sos10

Yesterday I sold my RX300, I'm moving to the USA and can't take her with me... The good news is that with the same money I can buy a new one in LA! :) Although..... there is another car which I may consider.... the upcoming Toyota FJ Cruiser... more of a fun car, a serious off-roader and it can tow 5000 lb, so a little Airstream trailer is possible.... But for now... ..

← Yip...I know it's real wood...I just hate it sooooooo shiny...yuk ! Ok..I'll admitt I have a personal thing about hating wood in any car....just have to get a RX400h next time as no wood in it, one of many excuses I'm lining up for using on the wife come replacement time. ← I'm not a great fan of this type of wood either.. but the aluminum in the 400h is not very inspiring either.. I wish Lexus would offer different types of wood, like Audi does, or Citroen in the C6, very classy!

When I saw the first images of the X3 I loved the car... when I saw it in real life I hated it. The interior that looked so attractive on the pics, is actually very cheap plastic.. Try the back seats of the X3... like sitting on a wooden park bench. Technically it's a very respectable car, but not very exiting. ps fergy, the wood inside the RX300 is not plastic.

Electric engines are wearing out ?? I think this is rather unlikely.. and that's an understatement...but you're right to note that it is winter and that a car behaves different.

I tried the old Itrip in my Rx300, didn't work at all, now I use the cassette adapter but I'm unhappy with the sound quality. Just bought a new iPod in LA and got the new iTrip, seems to work much better,good sound quality (although you have to take the base down drastically) at least in my rental car here... not a Rx... see next week at home if there is a difference. Only problem is that you cannot recharge the iPod while using the new iTrip, a bit silly.

A friend of mine is beta testing the ice-link on the 400h in the USA, it seems to be working fine, ipod read out on the central screen and all.. check the Ice-link site as they may update it soon. :end/offtopic

:o I'm thinking of changing my 2004 Rx300 for the IS250 AWD (in the US) did a test drive in the IS350... to much power for my needs, but this car is just FANTASTIC and will sell far more then the car it is replacing, which never was a real Lexus, compared to the rest of the brand. The diesel is already attracting many new clients in Italy.

To me the new MB looks like a plastic KIA. I find it extremely ugly, even worse then the new A, B and R "class". But that's my taste. Anyway I hope people will remember that the 400h is the first ever hybrid SUV (lets forget about that little Ford SUV, with toyota hybrid technics) and this is only the start... Diesels in that respect are pretty much end of the line, only marginal improvements will be made in the near future.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=ht...Flanguage_tools have a look here

Diesel Hybrid on normal cars is not a good idea (according to Toyota) for several reasons: -The advantage of a diesel over petrol cars is exactly there where the electric motor takes over; low speeds, stop/go etc. You would gain very little from using a diesel hybrid on a car, Trucks are a diffierent story. -Another problem is the transition from electric to diesel. When the petrol motor of a Prius or 400h kicks in you barely notice it.. doing so with a diesel is way more complicated.

The 400H is selling incredibly well, not just in the USA, but everywhere in Europe. In italy you have to wait 6 months to get one. Toyota just signed a deal with Hitachi for electric motors, first time ever Toyota will be using non Toyota parts. This to meet the increasing demand, more then excpected. (not just for the 400h of course) Toyota is planning to make EVERY model from their catalog in hybrid versions in the next few years. And you may have noticed that almost every other car maker in the world, inlcuding Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Audi have presented near production prototypes of hybrids.. they will be on the market in the next few years. Everybody seems to agree that hybrid is the way to go. Hydrogen is still to complex and will remain so for at least another 10 years. Toyota and Honda have many years advantage and the fact that there are early adopters, like the ones that buy the 400h, will only strenghten the technology and make it better and more affordable for everyone.

Clarkson missed the point here and makes mistakes many people make: comparing a hybrid to a diesel... exactly like comparing a petrol car to a diesel... Yep, the diesel consumes less, but produces way more harmfull fumes and although they are getting better and better, they haven't got the same power, makes more noise, vibrates more. And, most importantly, a diesel cannot run electric, like in town, in a traffic que... He also talks about servicing a car that has 3 motors..... does he know how an electric motor looks like, how it works? Not really the same as a petrol motor. Or does he know how many problems the Toyota hybrids are having? (a hint: something close to 0) He also forgets that the 400h is not just about economy but also about power; the 400h is not a Prius. He then starts about solarpanels etc.. Does he know how heavy hale-proof solar panels are? (not to mix up with those solar driven cars that use very light weight, but extremely fragile solar panels) Clearly he has way to much work to put a decent article together or spends to much time finding new one-liners, which I started to get bored of already some years ago. If I would buy a new car now, I would go for the 400h, but since I bought a RX300 about a year ago, t'll have to wait a bit. Or maybe I get a Prius...

Buy the car you can identify with.. I would never buy a BMW, at least not in Italy, as all BMW drivers seem so arrogant and have terrible road manners. Lexus drivers are less agressive. But that may be different in the UK.

You're not swinging out more then any other front wheel driven car. I have driven in bad snow and icy conditions and with the right chains, you're fine. The ones I got are from Koenig.

Right size snow chains are hard to find, but are way cheaper and easier then changing to different tyres. remember ONLY ON THE FRONT WHEELS! The RX is a front wheel driven car, it is only 4x4 when really needed, and there is absolutely no point in putting chains on the rear wheels.