RX in NC

My wife complained today that her power outlets up front on the dashboard and below the console no longer charge her Crackberry/cell phone. Thought that the problem might be her phone charger so I tried a 12-volt light that I know works. The light wouldn't work so it is definitely the power outlets in the vehicle with the problem. The Owners Manual says that Fuses 14, 63, and 64 are dedicated to the power outlets in this vehicle. Pulled all three fuses and they all look good to my naked eye. Does anyone have any experience with their power outlets failing as a result of a problem other than these three fuses? If so, please post the problem you uncovered and the fix that worked for you. Thanks....

I spent an hour with the lead Jaguar Master Technician at the Jag dealership the day before we purchased the car. My first question to him was about oil. "Castrol 5W-30 conventional is what Jaguar recommends, it is all we use, and it is all you should use while you're under warranty, period. Next question?" was his exact reply. Like many European manufacturers, the Jaguar oil-and-filter required change interval on this S-Type is 10,000 miles. I've got one more free service on this car at the Jag dealership and then I'll take over myself. I'll change the oil and filter every 5,000 miles just to be safe and I'll stay with Castrol 5W-30 even though I prefer Valvoline since it has been good to me for more than 30 years. There is no history of sludge in these 3.0 V6 Lincoln engines. Jaguar has modified them with variable valve timing and a few other tweaks to maximize horsepower and performance, but this sucker still gets nearly 30 mpg on the highway and about 24 mpg around town. I didn't believe that would be possible but my wife's trip to and from Florida right after Christmas proved that this 3,800-pound sleek highway cruiser is capable of more than 32 mpg under the right circumstances. Unbelieveable....

I've spent the last couple of weeks on a multitude of Jaguar forums in order to glean as much care-and-feeding info as I can concerning our new (to us) 2005 Jaguar S-Type 3.0 sedan. Unlike many manufacturers who recommend synthetic oils more and more these days, Jaguar still recommends that owners stick with plain old Castrol 5W-30 conventional oil during the 4-year/50,000-mile warranty period. Even the car's engine oil cap is imprinted with the Castrol-recommended logo. I assume Castrol makes a synthetic oil as well (which they would certainly prefer to sell us at a much higher mark-up than conventional oil), but Jaguar continues to stick with the tried-and-true. In the meantime, the conventional-vs.-synthetic debate rages on. As I've said for years, just change your oil and filter on a routine, reasonable interval, don't switch back and forth using different oils from different manufacturers, and don't fall for any of the snake-oil super-duper additives that are out there in the real and virtual marketplaces. Be sensible, be smart, and you'll be fine....

I agree. Stay away from the 1999 and 2000 RX300. Inherent flaws include: 1. The much-discussed and debated engine sludge potential problem. 2. The "can no longer be disputed" transmission failure risk. 3. The common cracked exhaust manifold defect problem. 4. The common rear main oil seal defect problem. 5. The common front strut mounts bushings defect problem. If items 3, 4, and 5 above have been addressed and replaced by a Lexus or Toyota service department since early 2004 on the particular vehicle you are interested in, then you probably have the redesigned parts that typically fix those particular issues much better than the original poorly-designed and/or manufactured parts did. But you're still on your own for items 1 and 2. In a nutshell, don't buy the 1999 or 2000 RX300 model years, particularly in all-wheel-drive configuration....

Believe me, I did my ZF transmission homework before I made my offer on this particular car. The ZF transmission in the 2003 and 2004 S-Type models was the old 5-speed version, not the newer 6-speed version like ours is. Although they were much better than the original Ford transmission in the 99-03 S-Types that have been so troublesome, they are not as solid and bulletproof as the 6-speed ZF. Your father-in-law has the old Ford transmission, and it really gets trashed on all of the Jag forums. I believe that your father-in-law's biggest problem is that he is not driving his S-Type enough to keep all of its systems primed and operational. You are correct - changing the ZF fluid will be a lengthy and messy job. I'll have to get underneath the car to drain the fluid, then find the top add plug and pump the new fluid into the ZF unit using some kind of manual fluid pump rig that is described on the Jaguar forums. It ain't gonna be easy and it sure ain't gonna be fun. My wife had better guard her turkey baster in the kitchen because I may wind up using it to finish the job.... Jag-lovers.com and Jagplanet.com are both decent forums, but the best I've found by far is at www.forums.roadfly.com. It has supposedly the largest Jag forum in the world and there is no question that it is the most technical of the 6 or 8 I've stumbled across so far. There's a guy on that forum nearly every day named "Real Tech" who is a master Jaguar mechanic and he is an endless fountain of Jag knowledge and expertise. If your brother doesn't know about this particular forum (and "Real Tech"), you should make him aware. I can already tell that this guy is going to save me a ton of time during my learning curve and a wheelbarrow full of money on D-I-Y as well. He answers questions in the most informative, specific, technically-detailed manner of any expert I've ever seen on any forum (including the much-respected dodgetrucks.org forum for my Ram where those guys live and breathe every aspect of Ram trucks and will describe in minute detail what your fix is for any issue you can name, and they're ALWAYS spot-on).... My wife loves this S-Type. She's on her way back from visiting her parents in Florida today so the car is doing what it does best - being a sleek highway cruiser. She has all but abandoned her RX330. I need to get her back in the RX, though, so I can spend some valuable learning curve time with the Jag while some of what I've learned this week is fresh on my mind. I've got 6.5 months of factory warranty left on the S-Type and much to learn before I assume all maintenance responsibility for it. Of course, I also want to drive it myself a bit since it is such a blast out there on the highways and byways....

Thanks - we'll see how it goes.... I've complained over the years at having to pay $4 to $5 a quart for Toyota Type T-IV transmission fluid at our nearest Toyota dealer. I had to pick myself up off the floor last night when I learned that the ZF transmission fluid required for this Jag runs about $65 a litre at the local Jaguar dealership. But it's a steal at the local Mercedes dealership for only $50 a litre. Maybe BMW sells it for even less. What a deal, huh? More like what a pain in the wallet.... The German 6-speed ZF transmission in this Jag is supposedly "sealed for life". It doesn't even have a dipstick to check the condition or amount of the fluid. I know that the 6-speed version ZF has a bulletproof reputation and at these prices, I surely hope it is indeed "drive it and forget about it"....

If you research transmission fluid flushing, you'll find far more negatives than positives regarding whether or not to do it. Transmissions of all makes and flavors have been ruined over the years by flushing them. Don't do it.... I drain-and-fill my wife's 2004 RX330 AWD transmission every 30,000 miles. I believe that's a happy medium that will work for the majority of 2004 RX owners. Knowing what I know about weak and poorly-designed RX300 transmissions (we had a 2000 RX300 AWD that failed under warranty at 48,000 miles), changing that fluid myself is a small price to pay if it will allow us to keep the vehicle for 130,000 to 150,000 miles. Although I don't believe that Toyota Type T-IV transmission fluid is any better than most other ATF fluids out there in the marketplace, I stick with it in case this 2004 unit fails and I have to do battle with Lexus again. My wife's 2004 RX is pushing 86,000 miles and the transmission has been problem-free other than the somewhat harsh shift points inherent in all of these RX transmissions.... Why take chances? Changing your ATF is grammar-school easy in this vehicle. Pick up 5 quarts of Toyota Type T-IV fluid at your nearest Toyota parts department and learn to do it yourself. You'll probably use 4.5 quarts total (some use a little more and some use a little less). There are descriptions all over the RX forum instructing you exactly how to do it. It's a 30-minute job with most of that time simply waiting for all of the old fluid to finally drain out of the transmission pan....

I bought our first-ever semi-Ford product ten days ago, a 2005 Jaguar S-Type that I virtually stole for what I call "Honda money". The engine is Ford (actually Lincoln LS), the transmission is German, the coachwork is British, and most of the electronics are Japanese. We got it as a sleek highway cruiser to help take some of the miles off of my wife's 2004 RX330 which is now pushing 86,000 miles. The Jag only had 18,000 miles on it and is in perfect condition with all service records and a squeaky-clean CarFax report. It was a 3-year corporate lease vehicle in Fort Lauderdale, obviously used by a guy who flies a lot more than he drives. Good technical-and-maintenance forums for Jaguar have been hard to find, but I finally stumbled across one today that should prove to be quite helpful. It is active and technical whereas most of the Jag forums I had found previously are nearly empty and tend more towards social gatherings and rallys.... So we'll see how this mish-mash conglomeration of parts and designs from all over the globe holds up in the years ahead. It actually has received very good reviews from Powers once Jaguar fixed their image problem on reliability and dumped the previous Ford transmission used in the early S-Types for the well-proven and bulletproof German ZF transmission starting with the 2003 model.... My wife took the Jag to Florida for her post-Christmas visit with her elderly parents. She says that it performed like a dream throughout the 12-hour trip down there and is expecting the same for her return trip tomorrow.... I'm hoping that this Jaguar with Ford bloodlines will indeed hold up needing nothing but routine maintenance over the years ahead and thereby allow us to keep both the RX330 and the S-Type for a long, long time. Considering I nearly stole the S-Type due to Jaguar's always-accelerated depreciation along with the dealership's desperation in this terrible economy, I really don't consider this car to be much of a gamble....

Yep, cracked exhaust manifolds are a common flaw in the early RX300 vehicles. I'd check for that first....

No, we will keep the RX330. The Jaguar will take some of those RX miles, however, and hopefully help to make both vehicles last a long, long time as a result. We have three big dogs so we must keep an SUV in the family. Right now, that's the RX even though it is more of a crackerbox than an SUV. But believe me, I will put my foot down if and when my wife decides she's going to start hauling dogs in the Jaguar.... By the way, the Jag is a blast to drive and if I lean the seat all the way back, I can create enough headroom to be comfortable in the car for hours at a time. The seats are extremely supportive and are probably the best seats we've ever had in any of our vehicles.... Some say that Jaguar sold its soul to Ford and that this S-Type is really just a re-skinned Lincoln LS. I truly don't care - it's a great car and I got it for about what I would pay to get a same-year, low-mileage Honda Accord. Granted, the Jag will cost more to maintain and insure than an Accord would, but that's exactly why I'm spending so much time now researching the car to the Nth degree so I can properly maintain it myself after the factory warranty expires in mid-July 2009 and save significant money by doing so....

It's a great time to name your price with ANY dealer. I did so last week at the local Jaguar dealership and picked up a 2005 S-Type with only 18,000 miles for $17,000, which was $5,000 less than they advertised after already dropping their prices from two weeks before. I researched the vehicle carefully, obtained its service history, and knew what details I could use to justify my low offer. I told the sales guy right up front that I was serious, that I wouldn't waste his time, that I would be writing a check for the full amount of my offer, and that I would make only one, best-and-final offer. He attempted to counter and get me to increase my offer but I refused. Within 15 minutes, I had my deal.... EVERY vehicle model has glitches and flaws. Do your research, learn what they are (or could be), and there's the ammunition you need to win your case. With this Jag, it's heavy on the front brake pads and rotors, and the ignition coil packs can sometimes go bad. I learned that from my research and hammered away on the sales guy. He quickly realized that I knew much more about the vehicle than he did, and his resistance level dropped accordingly. I got the only deal that was acceptable to me as a result.... No other customers were in the showroom for the initial three hours we were there to see, drive, and learn about the car. Their lead technician wasn't busy and spent almost an hour with me answering my questions about Jaguar reliability in general and the S-Type model specifically while my wife left to get some lunch. Desperation on the dealer's part during the slow days before Christmas certainly worked to my advantage, and since I've done this before, I knew that it would.... It's a great car, my wife drove it from North Carolina to Florida today to visit her elderly parents, and it handled the trip like the fantastic highway cruiser that it is. We couldn't be happier with the vehicle or the deal that I hammered out.... So if you need a car and are willing to do your homework, I haven't encountered a better time to go for the jugular than right now. Get out there and cut yourself a great deal....

Yep, always know your product before your order from Tire Rack. I like them, I've gotten fantastic deals from them, but I'll only buy tires from them that I already know are the correct application for the vehicle in question. So if you need to experiment, go to a local tire dealer. Lesson learned....

Extended warranties are available from multiple sources, and the Jaguar business manager took a shot at trying to sell me one before we left the dealership on Friday afternoon (along with special Jaguar windshield treatments, undercoating, window tinting, leather protectant, and I think there was even a mention of Jaguar port wine and spaghetti sauce). I politely declined. I never went to bed Thursday night because I spent all night doing my research on the car. What I've determined is if you have a 1999 to 2003 S-Type, you may want to consider an extended warranty primarily because of the Ford transmission in those vehicles. But Jaguar learned their lesson and beginning with the 2004 model year, they built the S-Type using the vaunted German ZF sealed 6-speed transmission that has been bulletproof for many years. It is so lifetime-guaranteed that it doesn't even have a dipstick to check the transmission fluid with. Just leave it alone and drive the car.... Thanks for your good wishes, guys, and we'll see how this experiment goes. As I said, I have a lot to learn from a Jaguar maintenance perspective, but I've found and posted on a Jaguar forum similar to this one and long-time Jag owners are coming out of the woodwork telling me that I've bought an essentially proven and trouble-free car as long as the routine maintenance is properly carried out. All of the so-called "experts" at cars.com and Powers say the same thing, along with the fact that this car is basically a steal for the money as long as you buy it at least two model years old.... I'll try to keep you posted for those who are interested.... And finally, if you want or need a car, I've never seen a better time to buy one since I started driving in 1969. When we went to look at and drive the car last Thursday afternoon, we could have taken our ball gloves and played long toss in the showroom for the entire three hours we were there. There wasn't a customer to be seen except for the two of us. Talk about being treated like a king and queen - I've never seen anything like it in my life....

I practically stole a 2005 Jaguar S-Type 3.0 with only 18,000 miles on it last Friday afternoon. We acquired it to offload some of the miles that my wife racks up on her 2004 RX330, now pushing 86,000 miles. Believe it or not this Jag gets excellent reviews, is a real highway cruiser, has tremendous power and quickness, drives like a dream, averages 24 to 26 mpg, and is one of the most beautiful sedans on the road. Jaguar's long history of quirky reliability scared me away until now but I did the research, learned that this is indeed a great car, and stole it from the local Jag dealer with the help of the terrible economy combined with zero traffic in the showroom because of the Christmas holidays. The factory warranty runs until mid-July 2009 so I'll have plenty of time to shake it down and get familiar with it by the time it's maintenance falls 100% to me. This is definitely a different animal from a care-and-feeding perspective and I definitely have a lot to learn, but what a fun car to drive and it's quite the headturner as well.... This Jag was a 36-month corporate lease vehicle in Fort Lauderdale. It obviously belonged to a high-ranking hotshot who flies a lot more often than he drives. The car is perfect and spotless with stellar maintenance records.... My wife has all but abandoned her RX330. It has sat in our driveway ever since she drove the Jag home on Friday. There's absolutely no comparison in terms of power, comfort, quietness, road manners, and style - the Jag wins hands down in all of those categories. Her attitude is "Lexus - what Lexus? I'll drive the Jag, thank you very much." We'll see where this story goes from here on out.... The high depreciation rates for Jaguar helped me out tremendously in this deal, along with the terrible economy. In a nutshell, I bought what was a $49,000 car new in 2005 for "Honda money" ($17,000). I'm happy with the deal. My wife is in love with the car. Time will tell whether I can step up to the plate from a DIY maintenance perspective. I'm counting on it, so we'll see how it goes....

I've been running Computer Associates' Internet Security Suite software for more than four years now and it has been a great product. The latest version is called "Internet Security Suite Plus 2009". It typically costs $59.99 a year but CA sent me an e-mail yesterday notifying me that it is now on sale for $19.99 a year so I jumped on that deal this morning. I cancelled my current subscription (I had renewed three weeks ago at $49.99 after negotiating them down to the price I paid last year), got a full refund on my Visa card, and immediately placed a new order at $19.99. Had the old package de-installed and the new package running on my desktop within an hour. I called CA first to see if they would just go ahead and refund me the $30.00 difference on my Visa card, but they said no, they can't do that. But they were perfectly willing to cancel my three-week-old subscription renewal, credit me with a full $49.99 refund on my Visa card, and then sell me the same software at $19.99 on a new order. About 45 minutes of work on my part to save $30.00. I felt it was worth it since I could continue to use my PC while it was going through the anti-virus/anti-spam/anti-spyware checks for the first time after package installation and PC rebooting.... You can reach Computer Associates toll-free at (877) 694-8509. "Internet Security Suite Plus 2009" includes a firewall, anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware, a website inspector, and parental controls. You can decide which of these modules to install and which to leave out during your installation process. We use all of these components except parental controls.... Again, this has been a great overall PC protection package that we've been using for more than four years now. It is not a resource hog, it is very intuitive and easy to learn and monitor, and the annual subscription cost hasn't been this low since we initially purchased it in 2004 for $20.00.... Check it out....

Keep in mind that hybrids are simply a stop-gap measure, not a permanent solution to our dependence on oil....

nc211, I haven't played any oil options since July. When my charts began to red-line at the highest risk levels in late July (essentially telling me that the American markets were approaching very dangerous territory as far as oil was concerned), I closed out all of my oil positions and still made relatively good money. Not nearly as good as back in April, May, and June, but I paid attention and quit playing oil when my charts warned me to. Glad I listened to them in this particular sector. I'm not nearly as stubborn (or foolish) as I used to be. Get burned big-time by thinking that you alone can beat the market and you quickly learn some humility along with taking your financial beating. I learned the hard way playing with some way too volatile and dangerous tech stocks a few years back - all options investors get brutally raped one way or another in their first year or two. But some learn these valuable lessons quicker than others....

Again, keep in mind WHY gas prices are down as much as they are. The world economy is continuing to spiral down, we're in the worst financial straights since the Great Depression, more than 500,000 American jobs disappeared last month with millions more set to go away over the next six months, and we're still stuck with an administration that belongs in prison.... Not really a reason to celebrate....

I wouldn't even consider changing the timing belt until 150,000 miles. The 1999 and 2000 RX300 models have numerous design flaws but the timing belt is not one of them. Those belts are overengineered and well-constructed. Let it run, keep your oil and filter changed, don't abuse the vehicle, and your timing belt will last for a long, long time....

If you're noticing increased tire noise at only 15,000 miles, there's a strong possibility that you're running a very mediocre tire in terms of lifespan and you simply don't realize it yet. However, there are some things you can do in an effort to quiet your tires down somewhat. If you're running them at perhaps 30 psi or so for a soft ride, bump them up to 32 or 33 psi and see if they calm down a bit. Your gas mileage should improve as well. You might also rotate the tires now to see if that makes a difference in what you are hearing. My previous experience tells me that if your tires have started to sing at just 15,000 miles, you didn't get nearly as much tire as your tire sales guy convinced you. I know that several members on this forum have reported their Toyo tires became "singers" as they neared or passed 30,000 miles but I don't recall anyone complaining at just 15,000 miles until now.... Adjust your pressures to see if that helps. If not, then try a rotation. As a last resort, you could get your wheels rebalanced. Good luck - tires are costly these days and everyone deserves to get what they pay for. The Alenzas certainly seem to be better than your Toyos as far as quietness and lifespan are concerned....

My wife is now pushing 44,000 miles on her stock 235/55/18 Alenzas mounted on her 2004 RX330 AWD. Their wet-weather performance remains outstanding - these tires refuse to hydroplane, always a good thing. Yes, they are slightly louder than they were at 5,000 miles, but that is what the CD player is for. ALL tires get somewhat louder as they age and wear, some moreso than others. It doesn't help the noise factor that I keep them at 36 to 37 psi yearround in order to maximize the treadlife and gas mileage. But that's okay - these tires are warranteed to 65,000 miles and I fully expect for her to get at least 60,000 miles and perhaps even go the distance to 65K. These Alenzas continue to hold their pressure well and they've never given me a minute's trouble. While a bit pricey, they are unquestionably great tires for a primarily highway-driven SUV. Just keep those pressures up and rotate them at every oil & filter change and they'll do you proud. If you decide to go Bridgestone, make certain it is the Alenza - no other Bridgestone SUV tire is worth your consideration much less your hard-earned money....

I agree that you should pay more attention to the treadwear ratings. Keep in mind that just about any tire you research and decide to add to your list will be infinitely better than your OEM Goodyears. For the past decade, most of the automakers around the world have been guilty of slapping inferior tires on their vehicles before rolling them into showrooms because of the vast cost savings they can obtain by purchasing lousy tires in huge quantities. That has long been one of my pet peeves - no one deserves to have to pay $45,000 (or even $25,000) for a new vehicle and then be stuck with sorry-assed tires right out of the gate.... Spend some time perusing the tirerack.com website as well as talking with the local tire professionals you trust. You'll quickly find a much better tire in all categories that are important to you in your particular application regardless of the higher load rating that it will invariably come with.... Let us know what you wind up with....

My statement is not an "insult", pal, it is merely an expressed opinion about the reasoning behind this particular subject involving someone I've known intimately for more than 30 years whom you've never even met. My wife knows that I sometimes perceive her reasoning as foolish. I in turn know that she sometimes perceives my reasoning as calculated and cold. We accept our differences, often celebrate them, and remain delighted to be very different personalities - it keeps life interesting.... Perhaps you fancy yourself as Dr. Phil Jr. but your attempts to shove your words into my mouth simply come across as yet another blunder on your part. My response above was to smooth1's direct question about my SUV preferences and why, which he found to be a reasonable and valid answer as he pointed out himself. Your peanut gallery PS comment added nothing to the mix. Perhaps there's a basement-filmed cable TV show out there that would pay to avail itself of your outstandingly acute personal relationship perceptions. Good luck finding it....

I said that her REASONING behind this particular decision was shallow and foolish. There's a big difference. I call 'em as I see 'em. She does the same. We don't always agree, and that's human nature. My point apparently flew right over your head, pal....

nc211, True, but they also produced the Ram, the Silverado, and the F-150 - great products all.... My Ram will be 10 years old come February 15th. This week I finally had to replace a non-routine maintenance, non-warranty part on it, for the first time ever. My water pump had been clattering for 10 days or so and I knew it was nearing its end-of-life. It finally started leaking on Tuesday so I went to NAPA, picked up a new one for $62, and spent nearly three hours taking the original one off and installing the new one. By far the toughest job I've had to do on this truck - the radiator fan shroud had to come off, then the new serpentine belt that I had just put on back in August, then the radiator fan itself, and then a few other various and sundry parts had to be moved out of the way to get to the water pump. The hoses were in great shape so I didn't replace any after a thorough inspection. The radiator interior (as much as I could see of it) looked great as well. So now my Ram is purring like a kitten again with a new water pump and fresh coolant.... Again, that is the first non-routine maintenance, non-warranty repair to this vehicle since it hit the ground running on 2/15/99. Very, very few owners can say that about ANY vehicle they've had for as long as this one. My point is that yes, the Big Three have certainly built their share of turkeys. But they've also built some great ones as well, and this Ram has certainly fit into that category for as long as I've owned it.... Oh, and for the record, I'm also against any Big Three bailout unless they are forced to spend 100% of their R&D funding on hydrogen cell vehicles (which I believe is the only way that we're going to finally put an end to our addiction to oil)....