It is no secret that I am not a fan of certain brands, but sometimes for the greater good you just need to suck it up and take one for the team. So when my wife brought home a preowned 2008 Lexus LX450h back in April I decided to keep my criticisms quiet and let her (the average driver) tell me what she thought.
As you may remember she had replaced a preowned 2006 ML350 she had drove for two years prior. The ML350 was a satisfying vehicle, and over the course of ownership had one minor issue under warranty and two minor repairs outside of warranty that totaled to about $500 over two years. Overall her gas mileage was around 19 MPG in normal driving.
The 2008 RX450h that replaced it, is equally as nice and gets you around from point A to point B in a stylish and yet reasonable fashion. However the mileage overall has only been 22 MPG for her at best. Yes, it is better than the Mercedes, but far below what she expected especially for a hybrid. While I have to say she is a bit of a lead foot, the crux of the matter is probably that we live on edge of several arteries in the city and most of the street speeds are 45mph or higher. This vehicle rarely sits in traffic, nor pokes at 30MPH or lower speeds. Simply put, this driver, environment, and vehicle are not in sync, so the Hybrid option is a non factor. In the effort to be fair, AND satisfy my own curiosity I drove the vehicle for a week see how it fared with me. I averaged about 27 MPG on the tank, but it really took some effort. I would have expected a bump in the ML350 mileage by a few MPG if was driven the same frugal way as well.
So, yes the fan boys are right the RX450h DOES indeed give me better mileage in real world use, but the environment is a huge factor to deal with.
So Round One goes to the Lexus for better mileage
The biggest surprise however for us, has been the repetitive issues we have had with this vehicle in the short time of ownership. Rarely a month goes by that a TPS light does not go off. Three visits to the dealership have been fruitless because while this system does indeed indicate a problem, it does not pinpoint it to a tire. So far three visits and three sensors later we and we still have an issue. Lexus won’t warranty approve more than one sensor at a time so pity on those who suffer a similar fate.
Also for some odd reason both headlamps decided at different times to break seals and require replacement. Not a real hazard to speak of but a pain and two more dealership visits.
So were are up to five visits in the course six months for minor issues in a very un-Lexus like fashion. So many visits in fact that the valet at the dealership knows my wife by name. (Yikes!)
But, the story doesn’t end here. I just arrived back from being out of town this morning to see the RX sitting on a flat bed trailer in the driveway. Yep, another visit, and a big one this time is seems. The RX started then died, then started again, but it struggled to idle and then EVERYTHING went black. I suspected the puny standalone battery had given up the ghost and was in the last stages of use. The car was dead in it tracks and even a jump couldn’t save it.
I have to admit that contrary to the studies and the ratings when it comes to Lexus and the 009 household it just doesn’t work out. Lesson learned for now (yet again).
Round Two goes to the Mercedes for better reliability over a far longer time frame.
So here I sit and the most reliable car in the house with no issues EVER has been the VW CC. There is irony deep in there somewhere!
Care to guess who will win round three?
BTW: Just called the dealership and they are calling in a specialist to look at the issue the RX won't respond. Go figure!