RX in NC

This one's good, Steve, no question about it. But it cannot match the 24/7 technical expertise of either jaguarforums.com or dodgetrucks.org. Extremely experienced technicians monitor both of those boards and can decipher even the quirkiest of issues in a matter of minutes if the poster is able to completely and correctly describe the problem in semi-decent English. A couple of the Jaguar techs continue to amaze me with the infinite knowledge they seem to possess up and down the complete Jaguar line-up. One of them even tracked down and obtained a replacement fuel pump that an owner in Malibu needed for his 2000 S-Type when every Jaguar dealership parts manager in Southern California repeatedly told the owner that there wasn't one available in the entire U.S. and new fuel pumps would not be available here for at least two months. Now that's going the extra mile, especially when the owner you're helping is a complete stranger on the other side of the country....

Only the Canadian-built 2004 RX330s were recalled. I looked into this situation shortly after we purchased ours in late January 2007 and learned the details. The Canadian factory was using substandard radiators from a different supplier than the Japanese factories were, so the Japanese-built vehicles were never in jeopardy of having the substandard radiators built into them. Since our RX330 was built in Japan, we did not qualify for a new radiator. I would gladly have taken one under the recall, though.... We've had no problems with our Japanese factory radiator. The vehicle now has 88,400 miles on it....

The correct answer is "it varies". Some companies are very lenient while others will attempt to nickle-and-dime you for every little swirl mark. Do your homework very thoroughly before you turn your car in and be prepared to stand up to them. It doesn't hurt to turn the car in sparkling clean, inside and out....

Yep, I love big V8s with rear-wheel-drive. You just can't get that haul-!Removed! feeling from anything else. That's one reason why I love my now 10-year-old Ram 5.9-litre V8 pickup so much. Smoked a kid and his buddy in a late-model Mustang at a stoplight yesterday afternoon with my wife aboard and both of us drinking big milkshakes while I peeled out when the light turned green. Man, that kid was *BLEEP*ed (as well as stunned that some geezer in a pickup with one hand around a milkshake cup and the other on the steering wheel just blew him away). He tried his best to catch us but we turned off Leesville Road to head home before he could close on us. Even my prim and proper wife was laughing (instead of chewing me out like she normally would for egging on some pimple-faced over-hormoned kid)....

The solution to high maintenance costs with a Jaguar (or even a Lexus for that matter) is making the commitment to learning the complexities of the car and doing as much of the maintenance as you can possibly do yourself using the correct fluids and parts. I've done a tremendous amount of research on this S-Type and it has really paid off as we move forward with it. I know what to watch out for and what to do as a result. I'll be doing my first full service on the S-Type tomorrow - that will indeed be interesting. I've got one more free full service at the Jaguar dealership, but I'm going to save that until just before my factory warranty runs out in mid-July so I can also get them to take care of any punch list I may have accumulated by then.... Also, the best car forum I've ever discovered is jaguarforums.com. There are four different certified Jaguar technicians from four different parts of the U.S. who monitor that forum and answer technical questions from members every single day. I've learned more about our Jaguar's strengths and weaknesses in three months than I've learned about our other two current vehicles in years spent on forums. The Jaguar forum is that good.... Fortunately, the S-Type has remained dead-level perfect since we brought it home just before Christmas. I don't expect to need an extended warranty as long as I maintain it properly and drive it intelligently....

How do the Chicago car insurance rates compare to what you paid here in the Triangle?

Enjoy the car. I know you will treat her well and she will return the favor to you many times over.... If you have Denso iridium plugs in that GS, you'll be wasting your money if you change them now - they aren't even broken in yet.... How's the weather up there by the lakes these days? We'll hit about 65 this afternoon here in the Triangle. A perfect day for cruising, and I plan to take the Jaguar out for a little spin as a result....

Yes, a pulse in the brake pedal could indeed be an indication of one or more warped rotors, especially up front. And yes, they'll have to be turned to fix the warp (assuming they are still within tolerance). A great way to find out at no charge is to go to a local Midas franchise and ask for their free brake inspection. You'll get a full report of where your brakes stand and you are under no obligation for them to effect repairs. Our local Midas shop does great brake work, guarantees the parts for the life of your vehicle, and the long-time owner is extremely knowledgeable on brakes for just about any application you can name. He made me aware of the Wagner ThermoQuiet organic brake pads a few years back and highly recommended them. He turned out to be absolutely right. On a side note, I had Lexus replace the front rotors on my wife's current 2004 RX330 AWD using Technical Service Bulletin TSB 004-04. The original factory rotors were of inferior quality and had a tendency to warp. This warranty work was done in May 2007 at 48,200 miles. We've had no rotor problems since. I assume that your 2006 model was built with the improved rotors, but perhaps not. You should make a note of this and check with your local Lexus service department. Good luck....

I've used Valvoline conventional oil for more than 35 years in all of our vehicles. My normal oil & filter change interval is 5,000 miles in all of our vehicles although I have occasionally gone 6,000 miles when circumstances required it (having legs in a cast from football-related surgeries). We both do a lot of highway driving so I believe that a 5,000-mile change interval is just fine for us. Never had an engine failure in any of our vehicles, oil-related or otherwise.... Our recently-acquired 2005 Jaguar S-Type recommends Castrol 5W-30 conventional oil throughout the owners manual and even has the Castrol logo imprinted on its oil filler cap. Jaguar and Castrol apparently have an entwined relationship that goes back 60 years or more. So I'll stay with Castrol in the Jaguar and should be doing my first oil & filter change on it next weekend. Jaguar's service schedule shows a 10,000-mile oil & filter change interval even with conventional oil. So any owner is certainly within his/her rights to do that and will remain under warranty. But I'm going to stay with my tried-and-true interval of 5,000 miles. It's still relatively inexpensive when you do it yourself and why increase your risk of sludge by pushing conventional oil to 10,000 miles? No thanks....

First of all, it is unusual that your brake pads are nearly done at only 31,000 miles. The factory pads are good quality semi-metallic, and we typically get more than 80,000 miles out of them with my wife as the primary driver. You may want to check to see if your pads are dragging against your rotors even when no brake pedal pressure is being applied. If that is indeed happening, it will greatly reduce the lifespan of your pads and may very well be the reason your pads are nearly done at only 31,000 miles. Often the cause is the emergency brake tightening up on the rear pads and wearing them out prematurely. About ten days ago I replaced the rear pads on my wife's 2004 RX330 AWD at just under 88,000 miles. The rotors are clean and unscratched so I chose not to turn them. Whenever you turn your rotors you are reducing their lifespan, so I'll turn them only if they are not still smooth and unmarked. I researched brake pads very thoroughly and decided to go with a set of Wagner ThermoQuiet organic pads. As the name indicates, they are noted for being nearly silent, they create next to no brake dust, they are not nearly as hard on your rotors as ceramic pads are, and they should deliver at least another 75,000 miles of service in this vehicle. She has put about 200 miles on the RX330 since I replaced the rear pads, so they are now well-seated and completely silent. The rear rotors remain smooth and unmarked. Her factory front pads still have 30% to 35% of pad life left in them, so there is no need to replace them yet. I also put a set of these ThermoQuiet organic pads on my wife's previous 2000 RX300 AWD at about 82,000 miles in the summer of 2005. The current owner now has about 143,000 miles on that vehicle and he tells me that the pads are still going strong and don't make a sound, just as advertised. His wife is the primary driver. So to sum up, if your rotors are clean and smooth, don't waste your money (and their lifespan) by turning them. Do some research on the Wagner ThermoQuiet organic brake pads. I think they are the best choice in this particular application....

Who drives a Jaguar? Well, we do, and have been doing so since just before Christmas. Our 2005 S-Type is the best car I've ever owned, and I've been driving for nearly 40 years. Jaguar has really stepped up its efforts towards quality over the past few years and it is beginning to show across the Jaguar product line.... Our S-Type has been smiling at me ever since that latest Powers study came out. Of course, I still smile every time I get in that car, fire it up, and hit the highway. If you haven't driven a Jaguar lately, check out a 2005 or 2006 just-off-lease well-maintained S-Type. Best bang-for-the-buck highway cruiser out there, hands down. I love my 10-year-old Dodge Ram 5.9-litre V8 pickup, but I really love this Jaguar S-Type as well for very different reasons. My wife loves it too and her 2004 RX330 has been demoted to dog-hauling duty in our household. She would rather drive the Jaguar every chance she gets and leaves her RX crackerbox in the driveway....

Our former 2000 RX300 AWD (now with its third owner) still has its original timing belt with about 142,000 miles on the odometer. The current owner also has a 1996 LS400 with its original timing belt at more than 200,000 miles.... There were a number of design flaws on the early RX models which you can read about in detail on this forum and others like it, but the timing belt is superb. That is typically true across the board for Toyota timing belts....

Follow the advice here to use only iridium plugs. They will do 120,000 miles easy and 150,000 miles is not unusual. Use either Denso or NGK. Accept no substitutes. You can usually order them online for about $8 each or you can find them in your local auto parts stores for slightly more than that. Your local shop is sticking you big-time. If you can't do this yourself with some assistance from a friend, keep shopping around. Try your local Toyota service department - I'll bet they'll be cheaper than the shop you're talking to, especially if you supply the new plugs yourself.... I have huge hands and had to enlist the help of my small-handed neighbor to get to that rear middle plug when I changed the plugs at 120,000 miles in our previous 2000 RX300 back in October 2006. Without his help, I would have been stuck in the driveway for at least another hour trying to get my mitts and tools into that very confined space. Be sure you have an assortment of socket wrench extensions and universals before you start on the rear plugs. As has already been pointed out, the three front plugs are child's play....

Point taken. If I have any further beef with SKP, I'll take it to him privately....

There's no question that U.S. consumer behavior will change dramatically if the Big Three all go belly-up. But no one can predict exactly how and when.... For me and my much-beloved 10-year-old Dodge Ram 5.9-litre V8 pickup, if Chrysler bites the dust I'll have to sit down and create a spreadsheet of parts most likely to break on this truck based on general failure history for my particular model and year. Then I'll have to determine which of those parts can be suitably acquired from aftermarket sources and which must come from a dealership parts department. At that point, I'll have to decide if I want to lay in a supply of any commonly-failing parts that must be purchased from the dealer (I believe that list will be very, very short, but at this point that's simply a guess).... So even though I don't even think about unloading my Ram in the event of a Chrysler collapse, I still will spend what may amount to several days of research building my contingency plan to keep it. Prior to now, who has ever had to do that for any of their Big Three vehicles? You just drove them and never worried about parts availability. That is a major shift in consumer behavior right off the bat, one that the Big Three want to desperately avoid since it will cost them significant new sales, probably sooner rather than later.... You've got many different ways to approach your debate prep, dens. Once you've prepared your documentation, be sure to post it here. I'm sure it will make for very interesting reading as well as some lively debate on this forum as well....

My wife's current 2004 RX330 AWD is pushing 88,000 miles and is a better vehicle than her previous 2000 RX300 AWD dog was. The 2004 model hasn't had any of the major breakdowns that plagued the 1999/2000 models. Just a couple of transmission reflashes in an effort to solve the harsh shifting pattern (it's better now, but not great), seat heater elements burning out, and a few fuse replacements. Other than that, it's been all routine maintenance. All in all, it's a fairly decent SUV unless you're 6-foot-7 like me (no headroom or legroom, period). If you can steal one in these tough economic times, go for it....

dens, In your preparation, don't forget to include at least a page or two on the very real potential of bankruptcy for all three American manufacturers. If warranties, service, parts, and favorable consumer relationships decline dramatically in the eyes of U.S. customers, many would argue that this alone would cause them to abandon their current domestic vehicles and consider only foreign vehicles going forward. That may not be a "quality of product" issue right off the bat, but it certainly becomes a "quality of life" issue for the domestic manufacturers as well as for the car-buying public. And it is certainly at the top of the list of concerns for everyone in Detroit these days....

I believe that the greater error in misinterpretation in this particular case falls to you. You completely missed the fact that I was defending you against the original poster's claim that you must be an employee or associate of the dealership in question. I didn't happen to believe that accusation, still don't, and offered my opinion on why you came across to him as you did. Sorry, but your attempts at sarcasm won't change my opinion.

No, I don't need a new monitor. I stand by exactly what I said. I would expect you to disagree with me and would be disappointed if you didn't. But we are all entitled to our opinions. That is one of the aspects that keeps forums like this one crisp and lively....

Good thing your subject is "cars" and not "trucks". The Big Three's pickup trucks always have been and still are hands-down better than any other pickup trucks on the planet....

The best tire pressure monitoring system on the planet has never changed. It consists of getting a decent tire pressure gauge (digital is great but there's nothing wrong with the old manual style) and committing to checking your tire pressures, COLD, once a week. Once every two weeks is better than monthly. And monthly is better than never. Don't trust inconsistent and often faulty electronic tire pressure monitoring systems to manage your tires for you. Do it yourself, the right way, and you'll be safer with longer-lasting tires as well....

You've apparently read the transmission threads, so you know that there isn't much new that any of us who've been through this can tell you. Failure may be imminent for you, or it may not be. AWD fails much more frequently than FWD in these transmissions. You've changed the fluid and if you replaced the filter, you also dropped the pan. What did you see? Did you do the work yourself or did you pay a shop to do this? If you paid a shop, did they show you the old fluid and were there any metal shavings in it, and are you positive that Toyota Type T-IV fluid was used and not some generic formula mixed up by Jiffy Lube? Have you actually checked your fluid level and condition with the dipstick? What is it showing? If your fluid level is very low, problems such as those you've described can occur.... I would take the vehicle, give my vehicle to my wife for the time being, and drive it myself over the next few days to see if conditions worsen. If they do, then you know that your transmission is about to die. Just make certain that you have AAA or another decent towing service on stand-by because you may need them. Oh, and I certainly wouldn't leave town with the vehicle, nor drive at high speeds on the freeway....

Davole, I don't believe that SK Performance is an employee of the dealership you are battling with. He is a long-time management member of this forum and he does in fact offer some fairly decent advice from time to time. But he also jumps to conclusions in the blink of an eye. I don't believe that he is involved in any way in whatever cover-up you believe your dealer is attempting to pull on you. He simply uses the methodology of "Ready, Fire, Aim" on a far-too-frequent basis....

We have this option on our 2005 Jaguar S-Type. Just be aware that its accuracy can vary depending upon weather conditions. When the weather is clear with low humidity, it works as the marketing propaganda says it does. But in rain or snow, the sensors can get fooled and delay the audible signal in the cockpit. If you are backing up relatively fast during heavy rain or snow, you could strike the object behind you at about the same time the sensors detect it and generate the audible signal. Don't know if the Lexus system is affected the same way. You may want to check it out. Buyer beware, you know....

SK Performance, You say that the original poster is leaving out facts, but YOU are making a number of potentially incorrect assumptions. You were not there to witness what happened, you are only speculating (and admonishing at the same time), and you are certainly not helping to rectify the situation one way or the other. The original poster asked for names and contacts for escalation of his issue. No one on this board can judge who was or was not at fault. If he has a case, and with a credible witness he probably does, then he should indeed escalate through the proper channels.