Foxgoose

I think you're right - high speed motorway cruising is the killer. I got my overall average since delivery up to 29.4 during a couple of hundred mile A - Road trip around Cornwall - but as soon as I got back to 80/90 cruising on the M5 coming home , the average started to drop off into the 27's. I guess it's a combination of weight and aerodynamics, Interestingly, I've found that driving fairly agressively on A-roads - using the power for overtaking etc - doesn't make a huge difference to consumption - I guess that's because of the regenerative braking reclaiming most of the energy used. The reason I'm a bit disappointed is that I remember during the fuel crisis a couple of years ago I got 37mpg out of my 4.4 litre beemer by nursing it along at 50 ish on A-roads and 70 ish on M-ways but hardly using the throttle. You can get great consumption out of lots of cars if you drive like that. I was hoping the 400h would get me into the mid 30's under average driving conditions (ie: get there before the end of next week!). Maybe it'll be better when it's fully run in. The biggest drawback I've found in mine is the rear visibility. I do a lot of driving around Devon lanes most weeks and if you're in a big car you've got to be able to zip back smartly 50 yards or so to a passing place when you meet oncoming traffic (especially in the summer when we're chocca with visitors unaccustomed to narrow lanes). I happened to me going to the pub the other night. Stuck it into reverse, looked into mirror - nothing to see it's so high! - looked at camera screen pitch black except for a faint glow of light - couldn't see the hedge on either side! I'm going to have to think of a way of adding some decent reversing lights. Also when it rains heavily you can' see through the water on the camera lens.- Maybe they don't have lanes in Japan! In case it seems like I'm deterined to find fault with my new car I should say I'm delighted with it overall. It's far more civilised, faster and better handling than any other 4x4 I've had, more comfortable and enjoyable to travel in than my 540 was, and very user friendly in most respects - but it always annoys when there are obvious design glitches like not being able to back up in the dark. Also why doesn't have a proper trip computer with a range feature - the electronics is already there!

That's amazing! I've had mine just over a week and averaged 28mpg over 1000 miles and three tanks of fuel. Like you, mixture of M-way and country roads. That's not driving it hard - just motorway cruising 80/90 and being fairly gentle on the throttle and watching the consumption display. I'm a bit disappointed since the BMW 540 Touring I traded in had a 4.4 litre V8 and was giving me 25mpg driven quite a lot faster. What's your secret - please tell!

Hi After speaking to the recovery guy and taking a few voltage measurements I think I understand the problem a bit better. The traction battery does feed charge into the 12v battery - but only in "ready" mode and only about 3 amps when the engine isn't running. Bottom line is - if you want to sit in the car and use accessories, make sure it's in "ready" mode. (and don't do it in the garage in case the engine decides to start). Because of the relatively small aux battery it won't last long in the normal "accessory" key position if you use the hifi etc. I actually got the car from Plymouth and they've offered to change the aux battery just in case it's not holding full charge.

Got my new 400h on Friday in the UK and it's great - except that, while sitting in the car transferring my phonebook, loading CD's and playing with the ICE video system for an hour or two - the auxiliary battery went flat and wouldn't start the car. Rescue truck driver said its because it has a very small auxiliary battery for the size & complexity of the car. When I finally jump started it the engine ran for a few seconds and then cut out because the traction batteries were presumably OK. Seems weird that the car can be immobile because of a low aux battery when there's all that juice sitting in the traction batteries. Anybody know why the design doesn't allow for starting the engine from the main batteries via a voltage converter? Anybody else had aux battery problems?

I'm picking up my new RX400h on Friday so I'm afraid I can't help but I would be interested to know which models of Bluetooth phone/network work well with the car. I need to change my phone but I see from various US websites that only a few phone/network combinations work properly over there. I read that in the US the Sony 637 allows you to transfer the whole contact list instead of one at a time, but I've no idea if it's the same model no. here What model Motorola worked with the car? Any other phone recommendations much appreciated.

Local dealer found me a Persian Quarz / Beige int. swapped from another dealer. 2k discount and book for my trade-in . Just placed the order & picking up Friday. I haven't even driven one - so should be an interesting drive home! (have driven RX300 and read loads of websites).

When I ordered mine last week, I was initially told that the demos (of which there are about 12 or so listed on the Lexus UK website) won't be released until mid December at the earliest. New vehicles had a Feb/March waiting list. Suspense is killing me though! Leland ← Yeah, my local dealer told me that about the demos but when I rang up about four that I fancied, three offered them right away and the other one rang back later and offered the car in a couple of weeks. I've now found a new SEL in the right colour from stock with 2K disc so I'll probably order this week. Good luck with yours! FG

Since lurking here intermittently for a few months, I've pretty well decided to take the plunge on a 400h. After being quoted zero discount and Feb/March delivery a few weeks ago, I recently noticed about 10 demos available on the Lexus UK website. Doing a bit of ringing round, I've been quoted discounts of £500 to £3K on demos and £1 - 2K on new SEL's. I've also been surprised to be offered a choice of around 8 "cancelled orders" available from stock or by mid December. What sort of discounts are others acheiving on 400h's ? Does this imply sales are a bit slow?