Are Hybrid living up to the hype? What about maintainance on these cars? Are repairs costly and are mechanical technicians knowledgeable of servicing these cars?
Ryan Your answer is great!!! thank you
I was trying to give you the thumbs up but i guess I clicked the wrong thumb
I am sorry .. YOUR answer deserves a big thumbs up rating :-)
I would really like to purchase an SUV style car for the winters here in St Louis but also need the fuel economy as I drive a good distance from my home to where I work. I also do a lot of travel related to my work.
I have researched on edmonds o2007 Lexus RX 400h
o2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid
o2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
o2007 Saturn VUE
o2007 Ford Escape Hybrid
but I must admit ( and it has nothing to do with being female) I am not as intelligent about cars as I would like to be.

In short, it depends on what your priorities are.

Hybrid live up to the hype, in terms of the reduction in emissions gasses, yes, however most of them rarely deliver the promised fuel mileage, though they do better than their non-hybrid counterparts.

The Lexus RX400h is essentially a hybrid which is biased towards performance. It's good choice if you are looking for something with a bit of a "Gee whiz" factor as it's very cutting-edge technology thats fun to discuss around the water cooler at work. It's a good choice if you want a luxury vehicle but want to do a little something for the environment and/or get to drive in the carpool/HOV lane by yourself (depending on where you live)

It's NOT a good choice if you want a hybrid because you imagine the fuel savings will pay for the difference or if you think you are going to get amazing gas mileage and save the planet. It won't save you money over the regular RX model.

Hybrid technology has been around for nearly 10 years now and Toyota/Lexus is at the head of the pack. It's been proven reliable for the most part so there are no worries there. Maintainance for the first 5-6 years should be virtually no different than a regular car and Lexus technicians are trained to work on these vehicles.

Now, if you are still driving it in 10 years and you need the hybrid batteries replaced or your ECU reflashed and you have some mechanic named Bubba at a garage in the middle of nowhere in the Arizona desert are you screwed? Yes. But ask yourself how likely that scenario is.

Odd are, if you are in the market for a vehicle in this price range, you won't be driving it by the time it needs the batteries replaced or needs any expensive maintainance for the hybrid system. By then it will be someone elses problem and you will be driving a newer hybrid Lexus burning 100% ethanol or something.

Well to start off these cars are expensive. The base price for an '07 is $41,180 not including taxes, fees or etc. One thing is certain though, that your Lexus will give you V8 like performance with 4 cylinder fuel economy. The hybrid system is very sophisticated in these cars but since it's developed and made by Toyota it should be reliable. Either way I am certain that Lexus has certified technicians to repair any problems that might arise. So far, however, I have not heard any complaints from Lexus owners about their RXs so you should be good to go.
P.S. Keep in mind that the technology is new so it's somewhat of a shot in the dark for the most part.