RX400h

But there's no guarantee that his suggestion will fix the leak, once and for all. Plus, the tech's original prognosis of the source of the leak was incorrect. Therefore, you should NOT have to pay for that repair cost. I would tell the service manager that they should subtract anything you've paid, so far from the cost to open the vent. And, if that doesn't work, you should owe nothing. I hope there have been at least two opinions from separate mechanics, regarding this issue.

Gaskets tend to harden, quicker when the fluid(s) they are sealing is not circulated often enough. This is why many older low-mileage vehicles that are thought to be hidden treasures to unsuspecting buyers can cost significant money to repair. Our water pump was found to have a seeping gasket after 90,000 miles, but we drive our RX, daily. The bottom line is that age, not mileage is what causes gaskets to fail. Think of it, this way: If your $600 gets you another 8-9 years of water pump life, you're spending about $70 per year. I suggest you get it done.

I agree. Take it back.

This may seem rediculous, but is there a TPM in the spare tire?

Continentals, in general, are very quiet tires. We have their Extremes on 2 of our vehicles and are very happy with them. Our RX400h has Yokohama Parada-X tires and they have also been quiet and fairly long-lasting.

Those are from 2 different generations of RXs and do not look the same, although there may be a chance that Lexus used the same doors. You can always call the parts person at a Lexus dealership to inquire if they have the same part numbers.

If you go to www.techinfo.toyota.com you can get repair manuals, service bulletins and wiring diagrams for $15 (2 days). A quick Bing search revealed a similar question concerning a 2006 RX330. It was answered by a Toyota Master Diagnostics technician who identified the likely source as the AC heater box and one of its door controls. According to him, the box is not serviceable and would need to be replaced. Apparently, the dash must be removed to access it.

According to my 2009 Consumer Reports buying guide, the vehicle that sat at the top of the luxury SUV list (with a score of 83) is the RX400h. The RX350 is next on the list with a score of 80. The 1-2 ratings of these vehicles repeats, year after year, although in 2013, the Acura MDX was placed ahead of the RX350, but below the RX450h, which continues to dominate this category, today. But getting back to your question: We have two vehicles with built-in "instantaneous MPG" readout capability and another with a Scan Gauge II connected to the OBD II port. All three vehicles will show wildly fluctuating instantaneous MPG readouts, so I think it's a fairly useless "capability". You are far better off displaying the average MPG readout, but keep in mind that this is not always perfectly accurate. As you mentioned, calculating gas mileage, manually is typically the best way to know what you are getting.

I think I would've replaced the mat set after having the carpet replaced. Of course, if the vehicle were under warranty, the new mat set should be provided at discount, if not for free. My guess is that something is not right with those mats.

If it were me, I'd push the issue with the dealership. Even The KYB struts installed in my 89 Mazda MX6 GT were great after 50,000 miles. My son's Honda Civic struts were still good after 100,000 miles when we replaced them with Eibach struts and springs. Any shock/strut that fails after 30,000 miles is defective, plain and simple. If the majority of Toyota-specified shocks lasted only 30,000 miles, there would be a massive uproar among owners and Toyota/Lexus would (hopefully) replace them, free of charge. This is like having alternators last 30K miles - totally unacceptable.

Struts should last far longer than 30K miles. Something is severely amiss. Have you tried the 1-800-255-3987 number?

I had a leak in my 89 Mazda MX6 GT auto transmission for about 10 years with no adverse effects other than adding a quart every 6000 miles. When I sold the car, the transmission had over 160,000 miles on it and it was still just fine. If you're not seeing a pool of coolant on your garage floor, every week, I'd say that you could probably keep driving your car for many years without having to spend big money to replace the transmission. Also, I think if you execute a search in this forum, you won't find many transmission leaks. Sure there were a couple, but it's not a massive issue by any stretch of the imagination. Just keep an eye on the coolant level, every so often. With that amount of miles on the odo, it makes the most sense to keep your RX.

Now, if you had that $1500 factory service manual set.................

Is this it? http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/221482834931

Our 9 year-old RX has no such issue, so Maseace may have something, there, as there is very little moisture in our part of the country.

It's among the "pinned" topics and is entitled: "RX400h: Neat little tricks you may want to know about"

....looks like a good program to have as our batteries age past the 200,000 mile mark. Fortunately, that should be another 10 years for us.

Like Siri and Google ghost, any background noise can create confusion. I'll have to admit, though, that our 2014 Mazda 3 AI lady has better "filtering" ability than most phone and vehicle AI personnel. I am looking forward to Catana in my phone. She is said to be a step up in intelligence, compared to all others.

That's good to know. You have double the miles on your RX than what we do, so it's encouraging that we can enjoy many more miles of efficient motoring.

Here are some good corrosion-prevention tips: http://bestbatterytips.com/tags/what-causes-battery-corrosion/

Short trips tend to allow moisture to remain in the oil. Therefore, either taking longer trips during the weekend or changing the oil more often is recommended.

It took us no more than 6 years to benefit from our RX400h purchase over a non-hybrid. With fuel prices consistently at or above the $4.00 mark, a 40+% increase in fuel economy really pays off, especially if you do as we do - keep each car, at least 10 years. Our RX has been trouble-free for over 9 years, making it the most reliable vehicle we have ever owned.

Have you read this article by Consumer Reports? http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/extended-warranties/buying-guide.htm

Shah, I am accustomed to writing procedures for production assemblers, many of whom speak English as a second language - thus, the many photos and extra details. I guess it's better to have too many, than not enough. :) Dave

I guess it's a good sign that no one else has had to replace his or her radiator!