Highlander Hybrid

A friend of mine just recently purchased a Lexus RX 400h. He paid $60k for it. BTW no trees were cut down to provide wood accents, Lexus' are known for, in this vehicle, but it does have leather seats. I guess Hybrids, are associated with "Tree Huggers" or something. No offence. It get something like 30mpg, I thought it would be more.

BTW how much for the Hybrid Highlander?

44k for the Highlander. Now I don't feel so bad when I hear 60k for the Lexus. It's the same engine, the Highlander seats 7 - Lexus 5, has leather, 8 way power seats and one of the car magazines says the Highlander rides better than the Lexus. Very quiet and smooth ride.

expensive...wow.

The Highlander seats 7? The last two must be children, there is hardly any room in the third row. The 400h is pretty quite when the engine is not running. The engine sounds like a muffled compressor motor when it's recharging the batteries. Lexus' are known for their ride comfort. The Highlander and the 400h/330 are build on the same platform. I guess you have to drive/ride both to really feel the difference.

I'm just curious as to how many miles you have to drive before you break even (Higher price-higher MPG vs. Lower price-lower MPG) with the cost of owning a regular Highlander. I heard on a Honda Civic hybrid you have to drive something like 60,000 miles before you recoupe your costs.

I would love to have one....going to wait till the second year to see what it does....had a 2002 until my wife made a charter boat(Platte River) out of it....it was great for the room but I missed the git up and go my XLE Camry had so we bought a Avalon for better mileage....miss the room the highlander had and if you ck with your insurance it may be one of the cheaper ones to insure....the 2002 highlander was a 11 for insurance, my Avalon is a 15 and my new Tundra is a 17!!!!!!! Most don't ask what the insurance is going to cost and are in shock later. My next highlander is going to have flotation seats,oars, and cell phone with gps....wouldn't be a bad idea to have a electric winch to pull us out of the river the next time I let my wife drive....she hits deer too! Deer in our area have a early warning system just when she leaves the driveway! After the sinking we had a Prius...sp? and it was great...got 45 miles to the gal. you are probably wondering how we got one....had to rent a car and we were given the choice of that or a camry....jumped at it. Enterprise may have some of the new Highlanders....I would try one for a few days first before a commitment of that kind of money....you didn't say how much of a discount you got? smile!

If the new Highlander is like the one I had the biggest trouble will be getting used to the "Joy" stick.....different, and I had to look at the dash to see if I was in the correct gear. In daylight the dash was hard to see in bright sunlight...have the same problem with the Avalon. Which with 8500 miles on it gets lousy mileage and only after changing to Mobil one oil am I getting 27.5 on a trip of more than 200 miles...if I stay under 72 miles per hour....faster the mileage goes south. the old Highlander got about 22...and one time going down hill it got 26 going into Las vegas with a tail wind...

One thing the dealers never tell you is...to reset the mileage average thing of a jig....some out there are getting the average mileage since day one not knowing this....I reset it when going on a longer trip. Just hold the button down on the Highlanders for a few seconds.

when you get it I would love to hear what you think about it.

No I'm no writing a book....smile!

ROBERT F. THOMAS

I'd be curious also but fairly sure it's not that great a savings. I do feel that one thing we are doing is making something of a political statement by saying to car mfgs that there are many people who do want to have less of an impact on global resources by using less and being cleaner.

expensive...wow.

Personally I think Hybrid technology is not that great. The savings in gas are not worth the premium. I think other alternatives like Ethanol, which is renewable fuel source and is finally energy positive to produce, will be the future. Toyota investing in Hybrids is a mistake. Especially since a Corolla can get similar gas mileage to a Prius. Nissan is putting out E85 compatible trucks, why can't Toyota?

By my house, E85 fuel is 1.35 a gallon. Regular unleaded stuff is 2.19 a gallon.

Understand also FCHV Highlander will not be true 4WD and will only be 4WD if there is no slippage, as, slippage screws up he 2nd motor, i.e. in balancing use of gas vs. electric.

G

E85 is OK but you give up 25% of your MPG. Add that much to the price of E85 to see what it really costs. Your vehicle has to be designed for E85 and the stuff takes more energy to make that gas.