RXREY

RXREY, You never left in my eyes, Your always welcome here. We all have those days. Thanks, it's a pleasure. I want to post pictures and my thoughts after having my Toyo Proxes S/Ts (255/55/18"), for over a year and 12K miles. It will be a great report on them, they are amazing tires. Reyjavou!

I posted something yesterday that was not meant to offend anyone. I was just irritated by the fact that so many times I come to this forum for advice, or help and have to see that people are just so unhappy and spew venom towards a car that I think is amazing. That's why I bought it! Anyway, I would like to be welcomed back if it's OK with my fellow Lexers...the happy ones. The rest of those that see life as a negative, an amazing car as the object of their frustrations or lack of ability to just get something else...well, I wish them well also and hopefully they can get their perfect car and at last be happy in life. I must go be with loved ones now, watch children play, hug my family and give thanks for my life. Warmly, Rey Bustos in L.A.

If you are a student of human behavior, automobile forums are a great place to study. The anonymity combined with a man's feeling that he has to be an expert in things automotive often brings out aggression and defensiveness when others don't agree. This I have not seen in other types of forums. I belong to a computer forum and everyone is extremely helpful, courteous and kind. Happy Father's Day to all. Wyle That's such an interesting observation and now that I think about it, in art forums or digital designer forums everyone is more humble and helpful. Hmm, so interesting. Just the same, I miss getting help from the guys here. As I said though, it's simply too uncivil most of the time and it was bringing me down. No one likes to feel ripped off and especially from other Lexus owners. I spent a lot of money on this car and I feel great about it, well until after this creepy negative forum. My sister has a MB and I have friends with BMWs and they all have complaints. The fact is that we should just see that we have a great life to be a part of and this kind of negativity was simply getting tiresome. But to each his own and I do wish everyone much happiness. Rey BBS decorum. Interesting subject. I've been on the Internet in similar sites for years. There will always be nasty people posting obnoxious text and commentary. Controversial topics, which most are or become, will bring out the self-proclaimed experts. If you are overly sensitive to this unfortunate reality, then you will be offended, defensive, and over react. As automotive related sites go, this site is one of the more civil I've been on, and probably because we have some great moderators and managers. I commend them for their work, I'm sure it's not an easy or fun job. And, I assume also that the people who would frequent a Lexus site would be interested or own a Lexus, and that they may have just a tad more interest in understanding the "owneship" issues of a more expensive vehicle. I know that since I spend lots of time communicating via email in my career, I am never suprised to get a response from one of my emails that clearly was because the person reading it didn't understand my message, or read something into it that wasn't there, or imagined a "tone" because they don't know how I think. Without voice intonation, it can be difficult for the average "non-literary" genius to compose words that say everything want to say without writing a novel. Rey, remember.... if it weren't for those "evil, wicked, nasty" people, us good people wouldn't go to heaven! That's just my worthless opinion. Thanks so much Randy, maybe I will just filter things out because I really do like a lot of the people that I've "met" here and people such as yourself that are warm and helpful. I was just taken aback and was in a sensitive mode that day anyway. I'll go see my folks today, eat a lot, laugh a lot and every once in a while look out the window and smile at my 400h. Have a glorious day, Rey

If you are a student of human behavior, automobile forums are a great place to study. The anonymity combined with a man's feeling that he has to be an expert in things automotive often brings out aggression and defensiveness when others don't agree. This I have not seen in other types of forums. I belong to a computer forum and everyone is extremely helpful, courteous and kind. Happy Father's Day to all. Wyle That's such an interesting observation and now that I think about it, in art forums or digital designer forums everyone is more humble and helpful. Hmm, so interesting. Just the same, I miss getting help from the guys here. As I said though, it's simply too uncivil most of the time and it was bringing me down. No one likes to feel ripped off and especially from other Lexus owners. I spent a lot of money on this car and I feel great about it, well until after this creepy negative forum. My sister has a MB and I have friends with BMWs and they all have complaints. The fact is that we should just see that we have a great life to be a part of and this kind of negativity was simply getting tiresome. But to each his own and I do wish everyone much happiness. Rey

You do sound unhappy about a lot of things on the RX that I would have thought you would have noticed before you bought one, but the good news is the resale value of your Lexus RX 400h should be real high as hybrids are in demand and short in supply where as other SUV's are severly depressed in the market. Bet you could sell it and make a great deal on a gas guzzling BMW SUV. As for not getting the mileage the sticker said I do better on the highway side on my 08 RX400h, if I drive carefully I can get around 32.6 MPG I average around 28.4 MPG city and highway combined about 50/50. As for the nav system, I agree, I have a 07 Acura MDX and the Lexus nav system is a joke in comparison, but I added the Coastaltech Lockpick 3 basic and it allows me to input destinations while moving, look for POI's ect., and for only $99 and it only took 5 min to install. The lockpick really improves the functionality to a point where I am not totally happy with the Lexus system, but it is now quite usable while driving. Oh and while I like my Acura the gas mileage sucks compared with my Lexus RX400h. One other point, the cup holder you mentioned, wow you must have long legs to have a problem, that it is up past the centerline of the steering column and up against the door, dont know what else they could have done other than not put one there at all. I think you have to consider the Lexus is a 5 yr old design that will probably be improved when the new model comes out next year, but I doubt the nav system will be improved, except again the Lockpick is well worth the money if you plan on keeping your current RX very long. Easy fix...when the system tells you "No address exists" or whatever...simply enter the CITY first! It was an easy fix...most of these things that you all complain about are sounding like spoiled kids stuff...sorry, but I must now leave this forum forever. Peace and I hope that you all find your perfect car...I have other things to do....Rey Bustos in L.A.

If you are a student of human behavior, automobile forums are a great place to study. The anonymity combined with a man's feeling that he has to be an expert in things automotive often brings out aggression and defensiveness when others don't agree. This I have not seen in other types of forums. I belong to a computer forum and everyone is extremely helpful, courteous and kind. Happy Father's Day to all. Wyle That's such an interesting observation and now that I think about it, in art forums or digital designer forums everyone is more humble and helpful. Hmm, so interesting. Just the same, I miss getting help from the guys here. As I said though, it's simply too uncivil most of the time and it was bringing me down. No one likes to feel ripped off and especially from other Lexus owners. I spent a lot of money on this car and I feel great about it, well until after this creepy negative forum. My sister has a MB and I have friends with BMWs and they all have complaints. The fact is that we should just see that we have a great life to be a part of and this kind of negativity was simply getting tiresome. But to each his own and I do wish everyone much happiness. Rey

So get another car already. This is a Lexus owners club. Complain to Lexus for the love of Mike. Be happy, life is too short and you do have options. I'd rather think about other things. If I didn't like my great...GREAT RX 400h, I'd get something else...but not a FORD! Get your Ford and write in in about a year. Rey in L.A...and very happy with my Lexus.

Good for you! I love my Proxes. I have Proxes S/T 255/55 18 and I actually think that the on board MPG calculator is now more accurate than with the OEM tires. I still calculate it myself and multiply my total miles by .03, which ends up being about 12miles per fill up. I used the tire calculator on line to get the .03. It's actually closer to .035 but I still get around 26MPG. Anyway, I have had the Toyos for over a year and they don't even show any sign of wear that I can notice. They are the best tires that I have ever had. The bad thing about TIRE RACK in this case is that they don't have them rated for the RX400h or they would be at the top, I am sure of it. Anyway, the tires and wheels look great and keep us posted on the lowering. I might do that next year. Rey

do you mean the seatbelt height adjusters? I believe I have heard a noise from their too when driving. I'm not sure what you mean by the contact points? Yes, the height adjusters...the contact points are anything where separate pieces touch one another. In my case, since I don't adjust the seat belt height, I put the buffers in between the slider and anything it touched. Also the space in between the plastic slider mechanism and the shaft that it slides against. Basically get the little rubber,dime sized, adhesive on one side deeliebobs and put them anywhere things touch against one another! It'll make your day and you'll smile at strangers afterward. rattle free in L.A., Rey Bustos The little plastic spacers that I am talking about are almost exactly like dimes so they are thin and have a peel back adhesive side, you simply pushed them in between the moving pieces. It's easy. You'll see what I mean if you look at that slider area. The way I found that rattle is that as I drove, I pushed on the height adjuster and there was no sound...so I figured that it was vibrating against each other, the slide handle and the track it is in. It's really not complicated....

I love hybrid logos.

do you mean the seatbelt height adjusters? I believe I have heard a noise from their too when driving. I'm not sure what you mean by the contact points? Yes, the height adjusters...the contact points are anything where separate pieces touch one another. In my case, since I don't adjust the seat belt height, I put the buffers in between the slider and anything it touched. Also the space in between the plastic slider mechanism and the shaft that it slides against. Basically get the little rubber,dime sized, adhesive on one side deeliebobs and put them anywhere things touch against one another! It'll make your day and you'll smile at strangers afterward. rattle free in L.A., Rey Bustos

I found all of the little annoying rattles. I don't like having a dealer or anyone besides me take care of such things unless it proved to be something too difficult to get to such as in the dash. I never had anything in the dash so my little rattles were: The flap on the rear seats.....I put padding in between the flaps and the seats...fixed. 2. the rear rattle..the first one...the little locks for the privacy screen needed to be pushed in and I also added felt to the ends just in case...fixed....3. the height adjusters on either side of the front seats. I got rubber pads, (they have a peel back adhesive side and look like rubber dimes), from a hardware store and shoved them in between all contact points in the slider and the slider handle...fixed...that one was annoying because it was right at my ear so even the tiny rattle was heard....fixed. 4. The hatch, the second rear rattle... ...by the area that has the felt material meeting the metal, facing you when the hatch is open...I placed the same types of rubber,sticky on one side...pads, four of them, running in between the fabric area and the metal...by the pull down handle...fixed. My car feels really solid...no squeaks at all..oh, and conditioning the leather seats all around took care of the annoying rubbing sounds...which is the case for all leather interior cars...I really don't like leather seats...anyway, that's it for me, hope this helps. I too was very surprised at the rattles but I took care of each one myself and it was fun for me actually. I've never had a luxury car before so rattles was just the way things have been all of my life.....heck, I wish that was all that I had to worry about with other cars! But with this car, the rattles stood out as not being right so I really wanted to find and kill the squeaks and rattles...and I did! Happy trails and be grateful that you can actually have such a nice car. Rey

It doesn't make it louder does it? The last thing I want is for this great car to be loud! Did you take off the second air filter as NeoN suggested? Rey

I saw the K&N air filter for about $44. but it also states that it is for 2007-08. I have an 06, why would it be different for the newer years? Rey

Can I simply take out the second air filter? The first one comes out very easily but the second one is pretty well stuck in there and I don't want to force anything until one of you tells me how and or if I should. Rey

Thanks for asking. It was tricky, they hadn't even seen this. It turns out it was a sensor that wasn't reading my key signal. I was able to open and start the car by putting the key in but I couldn't activate anything by remote...as I mentioned. They had to take the ignition area apart, they had my car for two days, and put in a new part. I was there for my 25,000 mile service anyway and they didn't charge me, of course, for the sensor problem. They were great and I got to drive an 08 ES350 for two days. I loved the keyless entry of the ES, the way it cornered and the fact that you didn't need to "Agree" to the GPS.... but other than that the 400h is way better than the ES 350 and even the RX 350,with both,especially on the freeway, from my experiences of driving all three. Anyway, I hope no one else gets this problem but if they do, it was an easy fix. It just took a day to get the part. I have been really very,very happy with the great service that I have gotten at my dealership. This forum is great for these such things as well. I know that when I initially got this problem the first place I went to was this forum before taking it to the dealership. Granted, I also knew it wasn't a major problem and felt that it could wait the few days till my service appointment. Take care all....Rey

thats actually a good idea, however i thought about it for a while and im still attempting to achieve the "macho" look with an SUV, hence the ramming guard and the blacked out tails. My intent is to make the SUV as non-girly as possible.... since the RX is a well-known girls car. I like the way yours looks, very sleek, although I would rather opt for a macho look but thank you for the suggestion rey. The Toyo Proxes S/Ts will do much to make the car less princessy! Mine is still girly but more like Xena and less like Cinderella, like when I bought her...yes, it's a "Her". I can't wait to see your car with the Proxes! It'll be a perfect compliment to your already "bitchen" car...and I haven't used that word in a long time...with good reason I suppose....take care,Rey

You might want to consider taking off the roof rack. I really like that I did and it would look even better with your gorgeous all black car. Now with the blacked out tail lights the roof rack looks out of place. You need to continue that minimalist look! In my opinion. Take care and thanks for the pics. Rey in L.A.

thank you rey! i appreciate the compliments very much. I actually use costco tire foam, just spray and walk away. hehe i know im lazy but i've heard the stuff you apply with an applicator pad lasts longer, to be honest its sloppier and this stuff is extremely simple and effective. I'll check the brand when I get home but I used to use "Mothers" tire foam spray application which did a great job. let me know if you have any questions. i'm in the process of acquiring 255/50/18 Toyo Proxes, can't wait till those suckers get installed You are going to love the Proxes! I got the 255/55-18s because I did want to have the wheel wells filled a tad more. 3.5% more. It makes a visual difference but doesn't mess up the specs of the car nor the MPGs...anyway, I've had them a full year now and will post pictures soon. They still look brand new and no sign of wear,or very minimal, after a year and 10K miles. I know I don't put them to the test but this should at least count for soething. Rey

That looks great! I think it really works with black cars though. It looks fabulous. Oh, by the way, what do you put on your tires to make them so nice and shiny. I have tried different products and am kind of happy with the Tire Foam product but it doesn't look as nice as yours, nor when I get my car back from the dealer and they wash and clean the car. The tires always look much better than what I do myself. What do you use? Rey

OK, I just got my 400h back after driving the 2008 ES350 for a couple of days. I liked it but was so glad to get my 400h back. Neither the RX350 nor the ES are as nice. The RX350 tranny is nothing compared to the CVT of the 400h. I did enjoy the cornering of the ES though, a lot...it was great. I also loved the keyless entry and push button start. I have NO idea why they didn't include that in or RXes! I also liked that they got rid of the "I agree" part of the GPS and now I hate that I have to keep agreeing...I'm an agreeable person but every time? Sheeesh! The seats were nicer on the ES as well. But the acceleration on the freeway with my 400h is better than the RX350 and the ES350! I also got stuck in a lot of L.A. traffic as I got closer to home and it reminded me as to why I love the hybrid so much....it was all electric on a good part of the slow,stop and go of the freeway drive. I mean, I do wish that I could open 'er up more often but that's just not an opportunity that happens often out here. I do get to push it over 100MPH on the occasional wild Sunday morning when I drive a couple of towns away but on the way back....oh, boy....stop and go, an hour to go twenty miles is common and worse on week days...which is why I only take freeways on week ends out here. OK, that's my take on things. I haven't seen any pluses for the RX 350 except the wood trim...but as I said, I found a steering wheel on eBay and that solved that irritation/omission. Take care all....Rey in traffic town USA...L.A.

I'm not sure what you mean. I have enjoyed driving the ES350 but it's really not as nice as my 400h and I'm picking it up this morning. I don't know if you saw my previous post about the problem I had with the keys and the fact that they didn't activate the doors and when I pulled out the key from the ignition the car still read the key as being in. Anyway, I'll find out what that was soon. As I have already said, the 400h to me is very different than the RX350 that I have had as a loaner twice. I find that the 400h feels much better and it feels much faster and a lot more responsive at highway speeds...even much better than the ES350. But as I also said, the cornering on the ES is so much better...I will miss that. I have a friend with an Infinity FX and it too handles better than my 400h but I have to be honest, you feel EVERY pebble on the road! It's a rough ride, reminds me of my Radio Flyer that I had as a kid! To each his own. He wanted the sportier SUV but now with gas as expensive as it is, he's getting rid of it. He loves my 400h so maybe he'll join the club. Warmly, Rey

I got a loaner RX 350 and I was really glad to get my 400h back. On the freeways here in L.A. the acceleration is amazing with the 400h and the shifting, albeit smooth on the RX350 isn't like the CVT at all. I am driving an ES350 right now while they fix the key problem that I have mentioned on a previous post. It too is not as nice as the 400h but I have to admit, the cornering on the ES350 is way better than my 400h...well, the 400h IS an SUV so I guess that is par for the course. I like the MPGs too much to care about any of the other Lexus cars mentioned. Gas is already $4. here in L.A and I gas up twice a month. That keeps me in my 400h, and smiling. Noisy? Hmm, it's my first luxury car so I guess most of you are definitely spoiled compared to little ol' me. I am really happy with this great car. It is amazing to me how I can feel the shift points in the RX 350 and this ES 350. I guess I too am becoming spoiled now that I have my 400h! I love not having that little hesitation or down shifting feel and the fact that in the rush hour traffic I am in silent,electric mode for many miles as I watch the MPGs go up...up,up...that too makes me really happy..To each his own. I went from gassing up once a week to every other week. I hate the gas station, always have , so that too makes a difference to me. Warmly, Rey in sunny...and trafficy L.A.

Yes, even a small car gets terrible MPGs in a big L.A. type city. I never got better than 18MPGs with my PT Cruiser and was lucky if I got 220 miles on one tank, usually I'd fill up with about 13 gallons and drive about 220 miles as opposed to around 15 gallons and 400 miles with my 400h...) Anyway, it's the fact that on the freeways here I am often in electric mode that makes me cringe what I see a million cars around me burning and burning fuel at idle or 20 MPH in rush hour. Toodle-loo, Rey

17.2 gallons. Yes, everyone in L.A. should have a hybrid. It's perfect for a big city without an autobahn! The freeways here are nutty and many times you drive stop and go. On Sunday mornings I can open her up but that's a rarity. I do like the few times I pushed the gas and went from 70-105 in a flash! The car is so smooth at fast speeds it's amazing....but then I have never had a car that was good enough for that kind of speed and or quality. My last car was a PT Cruiser and kids on skate boards used to pass me up. RB