Lexus hybrid

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 8 2007, 02:44 AM) [snapback]522644[/snapback]</div>

I too am P/O'd that our 400h has no smart fob. Sheez!
A mechanical key? 75 year old technology? Though you pay a $10K premium? Sheez! It sure costs a lot just to have a chrome 'L' shape on the hood. And that's why I suggested to my wife that she should have gotten the hi hy.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 8 2007, 12:51 PM) [snapback]522761[/snapback]</div>

ho boy . . . a blue glow. NO steering wheel controls for the MFD, nor for the NAV, and ... no SKS ... and no distinctive low drag coefficient design for the body to separate it from the hum drum usual SUV ... but a blue glow. Gotta love it. You'd think they'd at least offer it up in that way cool ox blood metalic red color available to other Lexus' .. but noooooo.

 

If they redesigned all the bodies offering their cars in a hybrid powertrain wouldn't be possible.

As for the controls, almost no cars have the amount of controls on the steering wheel the Prius does. They're overkill.

 

Its just not something most carbuyers are looking for.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ Oct 9 2007, 11:54 PM) [snapback]523438[/snapback]</div>

Isn't that the same excuse GM gave as to why they didn't even make hybrids at all?
I don't know ... sales seem to be pretty decent for the Prius ... the car that's so world renouwned for buttons.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ Oct 9 2007, 05:30 PM) [snapback]523304[/snapback]</div>

Not ALL the bodies, just the SUV ... after all, that's the one w/ the worst drag coefficiency.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ Oct 10 2007, 12:35 PM) [snapback]523658[/snapback]</div>

I'm sure they are, but sales of Lexus models, hybrid and not hybrid are also pretty decent without the buttons, as are sales of many many other automobile models from many manufacturers without buttons for every function on the steering wheel. If controlling everything from the wheel were really important to buyers, focus groups would have shown that to manufacturers. The Prius isn't the first car to have all these functions controlled on the wheel, Pontiacs in the 90s used to be that way among others. Why would they have stopped doing that if buyers cared?

Personally I like radio controls on the steering wheel, phone controls, voice controls, but I don't see the point for HVAC or nav controls, when I drive the Prius I don't even use them really. They're helpful because many of the HVAC functions are buried in the LCD menus but on other cars they aren't.

Would you pay $100,000+ for the SUV then? If they designed an all new body for it it'd cost at least that due to the low volume of sales. A carmaker can't design a vehicle just to sell 5,000 of them a year and deliver the product at an affordable price. Would you prefer hybrid drivetrain on an affordable vehicle, or on a vehicle nobody can afford? The RXh sells very well and gets good mileage for its combination of performance and style.

As for the RX having the worst drag, the RX is about as aerodyamic as an SUV gets. In fact, they did make several changes to the RXh to improve drag, the fascia is more pointed (making the RXh longer than the RX), theres additional underbody covering, changes in the rocker panels to better direct airflow around the wheels. The cD is .35 which is very good for an SUV. The new one will be even slicker.

I also stopped by today and saw the new Highlander. I'd like to trade the Prius in on one and I got some positive reactions from the missus yesterday as long as its the Hybrid. Its really nice, but its nowhere near as well built as the RX. The headliner feels like recycled paper, the leather is cheap and thin and the plastics are hard. The Prius has pretty nice materials for its price, but the Highlander is a huge step down from a Lexus qualitywise. I'd still buy one, and for her/our family vehicle its fine but if it were my daily driver I'd get the RX400h over it in a second.

 

I don't believe there is a climate menu in the nav system, there isn't in my car and there isn't in the other Lexus models I've driven.

I love the way the interior of the Highlander looks, in fact I like the look better than the RX. For a midmarket car its well built when compared to a Ford, Honda, etc. The material quality just isn't as nice as on the Lexus, nor should it be for $10k less. For our family car/my fiance's car its fine (she doesn't care) but for me when I'm used to and care about higher quality materials, I'd want the Lexus. Overall though I like the new highlander better than the RX, but if I were buying an SUV for myself I wouldn't buy an RX...

Its more here too by about $3k. A loaded Highlander Limited is $42k, a Loaded Limited Hybrid will be like $44k. I mean...you can buy a lot of higher end vehicles for $44k...

My choice would be a Highlander Sport with nav and SKS, that would be like $38k, but she really wants a Hybrid. I like the interior of the Sport better because it doesn't have the faux wood, I prever the silver plastic.

The headliner in the Highlander is nowhere near as nice as in the Prius or in their cars, its a headliner used in their trucks and its very low-end. The old Highlander had the same headliner.

 

Strike that, can't get SKS on the Sport, it would have to be the Limited. Thats another of her requirements:

1. Must have SKS
2. Must have Nav
3. Should be a hybrid

 

I was hoping I could talk her into the sport lol, with no SKS its no deal though.

The HiHy has the fake wood whether its the limited or not...

 

Naa, its all the same headliner. I like the Limited, I just don't like that fake wood. If a car manufacturer is going to put wood in a car, make it real or just skip it IMHO...

I like the SKS too. When I get back in the Lexus after driving the Prius I wind up walking up to the door expecting it to unlock LOL