usnagent

Something to consider from a guy with tons of Lexus and Toyota experience (I have a 1998 LX470 that is approaching legendary status here on the east coast - 484k miles and still in showroom condition)... Your choice in your mechanic needs to be based on a personal working relationship. Jimmy John who just gothis job at your local Lexus dealer because he used to work on his dad's tractor is what you can get when your vehicle goes into the repair pool. Find one single mechanic and stick with him. Your are paying for his historical working knowledge of your car. Next, the best investment you can make for your Lexus is the parts catalog. You can find these on EBay. Whenever you need a part, look it up in the catalog and call your local Toyota dealer with the part number and buy it from Toyota. Lexus will not give you the part number because they want to prevent you from figuring out what I am about to tell you. When you order the part from Lexus, you pay 40 - 60% more for the vary same part in the very same box when you buy it from Lexus. You can save THOUSANDS over the life of your car with this little tip. Best wishes (iif the Lexus moderator lets this one post. Regards, Mark

Dear Diablo Blonco: I have an 1998 LX 470 with over 480K Miles on it, so you can imagine I have chased every noise and found every secret. About 3 years ago, I had the same problem and it drove me completely crazy trying to track and resolve it. In my case, the problem was a plastic/rubber windlace moulding around my sunroof. Over 65 MPH, it would flap and vibrate with a horn sound - like that thick balde of grass you used to put between your thumbs and blow through when you were a kid to make an evil "shreek." The noise sounded like it was coming from the cabin, but, it was just over my head and on the roof. If you haven't found the solution already, check your windlace moulding around your sunroof. Over time, this fixture expands and opens a space which "sings" when air passes over it which can result in a horn sound as it vibrates. I hope this helps. Regards, Mark

I have a 1998 LX470 (named Goliath) with 388K miles that looks and runs as good as the day I bought it with only one minor exception. Every now and then I get a check engine light as a result of a P0441 code. I have not been able to figure out the cause for this error although it does not impact the performance of the vehicle to any great degree. Any ideas out there on how to make this error go away for good?