sgriffith

I have a 2002 LX470 and when I am in park & the engine is idling, the oil level gauge will drop to almost nothing. Then, if I rev the engine a little, the gauge will come back up. Does this happen to everyone? Yes, the oil level is just fine in the vehicle.....that was the first thing I checked. Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

Furthermore, if the MINIMUL ALLOWABLE interval is what they are recommending, then it should be enough to at least keep everything functioning properly inside of the vehicle. If their design engineers designed the RX so well inside and out, and they are the same ones suggesting the service intervals in the book, then there should be no problems. Every 15K is absurd....and I do it!!!! I am so sick of worrying about my RX that I am going to sell it within the next 5K miles because my extended warranty will be out. I am sick of things going wrong with this vehicle. I am not at all putting down ALL of the toyota/lexus designs...because I am probably going to buy a 2001 LX that my friend is about to sell....but I will not buy another RX. It is sad because I like the vehicle so much, and really do like the new 330. I would love to buy another one, but won't because of the constant BIG problems.

I got some of the Griots Leather Care product about 3 weeks ago and put it on our leather seats. The leather scent it left behind is still there and is wonderful! I have also used the Autoglym product and like it as well. It doesn't leave the leather scent, but does leave a nice, clean scent. I used the Meguiar's Gold Class as well and did like it, but didn't feel as if it did as great of a job. The Griots & Autoglym stuff are my two favorites. I have used Lexol before too and it is a great product as well. That is what I keep on my parent's LX. Give the Griots stuff a try....www.griotsgarage.com (I think)....it isn't expensive at all....and they have all other kinds of goodies!!

I am now having similar issues. I cleaned the throttle body only about 10K ago and didn't really figure it would come up on me this fast. Has anyone with this problem noticed this when you are accelerating or crusing at a certain speed? I was driving 30 MPH downtown today and noticed it acting like it was cutting out on me. There would be about a 250 rpm drop and rise every second or so. I will clean everything again tomorrow before we head off on our Memorial day weekend and see if it clears things up & will post results. Thanks!

I have a 99 RX with 93K on it and have had my share of problems with the vehicle. I found out about the transmission issue when I had about 60K on it, and I have been changing it every 15K ever since. I do have to agree that this is some design flaw with Lexus. I do not mind changing out sensors, replacing belts/water pump, or anything else on it that is supposed to get worn out....but the transmission, rear main seal, ignition lock cylinder, catalytic converter, and many other large items shouldn't have to be replaced....they haven't been in any of my other vehicles. I have no problem changing fluids often, and usually do it myself (and keep the recipts!). RX in NC has had many of my same problems with a regularly maintained vehicle, and he can tell you first hand that he will never own another Lexus as they have had Jeep Grand Cherokee's for years without issues such as these. Additionally, before my parents bought their LX last year, they had a 1997 Expedition....and during the 250K miles they drove it, they replaced a fuel filter, tires, brakes, and then changed the oil every 3K....that was it. I still see the young couple they sold it to driving it around today. Personally, I maintain vehicles very well.....but there are lots of people who do not and never experience problems such as these. Decide for yourself whether or not this is a design issue....it seems pretty clear to me.

That is what I was afraid of....I guess I will change my habits!

This question really isn't about my Lexus leather, but is about the leather in my new truck. I recently purchased an 05 Chevrolet 3/4 ton 4X4 crew cab and it has leather seats. The dang thing sits so far off the ground that I have a hard time getting out (and I am a tall person) without really sliding my whole body off the leather seat. This is causing the typical "stretch marks" on the leather...which I realize isn't as high quality as Lexus.....and I am wondering if there is anything that I can use to keep it nice and tight? I do clean it with the woolite/water solution and have used Lexol (put it on, left it on all day & overnight...let it sit out in the sun & everything) leather conditioner. The leather isn't dirty and is not cracking or anything, but the way I have to get in & out of the truck really stresses the leather on the side of the seat. Any suggetions other than just change my habits? Thanks in advance.

Ok, I got my RX back from the dealer yesterday and everything is great! They replaced the ignition cylinder and I received 3 new keys. It was at a Toyota dealership & they do not have the ability to cut the keys (which I found strange), so they had one of them cut for me. I actually only received one complete key. There were two other keys that did not have the remote transmitter in them (which I have two old keys that had those in them and they can be reprogrammed) and were not cut. So, I know a place that will cut them for $25 each and I can reprogram the transmitter myself. So, it is actually great because our keys had been broken around the base for a while and I had just continually reglued them....so I am getting new keys for pretty darn cheap. All works well now, just wanted to report & let you know how it went. Thanks for all the suggestions!!

Does anyone on here have a 2005 model with the "thump" issue? I assume they will still have the problem since a fix hasn't been found. Just wondering....

Ok, got it towed and the dealer called me today. No, I will have to get new keys. It is the cylinder lock. He said that the warranty company said they will cover it all, but only with one key. The dealer told me that they little remote piece in the key will still unlock the doors...so I am going to order a new key off of the sewell parts website and put my remote piece inside of it. All of the parts are on back-order....so it may be a week before I get it back....or longer. Oh wel, my keys were falling apart as it is...so it is nice that one of them will be replaced free of charge...and the other one will only set me back about $100. So far I am pleased. I will post back when I hear more. Thanks for all the assistance!!

Yeah, I tried that. Honestly, you should have seen it. I was jacking with the key and turning the steering wheel, my wife was messing with the gear selector, and my dad was rocking the vehicle back and forth. It must have looked like a 3 ring circus. Oh well, the tow job is only $170....and my extended warranty will reimburse $50 of that....and the repairs SHOULD all be covered by the extended warranty. I guess it could be worse.

Well, that didn't work for me. I left it sitting for about an hour and still no go. So, it is about to be towed to a Toyota dealer that is about 60 miles away. They have worked on the car before and everything went ok. Not anything like going to a Lexus dealership though ;-) I will post what ended up being wrong with it. I imagine it is the ignition lock cylinder.

Well, I am in the same boat now as Bostonlex and am wondering if anyone has any suggestions. My wife let a friend move our car while she was at work doing something else and they moved it to an incline. I don't think they got it in park good enough, but the key is out. The ignition switch is stuck in the ACC mode without the key in it. I really think the lady forced the key out because the key will go back in very easily and will not turn the ignition one way or another. I have tried rocking the car to get it to go into park, but didn't have any luck. I have a couple of questions and maybe you all can provide some insight. The way the car is parked, the front of it is not accessible. The car is in front of a sidewalk and there would not be enough room to get a tow truck in there to get the car out. With the thing locked up, would they have to tow it on a flat-bed truck? Nobody in my small town will touch it, but there is a toyota dealership 60 miles away and they have said they would fix it for me. I called Lexus and their "mobile service" won't do anything but change the oil and air up a tire :-( I really want Lexus to fix it (as I have a 3rd party extended warranty and this is probably covered) but the dealership is about 200 miles away....and I don't want to see that towing bill. Any suggestions on other things I can try to get it out of the locked position? Any advice on the towing? Thanks in advance for the input.

I personally would rather them stay as they are right now. Once more 400h's hit the road and we have more volume on that vehicle then I can see it....but I would think that it would take a little bit away from the community feeling we have right now. I understand that it has a lot of new parts, but it is still an RX. If I want to read about a GX, I go to the GX forum....if I want to read about an LX, I go to the LX forum....and if I want to read about an RX, I go to the RX forum......just makes sense to me.

I have a 99 RX with about 94K on it....bought it with 32K on it. I stumbled across this site when I had about 55K on the vehicle and learned of the tranny problems. Now, mine isn't AWD, but I have done a drain and fill every 15K since I found out about the issues. I THOUGHT I was feeling some slip in the tranny & had an extended warranty so I took it to a mechanic. After they had it a week they decided that my fluid was a quart low....totally my fault. He dropped the pan, looked for metal shavings etc. and said that everything looked great. So, I have decided to stop worrying about the issue and just do my maintenance because that is all I can do at this point in time...other than sell it....and my wife would probably divorce me!! You might find a good reputable independent mechanic and have them drop the pan and inspect the fluid to see what they think. If you see an abnormal amount of metal shavings then you might consider trading it off or selling it. But if you don't then you might just decide to do the 15K tranny fluid drain & fills and consider it the best you can do for prevention. After reading about all of this I had decided to trade it off, but after thinking about it for a while, I just decided to do the maintenance and hope for the best. My extended warranty runs out at 100K though....so I might start worrying more about it before too long!! Anyways...just my 2 cents worth.