Thanks for your thoughts Jim. Ive had the same experience with my 4Runner and my local Toyota dealership. It may take them a couple of ties, but they can get that thing to drive straight down the road and rock solid. I bought it new in 95 and still drive it regularly. I have to leave for a 1000 mile round trip tomorrow, and I'm really torn between taking the 470 or the 4Runner with 160 K on it. Sorta rubs me the wrong way to be contemplating such a choice after dropping the chunk of change needed to buy an LX470.
I have the centering problem you discribe. Regarding the pull, I've been wondering about the possibility of power being delivered unevenly to the front wheels. While driving it today I experienced it changing direction when hitting expansion joints/bumps in the road at highway speeds. When accelarting from a stop, "in town speeds" the pull to the left is only slightly noticable, but once it shifts into second gear, the pull becomes more pronounced. I also have determined that consistantly on first startup of the day, while just beginning to back out of the garage, I can feel a quick "twich" in the steering wheel, just once, and then I don't notice it any more.
Unfortunatly we only have one dealer here, the next closest is a couple hours away. My dealer claims that they have contacted a regional Lexus engineer and he is supposed to come here to drive the vehicle next week. I have contacted Lexus customer service and they claim they will send the regional rep (paper pusher/customer delay man) to see the vehicle as well.
I hope the engineer can diagnose the problem as I want to like this vehicle, but the more they delay action the more I'm thinking they just need to take it back. I've given them enough opportunities to fix the poblem. I'm glad to hear your LX470 performs well, it gives me hope that mine can be repaired or replaced with a good one.
AAS