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The air suspension in the LS400 series is designed primarily for COMFORT, not performance (as in high speed cornering..). Here in the US if one wants an LS400 for performance (a GS430 would be the true answer) one would buy an LS400 with Euro tuned suspension, struts and springs. How many miles...??

I hope that was a joke? <_< The problem is hardly related to the air struts per se, as far as I understand, and there is no way the car felt like this when new. The cars with air suspension handle better in high speeds, than those with the soft conventional suspension. I tried a couple of other LS 400 before I settled for this one, and they both behaved better on the road. The tyres are currently nearly new Z-rated Bridgestone Turanza ER 300, but it was the same with worn out Blizzaks (mounted when I bought it) and almost worn out Continental Winter tyres. /Alexander Sorry to say, that was no joke. Your can improve the handling somewhat by adjusting the height sensors to lower the car. I adjusted all four to the maximum lowering level just after first purchasing the car back in 91. Additionally the car will also lower itself slightly above 80 MPH, which is of little help here in the US. I also upgraded my 92 to 16" wheels jsut after buying it. The wandering sideways under hard braking is more likely the result of a stuck brake caliper, something I have experienced, or something loose in the front suspension. Those bridgestone Turanzas are the best choice you could have made for ride comfort and quietness.

SOP... Nature of the beast! Sell it and buy one with struts.

Couldn't send you a PM...???

I didn't like the slipperiness of the wood so I exchanged mine for leather. If you want the wooden one make me an offer. Ivory/tan interior 2001 AWD RX300. No, the airbag isn't included and as for the other questions I'll send pictures.

Yes, by all means, what oven temperature and how long should one expect it to take for the sealant to be soft enough?

I didn't like the slipperiness of the wood so I exchanged mine for leather. If you want the wooden one make me an offer. Ivory/tan interior 2001 AWD RX300.

In January your RX's odometer had somewhere between 70,000 - 75,000 miles. If your RX didn't have it's first transmission oil change until 70,000 miles then the fluid could have deteriorated back around 30,000 miles meaning that for the past 40,000-45,000 miles you were driving around on deteriorated fluid. No transmission in the world can survive very long if it is lubricated by deteriorated fluid. If you want to convince everyone here the transmission has a design defect - in other words convince everyone the transmission would have failed even if you had changed the fluid every 15,000 or 30,000 miles - then please provide the proof the fluid was changed back around 15-30,000 miles. One way you can get the proof for free is to give your Lexus dealer your Vehicle ID number and request a printout of your RX's service history. Then post a photo here of the service receipt that shows transmission fluid was changed every 15,000 - 30,000 miles and if it was just a partial or complete fluid change (the receipt would show the number of quarts of new fluid you paid for) With regard to your new transmission, how do you plan to care for it? The same failure could happen all over again if you don't change at least part of the fluid every 15-30,000 miles, personally verify the shop uses only Toyota Type T-IV fluid and personally verify the transmission fluid level is correct after the shop changes the fluid. I agree with Bluestu when he wrote: "It's not a design flaw, but a service flaw. Just because it says Lexus, made by Toyota, doesn't mean it is maintenance free. Most transmissions will fail if you don't replace all the fluid on a regular basis." An additional problem is that many owners fail to realize the service intervals prescribed in the Scheduled Maintenance Guide of ALL carmakers are merely the minimum frequency intervals required to keep the 70,000 mile powertrain warranty in effect. But for optimum mechanical component life, more frequent service intervals are necessary. What if....?? The dealer service records are retrieved and they indicate that the vehicle was properly serviced by an "honest" dealer in accordance with the factory recommendations....?? And yes, it is a design flaw. The fact that the ATF contamination exacerbates the failure rate doesn't release Toyota from the fact that the initial ATF contamination is a result of the design flaw.

LEDs can be colorfull but not BRIGHT... I changed all the interior bulbs to halogens to get bright white lighting.

First true hybrid....NOT!! The Diesel/Electric locomotive always runs on fossil fuel, no batteries big enough for those suckers. Hybrid, as in Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive, means driving on fossil fuels, electric from batteries, or both.

Too "busy", too many cross-rods, it needs something along the lines of the lower grille section.

The hood on my 1992 doesn't need to be opened often enough to justify a $50 expenditure to replace a 10 cent wood stick.

Your symtoms don't exactly apply to this test buy the test is simple and takes little time... There is an engien coolant flow control (HOT water for HEAT) valve inside the engine compartment at the top center of the firewall. The valve is operated in parallel with the blend/remix door via a push/pull cable. If you toggle/move the climate control system temperature control from maximum cold to maximum heat you should be able to see the cable move the valve from fully closed to fully open. Assuming that work correctly then. The extreme right and left dash airflow outlets are always open unless closed manually, check that left one to see if someone has closed it.

The A/C light blinks when the A/C compressor is not turning at the rate appropreate to the engine RPM. With A/C enabled the on and off cycling of the compressor is controlled almost exclusively by the multi-function pressure switch. The pressure switch is on the liquid, high pressure, side of the refrigerant cycle. If the liquid side pressure drops TOO low that is an indication that there is not enough refrigerant in the system to provide cooling and the compressor will not run at all in that case. When the high side pressure drops to a low enough point that indicates that all of the liquid refrigerant has not be used via cooling the A/C compressor will kick in and pump the gaseous refrigerant in the low pressure side into the condensor under enough pressure that it will "shed" enough heat via the condensor heat exchanger and return to a liquid state. That will obviously result in a rise in pressure on the liquid, high pressure, side of the system and once the pressure there is high enough the A/C compressor clutch circuit will be opened. So the pressure switch serves three somewhat independent functions. A) It prevents the compressor from operating at all if the refrigerant level is TOO low. B) It engages the A/C compressor clutch circuit when the liquid refrigerant is almost depleted. C) It disengages the A/C compressor clutch once the high side pressure has risen to a level significantly higher that the pressure was at the point of compressor activation. Sorry, but the first question to be asked is whether the drive belt is slipping on the pulley or is the clutch surface itself slipping? The easiest way to find out is to have someone rev the engine up to about 2500 RPM and then turn on the A/C while you are carefully watching the A/C compressor clutch and pulley assembly. Assuming the squealing "event" repeats, is repeatable, if the clutch pulley turns with the belt travel then the clutch has failed. If the pulley does not turn with the belt travel then the belt is slipping. Does the squeal occur, by chance, when you turn the stearing wheel hard/quickly while parked? If so that might mean your drive belt is not tight enough or is failing.

Personally, at ~55,000 miles, I'm simply waiting for the premature transaxle failure in my 2001 AWD RX300 so I can tear it down myself and find out just exactly why or what is failing in these transaxles. While I'm in there I will also convert it to primary RWD with only the VC to drive the front. At 40,000 miles my ATF was dirty and smelled burned, a harbinger, I sure, of premature failure. MY RX has the extra, external, ATF cooler for towing and the hitch was removed the week I bought the car. While the 2001 AWD RX300 is a very good buy overall and otherwise relaible, I wouldn't want to be the second owner of one except certified from a dealer.

Not enough contact friction between the drive belt and the compressor clutch pulley. That could be due to a drive belt problem or a failing bearing in the compressor.

Moderately deep sand, or even DEEP sand, isn't the actual problem. The problem only arises if you lead-foot it a bit too much. If the sand is wet than it is "compacted" and a kids tricycle would do fine. You're really only susceptable to problems if the sand is dry and loose and you don't know how to drive gently over, on top of, it. So, yes, my AWD RX300 has spent time on all kinds of beach sand as has my RWD 78 911, both with no problems whatsoever.

I thought the SC was being discontinued due to poor sales....

Yes I have owned the car since new, but I bought it at a dealer 15 miles down the road from this one. I stopped going to the original dealer for service when they charged me $50 for my first oil change and insisted on re-balancing the tires (and charging me for it) when I asked them to rotate them after only 8k miles. When I got the car home I saw I still had the original rusted weights on my wheels. I've never changed the transmission fluid in any car I've ever owned, this one included, and this is the first transmission problem I've ever had. I'm one of those people who rarely takes a car in for scheduled maintenance. I only bring it in when something is wrong. I change the oil, filters, etc. myself. The only reason I originally brought it in for an oil change instead of doing it myself was I kept burning my arm on the exhaust manifold when I tried to remove the filter. I figured out a way around that later on. That's great that you haven't had any problems after 90k miles. The only caution I can give is that I had absolutely no warning the failure was going to happen. The car was running just fine. Then, I was at a stop sign, I stepped on the gas and the engine raced but the car barely moved. Out of the blue. My transmission fluid level was fine, and did not have a burnt smell to it. I was lucky I was able to limp it to the the dealer. Good luck! Not trying in any way to side with the dealer that unduly rebalanced your tires but it is entirely possible that the tire balance technician didn't remove the original weights before the tires were spun to check for proper "balance". I have seen, again and again, the technician remove the weights from the wheels prior to putting them on the spin balance machine but then again my own experience (insofar as I can remember) always involved new tires on the old wheels. I admit that were I the technician in question I would not bother removing the old weights first given the tires had only 8k miles.

Then I guess that means that we will have a new body style in the fall to accomodate the third row seat. I would have said (did say..??) that the Highlander would never go to a third row seat.... Who would have guessed that the new RAV4 would have a third row seat..?? On the other hand those "sideways" third row seats that "store" in the LX470 and GX470 might be the way Lexus will do the RX350 third row seats.

Many modern day cars use an electric fan(s) for forcing cooling air through the radiator (and A/C condensor). It is not at all unusual for those fans to kick in due to still rising engine coolant temperature a few minutes after you stop the car and walk away. With the engine stopped the coolant is no longer circulating so it is entirely possible for the coolant temperature within the engine block to rise to an inordinate level. If you happened to restart the car just as the coolant temperature was approaching the point wherein the fans would have activated due to HIGH coolant temperature it is entirely possible that would have triggered an engine check indication. I have experienced the "trac off" indication in my 2001 AWD RX300 as the result of the trac system having to operate almost continously as I drove down a rain soaked muddy road (path...). The trac off lighyt extinguished of its own accord about 100 yards after reaching a film roadbed area. I have since learned that there is about a 45 second time limit for semi-continuous ABS pumpmotor operation. After ~45 seconds the trac off light will illuminate and you have no traction system capability until the pumpmotor has time to cool. And I know of absolutely no reason why an ABS wheel speed sensor failure or intermittent failure would result in an engine check indication.

Did you consider, test drive, the RX400h first and if so why didn't you buy it?

I was told by a long term salesman that the RX gets a third row seat in the fall.... And there is the issue of the new 2007 RX400h... And the RX350 should have had the DFI engine from the get-go.. And EPS.....Electric Power Stearing is a definite asset, a BIG one. And maybe a move to rear torque biasing now that the VC is back in use.

Depending on the actual circumstances ( how long it was shut down, did the radiator cooling fan run during the shutdown, etc.) of your restart the water jacket may have gone overtemp (guage only) during/after the shutdown period due to the extremes you were putting the engine through just before the shutdown.

If the brake actuator, ABS pumpmotor, is forced to operate semi-continously there is a timer that will shut it down to prevent its fractional HP motor from over-heating and potentially failing completely. But like you I don't understand the later check engine light symptom. The later trac off is completely understandable as the trac system is shut down by default with the check engine light.