RX in NC

Good points on the subprime credit crisis, nc211. And you're spot-on with your gas price predictions for the rest of 2008. But future "normal" gas prices are yet to be defined. One thing's for sure - anyone waiting for two bucks a gallon again will have to sit by the curb indefinitely.... I love the good ol' US of A as much as anyone and don't even want to leave it to travel in this day and age. I've been a registered Republican since becoming old enough to vote in 1972 and am as fiscally conservative as anyone you can find. But the Bush administration's incompetence and stupidity has set this country back decades from both an economic standpoint and a global policy standpoint. It will take years to recover regardless of who's in the White House come 2009. There is absolutely NOTHING unpatriotic about voicing considerable skepticism concerning this nation's leadership given what it has put us through over the past five years. Bush will take his place in history as the worst president in at least the past 100 years. As I said years ago, no one with a tested IQ of 91 should EVER be allowed to occupy the White House.... As far as recession is concerned, the data that I use on a daily basis in my options research has been telling me since late October that the majority of this country is already in the early stages of what could turn out to be a moderate one (as recessions go, anyway). So if you think you're not going to be affected by recession, check your fuel bill, your grocery bill, the fees and taxes that you pay on routine services such as telecom, cable, etc., and ask the homeowners in California and Florida if they don't think their home values have suffered yet.... Yep, we still live in a top-tier country. And yep, we're better off than most of the rest of the world. But our quality of life has slipped considerably, and the financial security of our children and grandchildren has been inexcusably diminished by the incompetent and irresponsible actions of the current administration. For the first time in history, young voters and first-time voters will decide a presidential election. And unfortunately for the Republican Party, the overwhelming anti-Bush sentiment that has swept this country over the past two years will prevent the Republican candidate from having any chance of winning regardless of how "fit" or "qualified" he is....

The RX series is the furthest thing on the road from a performance vehicle.... Fuggitaboutit....

If you're chasing this repair under your original warranty, Lexus will cover only the failed strut under warranty. But all previous responders to this thread are correct - struts should be replaced in pairs. Perhaps if you keep your hand on his throat and squeeze a bit harder, the service manager will agree to replace both of them. I believe that my local dealership would, but they know that I'd beat them like a rented mule if they tried to just do one first ....

JIBBBY, All kids test rules and boundaries. My daughter did, I did, so did you, and so do your brother's kids regardless of how perfect you believe they are. It's not about'"developing a more trusting and open relationship", it's about teaching the difference between right and wrong when kids screw up, and they all do. The problem is when kids screw up and they kill themselves or somebody else. There are no second chances in that situation. You don't get a teachable moment - you get funerals and devastated lives left behind.... Good for you in working with your brother's kids and the homeless kids you intervene with. But you're not a parent. Until you are, I don't believe you'll completely comprehend what I and other parents are saying in this particular thread....

I disagree with you, JIBBBY. Keeping kids (and innocent strangers) alive is more important than worrying about developing a rift between the parents and the child. Teenagers do not have the mental and emotional capacity to make the correct decisions 100% of the time in these matters. It all boils down to parents teaching kids respect and responsibility behind the wheel at all times or suffer the consequences. Then the parents have to prove that they mean what they say. My daughter's first car in 1991 was a little rice rocket, a 1986 Honda CRV. I taught her to drive, I was tough on her, but I managed to convince her that it was for her own good (and to help keep herself and her friends alive). She knew that if she received a speeding ticket or if word got back to me that she was driving irresponsibly, I would take her car away from her in a heartbeat and she would go back to riding the bus to and from high school and have no easy means of getting around town in her free time. She managed to avoid any tickets, but she and a friend took an unauthorized joyride to Virginia Beach one day and thought that they could get back in time to appear that they were just getting home from swim team practice. What she didn't count on was being rearended by some stupid college kid while cruising the strip at the beach. Not her fault, but the accident required a police report and about $1,500 worth of repair to her car which was covered by the insurance company of the stupid kid who rearended her. She knew she was in serious trouble with me as soon as she was hit. But she called and told me of the situation. After determining that all involved were not hurt, I spoke with the cop and he was convinced that she would be able to drive the car home (at least 180 miles) with no safety issues. She arrived home about 3 hours later, crying all the way (as did her friend). After having the car repaired, I took it away from her for ONE FULL YEAR. No excuses, no begging, no whining, no crying - she created the mess, so she had to deal with the consequences. To drive my point home even further, her car became my errandsmobile during that time. I drove it somewhere almost every day, and made sure that she would see me driving off in it whenever possible. As per our agreement, she still had to cover the maintenance and insurance costs for that car all the while, even though all she could do during that year was to ride in it occasionally. She never drove it, not even just to move it so I or her mother could get another vehicle out of the garage when needed. On the anniversary of her sneaky trip and accident, I gave her key back to her. All I said was, "Do we need to talk about what will happen if you break the rules again?" She just shook her head no because she knew that even the slightest slip-up would cause me to sell the car. I didn't care about losing money in the deal - all I cared about was her being completely responsible at all times with that vehicle. And she knew that without me saying anything else. She learned a very hard and costly lesson and never gave me another problem with that vehicle. She drove it another six years before we donated it to charity and moved her into my hand-me-down Acura Legend. The moral of this story is that when it comes to kids and cars, parents have to be tyrants. No exceptions, no excuses, no going back on tough decisions because you feel sorry for them. If they don't learn the valuable lessons they need to learn, you are eventually going to be dealing with tragedy - not just in your own family but in other families as well....

Improving our roads (and the rest of our infrastructure for that matter) depends first and foremost upon fiscal responsibility. We certainly don't have even a hint of that at the national level now and it will take years to overcome the budgetary disaster we've been forced into.... This nation needs a president who will put fiscal responsibility on top of the priority list and keep it there without caving in to political pressure, world events, personal stupidity, special interests, or even tougher economic times. In order to get there, we're all going to have to suffer more first in various ways depending upon where we live. Families have to find ways to function within their means as do cities, counties, and states. This country must be forced to do the same. We cannot continue to pile on this record deficit and expect to maintain our current lifestyles without suffering severe consequences and hardships for ourselves as well as our children.... We need a successful businessman in the White House to lead by example. It won't be quick, it won't be easy, it won't be pleasant, it won't be popular, but that is what it is going to take to clean up the disaster created during these past seven years....

Folks, it's going to require a businessman as president to begin the long process of rolling up the sleeves and getting to work restoring this country from the shambles that the Bush administration has left it in. Romney offers the best track record for having a chance to make that happen although he"ll have to continue to contend with the "discomfort factor" that his religion brings to the table. Huckabee is actually far more of a religious threat than Romney with the delusional Religious Right behind him, but most of this nation fortunately recognizes Huckabee for the kook that he is and he has no chance in this race. Obama is the media darling who will undoubtedly get the young voters to the polls, but I believe that he would prove to be a deer in the headlights if he winds up in the White House - not clueless and head-in-the-sand like Bush, but paralyzed from acting promptly and effectively for fear of making fatal mistakes. He's a likeable, intelligent guy, but he simply does not have the experience required for the job yet and there's no getting around that. Clinton will continue to be the most polarizing candidate and will have to gravitate into a more calm and businesslike persona in her efforts to eliminate Obama. Edwards is a smart, capable guy who unfortunately is viewed as last year's model and will fade away to perhaps once again become the nominee's VP choice. I think that Edwards would make a better president right now than either Obama or Clinton, but he will not get the opportunity to prove it. McCain is too old, too curmudgeonly, and too hawkish to get the job. Many think that he would be the best person to finally get us the hell out of Iraq, but keep in mind that the US of A has far more problems right now than just what's going on in the Middle East. We're heading into a recession, our housing and credit markets have years to go before they'll be even somewhat healthy again, and oil must eventually be solved or more and more of our middle class will continue to slip away and struggle. McCain is not a businessman and cannot be trusted to resolve our domestic problems regardless of the staff he might assemble.... This presidential election process will prove to be the most unusual and possibly the most frightening one that I've ever witnessed (I was born in 1953). All the candidates come with their own flavors of particularly heavy baggage, and that's a troubling thought. Romney may be the best choice to attempt to fix this very broken country of ours, but I truly believe that thanks to the incompetent Bush administration that has the vast majority of the citizens of our nation begging for "change" (whatever that means), the eventual Democratic nominee will win the election come November. It will not be a landslide due to the aforementioned baggage factor, but it will be by a comfortable margin that will emphatically slam the door on the Republicans as a final revolt against Bush and his lunacy. Not fair to either Romney or McCain, but that's life in the political arena in this day and age in the aftermath of a terribly flawed and failed presidency....

I've dropped more than $200 each on a number of very technical options market books over the years and would gladly pay four times that for what I've earned in options trading as a result of some of the techniques I've gleaned from them. I regularly consult one particular book that I purchased about four years ago for recognizing signals on when to get in and out of specific trades based on how the candlestick charts are setting up every 5 to 10 minutes during market hours. What I learned from this book alone netted me the disposable cash I used last January to write the check for my wife's current RX. A pretty damned good investment (the book, NOT the vehicle), I'd say.... Comprehensive, well-written financial books are worth whatever the market charges. Quit whinin' and get back to studyin'....

Carolina blue? You've always sounded like a great guy, nc211. Don't ruin the image by telling me you're a UNC grad.... My late father went to UNC and I was never quite able to forgive him for that. And my wife went to grad school at UNC (but readily admits that it didn't hold a candle to her undergrad days at N.C. State). Sure wish ol' Matt Doherty was still "coaching" the basketball team over there. We had a blast hammering that fool and really miss his incompetent hack jobs in Chapel Hill each season....

I'm pointing out here that I did not solely blame Bush for the coming recession in my post above. I simply commented on what a moron he is. There are multiple sources to blame for the mess we're in, from the current administration all the way on down to the stupid people willing to sign up for home loans that they neither understood nor could afford.... I hope that many more Americans will learn from the coming recession that "balancing the budget" applies to households just as much if not more than it does to any country at least two steps above a banana republic. If our nation would finally learn the lesson that each gainfully-employed household's responsibility is to ensure that it nets more than it spends each year and actually allocates at least 5% of net earnings to savings/investing, the good ol' US of A would be able to weather the storm much more comfortably whenever our country experiences the periodic pitfalls that occur in any free market economy. As pointed out by a previous poster, tax rebates are politically motivated and this one will stand up to the coming recession the same way as a grass hut on the beach will stand up to a 60-foot-high tsunami....

Sorry guys but it's too little too late, especially when one considers the depths of the national debt that this country has plundered its way into. We're in the opening salvos of a recession regardless of the spin you hear coming out of the White House. Our blundering buffoon of a president wouldn't know an economic recovery if one bit him in the !Removed!.... Save your breath all you conservatives out there. I've been a registered Republican since 1972 but after the catastrophe otherwise known as the Bush administration, I'm downright ashamed to admit it....

My wife had the same problem with her 2004 RX330 heated seats last winter. Turned out to be the seat heater elements embedded in the seat padding. They essentially "died out" and had to be replaced (under warranty). Ironically, she never had a problem with the seat heaters in her previous 2000 RX300 which she kept until almost 130,000 miles....

Keep in mind that the RX series is essentially a "pretend" SUV. There is nothing performance-oriented about it - period. Don't kid yourself otherwise. All things being equal, the slightly greater contact patch in the 18-inch tires will be negligible and will not even be a factor 99.9% of the time. What IS important will be your tire selection. There are a handful of great all-around tires out there, and there are also a lot of mediocre and just downright lousy tires as well. The Bridgestone Alenza is one of the best, but it is pricey. The Firestone Destination LE is almost as good, it's Firestone's version of the Alenza, and it is about half the price of the Alenza in most applications (check out TireRack.com). But the Destination LE is NOT available for 18-inch rims because Bridgestone/Firestone wants to sell the pricey Alenza to the larger-rim market since they know that most people will pay the price without complaining about it. The Destination LE is, however, available for 17-inch rims. I have the Alenzas on my wife's current 2004 RX330 AWD because it has 18-inch rims. I had the Destination LEs on her previous 2000 RX300 AWD with 16-inch rims. I would have purchased the Destination LEs for her current vehicle if they had been available - again, they rival the Alenzas in design and technology used at about half the price. Her Destination LEs had more than 53,000 miles on them when we sold that vehicle a year ago. The new owner put another set of Destination LEs on the vehicle and remains extremely pleased with them....

The Blue Ridge Parkway spanning the Appalachian Mountains across Virginia and North Carolina in late October when the leaves are at their peak. Gorgeous scenery combined with mountain twists and turns....

17-inch wheels will ride better and quieter, and your tires will cost far less at replacement time. My wife's former 2000 RX300 AWD had 16-inch wheels while her current 2004 RX330 AWD has 18-inch wheels. There's no question that I'd rather have 16-inch wheels on her current vehicle. Go with the 17-inch wheel choice - the vehicle will ride better and the tires will cost you much less in the long run....

I wouldn't miss Lexus one bit since I rarely drive my wife's RX330 crackerbox. She would probably be back in a Grand Cherokee Limited or perhaps a Mazda CX7 or Acura RDX. Me, I'll stay with my trusty 1999 Ram 5.9-litre V8 pick-up (now at just 49,800 miles) for as long as it remains pristine and trouble-free. That sucker just doesn't break - period. By far the easiest and most cost-effective vehicle to maintain that I've owned in more than 38 years of driving....

No Steve, just sit tight with your ES right now. You're well aware that the real estate market will continue to get worse before it gets better. If your ES is still safe and sound (which I'm sure it is), just stay with it buddy. Don't let these guys smoothtalk you into an unwise financial decision right now....

I'll tell you another good-looking little domestic sedan to check out if you're interested - the 2007/2008 Chrysler Sebring. My daughter and her husband found a very nice one with about 6,000 miles on it in early December for only $14,000 and decided to get it as her back-and-forth-to-work car. The 2.4-litre I-4 really delivers decent power and this little puppy is averaging over 30 mpg. I've spent just a few minutes under the hood thus far and I really like the layout. This thing is going to be a breeze to work on (which is rare to say about new vehicles these days). The engine is Japanese (Mitsubishi I think) with NGK plugs - first time I've encountered that in a Chrysler product. It's really a lot of car for the money....

I can speak from an ownership perspective for both the Bridgestone Alenza tire and the Firestone Destination LE tire. When my wife's previous 2000 RX300 AWD with standard 16-inch rims needed new tires about three years ago, I did a great deal of research looking for the best combination of an all-weather tire that would provide long mileage, great wet-weather grip, decent snow grip, a good ride, all for an acceptable price with a good warranty. After several days of research I settled on the Firestone Destination LE tire, ordered four of them from TireRack.com, and those tires really held up to everything that Firestone and most of the customers writing reviews on the TireRack website said they would be. The tires had about 53,000 miles on them when we sold the vehicle in late January 2007 and would have achieved their 60,000-mile warranty level had we kept the vehicle. They delivered superior wet performance, good snow performance, a good ride, and obviously a great treadlife for us. I found that by keeping them at 36 to 37 psi and rotating them every 6,000 to 7,500 miles they delivered their best all-around performance on that particular vehicle. I was so impressed by these tires that I put a set on my daughter's 2000 Grand Cherokee in late 2005 and that set has been every bit as good as the set we had on my wife's RX300. They're still going strong on her Grand Cherokee with about 36,000 miles on them now. My wife bought a 2004 RX330 AWD the same day we sold her 2000 RX300 AWD in late January 2007. The 2004 RX came with a brand-new set of Michelin MXV4 S8 tires which I knew little about. So I researched them, found out that they are designed for sedans, not SUVs or crossovers, don't have a treadwear warranty, and are not rated well for wet weather or snow. Since these Michelins had just been purchased at Discount Tire by the vehicle seller, I obtained the Discount Tire receipt as a condition of purchasing my wife's 2004 RX and called Discount Tire about swapping them out for a set of Bridgestone Alenzas (which they did for a final cost to me of about $47). This vehicle unfortunately has 18-inch rims and the Firestone Destination LE tire is not built in 18-inch applications. But the Alenza tire is, and the Alenza was the highest-rated SUV tire at TireRack.com at the time. But be forewarned - the Alenza is also very expensive. The Alenzas on my wife's 2004 RX now have about 22,000 miles on them and once again, they have been everything that Bridgestone and the customers writing reviews on the TireRack website said they would be. They have a 65,000-mile treadwear warranty, they stick like glue to the pavement in all sorts of weather conditions, they have never hydroplaned, and they provide a good ride. They are undoubtedly some of the best tires you could put on a truck or SUV, but man, they are costly. The Firestone Destination LE tire is essentially Firestone's version of its more upscale brother Bridgestone's Alenza tire. It uses the same design, technology, and compounds, it is warranteed for almost as long, and it is typically about half the price of the Alenza depending upon the application you need. If the Destination LE was available in the 18-inch size that my wife's 2004 RX requires, she would still be riding around on a set of Destination LE tires today. The Destination LE tire's treadwear warranty, performance, wet-weather handling, and ride quality are all so close to the Alenzas that it is truly wasteful to spend for a set of Alenza tires if your rims can be fitted with Destination LE tires. So if your current RX300 is fitted with 16-inch or 17-inch rims, go with a set of the Firestone Destination LE tires. Keep them inflated and rotated, keep your front end aligned, and don't pretend that your RX300 is a sports car (you already know good and well that it isn't), and you can't go wrong with your tire choice....

I believe that this is the radiator replacement recall for all 2004 RX330 vehicles that were built in Canada. The Canadian-built radiators have shown a tendency to leak after a couple of years. The Japanese-built 2004 RX330 vehicles apparently do not suffer from this problem and are therefore immune to this recall (so far).... If I were you, I'd take advantage of this recall and get me a new radiator ASAP....

There's no question that the Bridgestone Alenza is head-and-shoulders better in an SUV or truck application compared to the Michelin MXV4 S8. The Alenza has 25% more tread depth when new, much better wet grip, a 65,000-mile treadwear warranty, and it's less expensive. Absolutely no reason to buy the Michelins in this application.... But be aware that the Alenza is the ONLY Bridgestone Dueler series tire that is worth purchasing for your SUV. The other non-Alenza Bridgestone Duelers range from barely average to truly lousy. I know - I had them on my wife's previous 2000 RX300 AWD and even with proper rotation and inflation, they never made it to 45,000 miles and got pretty untrustworthy on wet pavement by 40,000 miles. Of course, they didn't have a treadwear warranty, either. Bridgestone knew they were marginal tires with lousy light-snow grip so the warranty was very weak.... Bottom line - the Alenza is the ONLY Bridgestone SUV tire to consider if you're going to go with the Bridgestone brand. The Firestone Destination LE tire is almost as good as the Alenza at about half the cost if you have 16-inch or 17-inch rims. But if you have 18-inch rims, you won't be able to find a Destination LE tire to fit them. I've had two sets of Destination LE tires (one set on a 2000 RX300 and one set on a 2000 Grand Cherokee, both with 16-inch rims) and both of those sets did or will do more than 50,000 miles while remaining safe in wet weather or light snow before needing to be replaced....

I've purposely stayed out of this thread until now because I couldn't care less about teenybopper soap operas - I'm way too old for that.... But since you're asking for advice from your far-more-experienced elders, Dens, here's mine to you: You're 18, fer cryin' out loud - a mere babe in the woods.... Play the entire field, man.... Don't get serious about ANYBODY, regardless of their age.... From a snatch-chasin' perspective, you are in the prime years of your life, man.... SO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT !! Get out there and run with the big dogs and don't look back - before you know it and probably before you're even ready for it, you'll find "the" girl and settle down with her but you are FAR from being ready to even think about that. So go chase some tail and enjoy it but always remember - be careful out there.... Take it from a guy who really misses those days and who was always fortunate enough to realize that your late teens/early twenties are NOT to be wasted on just one "serious girlfriend". You'll have plenty of time for that serious commitment stuff later on.... Okay, I'm done now - back to vehicle threads....

The only reason we've had two RX vehicles (a 2000 RX300 AWD and a 2004 RX330 AWD) in our family is because it is what my wife has wanted to drive as her primary vehicle. Even though I had numerous objections to the RX series, it's her money and her choice so I lost the argument both times. The 2000 RX300 was truly a dog, the worst vehicle I've ever owned in more than 38 years of driving. It suffered from all of the well-known early RX maladies including transmission failure at 48,000 miles even though I have always meticulously maintained all of our vehicles. We kept it until late January 2007 (about 130,000 miles) and finally unloaded it after my wife found her current RX330. The only positive experience that I had with it is that I was always successful in requiring our local Lexus dealership to repair whatever problems arose at no cost to me, both during the warranty period and afterwards. They recognized that this vehicle was well-kept and they stepped up to the plate upon every failure because they realized that I wasn't going to take no for an answer (and they quickly learned that I always did extensive due diligence on the problem before I contacted them to talk about it and get it resolved). This vehicle required more than $9,000 worth of repairs due to known component failures during the four years that we owned it. I'm certainly glad that I never had to pay for any of these repairs myself, otherwise we would have dumped the vehicle long before we did.... The 2004 RX330 is a better-engineered vehicle that seems to have the transmission issue resolved, but the drive-by-wire throttle hesitation can be a real drawback if you are accustomed to powerful engines and drivetrains as well as immediate acceleration response (as I am). It is not an issue with my wife since she has probably never driven over 75 mph in her life and doesn't attempt to treat this RX as a performance vehicle (which it is very far from being, believe me). The biggest complaint she has is due to the dashboard squeaks and rattles that seem to come standard in the RX330 series. She's had her vehicle in the Lexus shop on multiple occasions under warranty in various attempts for them to find and fix these annoying rattles. While she believes they've gradually been reduced, they are never quite eliminated. The vehicle goes into the Lexus shop tomorrow to have the radiator replaced under a Lexus recall, and she'll ask them to once again take a shot at reducing the dashboard rattles. I believe this will be the fourth or fifth attempt, and neither of us are convinced that the Lexus techs can ever get this issue completely and permanently resolved.... You need to develop a list of requirements that you expect your new SUV to have. If that list includes true all-wheel-drive that provides top performance and safety even in heavy snow, then Jeep and Subaru should be at the top of your list. If you're looking for pure power and torque, a Porsche Cayenne may lead your list but a Grand Cherokee Limited with the hemi engine will provide you with similar performance at half the cost and will also be far more reliable from a maintenance perspective. Of course, it will also consume gasoline like a blue whale consumes krill. The Infiniti FX series is also a great pick in the power and performance category. If I ever return to an SUV as my primary vehicle (which is unlikely since I'm a pick-up guy through-and-through), I would take a hard look at the FX45 (but at 6'7", I may not be able to get the legroom and headroom I need in it).... Notice that I never recommended an RX in any of the criteria above. That's because after owning and maintaining two of them, I know that there are a number of other SUVs out there that deliver far more bang-for-the-buck than any RX can, especially if you want true all-wheel-drive. The RX AWD system is so front-biased that it really is a misnomer to call it all-wheel-drive. My wife BELIEVES she's significantly safer in her AWD RX330 as opposed to just FWD, but I know that in the RX series' case, it's just a marketing gimmick.... In conclusion, I believe that even though the RX series has been improved somewhat since its introduction into the U.S. during the 1999 model year, I still find it to be overpriced and overrated in just about any way you choose to look at it.... Good luck with your ongoing research. I hope you find the vehicle that best suits your needs....

Get yourself a nice charcoal grey set of rubber mats for the winter months. They hold up far better and longer than carpet mats ever can, and they are a breeze to clean - simply hose them down and scrub them with a brush periodically then dry them off with an old towel and pop them back into the vehicle. You'll wonder why you ever fooled with carpet mats during the tough winter months. I like them so much that I keep them in my primary vehicle all year round. I believe mine came from my local NAPA store back in December 2000, so they are 7 years old and still look like new.... Check the Sunday newspaper inserts for higher-end rubber mat sales at places like NAPA, AutoZone, etc. I guarantee you'll be far happier with them than continuing to try to keep any carpet mats looking clean and new....

You may not need to replace your struts and strut mounts. What you DO need to replace is your front strut mount rubber bushings. The original bushings were improperly designed and poorly made. As a result, many RX300 owners began to hear squeaks and rattles and experience a poorer quality ride after just a couple of years. Lexus looked at the issue, recognized that their engineers had made mistakes, and redesigned the rubber bushings to fit better. There is a Technical Service Bulletin on this issue. Ask your Lexus service manager about it and use your VIN number to find out if the TSB has been applied to your particular vehicle yet. Before you go to the expense of replacing your struts, have the TSB done to your vehicle first and then see if your problems are rectified. I had the TSB done to my wife's previous 2000 RX300 and it made a big difference, both in quieting the squeaking and improving the ride and handling....