RX 400h features versions

Madartsoft · April 5, 2017

Hi,

I just looking around to buy Lexus RX 400h and have a lot of questions related to this model. Currently I'm owner of Volvo XC90 2007 2.4D. I like the 400h car but still some things are unclear for me.

I'm looking for model year 2009-2010. I read that there are models SE, SE-L, Limited edition and Executive model. What are differences ??

Does all models have auto-wipers?

What about Xenon lights? Also are there rear parking sensors?

My Volvo average mpg is 27.5. Mostly used in short distances in town and twice a week on A-roads (about 60 miles) average speed 70 mph. I read that 400h is difficult to get good result.

Thank you

rayaans · April 5, 2017

38 minutes ago, Madartsoft said:

Hi,

I just looking around to buy Lexus RX 400h and have a lot of questions related to this model. Currently I'm owner of Volvo XC90 2007 2.4D. I like the 400h car but still some things are unclear for me.

I'm looking for model year 2009-2010. I read that there are models SE, SE-L, Limited edition and Executive model. What are differences ??

Does all models have auto-wipers?

What about Xenon lights? Also are there rear parking sensors?

My Volvo average mpg is 27.5. Mostly used in short distances in town and twice a week on A-roads (about 60 miles) average speed 70 mph. I read that 400h is difficult to get good result.

Thank you

All models have auto wipers and Xenon headlights.

I dont think parking sensors were standard on any of them. They were usually fitted by the dealer if the car has them. Some of them have a reversing camera though - the Limited edition ones and the SE-L certainly do.

27.5mpg should be achievable in the RX400h especially in town driving and steady A roads

ISJason · April 6, 2017

Yes you should be able to get that and more mpg. I get about 32 on the motorway occasionally 35 to 38. All the parking sensors seem to be add-ons as the Mr Rayaans said. Mines SEL 2007 with power tailgate, electrochromatic mirrors et cetera. It's a great car and as long as you get a good one you can't go wrong. Make sure it's had the converter recall done and If it's a high mileage make sure the cam belt been changed and the water pump replaced if it is leaking other than that , it should be fine.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Madartsoft · April 7, 2017

Thank you for all replies. Regarding the inverter. It seems that models up to 2011 was affected?

rayaans · April 8, 2017

On 07/04/2017 at 1:35 PM, Madartsoft said:

Thank you for all replies. Regarding the inverter. It seems that models up to 2011 was affected?

The 400h only ran till 2009 so up till then I would think

DanD · April 24, 2017

The latest model you will find will be 2009 on '09 plate I believe.

I would recommend the Executive Limited Edition, which was the final, run out model. It is easily identified by the "Executive Limited Edition" badge under the RX400h badge on the hatch.

This model came with all the extras, including the Mark Levinson audio, but excluding the rear entertainment system.

I used to average 28-29MPG in mine without trying. You can get better with careful driving.

julian1969 · April 25, 2017

my all time best (in the 4 months I've had mine) going from Wolverhampton to bedford has been 41mpg but that was in heavy traffic and roadworks all the way rarely going over 60mph. I average around 28-32 in normal driving, lowest has been 26 when I first got it and was exploring the eye opening acceleration 8¬D. I did have regular use of a Leaf electric car before this though so my driving style had changed to be more considerate towards Battery regeneration (coasting for longer as opposed to late braking, anticipation, etc.)

I have a '57 SE with guided xenons, levinson, seat memory( some don't have this), electric steering column adjustment, etc. the only thing missing is the rear screens afaik. Just pay attention to pictures of the interior rather than description - mine was advertised as an SE-L (because Levinson) when it's actually an SE but it had all the things I was after so it was just a bargaining point when it came to buying.

Parking sensors are dealer fit options but if you remember to keep the camera clean are IMHO not really necessary as the backup camera is pretty good for this kind of thing and the front has decent visibility of the corners. I have to park in very tight allocated parking and haven't had an issue.

The 400 is a lovely car, my only slight gripe with it is that the drivers seat doesn't quite go back far enough and the seat squab is a little short however I am a very large guy and I can still get comfortable certainly more so than in my previous Leaf and Kia.

cachaciero · April 30, 2017

On 25/04/2017 at 8:57 AM, julian1969 said:

my all time best (in the 4 months I've had mine) going from Wolverhampton to bedford has been 41mpg but that was in heavy traffic and roadworks all the way rarely going over 60mph. I average around 28-32 in normal driving, lowest has been 26 when I first got it and was exploring the eye opening acceleration 8¬D. I did have regular use of a Leaf electric car before this though so my driving style had changed to be more considerate towards battery regeneration (coasting for longer as opposed to late braking, anticipation, etc.)

I have a '57 SE with guided xenons, levinson, seat memory( some don't have this), electric steering column adjustment, etc. the only thing missing is the rear screens afaik. Just pay attention to pictures of the interior rather than description - mine was advertised as an SE-L (because Levinson) when it's actually an SE but it had all the things I was after so it was just a bargaining point when it came to buying.

Parking sensors are dealer fit options but if you remember to keep the camera clean are IMHO not really necessary as the backup camera is pretty good for this kind of thing and the front has decent visibility of the corners. I have to park in very tight allocated parking and haven't had an issue.

The 400 is a lovely car, my only slight gripe with it is that the drivers seat doesn't quite go back far enough and the seat squab is a little short however I am a very large guy and I can still get comfortable certainly more so than in my previous Leaf and Kia.

I would generally endorse these comments with the added comment that the seats and headrests are actually quite poor when considering the target market.

No auto folding Mirrors, and heat is slow to clear them by comparison with most European cars I have owned.

Auto wipe again present, the wipers automatically wipe however the system is not integrated with roof / windows automatically closing them when the rain starts as it is on many European cars.

Parking sensors, rear view camera is fine by day useless at night and doesn't really cover the corners. Front parking sensors I have come to the conclusion are if not essential damn useful, the front fender has more overhang than one might think and because the car is big and there is a lot of "give" in the plastic it is easy to touch something and not know it until it is too late :-(

I have come to the conclusion that there has been a lot of cost cutting in corrosion prevention / paint finishes. I have never had or seen any European car that looses paint on alloy components like Toyota / Lexus :-(

Suspension there are IMHO some serious design flaws here and tyre wear patterns should be checked carefully particularly for inside edge wear.

IMHO you will not see much if any in fuel saving over the Volvo so my advice would be to stick with the Volvo as it is probably the better car, I say probably as I have never owned a Volvo so cannot say for sure. Anyway hang on for a few months and the govemint may be prepared to pay you scrappage on the Volvo :-)

Coxy · April 30, 2017

Quote

I would generally endorse these comments with the added comment that the seats and headrests are actually quite poor when considering the target market.

No auto folding Mirrors, and heat is slow to clear them by comparison with most European cars I have owned.

Auto wipe again present, the wipers automatically wipe however the system is not integrated with roof / windows automatically closing them when the rain starts as it is on many European cars.

Parking sensors, rear view camera is fine by day useless at night and doesn't really cover the corners. Front parking sensors I have come to the conclusion are if not essential damn useful, the front fender has more overhang than one might think and because the car is big and there is a lot of "give" in the plastic it is easy to touch something and not know it until it is too late :-(

I have come to the conclusion that there has been a lot of cost cutting in corrosion prevention / paint finishes. I have never had or seen any European car that looses paint on alloy components like Toyota / Lexus :-(

Suspension there are IMHO some serious design flaws here and tyre wear patterns should be checked carefully particularly for inside edge wear.

IMHO you will not see much if any in fuel saving over the Volvo so my advice would be to stick with the Volvo as it is probably the better car, I say probably as I have never owned a Volvo so cannot say for sure. Anyway hang on for a few months and the govemint may be prepared to pay you scrappage on the Volvo :-)

XC90s have their fair share of issues too but unlike the RX most of them are mechanical and costly such as the rear diff / drive shaft couping being made of play dough, auto boxes prone to failure, vacuum engine mounts almost guaranteed to fail and general DPF issues on the Diesel engines which incidently aren't very refined and struggle to return much more MPG than the Petrol RX300... go figure.

Having said that the XC90 ride is nice, interior comfort and trim is great, they have aged well and I personally felt XC90 seats (in leather) were some of the most comfortable I've sat in when driving,

I agree on RX300 heated seats not being up to European rivals standards.

cachaciero · May 1, 2017

19 hours ago, Coxy said:

XC90s have their fair share of issues too but unlike the RX most of them are mechanical and costly such as the rear diff / drive shaft couping being made of play dough, auto boxes prone to failure, vacuum engine mounts almost guaranteed to fail and general DPF issues on the Diesel engines which incidently aren't very refined and struggle to return much more MPG than the Petrol RX300... go figure.

Having said that the XC90 ride is nice, interior comfort and trim is great, they have aged well and I personally felt XC90 seats (in leather) were some of the most comfortable I've sat in when driving,

I agree on RX300 heated seats not being up to European rivals standards.

The drive train is the strong point of the RX without doubt and the reason I purchased mine, however even here I don't feel that it is anywhere as well sorted as the same system on the Prius in my opinion there are changes that could be made to the software in the area of ICE management that could improve the fuel consumption.

Previous to this I had an automatic diesel Citroen C5 and I was seriously considering another, mechanically PSA cars are in my experience pretty good and system integration and suspension is considerably better than anything from Toyota / Lexus. However the amount of anti-pollution stuff built around the average diesel and the problems and cost it can bring are a serious consideration. The Aisin gearbox auto is pretty reliable however like all hydro mechanical boxes it sucks fuel. If going manual the Dual Mass flywheels are problematic. Petrol Hybrid does eliminate a lot of these concerns, hence my choice, however the jury is still out as to whether I stick with that decision :-)

DanD · May 2, 2017

You must not forget that the RX300/400h went on sale back in 2005 (I think it was a little earlier for the 300). At the time, few cars matched the RX's list of standard equipment: most of the equipment you are referring to would have been cost options on european models, if indeed available. I would also argue that the RX remains far more reliable than similar european cars of the same vintage.

I cannot agree with your comments about cost cutting where anti-corrosion and paint finish are concerned. Lexus paint finish is amongst the best out there. However, I do agree with your comments about alloy corrosion, although this issue seem to only affect the RX300/350/400h.

julian1969 · May 2, 2017

18 hours ago, cachaciero said:

The drive train is the strong point of the RX without doubt and the reason I purchased mine, however even here I don't feel that it is anywhere as well sorted as the same system on the Prius in my opinion there are changes that could be made to the software in the area of ICE management that could improve the fuel consumption.

Previous to this I had an automatic diesel Citroen C5 and I was seriously considering another, mechanically PSA cars are in my experience pretty good and system integration and suspension is considerably better than anything from Toyota / Lexus. However the amount of anti-pollution stuff built around the average diesel and the problems and cost it can bring are a serious consideration. The Aisin gearbox auto is pretty reliable however like all hydro mechanical boxes it sucks fuel. If going manual the Dual Mass flywheels are problematic. Petrol Hybrid does eliminate a lot of these concerns, hence my choice, however the jury is still out as to whether I stick with that decision :-)

Just goes to show how 2 people can have very different experiences with cars. I've had 1 citroen and 2 peugeots and none was worth a damn mechanically. The last pug i had a 407 coupe v6 diesel auto, had multiple sensor faults and needed a new gearbox within the first year of ownership, the final 6 months i had it, it sat on my drive going nowhere due to a screeching noise no garage could diagnose and fix. I handed it back to the finance company once the rule of halves and thirds allowed and took the loss of deposit as a learning experience. Never again.

I do know people who have had no issues with their PSA group cars however personally i'd not touch one again.

Madartsoft · May 2, 2017

My Volvo XC90 it's really nice car but it's almost 125k now. I heard that some people drive the Volvo with over 220k and still are ok but also I my brother owner of BMW X5 diesel 3.0D autogear box with 175k the gerabox just stopped responding. The costs over £2000. Also as mentioned here there are a lot of things which can fail in modern diesels. The government also not nice for diesel owners.

As I know I have to be careful with the hybrid Battery when considering the RX 400h. Any others costly issues??

cachaciero · May 2, 2017

2 hours ago, Madartsoft said:

My Volvo XC90 it's really nice car but it's almost 125k now. I heard that some people drive the Volvo with over 220k and still are ok but also I my brother owner of BMW X5 diesel 3.0D autogear box with 175k the gerabox just stopped responding. The costs over £2000. Also as mentioned here there are a lot of things which can fail in modern diesels. The government also not nice for diesel owners.

As I know I have to be careful with the hybrid battery when considering the RX 400h. Any others costly issues??

Big problem with autogearbox in many cases are the magic words "sealed for life" oil changes not required. Life in this sense does not mean human life it means the designed life which would appear based upon much anecdotal evidence to be about 100K. What ever they say the oil does deteriorate and does need changing and in some cases with the exact same oil recommended by the box manufacturer. With that done on a regular basis and the box not abused by driving style then I don't see why 220K would not be achievable. Put that into context in terms of cost on a normal manual diesel by 220K you would probably be looking at having replaced the flywheel and clutch once and be well on the way to number two.

Can't really comment on the BMW not having one or ever looked at how they work but most modern auto gearboxes have replaced much of the clever mechanical governers and control devices with electronic computation and electro valves which are often replaceable in situ with a minimum of dismantling required. Your description of the BMW makes me think electronics and I can quite imagine that BMW's price for supply and fit a new ECU could be in that kind of area, which means that with DIY or shopping around it may have been possible to fix considerably cheaper.

I too was concerned about the hybrid Battery before I purchased my first hybrid a Prius and did a lot of research in what DIY options were available to fix a broken Battery should it happen. I discovered that infact it is not so difficult or expensive to replace individual cells. However Battery failure appears to be very rare Toyota / Lexus guarantee the Battery for a 100K and the way the charge state of the Battery is managed is very conservative with respect to maximising life so of all possible problems I think that Hybrid Battery failure is one of the last things to worry about. 12Volt system Battery is however a different animal an area where the quality of design and charge managment leaves much to be desired, however it is a cheap and easy fix.

cachaciero · May 2, 2017

3 hours ago, julian1969 said:

Just goes to show how 2 people can have very different experiences with cars. I've had 1 citroen and 2 peugeots and none was worth a damn mechanically. The last pug i had a 407 coupe v6 diesel auto, had multiple sensor faults and needed a new gearbox within the first year of ownership, the final 6 months i had it, it sat on my drive going nowhere due to a screeching noise no garage could diagnose and fix. I handed it back to the finance company once the rule of halves and thirds allowed and took the loss of deposit as a learning experience. Never again.

I do know people who have had no issues with their PSA group cars however personally i'd not touch one again.

Once bitten twice shy :-) Your experience is sad to say not uncommon :-(

IMO the biggest reason for unreliability in PSA products is the repair network often staffed by people that really don't know how their cars work and often it seems don't care. PSA and particularly Citroen have always been technically very advanced but that brings a requirement for a knowledgeable support base which in turn brings extra cost in terms both of personnel quality and training costs objectives which most repairers are unprepared to meet.

It does seem to me that these days most cars out of the factory are pretty good and reliable, the problems start when a small problem is given to a repairer who then turns what is a little problem into a big one simply because in many cases he doesn't know WTF he's doing, doesn't have the appropriate diagnostic kit (Essential these days) or anybody who knows how to drive it and interpret the results correctly.

The saving grace for me in owning an early C5 in Exclusive trim was that by training I am a systems engineer and I acquired a load of Citroen Training manuals which really explained how the car worked (warts 'n all) with that and a Lexia I could diagnose a problem go to a garage if i did not want to do the work myself and say "change that bit" and that bit only. I don't have that type of info for the Lexus and it makes me feel a little "naked".

cachaciero · May 2, 2017

3 hours ago, DanD said:

You must not forget that the RX300/400h went on sale back in 2005 (I think it was a little earlier for the 300). At the time, few cars matched the RX's list of standard equipment: most of the equipment you are referring to would have been cost options on european models, if indeed available. I would also argue that the RX remains far more reliable than similar european cars of the same vintage.

I cannot agree with your comments about cost cutting where anti-corrosion and paint finish are concerned. Lexus paint finish is amongst the best out there. However, I do agree with your comments about alloy corrosion, although this issue seem to only affect the RX300/350/400h.

A valiant defence but... lets see 2001 Citroen C5 Exclusive which means that it's design date would be circa 1998-2000.

Basic Spec as follows as I recall.

Automatically heated and folding mirrors.

Automatic wipers integrated with window / roof control

Automatic Climate control,

Automatic Headlights

One switch control for roof open /tilt

Xenon lights. Self levelling suspension that dynamically changed the car attitude to maximise stability / economy at speed. Selectable Sport mode.

Noise reducing glass.

Auto box with manual tiptronic type option.

Body shell galvanised prior to paint. (Not sure if Lexus did that but my feeling is not don't want to scratch the paint to find out :-)

Leather Heated Seats were an option.

Oh! and the alloy wheels never ever flaked paint :-)

Now PSA were not worried about Japanese competition but German Competition so I assume that the likes of BMW Merceds Audi etc. were in the late ninties of similar specs which means that by 2005 Lexus / Toyota should have been much further advanced than they were.

julian1969 · May 5, 2017

to be fair, their competition for the C5 (the GS) was on a par and more advanced in some areas during the mid '00s, The RX is a very different thing being a 4x4, but yes you are right the tech in the RX is very '90s but then I don;t find I miss much other than a USB socket which has only really become 'standard' in the last 5-10 years. ACC/PCS would be nice though.

My 407 coupe was fantastically well appointed for an 06 car far better than my RX but I still rate the RX better.

Madartsoft · May 7, 2017

Hi,

Is any chance to test the Battery without going to dealer as it's very far? Also if the car had replaced Battery converter it should be stamp in the log book? Should all cars till 2009 had replaced the converter (calls) or just selected numbers?

ColinBarber · May 7, 2017

There is no real way to 'test' the Battery, even a dealer can only do a basic test. Take the vehicle for a test drive and make sure no engine management lights come on. Dealers don't stamp the log book when performing recalls unfortunately. A dealer will be able to check that it has been performed by searching the Lexus database.

The recall was for vehicles manufactured between Sept. 2004 through to Aug. 2006.

Madartsoft · May 8, 2017

Any other things to check?

ColinBarber · May 8, 2017

Corrosion on the braking surfaces of the discs indicate sticking callipers, more common on the rear.

Water inside the rear light cluster.

cachaciero · May 18, 2017

On 08/05/2017 at 8:23 AM, Madartsoft said:

Any other things to check? Extremes of tyre wear on the edges, there does seem to be a history of wheel alignment problems particularly the rears. Worth trawling through this site and it's US counterpart there's some interesting reading.

Paint and finish is something I have doubts about. Dropped the spare wheel last week for the first time since I purchased the car last September (2007 80K on the clock) My first reaction was how did they manage to bend the wheel that badly, closer examination revealed that in fact it was the paint that was no longer attached to the metal about 90% of it!

Now the reason that paint flakes on the alloy of all Toyota group is simply due to cost cutting at the prep stage, there is no passivation of any alloy component that I have examined. No anodising, no passivating etch prime, nothing just a thin coat of primer and paint (probably water based) Just enough to look good to the end of the warranty period plus one year after that Lexus wont care.

I am also concerned about the amount of rust I am seeing on mine, for the first time in twenty years I am thinking about having to apply Waxoil or something similar to the underside if I intend to keep the car for a while.

Tonyd