Hi,

I am new member on the forum. New to Lexus, new to hybrid! Please excuse any obvious questions!

I have had new rx350h for over a month, roughly 1k miles! Loving every bit of it - came for the gas economy, stayed for comfort!

I have noticed in the morning, the car engine starts in hybrid mode and then transitions to gas engine in few seconds. During the transition, the noise and vibrations are quite pronounced- is this normal? Do you all experience it too?

As a habit, I alway wait roughly few seconds prior to transitioning in to drive. In a gas only engine, this transition to D is very easy as you hear the engine run smooth after few seconds. What do you Lexus/hybrid users typically do - wait for the hybrid to transition to gas and then the gas to heat up a little. May be I am over thinking this but would like to know your opinion.

Also, when the car is idling on gas, you can hear the noise which seems a little louder than usual. Just to be clear - it is completely silent in the cabin. I am referring to gas engine noise heard from the outside.

just to throw in the mix - I m thinking of doing a 1k oil change which is not recommended but my gut tells me to go get it done. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

@Dhavalsp , welcome and congrats! 500H owner here and yes gas engine noise at cold start up that is normal and goes to hybrid after warm up. I had thought about 1k oil change and skipped it and went on two long road trips and everything is awesome now. Switching between gas and hybrid is seamless and brakes bites even harder. Enjoy your RX!

 

All these gas engines are loud at cold start because of the requirement to get the emissions system up to temperature as quickly as possible.

 

I will have to agree when my 350h is cold, it is a bit more noisy. It is really the only time I hear my motor with the stereo running. It only lasts a short period of time, milage sucks till it reaches operating temperature. -

 

My 2019 ES Hybrid with the same 2.5L Hybrid drivetrain always felt very unbalanced when it was cold and kicked in shortly after starting the car. I think its ultimately the unbalanced nature of a inline 4 cylinder engine. It goes away as the engine warms up. You'll find complaints all throughout owners of the Toyota/Lexus 2.5 Hybrid setup.

I pickup my 2023 RX Hybrid saturday morning. Looking forward to all the improvements on the drivetrain since 2019 (hopefully).

 

A lot of engines are a bit noisier until they warm up. This is normal. There is no need to wait to drive, just don't accelerate with your foot to the floor till its warmed up. I just did an oil change at 1000 miles and plan to change it every 5000 miles regardless of what the manual says. Enjoy you new car. Feel free to post pictures.