Southwest Jim

Cliff, I have a 2008 RX350 with NAV. The Nav is not very good. Although I was able to buy a used 'hardware hack' which allows me to enter a destination when the car is moving, I still find the system cumbersome. I do update the database every year. Finding and selecting points of interest is a bit frustrating. So, I keep my phone with Google maps or Waze running so I can actually find a gas station ahead on my route and add it to the trip. Waze seems particularly good about re-routing for heavy traffic or accidents. What I am saying is that, having used the NAV system, I personally would not consider retrofitting the OEM system to my car. The phone works much better. On long trips I will enter the destination on the Lexus system with the volume off and also use the phone. On a long complicated trip or one in areas with bad data connections I will use my Garmin with Lifetime Maps and Traffic. Sorry I am not answering your question directly. Having worked on many cars and aircraft avionics over the years, I will say that my answer to your question is yes, you can add NAV to your RX350. You can do darn near anything if you have the time and money to invest. It will be invasive, complex, and very expensive to fully transplant a factory system into your car. My opinion is that you will have then made a significant investment in order to end up with a marginally acceptable NAV system. It is possible, but not practical. I did a quick check at Crutchfield. It looks like you can buy a decent and up to date system for an RX350 for $600 to $700 which has many more features than my OEM set up. They have an accessory module which will allow you to keep your steering wheel controls. I like them because they have good installation gear and fantastic support for you or your installation shop. You should call them and discuss what you are doing with a tech before buying anything. The electronics in our 2008 RX350s are getting a bit long in the tooth; the newer aftermarket systems have a lot of features and capabilities which just weren't available in 2008. If the OEM system in my RX completely crapped out beyond repair I would probably say "good" and replace it with an aftermarket system. The biggest negative I see changing to an aftermarket system is losing the trip and diagnostic screens on the OEM system. Jim

I used to work in a test lab. As a personal project a couple of us did air flow and particulate capture testing on an early K&N air filter. Since that time I have been using them in all my cars and aircraft which could be fitted with a K&N. I find it difficult to accept that a MAF sensor could be trashed by oil contamination. Sensors and mechanisms in automotive applications are designed and tested to be functional in contaminated situations. The biggest issue I can think of with the K&N filters is that owners probably do not clean them as often as they should. We are a disposable oriented society and PM is often not carefully practiced.

Zeppo, I didn't reply before as I have no RX specific help to share, but your latest post got me thinking about tracking down leaks on other vehicles. Leaks are incredibly frustrating to trace because the water can travel so much from where it starts. We used to put squares of blotting paper or paper towels in different areas around the pooled water under trim or the carpets so we could tell which direction the water is coming from. In my experience, it would be really rare for water to travel up from the door sill. There are a few other things you can do: lift up the carpet and trim, go in the car and watch while someones runs (not pressure washing, just running) a hose over the sunroof, in the air intake vents by the base of the windshield, and door seals. It sometimes can take several minutes for the water to travel, so be patient or you'll get fooled up by seeing the water when your helper with the hose has moved on past the area that is leaking. The vents by the windshield wipers collect debris and those drains get clogged up easily. Although the newer cars have better drains, I have seen drain tubes which are not clogged but are cracked or leak at the connections. It sounds like your leaks occur while parked, so you probably don't need to look for wind-blown leaks like missing floor pan plugs or fire wall plugs. This is all generic advice; I'm sorry I don't have any RX specific help. Leaks are difficult to track down, but usually in the end the cause is pretty simple. Think of yourself as a detective and have patience. Jim

I like having the Nav in my 2008 RX350 since I updated the map database and found a used 'hardware hack' to circumvent the 'can't input destination while moving' insulting idiot proofing. However, I also keep my phone handy for the many occasions the Nav can't find a location or point of interest until I'm already there. You're not missing much without the Lexus built-in. On long trips, no matter which car we are driving, I take our Garmin with life time maps and traffic. It is just an order of magnitude better than the Lexus, Honda, or Jag built in systems. I've never understood why the car manufacturers don't buy Garmin systems. They could still charge their insane prices, but we'd have systems that actually work. Our Garmin will automatically offer a re-route around bad traffic and accidents.

$70 to set up and paint a part is really not out of line. 1. Buy the part new and a can of spray touch up paint. I've sprayed mirrors, trim parts, and even bumpers on various cars. The spray can clear coat is not perfect, but it's better than the missing part. Sometimes I think it's just temporary until I find a better match, but then I get used to it and don't mind the slight difference. 2. For a little diddly part like this you probably won't find it in an internet search. A small part like this is not likely to be listed. You will have better luck emailing or calling salvage yards and asking them. I was able to find most of the various trim parts I needed for my XJ8 by calling scrap yards that had Jag parts listed, but not what I wanted.

Did you phone the dealer? Most good dealers will remove or replace the floor mats so you start out with a good looking new interior. They might have been trying to do you a favor, rather than keeping the special mats....

My suggestion: Battery cables and clamps (terminals) are industry standard parts; you should be able to buy a good quality cable from NAPA or another auto parts store. You can replace the terminal / connector only, although I typically prefer to replace the entire cable assembly if it is not too much trouble, as replacing just the clamp / connector shortens the cable a bit. You can also get a 'splice kit' which has a new clamp attached to special splices that allow you to attach to your in-vehicle cables without replacing them. This is a good solution if you completely grease up the splice connectors. The last time I used one of these kits I covered the splices with marine grade adhesive lined heat shrink tubing, but that is not easy to find in large diameters. If you replace the cable you might consider asking if they have an upgraded cable size. You probably don't need it, but it's another option I like to check. Get the anti-concussion washer to go under the clamp, and grease up the terminal after installing it. For a short term fix, if the clamp just won't tighten up enough, you can get a cap or shim for the battery post. I'm not a fan of these long term as you can't see any corrosion that might be building up - just an example - you need to get the correct size - http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/autocraft-battery-post-shims-ac110-a14079/6280181-P Jim

Thank you for pointing out I made an error in the forum posting.

Can someone with HID headlights check this for me please? I recently sold my Jag XJ8L and bought my first Lexus, a 2008 RX 350 with 69K miles. I'm really happy with the RX and have been using the forum resources to help with the little diddly things you'd expect to fix on an 8 year old car. Last night, with the help of the tutorial on the forum I replaced the gooey tailgate switch assembly. I have not been able to find a parts diagram that helps with this next question, so I hope someone will assist. I have HID headlights. On the back of both headlight assemblies is a stamped sheet metal bracket which has a large diameter hole surrounded with a foam rubber ring. This bracket rests on a heavier bracket bolted to the fender. The heavier bracket has a tapped hole that lines up with the large diameter hole in the headlamp bracket. This sure looks like there should be a machine screw holding these two together, but neither side has one. I don't want to just bolt them firmly together as I don't know if the larger hole is to allow alignment, or if the bolt is supposed to be a shoulder bolt that would allow the two brackets to move around a bit. Can anyone tell me if these are supposed to be bolted together, and, if so, is it firmly bolting the two brackets together, or is there supposed to be a shoulder bolt or sleeve which would allow some movement, but keep them from getting completely out of contact? Thanks in advance, Jim

I recently sold my Jag XJ8L and bought my first Lexus, a 2008 RX 350 with 69K miles. I'm really happy with the RX and have been using the forum resources to help with the little diddly things you'd expect to fix on an 8 year old car. Last night, with the help of the tutorial on the forum I replaced the gooey tailgate switch assembly. I have not been able to find a parts diagram that helps with this next question, so I hope someone will assist. I have HID headlights. On the back of both headlight assemblies is a stamped sheet metal bracket which has a large diameter hole surrounded with a foam rubber ring. This bracket rests on a heavier bracket bolted to the fender. The heavier bracket has a tapped hole that lines up with the large diameter hole in the headlamp bracket. This sure looks like there should be a machine screw holding these two together, but neither side has one. I don't want to just bolt them firmly together as I don't know if the larger hole is to allow alignment, or if the bolt is supposed to be a shoulder bolt that would allow the two brackets to move around a bit. Can anyone tell me if these are supposed to be bolted together, and, if so, is it firmly bolting the two brackets together, or is there supposed to be a shoulder bolt or sleeve which would allow some movement, but keep them from getting completely out of contact? Thanks in advance, Jim