professorm

Hi guys,

I just picked up a 06 RX400h AWD yesterday. I was trying to get a nicer one, but the price and maintenance history was right for this one. I was shopping for a 07/08 RX400h in a dark color with about 110k miles for around $10k, however, I picked up this 06 RX400h w/145k miles AWD for $6k, so that gives me a lot of wiggle room with maintenance. On the down side, mine is not as clean, it has clear coat peeling on the bumper, hood, driver/rear passenger door. With the color being silver, it is not as obvious though. The interior is probably 8/10. The previous owner owned it since 36k miles in 09. It came with the entire history of receipts, as well as a spreadsheet of all the repairs. That is awesome, because I keep a spreadsheet for all my cars as well, and so it was easy to import into my spreadsheet document.

Big repairs so far are:
- Timing belt, Water Pump at 116k miles
- Radiator /coolant at 117k miles
- Headlights at 116k miles
- Driver/Passenger CV Axle, Control Arm, Ball Joint
- Passenger Front Wheel Bearing
- Cabin Air Filter
- Oil changes every 7k miles with conventional oil
- IMP serial number inspected by Lexus and deemed that it is not affected
- New accessory battery

Maintenance: What should I be looking for at 145k miles that hasnt been done before? Any other preventative maintenance?
- Spark Plugs, when ?
- Air filter, how often ?
- Transmission fluid CVT transmission, how often?
- Rear differential fluid, how often?


Issues:
- Pulley noise: My mechanic says if he listens really closely, it sounds like a pulley might be in the early stages of going bad. I am now wondering if other Hybrids make that sound and he is just not familiar, or if it is in fact going bad. I might wait until it gets worse before having him rip into the timing belt area again, since it as a Lexus installed timing belt
- Armrest storage box open/close: The arm rest glove box, the close button is broken, it is pushed back in with the writing upside down. I need to tear it apart and see what is wrong with it. Is there any disassembly instructions anywhere? Is there any common reason why the open/close fails? I can open and close it manually.

Questions:
- I think I saw the lower radiators on the RX to indicate that it has the tow package, but I need to verify. How can I tell for sure that it has the tow package?
- I drove about 80 miles, a mixture of city, and about 45 mins on the highway, but the Hyrbid battery never got to full bars. It got to green once, but not full. It usually stays around 1/2 - 3/4 full. Does that mean that the battery has lost capacity?
- The previous owner never knew much about resetting the MPG average, but I saw 19mpg as their average. This seemed pretty low. Should I be worried about this?
I reset it, and I averaged about 24mpg with non-highway driving for about 50 miles.
On straight highway driving, I got about 29.3 mpg average with some traffic.

I am big on forums, so I am sure you guys will be seeing much more of me here. I had a 05 CRV 5spd Manual w/110k miles that someone rear ended me about month and half ago which was totaled. That was my wife's car. My wife has now taken my Accord 5spd to be her daily. I will be driving the RX400 as a split between this and my 01 Porsche 911, which I drive about 3-5 days per week to work. This will be my family car.

I just got a factory OEM hitch from craigslist, so I will be installing that at some point. I will need the wiring harness next. I normally tow with my Accord. I tow utility trailer, motorcycle trailer and jetskis. I might look into a boat at some point if this really has 3.5k lbs towing capacity.

ukrkoz

Spark plugs are long due. they should have had them done at around 100K.


Questions:
- I think I saw the lower radiators on the RX to indicate that it has the tow package, but I need to verify. How can I tell for sure that it has the tow package?

"lower radiators" are installed on regular cars to cool ATF during towing. This car does not use ATF for hydraulic purpose. ATF is splash lubricant in hybrid transmission.

- I drove about 80 miles, a mixture of city, and about 45 mins on the highway, but the Hyrbid battery never got to full bars. It got to green once, but not full. It usually stays around 1/2 - 3/4 full. Does that mean that the battery has lost capacity?

Hybrid battery is challenging to get to full bars. LONG downhill rolling, better off - with B mode engaged, MAY fully charge it. But don't worry about that, that's normal.

- The previous owner never knew much about resetting the MPG average, but I saw 19mpg as their average. This seemed pretty low. Should I be worried about this?
I reset it, and I averaged about 24mpg with non-highway driving for about 50 miles.
On straight highway driving, I got about 29.3 mpg average with some traffic.

19 is low. You will have a bunch of opinions, mine, after 8 years of two hybrids, they are not really shining in city stop and go. 29 average long term should be about right for one who has good hypermiling habits. Work on that.

ukrkoz

Oh, and all of your ATFs are due. Yours is AWD? PSD and rear differential has to be changed. Don't buy into the Toyota "lifetime" lullaby.

smassey321

I had an idler pulley go bad for the timing belt. I am probably the only other person who had this issue. It made a small noise when idling after hot. Once removed, I was able to spin it easily with no noise. My point is, you probably don't need to rush and do the replacement immediately. It was all the steps of a full timing belt change to do it right. Check your water pump for pink crust as that may also need to be done at the same time.

Most 400h have the tow package. To be sure, feel around for the 4 wires in the hatch. You can reach under the cargo tray closest to the rear seat on the rear edge of the drivers side. The connector is taped onto something in that area. Worst case, remove the forward storage tray and it is under there. The 4 wires are connected to a converter that turns the 5 wire Toyota lighting into standard 4 wires needed by trailers. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hyb...er-wiring.html

The OE pulleys were Koyo so I replaced them with Koyo The ebay ones had identical markings/numbers to the OE ones removed.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/35084694381...E:L:OC:US:3160
https://www.ebay.com/itm/KOYO-TOYOTA...0/251145303437

smassey321

And if you want to get your battery "full" you need to step on the gas while in park. Other than a really big down hill run that is the only way to get it all the way full.

danthedj

iTrader: (1)

Don't try to get the battery "full". You'll never see all of the bars by design. As you drive you'll see them go up and down as is expected. It's not a battery health monitor so much as a dummy gauge to show when you're using electric power or gas power.

As I said previously, it's a dummy gauge. Even if you were able to get it 100% full the battery only charges/discharges between 30-70% or so. That's a large part of why these cars don't have hybrid battery failure.

thomas1

I personally do the tranny fluid once a year or every 15-20k. The front fluid is always dark and the rear is clean, I would suggest doing rear once, than don't worry about it for a long time.
Spark plugs are supposed to be done at 125k. Use Denso or NGK iridium plugs only....trust me. they are the best and reasonably priced.
Brakes last forever, I just changed the second set at 228k miles.
Check your radiator for seeping, they fail slowly.
The Torque strut engine stabilizer on the passenger side of engine on top, check for rubber bushing failure. I tried after market and will not repeat, it didn't last, back to OEM for this item which I previously replaced at 150k miles.

professorm

Question: My rear bumper does not have the black plastic protector by the tailgate. I know I am going to scratch it up. Was this an optional item, or could it be that my bumper was replaced at some point with an aftermarket which did not have the step protector?

Thanks for the advise so far. I am driving it for about 3-6 months to see what quirks pops up, then I dig into the serious maintenance. I have been burned before buying a car and immediately start doing everything.

I am also now a huge fan of Hybrid and Lexus. Initially, I was buying the RX for my wife, but she insisted that she liked my Accord, and she liked the fuel economy of my Accord. I was planning to sell the Accord to upgrade, but now that she wanted it, we settled on that, I would drive the RX and she would take my Accord. Well, one day she came home complaining that the AC was not working, so she decided to take the RX the next day. After she got to work, she text me, "you can sell the Accord". Ha, so now, the RX is hers. After reading up and experiencing the Hybrid, I am now hooked. The SUV overall is very solid, well put together, and the right amount of luxury although it is older, the price is perfect for me. I plan to keep this for 70-120k additional miles.

smassey321

The bumper protector is just a peel and stick item. It may not have been replaced after a bumper repair. https://www.amazon.com/Lexus-08475-48804-Rear-Bumper-Protector/dp/B009AIHNPS

https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/...odel=&Filter=()

thomas1

Good choice, I too love the hybrid system, and boy is it fast, feels like a v8 when you hit the pedal....sorry I regress to my younger years....