Robl45

My wifes Rx400 has been making a strange noise. I especially hear it when waiting at the Drive Thru of Mcdonalds. It sounds exactly like when the windshield wipers are going but their is no water on the windows. I thought the back wiper was on by accident or something. But its definately not the wipers. I have it happen when driving and also just sitting waiting with engine off. Anyone have any idea what it could be?

I got yelled at the last time I said this, but I would wait for the new model. I'm sure the hybrid system will be better, probably get better gas mileage and most likely will have ventilated seats which I believe all lexuses have now except the outdated RX series. I have the 2006 RX 400 as well. The differences on the 08 are minor. Tire pressure warning system was installed in 07. YOu can play mp3's instead of just normal CD's. I believe the navigation is a little better. I can guarantee there will be a huge difference with the all new redesign over the 2008 and I'm sure unlike what other people may think that the price is not going to go up all that much.

but did you take the panels off? I don't understand how you are getting the thngs in the way you are saying. Its just a plastic piece inside a panel that moves up and down. 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

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?

did you ever get this drivers door vibration fixed? I have a vibration from the divers door that happens alot when driving down the road. Seems like its from the door or the left cupholder area. I drove with the tech for an hour and of course could not duplicate it.

I actually had Lexus corporate tell me today that it will pull right because of the crown in the road as well. I proceeded to tell them that the rental they gave me doesn't pull right, that my car didn't pull right after they fixed it and further my corvette don't pull right either. I understand the road is crowned for water runoff, but anyone that believes that is going to make the car go to the right is a full on moron. Oh my gawd!! The "crown of the road" specification!!!!!!!!!!!! Back in the early 80's, I had a Mercedes that after installing new tires the shop suggested a wheel alignment. It didn't pull at all before the new tires. They did an alignment, and after driving off, it pulled hard to the right. I turned around and went back. The manager said "We'll check it out". They said it's within spec, and that it pulls because the "crown of the road". So I asked him "Which road and which crown" did they adjust the alignment?? I said "So Mecedes builds a $50,000 car that the steering pulls because the "crown of road"? I told him in so many words that he was full of ca-ca!! I took my car to a specialty shop that only does chassis and alignments. The owner laughed when I told him my car just had an wheel alignment and it was adjusted for "the crown of some road", and that I wanted it aligned so it ignored any crown of the road! They fixed it in about 1 hour, and we test drove it. It drove straight. He said they always test drive the cars after alignment and unless there are mechanical issues or tire issues, they adjust the alignment specs to make the car drive straight!! He said it is not unusual to have to slightly modify and adjust from the factory alignment specs to make the steering track properly. According to him, having been in the business for 25 years, he said there is no reason for the steering geometry in a street vehicle to be set up to pull to the right or left!!

I believe the RX models are the only ones that still use a key, you don't call that dated??? LOL, sorry but thats just stupid. You could have bought a different vehicle. You instead bought an aging vehicle that is about to be replaced. Thats like the guys that were buying 2004 vettes because they were getting a special deal or something instead of buying the new completely updated vehicle. IN the case of the 400H, its extremely dated at this point. My 2006 is dated and they are still going on and on, they should have done a redone already. Gee, stupid me. I made the same mistake. Don't need or want a bigger vehicle. Didn't want to wait another 1 - 1.5 years. IMHO buying a models 2-3 years into the design cycle is very smart. Loads of little detail upgrades and fixes take place. Even Lexus refines and implements fixes every year. They become more reliable and trouble free. I don't think the RX looks dated at all at this point. It has THE most elegant style of any SUV out there. Oh, and I usually keep my vehicles 12 - 15 years. /Steve

The new corvette actually had a price tag that was less than the older model. You don't know that it will cost more. You don't even really know what it will look like. Yes, its a hybrid and the only one pretty much, but you could have had a much more up to date vehicle is all I'm saying.

Thats not exactly what I said.

LOL, sorry but thats just stupid. You could have bought a different vehicle. You instead bought an aging vehicle that is about to be replaced. Thats like the guys that were buying 2004 vettes because they were getting a special deal or something instead of buying the new completely updated vehicle. IN the case of the 400H, its extremely dated at this point. My 2006 is dated and they are still going on and on, they should have done a redone already.

so did they ever get it fixed? Mine does this too.

This is the second post I'm reading about on the vehicle pulling to the right. Mine pulls to the right as well. It can't be coincidence that they all pull to the right. I don't know why lexus won't step in and fix this problem.

so is the problem fixed? Mine is pulling to the right also. Guess what? Two peoples cars pulling to the right is not an alignment issue, this is an issue with the car. Otherwise, why is one not pulling right and one pulling left? Mine has been aligned by lexus already and is still doing. Its been doing it since we got the car 1 1/2 years ago and 25000 miles ago. We got the car with 21000 miles on it and it was doing it then. This is the 3rd time I"m in the shop for it and I believe that this is more of a problem than an alignment.

Is anyone having alignment problems on the 400H? We got our 2006 RX400H certified preowned with 21000 miles. It has pulled to the right ever since we got it. Lexus fixed it one time, that last about a week. Then they fixed it again and that lasted for about 2 months. Fast foward about 25000 miles and we are back at the dealership for some other stuff while they are trying to make me pay for a tire rotation claiming that anything can happen in 25000 miles and apparently I should bring my car in every 2 weeks so they can fix the pulling to the same direction each time that must be the tires and not the car. I'm being a little sarcastic here :) Seriously, I've owned 14 cars to date and I've changed tires, etc and never had to align a car unless its been in an accident. Lexus is trying to tell me it should be aligned every year. I'm thinking either my car has problems or its a problem with rx400H's. I know people were reporting unusual tire wear in some post a long time back. Not sure if this has anything to do with it.

I drive my rx400h trying to get the best mileage, looking at the info screen to see when i'm on electric, trying to keep it on electric etc. I get like 22-24 mpg when I drive it. It is the wifes car and when she drives it, she gets 28mpg. She doesn't look at crap, she just drives how she wants to drive. I can't figure it out. The AC is always on since we live in south florida. She drives about 18 miles on the highway and 6 miles off highway each way to work. So the car can get decent MPG, but apparently babying it is not the way to do it.

I just did this today, it was not too bad. The bolt for the oil pan was stuck and pipe wrench finally solved that. The oil filter was a bit of a pain to get to but it was a normal screw on filter like every other car. I got it loose with my strap wrench and then just turned it by hand till it came out. I did use rhino ramps to make the job easier. The biggest pain is the oil fill is down low so I managed to spill some oil.

Thats exactly what I'm talking about, 5 visits later to the dealer and it seems relatively quiet now, I still will have to address some issues on my own. They did manage to get the rear armrest to stay quiet in the up position but not sure what they did or how long that will stay quiet for. I notice that all the other lexuses have ventilated seats which will hopefully get into the new RX. I do not like the reports of long wheelbase RX400h's and the like though. No need to make the vehicle heavier.

my 99 vette convertible rattled, but the 08 convertible is pretty good. The lexus dealer did some stuff and the car is better now as far as rattles and stuff go, but its nowhere near the level of the ES and GS that we have had for rental cars. Its not even like rattles, its like buzzing and stuff from behind panels and such.

well I tried all the tips mentioned and there are still buzzes and rattles, took the privacy screen out, made sure the tabs are in the correct position. it appears there is a buzz from somewhere around the back headrest that at some point I'll have to troubleshoot. But what do you do about the back armrest? Just drive with it down all the time? The roof rack rattles like crazy, I had them replace it twice, and they claimed its designed to float so it would always rattle. Remember, we picked up this car with 20K miles on it, its done this since day one. We have driven in rentals with 8K miles and one with 30K miles and none of this crap. Cars now a days really do not rattle. A lot of rattles we can find ourselves, but some rattles coming from behind panels are not so easy to find. Its just really annoying when I have more rattles than in a corvette convertible which is known as a rattle trap.

As the subject says. Our 2006 rx400h is in the shop supposedly because the 12v battery has a dead cell. They gave us a 2008 gs350 and its like a different world. The thing doesn't rattle, doesn't squeak, it doesn't have a roof rack that rattles while driving down the highway. The back seat armrest can be in the up position and not make noise. ETC. Pretty much the gadgets and such are all the same, but the GS350 is what I expect a lexus to be. We had an es250 rental that was the same way. Well built without squeaks and rattles. I plan to have a word with the service department tomorrow.

Hi, My 2006 rx400H is at the dealership now becasue it decided to not start last night. They say its the battery. This is completely rediculous because 1. We had just driven 20 minutes to my mother in laws. We moved the car and it was fine, then it wouldn't start for the next 20 times, kept saying shift into park when we were already in park. 2. The battery gets charged. If the battery gets charged, and has never gotten deeply discharged, the battery shouldn't go dead. 3. Don't they replace the battery on certified preowned cars when you get them? OUrs is 1 year and 4 months since we got it. Okay, was told they don't replace the battery on certified preowned cars and that the battery had a bad cell, I think this is BS personally. 4. Batteries don't die that quickly. 5. Its a hybrid, What the heck is that little battery doing? Basically flipping a relay so the big battery hooks up? And finally, if its true and I believe it is true that the starter battery gets a low amp trickle charge, where the heck do you hook the aftermarket amps up to?

Are you just going to keep asking the same question until you get an answer you like? You've already been given the correct answer multiple times. Yes, I've done it, and yes it works. No I"m just trying to make sure I get the correct answer before I mess up my wifes car. How can the starter battery be connected to the high voltage battery when the car is in ready mode. One is 280 volts, one is 12 volts. It would have to be connected to the dc-dc converter and that would explain the 5amp discharge. Clearly people are not having a problem with their batteries going dead, so I will try this.

well I will try from the starter battery then. Although it still worries me that it only recharges at 5 amps.

seriously, are you guys guessing or are you posting facts? Both manuals from both cars say 5amps max recharge on the starter battery. It can recharge because it never does anything besides switch on the high voltage system. Has anyone actually hooked up a power amp to the starter battery? Not trying to be a jerk, but I really need facts, not guesses.

you cannot go off the starter battery on a toyota/lexus hybrid. The starter battery only gets recharged at 4-5amps. I have confirmed this in the manual of my rx400h and the prius that I had as rental on business. You must hook into the dc/dc converter that comes off the main battery. But I'm not sure where that would be.