mikey00

Gotta keep in mind though at Lexus you're paying for things they don't do at Toyota:

1. A loaner car, a rental comparable to an RX330 would cost you probably $60 a day.

2. Free wash

3. Upgraded waiting area with refreshments and satellite TV

4. Higher paid service techs with more seniority and experience in customer service

5. Pickup and dropoff. Lexus dealers will come get your car and bring you a loaner, then bring it back when they're done.

It doesn't totally excuse the cost, but you've got to understand that you're not comparing equal service to equal service. Most Lexus owners are content to pay the Lexus service prices so they're not being underhanded. If they FORCED you to use Lexus that would be one thing, but they don't and Lexus service costs are comparable to other luxury brands.

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I don't need a loaner when the service takes 30 minutes tops. The free wash in reality is quite expensive. The waiting area in my local lube shop has coffee, cable TV, mags and again it's less than 30 minutes. Same flunkys changing oil as local shop. When local dealer ran an ad for a service advisor, they were looking for an aggressive sales person, not a tech. So much for relationship.

My wife's 2000 RX300 [ 49,000 miles ] has a slight gas gas knock under acceleration.  Dealer says it's no problem, maybe bad gas.  We always use 93 octane, as recommended by dealer.  Since taking it to the dealer for a rear main oil seal fix about a month ago we've tried BP, Citgo, and Shell.  It still has a periodic gas knock.  Is this a problem with the RX300 or is it something that the dealer can solve?  Also, is 93 octane really necessary for the RX300?  Any advise on this would really be appreciated.  Thanks.

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Both my former 2000 RX and current 2001 RX both run fine on regular 87 octane. Only time I didn't use 87 was for a small trial period. If you find your RX doesn't run as well on 87 then you have some kind of problem that the higher octane is masking. Get it fixed.

I purchased the 1999 RX300 Maintenance Manual from ebay a year or so ago for about $30.  It did not have a table of contents, just a bunch of PDF files on a CD.  I created a 34MB PDF file out of the content.  It's over 1910 pages long.  If the admins of this site would like a copy to post, I can set it up for you to download temporarily.

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I am sure the official answer will be that this must be protected material at some level and can't be shared on a site like this. But if you can set it up for download and supply the link I would greatly appreciate it. (mnovak99@patmedia.net).

Thanks for the advice on PIAA blade refills.  Perhaps they're worth checking into although they sound a bit pricey.  What stores carry this brand?  I'm not interested in ordering them online with the difficulty I've had in properly fitting replacement blades on my wife's RX.

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To find a local dealer go to PIAA.com, then wipers, then dealers. Most dealers only carry the complete blade, not just refills. Good luck.

Lexus seems to have invented a new wiper blade width for this particular vehicle.  At my local NAPA, Pep Boys, AutoZone, etc., the "standard" width refill blade is too wide and the "narrow" width refill blade is too narrow to fit into the channels of my existing wiper blade holders, particularly the driver's side.  Even my local Toyota dealership parts guy acknowledges that their Toyota refills don't fit properly when installed into the channels of a Lexus wiper blade holder.

Our driver's side takes a 24-inch refill and our passenger's side takes a 21-inch refill.  I'll be damned if I'm going to pay my local Lexus parts department thirty dollars or so for a set of blade refills when I should be able to buy two blade refills at any auto parts store for about eight bucks for the pair.  I want just the rubber blade refills, not the entire blade holder assembly.

In 35 years of driving I've never owned a vehicle, domestic or foreign, that didn't use either the "standard" or "narrow" blade refills that you can purchase at any auto parts store.  Even my quirky 1986 Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio used 18-inch "narrow" refills right off the shelf at NAPA.

Has anyone come across some refill wiper blades that fit other than going to Lexus and being royally ripped off again?  This is ridiculous.  Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

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Get the PIAA blade refills. Should be just a little over $10 each. The nice thing is they are the best wipers going and they fit the RX blades. Passenger side is 21" and has a claw width of 6mm. Driver side is 24" and has a claw width of 8mm.