Gryphon

Well, I have to admit, after pulling off the freeway and/or making lane changes to pull over, all so my friend could use the nav system to find some destinations, I am about ready to try a Lockpick 3. And the trunk installation looks rather easy compared to dash disassembly. Tom

Rey, Barney looks good with that chrome decal. I'm holding off until I decide and order a personalized plate that refers to the hybrid heritage of my car. Glad you are back on the road and hope the paint job is as good as factory. Tom

I seriously doubt that there will ever be sufficient market for any sort of aftermarket chip for an RX400h, unless the Hylander Hybrid crowd is considerably more performance oriented. Even if there were a chip, I would be skeptical about plugging one into such a complex vehicle. Tom

I would have to disagree. In some cases, for some cars, there is a definite trade-off between performance and fuel economy--more power often comes at the expense of lower mileage. Emissions can also be affected of course. Tom

The fuel gauge is so optimistic, I find it hard to get within 2 gallons of empty. (No, I don't intend to experiment. ) Tom

so have your cars the funny lamp cover right above the lamp/bulb in the reversing lights? I don't see anything on mine that looks like that, Willi. Tom

Awe, you're just embarassed to post pictures of that new glow-in-the-dark purple paint job., Rey. Tom

Photographs, please? Tom

I have to wonder what how those tires would perform if, God forbid, you must do a high speed avoidance maneuver in the rain at 42 psi. Tom

Find a male seatbelt connector that happens to fit into the Lexus female connector and leave it there. Perhaps at an auto parts dealer or junkyard. Tom

Care to elaborate? Tom

If the 2008 RX400h follows the 2008 Highlander, it should have a pushbutton that allows pure electric-only driving up to 25 mph. Tom

Seatra, I believe that if you do a search you will find others who have found their customer service be very poor. Tom

A poor typist has a red face in Arizona. Tom

Sorry, Rey, I too was unclear. 20th Century was my insurance company too. Tom

Quite a coincidence, Ray, it was 20th Century that repainted my 65 Mustang that was vandalized in Manhattan Beach many years ago. Regards, Tom

Ray, I had wondered where you had disappeared to. Now I am so sorry about your vandalism. It happened to me many years ago too. Tom

That's mighty expensive "peace of mind," but to each his own. Tom

$219.95 with (I think) free shipping from Park Place Lexus: http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...p;siteid=213808 Tom

Welcome Brittni. Happy you found us. Tom

Geeze, cut me some slack, guys. I am way to lazy to try to resurrect my compressible gas equations from college to defend a brainless gas. I would assume that two successive fills if done properly would yield a mixture that is relatively close to 100% nitrogen. That being said, I've already written of my experience with nitrogen in three vehicles and have no interest in it whatsoever. It's a waste of time. And I agree with MadloR that using nitrogen encourages you to neglect checking/filling your tires due to the inconvenience of running back and forth to Costco. Air works for me. Tom

I purchased two 2007 RX400h's from Scottsdale Lexus (Scottsdale, AZ) on 9/30/06, notably the last day to qualify for the full $2200 tax credits. (One for him and one for her is the rule of divorce.) Of course the salesman attempted to deviate from the agreed-upon purchase details from our numerous phone conversations, but that's another story for another day. During my operational instruction session after the purchase, I noticed a groove in my steering wheel, at about 1:00, and pointed it out to the salesman's assistant giving me the instructions. It is not a deep groove but is noticeable whenever you place your hand on it. It was late Saturday, we all wanted to go home, the service department was closed, so nothing was done or documented. The assistant simply told me that it would not be problem to have it replaced and to either bring it in at my convenience, or wait until my first 5000 mile service. I also am fairly sure that I heard the assistant mention it to the salesman a few minutes later. I chose not to make a special trip to the dealer for this matter, as I live in two states, and instead reported it to the service writer at my first service on 7/6/07. He inspected the steering wheel, agreed that it was defective, and said that he would order a replacement wheel. (Not surprisingly, he noted that the cost of the wheel is somewhere around $2200 retail.) When I picked up the vehicle, the service writer told me that the wheel was ordered, and that he would call when it arrives. The invoice shows the following, "client states blemish in steering wheel clear coat, SOP ordered." (I don't know what "SOP" means but it is clear that they had either ordered the part, or would do so.) Two weeks passed so I called the service writer yesterday to inquire about the status of the steering wheel. He took my phone number and said he would check and call me back. Instead, some 5 minutes later, I received a call from the salesman who sold me the vehicles. I didn't particularly like this man when I purchased the vehicles but you "buy the car not the salesman" so I put up with him. The salesman was exceptionally confrontational, and told me the following: 1. Wood has irregularities and this is normal. (The rest of the wheel, and that on my other RX, is actually smooth as glass.) 2. There is no warranty on cosmetic defects, and (are you ready for this?), 3. Steering wheels cannot be removed because they have air bags and it could be dangerous. (I don't know how many fools have the money to buy new Lexuses but this fool knows quite well that steering wheels can certainly be removed, and in fact has done so with several vehicles. One simply must follow the proper procedure to avoid blowing an airbag in his face.) As it stands, the salesman wants me to "come in to talk about it." In other words to debate with him the various reasons for not replacing the defective wheel. This I will not do as this is now a warranty matter, not a sales matter. So cutting through the BS, what do I think is really happening here? The defective steering wheel was not noticed or noted when the vehicle arrived a Scottsdale Lexus, and thus the replacement is out of the dealers pocket, not Lexus corporate. I could easily live with the flaw in the steering wheel, but on principal am fed up with this dealer. I had a bad experience many years ago with Scottsdale Lexus, but let it go and gave them another chance. They have blown it this time. I'll be back when I have more to add about the status of my experience. For now I would highly recommend another dealer if you plan a Lexus purchase in Arizona, or for that matter, a dealership not owned by Roger Penske. http://www.penskeautomotive.com/ Tom PS: Yes, I know I should have documented the matter in writing.

I visited Costco yesterday. They use a machine that they call an "auto-inflator" which deflates the tire, fills it with nitrogen to a set pressure, then does it a second time to improve the "purity." FYI they also have changed their policy and now only add nitrogen to tires when they sell them new. No big deal to me as I gave up on the concept as previous stated. Tom

My dealer persuaded me to report a "slight pull to the right" at my first service and did a 4-wheel alignment. He claimed that proper alignment is critical on 400h's. My vehicle didn't pull before and it doesn't pull now. Something must be wrong, W@nton. Tom

I believe that Costco claims to pull a (small) vacuum before the nitrogen fill, but I did not choose to stand around and watch in Arizona heat. Tom