hwilke01

Hi Jim- I've found http://www.Yelp.com is an excellent source of good reviewed businesses. Automotive or otherwise. Bummed to hear about your RX- good luck getting it fixed.

Congrats on your upcoming RX400h purchase. We just got one ourselves in July, and absolutely love it. Before you go through a local dealer, make sure you do a pretty good Internet search for other large metro areas near you. I live in Hawaii and there was only one used RX400h for sale on the island when we decided we were ready to purchase and it didn't have a nav system (which is a requirement for my wife). Knowing I was able to get it shipped, I started hunting in SoCal for inventory that met my qualifications. 2008 with low miles. (hard to do, but they are out there) We found at Mercedes Benz of Valencia (LA area) that had 28k miles on it and they would give us a break on the price equivalent to the price of shipping. After having a friend go look at it to make sure it was in decent shape, test drive it and make sure there were no obvious flaws, we pulled the trigger. Not having to sit in the negotiating room with the salesman running back and forth to the 'manager' was worth it's weight in gold. I literally sat at my desk while working and exchanged text messages with the sales rep until we decided on a price. We ended up getting a 2008 400h with 28k miles on it in July of 2011 for $30,050. We did pay $865 to ship to Hawaii, so total we paid $30, 915. They even delivered it to the port for us, and I'd imagine most dealers are familiar with the shipping process for over-the-road shipping. So don't get locked into your local inventory if it isn't exactly what you want. You can probably find exactly what you are looking for online and have it shipped to you. Internet sales are usually a little more agressive in their pricing too because they know if you are buying on the internet you are much savvier and less prone to accept 'an offer you can't refuse' in a dealership. I will never again set foot inside a dealers 'sales' office after the ease with which we were able to do it over the Internet. We did use USAA's car buying service to find it, so if your bank has some sort of service like that, tap into it- most will also give some sort of a guarantee as well. Good luck with your purchase!

With your happy disposition, I see you have invited many to respond to your request for help... ENJOY!!!! My apologies Madlor... you missed my point in that the first thing I read from you was that my car "SUCKS." Not really the type of info I was looking for in this forum. But thanks for your contribution. If I'd wanted a Benz or a Beamer or Acura or Mini... I would have bought one. I asked about a specific replacement for the Nav system and it doesn't look like too many people have experience with it. But I appreciate your commentary, albeit lacking. And by the way- I've taken delivery on my 400h since I first posed the question and I've not experienced the same level of performance that you describe in the bluetooth. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for our differing experiences though. We've decided against this aftermarket Nav system because the one in the '08 400h seems to work well for us. Thanks again regardless, and my apologies if I offended you Jim. Stay Frosty- Hal

Great MadloR... best information ever. Not. I just bought a Lexus... I'm not buying any another car. WTF Mate? Anyway- anyone that has any helpful information on the SL2i-UP and the iPhone 4 would be greatly appreciated. I understand your opinion Jim, but dude... solutions are much better received than problems. You can take that one to the bank. Thanks for the info katzjamr. Stay frosty, Hal

Tom- how did your comparison go? Did you find a difference in the higher/lower grades as far as fuel economy goes? Hal

What is an ISC reset?

Hello everyone- I've been lurking on this forum for a while and am very pleased with the information I've gotten from it. Thanks for all the generous contributions! I'm in the process of purchasing a 2008 RX400h, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with the SL2i-UP? This car is going to be for my wife, and I'd like to make the Nav System and Bluetooth phone system as simple as possible. A couple of useability questions for the initiated. 1. Does the native Bluetooth system work via speaker with the iPhone 4 without any additional modifications or boxes? 2. If we do get the SL2i-UP with the override module what are some limitations that we may experience? Ideally, I'd like for my wife to just be able to plug her phone in, make calls with it, listen to songs on it, and use the Nav system at the same time. Is this a reasonable expectation? I really appreciate the information in advance, and I look forward to interacting with you for questions and answers about our new 400h. Cheers