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I assume you want an answer to your question(am I missing something?). 1. Jacking up a car the size of the RX-350 four times and working on 18" wheels is both arduous and, in your driveway, potentially dangerous. If you decide to work the spare into the rotation, hauling the spare out from under is a no fun job. 2. Some people who have given oil change guidance in another thread have recommended raising the front of the car higher than the back; this might require purchasing jack stands, and then trusting them. In any event, it would seem necessary to slide under the car. I am too old to slide under the car. 3. You must take the used oil, 5 or more quarts, and transport it to an oil recycling point. This is potentially somewhat messy. 4. I won't even go in to the brake checking issue. I can make enough money in an hour at my job to hire someone who's job it is to change oil and rotate tires and check brakes, and still have a little money left over. The person who I am hiring to do this work is grateful; he needs to do this work so that he can support his family and pay me. I must agree with others in this thread that what you get for your $200 for the 10,000 mile check makes it a bit pricey. It would seem possible that the Lexus folks could find some other more acceptable way of !Removed! us.

I do not believe that using premium will give you the best performance possible, and I can afford to buy premium. What I can't afford is oil changes. You may find this difficult to accept, but in the great Northeast of the USA there are gas stations that don't have premium, and some that don't even have mid grade. We put 76,000 miles on our 2004 RX-330, and are up to 1500 miles on the 2008 RX-350. We have never used anything but regular. Neither car ever pinged or knocked, which is the key to the octane puzzle, and both got acceptable gas mileage. In addition, for both cars, we were specifically told by the dealer that regular was acceptable.

We're on our second, and I might say we have a love hate relationship with it.

How hard would it be to modify the factory radio to add an auxiliary input, to accommodate an iPod or some other mp3 player?

We had a 2004 RX 330, and one of the first things I noticed in the 2008 RX 350 is that the right arm rest is noticeably higher. They made so many little changes in 4 years, but missed some of the bigger ones. You wonder what goes through their heads.

A Garmin 2750 is used for navigation since it can be programmed on a computer to go where you want using the roads you want with the included software. It will find nearby places as well. The "Point A to Point B" nav systems are not flexible enough for my purposes. I use a Navigon. It can be used in more than one vehicle and it can be taken anywhere in your pocket. It can also be mounted in a more convenient and safe location.

Listen to the radio. As far as I'm concerned, a better question is, after all these years, why doesn't the RX 350 audio unit have an auxiliary input, so you could use an iPod, or such? The whole thing is old technology. Look on the bright side-you have much less chance of becoming distracted.

I must agree with you about the back up lights. You almost have to have someone get out and direct you. They were just as bad on the 2004 RX 330 we traded in. I think it's a real safety issue, and Lexus should be ashamed of themselves for not correcting the problem in at least four years. I bet there have been a lot of accidents. Not sure why, but in ~50 years of driving I have NEVER had a car with adequate backup lights. Started upgrading them myself so many years ago I've forgotten when it actually was. I'm not against an aftermarket fix, but I don't have a camera or a trailer hitch, and I'm not comfortable with cutting the sockets apart. How about Lexus coming up with a fix?

I must agree with you about the back up lights. You almost have to have someone get out and direct you. They were just as bad on the 2004 RX 330 we traded in. I think it's a real safety issue, and Lexus should be ashamed of themselves for not correcting the problem in at least four years. I bet there have been a lot of accidents.

I'm wondering if it's one of the Canadian-made RXs. Does the VIN start with a 2? (There's a thread in the forum about the assembly labor being Toyota-like at the Cambridge, ON plant but the parts are being sourced from the "fine folks" who make parts for "Malibus and Neons". Ouch!) My '07 RX is absolutely wonderful after 17K miles with zero problems. Japanese-made. (Canadian versions go to the NE U.S., I was told, an the rest of the country gets Japanese versions.) I'd say lean reeeeeal hard on the service people to make it right for you. Yell loud! Just passed 750 miles on an RX 350 purchased last week. Absolutely a super ride. Assembled in Canada. As mentioned in the other thread, apparently the only Japanese assembled 350's in the great NE are red. It may take a little longer before things start to fall off.

Ask them if they know anything about 2010's, my dealer is totally clueless... My dealer said they had pushed the new RX to 2010.

Keep trying ebay. Service manuals come up all the time.

As mentioned, this is our second. For a variety of small reasons, it is a really aggravating car, but it is the best over the road vehicle I've driven in about the last 50 years. There are worse things than aggravation.

In fact went today and bought a 2008 RX 350. All the 350's they had were assembled in Canada, with the exception of a red one, which had NAV. All 400's on the lot were assembled in Japan. According to the sales folks the only 350's presently available that were assembled in Japan were red. That seems a little strange. I did not wish NAV, so ended up taking one assembled in Canada. Got one of the service technicians, who has been there 13 years, to come out and asked him if he noticed any difference between Japanese and Canadian Lexi, and he said he felt there was no difference in service requirements between the two countries of origin. Of course, he may not be giving a totally independent opinion. Traded in a 2004 RX 330 that also was assembled in Canada. 76,000 miles, no major problems. Sticker was $43K and change. My 330 and $20K for their 350.

Going tomorrow to trade a 2004 RX330-Thanks for the heads up. Will definitely look at country of origin.

This is apparently a fairly common occurrence. The shell back is attached to the front/blade with a small phillips screw, and there isn't much material there. Folks who carry the key in their pockets can put quite a bit of leverage on this inherently weak spot. I bought a back from ebay for less than $20. It was brand new original equipment. Do an ebay search for Lexus key. Put a new back on before the sender gets hurt. Sender replacement is big bucks.