I have been driving a 450h loaner while my 350 is in shop. After 3 days I want my 350 back. Mileage is not much better than 350. I just don't get it.

 

Absolutely that you do NOT get it at all.

Tell us more about your trips like short/long, highway/city, stop N Go or smooth flow.....What do you get in the 350 vs 450h.

Note: most people treat the loaner cars differently than they treat their own cars.

 

Here the reason why hybrid and non-hybrid are the same.

 

On the highway at moderate speeds the 450H should get around 10liters/ 100km which is 24MPG all day long without even trying. I got that towing a trialer with a quad on it at 60mph. In the city with lighter foot pressure I am averaging 7 liters/ 100k which is about 34 MPG. I have even run one tank while being careful at 6 which is just under 40mpg.

They are much better on gas in the city than on the highway but even on the highway they are as good if not better than the RX 350. How are you driving it?

 

agreed that if you are looking at the avg consumption or the lifetime consumption, you are not getting an accurate reading on the car because people will drive like maniacs in loaners and not carefully and fuel efficiently.

On the highway, the 450h easily gets 27-29mpg.

 

Guys, he must know that driving a hybrid is a learning trip in itself. And once the behavior has changed, then consumption is really much lower than a non-hybrid car.

 

I agree, there are too many possible variables to definitively say hybrid isn't worth it. And it's not all about the mileage.

 

To get the most out of a hybrid, you need to learn how to drive one correctly and this requires most people to modify how they drive. Hybrids excel in city/urban driving. I get 30 - 32 MPG around town (most of my driving). On a 350, I would be getting 16 - 18. On the freeway (especially driving aggressively), your mileage will start to diminish with speed. The freeway rating on the 350 is 24 MPG, on the hybrid is 28 MPG. But, it is possible to get over 30 MPG on the freeway once you understand how the car works. Also, the hybrid has a smaller gas tank. Sloppy hybrid driving will kill it's mileage.

Also, it is my understanding that the car's computer looks at how the car is driven and makes adjustments to accommodate the driver's style over time. Since you are driving a loaner, it is probably not running very efficiently because it has adjusted itself to deal with careless and aggressive driving.

 

Hi I currently have a 2012 RX 450h hybrid loaner courtesy of Tri-County Lexus, and compared to my regular RX the milage is incredible, I been driving in my city almost all on electric, the gas engine kicking in only if accelerate hard or in an incline. I went to NY city last night and was able to drive on EV mode only for about 20 minutes before the battery got low. If I had the money I would switch to one of this I love the technology behind it and the gas savings it represents, by the way the trip to NY was about 35 miles back and forth and the gas needle didn't even move and my car was loaded with my gf and 4 tweeny kids.

 

Quatro40, glad you're taking advantage of the hybrid loaner and having fun to boot. It's not too late