PoBoy2005

I just picked up a 2011 RX450h with 69,000 miles on it. I drove it from Cincinnati to Chicago and back this week. It drives ohh so nice with the exception of a few problems that I cant find much information on. Perhaps they are related...

1. The entire center console (cup holders area) gets VERY hot. I'm assuming this is where the battery is, but the heat seems excessive. An ice cold drink will be warm in a few minutes. Normal?

2. I cannot get heat to come out of the driver side vents or floor. Lexus worked on it last week and said it was a stuck thermostat. They replaced it and got it to blow some heat, but my entire trip to Chicago...my toes were ice cold while my wife's were on fire. Research is leading me to think it's the "servos". Could this possibly be linked to #3 though?

3. We haven't been getting anywhere close to the advertised 28+ mpg since we bought it 30 days ago. I figured we just needed a good road trip. So we took it to Chicago and back. I cruise controlled most of the 700 miles at 75mph. We averaged 23.5 mpg. When just driving around Cincinnati streets and highway, we're always in the 23s. I've read a lot about the battery needing to be warm enough to be utilized. The T-stat on the dash is right in the middle. Would that indicate that the engine\battery is warm enough? I'm clueless on where to start troubleshooting. I've tried babying the accelerator to an absolute EXTREME and can only get up to 25 around the city. NOTE...I've manually monitored the odometer and did the math on gallons inputted on fill-up...I'm getting around 23.5 using those calculations as well.

4. The digital display behind the wheel seems off. Is there a way to reset it?
a. Is there supposed to be a screen that shows the current MPH (not average) the vehicle. I have a blank screen on one of the screens. And whenever I engage cruise control, it goes to that screen. I'm guessing it is supposed to show what speed the cruise is locked in at.

b. The AVERAGE MPH is always off by 3 MPH. I can put the cruise control on at 70, 60, 50 MPG according to the speedometer and when I reset the AVERAGE MPH screen...it will show 67, 57, 47.

DunWkg

Hi, welcome to the world of the 450h.

Items one and two may be related. No the batteries are not located in or under the console. The hybrid is located under the rear seat, the 12 volt battery is located in the rear storage and not the engine compartment. Given there are rear seat vents in the back of the center console and also under the front seats and your console is hot and your feet are freezing, sounds like some damper motors "servos" are not working properly and channeling air flow where needed. Lexus needs to spend a bit more time troubleshooting that problem.

If your trip to Chicago was recent and and the outdoor air temperatures were in the neighborhood of 20 - 30 degrees and you are driving 75 MPH, your mileage is a little low, but not uncommon for that combination of temperature and speed. My mileage drops as the outdoor air temperature drops. Starting the car early for warm up also drinks gasoline. I'm sure having a cold hybrid battery may affect mileage. I have not tried to determine the effect of a car sitting outdoors overnight in sub zero temperatures and having a stone cold hybrid battery influences mileage.

Your multi-purpose information display goes blank anytime you set the cruise control. You will see in the lower right corner the word "SET" indicating the cruise control is set. You can scroll through the different windows by using the toggle switch on the steering wheel. It will revert to the blank screen every time you set the cruise.

Yes, I agree I can drive for hours on end at 75 MPH and a couple of minutes of slowing down drags my average MPH down. Not sure how they are calculating that number. Guessing it's engine start to current moment and not an instantaneous number but rather an average over a length of time starting when the start button turns on the ready light.

PoBoy2005

Thanks! So there isn't a window\screen that displays MPH digitally on the multi-purpose information display?

vlad_a

Silly question, but is your climate control set on dual-zone by any chance?

23-24MPG on winter mix in cold weather is pretty normal. Nothing to be concerned about.

PoBoy2005

It's not on dual zone. I dropped it off at Lexus again today to look at it again and stressed the servos as the likely culprit.

go3Ds

There is no digital MPH on the multi purpose information display. The HUD (heads up display) option works well for that purpose for those who have it. With this option you always have the digital MPH on the windshield among other features. I like it for toggling up or down 1 MPH at a time, with the cruise control showing exact MPH digits.

User 41924

I'm not sure if it would cause any of the issues you mention about directing the heat, but make sure you don't cover up the vents for the hybrid battery. They are under the back seat, in the front. I would think overheating them MIGHT cause some issues in the cabin.

I get about 25 or 26 MPG (per the computer) when cruising at 75 in the summer. As DunWkg said, it will drop in the winter due to the winter blend gasoline. At 75, the ICE is running all the time anyway, so I wouldn't think the outside temp would impact the freeway mileage very much. It will hurt the around town mileage, though. We get 1 to 2 MPG less in mostly local driving in the winter. In the summer, we pretty much nail (and often exceed) the suggested 28 MPG.

It's a GREAT road car, isn't it?

rsutoratos

cup holder area will get hot, thats how the heat travels to the rear vents.. i didn't like that design.

In winter, you wont get the nice 30-33mpg. I'm on about 25/26 if i dont speed

drewcam888

iTrader: (1)

I have averaged 31.6 MPG since I bought my '15 450H July 1st. It is all about how you drive.

PoBoy2005

Just got off the phone with the Lexus dealer. They are stating that I have a bad heater core. They are contacting Toyota\Lexus to see if they will cover it even though it's out of comprehensive warranty. Initial estimate is $2,100 because they have to disassemble so much.

Not the best start with this car

rsutoratos

"return" the car ? you just got this ?

PoBoy2005

Lexus Dealer just called...Lexus is going to cover it all under warranty even though it's out of warranty!!! Should have it all back by Friday.

BertL

That is SUPER news. I'm happy for you, and thanks for updating all of us on the status. It's really great to hear when Lexus Customer Service comes though.