Gryphon

That's got to be the biggest phillips screw driver in the world. I'll have to go borrow one from the Jolly Green Giant :P Everything's bigger in Arizona. Tom

It surely is very strange. Are you sure nobody exchanged your battery without you knowing it. By the way, the little monitor on the top left shows blue, which means the battery is healthy. This is definitely the stock battery that came in my RX. I actually bought two identical vehicles on the same day (sadly the rules of divorce) and both have this battery. Batteries do not have a long life in Arizona, probably due to high heat and low humidity. Perhaps Lexus uses different batteries depending on region. Who knows? The monitor is blue because I photographed the battery when fully charged. Tom

Here ha go friends. My "less than maintenance free" battery. And by the way, there was no tape to remove. Tom

Well mine is sure not. Wonder if Lexus uses different batteries for different climates? Tom

If six little screw-out plugs means anything, then "nope." :) Tom

I left my deck lid open too long last night and found a dead battery today. No surprise, my bad. Before I charged the battery I took a peep into the cells and found the electrolyte quite low. I do live in Arizona where heat is more of a factor, but I did not expect to be adding water to this battery very often. I don't even see a maintenance item in the manual to check battery water. So, how may of you check this regularly and how many need to add water and, if so, how often? Tom

They are referring to this company: http://coastaletech.com Tom

There are words in the owner's manual about such sounds being normal. Tom

Hard to say, timecop. On may cars different modules do different things and make unique sounds. On our cars, who knows? Some day I will make myself small and get under the dash and try to find out. For now I just love the mod. I can finally check my mailbox and drive down the cul-de-sac and back into my garage without the annoying and unnecessary gong. What eve happened to just putting on your seat belt by using your brain and common sense, instead of lawyers reminding you? Tom

Welcome, Steven. Enjoy the new car. You gotta wonder why someone would trade in an RX400h with 6600 miles. Tom

Still wondering if the gong module can be accessed and removed. Tom

I sure would. Tom

All the more reason to have an extended warranty if the only repair option is a complete battery pack replacement. Tom

Same here in the Arizona heat. We get about one year for most blades. Tom

It should also be said the the RX400h puts a lot of torque on the ground through two front wheels. particularly if you occasionally "enjoy" the performance. Personally I don't expect tire wear comparable to your typical rear wheel drive vehicle. Tom

FYI, Consumer Reports December 2008 issue has a new tire comparison test. Tom

Hmmm, not at all sure I like the body style. Tom

MRC, if you do a search you can find another thread on this subject. My personal solution has been to clean my cabin air filter frequently with compressed air and spray it with Lyson disinfectant before I reinstall. It works well for me although I do live in a fairly dry climate in AZ. Tom

You're welcome emim. Sorry about the bad news. But I could definitely still love my Hi-Hi without the tire pressure monitoring. Tom

I've noticed that several Lexus repair manuals are offered on ebay, most on CD, and as cheap as $20. Has anyone found a source for the RX400h repair manual? It would be a great find. Tom

Emim, the button is not too obvious. It's perhaps 6" back from the bottom front of the glove box, about centered, and is black, perhaps 1/4" diameter. Again I am surprised to learn that Lexus would added this in the second model year, and also that they did not originally include it on such an expensive car. Go figure. It is a feature I do like. Just last week I got into my car in the garage and saw a low tire warning light. Walking around the car I found a low right front tire, something I would not have noticed otherwise. And no one is going to drop down the spare tire to check the pressure regularly, so monitoring same is quite nice. Tom

Emim, I guess the 2006 owners are busy this week. I would be very surprised if the 2006s did not have the same feature. One way to check might be to look below the glove compartment door for a black button. This button allows you to switch between two sets of tires (winter/summer for example) which might use two different sets of tire pressures. Tom

Yes, now do you have an answer? No, I have an '07. Tom

Have you checked your Owner's Manual? Tom

When I have driven the RX350 as a loaner I thought that the transmission was surprisingly harsh, not just in comparison to my RX400h but even to other comparable vehicles. Tom