CanTex

And don't bother with an extended warranty on anything! Power train, electronics, whatever. This is a Toyota / Lexus, not a Dodge or Suzuki. It's been covered in other threads here, but the only time I needed to use an extended warranty on a vehicle other than one from the Detroit Three, the retail cost of the repair was way less than what I wasted on the extended warranty. (That car is still trouble free after 115K miles and we'll keep it to at least 150K before passing it on to one of our children.) Yes, no additional "protection packages". Don't forget, the F & I office is where they make their real profit, not from the salesman. They get you when you're adrenalin rush from negotiating the best deal is fading - you're highly vulnerable in the F & I office.

"Well I guess you don't want to speak with our F & I person, do you?". Another ah-HA! You knew too much!

Shhhh, you are giving away the secret. Jim ... recently retired from the largest U.S. provider of F & I products. Ah-HA! A confession! Actually, I have to commend most dealerships for how they do it. You're past the sleazy guys, the salesman and the guy "upstairs" who has to approve the deal or counter-offer (usually a counter-offer). [Note: Lexus salespeople are not sleazy but they are indeed salespeople.] The F & I guy looks at least halfway educated, is clean, well dressed, presents himself professionally and talks in a calm manner. He tends to be believable. Plus you want to make sure he'll do the financing you want so you want to please him. But that doesn't mean you need what he has to "offer" [Read: Push]. Anything more to add to your confession? ;)

As they would say in New York, "fuggedaboudit!" This is not a Hyundai or Kia, this is a Toyota / Lexus. Chances are you won't need it, and it's really not very chancy. I used my extended warranty heavily on U.S.-based-manufacturer cars like my long-gone '91 Dodge Caravan - almost started going to the service writer's kids Little League games I saw him so much. But with any Japanese-based manufacturer, you really don't need it. With the quality and precision of the machinery, with the paint and topcoat finishes these days and with leather and modern materials on the inside, you can tell them to forget it. If your dealer offers free car washes, they vacuum and detail the interior so no worry there. We didn't buy the warranty for my son's "el-cheapo" '99 Nissan Altima and he had no warrantble repairs by the time he wrecked it our at 125K miles. Before I could fully trust Acura, I bought the warranty, and the only thing I used it for was to replace a strut, with the final non-warranty cost being way less than the warranty cost itself. You do know that most dealerships make the bulk of their profits in the F & I office, right? They are hoping that now that the pressure of negotiations is over with, your adrenalin is fading you may be vulnerable to those spur-of-the-moment purchase like the warranty, like the fabric and paint treatments, like the ding repair package, like window etching. Don't waste your money! Smile politely and get used to saying, "No thank you. Can we finish up here?" over and over as often as necessary.

If you need to buy a warranty at all, that is. With any Japanese-based manufacturer, I wonder why one would even consider an extended warranty. My experience: I used to buy them. Not any more. The only time I used one for a non-U.S. car was for a broken strut on my '01 Acura TL. The cost would have been way less than the dealer charges for the services without the warranty. We didn't buy the warranty for my son's old piece of junk, a '99 Nissan Altima - he wrecked it out at 125K miles with no failures that would have been covered by such a warranty. Just smile politely at the F & I guy at the dealership and say "No thank you" for the myriad of extras they will push - remember, the real profit on a car is made in his office, not as much from the initial sale. In your case, if it was going to break it would have happened already. Just change the oil at regular intervals and it should go 150K - 200K miles with few non-wear-and-tear issues. In my case, one clip on the cabin air filter was broken - that's it in 30K miles, the best of any car I have ever owned (25 and counting).

Curious. How did you come to acquire this machine? Dealer? Or private sale? If the latter, could your vehicle be "re-acquired" by the original owner or one of his acquaintances without your approval? (That's always been a concern of mine whenever I purchased a used vehicle, especially in the days when you could have dupes made at any Ace Hardware or Lowe's.)

Average? Not that I know of, but you can certainly see the instantaneous mileage by flipping through the settings by hitting the Info button. I believe the average fuel mileage reset has to do with adding a certain amount of fuel to the tank, not sure. Apparently things have been dumbed down in many ways with the RX350, based on other threads on other topics. ("I'm sorry, I don't believe you need to know that. Now go away and let me feed you what I think you need to know.")

Sure, easy fix. The little left / off / right switch you use to adjust the outside mirrors: Put it in the left position. As simple as that. You're spoiled like the rest of us - I know I become very annoyed when I jump in my '01 Acura and the mirrors don't go down when reversing.

I haven't done it in any of my current fleet, but a couple of my previous cars had nitrogen. Reason for delay: New tires needed "soon" for both cars. Apparently nitrogen holds pressure longer (good for the vast majority of us who never get around to checking the pressures) and isn't as susceptible to temperature changes, etc. I know of places in Texas that will do the work for $20. Just Google "nitrogen tire" and maybe your Zip Code plus nearest biggish city and you should come up with some hits on where to get it done. In my case, a AAA-rated garage has done it for me in the past.

Is 36psi a bit too much ? The door sticker spec for 30 psi. I will try 33psi to see any improvement in noise and wear. I already replaced front driver side tire with the spare. I really don't know rotate them make any better since all 4 tires have the same inside wear. Its seem like all the wheels are angle out slightly; or they call them cast. The 30 psi is strictly for "The Lexus Ride", you know, cushy and all that. The Lexus service guy once told me 34 is quite common, but sacrifices the ride. The nearby Toyota dealer upped it to 36 and both the service writer and mechanic were quite OK with it. I also run 35 in my Acura with no problems. We're about to put 2,000 highway miles on the Lexus with the 36 psi in there so we'll see how that goes. Anybody else using 36 psi for daily use?

I've got 25K miles on my '07 and have been experiencing a bit of "bubububub" noise as I drove, mainly from the left side. I thought I must have lost a wheel weight or something. Per the local Toyota dealership it's "cupping" on the left side tires. They put the worst up as the spare and the noise is a whole lot less, but still there. They boosted the pressure to 36 psi at the same time so we'll see longer term. Question: Is this suspension geometry as mentioned above? Or alignment? The tires are Michelins and look like they've maybe got 10K left on them. I also notice from the manual that 5-tire rotations move the spare onto the right side only, while the lefts stay on the left.

Yes, the Lexus water - I like to flaunt that on occasion (free refills at home). OK, I finally got out to look at the glove box. The drawing in the manual for unhooking the glove box is unclear. The thumbscrew won't budge. Or pull inwards, for that matter. What's the trick? Oh, and when we get home (on extended vacation in Canada) I'm going to have a nice chat with the service manager at that unnamed Toyota dealership in Grapevine, TX, the one that presented me with the crap-filled filter: One thumb screw / stop is totally missing! The jerks must have broken it!

And don't forget the better quality coffee, superior ambiance in the waiting area and the outstanding wash/detail job - gotta be worth ~$400, right? B) I had trouble getting the glove box lowered so I could get at the cabin filter. Two large screwdrivers, a lot of prying and snapping/popping. I'm sure I almost broke something. Is there a special tool? And then there's the Toyota service guy that presented me with a plugged-up cabin filter that must have come from an old Highlander, upon which he had deposited ground-up leaves. All the more incentive for me to figure out an easy way to get the glove box lowered and do it myself.

Question for Canadian owners for which the answer is probably obvious: Do Canadian models have everything in metric? Kilometers, speed and litres per 100 km mileage calculations, etc.? It sure would be nice to toggle that (non-nav) information panel back and forth. (We live in Texas but spend a few months per year in Canada so the need is there.)

If you remember this is just a tall ES350 but with better ground clearance and not bad approach/departure levels, you'll be OK. MY RX350 just today went across a newly-cut farm field with some mud with no problems. You can get anything stuck, including a Jeep Wrangler, so respect for the environment you'll be driving in and the capabilities of your vehicle should be right up front. The RX350 is lower cost, quieter and better handling IMHO.

Sounds like you need to find the right (and honest) Toyota dealership, because they're not all like that. I also take my RX 350 to a local Toyota dealership, and have had nothing but excellent service. Typically the service I receive from Toyota is about half the price of what Lexus would charge for the exact same service and parts. Yeah, I based my decision on driving distance, a very bad thing to do. I know of a better Toyota dealer who has not been linked to certain "questionable" practices in the sales area (and now the service area as far as I'm concerned). Next time. But I will miss the quality of the coffee and the "free" brilliant detailing job at the Lexus dealer. Not!

That's only 20K miles! No way! I have 22K on my '07 RX350 with zero problems. If I was getting close, I'm sure my dealer would have been more than happy to point it out. If it were me and if you're not having any trouble, I'd high-tail it out of that dealership fast. Like so many dealers, they want to prey on the uninformed. I have taken my Lexus to a couple of Toyota dealers for regular maintenance - same parts, less money, not-so-over-the-top wash and detail. I'm also looking for reasonable independents, probably with a AAA logo out front, since I have questions about why the last Toyota dealer recommended a cabin filter and showed me a crapped-up filter probably from some Highlander that hadn't been serviced "ever", making like it was from my car. (Mine was changed 5000 miles earlier.)

Not really - this guy has a select list of dealers and specific people in each dealership whereby if you e-mail him in advance he'll set you up with that dealer person. In my case I got about $750 under invoice (although part of the deal was that the '08s were arriving) and my son got just over invoice on one of the first '08 Audi TTs on the ground last April when other dealers were asking a significant premium over list. In your case, I'd say go to http://www.carguyshow.com/, send an e-mail and ask if any of his dealers have relationships with dealers in Arizona. (Tell him Al A. sent you.) Anybody in North Texas will be dealing with Park Place Lexus, and specific people there.

If you're in North Texas, there's a very, very good way to get a good deal with zero hassling/bargaining. We were looking for a 30K miles RX330, but when we started talking, a new '07 was very little more. Where are you? (Oops, Phoenix per the sidebar. If anyone else in North Texas needs a Lexus or any other brand but Kia, listen to WBAP 820 Saturdays 9 to 11, and sign up for his free newsletter. Worked for us and my son, and now my son is going to replace his other car the same way, coming up from Austin just because of the way you are treated and the money you save.)

1972 Volvo 144 automatic 4-door sedan in light green. This came after I had to sell my "chick magnet" '70 Barracuda (picked up the chick, married the chick, still married after 37 years) because my better half fried the clutch in the course of half an hour trying to get through a country stop sign on an uphill slope. (Training session) The replacement clutch was never right and she insisted on having something to drive. Being poor and just married, well, it was an automatic or else in our only vehicle. The Volvo? Serious POS. The '71 and '73 were much better cars. Mention "SU carburetors" and watch me cringe into a little ball in the corner. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and often. Best car? '66 Corvair Corsa with Pirellis, Konis, better anti-roll bars, better front air dam, some fancy air cleaner, and many mods by John Fitch's garage in CT. This puppy could only match a Mustang through 2nd gear, but I had them on the first curve. Sunbeam Alpines and MGBs as well.

We bought our '07 RX 350 for my wife. But she much prefers to drive my Acura TL. So I get "stuck" with the RX. Oh, the pain, the agony ;) Actually, I do appreciate the chair-high seats for my bum hip (crawling down into the TL hurts!). My wife must have known that she would want to drive the TL (these women!) so she made sure we got a black one so it would be a little more "manly". The extra window tint helps shield my gender, at least until I start to drive it like my TL, then other drivers know the truth. Besides, I still like to impress my friends with the power tailgate. ("You didn't expect me to shut it by hand, did you?") And the niftiest feature of all is the coffee cup holder just left of the steering wheel - I've suffered far fewer coffee burns by not having to lift my coffee out of the center console. Maybe I'll "make" her drive the RX when the next generation Acura TL comes out.

Potential buyers in the Fort Worth / Dallas area should go to http://www.carguyshow.com/, then e-mail Jerry Reynolds, the radio program host (WBAP 820), to say that you're interested in a Lexus. He will set you up with the dealer principal for Park Place Lexus (Grapevine or Plano). You will be treated as one of Jerry's friends throughout the whole transaction,and you will get a surprisingly good price without the usual salesperson hassle, and without the "finance guy's" pressure to add unnecessary extras like undercoating or fabric treatment. We had been looking for a two-year-old RX330. Once Jerry had us set up, the top dealer guy called at 10 a.m. The price on a new one was very close to the used prices elsewhere, and somewhat under invoice (OK, the '08s were just arriving, but still...) so we got a new '07 RX350. The deal was done at 10:10. They immediately started on the window tint job. I showed up at 3:30, and after a leisurely and actually enjoyable signing process, I was on my way at 4:45. They didn't know me from Adam before I went in, yet they prepped the car and did the tint just because we were "Jerry's friends". Wow! Next, my son and his bride "badly wanted" an '08 Audi TT coupe last March. Jerry set them up with an Audi dealership, and they did somewhat under list and not much above invoice. They got one of the very first new-style TTs to hit the ground, and most dealerships were getting a premium over list at that time. This is just an FYI. We're very happy, and the dealerships are happy to make sales they otherwise might not make. And Jerry gets continued sponsorship for his show, as well as dealer consulting gigs. Winners all around.

Awesome! Like those get-better-gas-mileage-today products out there, you have to believe that if things like these products and K&N filters were as good as they claim, the Toyota / Lexus engineers would be using them. The car makers are under tremendous pressure to improve gas mileage while increasing performance so I'm sure they're researching all angles of the situation. Same for aftermarket computer chips reflashed for performance and/or fuel economy - they could damage the engine and would probably void your warranty. Best to keep it stock and just enjoy the car. Better mileage? Keep the right foot from pressing down too hard - very simple. I appreciate the advice.

I keep hearing from folks with "no ax to grind" that installing a K&N air filter can make improvements in fuel economy. (Power too, but my RX350 is powerful enough for my purposes.) What is the general consensus amongst all the Lexus gurus out there? Would installing such a filter have any effect on the Lexus warranty? Will it improve fuel economy? I understand the K&N filter is washable and should be good for 100K miles? They say in their online ads that it's "the last air filter your car will ever need". Their website also could not come up with a local dealer for that part number (33-2260). Is there another forum that discusses air filters like the K&N?

Dude. unlike other animals, which must typically be slaughtered to obtain their hides, Naugas can shed their skin without harm to themselves. :D Man oh man, you have just taken decades of guilt off my shoulders about those poor Naugas that I thought had to be sacrificed for my butt. ;) Now I'll just worry about all that leather in my RX (and my Acura and several cars before that)... :(