2006 Lexus RX 400h: Fuel Economy Update

It takes energy to move all that bulk and hybrids systems only help if you drive correctly.

i always forget about this car.

@dougtheeng me too.

Speaking of which, what happened to the Civic GX? And the Fit? Seems like a few cars get more attention by themselves than other cars combined (haven't seen a legit post about the Rondo, Tundra, xB, or Silverado in forever. Editors taking those cars out slackin off?

Obviously Edmunds is being considerate towards us and just posting about cars that all of us could easily have access to for a daily driver-- such as the R8, GT-R, 308, M3, etc. Certainly no one in my neighborhood drives such inferior vehicles such as those that many mere mortals might have the keys to, such as the Silverado, xB, or Fit. As a 20 year old college student, which I am, certainly I wouldn't be considering a mid-$20,000 vehicle. No sir, nothing short of a >$50,000 limited release car for me.

dragonflight - I suspect that the xB may have left. It's long-term test started in early September of last year.

To: Edmunds Editors/Staff
Re: Un-blogged about vehicles

If you need some help with those long term cars that just dont get driven send one over to me, I wouldn't mind driving it. :)

@ sabastian

I thought so too, but it's still listed in the current fleet list. Who knows?

so...are the Prius and Camry the only cars this Hybrid Synergy drive works in, or what? Fuel economy solution #2, bring on the Diesels please.

I thought there was a post a while back about the Fit leaving? Maybe I'm mixing it up with the Versa.

I totally forgot this thing was still in the fleet.

Yeah, I would rather have a Mercedes ML320 Bluetec diesel than this. Diesels work better for SUV's than hybrids.

I'm very surprised with your actual mileage. We've had 400H's as loaner cars several times when our LX470 and LS400 are being serviced. I am a certified leadfoot and my driving is 50/50 highway to sidestreets but we've gotten 23-24 mpg each time we've had those.

Pretty good when you consider we got about 18 from our old AWD RX300 and the 400h is nicer, far faster, and more luxurious.

cjasis, I'll second your experience with the RX400h. I had it as a loaner once when I took my car in for service and during my one day of driving (50/50 highway and local) it returned 28.7 mpg. Don't believe me? Here's the prove:

http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=585616&l=3d882&id=769123057

"mediocre considering the EPA estimate for this model is 26 mpg combined."

Yea, but pretty typical for Edmunds staff.

Lexus hybrid is just a scam... Nor does it gets good mileage or cover the extra cost... Wtf people buy this over regular RX? If they wanted hybrid without none of the drawback they could just buy RX400h and hybrid emblems and have some beater car or do something else with leftover money...

ya - why haven't we heard about some of the vehicles in the long term fleet?? I think though that the Silverado and Tundra are gone. The Silverado is long past it's time (although we haven't had a wrap yet), and the Tundra has got to be getting close. I think the Civic GX is an ultra-longtermer to see how running on natural gas really works. Actually I think it might be similar to the Ford GT in that it is personally owned by a member of the staff (why else go through all the trouble to install a Phill system for only a year's worth of reporting?)...