silvercorvette

I normally use STA-BIL fuel conditioner in my Corvettes during winter storage.(I have a 1962 numbers matching fuel injected Vette and a 1996 collector edition Vette that I bought new with every option including museum delivery) I didn't expect to have my RX400H sit in a garage in TX all winter when I drove it out there. I got th RX to TX on the Oct 31 and flew back to NY on Nov 20 for Thanksgiving. But when I got back to NY I discovered that someone had broken into my house. The guy was still in my house when I got home that night, he was actually living there for three days when I caught him in my house. I chased him out of my house with a shotgun (I pointed the gun at him and told him not to move but he ran) I followed him with the Shotgun in one hand and a cell phone dialed into 911 in the other hand. The police caught the guy hiding in a neighbors yard behind some bushes. But I had to remain in NY for Grand Jury and continue to stay there in case it wasn't pleaded out and went to trial. So a planned weeks stay in NY wound up keeping me there till Jan 10. Unfortunatally I was only able to stay in TX a couple weeks on that visit and the RX continued to collect dust in TX till Mar 30 when I flew back to TX and drove the RX back to NY.The first time I left the car in TX the battery went almost completely dead and had to be jumped, my the second time I brought a Deltran battery tender with me and it kept the battery charged without overcharging it.

Thanks the car has a bit under 5,000 miles on it so it does seem a bit early to have this kind of problem. The car has been fed 93 octane exclusively but from a wide variety of stations. I picked up the car in NY last Oct and drove it for a week before I drove it to my house in Texas. I planed on driving it in TX all winter but my mothers health problems kept me in NY most of the winter while the RX collected dust in the garage in TX. I just drove it back to NY (arrived 4/4/07) so most of the gas I used (although all was 93) was from a wide variety of states with different blends and formulas. I did try whenever I could to buy gas at a big name company like Mobil, Exxon, Amoco etc.. Thanks for the Techron suggestion. I don't know what they do to the gas in NY but they have a winter mix and a summer mixes and one of the blends gives less MPG that the other. I am retired and don't drive the car every day and compaired to my 2003 this thing seems to go forever between fillups. It will probably take a week or two before I need to get gas again (I love this car) so it will be a while before I get to see it it happens on the next fill up. Or if the guage getting stuck was a one time thing that may never happen again. But the fact that I don't buy gas very often made me want to ask this question so I would know if this is something I might expect in the future if it is a common problem with other owner.

Are you aware that tire have a wear rating? All tires are rated as to life expectancy, carring a lot of weight will also increase wear. This link may have information that may be helpful to you http://4wheeldrive.about.com/cs/tiretips/a...estips4x4_3.htm

You need to be cautious with that practice. It's possible to pull fuel instead of vapors into the charcoal evaporative cannister, and cause some problems with warning lights and $$$. I believe the cap says stop at first cutoff. I agree that overfilling could cause problems but if the automatic cut off stops at $19.29 I add 71 cents to even it out to $20 and at $3 pllus per gallon an extra two tens of a gallon shouldn't matter. I don't round up from $17.29 to an even $20 I just don't like to deal with counting coins when I get gas

It is because too many before me have been silent in the face of ignorance that we find ourselves in the world we have today. Therefore, I have vowed to confront ignorance wherever it finds me. The time has come to put to bed the notion that the only facts are only the ones that suit your cause. 'silvercorvette', I'm glad you like your car, you made a good choice, but your political agenda does not belong here. /flame on/ Try swithching the channel on your AM talk radio to a Progressive station. You might be surprised by what you find.) /flame off/ I believe the moderator will make the final decision about who belongs here and I don't you listed as a moderator. I apologized in post #9 of this thread for going off topic but other people won't let it die out and to be fair the issue was brought up by the original poster in the first post of this thread and I assumed that someone with a different point of view on the topic could rebutt the statement with facts. The moderator has requested to keep the discussion limited to the car in question and other issues are not to be brought up but I didn't know that when I made the post with the opposing view because I am new here, I have honored his request although others won't let it drop. I will not respond to your comment on a topic or be drawn back in to a topic that has been ordered off limits and further debate the issue, I will continue to respect the request of the moderator. I did not think that only one side of an issue is allowed to be expressed on this forum but if it turns out that the people that run this site have a policy to only allow one point of view I guess I belong elsewhere. I believe that I have been polite and backed up my oposing statements with links and references but the people that run this site have the final decision on that matter. If a moderator tells me I was out of line because I expressed a different opinion I will apologize and quietly leave, I have already apologize for straying off topic which is consider bad form on most forums.

You'll really freak then if you ever have to drive through Oregon. Funkie rule they have (maybe other states too?) sez only the station attendant is allowed to re-fill the tank. Talk about job protection. New Jersey has the same law. When I leave Long Island I start out with a full tank and don't stop for gas till I get through New Jersey

When I am on a long trip I bring along CDs of old radio shows that I buy from this company http://www.radiospirits.com/ It may not be for every one's taste but listening to the old shows and stories really makes the time pass quickly on a long drive. I haven't tried this yet but I may wind up buying or renting a talking book to play on my next trip to Texas from New York *************************************************************************************************** When I read stuff like this I am glad it is not included and sold as an option that gives they buyer a choice. I would be very angry if I was forced into paying for a radio I don't want. Even if it is put into the car as standard equipment it doesn't mean that you aren't paying for it. All the standard equipment that comes with the car has to be paid for and they just jack up the base price of the car so the buyer has to pay for it, I would rather have the choice as to what I want and not have Lexus decide what I want. Here is some more bad news for both XM and Sirius, if the merger does not go through both XM and Sirius will probably go out of business. I may be wrong but I am very reluctant to spend money on a radio company that no longer sends out a signal. http://www.nypost.com/seven/04292007/busin...eter_lauria.htm AWFUL TIMING MERGER CRITICS KEY ON KARMAZIN'S $31M PAY By PETER LAURIA Click to enlargeApril 29, 2007 -- As if the pending merger between satellite radio operators Sirius and XM didn't face enough hurdles, news of Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin's $31 million pay package has provided even more ammunition for the combination's critics. With CEO compensation becoming a hotly debated flash point among institutional shareholders, Karmazin's pay, disclosed in a proxy filing last Monday, even if deserved is certain to catch the attention of regulators. "Details of Mel's pay package couldn't have come at a worse time for Sirius and XM," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett. "Their credibility is already stretched pretty thin on Capitol Hill after weeks of anti-trust grilling. This will add fuel to the argument that their merger attempt is a way to enrich management rather than listeners." The National Association of Broadcasters is already seizing on that argument to open a new front to rail against the merger. "This outlandish pay package confirms that the proposed monopoly Sirius-XM merger was crafted mainly to enrich the companies' CEOs and their close friends on Wall Street," said NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton. "The notion that consumers or small shareholders would benefit from a government-sanctioned monopoly is pure fiction." News of Karmazin's compensation kicked off a harsh week for the Sirius-XM merger that included the release of several analyst reports that put the chances of regulatory approval at less than 35 percent and a lackluster earnings report from XM (Sirius reports earnings on Tuesday). Only $4.25 million of Karmazin's pay stemmed from salary and bonuses. The remaining $27 million came from restricted stock and options grants that were used to entice the former Viacom COO to join Sirius in 2004. Those options vest automatically on each anniversary after they were granted for the next few years. Moreover, Karmazin has not sold a single share of Sirius stock on the open market since joining the company. In fact, he has done quite the opposite, investing $20 million of his own money to buy up Sirius shares. Even so, given the movement among investors to have a "say in pay" and the downward trajectory of Sirius' stock price, compensation expert Alan Sklover thinks Karmazin is going to have a hard time justifying his package. "No matter how cynical we've become about executive pay, Karmazin's compensation has to be taken into account when considering the merger," Sklover said. And while Karmazin's pay won't have a direct impact on whether the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission approve the merger, the negative attention it stirs up certainly can't help its chances. peter.lauria@nypost.com

First of all I never allow anyone to put gas into my tank because I don't trust them to be careful. I filled up like I always do and when the nozzle clicked off I added enough to have it come out to an even dollar amount. I paid the guy and got in to start the car and noticed the gauge was only on 3/4 full. I got back out to pump more gas but the tank only took a little bit more but this time the gas was all the way to the top where I could see it was full. I drove around for a few days figuring there may have been air trapped in the tank but when I filled up again the same think happened. I could see the gas was right up to the top and I couldn't fit another once in it. But the gauge still showed 3/4. This time I decided to drive around till the warning light came on. But after a few days the gauge jumped all the way up above the full line. I am not going to do anything about it because it probably is a one time thing that just went away, but I am wondering if anyone else had this happen?

OK here is what I think of fully loaded. Even a stripped RX400H without options is really loaded. And getting an R400H with every option that make may get options you may never need or use. I suggest you go to the Lexus site and review the options http://www.lexus.com/models/RXh/features/pricing.html You may discover the car has everything that you may need with out buying the extras. I personally don't want an entertainment system and I don't need a fancy radio because I mainly listen to AM talk radio along with (CD & DVD) of old radio shows that were recorded in the 1930s and 1940s (EDIT to CDs and cassette tape) Also keep in mind that you may not find the exact car you want in stock and ordering one may take longer than you want to wait. I was able to find a car with the color and options I wanted with one exception. I wanted the laser cruise control but they didn't have a single car with that option so I couldn't wait and took the exact car I wanted without the laser cruise control. There may be a lot of people that may not agree with this but some of my best memories as a kid on a long vacation trip was looking out the window and seeing new places. I feel that having an entertainment system to keep the kids quite is really depriving them of a great learning experience and the opportunity to see places they don't normally see. A while back my cousin mentioned that they bought a portable DVD player so their son could watch movies. I didn't say anything but I thought to myself about how sad it was for the kid to make a long trip and never look outside to see other parts of the country. PS I did wind up with the better radio (Mark Levinson® 11-speaker 210-watt) because it was part of the NAV package that the dealer ordered as an inventory car

I am glad it is an option. Some people like the entertainment system and the NAV system. I wanted the NAV so I bought a car that had it, but I would really be angry if I was forced to buy an entertainment system that I would never use. having it as an option lets me make the choice as to what I want in my car. If it were included it would be added to the base price of the car. I don't know much about XM but I did have Sirius for three months. I had the S50 which (worked? almost worked) in the house and car. I got fed up with poor reception and loss of signal every time I went under a bridge or a bunch of trees. I really didn't see any value to the monthly fee I was paying. When I drive I listen to AM talk radio, CDs or tapes so as far as I am concerned things are fine the way they are. Also keep this in mind both XM and Sirius are loosing huge amounts of money and are in danger of going out of business. Sirius and XM are trying to merge in a last ditch attempt to save both companies. The FCC needs to approve the merger and so far it looks like they may not approve the merger. Anything can happen but both companies could go under within the next year. Here is an article about the merger http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/26/news/compa...us_xm/index.htm There is a good chance that your XM radio may suffer the same fate as a beta max or an 6 track tape. There may not e enough subscribers to support to cost of launching and maintaining satellites. With loss numbers like these it looks like XM will be out of business unless some miracle happens The latest figures include $82.3 million in losses from restructuring its debt and other non-operating losses, the company said. Excluding non-operating items in both periods, XM's quarterly loss narrowed to $45.9 million from $88.4 million. Its gross cost per subscriber addition increased to $112 in the quarter, up from $98 in the same period a year ago. The company added 398,012 net subscribers in the period, ending the second quarter with 6.9 million subscribers, an increase of 56 percent over the year-ago period. Here is a link to the article http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8...;show_article=1

Gore is all talk and no action. I might have believed him if he practiced what he preached Warming may be real but I doubt if it is caused by man, if it was how do you account for warming on other planets? Link to story about warming on other planets http://motls.blogspot.com/2006/05/global-w...on-jupiter.html How many people are old enough to remember back in the 70s and 80s scientists were just as sure that we were headed for another ice age Bush's Ranch House 'Far More Eco-Friendly' Than Gore's By Randy Hall CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor March 01, 2007 (CNSNews.com) - George Bush may be a nemesis of the global green movement and Al Gore its hero, but the president's home is arguably far more environmentally-friendly than the home of the man he defeated in the 2000 election. Bush's "Western White House" in Crawford, Texas, has been praised as "an eco-friendly haven" while the former vice-president's home in Nashville, Tennessee was criticized this week for heavy power consumption. "In politics, people don't always practice what they preach," Marlo Lewis, Jr., a senior fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), told Cybercast News Service on Wednesday. Bush has been criticized harshly by environmentalists for his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol and its mandatory cuts on emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming. By contrast, Gore on Sunday won an Academy Award for his documentary focusing on the impact of climate change. He recently announced a series of music concerts on seven continents in July to drew further attention to the cause. "It's interesting that Bush seems to actually practice conservation, while Gore seems to want to buy his way out of his obligations," said Lewis, referring to the purchase of offsets for carbon emissions attributed to the high power use in Gore's 20-room mansion. An April 2001 article in USA Today described the president's 4,000-square-foot single-story limestone house in Crawford as an "eco-friendly haven." "Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into purifying tanks underground -- one tank for water from showers and bathroom sinks, which is so-called 'gray water,' and one tank for 'black water' from the kitchen sink and toilets," it said. "The purified water is funneled to the cistern with the rainwater." In addition, "the Bushes installed a geothermal heating and cooling system, which uses about 25 percent of the electricity that traditional heating and air-conditioning systems consume." As Cybercast News Service reported earlier, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR) charged on Monday that Gore's mansion in Nashville "consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year." "As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use," said TCPR President Drew Johnson. David Roberts, staff writer for the online environmental magazine Grist, Wednesday criticized the analysis by the TCPR, which he described as an "attack group from Tennessee." The center's report had been "thrown together purely for the purpose of attacking Al Gore after the Oscars," Roberts told Cybercast News Service. It was unfair, he said, to compare Gore's electrical consumption to the national average, which "includes apartments and trailer homes and is an average across all climatic zones, some of which are quite temperate." Gore and his wife, Tipper, "both work out of their house" and "have special security measures for an ex-vice president, all of which naturally increases the electricity use in the home," Roberts added. Moreover, Gore "pays almost a 50 percent premium to buy the 'green power' offered from his electrical company," which generates its voltage from hydroelectric and nuclear power rather than coal, he said. "If every national leader did as much as Al Gore does to ameliorate their impact on the climate, the world would be a much better place." Nevertheless, Roberts conceded that the energy efficiency of the president's home in Crawford is "fantastic." "I wish that George Bush would back public policy that is in line with what he does on his ranch," he said. 'Elitist' Johnson of the TCPR defended his group's report against criticism from Gore's supporters. He acknowledged that the information was obtained from the National Electric Service the day after Gore won his Oscar, but argued that "it is fair to compare Gore's [energy] use to what most Americans are used to." http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Pag...L20070301c.html "All of the niceties he may have and all the extra people he may have running in and out of his house still shouldn't mean that the person leading this environmental charge should have 20 times the electrical consumption of the average American," Johnson charged. The CEI's Lewis said the disparity between Gore's message on global warming and his power consumption reflected an "elitist mentality." "The average soccer mom can't afford to plant trees in the rainforest in order to remain carbon neutral," he said. "All these jet-setters' lives consist of going to conferences in other countries by burning jet fuel and staying in posh hotels where they keep the lights on all day and so on in order to tut-tut about how wasteful the rest of us are in our use of energy," he stated. "They always make an exception for themselves because what they're doing is so important." For more info check this link to snopes http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

There is an ad for window repair right above your post http://www.safelite.com/repair.jsp I may be wrong but I think the window problem is from your driving habits. If you follow too closely the car in front of you will kick up sand a stones. I have been driving for over 40 years and have never had a windshield pitted, I also make it a habit not to tailgate. Corvettes are prone to windshield problems because they are lower, A lot of people complain about Corvette windows but there are many Corvette owners that don't have a problem. My personal opinion is that if identical cars are problem free while others are pitted I would blame it on driving habits, or it could also be possible that you live in an area where it is sandy and windy and the wind kicks up a sand storm that pits the windows. Those are the only causes I can think of but maybe someone else has a theory as to why you have these problems.

I guess I must be one of the lucky ones because my Jeep has been trouble free and unstoppable in the snow. However there is no contest between the Jeep and the RX the RX is a better car than the Jeep.. I can't tell you how the RX does in the snow because I have never driven it in the snow, but as I said before Drivers technique can go a long way in overcoming the shortcomings of any vehicle. I apologize for getting off topic with the global warming statement but I felt that it should be pointed out that not everyone that buys one of these things believes in global warming. As much as I disagree with your point of view I still respect your right to express your opinion. To me the RX is an amazing bunch of technology all rolled up into one car. Make sure you get the NAV option so you can watch what is going on with the drive train. It is amazing how the computer switched from battery to engine (ICE) to ICE and battery. I was stuck in typical Long Island rush hour traffic today and I loved how the engine turned itself off and when it was my turn to creep up 5 or 10 more feet I was able to do it on battery power alone.

After watching the great global warming swindle I am convinced that An Inconvenient Truth is pure BS. However I don't care about global warming and feel it is part of the normal cooling and heating cycle of the earth, 20 years ago these same scientists were predicted an upcoming ice age. Don't forget Gore's house uses 20 to 30 times more energy than the average home uses. He claims to make up for it my buying carbon offset credits. But the credits he buys is from a company that he owns and all the profits go into his pocket. reguardless of the issue of warming I feel the RX is a wise choice strictly for fuel savings plus the fact it produces less emissions. I dont believe in the warming BS but I do think it is nice to drive something that doesn't pollute as much, plus the technology is cool and it is fun to watch the NAV screen to see when you are driving with the engine completely off (PS not all hybrids are able to turn the engine off when you are stopped at a traffic light). I happen to have a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland, and I also just acquired a RX400H last October. I have a house in TX ans a house in NY. I planned on keeping the Jeep in NY and the RX in TX but I may have to change my plans. The Jeep Overland comes loaded and other than the power adjustable pedals it has almost every option that the RX has. The RXS has pretty much the same room and power as the Jeep but so far it seems to have more than double the gas mileage. I brought the RX back from TX for the summer and now the jeep just never gets used. I love the NAV system but I am very disappointed that a lot of the features can't be used when the car is moving. If I had it to do over again I would still get the NAV but I still wish I could use it while I am driving. At the very least Lexus should put a sensor in the passenger seat that would allow a passenger to operate the NAV while the car is in motion. I haven't had any experience with the RX in the snow but I have read mixed reviews, some people are very unhappy with it while others seem to have no problem in the deep stuff. I suspect a lot has to do with drive technique and a lot of people seem to feel snow tires will help a lot. As soon as I sell my house in NY I am going to sell the Jeep and stick with the RX. 93 octane is selling for $3.29 in NY so switching to the RX from the Jeep is almost getting gas for $1.50. I would look around and shop for prices. The dealers in TX wanted hundreds of dollars more per month than the dealers in NY so I bought in NY. You may be able to find a dealer in a nearby state that could save you hundreds a month and it may be worth while to fly out to a out of state dealer and drive it back. I got a very good deal on my car but I heard that someone in California did even better