SW03ES

The best and cheapest OTC leather cleaner is a 6:1 dillution of Woolite and water, in a spray bottle. Doesn't get much cheaper than that!

You mean you cannot get to the address book screen? The address book is locked out when moving. You can call individual contacts with the voice command, you just have to record the name you are calling them under. I didn't bother to do this as the 18 #s in the speed dial work okay for me, and I can use the voice dialing on my BlackBerry to call anybody else.

You're correct that its not really running higher all the time. The CVT is constantly providing the best gear ratio possible depending on the acceleration load, whereas a normal transmission "makes do" with one of several different ratios until it has to switch into a different gear. The issue from a noise perspective is that when any acceleration is called for, the engine on the CVT car responds with much higher RPMs than a car with a normal transmission, increasing noise and harshness. The benefit is instant acceleration, but the drawback is noise. So if we were cruising at 75 on cruise the RPM may be similar (or lower in the 400h) as may the noise and harshness, but if we are having to give throttle inputs to respond to traffic, whatever at that speed the 400h is going to be louder. I don't have a 400h but I have driven them extensively, I do have a Prius. My ES350 runs at about 2100 RPM at 75...I'd assume a RX350 would as well...

Lexus vehicles are very hard to balance properly, because the smoothness of the ride really pronounces any vibrations from wheels being out of balance. You may have to take it somewhere with a Hunter RoadForce balancing machine and have them rebalanced there...

I think the issue is when people lease a car because they cannot afford to finance the car, much like people took on adjustable rate interest only loans to buy homes because they couldn't afford the payments on a 30 year fixed rate P&I loan. All of these different ways of financing a car or a home are really just financial management tools, you are taking on debt to pay for something and you are just structuring that debt in the way that works the best for you. With the tighter lending restrictions out there in many ways the only way to get started building credit is to have a parent cosign on a car or home...

My main issue with the system is that its weak, music lacks depth unless the volume is turned very loud. If just a sub would fix this...or at least make it better...I'd be interested...

Rey gets all hurt whenever anyone says anything even remotely negative about the RXh...he's a wee bit "dramatic". He thinks people who prefer other vehicles to the RXh should not post here. Seeing as I'm in charge that won't be happening any time soon ;) I do agree with you, an electric car is a great concept but it has a LONG way to go before its going to be a viable or attractive alternative for mainstream buyers. The Hybrid is mainstream because it can be driven like any other car, until an electric car can be driven like any car, cost what any other car costs and be refueled in 10 minutes or less...its not going to be viable to a mainsteam buyer. I posted very similar viewpoints to yours on PriusChat.com a few weeks ago where I also post and basically got called a !Removed!, a Republican, and an eco-terrorist in 35 pages of insults...all for very rationally and respectfully saying what I just said above and what you said. The "Eco" bunch are a special bunch.

And the issue with Jiffy Lube should there be a problem is they are a huge, faceless organization that already has a terrible reputation and has entire departments full of people who'se only job is to keep from having to pay your claims... Your local independent mechanic needs his reputation and your business.

I was actually out of town, but business is good also! I might buy that, that its not a system where you can just pop in new door speakers. How did you go about the subwoofer, did you replace the factory sub?

If you don't know what it is, how can you say you dont have it? You do have it, it just doesn't bother you. I've driven probably 20 Toyota Hybrids...the only one I have not driven is the LS600hL. If you drive a 400h and then a 350 back to back on the highway at 70MPH, the 350 has less engine noise and the engine note when accelerating is very different, and IMHO is much more refined sounding in the 350. Is it a HUGE difference? Not at all, but the difference is there and its a characteristic of the CVT, not the hybrid powertrain per se. The engine on a car with a CVT tends to "drone", let out a monotone note vs the rising and falling note of a car with a conventional transmission. The reason there is more engine noise when cruising on the highway is that the engine is often running faster in the CVT, because there's no overdrive gear for it to settle into. If your RX had an RPM gauge you'd see that at 75 MPH the 350 runs at lower RPM than the 400h. Pull out to pass in the 400h and the acceleration feels great, very smooth and linear but the engine note is very brash and unrefined IMHO. The 350 may have to downshift, but I prefer the way the engine sounds. It may or may not matter to you, but the difference is definately there. Our Prius is the same way, I just drove a Jeep Patriot with a CVT on a 320 mile roadtrip and it was also the same way. On the highway I don't care for the CVT.

You can scroll through the USB files on my 2010 ES when moving. Highly dangerous IMHO. Imagine having to stop on the Freeway?!? Imagine scrolling through and browsing for music when driving a car down the freeway at 80MPH? THATS dangerous.

I mean, we wash with Dawn to strip wax and polishes off the paint surface before polishing and waxing. Its a very drying cleaner, just feel your hands after washing dishes with Dawn. Personally? I wouldn't. I'd be much more willing to try the Neutrogena...

I don't think anybody even sells a drop kit for the ES...

I mean...people do upgrades to Lexus audio systems all the time...

You don't have to go to the dealer, but for what you pay at Jiffy Lube you can have a competent independent mechanic do an oil change on the car. Jiffy Lube isn't cheap. Its not the same oil or filter either, Toyota OEM oil filters are far better than what they use at Jiffy Lube I promise you. I took my independent Lexus mechanic a Mobil 1 filter (expensive filter, much better than what they would use at Jiffy Lube) and he refused to use it, said the OEM Toyota filter is a much better filter. He would have no reason to lie... The issue is not with using someone other than the dealer, its using a place that by their very way of doing business employs people who have no idea how to work on a car, use the absolute cheapest oil and filters, and try and get everything done as fast as possible instead of as well as possible. When you do things that way...you make mistakes. They do too, I have a friend who had an engine in his GS400 ruined because Jiffy Lube did not refill the oil after draining and replacing the filter, I have known numerous people who have marked their filters and had Jiffy Lube change the oil and found...SURPRISE...they didn't even replace the filter. They just do a crummy job, and I bet I spend LESS on an oil change at my trustworthy mechanic that is done by an ASE certified tech than you do at Jiffy Lube where some high school kid does the oil change. Its a $45,000 machine, that doesn't mean you have to overpay for maintenance, but for God's sake at least put a little thought into who you have working on it. I mean...just google "JiffyLube", there are actually whole webistes devoted to problems people have at JiffyLube: http://www.jiffylubeproblems.com/ And all oil is not created equal by the way...

Congrats! Yeah the UL is the only model with the antenna on the decklid, mine is not a UL and I have a shark-fin antenna on the roof. Thats a sharp one, the Tungsten really shows off the panoramic roof!

Hey Paul, how pronounced was the difference when you drove it after the Primacy's were installed?

Also did you drive the other '07 and verify it was the same sound?

I mean...if there's no fix readily available those are really the only options, other than Option #3 which is drive it the way it is until they engineer a fix...

The spoiler is a very unpopular option, and its a carryover from 07-09 when there was no exterior antenna. Have you driven an ES? If you want something sporty this isn't exactly the right car.

What I don't like about the 400h vs the 350 on the highway is that the CVT causes some engine drone, the 350 keeps it in a nice low gear keeping the engine quieter.

And the emblems can be easily removed, he will just have to order new emblems. He just doesn't want to go through the hassle of doing this which is why he's telling you that.

First thing I noticed too ;) Very common after accident repairs. I would take that back and make them take it off and re-adhere it.

Car MSRPs usually go up a little every year...and of course the model packaging is going to change from year to year... See that you are in Poland...I have no idea how the packages there relate to ours in the US...

Lexus and Jiffy Lube should not be used in the same sentance...