Grkbella03

Hey everyone,

I've been looking around for few months to buy a new car, and test drove every single car there is. I really didn't find a car where I wanted to jump up and down and say "thats my car". I'm currently trying to sell my 2005 Audi A6 4.2L Quattro S-Line which has 330 horsepower. So the other day, I had a new client I met with at work and he pulled up in a Lexus HS250H and I was really interested. I had never seen that car or heard of it, and it wasn't on the lexus website so I stopped in the other day and luckily they had one on the lot with 8,000 miles and after testing driving it, I almost bought it. Had to walk away so it wasn't an impulse. A week has passed, and I'm pretty sure I'll be buying this car. I love it so much. I'm so surprised because I was set on getting an SUV and spending a lot on gas mileage.

I wanted to find out a little more to make sure I'm doing the right thing. How is the car in the winter? I live in Milwaukee & Chicago 50/50 as I drive a lot between both cities, so I'm hoping this car will be fine in the winter. Also, how is the car on the highway going 80-90MPH for a while? Can it handle it and go that fast for a while or is it not meant to? Feel free to chime in with your cons and pros.

Honestly, I can't stop thinking about buying this car and playing with it. I also want to add a few mods as well. This interior is the coolest thing ever, and a lot of fun.

PinkyB69

I purchased mine in January it is my second Lexus. This car is the coolest car I've ever owned. Mine is black on black and pretty well loaded too. I previously owned a ES 350 and this car doesn't have the horsepower but it makes up for that with fuel efficiency.

I drove from MD to MI in Feb and the car easily goes 90 and still drives like a Lexus. You don't really want to drive it too much like that since it defeats the point of having a hybrid. I drive for a living (sales) and being able to go almost 400 miles on a full tank of gas is priceless!

If you buy it you will be as happy as I am!

Grkbella03

Thanks Pinky. That helps. Even if I went 90 often on the highway, its still 15 miles more per gallon than what I am getting now with my car!

By the way, how is this car in the snow?? That's one of my biggest concerns.

kyo7878

I would guess it handles just like any fwd cars in the snow, but definitely no contest for the quattro in winter though

Did you test drive at highway speed? I find it kinda floaty going above 80mph & wind noise is quite loud at that speed. The floating sensation is gone if there is a passenger in the car for added weight.

Other than those 2 gripes, It's an amazing car around town~

Grkbella03

I've never driven a FWD in the snow or heard about it. Everyone out here has AWD since we have long and cold winters. I am curious if it's worth the sacrifice of AWD.. Right now I am thinking it is, but if it's really difficult all the time in the winter, then it's a huge factor in my decision.

kyo7878

I understand your dilemma. I have lived in NJ for 10 years in the past, although it doesn't snow as much as where you are, but there has been times I wish I had awd. Now I'm in TX there is literally no winter here lol.

skywise

I've never driven my HS in the snow yet but I have a Camry which gets winter tires all round and that sorts out any issues in the snow so my HS will get winter tires this fall.

(in Winnipeg, we know snow.

sublexus

I've driven ours in some pretty deep snow with the original tires without any problems at all. You just don't want to be in snow so deep it wants to raise the under-carriage. If you do that, you lose traction and are pretty much stuck!

psoccer555

When you get to Arizona, I will guarantee you that it will drive well in the sunshine, warm weather and will be excellent on gas milage! It's only 107 degrees right now.

jbripps

buy it! I test drove my car before I bought it....hit 105 fairly easily, no issues at all....bought in march, haven't gone past 90 much at all....but, if you are on flat terrain, you will still maintain very very good mileage. Remember, if you are only getting 30 or 31 mpg at 90, your other car(s) aren't getting more than 15 or so at those speeds.

JayGoldste

In regards to the HS in winter, I bought mine in January, 2011, so I've driven it through 1 1/2 Manitoba winters. I made it through the 1/2 winter on the original Toyos but, luckily, never had to deal with a heavy snowfall. I thought about getting a set of winter tires and rims in anticipation of another winter, but decided to replace the Toyos with a set of Nokian WRG2 all-weather tires last October.

The winter of 2011-12 turned out to be one of the mildest ever here (I'm sure it was due to me getting the new tires :-]), so I can't comment on how the Nokians work in deep snow. They do provide superior grip on hard packed snow and ice compared to the OE tires, with no sacrifice in handling on dry pavement.

With the hybrid battery providing the oomph (a technical term) the HS starts easily even when the temperature gets into the -20s C. Although I use an engine block heater (standard equipment here), when the temperature is -20C or lower it can take a long time for the engine to warm up to the point where it will shut down at stop lights, etc. Expect to see an increase in fuel consumption as the weather turns colder (just as you would with a non-hybrid vehicle).

rajeev6

I bought mine in May 2010 and have seen 2 winters here with our share of snow. I did have Camry before this so I'm used to FWD cars and this one feels the same in winter. I've heard that the OEM Toyo tires are not very good for winter but I never felt anything different. I've around 28k miles on it and will probably change the tires before the onset of winter this year. The car you're looking at, has only 8k miles and I'd assume that it'd have Toyos too. (wink - wink - negotiating point with dealer)

My previous car, the Camry, was a 3L V6 and produced 190HP - this one is 2.4L I4 with Hybrid and produces 188 HP - I didn't feel much difference is power - however now that I drive on ECO mode it is little slow. I don't mind that because in my 16 miles of one way commute, I probably take 1 more minute but probably get 5-8 miles more per gallon . However, the Normal it is not slow at all and I feel that it's a different car altogether in POWER mode.

Also, because my driving is now gentler , I accelerate gradually and brake gradually. This may be another reason that I never faced any "situation" in winter. My other car is Acura MDX with SH-AWD (2011 model) and that one is definitely a lot more secure and smooth as butter on corners . This car is not the same.

BTW, on mileage, I drive at around 70mph and in winter I was getting 32-37 mpg. This summer, I'm regularly getting more than 40 mpg - fill the tank up for $45 and get 490 miles. In the MDX - fill the tank up for $70 and get only 400 miles -

verrazano

This is the car for you if you were the type to buy an Olds Aurora the last yr it was made. I bought one at the end of 2010 and feel Lexus should have notified us of this in advance. Seems they cared about their own sales which is shortsighted on their part. They claim it will continue to be sold in other country markets but that in the US the sales were too low to continue offering this model. Take a look at the 2013 Avalon Hybrid instead. The hs250h is gone from the Lexus.com website.. poof.

TheAirman

Comparing it to an Olds is kind of a stretch. Olds was an entire manufactures line that was discontinued along with it's parts base and dealers. Lexus and the support for the HS will be here for a long time.

But I do agree with what you said about them being short sighted in the way they didn't tell anyone until it was too late. The dealers and the company wanted to turn all the remaining ones without the buyers knowing.

For this reason, it'll probably be my last Lexus product. There's too many luxury cars with much better relationships with their buyers than Lexus.

Don't get me wrong. They are great cars. But lies and free Latte's from the dealers don't make for repeat buyers.

Listening Lexus corporate?

RXHybrid08

If you like the car so much then I will say go for it. I love driving my HS250h and it is my 3rd Lexus Hybrid. It is great at any speed, and I mostly commute with it . I get on average between 39-40 mpg with normal driving and without trying to get the best mileage. Of course, this is in California weather, but the car is definitely worth it.