scoobie

I'll was going to recommend flint mica as well, I'd have bought that color if the dealer had it in stock. To me, flint mica doesn't look dark grey, it has a blueish tinge to it.

Since we're on the subject of loaner cars, my dealer's mechanical service shop provides a loaner when they're available (you have to reserve ahead of time) but the body shop does not (they tell you to talk to Enterprise). Why is that? Doesn't the body shop make as much profit (if not more) than the mechanic shop?

I don't think the replaced window would decrease your resale value significantly. As for the tires, $400 is too much to pay for the two tires. If you'd ordered from tirerack, then you have to factor in cost of shipping, $10-$20 per tire for installation/balancing, and your time bringing the tires to get installed, you probably still end up paying less, but the difference may not be as much as you think. Some local discount tire shops may match tirerack's prices, worth shopping around next time.

Larger wheels => smaller aspect ratio tires => less lean when turning. Some people prefer less lean for better "feel".

tirerack.com probably has more tire info than you ever want. But here's some short answers to your questions (from a layman), 1) I don't know what the "160" means, but "225" is tire width in millimeters (mm), "70" is the aspect ratio, which gives you the tire height (distance between outside diameter and inside diameter) as a percentage of width, in your case it is 225x0.70 = 157.5 mm, "S" is the tire rating, sort of tells you how fast that tire was designed to go, "R" means radius, "16" is radius of the wheels in inches. 2) yes. 3) When you go to larger rims, you need different size tires as you suspected. You can do the math yourself, tirerack.com has a lookup tool. Idea is to keep the outside diameter of the tire the same (as old setup) but the inside diameter must of course match that of the wheels. 4) I think they make snow tires for many sizes, so that alone should not drive your rim size decision. But if you want comfort, the general consensus, I believe, is for smaller diameter wheels. edit: under 1) "R" cannot stand for radius, one would have gigantic wheels in that case LOL, it probably stands for radial, a type of tire construction. The "16" is *diameter* in inches.

When you guys set up the date, please post it here, if I'm in the area I don't want to miss it. :lol:

Well, before you dismiss going to the Lexus dealer, why not get a quote from them, then get a quote from the Toyota dealer and compare. You can also get the quotes minus the oil change and trans fluid change if you trust Jiffy Lube for those jobs. For me personally, I drive maybe 10000 miles a year, that amounts to 2 oil changes, if Lexus charges $80 for each oil change vs. $20 at Jiffy Lube, I'd save only $120 over a year. I'm not rich, but I won't sweat over $120 and look all over town for the absolute cheapest way to go. While we're on the subject, an interesting comparison would be total maintenance cost for the entire warranty period (60000 miles), beginning with the first oil change at 5000 mi, and so on, up to the 60000 mi service. The difference in the estimates (Lexus vs. cheaper alternative) divided by 5 or 6 would be your typical savings per year. (Or, if you go with Lexus, then it would be the premium per year for Lexus service.)

Last month we traded the RX in for a GS430 sport, what a difference, we were pleased with the RX at first but somehow it didn`t have the Lexus feel to it, the electrical problem was the icing on the cake. I know were talking about 2 different vehicals here but this GS feels like a Lexus, it reminds me of Dads first LS 400 way back in `93. Sorry guy`s but it would take a lot to get me in another RX, unless we needed the 4 wheel drive. P.S. I reckon the fuel consumptions about the same, if not a tad better. I reckon you associate the Lexus brand with sportiness, if so I agree the GS would 'feel' more like a Lexus than the RX. If, however, you associate the Lexus brand with comfort, then would you come to the same conclusion?

People who buy this stuff deserves to get scammed. If the sales figures are true, then we have to tip our hats off to the business geniuses (sp) that pulled this off. Anybody who has taken high school chemistry (ok, maybe first year college chemistry) would realize the verbiage under "how the pill works" is crap.

True about the Jeep 4x4, But the other statement..."If you need to get around in snow, get a true 4x4...." Just not true at all! Matter of fact it has been snowing all day 6 inches and the wife just drove home fine--no worries in the world with her car--- The fact that you and yours do fine in snow may be a reflection of your driving skills rather than the car's capabilities. People who have to drive a lot in snow are bound to be pretty good at it, regardless of what car they drive.

Best is to read your warranty to see if it specifically requires you to take it to a dealer. My guess is that you can take it to any qualified mechanic. Since your first check up/oil change is free, you should take it in to the dealer at least for that one.

I've been out of touch for a while, has the arcade been relocated/eliminated ?

Do people like the present format (300, 330 sparated from 400h) better than the previously combined format ? Last I cared to check, there was dismally little activity on either subforum.

The following thread started by KevinK was "locked" without explanation. I think KevinK raises a legitimate (though implicitly and sarcastically phrased) question, are things better now that the 400h threads are in a separate subforum ? I think not. << QUOTE(SW03ES @ May 1 2005, 09:46 PM) KevinK has been banned for 2 weeks. Thread re-closed. I suggested to boot 400h people away a few months ago, got banned for two weeks. Is this in USA? Where are 400h people now? >>

Getting back to the original post, I think it's unreasonable to expect a warranty (extended or not) to cover something it was not intended to cover. The warranty should have been explained to you when purchased. It is, however, reasonable to complain and gripe about poor workmanship, shoddy service, and rude employees. There's probably not anything you can do about the warranty, but there are channels to escalate your other complaints up the chain if you so choose. Lastly, the treatment you'd received seems to be an isolated incident, many people (myself included) have gotten exceptional service from their local dealers.

I remember reading in the owner's manual that the alarm sounds if someone attempts to open one of the car doors (or maybe even windows) without using the key. If the alarm was designed to trigger only under those circumstances, then it would not sound if the thief smashed the window but did not attempt to open the door. It seems what Lexus calls the "alarm" is a simple software add on. I don't think it has any kind of sensors to detect a break-in.

So I guess that's the "anti-lock-out" feature the original poster asked about. Lexus must have figured that the most common cause of lock out is someone forgetting to take the key out of the ignition; if you remember to take it out, then with almost certainty you'd take it with you out of the car.

WOW! $30 for a piece of plastic, and I thought $2.50 for a gallon of gas was expensive.

Another thing I found annoying regarding the AUTO setting on the AC is that it never shuts off, that is, even when the cabin is at the desired temp., the AC remains on with the lowest fan setting. And because there is no manual temp. setting I assume it is still blowing cold air. And, as a previous post mentioned, even if the cabin temp. is actually lower than the set temp. (when logically you'd want the heater on instead of the AC), cold air still blows.

If this is indeed a very common problem and Lexus doesn't sell that part, then it may be an excellent opportunity for an enterprising individual.

NC, First, please accept my apologies if my post seemed too abrasive, judging from your response you may have interpreted it as a somewhat personal affront. That wasn't my intention. I only wanted to voice my doubt regarding the theory that the cross bars were the main cause of the wind noise (and btw you weren't the only one with that opinion.) Having said that, I still find it hard to believe the front cross bar can cause that much wind noise, did you have the sunroof open by any chance ? In any case, I'm glad it worked for you; even if it hadn't reduce the wind noise, its probably a good idea to move the cross bar away from the sunroof anyway. Now as for trying it myself, I mainly use the car for my daily commute, I rarely get a chance to go above 35 mph (and that's on the freeway) so we'll have to hear from someone else to get another data point.

People who claims moving the roof rack cross bars makes a difference in wind noise, are you pulling our legs ? Unless the bars were loose and wriggly to begin with and you somehow secured it by 'moving' it, I cannot believe the position of the cross bar changes the overall aerodynamics of the car measurably. What's next ? Bending the antenna ?

$39,000 out the door is exactly what I paid in Feb. for a FWD with Prem Plus (i.e., Longo's most stripped down trim), saleman was Tony Shei (sp ?). Before you go, check on Carsdirect.com for the model and trim you want, Longo is a supplier to carsdirect, your final negotiated price should be less than carsdirect's price.

If you are in San Gabriel, CA, then you probably got it from Longo. They routinely sell RX330's at about the invoice (look it up at Edmunds or KBB). For a FWD with no DVD and no NAV, sounds you paid a little too much, but as someone else said, too late to do anything about it, you were willing to pay that much, so just enjoy it.

That rim/tire combination will fit with plenty of room to spare.