boatguy

Just a maintenance update on my 06 since my last post on this thread a year ago. I just got mine back from having the Toyota dealer change my timing belt for the second time. This time did the water pump too, which they said was now weeping. No visible wear to the timing belt after 90K miles on it. Cost was $750. I'm now at 182K miles and have only changed the starting battery and tires in the last year. I have a wheel bearing beginning to whine. That maintenance is coming up and I expect it's a DIY project.

I have an '06 with 157k miles and the only non maintenance items have been the two cooling fans. No signs of battery issues. I'm in the warm coastal SC so no snow here, but the AWD works well in the sometimes heavy rains we get.

In my '06 I get a consistent 31.5 mpg around town w/o the AC on. On non Interstate highways I get 29, On the Interstate I get 27. That's mostly on mid range non ethanol fuel. I think I'm an average driver and I drive the speed limit + 5. The AC knocks in down about 3 MPH, but I think that's because it runs more when stopped.

I got an add on after market tuner form www.vaistech.com for my 06 RX400h. I don't have an xm button either on my ML system but it works through the AM button. You just keep pressing the AM button and it cycles through am, then three xm settings. The xm info displays on the ML display. It was less than $300 and I installed it myself. No problems and it works great. Don't know if it will work with your's but the web site should help you.

Thanks for all the feedback, fellas I guess i'll have them do it at my 110K service along with the plugs.

I have an LG Accolade and it works great!

Well, guys, I need your always sage advice. I went to my local Toyota dealer last week for my usual 5K service. This is my usual service place as Lexus is far away. While there, after reading about inverter troubles, I asked the service manager if he had ever replaced one or a battery. He said he has never seen an inverter go bad and only one battery. He said that was in a ’01 Prius with over 300K miles that was used as a taxi. This, of course made me feel a little better since I’m now at 106K. But (always one of those) he said I was due to have my coolant changed in both the engine and inverter. He said this would cost about $300. My questions are: Does the coolant really ever wear out? Mine is clean and bright, never leaks. Is $300 reasonable? Is this a DIY project? What do you think?

I think it just depends on the dealer. I had my timing belt replayed in my 2006 440h at my local Toyota dealer for $324, which included parts. He said they inspected the water pump and the pulleys and I didn't need them. He even gave me a free loaner car. We have no Lexus dealer within 50 miles north (Charleston) or south (Savannah) so he's trying to earn the Lexus trade. he's got mine.

I have a verizon LG phone and have had the same problem with the bluetooth in my RX. The problem seems to come about when you never turn the phone off. To cure it, just cycle the power on the phone. It seems to happen after a couple of weeks for me.

I have the tow package and tow my jetski and my 17' mako cc with no troubles at all. I think the car tows great.

My Toyota dealer did here in Beautiful downtown Beaufort, SC.

I had my belt done at 96K miles by my Toyota dealer. (Lexus dealer is too far away and expensive). The service manager dealt with me and tried to give Lexus service. I was very happy with it, by the way. Anyway, we talked about changing the water pump and he recommended against it on the first belt change. he said he expected it would go the the second, but he has never seen one fail so we didn't do it. We did do the brake fluid, however.

There's no sounds of ware. If you could see it, you might see a missing or warn tooth. I believe the rx 330 has an interference engine though, which means if the belt breaks, the way you'll know is it will suddenly stop working with a very expensive noise. I had mine changed at 96K at the Toyota dealer in town. (under $400)

The tuner's in the back behind the tool tray. It's easier to just look for the antenna. If it's factory, it's supposed to be mounted on the rear roof on the left side opposite the mast antenna. If the XM tuner is working, it should go to channel 1, which just runs ads for xm. Then you tune to channel 0 for the radio ID.

Does anyone know if one of those solar chargers plugged into one of the 12 volt outlets would charge the starter battery? I have one on my boat and it keeps the two batteries there topped up nicely. Of course I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some relay that prevented it from working. They're pretty inexpensive, I think mine only cost about $20.