered it cant be as bad as we currently get in our tourer - we tend to get around 270 miles out of one tank when driving around town, or about 300 odd on the way up to Scotland and funnily enough around 400 on the way back down hill ;-)

Any advice on service costs would also be appreciated :-)

Look forward to your replies

Rob

[katabrontes]

When I was in Lexus Bordeaux recently I asked about average consumption as I thought my RX350 was a bit thirsty. The service manager told me that the RX400 would do about 9L/100Km (31.3MPG) and the 450 about 8L/100Km (35MPG). I get about 21MPG (a bit more than 13L/100Km) driving around the country in France quite gently but, curiously, 25-26MPG on a fast run of 400 miles on mainly in motorway.

[ISJason]

hi, don't know about the kids, but the 400h is massive in the back with loads more leg room than you'd ever get in an Avensis, some models come with DVD in the back.

My feul consumption is fantastic for such a big car.. 33-35mpg in town and 35-38mpg on the motorway.

hope this helps.

[Nightstalker]

Thanks for the info sofar....

Not all that fussed about miles per gallon as I tend to go by how many miles per tank brim to brim I get...beit purley short distance driving and then longhaul motorway driving...

Also more interested in knowing if 3 kid seats fit ok across the back seat... and the service costs and intervals...

Cheers Rob

[Crowtree]

Hi Fella

I have just put a second baby seat in the back of my RX400h as our son arrived on saturday and with our two and a half year olds seat on the other side of the car there still is plenty of room, if you consider the seats take up more room than a child alone im pretty sure if yours are on boosters the actual arm room for fighting should be sufficient.

As for tank range we recently went down to Cornwall from Norwich and I was happy with the fuel range, I cant remember the exact numbers but in comparison to our other car an Alfa Romeo 156 2.0 JTS Sportwagon that did about 35/40 on a run im sure the Lexus did better as in how far say £70 went, you need to take into account that if you drive the Lexus in a wise way and each time you dont need to keep the power on you remove your foot from the pedal and the little computer screen shows that you are using no fuel, plus it had cruise control which helps maintain a steady speed on motorways, so summing up I would say yes you can get ya kids in and yes its pretty good if not very good on fuel for a car of this size and class. Plus if you get the SE~L you get the DVD system in the back thats awesome for keeping kids happy.

[nelmo]

Also more interested in knowing if 3 kid seats fit ok across the back seat... and the service costs and intervals...

Cheers Rob

I think you'd be struggling to get 3 seats across the back - I've got 2 of those booster seats but not sure if I could fit a third in - it would be a squeeze at best.

Prevention is better than cure - shouldn't have had 3 kids - only kidding....

[spurty]

Two kids in the back and a border collie in the boot (plus luggage), 600 odd miles holiday trip to north Devon, not a murmur from kids or dog! was amazing car just soaked it up. average mpg was 31.9, thats motorway down there and back plus all the b roads and hills around Devon, was well impressed

[Crowtree]

Just been out to my car and had a bit of a measure up, right with a Graco kids seat that goes up to the age of 11 and on the other side a Silvercross Baby seat there is a gap of exactly 12" between the two, this is with them in place with the seat belts all fitted so this is where they will naturally sit. I hope this helps you decide, after all there are not many cars that have this amount of rear space ? unless you start going all 7 seat on us ?

[smitham]

I;m afraid the answer is a no you cannot get three child seats in a row. Had my 400h for 6 years with 2 children similar ages but of course you need to carry friends. You can get the two child seats in and at a real push a narrow booster with no back in the middle. There is no room to get access to the belt sockets so 5 mins of faffing get the child in.. So only acceptable on an occasional basis and not everyday. certainly impossible to get three boosters with backs seats in a row. You need to wait until your kids are older (as mine are now) and only one needs a booster, the others are then comfortable,

discussions with parents suggest that you have the same problem in all these 4x4 type cars as they tend to narrow as they near the wheel arch e.g. same problem in volvo xc90, BMW x5 and Range Rover and Discovery, Friends with three children of that age have to go for people carriers as the wheels are well behind the rear seat and you can get three boosters in a row. . Also the 7 seats will come in handy with the inevitable need to carry friends.

One big big advantage the lexus has over other 4x4s is no transmission tunnel so the middle person can be adult sized and comfortable with the leg room.