tmastres

As usual, "The truth lies somewhere in between" Lexus owners comprise a wider range of the financial totem than you might think. I know many on this list have bought their Lex's seconhand so its not a surprise that cost of service is an issue. Besides I'd hazard to say that many people become "tighter" with their money the more affluent they become. By the by, I got an IS once as a loaner, loved it. I rarely go to Lexus for service because they'r e 30+ miles away and I've got a great Independent shop to do the work I can't/don't want to do but I'd almost be worth it to get one of those new IS 350's for a day or two. PS SW03ES I'll forward you my address and you can send me $260 there, after all its nothing , right?

I just went through antenna replacement routine 2 weeks ago. There are some useful post regarding antenna replacement on this forum if you do a search. I'd suggest you replace the antenna mast now rather that wait until it stops working. Mine started with noticeable noise whenever the antenna retracted and that went on for about a month until one day I noticed the antenna was still up after I parked the car. The antenna is operated by a geared nylon cord that is forced up/down by a small motor & cog system. What happened to me was that the cord broke and could no longer operate the mast. The reason I say its better/easier to do it before it breaks is that once it breaks you'll more than likely have to open up the motor housing and retreive the broken piece. The mast separates easily from the motor housing and its simpler to just take the old mast and cord out and thread the new one in. Its not a tough DIY job but it does require tearing out a lot of the interior trim work on that side of the vehicle.

Thats great that Lexus gave you the new trans with no hassle, aparently each dealer has its own "personality" as it were. I'm curious though have you owned the car since it was new? Did you change the fluid at all in the first 50k? I'm really trying to find some patterns in these many trans failures reported on this list. I've got a 00 as well and mines got 90k on it but luckily so far no trans problems (knock wood). Maybe its the cold climate that does something to it. Still searching for answers but I'm glad your repair/replace experience was good.

Replaced the antenna mast on my RX 300 this weekend (thanks vickyg2003 for some great tips in a previous post) Pretty easy job really, although there were some entertaining moments. I had to disassemble the entire motor assembly to get a small piece of the nylon cord out (which had broken off). Its an, er, "interesting" design but hey, it seems to work well. As mentioned in previous posts the biggest hassle is ripping out all the interior body panneling and trim pieces. Funniest part of the whole process was getting the replacement mast. I started off at my local Toyota dealer (only 3 mi from my house). I came armed with the part number but it was a "Lexus" part number and wasn't cross-referenced on their Toyota parts lists. They were good enough to pull out about 4 different Toyota antenna masts which all looked VERY similar but upon close inspection there were some differences in cable length and shaft section lengths. They ranged in price from $60-$80. Although I had brought the old mast and cable with me I had stupidly left the broken-off cable end at home so I couldn't tell if the cables at Toyota had exactly the same length. The Toyata parts guy also claimed that installing any one of them in a Lexus would void any warranty of the part if they broke etc.. To shorten the story, I bit the bullet and drove the 30 mi. to the nearest Lexus dealer to get the genuine Lexus antenna mast. I located the "Parts Boutique" (which is exactly what they called it) It had Granite countertops with polished brass everywhere and the parts guy had a button down shirt and tie on. By now I was sure I was in for a real reaming on the price but surprisingly it was only $70. The parts guy didnt even look up the part number or anything, I told him I needed an antenna mast for a 00 RX and in less than 30 seconds had handed me one. I was happy to get a semi-reasoable price but the truly funny element is that the bag the mast was in has a big sticker that says, you guessed it "Genuine Toyota Parts". Anyhow, all's welll now but the Toyota/Lexus thing is really annoying, like realatives that refuse to acknowledge each others existence. PS For some actually useful info, the part numer is -- Rod & Pipe Sheild w/cable # 863370W030

Where is that on the RX and has anyone replaced it themselves? difficulty?? Thx!

Actually I belive the transmission issue is with 99/00 and maybe 01? models. I think the highlander came out in 02/03 after the problem (whatever it was) was "fixed"

[My belief, based on 33 years of Toyota specific automatic transmission experience, is that failures would be zero if owners drained and refilled the 4.9 quarts of fluid in the transmission oil pan and differential every 15,000 miles AND removed the transmission oil pan every 2nd or 3rd pan drain to check the filter screen for signs of clogging. Seriously though, 15,000 is NOT a normal fluid change interval for an auto tranny of any manufacture. I certainly havent changed mine that often and would never expect to have to on any vehicle I owned. That is essentially the same as saying you should change your oil every 1500 miles! Thats not nomal, it may be what needs to be done (I doubt that too) but its not what would be expected of a vehicle of this caliber and cost.

[There are definitely design flaws buried in these RX transmissions. Some attribute it to excessive clutch and band wear, some attribute it to poor fluid cooling capability, some attribute it to a combination of the two. OK but what is it that causes those things to fail in some but not others? I'm probably more agressive than the average Lexus driver but not really bad (compared to most of the other So Cal drivers) and I do tend to drive a bit more than average 16-17k a year with a good bit of city driving. While I dont tow a trailer or sport one of those big toy-boxes on the roof, I'd say my RX gets at least an average workout. The only maintenace I'm very meticlous about is oil-changes, do them myself every 4k with syn oil. Biq question is, whats different about my RX than those that have failed tranny's. Of course, if we knew that we wouldnt be talking about it , right?

I definitely support all of you in the fight against Lexus regardig your trans failures but I'm wondering what the numers of failures are percentage wise on 1st gen RX's? I'm guessing we hear of a fair amount of failures here on the list because its the first (and natural) inclination when facing a problem: See if someone else has experienced the problem as well. Let me say right now that I really do believe there is some kind of problem with these transmissions, the key would be to figure out what brings out the problem with some and not others. To boot , my money's not on frequent changes of trans fluid! Mine hasn't been changed in 40k miles (although it will be very soon) and I only did it once before that. It still runs great with no problems at all (LOUD knocking on wood there!) . Moreover on this list I've read accounts of people who do frequent changes still having failures. There's got to be some key connection between the failures, driving style, driving conditions, climate, build date or location?? You could really make a heck of a case to Lexus with some imperical data like that.

I got a quote of about $800 or so for the 90k service but that DID NOT include the timing belt/waterpump replacement. For that they wanted and extra $600. Looking at the service outside the timing belt/waterPump they really don't do jack at the 90k service. $800 for an oil change, coolant change and brake fluid flush! how could that possibly be 800 worth of work? It must take an awful lot of time to inspect those few other things they claim to check. I've found a very reputable local shop that will do all the work plus do a tranny flush (which I'm a bit nervous about) for $1100. That'd be my suggested route.

Heres a decent link to Toyota sludging info www.toyoland.com/sludge.html

Ditto to Blustu's words, for some neurotic reason I always like to warm my RX up for about 60-90 seconds before I take of in the morning of after work. On the few occasions I don't do that I notice the trans does shift differently. Just seems like a good idea in general to get a little heat in the trans and engine oil before stressing either one.

Actually you'd probably be fine following the Lexus service schedule. They recommend Mobil 1 5-30 syn oil wich should easily handle the 7500k intervals (I change mine at 5k just because I've always doneit that way). as for the trans fluid I suspect they assume this is an item that would be checked regularly at the fairly frequent recommend service intervals, and if the fluid indicated it a change would be done. The dipstick statement does seem a bit misleading though, dont know what they were thinking there.

Sound more like the "squeaky wheel" technique of negotiation to me:D ! If you make enough noise they'll just want to get you the heck out of their hair. Then again , if it works maybe its worth a try, even for half the cost.

Great video, very interesting. Looks like if you want to drive in snow , you better get an Audi Allroad! as for MB the ML probably broke down on the way to the test :D . Actually they probably alredy had a lot of German entries with the BMW 325x, the x5 the Audi. Would have been interesting to see maybe a Cherokee or 4runner in the test. Perhaps they're not readily available in Deutschland.

I only remember posts regarding new clips (or something like that) for the sunroof to counteract the plastic "popping" sound caused by expansion/contraction of the plastic trim up there. I had an annoying rattle for a while that I tracked down to the lock on the glove box, something inside the mechanism was rattling and it took weeks to find it. Good luck

Just FYI :The torque sensing LSD oil is lited as a "replace" item at 60k in the RX owners manual supplement. No need for doubt. "They" are the paople who wrote the manual. I didn't bother with the 60k service but I'm curious has anyone had this done?

To address the oil and trans fluid questions: those are the two main issues with RX's, oil sludge and trans failure. Assuming you're not a DIY guy you'll have a much easier time collecting warranty repairs if you've had oil and trans done by Lexus. My route has been to find a good import/japanese or even luxury Japanese specialist . I live in an area of about 140k people and we've got several that specialize in Lexus and Infinity only so they're definitely out there. They can perform most any warranty work as well. You can use quick change places but their personnel change frequently and are usually of dubious knowledge and experience. In any case to avoid sludge I use Syn oil, which many quickie places dont offer so you'd need to buy it yourself and bring it with you and keep the receipts. If you have a good relatuonship ( :D with a quick change place and trust them it might be fine but I wouldnt do it. Lastly I've had zero luck in getting my local Toyota dealer to service my Lexus. Even though the Lexus dealer is 30 miles away in a different city, they refuse. If you can do it great it'll be cheaper for sure. Especially for the 60k, I'd avoid doing the dealer thing, there arent many big things done at 60k to make it at all worthwhile.

Err uhh Yeah! Do Search on this site and you'll see hundreds of posts regarding trans failures! Good Luck.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Totota service may be cheaper but not all Toyota dealers will work on your Lexus. Our local dealer refused outright to work on mine. I agree with tmhtmh that some people have no desire to wrench on their cars themselves (I'd suspect that includes tha majority of Lexus owners). Value is something thats relative to each persons income or wealth. If you make/have a good deal of money then $100 oil changes or $1000 services are not that much in relation to what you've got so who cares. On top of that though having the proper facilities is a factor. I live in a urban environment and I'm fortunate to have enough space to do simple things like change oil and spark plugs (with careful maneuvering) but have no where near the facility to do anything major. I also find that my desire to do that type of work is waning a bit and by the time I hit that ripe old retirement age of 50 I may not want to do any of it at all.

Ditto that , its definitely safe. If you're the worrying type you can do another oil change at 2k (or earlier) to be sure all the dino oil is gone but when I switched I didn't bother and I don't think there are any problems. With a 99 you should definitely be using Syn oil to avoid sludging.

Yeah That does seem a bit high. I just got a quote from my dealer for a 90k service which includes replacing the timing belt for $1350. That price also included replacing the water pump which was not mentioned in maint schedule but recommended by many on this list. I think the 60k does replace the diff. fluid or something like that which is not on the 90k list but I think that and the timing belt are the only differences. As an aside I inquired at my local Toyota dealer as to what their cost for the service would be and they said they won't service Lexus' even though the nearest Lexus dealer is 30 miles away. Their reason is that "they cant warranty the Lexus parts" LOL! The guy was really nice about it so I didn't have the heart to lower the boom on him for such a ridiculous statement. I still think the $1350 is a bit high so I'm checking some local mechs.

[My own opinion is that none of the aforementioned features do anything once hydroplaning has started, because you need traction to the wheels for any of them to work, and that's one thing you don't have when hydroplaning. Tires are your only real defense against hydroplaning (and speed of course) Wet tire technology has come an amazingly long way in recent years, just watch an F1 race in the wet and you can see how incredibly effective the tires can be at moving/removing water from under the tire.

This seems to have gotten a bit comical. My sarcastic nature has to ask, did any of you buy a Lexus RX because you thought it would be a great off road or deep snow performer? If so then I've got a bridge in NY to sell you. Its certainly not marketed as such and I probably wouldnt try driving one in those conditions (seems obvious). Additionally in my lifetime 4x4 has always implied off-road capabilities while AWD just meant a little better wet and (maybe) light snow or dirt road traction. To compare the two is, well, a bit silly. I've driven my 01 RX in light snow and ice a few times and I was surprised how well it did even as I saw other vehicles having trouble. That could be due to many things though, not least of which is the person behind the wheel. When I lived back east I remember many times seeing people getting hopelessly stuck in 4x4s and others making perfect headway in normal sedans. Go figure Nonetheless I do have a question for WWEST when you said "So I came home and put the RX up on four jackstands and discovered that there was virtually no drive to the rear wheels." were you referring to your 01 RX or the previous 00 model?