dedas1

Hi. Just purchased an HS250. Two concerns that I have found after driving it for 2 weeks. We purchased the black opal premium with nav and tech. I plan to address with the dealer but wanted to see if this was something others have noted, and perhaps I am too sensitive on feeling the road. I drive mostly freeway to and from work, about 13 miles one way. Cruising on the freeway about 60 mph, on a straight-a-way, the car seems subtlely surge on and off. I do not know if that is the hybrid engine or a adjustment that needs to be made. I plan to have the dealer look into it. Secondly, I can not get the EV mode to come on unless I have driven for several miles, and even then, it doesn't come on. Lastly, when first starting out anytime, there is a shaffing noise, like the brakes are still caught for the first 2-3 sec as the car pulls out. What do you all think? Thanks

KGenaidy

I can't help much with the 1st item. If the roads are "hilly" ... I have noticed that the cc aggressively compensates and can feel like it is "surging".

When the vehicle is cold and "warming" up EV isn't really available or usable. It's designed this way to heat up the engine to the optimum temperature as quickly as possible. However ... you do get about 8 seconds from when you press the on button until the ICE kicks in.

When I first back out of the garage (during the 8 seconds) I do hear the brakes a little bit. I have just figured this is normal since for the first few seconds the engine isn't running and it is very quiet.

Hope this helps.

dedas1

Okay. Here is the answer to my problem. I took the car into the dealer today and had a test drive with one of the head mechanics. He knew right away what the problem, or lack of problem was. He said that the car is so new, that not all of the kinks have been worked out, but that the issue is the sensitivity of the hybrid system. The computer is trying to decide how to optimize energy/fuel efficiency, and is switching between the hybrid and engine, giving the car a, "rubber band" effect. He said this was very common in hybrids, and also for the RX400H when it came out, and was eventually solved in the RX with so many complaints by customers. Eventually a new update on the computer firmware was put out to rectify the problem. He said the solution hopefully will be that if enough customers complain about the "rubber banding" feeling with acceleration and deceleration, they will fix the problem, otherwise it will be left alone. He says it typically occurs around speeds of 40-45 and 55-60 mph, which is exactly where I was feeling the surging when cruising. He was well aware of the problem. He also indicated that because of the 4 cylinder engine, it maybe more obvious, compared to the RX400H, which we also own, but do not sense that problem (although it was also fixed before we purchased ours). I asked him why the Camery or Prius does not do this, and he said the cars are unique enough and different enough that the kinks need working out. So, to have this fixed, everyone that owns the HS has to commet to Lexus about the problem. They will not notify all the owners of the car if there is a fix unless you come in for service or if you are one of the individuals that come in to complaint about it. So, I hope people read this thread and comment about it here, since Lexus monitors these sites for issues of concern.

dedas1

I went to the RX400H site and reviewed search for "surging" under second generation RX hybrid technology. There is an entire thread on this topic, just as I described in the previous post. Read it and see what you think. Thanks to all that read and comment.