RX in NC

RX330driver, No, I don't hate Bush. I just don't believe that it's ever a good idea to allow anyone with an IQ of 91 to be President of the United States. Apparently about two-thirds of the rest of the country now agrees with me.... I've been a registered Republican since coming of voting age in the early 1970s. But the Bush administration has me rethinking that position, I must admit....

The dealer finally called yesterday morning and notified us that my wife's RX330 was ready after all of the warranty work had been completed. She picked it up and brought it to me by mid-afternoon so I called Discount Tire and notified them that I was bringing it in to swap the Michelins for the Alenzas. I had to drive about 40 miles round-trip for the tire swap, some on freeway, some on rural roads, and some on city roads, plus it was raining. All in all, perfect conditions to compare the Michelins to the Alenzas. And remember, the Michelins are new just as the Alenzas are, so there's no brand-new tire being compared to an old worn-out tire in play in this equation. The bottom line is that for this particular vehicle, the Alenza is hands-down a better tire than the MXV4 S8. Far better wet traction, no drift, a stiffer sidewall meaning better cornering, and it tracked right on the money. It is an SUV tire, the MXV4 S8 is not. It carries a 65,000-mile treadwear warranty while the MXV4 S8 carries NO treadwear warranty. It has a new tread depth of 12/32 while the MXV4 S8 has a new tread depth of only 9/32. Now whether the Alenza will actually go 65,000 miles on this vehicle, I doubt it. But at 600/A/A, I'd be willing to wager that it will go at least 20,000 more miles than the MXV4 S8 will, and that's important to me. I'm not a fan of the Bridgestone OEM tires - for me they rank right down there with the Goodyear Wranglers as the lousiest tires I've ever owned on some of our SUVs. In fact, these Alenzas are probably the ONLY Bridgestones I would buy for our SUVs. If I could get the Firestone Destination LE tire to fit these 18-inch rims, I would buy those instead because they are essentially Firestone's version of the Alenza for about half the price at tirerack.com. We've had great success with the Destination LE on my wife's former 2000 RX300 (the tires had over 52,000 miles on them when we sold that vehicle) as well as our daughter's 2000 Grand Cherokee (the tires have over 25,000 miles and are going strong as ever). But unfortunately they're not made in 18-inch sizes. Maybe they will be by the next time my wife's RX330 needs tires. So for those of you who have an 18-inch SUV or truck application and are debating between the MXV4 S8 and the Alenza, spend some time doing your research. As I've pointed out before, Michelin's own website specifies that these tires are designed for sport sedans and coupes, not SUVs or trucks.... SW03ES, I've previously stated that my wife's RX330 is an improvement over her haunted RX300. But remember, that bar was set about as low as possible with all of the failures it suffered from. I'm hoping that the vehicle integrity proves to be better all the way around and I actually think that it will be. You're correct about our local dealership - they've taken care of our many issues after they realized that my research was accurate and valid and that I wasn't going away. I expect that same approach from them to continue with the RX330. If it does, there will be considerably fewer posts from me on this forum seeking advice and recommendations from those who've dealt with the same issues before....

Wise decision on your part....

You attempt to read far too much between the lines. "A meeting of the minds" means exactly that - I welcome a good face-to-face debate with someone who is equally informed on the topic. It is invigorating, refreshing, and a great way to expand one's knowledge base, pro or con. You may or may not be equally informed on the subject - at this point I have no way of knowing. As far as control issues are concerned, I have no interests or expectations in "controlling" who purchases what vehicles outside of my own household (and I even lost that latest battle recently, which I readily admit). I simply state my experiences and opinions based upon what my personal involvement has taught me. When folks ask for such, I believe that's pretty much what they expect. Anything else would be a falsehood and/or a disservice on my part. If you don't like it, then in your own words, "too bad"....

My wife drives the RX330 AWD (or will, when it's finally done with warranty fixes later on today we hope). I drive a 1999 Dodge Ram 5.9-litre V8 pickup that gives me the headroom, legroom, power, and hauling capacity I need for the things I like to do. I really love it. Other than simple routine maintenance and one set of new tires, all it's ever needed was a new catalytic converter which was covered under warranty back in August 2003. I've been a member of the dodgetrucks.org forum for years and probably don't have more than five posts there because this truck just doesn't break....

So let me get this straight.... You spent the cost of a Gold Membership to this site (was it fifty bucks perhaps) and then intentionally proceeded to get yourself banned so you can no longer utilize the resources you paid for? Be watching your mailbox over the next few weeks. You should be receiving your official membership card in the George W. Bush Circle of Stupidity Club....

I've seen some playful responses escalate to full-fledged flame wars before, but never quite like this! Please don't ban him, SW03ES - it's worth letting him simmer in his own juices long enough to see what he'll say next. Provided no one gets physically harmed, of course....

RX330driver, There are numerous ways to respond to your post. I've decided to be diplomatic about how to do so. Firstly, learn to read and understand other member's posts much more thoroughly before you blindly begin typing a response to them. If you had done so, it would have been blatently obvious to you that I didn't select or purchase this 2004 RX330. My wife did. It's her money. It's her vehicle. It's her choice. She's quite intelligent in a number of different disciplines, but when it comes to the reasons for choosing her primary vehicle, unfortunately her IQ drops right down there into the double-digit George W. Bush range. So I'm stuck having to maintain her poor choice as best I can. And this website is a great tool towards assisting me in that effort. Secondly, we both agree that spending $40,000 to $45,000 on an asset that immediately begins to suffer significant depreciation is financially inept. That rules out a new RX350 along with a new Acura MDX (which beats the RX350 hands down in my book). We had set a target expense level of around $30,000 which we both could live with regardless of whether her replacement vehicle was new or used. I could have negotiated a deal for a brand new RDX with all of the features she wanted for less than that. Since she chose the 2004 RX330 AWD instead, I negotiated the deal for that vehicle to fit our criteria and was obviously successful in doing so or else she wouldn't have purchased it. In our household, wants and needs are always assessed in terms of cost. If the cost is deemed to be out-of-scope compared to the benefit of the item wanted or needed, we don't purchase it. Simple economics. Is that a harsh path to take? Maybe. But by managing our household that way, we were debt-free in our mid-30s. We paid cash for the current home we live in and the 20 acres of mountain property that we'll eventually retire to. We'll pay cash to build that soaring mountain home when the time comes. All in all, a lifestyle well worth most of the sacrifices we've made over the years to obtain it. Thirdly, I want the Bridgestone Alenzas on this RX330 AWD because the Michelin MXV4 S8 tires that are currently on it are the wrong tire in the wrong application. Check the Michelin website - these tires are designed for sport sedans and coupes, not SUVs. The wrong tires on the wrong vehicle can lead to disaster in certain weather or traffic conditions. If my wife is involved in an accident or trying to deal with snowy road conditions, I want her equipped with the proper tires to do so. Discount Tire has a 30-day tire return policy standard-issue to any customer. I am simply taking advantage of it to acquire the tires that this particular vehicle needs. I consider that to be completely warranted purely from a safety standpoint and it would be foolish not to do so. I'm not surprised that you wouldn't think to do this. And no, you didn't come across as "a bit of an !Removed!". To me, you came across as uninformed, naive, and someone who didn't understand or comprehend the situation to its fullest extent. There's no need to apologize for that....

I second that opinion. Research the quality/reliability history of Range Rover/Land Rover before you get serious about one. They have a reputation for numerous quality issues and expensive repairs.

Are you certain that your new strut mount rubber bushings are the new-and-improved version? And are you certain that they are properly seated and installed? You seemed to have some trouble with the de-install process and I'm wondering if your install process was properly handled.

I think the RDX is a much better vehicle than the RX and wish that my wife had realized this sooner (she does now after owning her 2004 RX330 AWD for only two weeks with more than one week of that period spent in the shop for warranty work). The RDX has a lot of pluses in power, handling, and braking. My list of minuses for it included a requirement for Mobil 1, premium fuel, the OEM Michelins that will wear quickly and carry no treadwear warranty, and the fact that the turbo is a first from Acura so there is no history of whether extraordinary maintenance (and potentially high expense) will be required. Good luck with your decision, and let us know if you decide to spring for one....

The RX330s are notorious dash-rattlers, apparently much more so than the previous RX300s. My wife purchased a 2004 RX330 AWD two weeks ago today, and it's been in the shop since last Monday for several warranty items with an annoying dashboard rattle being one of them. So yes, as long as the vehicle is still under warranty, you can use it to attempt to get your rattle(s) resolved. Notice I say "attempt", because sometimes dashboard rattles are easily fixed and sometimes they come back to you from the shop with your original rattle fixed but a new rattle has popped up to take its place....

Well spoken, tmastres. None of us have to like each other or share the same belief systems, but we DO owe it to each other to "tell it like it is" and stick to the facts as we see them or experience them. The last thing I want to do is to mislead anyone with incorrect information. There are pros and cons to every situation - for me, our RX300 unfortunately wound up completely in the "con" dumpster. I realize that's not the case for many of you, and I'm happy that not every RX300 owner has had to go through what we did during the time this vehicle resided in our stable. Many of you forget that I've stated several times that from early 2005 to early 2007, once we got through most of the major failures, the vehicle essentially got my wife through her driving requirements with little more needed than routine maintenance. But getting it to that point was a world-class pain in the @ss all the way around, no question about that.... As for owning the "absolute worst RX300 ever produced", I don't think I can lay claim to that crown. My vote would go to LOC member "lenore" in Sacramento. Keep in mind that his wife's 1999 RX300 is on its THIRD transmission in what I believe is about 135,000 total vehicle miles, plus he paid out of his own pocket for at least one of those replacements. I think he's got me beat hands down....

Same transmission pan drain plug location and front differential drain plug location as the RX300. By pulling both plugs, expect to drain out a little over 4 quarts of Type T-IV transmission fluid. Be sure to wipe off the magnetic tip of the front differential drain plug.

Assuming you have a moonroof, the probable cause of your leak is that the rainwater drain lines running from the corners of your moonroof to your wheelwells are clogged with dirt and debris. This typically causes a water leak inside the cabin, although usually up front. But gravity and roof design can move water in many ways so I still believe that you should clear your moonroof drain lines before you do anything with the luggage rack. The best way to clear the lines is to blow them out with compressed air. Keep us posted on whether this resolves your problem.

As mentioned above, your problem is not the strut or the strut mount, it is the improperly-designed and poorly-made original front strut mount rubber bushings. There is a Technical Service Bulletin which essentially corrects this problem with better-designed and constructed rubber bushings. This issue pertains to 1999 and 2000 RX300s and has been covered many times on this forum. Do a search on "front strut mount rubber bushings" and you'll find everything you need to know on how to get this problem corrected. Those of us who have had this TSB applied to our vehicles have collectively reported that the front strut noise problems are solved after doing so.

Glad you got it resolved for such a small amount of money. Keep us posted on how this fix continues to hold up for you. This thread can help others save some considerable money as well. Nice job.

Since greggebhardt is from Florida (a very long way from Omaha, the home of Warren Buffett), the next time he gets an itch to purchase a vehicle I think that he should just drive to Key West and consult with JIMMY Buffett instead.... Does that work better for you? Since Jimmy will probably be hammered on margaritas, I'm sure he'll just tell you to go for it and buy yourself a seaplane while you're at it....

Richard Carver, People ask for assistance, experience, and opinions, and I have plenty to offer from personal experience. It is up to them whether to accept my advice or disregard it. Notice that I've also recently asked for assistance, experience, and opinions on the 2004 RX330 AWD that my wife purchased. And again, it is up to me to decide whether to accept the advice from others or disregard it. This has nothing to do with anger management. It has everything to do with my own experiences from having to maintain what I would consider to be a pretty lousy vehicle, one that unquestionably gave me the most problems of any vehicle I've ever owned. If you ever have occasion to come to North Carolina, let me know. I'd welcome the opportunity to sit down face-to-face with you and have a little meeting of the minds....

Accessing those three rear spark plugs is a killer and if you have huge hands like I do, you have no chance of getting back there and still having enough room to manipulate the socket wrench extensions. Before I changed our recently-sold RX300 plugs last October, I made sure my five-foot-two small-handed neighborhood buddy was standing by to do the dirty work on the three rear plugs. After about an hour, he got the old plugs out and the new plugs in. So be forewarned.... The front three plugs are cake. I had the old plugs out and the new plugs in inside ten minutes.

I'm certainly intelligent enough not to equate sound with speed. I'm talking about acceleration and quickness. That has nothing to do with sound. I don't drive with my ears - do you? Have you driven an RDX? Have you driven an RX400h? Until you drive both, you don't have full comprehension.

The service manager called yesterday afternoon to say that they have finally decided to order new driver and passenger front seats which won't arrive until next week. So she swapped out the IS250 loaner for an RX400h loaner yesterday afternoon. It's an interesting vehicle but not nearly as performance-oriented as the owners puff it up to be in the hybrid forums. The turbocharged Acura RDX will still run circles around it. But I'm going to have some fun with this thing over the weekend and find out just exactly what it will and will not do....

The QX4 is a tricked-out Nissan Pathfinder. Unlike the RX, the QX4 is built on a truck-based platform. It is more durable and better equipped for off-road and snow conditions than any RX would be. I have a friend who has owned a QX4 for six or seven years and really loves it.

Not even close. Spend some time reviewing the RX forums and you'll quickly discover a number of common flaws that plague the early RX300 series. They include: premature transmission failure in the all-wheel-drive models, a tendency for the exhaust manifold to crack, rear main oil seal failures, improperly designed strut mount rubber bushings that don't fit and wear quickly, and numerous oxygen sensor failures. I don't believe that any other Lexus can even come close to the LS400 for durability and lifespan. We recently replaced my wife's lousy 2000 RX300 AWD with a 2004 RX330 AWD, but it was her money and her decision, not mine. Acura, Subaru, and Jeep build far better SUVs and crossovers than the RX series. Do your research before you buy, and good luck to you in whatever you decide....

Great tag line, Suburbazine. Based on what we're going through right now with my wife's 2004 RX330 AWD at the dealership for what I thought would be pretty simple and straightforward warranty work, I can really relate....