Gryphon

Ken. These people make products to override the limitations of the nav system. If you do a search you will find several discussions on the subject. http://coastaletech.com/ 800-507-2234 Tom

Brake fluid, other than DOT5, is hygroscopic (absorbs water), and as such should definitely be changed on some sort of reasonable schedule, to avoid degradation of materials it is in contact with. Tom

Lenny. I just took a look at my rear seats and do not see an obvious way to remove them, probably because they house the drive batteries which are best left untouched by human hands. It does look like there is considerable access below the seats from both the front and rear, particularly if you move them forward and backward. If you have access to any reaching tools, magnetic or mechanic, they also might help. Tom

Hey Rey. Many years ago I was a heat transfer engineer and designed missiles and satellites. In outer space, a very inhospitable environment, controlling temperature variations is hugely important. I once went out into a parking lot in the middle of an Arizona summer and measures surface temperatures of vehicles of various colors. White was clearly cooler, most intermediate colors were warmer but very similar, and black was clearly hotter. As to how much this actually affects the interior temperature of your Lexus, it would be very slight, but at least theoretically it would increase the amount of heat transferred through the (insulated) roof which would require a bit more cooling. If the appearance of a black roof pleases you, I would do it and enjoy the car. I don't think you could measure a difference in fuel economy. Tom

Rey, I agree that a black roof would be attractive, but be aware that it will also increase the thermal load on sunny days. I would expect that the excellent climate control would more than handle it however. Tom

Well, WWEST0, formerly WWEST, you have confirmed my observation that as people age they return to children. I do not appreciate you modifying my original post with your personal comments. ("I'm a spurned lover.") Moderators, doesn't it require approval before a "new" member is allowed to post? If so, why are we again subjected to this eccentric idiot's comments? Tom

And of course all of our insurance rates will plunge inversely proportional to the price of gas! :lol: It is illegal to use "insurance rates" and "plunge" in the same sentence. Tom

I may be inept, but I have never liked the MityVac much for my cars or motorcycles, and actually gave mine away recently in lieu of more conventional bleeding methods. One that works pretty well is to force the brake fluid up from the calipers with a well-fitted syringe. Now here comes the teasing...another method that I recently used on my Porsche 968, a rather difficult vehicle to bleed, is what I might call the successive dilution method. Brake fluid is quite cheap so I simply suck out as much fluid as possible from the master cylinder and refill it with fresh fluid, then drive the vehicle for a day, and do it again (and again). After about 6 drain/fills the fluid looks fresh and new. :) Tom

Unfortunately, the manufacturer of many components like oil filters can change with time, as can the quality. Many years ago I remember finding a site by a Mustang owner who cut open and inspected several oil filters and posted the results. The most interesting thing to me was that Fram filters had degraded terribly when the company was bought out (Allied Signal?). Tom

OK, I'll chime in, perhaps because I don't know when to be quiet. WWest, you have an extraordinarily good knowledge of many things related to cars, engines, designs, etc., and I for one would miss some of your posts. But I simply don't know why you feel the need to be confrontational in your numerous comments about hybrids. Tom

Shaking my head side to side in amazement, I am Tom :(

Has anyone read who makes Walmart's generic sythetic oil? Tom

Welcome Squire. I hope that you love your hybrid as much as I do mine. Many people have reported fuel mileage improvements after a break-in period, usually reported as 5,000 or 10,000 miles. I saw a decent increase at 10,000 although I also changed to synthetic oil at the same time. I also have a K&N air filter although I really don't think it produces a measurable effect on economy. Tom

I was recently confronted by a RX350 owner who asked about my fuel mileage. I responded honestly and of course he (defensively I think) responded that he got a consistent 34 in town, up 6 mpg since he added a "performance K&N air filter." I simply said, 'that's great," and moved on. Sometimes there's just no point in arguing with a liar. Tom

I sympathize with dealing with idiot customers. I have been in retail in the past. But my problem with Coastal is that the phone people seem to have little interest in helping me select the proper product for my vehicle. This, in fact, is why I haven't bothered to buy anything from them as yet. Tom

Is it just me, or do the phone people at Coastal Etech seem like poorly trained idiots? Tom

SW03ES, in my humble opinion you are doing a great job. Tom

Perhaps Mitch works for Mercedes. Tom

Sigh, I feel so liberated now. :D Randy, you are welcome. Google is my best friend. And, I am definitely a Consumer Reports fan. I value their impartiality and perspective on many products. I have never blindly used their rankings to buy anything, but rather their talking points to make me a wiser shopper. Those that criticize C.U. as biased puzzle me. Tom

I assume that you all know that the EPA revised all of its numbers back to 1987 and that the (FWD) RX400h is now rated at: 27 city 25 highway I do better than both numbers. Tom

I was in the service industry when I was younger. It is not difficult to lean toward the customer and get a repair covered under warranty if you are so inclined. Dealers that take a "hard stance" are quiite frankly fools. Tom

Randy, is this the article you are referring to? http://www.xs11.com/stories/croil96.htm Tom

Neon, your religious slurs are offensive to me. How about keeping them to yourself? Tom

I can't speak for now, but in October 2006 I bought two 2007 RX400h's, and got a decent deal. The two local Toyota dealers wanted a $2000 markup above list to which I said, "pound sand," or perhaps words slightly more colorful. Tom

Is it just my computer or do the "German Club, Australian Club, and UK Club" "boxes" block the "My Assistant, My Friends and ? Messages" links for everone? It's annoying. Tom