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2010 Lexus RX 450h Long Term Report: Week 1


Last week, I took the delivery of my first long-term road test vehicle from Lexus Canada—a 2010 Smoky Granite Mica RX 450h:

This is the full deal—an RX 450h with the Ultra Luxury package that includes Heads-Up Display, rear entertainment system, LED headlights, and fifteen-speaker Mark Levinson audio system. As far as I can tell, the only option missing is dynamic air suspension.

One effect to all this technology is a strong feeling that I’m driving in the future—a feeling that’s reinforced by the exterior & interior design. The RXh looks like a spaceship sitting in my driveway:

Lexus RX450h Smoky Granite Mica

Inside is black on black with some brown walnut accents, and the absence of color makes the interior feel smaller than it is:

Lexus RX450h Black Interior

So far, I’m finding the RXh interior very cozy. The iPod integration with the Remote Touch Audio is a little cumbersome, but on the flip side, it’s very easy to set up Bluetooth Audio. I paired the RXh with my iPhone in a matter of minutes, and that allows me to bypass the awkward iPod integration entirely.

Some other random notes from my first week:

  • The Heads-Up Display is something that’s taking some getting used to—I had to turn it off one day because it was giving me a headache. I also find myself frequently adjusting the brightness level.
  • The LED headlights do so much for the exterior appearance of the RX 450h they should be standard.
  • I’m a little nervous about road salt and the black carpet.
  • It’s very easy to get used to the power rear-door, which can be open/closed using the remote alone.
  • One of the first things I did was program my home address into the navigation:

Lexus Home Sensor

I will have the RXh until the end of February, so there will be plenty of time to go over every feature, explore every option, and take a ton of photos. And please, if you have any questions about the RX hybrid at all, leave a comment and I will do my best to answer.

Update: I forgot to mention my first week’s gas mileage—I filled up today, and after driving 615km (382 miles), my gas mileage was 8.8L/100km, or 26.7mpg. Not fantastic, but it’s been below-zero temperatures all week and cuts into the battery’s effectiveness.

Also, a couple comments requested the second photo as a desktop wallpaper, so here we are:

2010 Lexus RX450h Wallpaper by krew

Special thanks to Lexus Canada for providing me with this vehicle for the purpose of review. The RX 450h with the Ultra Luxury Package retails for $71,400CAD ($67,150USD).

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