cduluk

It might be a nice idea to retrofit your own set of LED's into the center console and glove compartment. You could install tiny N.O. momentary switches so they'd only illuminate when the doors are open, and use the back of the cig lighter plug as a power source. I would just advise that you wire voltage regulators as well as proper resistors along with the LED's to control the input voltage and current. The alternator can crank out up to 14.5v sometimes which could blow out LED's very quickly. I think a pair of 5mm LED's will do the trick without emitting any heat. Or you could use some CREE or surface mount LED's with some heat-sinking... But i don't think you need THAT much light... As for the "LEXUS" light-up door sills, you'd need to remove the panels from the car as the "LEXUS" part is embedded into the plastic. The sills are attached only with clips, so just pry them up with your fingers (or a flat head screwdriver). Pry from the top front first, then work your way towards the end. When you remove them, the black rubber door seals will want to come up too, so just make sure to separate the two so they don't rip. And when you've got the sills lifted a few inches, unplug the wiring (towards the front of each) as there isn't a lot of slack. Once you've removed the sills, you can gain access to the backs and get to the "LEXUS" light up pieces. And they're attached to the sills with double sided tape, so don't bother trying to separate them (i tried, made matters worse)... Just do the dirty work with them still attached together. Just follow the wires into the "LEXUS" plate, maybe use a dremel and carefully drill your way towards the LED circuit area, then you can replace it. Here are some pics of the such sills, i found these online: You also mentioned the lights in the door handle cavities... I've been wanting to replace those with blue LED's, but have put that project on hold due to the fact that the ONLY way to get to them, is to remove the entire door panel- which is a MAJOR pain. If you find the motivation to remove them though, i say go for it. I'll get to them one day when i find the inspiration and time. You may also want to replace the amber LED's in the upper center console, the ones that aim downwards onto the shifter plate. The LED's are located in the shallow of the dome light slider switch, on the panel that has the garage door opener buttons and buttons for the sunroof. You can remove this panel by removing the clear light cover with a flathead screwdriver, then removing two philips head screws beneath, and i "think" there might be two more screws up front, but i could be wrong, don't totally remember. I just replaced both with the same 5mm blue LED's, just un-soldered and replaced.

Yeah, the center console cup holder and cubby lights only come on when the headlights are on (at night) and when the dimmer switch (to the left of the steering column) is set to a high position. They're on the same circuit as the radio/AC and heated seat/headlight washer lights. If you want to wire them to be on even during the day, i'd suggest wiring them to the cigarette lighter plug. The cig lighters in the car are only hot when the car is in ACC or ON, so when you turn off the ignition they'd be off. The cig lighters receive 12-14.5V based on the alternator and plenty of current to run other things. At present i've got my radar detector, laser jammer and a few other lights wired to the cig lighter above the shifter with no problems. Only problem with this setup is that the dimmer wouldn't control the lights... And i don't believe the dimmer is double pole, so i'm not sure how one could get it to control both things.

Sadly to say... i'm a pig in the car. A few days a week i find myself STARVED out of my mind before classes with only a half-hour to kill, so i go through the McDonalds drive thru and order myself 2 large fries and a bottled water- a much needed 1000 calories to keep my going. My favorite fast food snack! I just love them, those HOT greasy fries and FREEZING water. It rejuvenates me. I just sit in the drivers seat with the bag on my lap... Whenever my fingers get too covered with salt i just rub them on a napkin next to my legs so the salt doesn't get on the leather All of which are bad for both ME and the car, but heck, you only live once B) I love my car, but food will always win! food > car There's even this restaurant in Arizona called the "Heart Attack Grille", they advertise all their food as either a "double bypass burger" or "flatliner fries" etc... They fry the french fries in LARD, pure LARD! I have to visit one day...

It all depends on the mass and "coefficient of friction" of the cars wheels to ground. It's like a moving car hitting a bug. The change in velocity the bug withstands is MUCH greater than the cars'- therefore more destruction. I remember these stupid terms from all the physics classes i've taken

The 99 has its own brightness button on the unit right under the cd and clock buttons B) day/night mode is still affected by the dimmer.

I know the underneath is different (but i don't know how...). If you can look at the "INFO" screen on the dash, the AWD versions will have 2 batteries, while the FWD version only 1.

nc, how deep are the scratches? Can you feel them with your fingernail? If so, you'll need to wetsand and buff them out, probably best to machine polish. Go to a store like Advanced Auto Parts or Autozone, and get some sandpaper. You'll need 1000 grit and 2000 grit. Also get a good cutting compound, personally i like 3M's Scratch Remover. Meguar's ScratchX is much too fine to remove wetsand scratches. First, like LexiRx330 said in the last post, mask off the areas around the headlight, such as the bumper and any other plastic/metal trim. Layer it pretty good. Then get a pale and fill it with water, just regular tap water is fine. First start with the 1000 grit sandpaper, cut a piece maybe 2"x4", and fold it in half (so it'll be 2"x2"). Dip it in the water and splash a little water over the headlight. Then proceed to sand the areas that have been scratched, but sand in a horizontal direction only, making sure not to swirl around. Just keep sanding until the scratches you made previous are gone. Then go over the entire area with the 2000 grit sandpaper, just enough so that the scratches made by the 1000 grit are gone. Then, you're ready to polish. I "guess" you could buff by hand, but i'd recommend machine polish as it'll be MUCH faster. If you don't have access to one, then just do it by hand. Start with the 3M's Scratch Remover. Squeeze some out, about the size of a dime. With a cotton cloth, just rub the compound over the areas you've sanded, rubbing in all directions until the area becomes more transparent. If you're doing it by hand, it could take... a long time. Just keep at it, adding compound as it goes away until the shine is back. Then you can try a more gentle compound such as Meguar's ScratchX to add more luster. I know some Lexus headlights (my 03 Rx300 had this) have a special hard coating over the entire lens, so by sanding only one area you may go through this layer, which may result in an uneven result (since the hard coat doesn't sand/polish the same as the soft plastic beneath). If this happens, just wetsand the entire headlight...

Just start "looking" and try to find a killer deal. Don't buy one unless it's a good though... It doesn't sound like it's urgent, so just let time be on your side. Last May i wasn't really 'interested' in getting my Rx400h, i just happened to be looking on Autotrader one day (just looking at pictures) and stumbled on this particular AWD Rx400h. This little dealer about an hour away was asking $31,000 for an 08 with 42k miles, the price being about $10k less than ANY other 08 Rx400h for sale ANYWHERE in the US... So i just had to check it out (thinking there was something wrong with it) but found out it was prestine! I told my parents about what i had found, and they took a trip with me to see it. They too were so amazed at the price so we made the deal! We ended up knocking a little more off the price too, trading in the old Rx300. Even today, a year later, it's a rare find to see a 2008 Rx400h for < $31,000... Just give it time and you'll find a good one <_< Just make a note before purchasing whether it's AWD or FWD as it's hard to tell visually. The FWD Rx400h's are a few thousand cheaper and some dealers might advertise it incorrectly...

Yupp, nav automatically means you've got the back-up cam <_< Rear power door is also present on all 400h's.

I know the 99-00 screens were modified for the 01-03 years with a brighter and clearer display. I wonder if an 01-03 screen would be a direct replacement to yours? Stupid question, but is your dimmer switch turned all the way up? The dimmer switch is located on the gauge cluster bezel to the left. Just rotate it clockwise until it clicks.

Which year Rx400h did you look at? The 06's didn't come with any wood interior trim, instead it was replaced with brushed aluminum trim. The 07-08's however replaced the silver with wood just like the Rx330/350. Some of the 2006 Rx400h's didn't have navigation, some were available pretty stripped. In 2007-2008 i would say 99% of them came standard with nav. Mark Lev sound was not standard on very many of them in any year, neither was the rear entertainment system. If you look on ebay and such, you won't find many without nav, and you won't find many with the Mark Lev sound system... All Rx400h's came with the HID AFS headlights (where this was an option on the 330/350) and all AWD models have the heated seats too.

Yeah, most dealers will have bumpers repainted before selling as CPO's to eliminate rock chips and what not. Dealers just outsource an autobody shop, probably one on the cheap end... Definitely make sure the dealer has all the damage and overspray repaired to your satisfaction. Most customers probably don't care and they get away with it.

$3,000??? You could have bought a new car! Take it back to them, and demand they return the car back to you in the condition promised before the work was done.

Oh yeah, if the console isn't slid forward anyone in the back seat will have a problem. It's a cool little invention. I like being able to slide it depending on the circumstances. It's also pretty cool to be able to "hold" food tight to the dash when transporting it home or what not (so it doesn't slide around).

no prob, glad to help! :) If all the fuses check out, i would try to light up those LED's manually with voltage from the cigarette lighter (at the bottom of the console). That lighter only receives voltage when the key is in the ignition, so it wouldn't hurt the battery. OR, if you wanted to be adventurous, you could tap voltage from the shifter plate bulb (the bulb that illuminates the PRNDB panel) as that bulb works with the dimmer. That bulb most likely works with 12v just as the cig lighter does. If you attached those LED's to this voltage, they'd dim just as they're supposed to. And i'm positive that bulb's given enough current to run 3 LED's just fine. That might be your best bet B)

Oh no, i don't mean the door sill lights, i mean the lights that illuminate the areas where your feet are. Not sure if yours has it, maybe it was only on newer models? The "LEXUS" door sill lights are already blue on my 400h. And i do have experience replacing the door sill light LED's, on my last car, i had retrofitted a set of Rx330 door sills and converted the factory amber 'LEXUS' to blue LED's. See the "My previous Rx300's Custom LED “additions”" link in my signature for pictures. You can pry the door sills up with your hands to get to the back. They require a little surgery to get to the LED's as they're encased in epoxy, but it's do-able. I just replaced the 3mm amber LED with a 5mm blue one, and i used the same resistor. Here are the foot well lights i'm talking about. Here are the pages in my manual on the fuses.

Those lights in the console are already LED's. There are two giving light to the cupholders, both LED's blue. And there's one more LED illuminating the cubby behind them, but it's amber. I had purchased a spare Rx console when i was working on mine (last summer), so i replaced the amber LED with a blue one that went to the cupholders. So now all three LED's in my console are blue. Also, you know the amber lighting where your feet go (both drivers and passengers side has it)? They're the same amber LED's like the one in the console cubby. I also replaced these with blue LED's... Just un-soldered them and re-soldered in 5mm blue LED's. Used the same resistor given. Factory LED's are designed to take 3.2v and ~20mA current. Are you sure those lights never worked in your console? They're very dim by nature. They are only illuminated when your exterior lights are on, and when your dimmer switch is set to a high position. If you lower the dimmer switch, they'll go off. The fuse for this circuit will not be located under the hood. There's a separate fuse box under the drivers side dash, next to the emergency brake thing. Just look up there, you'll see a black rectangle. Just pop off the cover and you'll see two rows of... maybe 30 or so. In the back 2/3 of your owners manual you'll find a few pages with detailed descriptions of what each fuse is for. For the fuses you've pictured, some are supposed to be empty. The diagrams in the manual will show which though <_<

LS430 was first produced for the 2001 model year. 01, 02, 03 were the same. In 04 some changes were made, 04 the same as 05 and 06. The 460 was first produced for the 07 model year.

It appears you can't buy the molding separate from the glass...

I had to do some extensive surgery on the center console of my Rx400h when i did my wood modifications. Removing the entire console from the car is fairly easy, but taking the actual console apart is a pain in the BUTT. The door and little panels on the console are attached from screws beneath, and you need to remove a lot of contraptions to get to them... And these contraptions are held in place with tensioned springs and levers (that allow for the open/close operation) and once removed, almost impossible to set back in position correctly. It took me an entire day to disassemble and reassemble the console with guess and check... I would say i have pretty good mechanical ability, and this project really tested my head... and patience! I would remove the console from the car (pry off lower rectangular side panels on both left and right sides w/flathead screwdriver, remove 3 10mm bolts on each side, pull up, unplug wire harnesses) and try to remove the obstruction from the outside, maybe tip the console over, wiggle the door a little, let gravity help you. If that doesn't work, then i guess try to take everything apart inside. Just keep track of which screws go where (as they all "appear" the same but some longer than others) and write down each step as you go along. It may also help to take pictures of parts before you remove them, as if you hit the wrong spring or lever, they'll fly apart and go all over the floor, and you'll have to figure out where they went. If you're careful, you'll be OK <_<

Heck, it's cheaper to buy and repaint a new bumper than it is to repaint the entire SIDE of your car due to one little quarter sized dent and chip in a door (due to paint blending etc...)

I use the "B" mode quite often, it's a great feature. It's an easy way to slow the car down without having to hit the brake. Sometimes in moving traffic when the car in front of me slows down, I just whip it into "B" and the car lags a bit, and when my speed is OK I just put it back into "D". It's also nice to use when getting off the highway when you need to slow down "just a little bit".

The manual for the Rx400h states that regular fuel "can" be used, but suggests you use premium. Not really sure why, whether it be for increased fuel mileage or for engine longevity. Since I plan on keeping this car for a LONG time I'll keep using premium fuel. The extra cost vs regular is quite large, but I guess it's better than having to replace costly car components further down the line... And I do notice an increase in power with premium fuel vs regular, but still not worth the difference in price...

Some of the 07-08 Rx's have this problem where the AC/Heat blows out tiny white specs (like powdered sugar). You'd notice them all over the dash. The evaporator core has a coating on the inside that prevents mold and such. After time, the coating flakes off and the powder just comes out of the vents. Some people complain about AC odor as well, but i don't think they're related. In March i had the evap core replaced in my Rx400h (i had the white dust and smell problem). Dust is gone, but i still get the AC odor every once and a while...

nice results!