tealboy

I rec'd a card from Toyota related to my 2002 RX300 discussing options/coverage related to the well discussed subject of sludge. However, I am interesting in finding info from folks who have either been covered by the extended warranty/settlement or have dealt with your own dealership on this subject. I don't know whether i have a problem or not, though the car does burn a lot of oil, about one quart in 2500 miles (seems like a lot to me). I have not pulled the valve covers. Any input on your experience with the dealerships and how they are treating this situation would be apprec. I did a quick search and found little info, but if there is a thread already covering this, perhaps you can direct me. thank you,

I have finally changed the oil on my new, but used 2002 lexus rx 300. A quick review, this car has 41k miles, was always serviced timely by lexus and runs perfectly (and shifts perfectly). Anyway, it was lexus certified car that I purchased from new york. Still hate the salt damage which is new to me as a floridian, but love the car. Anyway, the oil was svcd by lexus when i purchased it so the first oil change was done today. The dip stick was very low after 4000 miles, just touching the bottom of the stick (i should have checked it sooner but i thought only my exped burned oil b/c it was domestic). Anyway, i was surprised to find some oil gumminess around the top of the dipstick, though the oil was fine. In fact, the oil was warm when i drained it and it ran without the least bit of indication that it was sludgy. again, the oil sign was some stickness/gumminess around the top of the dipstick, around the o ring. is this something to be concerned with? also, i must confess, even though it only has 4k miles, it has been 7 mos, which is prob too long.

my 2002 rx300 awd has 41k miles and runs beatifully. i test drove a number of used RX's and the tranny's had noticeable delay's and were not as smooth as i expected from lexus. however, mine has proven to be very smooth, surprisingly so, based on my previous test drives. I am concerned about whether the tranny will last a long as i want it to (100k) based on what i have read. i rarely ever need the benefit of awd, but i wanted it. probably asking for trouble but then again, only a percentage of them fail. When i purchased this one, a decision making factor was past service, all of which was done by lexus with records to prove it. the tranny was also serviced at 29k miles, which some may say is not soon enough, but it fits lexus recommendation.

that was interesting feedback, lexdog, thank you. the vehicle i was driving and referring to is the cadillac escalade. however, i own a rx300 awd that could have equally been in this same situation. do you know if there is any difference between these two systems? since mine says vsc on the side, i know which system my RX has. I got the awd for the occassional offroad use, but that's really for dirt roads that have a thin layer of slippery mud, not for holes and drop offs like today.

I guess i don't understand how AWD works. My vehicle dipped into an unexpected hole and the rear hitch got hung up to the point I couldn't get traction at the rear tires. I thought the front wheels would have kicked in to pull me out, but they didn't seem to do that. The rears would spin fast, but the fronts were not spinning, even when i stomped the gas pedal. However, once i got out of the hole and tried to spin the tires on the soft surface/gravel, the fronts were grabbing and maintaining traction. i guess i don't really understand how awd works, b/c the ditch puzzled me.

Hey folks. i haven't been here in awhile. the rx300 awd is doing great. have only had it 4 mos or so, but love it so far. I am now interested in a sequoia, but have not been able to find a forum that was as helpful as this site was when i was shopping for the rx. any suggestions? regards, dave

since there has been so much debate surrounding this topic, i thought i would provide the conclusion to my wiring. basically, my 2002 model, with the tow pkg (but no hitch or lights ever attached), was a breeze to get working. All i did was, put a fuse under the hood, order a lighting harness from etrailer.com for $14 and plug it in. The lights worked perfectly. It was not necessary for me to purchase a modulator or other lexus box to control the lights. I also bought a hitch on ebay for $81 brand new, reg retail $175. the whole thing was simple. Perhaps older models do not come equipped as mine did, but if you have a 2002 or 2003 (maybe others) with a tow pkg, that's all you need to do.

I'll have some good data soon as I am going to put my awd 300 in the mud within the next week or two, lol. that's why i bought the awd while living in florida. we have some pretty sticky, sloppy mud on my property, so it won't take long to find out how well the awd works.

A client called and asked if i was interested in his used 330 hybrid. I suppose they are all loaded, but he paid $54 or 55k for it, all the bells and whistles. Apparently, he hated the vehicle, in part b/c too many people teased him about it being a girls car. It only had 2900 miles. He offered it to me for $46k, which is more than i want to spend, but more importantly, i just bought the rx 300 a week or two ago. Anyway, he called back yesterday and said the most he could get on trade was $40k, so he took it. What a deal.

I have done more digging, and unfortunately, you are right. did they add this feature on the new 330?

I am certainly far from any expert on the subject but I do use my 4x4 exped in awd every weekend and it really doesn't take much from the other wheels to keep me moving. The 4wd version is 4wd limited slip all the time, but i use the awd frequently, and you can hear and feel the other wheels chipping in when needed. Places that i would get stuck in 2wd, works just fine. Now, i realize this is no rx 300 awd, but my point is, the only way i could be convinced awd didn't make a difference is in a side by side comparision in the snow (or in my case, mud). Again, a small amt of help from another tire or two is the difference between stuck and not stuck.

On some cars, you can control your seat settings with your key fob. For example, if i share the veh w/ my wife who has a completely diff seat setting, when i hit the key fob, the veh knows it is my fob and adjusts the seat accordingly. If my wife hits her fob, it adjusts to her setting. does the RX 300, 2002 do this?

This is a big problem in my book. the std tire referenced above is virtually, and almost entirely unavailable. My dealer told me it was a "forced option" to get the 18 inch tires/wheels. Even the lexus website, build your own vehicle, doesn't allow for the 17 inch option. The problem w/ the 18's is, they only come in V rated, which typically get 25k miles on avg. There are virtually no substitues and very few choices. An H rated tire would get appx 40k miles, but they don't make one in this size. This was one of the reasons i shyed away from the new 330 (not to mention the sticker price). I am not ok with the idea of replacing $170 tires every 25k miles, and in that size, it's not optional. Over time, tire manuf. may expand the offerings, but not at this time.

Now I am really confused. I thought by having the tow package and the plug discussed above, all i needed to do was connect my wiring harness and add a fuse, but mikey, you are suggesting otherwise. the tow package does not include the controller/brain necessary to run the lights? where do i get it, how is it installed and how much does this item cost?

thx for the comments on the wiring for the rx. the fuse would have gotten me for sure. regarding the black box under the rear w/ 10mm bolts. i took that cover off and found a square, grey socket that has 4 prongs. Is that what i plug into? It is an unusal prong type, so where do i find the connection? the pigtail that my trailer hooks to is std, but the square four prong under the veh is unique. thx

i think all of that is very clear. i will crack the box tomorrow and take a peak. I am lucky i suppose. even the hitch, which i ordered from ebay is awesome. it is a curtis, made specifically for the rx 300 but was being cleared as old inventory. i paid $81 for it, plus 23 to ship. It went right on and looks terrific. now the wiring, which will now be easy. thx for the tips.

RX in NC, not to worry, it is a small boat (grady white). I'm pretty sure it doesn't weigh over 5000 lbs, lol. Actually, just a small jon boat, though i will also use the vehicle for off road use, lightly, which is why i wanted awd in florida.

Thx JvMitch, I looked and i have the wire coming down, though it seems to go into a rectangular plastic box that is seemingly attached to the bottom of the gas tank. I also looked at the orig invoice and it said "tow pkg", so i know i have it. Where is the end that i need to tap into with my pigtail? Is in the plastic box?

the book says when lights are on auto, they will turn off after a specified period of time, which can be adj by dealer. Is there a way i can adj this w/o going to the dealer? Mine are staying on about 30 seconds and i would prefer to shorten this. my exped has a dial that easily allows adj from 10 sec to 1 minute.

any tips on wiring the rx 300 so i can connect trailer lights? the dealer wants a fortune to do it and said a special modulator is also needed due to computer complications. cant you simply run a hot wire from the battery to the modulator and then the wiring harness? what is the modulator and how expensive are they? anyone done this?

i must admit, i didn't feel real good after reading the post. i thought about it all afternoon, thinking i should not have bought the car, lol. Of well, on the outside and inside, it is truly immaculate and even ;came w/ brand new tires. I was just a little surprised to see the discoloration and such from the salt. It isn't bad, but living in fl my whole life, that was new. anyway, i saw a gallon jug of LPS Rust Inhibitor in the store, on clearance for $5. I need to make sure it can go on the engine, but that product may be perfect. Any suggestions on a product that better fits the bill, pls advise. I will wash thoroughly and put a coat of it on the engine.

I mentioned that i finally pulled the trigger on a used certified lexus, 2002 rx 300 awd w/ 36k miles. It is white. due to the hurricane and gas shortages, it did not get shipped out right away, but it arrived last night. I purchased it out of NY and had it shipped to florida since i was unable to find what i wanted and in the condition desired, in my local area. this car is in fantastic shape inside and out. the only thing not perfect is under the hood, you can definately tell it was a car from up north. There is some amount of corrosion on nuts/bolts and some discoloration on the alternator and things like that. It doesn't seem excessive, but the evidence is clear. not sure if there are any negative consequences of this or whether i should do anything to protect it from this point forward, but if you have suggestions, pls advise. overall, i am very pleased with the vehicle.

nothing too special, swo3es is right, anthying other than the std features is surprisingly rare. I would have liked a nav but buying used, it was more important to find the right color, condition and svc history for me. As is typical w/ the awd, i got heated seats, xenon lights. I think that's it. But b/c it was a certified car, it came w/ new tires, new floor mats, new rear brakes (fronts were more than 50%) and a thorough run down by the lexus shop that i bought it from (161 pt inspection). As noted above, I left off the warranty part of the certified in an effort to hold the overall cost down. I paid $25.5 for the car, which was really a terrific price based on what i have seen the past two months. To include the extended certified warranty would have been $26.5, still a good deal but I am having the car shipped from NJ, so that cost me another $700. Not too many awd's in Florida. I attached a pic below.

I bought the 37k mile car based on the svc history but opted to forego the $1000 extended lexus warranty since it still has 8 months left on the original.

I appreciate your comments regarding the two choices, 33k miles and 37k miles, and also the tires. Based on the more consisent maintenance records, with service all having been done by the same dealership selling me the car, I picked the 37k car. Interestingly, regarding the tires, it has brand new Kelly Signature tires, which are their higher end tires, so I think i will be please with them. Whether it be smart or not, I don't know, but I opted to forego the CPO warranty in an effort to hold the price down. The car has an existing warranty until April 2006, or 13k miles whereas the extended warranty would run it for 3 yrs and 100k miles. I should have gotten your opinion on this first, but I didn't think i needed the warranty. I suppose I could still get it for $1000 if you think it's a big mistake. They dropped the price by $1000 w/o it and really made me a great deal on the car. By the way, i did offer to let them do the 30k mile svc on the 33k mile car and would pay them the same price (not willing to pay more for the lower mileage car b/c svc history was less consistent). It would have cost them $550 (separate cost centers, sales vs. svc), so they worked w/ me on the 37k car.