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just make sure they are tight, lol no, don't know, but I think the quickest way to get the answer would be to call a Lexus service shop and see what setting they use I found the answer. It's 76 ft/lbs. Just for future use, where did you find the answer?

These first few months when your becoming acquainted with the RX is the time Lexus expects you to keep track of these types of issues and bring them to the attention of your dealer. Some maybe adjustable, some may not. The point is if something is bothering you, ask your dealer if it is normal or not. If best, keep a list and when it is time for your 5,000 mile service covered under your warranty, go over your list at that time. Good Luck

Before I say, can I think about it? LOL

Glad to hear of your background Eric, we can use an expert on the site as we seem to have a shortage of audio resources from time to time. I am just an amateur, I use a well qualified shop here in town for all my needs. The sub-woofer in the Levinson system seems to be a continual source of trouble regardless of what model Lexus your talking about. It seems every week one member or another drives through here with a complaint about their sub rattling with some form of distortion or separation around the cone as has been written up before.I think your preventative maintenance idea is a good one. As to the location and size I don't know. Have you tried a search?

You won't believe this, but this just came up last night. Light up the cruise control stalk/control !!!!! Had to travel last night after dark and I don't have cause to use the cruise that often to have the control stalk memorized. Got on the Interstate in the dark and could not see other than by Braille how to find the blank control.

You might check with a service adviser at a Lexus dealer and see if there have been any service bulletins issued for the items you listed. Another idea is to do a search of the forum under your topics of interest.

How to take a good country and tear it apart; Take opinions and call them facts....spread them around. Use paranoia as an everyday part of your political platform. Never bother to check a rumor for fact, especially if it's about your opposing party. Always assume the worst in the other person. Believe everything you hear about everyone. If you start feeling paranoid or believing conspiracy theories, never have your own mind checked out by a professional. Again attack because they are not your views, or views that you agree with...This is not conspiracy, it seems to be standard operating practice in this administration, from throwing out the Black panthers case of itimidation at places of polling, to selling guns to the cartel and than not admitting you knew anything about it. Then trying to sell us on green jobs and taking a loss of over a half of a billion to a failing solor company, with kickbacks to your campaign fund. And more to come... Seems like Chicago style politics at its best. Wow!...I have no idea what your talking about now.

How to take a good country and tear it apart; Take opinions and call them facts....spread them around. Use paranoia as an everyday part of your political platform. Never bother to check a rumor for fact, especially if it's about your opposing party. Always assume the worst in the other person. Believe everything you hear about everyone. If you start feeling paranoid or believing conspiracy theories, never have your own mind checked out by a professional.

Interesting piece. His opinions are as polarizing as those of the "Leaders" he talks about. If in fact we are at that proverbial fork in the road waiting for our leaders to LEAD, it is going to take someone who can take their gaze off of their own navel and concentrate on somebody else for more than five seconds to do the leading. At this point, apparently the navel of those currently in power in both parties must be incredibly fascinating, for they all seem to be hypnotized by it's power. The power to think only of staying in power and convincing us that it is our fault if they don't. We have the government we deserve. We paid for it. We tolerate it. Were just to darn nice to ever do anything about it. If it was just another speech, was the topic bad? Can we put some people to work? Our do we always have to let every thing be blocked by big boys with small minds?

I thought that cars in the ES350 price range were usually considered to be "near luxury" or "entry level luxury" cars. Although the differences between the Lexus ES and the Toyota Camry have been increased somewhat over the past ten or so years, they still have much in common and the Camry certainly isn't considered to be a luxury car or even an entry level luxury car. Maybe the ES will be seen in a little different light after the larger Avalon based 2013 ES is introduced. It really gets down to what you think a luxury car is. To some, the ES is a wonderful luxury car. In some circles, the LS is not considered a luxury car. Just buy what you like and don't worry about labels. Besides, as I've said before, if a car doesn't have accommodations on the order of what is shown in the attached photos, then it is not a luxury car at all. I see you finished the modifications on your LS400 Jim!

Hi Eric, Tech information on the ML system is pretty hard to come by. I don't know for sure, but I imagine that is probably true for most of the other auto maker proprietary high end packages. Other than the speakers however, a ML is an ML regardless of what model car it is installed in. A LS460L may have a few more speakers than some other model. Replacing the speakers with other than the OEM type is usually discouraged unless you can find aftermarket ones that meet the same specific specs. as the OE. The reason is that the Levinson is designed with a matched crossover network also matched to the funky 8 ohm speakers. My own car audio shop refuses to work on them,(i.e. placing aftermarket speakers) because they can't make the new speaker match regardless of what they do. There is quite a bit of information on this site regarding people working on the ML system. I would suggest that you do a search and see if some of your questions might be answered there. Paul

Call me crazy, but when I spend $45,000 on something I usually look at it first before I sign the check. Did you see your car or drive it before you bought it? Every single dislike you list for your ES is something one would expect a potential buyer to weed out in the shopping process. All of your dislikes are legitimate, but are also personal preferences; things based on ones personal taste such as color, shape, sound level, etc. It just seems a waste that you would have purchased a car that you truly don't like when there are so many other choices out there.

As a point of clarification rob, how would you define what makes a luxury car versus a non-luxury car; the definition of the luxury car market segment. This is the point we reach with this discussion every time the Hyundai Genesis comes up. In the end, there is really no hard and fast rule as to what makes a car a luxury car. It is truly all perception. In my perception, a Hyundai would probably not be a luxury car. Market data shows segments, cells, trends, and share, but it has always been unable to track people's perceptions. What is the luxury market is truly in the eye of the beholder.

You're assigning your own bias into this data. Just because the luxury car segment is not growing at the same rate as the mid market segment doesn't mean that luxury car buyers are buying mid market cars instead of luxury cars. It means...that all segments are growing, its just mid market segments are growing more. It could mean many other things, that luxury car owners are keeping their cars longer, that there aren't as many new luxury car models as new mid market car models out in 2011 vs 2010 that would skew the data. For instance, Honda shows a fairly big decline in sales from 2010 to 2011, using your logic that means Honda buyers must be buying Mercedes...since their numbers are up. It doesn't mean that at all. You are also assuming that a carmaker would view flat sales from 2010 to 2011 as a bad thing. The data you are looking for is not included in this link you've shown us. Exactly. I have a suspicion that there may be a perceived problem with luxury car sales, but only on a regional or area by area basis, similar to housing. If people are seeing slow to no traffic in luxury car showrooms/lots, it is extremely scattered and is not being reported widely in the press. As we all know, Luxury autos are expensive, and right now money to lend is as cheap as it has been sense the 1950's. In that one respect, it is a strong market for luxury car sales. (I've noticed an absence of end of year close out promos this fall..might be a good sign that the manufacturers aren't needing to give away a lot to move the merchandise.)

A day inside your LFA having a full blown experience sure to be addictive. I like this version in black much better than the yellow model. http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/13/2012-lexus-lfa-review/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl10%7Csec3_lnk2%7C104087

LOL! That sucks! I bet it has some new streets in towns you don't live near on it. Call Lexus Customer Service and tell them about your experience. If you can't find the number, your dealer will know what the number is. I bet they help you out. You do realize that the lack of inclusion of your next door intersection is not controlled by Lexus. If you two find the Lexus navigation system so lacking why would you bother putting money in something you know to be so poor?

Hope you decide to take the plunge.

I agree. Luxury car sales are doing fine and Lexus specifically, has been able to sell all of the inventory it can produce after the quake. Remember June and July?..., when everyone was complaining about not having any new or pre-owned inventory because they were selling out of their in-house stock and not getting anything out of Japan? Just reading the post on various web-sites and reading the auto enthusiast press, it seems pretty obvious that people are eager for, and buying luxury cars at a pretty steady clip. For what ever reason, buyers are confident in their purchase regardless of the economy. Perhaps it is a way of saying I am living and working through hell, and I have survived so this is my family's reward.

Absolutely. Advancements in chemistry, physics, medicine, etc, are always possible. It is only a matter of expense, raw product, environmental impact, and potential profit. We would have been back to the moon by now if there was any money in it for someones monopoly.

The Hyundai line is not a luxury car line. The Lexus group of products is a luxury car line. All Lexus products are manufactured separately, designed specifically, and serviced solely as luxury automobiles. Out of their extensive line, Hyundai makes two cars that are luxury appointed cars. Even after nearly a century of name recognition, people still use the phrase "such and such is the Cadillac of ....". The sale of Cadillac cars isn't what it used to be but the image of luxury is still a part of the American lexicon. The Genesis is an excellent car and creates a competitive player for the ES price range. But Hyundai is going to have to do more than come out with a couple of cars that they market as luxury if they want to be a full fledged luxury car line. Almost every manufacturer has a upscale/premium car in their line. But just because Ford has Lincoln,(when is the last time you thought of Lexus, Mercedes, and Lincoln all in the same thought), doesn't mean the consumer views Ford as a luxury car company. Cadillac began and remains a luxury badge. Hyundai has begun as a economy brand and will have to invest heavily and for decades to establish itself as solely a luxury brand. I don't think that the ES350 is directly in danger from the Genesis as the Genesis buyer will be a buyer of practicality, value over luxury, and won't care about badge/snob appeal.

Based upon what you have said, the dealer is probably correct in saying that it needs a new amplifier. The sound system is made up of the "Head Unit", radio part so to speak, the "Amplifier", provides the power for the speakers and other components; and the "Signal Source's", such as Sat. radio, CD, mp3, etc. If it works when you "turn it on using the navigation", that really doesn't sound like much. The source of the sound signal can only come from the one place, and that is what ever your listening to at that moment...CD Ipod, radio,etc. In order to play any of those source devices the amplifier must be working at all times. It must be sending power to the output side of the system if you are to hear a note. The navigation has nothing to do with the radio or the amplifier or the input sources. It merely provides software to control the panels. So when you say it works using the Navigation but not the radio I get lost. I'm going to go by the assumption that IF the DEALER did a diagnostic, it determined that in fact the amp was at fault as is the case with so many Mark Levinson amplifiers around that vintage. It has nothing to do with how many miles your car has on it, (electronics don't wear down over miles driven like tires. They suffer more from heat and extreme heat such as summer parking lot's) To repair the amp I would suggest e-bay, or on this board there is a authorized Lexus audio vendor going by "dcfish". He has a large inventory of Lexus audio parts and you can feel free to PM him. I hope this helps answer some of your questions. Please write back and let us know how and if you were able to resolve the problem.

....."and everyone would likely adjust and end up liking it better, as I am sure was the case with most of the computer controlled features."............Yikes!!! Sounds like car design as practiced by the Republican Central Committee. LOL (Wrong forum I know for a political joke but I couldn't help it.)

Yes. LOL

Smart cars are a different thing. A Smart is like a Mini or a Fiat, it's not an economy car. It's a premium, European niche car. If you look at the demographics of who buys a Smart and who buys a Hyundai Elantra, they are *very* different. There is a sort of prestige to owning a Smart, it isn't something one buys because it's all they can afford...same as a Mini or Fiat. Jennifer Lopez drives a Fiat and a Smart...she doesn't drive an Elantra. Anyways, even if it were the same thing, the Smart is not the same brand as the S65. Do you think people would buy en masse a $200,000 Smart? That's a better analogy. Additionaly; ....my dealer sells MINI next to their Lexus, Jaguar, Range Rover, Volvo and Infiniti. I don't quite see the fit of the MINI, but it works for them.

What I find fascinating about this topic, is the almost impossible task Hyundai and Lexus have to do. That is to overcome their owners persistent doubts. This thread is comprised of people who are by any definition, committed, engaged, and enthused about their automobiles. Just the act of taking the step to join an owners group says they are a true enthusiast. Yet, as you read over the various post throughout the site from time to time there are owners who seem to have a love-hate relationship with Lexus or with their Lexus car. I have wondered from time to time why, especially in those instances when the owner is chronically negative, they continue to post on the board instead of trading in their car. Is the Lexus brand better than Hyundai, or is the Genesis better than the ES. I don't know, but in the case of some of you who are long time Lexus owners, what would be your motivation for leaving the Lexus brand. Specifically, if you are in a position of trading cars, you've owned Lexus before, what would be the top three reasons you would buy the Hyundai or a another brand?