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!

Does anyone know where I can get a shop manual on CD-ROM for my 2000 RX300? I'm sure the dealership would be able to get me one, but I'd rather keep it cheap. Buying a used one is an option to me. A paper manual would be okay too, but they get so destroyed all the time I'd prefer cd rom. Any cost estimates of the different ones would be helpful too. Thanks

Good visual--Thats funny! Yeah, and it scratches real easy. In a couple of years it's not going to look very good. :( I've got a 5 year old RX300 with 105k miles and the plasticky wood still looks the same. Not scratched. Maybe a bit "drumsticky" though...

I agree that they are hard to find. I think liability is the excuse. Awfully convenient for them that they Have to do it--"It's a safety policy", funny how they Have to then charge you for it. Not that I'm against people making money, but enacting a policy that makes them money under false pretenses really gets me mad. That's okay. I do the brake pads myself, and turn the rotors when they really do need it--at NAPA.

Your right about the "arm and a leg" cost from Lexus. I posted a request on here and another reader happened to have one he didn't want. I tried junkyards around the country as well as ebay with no luck. There may be another person on here who prefers leather. Maybe you can swap or something. I do really love having the wood one over the leather though. You may be able to try a wheel from an ES as well. They look the same to me. I'm not positive that they're interchangeable though. Good luck.

I agree. Cupholders are a weak point in this car. It would be hard to make one that's tall enough to hold a drink properly and still allow the drawer to close right though. I dont know if the market is big enough to make a "fortune" on though. :)

Sure would suck to drive behind someone who is trying to get 150k out of their pads. People who shell out the money for a Lexus (a) probably very rarely drive them for anywhere close to 300k miles, and (b ) can usually afford new brake pads every 30-50 k miles and rotors every 100 or so. Why bother trying to save a couple hundred bucks (over the entire life of the car) when the initial cost was 45 grand? 2 cents worth.

Thanks for posting this issue and the cost of the remedy, Abeyance. I'm still suspicious of the nav systems on cars, and this is why. They seem expensive to replace, not easily repaired, and relatively fragile in most cases. But then, I still use a Thomas guide. :)

Well, I'll go against the [possibly fake] wood grain. I had an RX330 last week as a loaner. I actually liked my '01 RX300 better. 1. I felt like I was driving a pickup with a shell on it whenever I backed it up. Small sideview mirrors (with the tilt feature I didn't care for) didn't help the small windows on the sides of the back compartment. I couldn't see if anyone was coming when backing out of a parking spot. 2. This is small and subjective, but I didn't really care much for the general ergonomics for the driver. I dont like when the center console has buttons that face the passenger. I also liked the way my door controls slope up in my RX300 better than how they are horizontal in the '330. The controls generally didn't seem as intuitive in the '330 as they were when I first got in my '300. These are just my quick takes on my one 75 mile day in the RX330. I still think it's a good car, and they unarguably look better than the '300's. And of course I only had it for one day--it may have grown on me. It just didn't "fit" the way my '300 did right off the bat. Also, I should say that there may be some freudian subconscious aversion to it because my wife wants one desperately and I dont want to spend the money for it! lol

Wow. And this whole time I prided myself on my knowledge and ability to recognize real vs fake wood. I'm surprised because the center "u" of my '300 looks so awful I thought that there was no possible way it could be real. That is some of the worst looking real wood I've ever seen. Steering wheel looks good though (thanks again wwest) lol.

Got the steering wheel installed today wwest! Looks Fantastic! Thanks Again!