1990LS400

You would want to verify that the headrests for the Canadian NX really are adjustable and adjustable enough but the Canadian Lexus dealer that has been the best for me has been Metro Toyota/Lexus of Victoria BC. It's been probably 10 years since they sent parts to me in Kansas but they didn't have any problem doing that. My understanding was that they have an export license that allowed direct shipment to me without the ridiculous cost of going through U.S. Customs. Whoops! I just checked and saw that Metro is now "Jim Pattison Lexus/Toyota" ( http://www.jplexusvictoria.com/ ) . The parts guy I bought from when it was Metro was "Paul" - a great help. Or you could trip up to Victoria for headrests and high tea at the Empress Hotel! If you do buy foreign verify that the headrest posts are spaced the same and are the same diameter as those on the U.S. NX. By the way, some owners of the Prius v wagon like we have are complaining vocally about a similar headrest issue. Maybe my wife is too short and I'm too tall for it to bother me. You might try reclining the backrest more than usual to see if doing that brings your head forward and away from the headrest.

You are definitely a special case. I can't imagine launching and recovering a 5,700 lb. boat on a regular basis. The only boat I've owned was only 2,500 pounds and it was a PITA to launch and recover. I was shocked when a coworker told me that his "new" (slightly used) 28' boat weighs 10,000 pounds but it is permanently parked in a slip with a lift. My boat trailer had surge brakes which were just about useless. I hope you have electric brakes on your trailer. Have you measured your rotor thickness? I don't have the specs for a GX but I'm pretty sure that the original thickness on my 2000 LS400 was 11 mm. They were still within a fraction of a millimeter of the original thickness at 180,000 mile even though they had been resurfaced twice.

Brake rotors usually last far beyond 100,000 miles with rear rotors and brake pads usually lasting 50% longer than front rotors and pads. The front brake rotors on my 2000 LS400 were within one millimeter of the original factory thickness when I sold it at 180,000 miles. I've actually never replaced brake rotors in over 40 years of owning vehicles with disc brakes although a Mercedes I drove from new to 210,000 miles was getting close to needing new front rotors. I've never used anything except OEM Lexus brake pads on our Lexus vehicles. The cost is reasonable and the quality high. If I was going to use aftermarket brake parts, the only brand I would use is Bremco which also supplies brake parts that are installed at the factory on some new Lexus vehicles.

Unlike early auto-leveling headlamps on Toyota/Lexus vehicles, the more recent LED headlamps do not visibly move up and down during an initialization procedure when the engine is started. Our Prius has auto-leveling LED headlights and I have never been able to see them move at startup - I've tried. Auto-leveling does not mean "adaptive" - i.e. the headlights do not auto-level while you are driving. If you have auto high beams, then you have a forward facing camera near the interior rear view mirror. The camera senses the headlights of oncoming vehicles and the tail lights of vehicles you are following. It is remarkable how well this system works to keep the high beam headlights on as much as possible without blinding or irritating other drivers. Your owners, navigation and maintenance manuals can be viewed and searched in the owners section of www.lexus.com. It is not necessary to register in order to see the manuals.

Not the most scientific method but take an aluminum can as shown in the photo to the hardware store and place a variety of C-clip sizes on top of it until you find one that matches the relative size shown in the photo. You can always buy more one size if in doubt. They are likely very inexpensive but you could return the ones you don't use.

Which customizable features can be changed by the owner and which by the dealer are shown beginning on page 537 of the 2015 IS350 owners manual which can be viewed online at http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM53C50U/pdf/OM53C50U.pdf I suggest that you download the owners manual since it is often easier to search the electronic version than to find something in the paper version. The seat belt chime can be turned off only by the Lexus dealer according to the owners manual. Decide which features you want the dealer to customize so you can have them all done at the same time. It's done at no cost by the dealer only one time if I remember correctly. Otherwise the charge is usually around one hour of labor. I'd like to have the seats send a sharp electrical jolt to those who don't buckle up. Seeing a passenger hit a windshield after a crash is something I don't really need to see again.

All smaller U-Haul and other trailers use a "4-flat" electrical connection like you have. Larger trailers that have brakes, and need power to charge batteries, run refrigerators, etc. use a more complex connection. A U-Haul store should be able to recommend the correct drawbar and ball size. Most drawbars can have the balls installed as a rise or a drop. Or you could contact etrailer for their recommendation - they are wonderfully helpful: http://www.etrailer.com/p-C45030.html I bought a really cool "combo pack" from etrailer that includes the correct drawbar, multiple balls of various sizes and a heavy duty storage bag. The balls can be switched in a few seconds buy pulling/reinserting a pin. You'll need the smallest standard ball size for a U-Haul trailer - same as used by most trailers under 3,500 pounds or so.

The rain sensing wipers don't always wipe at the rate I think they should but it's close enough for me - maybe in part because I have used Rain-X water repellent on our windshields for many years - back from when just an ounce of the stuff cost a small fortune. It is usually necessary to treat my windshield about monthly since I park it outside on weekdays and my wife's windshield a couple of times per year since her car isn't driven much and almost always is in covered parking. I treat my side and back windows with Rain-X maybe twice a year. There are probably other good brands of water repellant but I haven't tried anything else. Our next new cars will likely come with a water repellent windshield and at least front side windows - becoming fairly common on more expensive vehicles with the feature probably trickling down to most vehicles in the next few years.

I read on the ClubLexus forum that the method used to deactivate the rain sensor function and to provide intermittent wipers that was possible on the ES300 does not work on the later ES330 due to a design change. It looks like you are not the first to discover this. According to www.toyodiy.com , the 2005 ES330 rain sensor part number is 89941-33010 What do you mean by "distracting"? Does it not work when it should? My view is that the main "issue" with rain sensing wipers is that they don't always work when I think they should. For example, I think the rain sensor should cause the wipers to operating immediately when the engine is started when the vehicle has been sitting in the rain but it seems to always be necessary to do the first wipe manually with the stalk before the rain sensing function will take over. And sometimes (very rarely) dust in the air can cause the wipers to activate on a dry windshield. Still, I love the rain sensing feature and all the other automatic stuff.

Programming instructions start on page 169 of the 2006 SC430 owners manual - here is the section: http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM24509U/pdf/sec_03-05.pdf Have you been successful at programming built-in garage door openers in other vehicles to open your garage doors? Do you get the rapid flash of the Homelink LED in your SC430 before releasing the buttons and moving on to the rolling code programming step? (Assuming you have a rolling code garage door opener - most made in the past 25 years are rolling code.) You might try first clearing all existing codes per the instructions on page 173. If none of that works, do you have an especially old or an off-brand garage door opener?

You could have even downsized to 17" wheels and 235/65-17 tires for an even more compliant ride and a still wider choice of even less expensive tires while keeping the speedometer accurate. 17" wheels were standard on the RX350 as recently as the 2009 model year. The 5-spoke 2011-up 17" Toyota Sienna wheels look very similar to the 5-spoke 2011 18" RX350 wheels and have the same bolt pattern and 35 mm offset. I downsized from 18" to 17" wheels/tires for winter on our Sienna and from 17" to 16" for winter on our Prius wagon. Even with winter tires, both vehicles have noticeably more pleasant rides with the smaller diameter wheels.

I'm remembering going away to school with everything I was taking packed in a suitcase that was stored in the luggage hold of a Greyhound bus. My, how times have changed.

The smallest 4'x8' covered U-Haul trailer has almost the same volume (142 cu. ft.) as a Toyota Sienna with the third row seats stowed flush with the floor and the second row seats removed (150 cu. ft.). It's not at all hard to balance the load in a small trailer like this. I helped a woman last year rent a 4'x8' U-Haul that she used to move from here (Kansas City) to Indianapolis. She had never towed a trailer before and she told me later that she did not find it difficult to do. She towed the trailer with an older 4-cylinder Subaru Forester and had the Subaru dealer install her hitch and harness a couple of days before the move. She did not attempt to back the trailer during the trip and told me that he was careful to always parallel park it when she stopped during the 500 mile 1-way trip. The cost of a 4-day rental of a 4'x8' U-Haul trailer, returned to the place where it was rented, is only $59.80 in the Kansas City area. A nice aspect of a narrow 4'x8' trailer like this is that you would not need to mount additional (extended) exterior mirrors on your RX. Towing a little trailer like this would be an absolute breeze with an RX350 - so effortless that you would be checking your mirrors to verify that it is still attached. If you don't have a trailer wiring harness on your RX then you would need to install one - a simple "flat 4" electrical connection is all that is needed for a small U-Haul trailer. The RX may be better set up for a trailer harness than my Sienna. It took maybe an hour for me to install the Curt plug-and-play harness on my Sienna with the hardest part (not hard at all) being running the harness power wire underneath the van to the accessory post on the battery's positive clamp in the engine compartment.

We kept our previous five vehicles from a low of 10 1/2 years to a high of 14 years. I drive "my" vehicle 15K-20K per year. My wife doesn't drive "her" vehicle much these days (mainly drives rental cars on business trips) - currently driving her Prius about 5K miles per year. Three (two Lexus LS, one Camry) of our last five vehicles looked like new when we passed them on to relatives or friends but I can be obsessive about keeping vehicles clean and maintained. It can seem a little financially painful after 150,000 miles but it has still been cost effective to keep vehicles that long. My wife's a CPA and we are both quite financially conservative. We've learned that buying the most deluxe version of a vehicle makes it more satisfying to live with over the long haul. For example, both our 2012 Prius wagon and 2014 Sienna Limited have every package and option available including LED or HID headlights, PCS and radar cruise control, twin panoramic or sun roofs, etc., etc. The main drivers for us when buying vehicles has become safety and technology. I'm too old to drive a car with halogen headlights and I'll never buy another vehicle without an emergency automatic braking system like PCS. As much as I like Costco (we're shareholders and bought our Sienna through Costco), I recommend that you check other rental companies. A four-day unlimited mileage minivan rental currently starts at $220 at Dollar here in the Kansas City area. Since you are renting locally, you might get a lower total cost on a weekly rate - nothing says you have to turn the van back in after four days. Another option is a U-Haul trailer. Your RX350 has a 3,500 pound towing capacity if it has the factory tow prep package and a 2,000 pound towing capacity if it does not. If you don't have the Lexus hitch and electrical harness, my estimate is that a much less expensive after market hitch/harness could be installed on your RX for between $200 and $300 depending on hitch model and if you do it yourself. The first thing I did when I bought the Sienna last year was to install a Curt Class III hitch and plug-and-play harness. I bought a 4'x8' utility trailer in 1982 and it has paid for itself countless times since then. A trailer like that would likely carry all your kid's stuff to college. I also have a 4-bike rack that attaches to the hitch. I bought the hitch, harness and bike rack at www.etrailer.com from which I have bought towing supplies for many years. I've had a trailer hitch on almost every vehicle I've owned since the 1960's when I bought my first car. You've got lots of options. If you do plan to keep your RX eight years then the cost of a trailer hitch could be amortized over quite a long period of time. But not everyone is comfortable with towing. I had a commercial license and towed really big stuff (mobile homes) 40+ years ago when I was a kid so it is no big deal for me.

Maybe it depends on whether you see a need to limit the number of miles you put on your RX, e.g. if you are leasing it, don't like taking your RX in for service, trying to limit miles to preserve its value. We've never paid much attention to the amount of miles we put on vehicles ... bought them, "driven the wheels off" for 180,000 to 210,000 miles and then passed them to friends or relatives. We've rented vans both locally and on fly/drive trips when we needed to carry more than five people and/or lots of luggage, when a van has been a no cost option or there was a shortage of full size rental vehicles. Van rental prices have never seemed unreasonable although my wife gets perks (no charge for additional drivers, free upgrade to higher value vehicles) due to renting on very frequent business trips. It sounds like you need a van regardless so is there really a decision to be made? My wife always takes care of the rental arrangements so I forget which companies rent which vehicles. The only model van we rent when travelling is a Toyota Sienna and all rental Sienna vans have been the "LE" trim level. A nice aspect of renting a Sienna is that many of the controls (lights, cruise, windows, wipers) are the same as in Lexus and other vehicles made by Toyota. The current generation Sienna has the same engine and transmission as your RX350 and will feel very familiar. Or rent an extended wheelbase cargo van if you need even more space. We rented one of those to move pets and especially fragile objects when we changed residences.

Are you manually computing fuel mileage over over a long period of time? I've tracked all fuel used in our vehicles since the 1970's and none have routinely achieved very close to the EPA estimates. Our Prius v hybrid wagon is all over the map on fuel economy varying from about 35 mpg to 42 mpg even though it is rated 44 mpg city, 42 mpg highway and 40 mpg combined - during this summer it is in the 38 to 40 mpg range. Here is a link to reported fuel economy for the 2010 RX460h on the EPA website: https://www.fueleconomy.gov/!Removed!/Find.do?action=sbs&id=26473 Not many owners reported but some are getting similar fuel economy as you are getting.

Since when is a "throttle body service" part of a 120K maintenance? You are paying for that loaner car - it's not free.

What exactly did the dealer say is wrong with the transmission. Are you experiencing problems other than the CEL and VSC warning lights?

Countless issues - major and minor - can cause the VSC warning light. It's pretty much an "attention getter" to alert you to other problems. What does "bad transmission" mean? Staying out after curfew? Surely the dealer said more than that.

The towing limits are on page 310 of the 2014 RX350 owners manual which you can view at http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM48D08U/pdf/OM48D08U.pdf with towing package: 3,500 pounds without towing package: 2,000 pounds I don't know if is the same for the 2014 RX350 but for the 2015 RX350 the $245 towing prep package consists of "Transmission cooler, heavy-duty radiator and heavy-duty alternator": http://www.lexus.com/models/RX/packages The differences among Toyota/Lexus vehicles having the same 3.5 liter engine and 6-speed transmission are interesting and don't seem to make much sense. For example, your 2014 RX350 appears to have a standard engine oil cooler which is part of the tow prep package of the 2011-2015 Sienna. The 2011-2015 Sienna has a standard transmission cooler which is part of the RX350 towing package. You'd think that there would be more consistency. Toyota finally made the tow prep package standard on the Sienna starting in 2014 and they should have done the same thing on the RX350. Edit: Whoops, I didn't notice the OP's Ontario location. Towing equipment and tow prep package availability is not always the same as for the U.S. Here is a link to the 2014 RX owners manual for Canada which seems to state the same limits as for the U.S.: http://s3.amazonaws.com/lexus.site.tci-prod/lexus/manuals/OM48D08U/OM48D08U.pdf

This sounds serious and potentially dangerous. My guess from 600 miles away is that a new steering rack is needed.

Both the Michelin ( http://www.michelinman.com/US/en/tires/products/primacy-mxv4.html ) and Tire Rack ( http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Primacy+MXV4&partnum=255VR7MXV4P&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Lexus&autoYear=2005&autoModel=LS430&autoModClar= ) show the MXV4 still being available in the 17" size (225/55-17) for the LS430 but only in the faster wearing "V" speed rating. You might consider the more recently introduced Michelin Premier A/S which seems to get from equal to substantially better ratings by Tire Rack customers than the MXV4. I agree that the MXV4 is an excellent tire. We had H-rated versions on both the 98 Camry and 00 LS400 we used to have.

I suppose it depends on a number of factors. Do want to buy four 18" LX470 wheels? The company from which I bought refurbished wheels for my Sienna has refurbished 18" LX470 wheels: http://www.wheelsandcaps.com/p-22079-aluminum-alloy-wheel-rim-18x8-74186.aspx Add more for caps (if the ones you have won't fit) and shipping. There should be no clearance problems. 18" wheels/tiers will provide a substantially firmer ride or a harsher ride depending on your perspective. Larger diameter tires usually wear faster and cost more to buy. The advantage of staying with 16" wheels is of course cost. Which tires you choose may depend on which wheel size you choose - i.e. availability of tire models in your size. I suggest that you look at the ratings and reviews on www.tirerack.com - that should give you an idea about snow traction and based on statistics that are likely much more valid that a few opinions on a car forum. The following web pages show you the OEM wheel and tire sizes for the 02 and 06 LX470. 2002: http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/2002/2002LXspecs.pdf 2006: http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/2006/2006LXspecs.pdf

There are a number of videos on YouTube that might help but it might take searching to find the one you need. One for the IS is at

I assume that that the Tesla Model S third row seats were subjected to crash testing. A number of vehicles made by Toyota have third row seats and can hold seven or eight people: Lexus GX and LX; Toyota Land Cruiser, 4Runner, Highlander, Sienna and perhaps others.