cduluk

Wow! That's awesome that you caught them.

I am. Apparently they didn't sit in any 06+ IS's or RX's... The interior plastics are hard as a rock. The interior quality of the entry level Lexus' has dropped IMO... I'm also very surprised Porsche is ANYWHERE near the top of this list. But also notable is the fact that Scion is way at the bottom. Since this survey is based on owner "complaints" i guess it makes sense though... From what i've seen, Scion "drivers" are generally the younger type who beat the crap out of them, and their "owners" are the responsible parents who are the type to make complaints when they break down from being abused! Porsche owners on the other hand... baby their cars.

When i had my Rx300 there was a significant difference in acceleration ability when going one month at regular and the next at premium. I eventually stayed with premium and have used it exclusively in my Rx400h (minus one 1/4 tank full the day i was really low on gas and only had a $20 to get me home). I also read that premium fuel can save some engine parts such as sensors and what not...

Yeah, same procedure for my old Rx300, pretty cool how it works. When a car is delivered, it has 2 master keys. If the owner wanted to, they could program two additional keys, for a total of 4 keys programmed at one time. If the owner then decided to program a 5th key, the first key to ever be programmed will suddenly lose all of its functionality! And if the owner programs a 6th key, the second key to ever be programmed will also lose functionality. The same applies if they were to program a 7th, and 8th, and any nth number of new keys. Only 4 keys will remain programmed at one time. This feature is useful if you lose a key and think someone else might have it. If you only ever had 3 keys programmed, just program 2 more and that first, no matter where in the world it is, will lose its functionality and won't be able to start your car. Each Lexus key fob ever made, all 1,546,935,769,523 of them, produces its own frequency. When you perform that fancy procedure to program a key, you're getting your CAR to understand the set frequency of that new key. So even if you don't have the lost key in your possession, by programming a 5th key, the car would then understand to ignore the frequency of the lost key if it were to ever hear it again. <_< The technology involved in the cars of today is mind boggling!

Wow funny you should bring this up, because here in RI they've been talking about installing several of those speed cameras on various roads. We already have a few "red light" cameras that take a pic when you go through a red, but speed cameras are a different story. I've already got a special cover on my rear license plate that prevents the entire plate from being read from the left, right, below and above, so from the angle of the camera, they wouldn't be able to get a shot with every letter of the plate being visible. And without every letter being visible, legally i couldn't get a ticket. This is the only cover that actually works at the angle the cameras are at. It uses a different film on each side, whereas others only have one. And best of all, it's legal! The literature of the license plate cover law in RI states it must be visible from 100 feet behind. It doesn't specify at what angle! From directly behind the plate's still readable. I had this cover on my Rx300 and put it on the Rx400h, and have never been questioned about it... What i'm worried about with these "speed cameras" though is HOW they get your speed. Cops have radar guns and laser guns, which i don't worry much about since there's some warning with detectors (and i've got a laser jammer system which i tested and works!). But some of these speed cameras use motion sensors in the ground that detect when a car passes over them (similar to drive-thru's). Two sensors are placed x distance away and a computer calculates the time it takes for a car to pass from one to the other and uses the measured distance to calculate average speed. Then, a few hundred feet down the road lies the camera, which takes the picture. There's no system to detect where these sensors are before you pass over them. Paul, do you know anything about the portable ones they're using in your area? Do they use radar? I think these are a horrible idea. There have been a couple of studies showing that the incidence of car accidents at intersections with red light cameras has INCREASED after the cameras were installed. Apparently when people look up and see them, they slam on their brakes and get rear-ended in an effort to avoid getting a ticket. I don't blame them... Since it's not an actual person giving the ticket, there's really no "gray area", ie: maybe there was something in the way which required someone to go through... Only an actual person should be able to give a ticket based on the situation and severity. But, it's all about money!

SERIOUSLY?? How could someone have the nerve to do that? Did this happen at your house?? You've gotta have one sick mind to steal someone else's gas right out of their car... At least they didn't damage your gas cap... Two summers ago someone vandalized my Rx400h, literally a month after i got it. They keyed the hood and whole left side, and it looked as though someone tried to pry the gas cover open (even thought it has a lock). Apparently everybody's hurting for gas!

Damn... that's unfortunate. :( That definitely shouldn't have happened, even if you never waxed the car once. There's clearly a defect in the clearcoat. The only way to repair properly is to completely sand the damaged areas down to the base coat, prime, color and re-clear the entire car, possibly blending into the sides... All of the defective clear needs to be removed or the new clear will begin to peel/etch when the remaining factory clear continues to degrade. And the only way to remove all of the factory clear is to get down to the color coat as well. Can you take closer pics of the damaged clear? It's hard to tell how deep the damage is. And if you rub water on the damaged clear, does the fogginess go away? If so, you might be able to get away with just a wetsand and re-clear. It's an older car so longevity isn't really a factor. And are you COMPLETELY sure those parts have never been blended or cleared? I only ask because often if let's say a bumper gets damaged, in an effort to save time making several paint samples, a shop will color the bumper and blend into the hood and fenders to hide the color differences. Most likely they wouldn't even tell you about it. If any damage occurred on the front or rear 1/4 fenders, they'd have to blend along the pillars and clear the entire roof.

Are you talking about the paint protection stuff the dealer offers you at purchase? If so, that's not clearcoat or paint of any kind. It's simply a wax they rub on, which just washes off within a month or two... Completely useless. No one can simply "add another coat" of clear onto a cars paint without hours of prep work wet-sanding and what not. I suppose during body work a shop could apply extra clear, but it wouldn't do much...

I feel your pain, just got another door ding today actually. Nice white paint transfer and a scratch that won't buff out. We need cameras on our cars!

There is an ambient light sensor on the dash top, a few inches from where the windshield meets the dash. It's at the left edge of the thin vent for the defroster. Little dome frosted plastic looking thing. However it only works for the auto headlights... not for the A/C (which is an AMAZING idea actually!!!).

Oh that's good to know! I recently did the ISC reset on my '08 after i had the battery removed, honestly don't notice any difference in fuel economy or performance. I thought i did, but i suspect it's due to the weather change and front alignment i had done...

Are you sure it's not just paint? Is it "soft" ie can you dig your nail into it and make an indentation? You'd have to remove this coating from the rest of the pillar and refinish the entire thing. Personally, i'd simply paint the pillar flat black. If you start dealing with vinyl tapes and what not, you'll be able to see the edge and it would most likely begin to peel again. Simply remove it from the rest of the panel, sand, prime and paint and call it a day. <_<

They look good Halim! Nice job!

Dp

So are you saying the car reset itself automatically?

Can you post pictures of the damage? And what's this $350 charge to have extra clear added?

Personally i find the "AUTO" function absolutely useless. It's never useful enough to respond to what i want in my head at any given time. I probably change the temperature and fan speed every 5 minutes or so, i'm VERY picky. And the passenger temp always has to be about 2 or 3 digits higher! And the sensor's located on the lower dash panel right near your right knee.

I agree! They actually banned me over there...

Well, look on the bright side- it's only a metal bumper! <_< If that happened with any other car with a painted plastic bumper, you'd be looking at MUCH higher repair costs, as well as several panels with paint and blend work, which wouldn't match and cause you even more headaches... I had someone "bump me" and run while i was parallel parked (i had no idea until i came out and noticed it) and got two "holes" from their license plate and a nice scrape. Had to get a new bumper and have it repainted, and $800 later i could still "tell" something was done. I'll take a durable metal bumper!

You have GOT to be kidding me!!! That's AWESOME! I've actually witnessed a similar incident happen at my local Lexus dealer a few years ago. I was in the service area and noticed one of the service people driving someone's RX out of the garage door, but he stopped while the door was coming back down and the rear window shattered, along with the spoiler and tailgate. Instantly the owner cried out, "MY CAR!!" and ran over to it... I don't know what happened after that but i'm sure he got taken care of. I think it was nice of Jeep to do that for you, i guess one hand washes the other! That is indeed great irony!

What could possibly be the legal reasoning behind this law?? Is it seriously a cosmetic issue of having a pick-up in the driveway? I can think of about 6.02x10^23 other cars on the road more offensive looking than a pick-up...

I agree. I hate getting washer fluid all over my clean hood when all I want to do is clear the frost off the windshield. The headlight washers only work if the headlights are on. It's hard to remember to turn off the lights before using the windshield washers. I too agree! Mine does the same thing though, only lets you spray the headlights once within a certain stretch of time... Maybe it knows people can get carried away with it!

I thought I'd seen a video from Lexus showing the wood/leather steering wheels being made from real wood. As I recall it showed how the wood is formed and then finished. Am I remembering correctly? Indeed! All real wood. <_< https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/magazine/articles/Vehicle-Insider/Steering-Wheel

They should put out a faster version of this...

Those look nice! I don't like how Lexus left them out on the 2010+ RX's, they definitely look better with them! The factory naked doors are just BEGGING for door dings.