RX400h

So you already have the parts, it looks. How much would the dealership charge for labor, only? Could this be done at a Toyota dealership (typically less expensive)?

Have you already checked with the dealership, just to have a baseline?

(1) car care nut 3.5 liter rubber hose failure - YouTube

Yes, indeed, John! Jeff, to fully answer your questions: The Continental Pure Contact tires are great, in my opinion. When I drive the RX, I am mostly very conservative, especially now that gas is almost $6/gallon. As with most all-season tires on a heavy vehicle, aggressive cornering will solicit slight squeals from the tires. The advantages of these tires are longer life and quiet/smooth ride.

John, I have the Continental Pure Contact, shown below. But keep in mind that I live in Southern California. I've also attached rankings of Winter tires from last year.

I've seen cars that have the battery in the back, so a connection point is located in the engine bay. Check under the hood and your owner's manual for further instructions.

We have had the Continental Pure Contact tires for years now and they have proven to be excellent. Of course, you can't go wrong with Michelin tires but there is often a large difference in cost between them and the Continentals. If Discount Tire doesn't have certain tires in stock, they almost always can get them within a week.

That's good to know. Thanks, Scott!👍

Consumer Reports Magazine has stated in no uncertain terms that the best vehicles to buy today are hybrids. Some, like the Camry Hybrid, have a range of 600 miles, are far less expensive to purchase than EVs, and can be fully fueled in 5 minutes.

I had the same thing happen to me, many years ago. One lug nut on my Monte Carlo was not torqued sufficiently, and it didn't take long for the remaining nuts to spin off. Thankfully, the bouncing tire did not hit any vehicle on the highway, but I was certainly very embarrassed, even as a 23 year-old. As for your case, it would be impossible to pin the blame on the dealership, although my guess is that the technician did not torque the last lug nut.

Thanks, Jeff.

This list includes all the different settings that were active when the original owner received his or her RX400h. As the original owner of our RX400h, we had few, if any of these changed, but I can see how some owners would like to have some changed by the dealership. 2006 RX400h settings.pdf (conceptualpolymer.com)

This was certainly true even 10 years ago but more than a few all-season tires are so much better than they were back then. Of course, snow tires are recommended in certain areas where heavy snow is common. Based upon my research snow tires are generally not needed in the coastal regions of British Columbia. Remember, though, that there are very few selections for Summer tires for RX350s. And as I mentioned above, the best all-season are essentially just as good as or better than the available Summer tires when used on an SUV.

Keep in mind that in most cases, all-season tires last longer than Summer tires. I searched for Summer tires for your vehicle on tirerack.com and saw only two selections. All-Season tires have improved quite a bit over the years. The Continental PureContact LS achieves a "much better than average" rating by Consumer Reports, in their "Handling" category. Their cost is very reasonable and their life span is 75,000 miles. And the Michelin CrossClimate2 tires are actually rated very highly in the "Snow traction" category (The Continentals are rated "higher than average") in this category, meaning you may be able to use these, year-round.

Until an owner chimes in, this is what I found by asking Bing's AI about the subject: The 2023 Lexus RX 350 F Sport comes equipped with the Lexus Safety System+ 3.0, which includes a Lane Departure Alert (LDA) with Steering Assist1. The LDA system uses a camera sensor to judge the position of your vehicle in relation to the road markings below2. If the system detects that the vehicle is deviating from its lane, it will provide visual, audible, and/or tactile warnings—such as through steering wheel or seat vibrations—to alert the driver3. The Steering Assist feature provides a gentle force to the steering wheel when lane departure is imminent2. These features are designed to help prevent accidents caused by fatigue or loss of focus, when a momentary lapse of concentration would otherwise prove dangerous.

Perhaps this would work? Amazon.com: Complete Remote Activated Remote Start Kit for 2006-2009 Lexus RX 400H - Hybrid - Module : Automotive

At that age, maintenance history is very important. See if you can find a Lexus maintenance schedule for this vehicle, and query the owner about whether each service was performed. Does the owner have receipts or at least a spread sheet of what was done over the years? Also, it would be beneficial to have a Lexus dealership perform a complete inspection. Good luck!

When you state "not suited for under 5'5", I assumed that you know this because you are 5'4" or so. (I mistakenly stated 5'5".) Otherwise, how would you know if a 5'4" were too short? 😉

Many years ago, I had some strange drivability issues with my 1989 Mazda MX6 GT. My local mechanic could not figure out what was wrong, so I called a few Mazda dealerships in town to see if any of their mechanics had experience with my 20+ year old car. I did find a dealership that was about 20 miles away, and sure enough the old mechanic spotted the issue after keeping the car, overnight. It was the distributor, so he replaced it and my beloved MX6 was back to normal. So my advice is to call some Lexus dealerships and speak with the service consultants. Describe your issues but don't be surprised if their initial response is "C'mon in and we'll take a look." Your car is not that old so my guess is that one of the mechanics has experienced the same symptoms before. They are more likely to have done so than an independent mechanic who services many brands and models of vehicles.

Thanks for your review, Cindy, and congrats! So even though the seat is in its uppermost position, you still feel as if it is not high enough? That's a bit odd. I could understand if you were 4'10", but not 5'5". Do you have a list of standard settings for all the sensors, etc? Our Lexys came with a very long list of settings. We got to choose which setting we wanted and the dealership offered to change some to our preferences within a certain time frame. If you were not given such a list, you might want to check with the dealership about that. My Mazda has a setting that toggles on or off the beeping noise for blindspot warnings. Lexus may be able to do the same.

How Toyota's solid-state batteries could revolutionize EVs | Digital Trends So no, there may still be a supply problem with solid state battery materials.

I think solid state batteries are a step in the right direction. Supposedly, Toyota is making progress.

Very nice! Congrats! Is that a wrap on the hood?

There are some alarm kits that allow you to use your phone to disarm your car. The kit works with many existing alarm systems. However most I've seen require an annual fee.