Lexus

[Charlie C]

Does anyone tow with a Lexus RX450 Hybrid.

Been towing for years with a Touareg then the last 3 1/2 years with a Discovery Sport. Quite happy with both of these
but it coming up for a time to change and I am thinking, for the first time ever of a hybrid and the Lexus looks like a
good bet, but, I know nothing about them
Or any other hybrids to be honest.
Van is currently 1560 Kg all up Crusader Mistral.
Would welcome your thoughts and experiences
Thanks in advance
Charlie

 

[otherclive]

Does anyone tow with a Lexus RX450 Hybrid.

Been towing for years with a Touareg then the last 3 1/2 years with a Discovery Sport. Quite happy with both of these
but it coming up for a time to change and I am thinking, for the first time ever of a hybrid and the Lexus looks like a
good bet, but, I know nothing about them
Or any other hybrids to be honest.
Van is currently 1560 Kg all up Crusader Mistral.
Would welcome your thoughts and experiences
Thanks in advance
Charlie

There’s one member, Lutz, who I think had a Lexus SUV but not sure if it was a hybrid. When he last posted on it I recall he was pleased with the Lexus. Try a search using Lutz posts and Lexus.

 

[Lutz]

If nobody with an RX450h replies, I can at least offer my penny's worth, having towed an 1800kg caravan with an RX400h for almost 7 years. It was undoubtedly a very nice and reliable car, but the advantage of a hybrid doesn't manifest itself when towing because the electric motors can only produce a fraction of the power needed in that configuration. The petrol engine has to do most of the work with the result that fuel consumption when towing is not particularly brilliant. It's solo driving, particularly in stop/start driving where the hybrid scores points. I have never owned a car with such a big variation in fuel consumption, from well over 50mpg to under 20mpg, depending on the conditions. That said, it was otherwise a lovely and comfortable car.
The RX400h suffered from a very torque sensitive steering and the starter battery was very small (because a larger one wouldn't fit under the bonnet), resulting in a flat battery relatively quickly if electrical current was drawn for any length of time without the engine running, but I believe both those issues were resolved on the RX450h.

 

[Charlie C]

Great stuff, thanks for that Lutz

 

[otherclive]

Great stuff, thanks for that Lutz

Looking at Autotrader some of the 400H have enormous mileages (a la Landcruiser) yet still look in excellent condition so if the later model is as good it would be a very nice car.