I hope that all of you 400h owner enjoy your ride and your money because you have been duped by the propaganda. How much do you save in gas in a year compared to a RX350 which is cheaper to begin with and wait til you bring yours in for repair. Get ready to give up your first born, arm or leg. Not even Dealers can fix these vehicle when the problems arises. Sure they can fix it by replacing the whole systems. Good luck to you all. Save gas and money, what a joke. You all mark my word a few years from now, I will seeing you up here in the forums crying about how much it cost for repairs. Then after that you will not buy another of these hybrid craps.

 

As usually a US guy see only its pocket money and don't care about environment, future... We remind that you did not signed the Kyoto Protocole. This kind of attitude is so short view... I drive a RX400H in the mind the more money I spend is going for the rightfuture development.
This is why Toyota will become first in the World where youre GM , Ford will sink in a mess of CO2, in a gread citizenship collaboration, like with Katrina....

 

Please let me know where did you get your crystal ball, or you should stop smoking whatever that is.

 

heh an hybrid hater...lol...the cost for the RX400h and the RX350 is not that much of a difference if you have the same options installed on both cars...since the RX400h standard has more features than the RX350 standard....the cost difference for the RX400h and the RX350 is roughly 2k plus or minus a little more since if you add in the hybrid tax credit then it isn't that much of a difference if you keep the car longer...if you lease the RX400h it doesn't matter since there are good leases for the car now. Also about saving gas...for a hybrid it depends on how you drive...same as a regular car...however with a hybrid you get the chance to pick if you want to drive fast and waste more gas or drive slower and save more gas...while a regular car...the options are not that clear cut. In addition, I believe the RX400h has a better emission rating than the RX350...like SULEV...while the RX350 has ULEV II...which is better for the environment due to the green house gases...it really all depends what your looking for in a car...if you really wanted to save gas...u get a small car...like a prius or something comparable...so there is nothing wrong with a hybrid because through toyota/lexus those cars are under warranty for 8 years...so if anything happend during that time it would be covered...

 

First of all congrats on your rx350 it is a great vehicle. I drove one as a loaner with 8 miles on it when my 400h was in for service. Please remember that many of us have had the rx400h for over a year way before there was a rx 350. Compared to a 330 it made sense for me to purchase the hybrid and i love the car. My old suv averaged 15 mpg and i average 27 in this vehicle so i have almost doubled my miles on the same tank of gas. Once you drive with this CVT transmission it spoils you for any other car as it is so smooth. I think it handles better than a 330 or 350, and i found the steering in the 350 on the numb side. You do have the latest navigation in the 350, i know both the system and the display are superb. The reliability of both the Prius and the 400h have been very good and much above average, 95% of the Prius owners and over 90% of the hybrid suv owners would purchase the car again. Yes, isolated failures have happened that would be expensive to fix had it not been on warranty and Toyota has pledged to reduce the future cost of both battery replacement if any and the cost of hybrid parts.

As far as repairs, our brakes and transmissions will last much longer than conventional cars. There is no one right answer for each consumer and that is why we are a nation of choice. Hybrids will only improve over time with new and better solutions becoming available. It sounds like you made a good choice for yourself, i wonder why you cannot admit that there are other choices that are better for someone else.

 

Yes, saving fuel money was my priority concern.

I know eventually replacing the battery will hurt my pocket badly, but the cost is not so sure yet since it is still early to look for after market solution. In fact, for most of typical batteries that we use in our standard gas-only vehicles, I see only a very small population of people would use OE batteries, or otherwise manufacturers like Interstate and AcDelco will not claim as the best battery makers in the world.

Surely the OE battery will cost big money, but while the whole automotive world is moving toward the trend on high MPG vehicles, I personally think hybrid vehicles should have higher resell rate when comparing with gas-only vehicles.

Another factor is about the engine noise… I love the silent mode on the hybrid when I drive it gently or not using the gas paddle, and of course I love to see I can get 26 MPG on a midsize SUV.

Both 350 and 400h are great rides for sure!

 

would be nice to see if lexus makes the new RX body style that is coming out in a couple of years with a 450h...

 

Same here also.
There is always this second thought when everytime I think about a better mid-size SUV. Yes, I love saving bucks on gas when driving, and I love my ride is loaded with muscles regardless I use it or not...

The fact is:
Save Gas != faster engine;

I usually contradict myself.

 

Sorry for not replying before!!! I was just curious what goes on in people's minds when doing these kinds of comparisons.

Great responses except for the Hybrid hater guy!! My cousin has a Highlander Hybrid. Obviously it's not as luxurious as an RX, but it was really cool riding in it. I almost walked back in front of it once because I couldn't hear it. I didn't care, would've made for a better story at work...."I walked in front of my cousin's hybrid...I couldn't hear it coming!!" rather than "I walked in front of my cousin's car, despite the fact that he was revving it."

I felt the Highlander a little boaty compared to the RX. Oh well! I could only wish that ANY of our cars could get mileage as good as the RX400h (I admit to being a leadfoot at times).

 

Woohoo! New 400h in da house!!

Took delivery a couple weeks ago, getting about 25mpg in 600 miles, and very happy. Fabulous car. We bought it for the emissions, cuz it kicks the a$$ of most cars, and almost all SUVs in emissions. Haveta give my kid a world to live in, right?

My wife actually liked the HH more overall, but I prevailed. We both like driving the 400h better, tho.

Cheers everyone!
daloosh

 

Congrats!!

 

Talk about a joke. What types of problems can you foresee? What makes your 350 better than a 400h?
Use gas and money, what a joke. You all mark my word a few years from now, I will seeing you up here in the forums crying about how much it costs for gas. Then after that you will not buy another of these gas craps.

Interesting how you make comments and are giving input on a forum that does not even apply to you. You say that not even dealers can fix THESE vehicle when the problem arises. What problems will arise that dealers can not fix? Oh wait, you don't own one, so you wouldn't know.

 

Sold the fully loaded '06 RX330 (avg 20-22mpg) and got the fully loaded '06RXh for the wife (avg 25-56mpg) this past April. Already has over 9000 miles on it. More power, better gas mileage and saving the environment... it was a no brainer, although we did pay about $3K difference. When we bought the RX330, the current RXh did not have the wood interior which was what my wife had wanted, then when the wood was offered in the RXh, I talked my wife into upgrading. Have been extremely pleased thus far.

 

You're absolutely right. Few people in the US get it. We pollute, consume fuel, and were just a big, fat, spoiled, and stupid country. Yes, stupid. That's why we always have to play catchup with the Japanese instead of lead in engineering. Attitudes here are terrible. Well, I should say that people who support the current administration think like that. Fortunately not all Americans are so self-centered and realize their actions have consequences that affect others. The GOP would argue with you if the 400H ran on water and never broke down, they hate anything that threatens their right to consume and pollute themselves to death. They are just down right negative. They can't see the logic in what a BIG difference it would make if we all made small changes. Sigh.

Thanks for your post. I got crap on the intro page because I picked the 350 over the 400, but I'm a vegan, and so I care about animals and the enviroment. Someone pointed out the wood, but trees are cut down for cow farming, so the arguement doesn't stick. Leather is terrible for the environment (the way it's processed, cows are farmed, etc...) I wish Lexus offered the 400h in cloth. They don't. So I got the next best thing... Kudos to the rest of you that are supporting more energy and air friendly technology.

 

According to the lexus website, the RX400h comes w/o leather standard but leather is a premium package (which all dealers seem to get)
is there a way to special order the lexus w/o the premium package (and thus, w/o leather?)