RX330inTPA

Insist on Lexus Parts and if they won't do it take it to Lexus of Clearwater. If they won't deal you could just order the bumper yourself and take it to a shop of your choice and let them paint it.

Lexus of Tampa Bay and Lexus of Clearwater are both owned and run by the same group. They are AutoWay dealerships.

Regardless, changenme, you can trust their recommendation. After my car was hit it was taken to the body shop at the AutoWay Lincoln Mercury dealership, the old Carlisle Lincoln Mercury facility, over on Hwy 60 in Clearwater. They will walk you through what they will do to the car and what parts they will use. It will all be in their quote. If you are paying and not your insurance company and you want only new parts they will only use new parts. The shop does not care. If you want to see the new parts before they go on your car, ask them to see the parts beforehand.

You are more likely to have a problem with an insurance company saying they will only pay for used body parts on a repair. It is they who tell the body shop what they are willing to pay for.

Did you ask why they were using aftermarket parts? More likely it is at the request insurance company.

Is the top of the dash currently shiny? It's designed so have a dull finish so not much light is reflected, but someone may have added some kind of spray on it etc to protect it.

My dealer, during the after sale service presentation, warned us specifically not to use Armor All or similar on the dash due to this problem.

This is definitely something that is found in the Owner's Manual. Sometimes the answers we seek are closer than we think.

It might be, but the A/C filter for the RX300 is more of a screen than a filter. There might be fungcide impregnated in the A/C "screen" but I highly doubt it. Raise the A/C filter to the sun light you will see more holes than a swiss cheese, can someone explain to me how are fungus and micro-bateria get killed if most of them are passed through?

Think you misunderstand what wwest was saying...

The anti-microbial chemical embedded in the filter is not to kill fungus, etc. going into the cabin, but instead from growing on the filter itself. With all that garbage coming in from outside sticking to the filter, the big bits that will actually collect in the filter, you do not want it to become the big stinky sponge next to the sink.

Do a search on eBay for "RX300 key" and you will find a number of possibilities. You can then just move the electronics and blade to the new shell.

I also have an '05, how often should that filter be changed? Is it in the maintenance schedule? Lastly, for klutzes like myself, pictures would be helpful (e.g., of the pins on which the glove box rotates on). Thanks.

The dealer replaced the cabin filter for my '04 RX at 15K and again at 30K per the maintenance schedule found in the Owner's Manual. Cost of the filter was about $41 each time. Now that I have bothered to look, I might look to see about finding a third party's cabin filter or different source to install myself. Anyone have any suggestions? I found a Bosch P3755 Cabin Air Filter, not sure it worth saving a few bucks if not an improvement, and Iron Toad has the OEM for about half the price:

Interior cabin a/c filter

Code:87139-YZZ03

Price: $24.00

In between changes, I would not hesitate to do what Grumpa72 did, washing it out or at least using an old toothbrush or vacuum to clean it, especially if my car was outside quite a bit and subject to pollen, leaves, etc. There are times during the year when my RX is green with pollen after being outside for only a few hours. Every little bit will help but eventually it should be replaced with new.

Firestone is currently running a special through June 3rd on the Dueler H/T with a buy 3 get 1 free. Those providing reviews at TireRack have given this tire good ratings and it is available in both the normal 17" and plus-1 18" sizes for the RX330.

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Let me retract this part of my comment as the RX330 takes the H/L which is not on sale. The rest stands, and I would still consider the Firestone regardless of price.

Anyone have any economical recommendations for tire replacement, Lexus says it $1000 with them. mine are due to be replaced soon but i have time to shop. What about Costco?

Firestone is currently running a special through June 3rd on the Dueler H/T with a buy 3 get 1 free. Those providing reviews at TireRack have given this tire good ratings and it is available in both the normal 17" and plus-1 18" sizes for the RX330.

Personally, while I have liked Michelins on my vehicles over the years I have not be overly impressed by the those that came stock on my RX. Peformance and ride characteristics have fallen off dramatically from new with only 30K on the tires. If I needed new tires at the moment I might be replacing these now with the the Duelers.

As for the Exaltos, not sure they are available in the normal sizes for the RX330.

Hi Everyone,

I have to take my '02 RX into the dealer for service (will be in for a couple of days at least)... and was wondering what you guys' experience was with loaner cars?

Clearly, it's a Lexus. So I'm not worried about driving a lemon or anything... but will I at least get something on the same level as what I'm already driving? I'd really like to take an '05 or '06 RX around for a few days and see if I should upgrade anytime soon.

You guys' experiences with loaners?

My experiences mirror some of the other posts in that the loaners and the loaner process sometimes runs hot and cold and varies with which dealership you use. At dealership "A", near my office, I have problems even getting a loaner when I would take my RX in for service. They always seem to be out of them even when I call two or more weeks in advance. They would, however, pick up my car from the office and drop it back when done or if I came in they would have someone run me back to the office with little wait.

At dealership "B" across town, I have had better luck getting loaners and they have done the bulk of my servicing. FWIW, they are owned by the same umbrella company. Usually, I get an RX330 of the current or previous year, all low mileage, however I have received an ES330 on one occasion. Most of these have been clean, but once I got one that had obviously been used by a family with kids and a dog. Dog hair and Cheerios all over the place. I blame the family as much as the dealer for that as I would never trash a car in this manner.

My most recent service had me leaving with an RX400h, under 500 miles on it. They even took a few minutes to go over the differences. Was told they had one in the fleet and as it was not in use they gave it to me for the day. My car is always spotless so perhaps just they trusted me with it. I have also never been asked to pay a gas charge though I might assume that may become more common.

Would also add that a loaner is not a guaranteed item when you bring your car in for service, especially if you did not buy the car new and from that dealer, so be sure to ask if it is included or can be arranged. Worst they can say is no.

When Car and Driver did their long term test of the RX300, they ended up aligning it 3 or 4 times. They said the RX300 needed more alignments in it's short test run that some cars in a lifetime. Firestone does offer lifetime alignments.

Thanks, Ericok and NC. Was driving around the other day and came across the local Firestone shop which had the lifetime alignment special on their sign. Stopped in to check on that and the cost of a set of new Alenza tires for when it comes time. Have 30K on the current set and perhaps can get another 5K-7K out of them, but I do not think much more. Only 5/32 of tread left at best.

FWIW, this is definitely the heaviest car I have driven. I am careful in my driving, slow down to go over speed bumps and in general try to take it easy. Easier on the car and easier on me.

I find it interesting that you have never had to align any other vehical...because i have owned 3 lexus cars already and all of them get aligned fairly frequently....That means maybe every 10 thousand miles...i think its even part of the tune up schedule. THey usually do an alignment and rotate the tires...nothing surprising here. I think there was recently a thread saying that these cars are very hard to align, even lexus has a hard time...so maybe they did it wrong the first time...If its gonna help with the uneven tire wear, then im sure it doesnt harm you

I sure as heck hope your cars do not need alignments every 10K miles and no car I am aware of has as part of its normal servicing the need for an alignment. The word "alignment" does not even appear in the RX330 maintenance schedule PDF document you can get from their owner's forum.

Yes, they will rotate your tires at the appropriate intervals and recommend that you have your tires "balanced" but not an alignment as in "front end alignment." And yes, I have probably put 450K-500K miles on various vehicles in my nearly 30 years of driving and can confidentially say that I have never had the need for a front end alignment after only 25K miles. Perhaps at 60K or greater would be more acceptible.

I sure hope the dealer doesn't charge you to rotate your spark plugs as well every 10K.

Had my '04 RX330 in recently for its 25K service. The service advisor called me to say that he recommended an alignment due to uneven wear on the tires and the tech indicated it pulled slightly to one side. Of course they did not think this odd.

Has anyone else had this problem this early in the life of their RX? The car is never off road and I have never put a tire wrong since new. The worst the car sees are the brick roads found in several locations in downtown Tampa which have done nothing more than to point out the dash rattle problem and an issue with the driver's side windows rattling when cold. (Neither fixed)

I have driven many other cars and trucks over the years putting as many as 200K miles on one car ('84 Subaru Wagon 4x4 bought new) without the need for an alignment. However, none was a luxury SUV and thus my posting here. If it truly needs one I was thinking of taking it someplace I might get a lifetime warranty on the alignment and even thinking of waiting until the tires need replaced. Honestly, the wear is noticable but not that bad for tires with 25K on them. I have the Michelins and do have a habit of taking interstate entrance and exit ramps at high speed which put a load on the outside of the tire.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

I finally received the notice for the warranty extension in the mail for my '04 RX330. Guess they sent it to those in colder climates first as those of us in FL would not see the problem.

Believe this to be the third warranty extension or recall for my vehicle.

i took my rx300 to cherry hill lexus in NJ for an oil change, and waited one and half hour, cost me $129.

i nerver went back again as i do my own oil change now with Mobile 1 oil

Sounds like you had filters etc done as well. Check your invoice. I've had one such oil change, and other lesser cost oil changes (oil change only) with Cherry Hill.

One of the local Toyota dealers will peform the oil change on an RX for $19.99 + tax and disposal fees and in under 30 minutes. Mine goes there every other 3750, Lexus gets it the rest of the time.

BTW, I think the $129 fee should have included a loaner car for the day. Business folks would not blink at that fee as long as they did not need to sit around waiting. For many it is a tax write-off. Lexus just takes advantage of this and the rest of us suffer.

B

Are you sure the clunk is coming from the rear? As Booyah describes, I started hearing a noise in my '04 RX FWD when I would turn the steering wheel to the right or left, about 2/3 way. Thought it sounded like it was coming from the rear, but after closer listening it was coming from up front. Turned out the suspension, believe it was the strut tower, was coming in contact with the cowling underneath the hood. Have them check the upper strut bolts which tend to come lose due to body flex. The cowling will shift as a result.

Problem was definitely reproducible, especially after the car had sat for half an hour or so, and the service manager had no problems reproducing it either.

If you are sure it is coming from the rear, it may be a similar problem.

Maybe my service techs are just plain good, but your dealer should be able to locate any noise you can hear if you can tell them how to reproduce.

B