tmastres

Its shocking that Lexus would revert to plastic for ANY model considering the cost of even the lowest priced Lexus. I have a friend who owns an Acura MDX and I constantly chide him on the "plastic" trim on that car. On his, the burl doesnt even appear real for a second from normal viewing distance. I guess its just my perception, but if you're too cheap to put in real wood then make the plastic look like stylish plastic insead of trying to emulate a natural material. To me nothing says "cheap" more than something fake. What next, fake leather seats? For God's sake man its a Lexus not a Pinto! Ok end of Rant.

I didnt want to hijack a thread on another topic that went in the fake wood/real wood direction so I'll start the debate again in this new topic. I don't know anout the 330 but the wood in the 300's is REAL! Its a wafer thin veneer but its real wood ( Unlike some MDX models:P ). How do I know this? We'll a few years ago I happened to be in a Lexus service bay and I was speakig with a mechanic/tech (I honestly don't remember what we were talking about) but for whatever reason we stepped over to an RX 300 that had just been bought by the dealership at auction and was being "reconditioned" for resale. What the techs on that car were working on was replacing the wood on the dash/console because the previous owners had trashed it somehow. They had several large pieces of it pulled off and you could clearly see from the backside that it was real wood but extremely thin . Anyhow just in case anyone cares.

I use McGuires Gold Class paste wax about once every 3-4 months. I remember when I got the Lexus one of the manuals said it should be waxed "once a month" to preserve the finish. Yikes. Luckily my RX gets to live in a parking garage durig the day rather than sitting in the blazing sun so wax jobs last a bit longer.

If it were a CCRKBA. GOA or ALARM sticker, I'd say you still had a chance but, NRA? Nope, too late. Might as well just add 33 inch mudders and 12 inch lift kit. Oh dont forget to lash a dead deer to the hood. :D And yes yes I know I've hi-jacked this thread so I'll shamefully accede and move on.

Its true , once something has failed you its going to be tainted permanently in your mind. As for being a "girlie" car I'd say the RX is pretty neutral. It certainly isn't particularly "macho" but then again, the average Lexus owner is a bit more sophisticated than the average Pick-Up driver.

With the fear of jinxing myself I'd say I'm falling into this line of thinking as well. I certainly agree that changing the fluid often "seems" like a logical thing to do but I've only changed mine once in 90k miles. In fact I just had the 90k service and wanted to include it in that service but my Mech said the fluid still looked pretty good and suggested waiting a few more months (for when I'm going to be in again for some other work). Currently my transmission shifts fine and feels fine in all aspects of operation. I believe someone on this list is actually on their third transmission in under 100k. Well isnt that a suggestion that maybe its not the frequency of fluid changes thats the problem? I really doubt most RX owners deviate from the service schedule (which we all know says inspect not change trans fluid) and we also know that several people on the list have chaned the fluid more frequently only to have their trannys fail anyway. I realize this isn't an "answer" to the tranny failure question and I do respect those who believe its the fluid, I'm just not so sure of that myself.

To be fair, Rx300s are much more problematic to work on and diagnose than any older muscle-car. Frankly most of the time there isnt anyone on this board that actually "knows" what the problem is or how exactly to fix it. Thats not a knock on the people here, it just owes to the fact that these cars dont really malfunction much (transmissions aside ) and when they do its usually something, well unusual. When there is a topic that someone has actual experience with I think you see a fair amount of help. This came up just recently when my retractable antenna broke. I got some help from another poster and then gave as detailed advice as I could to someone who had the same problem a little later on. Reality is even though there are thousands of "members" of this site only 30-40 people post regularly and if those few don't know the answer then thats it. Sure theres plenty of speculation and "possibles" but unless you've actually done the work or had it done its just best guessing. Truth is though I'm happy to have 30-40 people helping me guess whever I have a problem.

I noticed that too but I just assumed they bought them as 99 model cars in late 1998. Maybe they didn't realize it was the first model year. Of course that lends creedence to the theory that you should never buy a first model year car.

Sorry to keep this thread alive without actually adding much but I'm glad to hear that you've got that many miles on your RX's bluestu, it gives me hope that mine will soldier on as well. Nonetheless I'm filling a file-folder full of the stories of failures, numbers to call and things to try if and when mine starts acting up. I appreciate the info you've all put up here, I hope I never have to use it but I'll be happy I've got it at hand should the need arise.

If 50-60 is Spin then only 10 would be Back Spin, Do you work for Fox News by any chance bluestu?? The site I referenced earlier outlined at least 7 cases of failure from the 30 or so posts and theres certainly been more than 10 mentioned here in my years monitoring this board. Now I'm with you in the respect that my 00 tranny hasnt failed (yet) and I've got about 92k on it. I also know several people whove gotten over 100 k on their RX trannys, but the randomness and total difference in all the sories of failure certainly means that something has to be up with the early RX trannys. I know you believe its a maintenace issue but we've got people on this board who do extra-regular services and have still experienced failures. Moreover, I suspected (and still do a bit) that all the flushing and changing of the fluid may be propagating the failures somehow (but I have no evidence to that end) How many miles do you have on your RX's? Someone was inquirng about higher mileage RX a while back, maybe you can help shed some light on the True secret to gettng high mileage out of these things.

Good point on the model year/mileage issue. That definitely may be a factor. The Highlander question my lend creedence to the 99/00 RX trans problem theory though. I think the Highlander came out in 01 or 02 when (theorhetically) Lexus has "addressed" the problems in RX transmissions, therefore they dont have many problems. Either that or they also havent accumulated enough mileage to show problems yet.

I dont own a 330 but my deduction from reading and posting on this forum for a while is that the trans issue is primarily with 99/00 RX 300s. neither the 01 and later 300s nor 330s seem to have many signifcant trans. problems. Just my assesment, others may know more.

For anyone whos compiling complaints or "reports of incidents" heres an interesting site that details a few more RX trans failures. Interesting pattern I noticed here though was that it seems most of the failures are on the 99 models not with 2000 or later. I think we deduced here that it was both 99/00 models that had higher failure rates, anyho just FYI http://www.carsurvey.org/model_Lexus_RX300.html

Well I get more nervous with each new occurence. Mine is almost at the exact mileage point as yours right now and I'm super sensitive to anyhting weird in the tranny. Could you post the number you called for "customer satisfaction" and perhaps whom you spoke to there? It may be useful for future "victims'

Hi All! Heres the link to the thread with the IACV Pic. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...topic=11748&hl=

Hey there, do you (or anyone else) know of a way to get the trouble codes for the RX 300's without navs? I used to be able to get the codes on my Dodge Dakota using a sequence of on-off switching of the ignition/key switch. I'm betting that there is a way to do it or the RX's its just I've yet to discover it. Thanks!

Obviously there a lot of opinions on the subject and apparently more than one right answer. I've only changed my trans fluid once in 90k and (knock wood) mine runs fine. I just had my mech. do the the timing belt replacement and asked him about flushing the trans. he checked it out and reccommended I wait until a future service because it looks fine trans and fluid. 15k service intervals for ATF is a bit often IMHO, 30k maybe, but as I've saiud before its looking more and more like the fluid service and condition is not the culprit in these Lexus trans failures.

Hi there, How many miles were there on the RX when you got it and do you know when/if the trans fluid had ever been changed? I agree that a regular change of the fluid is a good thing but I'd say every 15k is a bit excessive. I've been on this list for a while now and even with the many stories of trans failure no-one has been able link the failures with any one particular thing, proceedure or lack thereof. I distinctly remember one story of a failure shortly after the fluid was changed so go figure? I'm really hoping that one of these days someone can make a solid conection to whats causing this.

I can't help you in the solving dept but I can say that I currently have the same problem with my drivers door. It actually solved itself partially as at first the door wouldn't lock with the remote and I just began to flick it locked when I got out. Now it locks but not on the first beep. I'll click the remote and it'll beep then a second or so later a second beep and all the doors are locked. Go figure. Sorry I couldn't halp solving the problem but I am impressed at your resorcefulness for the client.

I have two 1999 Lexus RX 300 models. The first I bought with 95,000 miles on it and the second 99 had 75,000 miles. Both have been excellent. There have been a few minor problems but you should have no problem with a 2001. These cars last a long, long time. Good Luck! Richard Ok then , since you're new to the list there have been a few questions recently that you may be able to help out on. First are your RX's AWD/ If so do yo know if there is any history of transmission problems in either vehicle? and lastly whats the current mileage of each? We're all trying to piece together a common problem with 99/00 Rx's t premature transmission failure and any info is anothe piuece of a very complex puzzle. Thanks

Thinking about this I'd say it would work. You'd have to disable the power before the cable actually breaks though. If you did that you could push the mast/cable up and down against the resistance of the un-powered motor. However, since the cable was meant to be driven by the wom gear in the motor base you may find that forcing it down from its end causes some type of material fatigue due to flexing etc..When mine broke (cable) it got stuck in the up position and I could NOT get it down no matter what I tried. I suppose if you just left it up all the time you wouldnt have to worry about a lot of wear on the cable and It should last indefinitely.

The teeth face inward toward the motor itself. It coils in a bit like a nautilus shell. Its a fairly simple worm gear arrangement inside. As for the housig I'm not sure exactly what you mean on this one but If Im guessing correctly you mean the motor assembley case and it simple comes apart in two halves. Inside is the motor, the worm gear and the coil/take-up spool. I actually just bit the bullet and paid Lexus $70. The part number -- Rod & Pipe Sheild w/cable # 863370W030. I had the whole back of the car apart and didnt want to wait for mail-order etc. I looked at a t Toyota dealer first but as I mentioned the ones they showed me were about $60 and Toyota/Lexus don't cross reference their part numbers so the Toyota tech couldnt tell me which of the 4 antenna masts would/wouldnt fit. There were two that looked very similar to my broken one but they had different cable lengths. Although I had brought the mast with me to the Toyota dealer I had forgotten to bring the broken off piece so I couldnt tell if the cable lengths on the Toyota masts were exactly right. On top of that the Toyota guy told me that if I installed one of those masts in my Lexus I'd void the product warranty of the mast . Anyhow, plese feel free to contact me as much as you like and I'll give you as much info as I can.

Hey there, the antenna info I was referreng to is right here, from a poster named Vicky I believe http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...9461&hl=antenna Its about the 4th or 5th post that has the useful info. I'll go over my situation which was pretty similar to theirs and sounds like yours as well. I first went to Toyota to get the mast replacement but as I mentioned in my first post above I had no luck there, more than that though they were not much cheaper than Lexus, $60 vs $70 So I bought it at Lexus. They knew exactly what I needed at Lexus so I'm sure they've sold more than a few. A few people mentioned that they got theirs on e-bay or on-line for 20-30 bucks, go figure. Anyhow the biggest pain in the whole process is pulling out all the interior trim panels needed to get to the antenna. Basically you've got to remove everything from the cargo compartment, lift up the lid to the spare tire and remove the black trays that are to the right of that. Once you've done that you can proceed to remove the black and tan (most are black but some are tan and no beer jokes please) little fasteners that hold all the interior panels together. There may be a better way to get them out but I just use a flat-head screwdriver and popped them out. You know where the antenna is so you just keep pulling out fasteners and panel pieces until you have access to the antenna and motor assembly, it takes a bit of wrestling. The motor is on a bracket that is held on by 2 screws. before you remove those screws remove the retaining nut on the outside of the vehicle where the antenna comes out. Its a crome nut maybe and inch or so in diameter that has four slots in it. I didn't have a good tool to remove this so I used a pair of flat head screwdrives with some masking tape wrapped around the tips (to protect the chrome). This is a tough part and may require a little torque on your end but once it preaks free it should thread out easily enough, its about 1.5 inches long. That done you can remove the screws and take the whole assembly partially out. At this point you'll need to unclip the wiring bundle for the motor and the antenna lead and then its all the way out. The mast can be removed easily from the motor housing and with it will come the actuator cable. Unfortunately, if your antenna was stuck it probably means that the cable is broken somewhere and there's probably a small piece of it left on the inside of the antenna housing once you've removed the mast/cable. If the end of your cable looks like its broken off then you're going to have to disassemble the housing. Not too difficult just remove the 6-8 screws ( I really dont remember how many)and it all comes apart. Now this is something best done on a workshop table or such as the interior parts of motor housing are simply held in place by each side of the housing, once you pull it apart things will be loose to move on their own. Its not difficlut to figure out where the pieces go or how the mechanism works but its easir to re-assemble if you can have all the parts within easy reach and have a little level working space. Once you've gotten the broken piece out you can either a: thread the new masts cable through the motor mechanism, coil all the cable up and stick it inside the cup/capsule designed to hold it (not an easy thing as the cable is kinda stiff) or b: re-assemble the motor housing hook the wiring bundle back up (to get power to the motor) and thread the new cable into the housing by turning the radio on/off to get the cable drawn into place by the motor itself. I went for option A but it was a pain but I didn't have anyone to actuate the radio for me at the moment so I could help feed it in. If I were to do it again I'd probably pick B. Once you've got it working its just reverse the procedure you used to get it all apart (Yikes!) Anyhow I hope that helps and please feel free to e-mail me with any specific questions, I'm happy to help if I can.

I have to agree, with that sentiment. Additionally a third row of seats would aim it more at the "family" market segment which I don't think is Lexus' target market for these vehicles.

""I sure as heck hope your cars do not need alignments every 10K miles and no car I am aware of has as part of its normal servicing the need for an alignment."" I second that opinion! Funny thing that I was just having a conversation the other day about how well this vehicle seems to stay in alighment better than any of my other or previous vehicles. I 've got about 7k on a new set of tires and I keep a close eye on the wear when they're new just to check for that type of thing.