I am going to get a 400h, but I'm hoping you can give me some more info from an owner's perspective.

When I think back on my test drive the other day of the 2008 400h the other day, the only negative that is staying in my mind is the vibration on brakes when coming to a stop around town. Now I know that some or all of this is normal due to the regenerative power, converting braking into battery energy.

What I want to know is:

1) Does it get any smoother when the car is no longer new?

2) Is this something that, based on your experience, will continue to bug you a little/a lot?

3) Or will you eventually stop thinking about the breaking vibration?

3) Does it still bother you a lot?

 

Steve,

The "unpredictability" of the braking system seemed to be the biggest complaint Car & Driver had in their 4/07 long-term test report. I'm a new owner with <100 miles on mine, so I can't say how well I'll adjust to it. I am not concerned.

In case you haven't seen the C&D article, here's a link:

http://www.caranddriver.com/longroad...x400h-awd.html

 

After reading it, it raised a big red flag in my mind. That is why I'm hoping to get lots of opinions from you 400h owners. Advice please about exact how you feel about the braking!

 

The electric brakes feel different. However, once you get used to them it won't be an issue and they work fine without vibrations. Perhaps the test car wasn't set up right. I've had mine since June 05 with no issues except squealing in reverse which was fixed.

 

1) Does it get any smoother when the car is no longer new?
I have 20 months and 17k miles with it. I feel it is the same. My vehicle originally only had

2) Is this something that, based on your experience, will continue to bug you a little/a lot?
I don't feel any vib from the brake at all. I do feel the brake is weak but it is still better then most typical SUV.

3) Or will you eventually stop thinking about the breaking vibration?
I work in a repair facility and we do a lot of brake jobs daily; To me, there isn't any vibration problem with my 400h.

3) Does it still bother you a lot?[/QUOTE]
....

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Maybe try road-test with another 400h? Maybe it happened only with that one.

 

I have never had a problem worth complaining about with the brakes. It does act a little funny when I brake on a very bumpy road but I can count the times it has happend in the past year on the finger of one hand and have fingers left over. This will depend on your driving habits but if you have a light foot on the pedal I bet the brakes will last almost forever. When you slow down the speed is being blead off by using the electric motor and the brake pads only come into play when you hit the pedal hard or during the last few feet of stopping.