lenore

First after reading you blog, your insurance company sucks....Two Lexus sucks, I was told over the last nine years of owning my Lexus the reason the parts were so expensive was to support the customer, even if it meant expediating the delivery of parts. Sad that Lexus could not at least rebuild the darn engine and give you the full warranty on the vehicle. They cant put two and two together to provide the necessary customer satisfaction. Dont feel alone though, Seems none of the Auto manufacturors are providing We Americans with satisfaction. Some poor Ford guy on one of my other sites, waited for over 30 days with a blown engine on a car with less than 500 miles on it. Lexus may be a great auto, but the meatheads at these dealerships are not Japanese and dont adhere to the same standards as what they demand of the engineering and building of the vehicle. File a complaint with your state insurance commissioner and also with any state automotive bureau agencies. The better business bureau is useless as it is funded by the businesses that they serve. Remember, too that customer satisfaction is great, but one bad complaining customer will remove a lot of business when that customer is not treated well. Good luck,

iF YOU had it serviced at Lexus all along, tell the dealer that you expect a good faith replacement of the transmission. Dont ask, tell them what you expect. Be firm but calm. See what they do.... Check other transmission shops other than AAMco. Should be around $3000 tops. When you get tranny done have them replace the Rear main seal, It only cost about $20 and it will save you $1500 later on, after all the transmission will be off and make it accessable. The complaint can be filed with the National Highway Safety Board, you will need the Vin # of the vehicle. Good luck and sorry about your failure, join the ranks of failures is a sad state of affairs for our $40K plus vehicles with the Toyota reliability.

I have had both tires on my RX300, The LTX are great tires, wear forever, but get noisy when the mileage put on them. I bought Cross Terrains next (Also Michelin) and they too are wearing very well (Ihave 70k miles and they look great) and they are much quieter than the LTX. I would personally go with the Cross terrain michelins again. Great tire and love the ride.

Buy it, it is a nice car, get the tranny fluid changed once a year or every 15k miles, and if it breaks get it repaired at a good independent transmission shop. The Car is a great cruiser, and you will love it.

I am not sure about the seat warmer, that is weird, but as for wiper blades buy some cheap ones ANNCO from Walmart, the whole assembly is less than $5, Then replace them once a year, rubber doesnt like the elements, it is just like changing the oil, you have to do it. But $10 per year is not bad.

You will love it if it is along the coast, especially near Fort Stevens. By the way My old, old days, we called our British cars by the opposite s*x, because they were so tempermental. Sorry, that is just a guy thing and the British Cars were the original fix or repair daily rides.

It is called a IACV, do a search. There is a great writeup and pictures.

It may just need cleaning. The throttle plate in the intake manifold is probably carboned up and making the sensor stick. Taking the air box off and cleaning with CRC throttle plate cleaner may resolve it. Sorry I am having a senior moment and cant remember the name of that darn thing. I know it has been covered in these forums.... Help somebody.

It seemed to run better with the coil unplugged, but based on mileage I couldn't tell if the injector shut down as I only drove briefly. The car didn't seem to suffer as severe a hesitation with the coil unplugged, do I'm thinking that it did shut down the injector. It's all a moot point now since the coil has been replaced. It failed at 120K. Steve Maybe the coil pack was shorting causing a load on the ecu. Unplugging it removed the shorted load....

Go to an uphostery shop and see what they can do, $600 sounds like a big rip to me.

Thank you, by the way I thought there were more, maybe under different model years......

I replaced the left drive axle, with aftermarket EMPI brand, was only $95 for the part and I installed it, piece of cake. Dont get the axle repaired, just replace it, cost is nothing. For a mechanic to do it (independent) should be reasonable. Took me 2hours time and I am not a mechanic by trade. I agree though have the ball joints checked, but usually clicking is a axle shaft.

read under the RX300 forums about tranny problems. You will be enlightened. good luck

My transmission failed at 96K without warning on the highway last fall. Luckily no one got hurt and the car was fixed at a transmission shop. Cost of rebuilt and labor was $3800. The car was purchased used at 35K miles. It had drain and fill at 35K, 60K and 89K. Of course Lexus wouldn't help. After doing some research I realize that 15K drain and refill may not be sufficient since only at most 4 quarts out of 9 quarts of transmission fluid can be exchanged. Rather than flushing or drop the pan, I think I might go with 5K drain and refill to keep the fluid fresh. I am also going to install transmission in line filter. Has anyone used Lubegard Red for rebuilt transmission additive? There is a lot of discussion on BITOG and seems to work well. I still think the aux tranny cooler is in a poor location with minimal if any air flow. That is my next project. Sorry about your loss of tranny. I have not heard anything about lubegard Red, but keep us posted...

The center top brake light is probably intermitantly making contact, Replace the lamp and your problem will go away.

I just got one on EBay a Garmin C340, fantastic, has more addresses than my son's new Lexus ES350. His lexus unit didnt have his address or street. my garmin did. and the C340 speaks the street names to you, not just turn right at next street. Good luck in your search and dont forget Ebay, I got mine brand new for $250 and that included shipping. Garmin also has free updates on their software maps and versions.... sorry grumpa mine does not have bluetooth or voice commands though, but do look on ebay...

Blu stu, I am shocked, thank you for your support for the first time....As I have told you before mine was maintained, and it died. Now I have changed the fluid 7 times in 38k miles. It is a problem in hot, city commute areas. Lexus needs to step up and for gods sake move the stupid tranny cooler to the front of the radiator instead of in the wheel well, that is my next project. Just need some time.... And yes the Lexus dealerships will not put it in writing but 15 k is the recommendation now for fluid change. No other Toyota has that requirement. Happy Fourth of july and God Bless America...

change fluid, change fluid, change fluid, how sad, by the way just in the last two days I have been contacted by 3 more elated customers after they have experienced the dreaded failure. two of them were 2001 RX's .....not good, I have now over thirty registered failures since I have been accepting Emails. Lexus, I do not cry wolf, I just cry that your reliability is not what it should be and your lack of support in fixing the problem sucks....so there be it, wish me luck I am taking off to yonder states in my Lexus where my failure occured....... Hope it doesnt happen again. Good god I changed the fluid 7 times in the last 38k miles. Is that enough for you folks that dont think it was maintained? Happy Fourth of July and the failure of the illegal immigration Bill....Yea, Americans have spoken....

Go to a Autozone or other parts store that will read the codes for free. Tell us what codes are stored in the ECU. Then maybe we can help you.

Yes those warranties are negoitable, good luck.

Yes those warranties are negoitable, good luck.

The pads always rub, but the caliper locating pins may need lubing, The caliper may be binding on the pin. Take the caliper mounting pins out and lube with a good quality lithium based grease, make sure there are no burrs on the pins or heavy wear marks in the steel pin. They can be bought and replaced. There is a rubber boot over the pin becareful with the boot. it can be slid off and the pin can be cleaned up with some 400 grit sandpaper and then cleaned and lubed. The caliper basically floats on these pins and must not bind. Also remember to break in the new pads, some stops at 20 mph, 30mph, and then just drive. good luck

Take it to a Autozone or parts store that will give you the codes for free. Toyota or and independent garage that services toyotas would give you a lot cheaper service. The timing belt and water pump for $500.... O2 sensors are a problem that needs to be diagnosed without replacing them all. Sometimes a leaking gas cap can cause codes, or a leaking gasket in the exhaust system. usually at the joints between the exhaust pipe before the rear catylitic converter. Lexus is raping you big time. The poor running could have been nothing more than a dirty Maf or IAC sensor....My Lexus has 138k miles and has the original o2 sensors and the plugs were changed at 125k miles. I know your winters are much harsher than my california weather. The other thing is you could have a cracked exhaust manifold on the area near the o2 sensor on the front of the engine. Good luck, but get those codes and give us the results.

You may have sludge in the engine and the synthetic is leaking, there are several options, go back to dino oil, try Auto-RX in the oil and follow their procedure, or pursue the possibility of sludge with Lexus, there is a 8 year 120 day warranty on that engine, unlimited miles.