450h turned one down again

[mikesands]

Yesterday I had two test drives of a 2015 450H with just 22k miles on it.  Two tests because I couldn;t believe how bad the ride was.  This reminded me why I didn;t trade in my 400H when the 450 came out.  Lexus just cannot seriously provide that kind of ride quality on what was a 55k car - but they did.  I then drove the new 450h demonstrator and they have it sorted on the latest model.  At motorway speeds it was quiet and smooth and felt like a luxury saloon.

My 400H has ordinary springs which even after 132k miles provide a much better ride than did the 2015 450H.  My Lexus extended warranty has another 13 months to run - hopefully at that point there will be 3 year old latest versions for me to buy at reasonable prices.  Oh and by the way the extended warranty has been a complete waste of money as nothing whatsoever has gone wrong with the car in 5 years - very annoyed !!!  )

Mike

[ColinBarber]

Hi Mike

What model of 450h was it? Most have 19" wheels which doesn't help the ride, and possibly the tyres were over-inflated, but the ride shouldn't have been that bad. Although admittedly it won't be as good as the 400h.

The higher grades have air suspension, so it is worth testing models with/without that feature.

[rayaans]

4 hours ago, mikesands said:

Yesterday I had two test drives of a 2015 450H with just 22k miles on it.  Two tests because I couldn;t believe how bad the ride was.  This reminded me why I didn;t trade in my 400H when the 450 came out.  Lexus just cannot seriously provide that kind of ride quality on what was a 55k car - but they did.  I then drove the new 450h demonstrator and they have it sorted on the latest model.  At motorway speeds it was quiet and smooth and felt like a luxury saloon.

My 400H has ordinary springs which even after 132k miles provide a much better ride than did the 2015 450H.  My Lexus extended warranty has another 13 months to run - hopefully at that point there will be 3 year old latest versions for me to buy at reasonable prices.  Oh and by the way the extended warranty has been a complete waste of money as nothing whatsoever has gone wrong with the car in 5 years - very annoyed !!!  )

Mike

All depends on what the driver wants though surely.

Does your 400h handle like the GS450h? doubt it....

[ColinBarber]

19 minutes ago, rayaans said:

All depends on what the driver wants though surely.

Does your 400h handle like the GS450h? doubt it....

I'm pretty sure Mike is talking about an RX, not GS.

[mikesands]

Yeah I'm talking about the RX.  I realise that Lexus changed it to handle more sportingly and there will be people who want that, but what got me was the head wobble.  Surely this must be because the RX can theoretically be made to handle like a GS but the 'leverage' on your head due to the extra height above the road makes it simply tiring.

The Lexus salesman assured me that none of the 450H's had air suspension.  I pointed out that people on these forums seem to think some models have air.  I got the 'you shouldn't believe everything you read on forums' treatment.  I subsequently asked them to contact me if they get a Premier in and I will see if it feels any better - but after 4 or 5 sensors failed on my LS430, I am a bit nervous about Lexus' air suspension.

Yes the wheels are bigger than my 400H but the tyre size/depth at 55 is the same.  I noticed the sensors were showing 2.4,2.4, 2.6 and 2.7 bar but haven't yet done the conversion to see if they were overinflated.

And No - my 4ooH doesn't handle as 'well' as my pal's RX450H if we were both to throw them around country roads, but mine is like $hit off a stick compared to his when you want to overtake.

Mike

[ColinBarber]

1 hour ago, mikesands said:

 

The Lexus salesman assured me that none of the 450H's had air suspension.  I pointed out that people on these forums seem to think some models have air.  I got the 'you shouldn't believe everything you read on forums' treatment. 

Wouldn't be the first salesman to not know what he is talking about.

How about a review on Lexus' own website that state air suspension is standard on the Premier:

http://blog.lexus.co.uk/lexus-rx-450h-review/

 

These is a pinned post at the top of the RX forum with the equipment levels on the different grades. 2009-2012 SE-L and SE-L Premier, and 2012+ Premier models all had air suspension as standard.

It was the series II 400h that never had air suspension, whereas some of the series II petrol models did.

I've not heard of series III air suspension issues, however given there age you wouldn't expect to - only time will tell if they remain reliable.

[rayaans]

Probably confused with the latest RX which doesn't have air suspension on any grade.

But in 2015 yes the premier had air suspension

Tbh the ride is fairly tight. Something to do with anti rolling safety malarkey and having to handle semi well for people to buy the thing.

Felt my RX300 was a but disconcerting at high speed, would probably feel similiar to the 400h whereas the newer ones are more stable

[mikesands]

13 hours ago, rayaans said:

Probably confused with the latest RX which doesn't have air suspension on any grade.

But in 2015 yes the premier had air suspension

Tbh the ride is fairly tight. Something to do with anti rolling safety malarkey and having to handle semi well for people to buy the thing.

Felt my RX300 was a but disconcerting at high speed, would probably feel similiar to the 400h whereas the newer ones are more stable

Wow - I didn't know there were no models with air suspension on the latest version.  You've gotta think that has to be a reliability decision by Lexus haven't you.

My 400H was and is a bit disconcerting if I really put my foot down hard.  Not so much at high speed (although how would I know :-) more hard acceleration.  I think the 450H was more stable when I tried the same procedure - does it have a wider wheelbase?  Or it may just be that Lexus changed the map so that you don't get that instant hit that the 400H provides.

Mike

[rayaans]

4 hours ago, mikesands said:

Wow - I didn't know there were no models with air suspension on the latest version.  You've gotta think that has to be a reliability decision by Lexus haven't you.

My 400H was and is a bit disconcerting if I really put my foot down hard.  Not so much at high speed (although how would I know :-) more hard acceleration.  I think the 450H was more stable when I tried the same procedure - does it have a wider wheelbase?  Or it may just be that Lexus changed the map so that you don't get that instant hit that the 400H provides.

Mike

Yes it is a wider vehicle and longer too.