coleRX

mine fell off going down the windy coast, you have any luck finding a replacement trim piece? The trim piece on the passenger side fell/blew off. Our dealer replaced it for free since it was more of a design issue. You are correct in that you have to replace the entire window in order to replace the trim. They had to special order it. Took about a week. Have a 2004 RX330. Cole

I believe that is the case. I wanted the ML stereo when we purchased our RX330 back in 2003 and all of the 330's that had ML also had NAV. I told the dealer that I didn't need/want the NAV but he said that it wasn't really a choice- ML stereo comes with NAV! Still don't use the NAV that much but love the ML stereo! The ML system doesn't have a sub. I think it uses two 6x9 longthrows for most of its bass so it might have the "boom" that some people like. I have the bass set to the max (5) and its just right for me. My wife and I are still impressed with the quality of sound. I've attached a picture of the locations and types of speakers for the ML system on the RX330. Hope it helps! Cole

I had a humming noise too. It happened when decelerating from 35-25MPH. I took it in and the dealer applied a TSB to fix it. It had to do something with the transmission cooler lines. They applied additional insulation and the hum disappeared. I also had a slight "clunk" noise when decelerating. That was also fixed with the same TSB. I can probably find the TSB number but may take a little bit since its been awhile. Cole

My RX330 (bought in Oct 2003) was built in Japan and I received a notice in the mail. Haven't had it changed out yet but will do it at my 15K mile service. I also heard it may have more of an impact in cold weather climates.

Yeah. I thot so too earlier. Its just the settings for the levinson you checked out probably weren't done right. Set correctly, there is a world of difference between the Levinson and the standard stereo. I have done quite a bit of research on this :D and compared the sounds extensively. ←

Go with what the Maintenance Manual says, no more no less. $450 for a 15K maintenance is way too much. I think that would be too much for a 30K maintenance.

IMHO, I think the transmission hesitation is way overstated. I did notice a slight hesitation during the first couple of months but nothing that I would call dangerous and it didn't occur all the time. Now I don't really notice it. My wife is the primary driver and she has never complained about a hesitation. Whether the tranny learned my driving habits or I've adjusted to the tranny, I can't really say. I don't think my driving style has changed (much to the disappointment of my wife!). I do know that the ride in our RX330 is incredible! It is luxurious, quiet, smooth and very comfortable. It also has plenty of power, especially for passing or merging into traffic. We get compliments from many of our passengers on how quiet and smooth the ride is. We have no regrets about choosing the RX and think its worth every penny we spent. FYI, 90,000 RX330's were sold last year, the best selling mid-size SUV. If there was a signficant problem with the tranny, I think we'd see many more complaints than the number we currently see. I recommend that you take a test drive. Drive it like you would any other day and if the tranny doesn't perform to your liking, then buy a different SUV. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

I, too, was somewhat disappointed in the ML stereo when we first received my wife's RX330. There is not a true subwoofer in the system. It uses 6X9 longthrows for the bass. Its adequate at best. So naturally I have the BASS setting max'd out (+5). I've also adjusted the TREBLE and MID to my personal preferences (+2 and +1 respectively) Initially, I though too much sound was coming from the front/center windshield area and that was with the "POS ALL" setting. I adjusted Front/Rear balance to +3 rear and now I'm much happier with the system. With the respect to sound quality, it blows me away, especially in the mid to high ranges. Again, without a true sub, the lows are adequate. I've found that the ML performance is also dependent on type of music. Classical or vocal-centric its outstanding. Rap or really boomy music its okay. Sound is so subjective that my settings may sound like crap to you but I hope this helps even just a little. I've attached a pic which shows the number and location of all the speakers and type in the RX330 ML stereo system. Cole

I had the same problem with my garage door opener and the Homelink in my wife's RX330. After doing some research, found out that my garage door opener was not Homelink compliant. Turns out that Homelink transmits in the 290MHz-422MHz range. My opener transmitted at 40MHz, thus the RX never accepted it. Don't know if this is the case with gate openers but maybe it'll help. Cole

I was also disappointed with the bass initially. Have you tried the manual Bass Control using the right audio control knob? If not, press the right knob until "BASS" is displayed then adjust as necessary. I have it set at 5 which I think is the highest setting. I also adjusted the FRONT/REAR Fader more to my liking, too much sound was coming from the front. I have a pic of where all of the speakers are and what type. Found it on the Mark Levinson website. There is not a true subwoofer in the ML System, though with the Bass at the max setting and the other adjustments, the systems sounds pretty sweet! Cole

SWO3ES is correct in that there was a shortage of ML/RSES RX330's due to the production shift from Japan to Canada. I bought my RX330 with ML/RSES back in late October. I was all setup to buy and pickup in mid-November until my dealer called and notified me of the shift and subsequent production shortage since ML/RSES was only being made in Japan. I thought he was !Removed! with me so he could move a car in October but he actually showed me his November allocation which had no ML/RSES models. He then found out that he probably wouldn't receive ML/RSES models until the Canada plant production was fully up, which was supposed to be early January. Don't know if they have started shipping ML/RSES from the Canada plant yet.

Bought my FWD Silver/Gray RX330 back in early November. Sticker was $46,198 with the following: Mark Levinson Stereo/Navigation Package/Rear Camera DVD Rear Seat Entertainment system Heated Seats/Rain Sensing Wipers 18" Wheels HID Headlamps Wood Steering Wheel/Shift Knob Wheel Locks/Cargo Mat Moonroof Black Pearl Emblems (way overpriced, not one of my personal choices in options but they do look good and got them at dealer cost) Final price was $42,740. Probably could have negotiated a better deal if I waited until December but needed the car. I'm in SOCAL so could have gone either AWD or FWD, not that big a deal and dealer had FWD in stock. Also in Cali, paid about $3000 in sales tax and $900 in license/registration. So add about $4000 for my out the door price. I think that's where CA residents payback----tax and registration fees!

You can watch movies on the NAV screen when the parking brake is engaged. Once you disengage the parking brake, the screen goes back to the normal NAV screen. Probably a good safety feature! I've read some threads of people trying to bypass this safety but haven't heard of anyone being successful yet. I have the RSES, don't know if you can play DVD's on the NAV/non-RSES systems.

Concur with respect to the GX470, though the RX has also had its first year problems as you have probably read in this forum. My RX has the whining sound when decelerating but its very slight and I think I may have the "rear end clunk" but its more of a click then clunk. The RX is so quiet which may be a reason why you can here the "clunk". Haven't experienced the shifting problems or rattling noises others have had. After two months, I'm very impressed. I like the sportier sounding engine which some people complain about. Its still very quiet and quality and luxury are apparent in every detail. You'll love the Mark Levinson system and the rear DVD system is also nice. The RX330 may not be as nimble as the RAV4 but you'll definitely enjoy the ride!

I bought my RX330 from Bob Baker Lexus at the beginning of November, fully loaded- NAV/ML/RSES though its FWD. I was there in early December and I think they had two ML RX330's available. There was an issue when I was purchasing that ML/RSES RX's were only coming from Japan and since Lexus was shifting production to Canada, there would be a drop in supply until the Canada plant was full up. Don't know if that is exactly true but you should be able to get ML in SOCAL/SD area. Wasn't impressed with the ML audio until I adjusted some of the settings. Love it now!