RX_4_surfin

I dont own one, but I had one for a loaner and just recently test drove another. I dont think that they are that much of a mechanical improvement over the RX300. They are just slighly quieter (not much), and just slighly faster (not much) and just slightly smoother-riding (barely at all). I dont find them as comfortable either. The styling is better though. Now the LS430? That is the best deal on the road if you ask me....

I agree with Seaduck79's post. What, if you were to look on a Honda or Dodge forum you wouldn't come up with someone who's engine went out after 148k miles and the company didn't bail them out? They aren't perfect, but IMO they're the best. You're entitled to like Honda's (or any other brand) better if you want. I dont care. I was talking more about the company itself though. But I think for the most part, they produce very good cars. 148k miles is something to brag about if you ask me.

While it's not what we all hope and expect to get out of an engine these days, 148k still is not all that bad. But for what it's worth, Toyota is still having some problems with engines. They had issues with the V8's in the 03 4Runners, and I've heard reports of problems in the latest Tundra V8's also. I think that Toyota is the best car producer in the world now. It just goes to show that even the best can still have problems. That is definitely a bummer that it happened, but I have to side with Lexus--These things do happen. Toyota earned their reputation by minimizing these incident's, not eliminating them. You may have put $8 grand into it, but you could now have an engine that will go for 300K more miles. Keep on top of the maintenance, give it some new suspension and you might be driving that car for another decade or 15 years. I would certainly think though, that they could give a lifetime engine warranty or something. I would bet that would increase sales exponentially and that revenue would far outweigh the cost of the few engine replacements that would be necessary.

It could be one of your front wheel bearings. You can check that by rotating the wheels by hand with the car up on a jack. If you feel any grating or grinding doing that, you want to get them checked out. I never trust dealers or mechanics to give me the straight answer on something like this, unless its a close family member or something. But I'm not a trusting guy. Sorry, I just saw that you mentioned bearings. That's what I would look closer at. Especially with that mileage. It could be that when the tires were changed, it bumped a wheel bearing out of alignment and now you notice it. I wouldn't think that's the tire shop's fault at 130k miles (only 30 thousand miles would be another story), but you never know.

I had a rattle in mine coming from the back for awhile. Twice actually, now that I think about it. Drove me nuts one time all the way from CA to MO. Then I finally figured out it was my license plate frame that had worked loose a little bit. The other time was the locking nut for the wheels that had worked loose in the spare tire well, and it was bouncing around. I dont know about the other issues you're having. Mine has been great though. I got mine with 69k miles and it now has 120k with only one minor issue--the throttle position sensor, which I fixed myself in half an hour. I hope you have good luck with yours too.

I've found the fact women love them to be a good thing. :) I've gotten more comments from women about this car in the two weeks I've owned it than in all the years I drove Lincolns. When my male friends rag on me I just ask them the last time an attractive female chatted them up about their Ford at the gas pumps. :D Yeah well, my wife likes it.

I'm 27 and male. I've noticed that here in South Orange County most of the drivers are 40-50 year old women. Predominantly asian women. It's not as noticeable with the '330s, but definantly for the '300s. It's led to some funny situations and a lot of jokes from co workers when I used to drive it for my job as a plumber. Great car though, it's been everything I hoped so far. Well worth the cost and the friends giving me a hard time.

Wow, this would be great if this is still going on. I see the post was initially put up awhile back, but I could sure use a manual at cruhter@gmail.com if youre still sending them out. I would also be more than happy to go to a site and download it too. The 10 bucks isn't the problem it downloading all the parts for me. I quick and easy thing would be great.

Great directions Golden State. Much better than a manual. My '01 has been starting to idle a little rough in the hot weather lately and sometimes is a bit tough to start--sounds like this could be the culprit. I'll take some time and do this this weekend. By the way, have you considered changing your timing belt and water pump? I could use some good directions on that, too. :)

If it eventually went up, then it's not a fuse. It sounds like either your window switch or your window motor. Could possibly be a bad connection somewhere in there also. I've never had the doors apart in an RX, but usually it's a few screws combined with some clips that hold doors together. You just need to make sure you find all the screws and dont break the clips. Take it slow. When the door panel is loose, watch that you dont put too much strain on the wires or you may cause more problems.

They aren't bad, but I've always thought that the stock one's look pretty good. But it's whatever you like. Hope your bid gets accepted though. Good luck.

That sounds like the mechanisim that automatically turns off your blinker after you've made a turn. After you've heard that click, turn the wheel back to straight. If your signal turns off, it's the mechanism.

LexKid, have all of your RX's been AWD? That could be part of the problem too. I'm not convinced yet that switching from R to D if your not at a full and complete stop is a trans killer all by itself. I've never ever once done that that I can remember (even with inlaws or grandma in the car), and I've never had an automatic tranny fail on me (~5 cars). Been through a few clutches on my manual cars but that's a different story. :) Going from D to R while rolling I think is somewhat worse though. In my mind, the way that the gates work in the shifter back me up on that. If it was fatal to the tranny, more automakers would put stops between neutral and drive in both directions. Definitely sounds like some aspect of your driving is chewing up your trannies. You doin neutral drops and trying to lay rubber with all 4 tires? Manually downshifting? Holding gears to the redline? lol It could also be transitions from ice to dry pavement if your wheels are spinning and lock up suddenly. I dont know. Just throwing out ideas. Before I get crucified, I should clarify that I mean VERY SLOW rolling between R and D. If the tires chirp or the car shakes it's of course way too fast and obviously destructive.

When I bought mine, I was doing plumbing work, driving about 1200 miles every week, and surfing in my spare time. I needed utiltity, comfort, reliablity, and decent mileage. The short answer is that the RX300 gave me all of that, and I've never had any problems with it. The other cars I looked at were an Infinity QX, a Chevy Tahoe, Land Rover Discovery, Ford Escape, and an Acura MDX. I loved the seats in the Tahoe, but mileage and overall size ruled it out. The QX got atrocious milage for it's size and it was slow. The MDX was only available in AWD, and I wanted 2wd. The Discovery seemed small, had wierd ergonomics, and they are not a pillar of reliability. So I was left to pick between a Ford Escape and an RX. Theres more RX's than escapes where I live, so the difference in cost for a used RX and a new Ford wasn't too much. I deemed reliability for those two cars to be about the same. So same cost, same reliablity, similar mileage, Ford or Lexus? Not much of a choice there.

Great! Thanks Coz!