400H Reliability And Running Costs

[GD1]

Hi,

I'd like to buy my wife a Lexus 400h for Christmas, around 56 reg/up to £20k.

Knowing nothing about the Lexus, I have a few questions which I'm hoping you can please provide me some feedback on!

Generally, how reliable are these cars? Especially the electric Battery components (ie. the hyrid bits!) and the engine, gearbox etc.

Generally, what have your experiences been with regards to running costs, from a service point of view?

There's a slight price premium from buying directly from a main dealer, which I'm fine with - presumably this is a good route to take?

My wife currently has a Toyota Rav-4 which she has owned from new (for 7 years) and it's been excellent, so is a bit of a shame to see it go, but it's time to change it.

The Toyota is very cheap to run with the main dealer service typically £500 (minor) and £1000 (major) each year.

My car on the other hand is a fortune to run (typically £1500 and £3000 per year), so I'm hoping it's closer to the Toyota in running / service costs!!

Thanks,

GD

[Linehill]

Hi,

I'd like to buy my wife a Lexus 400h for Christmas, around 56 reg/up to £20k.

Knowing nothing about the Lexus, I have a few questions which I'm hoping you can please provide me some feedback on!

Generally, how reliable are these cars? Especially the electric battery components (ie. the hyrid bits!) and the engine, gearbox etc.

Generally, what have your experiences been with regards to running costs, from a service point of view?

There's a slight price premium from buying directly from a main dealer, which I'm fine with - presumably this is a good route to take?

My wife currently has a Toyota Rav-4 which she has owned from new (for 7 years) and it's been excellent, so is a bit of a shame to see it go, but it's time to change it.

The Toyota is very cheap to run with the main dealer service typically £500 (minor) and £1000 (major) each year.

My car on the other hand is a fortune to run (typically £1500 and £3000 per year), so I'm hoping it's closer to the Toyota in running / service costs!!

Thanks,

GD

I bought a 55 plate 400H with 18,000 on the clock for just under £20K. My first large SUV/4x4/ and hybrid. The car is virtually faultless, very well finished and luxurious. A joy to drive over long distances. The CCV transmission is seamless, no feeling of gear changes. Steering well balanced and good feel. Seats very supportive. Fuel consumption good for a vehicle of this weight and size. (Learn quickly not to ride the accelerator pedal when going downhill or slowing down). Traction in this snow and ice remarkable. I have taken out a 6 year service contract with my Lexus dealer in Cheltenham @ £30 per month. This covers all service costs and parts excluding brakes and tyres. It does also cover the plug and cam belt services which are very expensive! The only quirk with the 400h is the small auxillary Battery which primes the hybrid system to start the car. It is not powerful enough and can run flat very quickly if ancillary equipment like radio/CD/DVD and lights are on without the engine running. Sturdy the forum entries on this subject. Lexus have gained a well deserved reputation for reliability and quality. I can't argue with it! Happy motoring.

Regards Linehill

[PCthug]

Very similar to Linehill,

I bought my 400h a few months ago, its a '55 (2006) model with 19,000 (now 25,000) on the clock and cost £18,000.

This is by far the nicest car i have owned, and is a pleasure to drive.

I have a 40 miles per day commute, on about 5% town and 95% country and national speed limit areas, and get about 330 miles per tank (about £60 to fill the tank).

It uses a lot more fuel in the winter, and about 28mpg (33mpg in summer).

My local Lexus main dealer have quoted about £200 for a minor service (which i thought reasonable).

The tyres are 235/55/18 and start from about £95 each, but should last a few years.

I had very thick snow where i live, and to be honest i did get stuck on my road, but that was because it was on an incline and about 18" deep. When i cleared a little away it got out fine, when everyone else got stuck in their 2wd cars. My tyres are towards the end of their life too (about 2.5mm), so cant blame the car. I used to get stuck EVERY year with all the other cars i had, so this is great.

I would recommend it.

[rudders]

Also very similar to Linehill. Bought my 56 reg from local Lexus shop at 60,000, now 81,000. Only problem was air bag on passenger side - they replaced the seat under warranty, allegedly at a cost to them of £4000!

I get 27mpg winter, 32 summer on a 70 miles round trip commute - but I do enjoy using the full power of the 3.3 V6 from time to time! It's on a service plan at £33/month. Add on about £600 every 15,000 miles or so for tyres.

I've had better handling cars, but it's not too stressful on motorways and no-one buys an RX for the corners!

I agree that its snow handling is surprisingly good - I wasted £150 on snow chains which I've never needed.

The interior trim is not exactly luxurious and I've had the odd rattle, but that is exaggerated by the quietness of the ride. The older ICE systems are a bit of an afterthought - poor quality box bolted underneath the driver's seat. We currently can't get any sound from ours. The Mark Levinson audio on the other hand is excellent, especially when parked up (but keep the Ready light on or you'll have a flat Battery!). There can't be many less intuitive sat-navs.

Also, the paint job is not too robust, as mentioned elsewhere in these forums. Be careful not to get too close to hedgerows in the countryside, or rub bags against it getting in and out, as marks which would polish out on a BMW are a bit more permanent on the RX.

Having said all that, I look forward to many more years of trouble-free commuting and if the mpg doesn't put you off, would recommend it.

[GD1]

Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate that.

I bought the car a couple of days ago, but looking at your prices, I am a little concerned I might have overpaid on it!

It's from a Lexus dealer and after doing plenty of research for prices on autotrader and the Lexus website, the price appeared in-line.

For reference, I've paid £19,000 for a 55 reg 45k mileage SE-L model (Emma wanted some of the features on the L model). I appreciate that I can buy it slightly cheaper privately (or non-franchise dealer), but I didn't want to take the risk on it (and also have the official Lexus warranty).

The dealer also mentioned the service option paid for with direct debit, so I will definitely do that - sounds an excellent idea.

[AndyTKD]

Add on about £600 every 15,000 miles or so for tyres.

Do you really mean £600 for 15,000 miles for tyres???

[GD1]

> Do you really mean £600 for 15,000 miles for tyres???

That's similar to what the dealer said as well. He said the cost was about £120 / tyre and they'd need replacing every 15k miles roughly (depending on driving).

[rudders]

Add on about £600 every 15,000 miles or so for tyres.

Do you really mean £600 for 15,000 miles for tyres???

Yup. That's about the going rate for a set of 4 Bridgestone Potenza RE031 235/55R18 99V. I had quite bad uneven wear especially rear off side, outer edge, so that may have shortened the interval.

Only on my second set - haven't tried any others yet.