Well, I was told by the dealership that once I reached over 1,000 miles I would start to see the gas savings. Not happening. I understand completely the technique for driving the car to get the optimum mileage, but it's an unrealistic style of driving in the city. I'm ready to take this car back. My mileage is actually decreasing as time goes on. It is impossible to slowly accelerate and slow down without disrupting the normal flow of traffic. For my lifestyle, with kids that need to be taken here and there and on time, mind you, I simply can't employ the suggested driving style. I'm completely disappointed with this car especially since I paid so much for it. I didn't even pay a premium! It's just expensive. I've spoken to my Lexus dealership and they've told me that they will register my complaint at their next meeting. I'm hoping I can take it back and possibly get a Prius, although I'm not sure how it will suit my lifestyle.https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...ewthread&f=31#

 

The premium Lexus tacks on to its RX 400h will likely never be recovered by any customer. That's a fact. A grand or two, sure, but not 10. If you're looking to save money, you bought the wrong car (sorry).

On the flipside, if you're achieving just 75% of EPA estimates, it's likely you would achieve 75% of EPA estimates for the 330h (non-hybrid version). So, there's nothing "wrong" with the hybrid in particular. It's just that your conditions don't allow you to maximize mileage.

You'll still be filling up less than with the 330h. You're still helping to save the enivornment and reduce dependence on foreign oil. Just not as much as you would like, and for a higher price.

Sorry to hear you're disappointed.

 

True. True. I feel a little better. Thanks.

 

These hybrids tend to start to break in around 3000-4000 miles and are completely broken in around 8000 miles. A Prius may well be a much better vehicle for your needs, and will definately save you a lot more money, but I'm sure it's nowhere near as luxurious as the Lexus.

 

Laruski,

My wife was a Lexus 330 wannabee owner for the longest time, but she is quite satisfied with our Prius now (when I let her drive, that is). If you do decide to sell, consider the private market. You may not lose any money that way, since there is a waiting list. For all I know, you might actually *make* some money, depending on the city you live in.

The best tip I can give you as a driver to improve your MPG is to anticipate stops. Moderate acceleration is quite OK. This tip is true for any car, and particularly true for hybrids because not only are you not wasting energy, the HSD hybrid will glide automagically :-)

 

I don't know which city you are in, but Dallas has similar conditions. I drive agressively much of the time to stay with the flow too. A number of hybrid Civics get better than my 56.6mpg on my Honda Insight.

I have learned however, that it's possible to go with a fast flow of urban traffic (i.e. somewhat agressive), not get run over, and get 10-15% better fuel economy than when you got the Lexus:

• Anticipate what's ahead
• Try a fast cruise over a lot of stop-and-go
• Consider alternate routes if they are allow more cruising (less strss too)
• Do freeway ramps and approach stop lighta differently
• Above all, refrain from competitive driving. I get weak occasionally try to stay ahead of a particular car - my fuel economy takes the biggest hit. In other words, I'm guilty of this.

If your mpg is 75% of the EPA estimate just remember - if they updated their estimates to reflect today's driving, your driving would be 95% to 100% of their new estimates.

Hope that helps

 

I have experienced a somewhat similiar fall in MPG with my HH.
I even took it back to the dealer who drove it with a computer attached and gave me the printout which indicated 35 mpg hiway and 55 mpg city ???
NOT what I had experienced...however...I took it upon myself to check the tire pressures and found my left front was @ 22 psi when it should have been @ 32psi...
Since I just recently purchased the vehicle, thats the way it came from the dealership @#$%^&*&...
After filling all to 32 psi my mileage improved significantly, as my latest manual calculation showed a 26.29 mpg vs the previous 22.756....
Some on the HH board have suggested a 4-5 psi increase above the recommended 32 psi for better mileage during the Summer months.
Come Winter I would deflate to the recommended psi for better handling.

 

Remember also: no matter what make or model, every new car will invariably increase FE as it drives the kinks out. Hybrid or not. Just take a look at the hundreds of DB entries here on GH. Not one of them shows an overall downward slope from the purchase point. It'll get better, don't worry.

 

I own a 2003 Highlander non-hybrid (which I absolutely love), and I have a couple suggestions. First, inflate your tires to the max cold psi on the sidewall. Sure the ride is a little stiffer, but it's supposed to be an SUV, right? On second thought, I'm going to do this on every car I own (car manufacturers lower the psi to give you a softer ride; Remember the Ford Explorer/Firestone debacle where they were basically arguing about the safety issues caused by underinflated tires?).

Second, you have to give a hybrid a little time to break in, as several posters have sugested. Maybe there's a little time needed to break in the driver, too.

After we bought a HCH for my wife, I once thought the Honda with its instrumentation might teach me to drive for better gas mileage on the Highlander. But the Highlander mileage has gone from a consistent 21.5 to 18.5. That's because the Highlander miles have gone from 1900/month to 500/month, because we're pushing lots of miles to the HCH because of the gas prices, and obviously a lot of the "best" miles are going there too. So you could say that for 1200 miles per month we're getting 46 miles per gallon vs the Highlander's 21, an extremely good improvement (they should use this statistic in calculating the benefit of a hybrid).

My guess is that they still have to scale up the hybrid powerplants a bit, before the larger vehicles are getting the same percentage improvements in gas mileage as the lighter vehicles. But every part of this experience tells me that we will all be driving cars like this soon.

 

We have a HiHy Limited 4WDi. Mileage when I drive it runs around 26-27. When SWMBO drives it, it runs 22-23. I haven't yet checked the tire pressure -- I'll do that right away. Our '02 RAV4 2wd seemed to get only about 20-22 mpg average. So, at least we got a sh*tload more car for (slightly to significantly) better FE.

Here's one way to think about it: 4cyl FE with V8 Power.

Ahhhhh -- I feel better now. Besides, I'm ordering an '06 Honda Civic Hybrid so I can leave my $100/week deisel truck parked.

Don