JimsGX

Hi Again, I'm not hearing any noises coming from the wheels when going straight or turning. I tend to agree with SRK's comment above that it is drive line related. I'll post when I find out what the root cause is (hopefully). Thanks! Jim

Take off the emergency brake... Sorry, couldn't resist. How did you decide what to replace and in what order?

HaHa! Thanks... I'm taking it to a mechanic this weekend to get it up on a lift and check it out. Might very well be a wheel bearing. I took off each wheel this evening, replaced each with my spare, then did a test drive after each swap. The vibration was still consistently there after each swap so I think I've definitley ruled out the tires and rims. Hopefully a visual of the driveline and a suspension check will reveal something this weekend. For 20 years or more now, my wife and I have been fortunate enough to always have new cars under warranty, so I haven't had to worry about finding a good (and honest) mechanic since most repairs have been minimal and through the dealers. Finding a good mechanic for the old Lexus might be my biggest challenge at the moment. I don't plan on paying through the nose for repairs on a 91 LS at the dealer. Some of the invoices I have for the repairs done by the previous owner were rediculously high. They were even hitting her up for a periodic engine steam clean. When you had the wheel bearing problem on the Subaru, were you getting any kind of howling noise and/or was the vibration worse when cornering? Thanks, Jim

Hi, I bought a 91 LS400 a couple of weeks ago with 76,300 miles on it. It's a one owner vehicle and I know the previous owner. She is 76 years old and only drove it on the weekends. Every service was performed by the local Lexus Dealer (I have a copy of every single service record) and its had all the standard major service performed including the timing belt, water pump, steering rack, PS pump, all new brakes and rotors just 2k miles ago and only 3k miles on the tires. I've put about 500 miles on it over the last couple weeks and started to notice a vibration about 100 miles ago. I've searched and read all the threads on this subject but haven't really found a condition just like the one I'm experiencing. The car has a vibration only when decelerating at 29 down to 25mph. Then it has it again when cruising at 47 to 56mph and decelerating at the same speed. When accelerating, either the drivetrain is masking the vibration or it doesn't exist. Also, under any of these conditions, I can put my hand on the shifter, and there's absolutely no transfer of the vibration coming through the shifter. At either of these speeds, if I put the vehicle in neutral, the vibration is exactly the same. Once I coast down out of those speed ranges, the vibration goes away. I had the tires rebalanced this past weekend and it made no difference at all in the vibration. I can put the vehicle in park and rev it up to 4000rpm and its smooth as silk with no vibration at all. Also, under the conditions above when its vibrating, there's no vibration being transferred through the steering wheel. I can cruise at 75mph with just one finger on the wheel. It drives straight and true... Any idea's? I know one of the more common recommendations is to replace the motor and transmission mounts but in this case I don't know if that would do any good... Thanks, Jim

One additional comment... The 07 RX350's CAFE recalculation took the rating down from 19/24 to 17/22 for the 08 model. Compared to the 07 RX400h which went from 31/27 to 26/24 in 08 (AWD models). A more significant drop when comparing the two...

Yes, I realize the CAFE ratings were modified. I don't think it fares well for the RX400h though. I think the margin of gas savings between the two models is narrowing and it makes it more difficult now than ever to justify the additional cost between the RX400h and RX350. I realize the "green" aspect still needs to be considered, SULEV vs ULEVII... Hopefully the Lithium Ion bugs will get worked out and the mileage numbers can increase. I'd put money on the 2008 RX400h sales decreasing or the percentage of 400h's being sold to decrease vs the RX350's sales to be more accurate. Jim

Not many changes... They added the light blue / Breakwater Blue Mettalic as a color option. I don't see the chrome outside door handles. Mileage took a big hit from 31/27 to 26/24. Compared to the regular RX @ 17/22.

Let me turn that into a question: Anybody think it would be a good thing if some dealers/salespeople particitpated in this forum? Hmmm... Possibly a double edge sword. We could get some good inside information or hints about what Lexus has up its sleeve for new models etc... The negative could be what I've experienced in the past on another forum where dealers/salespeople participated. The participants had a tendency to be subjective and smooth over conversations/postings that contained negative connotations about the brand. I think we as participating owners in these forums, are committed to the brand, just as the dealers/salespeople are. But they come to the table with a different set of motivations and perspective... I vote to allow the dealers mechanics participate. They have the kind of real world perspective on the Lexus brand that could add significant value to our conversations. Jim

I had the clear 3M/XPEL applied at the dealer when I purchased my 400h... I paid $600 for the install at the dealer. A hefty price but worth every penny. I have it on my GX470 as well. It saves the front of the vehicle. Especially if you do a fair amount of highway driving. My GX's hood has taken many stone hits over the last three years and it still looks brand new. The clear plastic is cut from plastic sheets/rolls on a plotter type machine. It has adhesive on one side that is activated by applying a mixture of 70% isopropyl alcohol and water via a spray bottle. Installers usually use a spray bottle of soapy water to help them position the plastic sheets on the vehicle and a hard rubber squegee to get the air bubbles out after activating the adhesive. It is a bit tricky. A thorough cleaning of the vehicle and a rub down with alcohol to remove any wax is a must. I don't think it's wise or even possible to apply it to a hot surface or in direct sunlight. A garage is best. The 400h is the third vehicle I've had this stuff on. Highly recommended. I have the front and rear mud flaps too!

I found this in a quick search... See California Vehicle Code Section 26708(a) "Nothing can be attached to your windshield, except in the center upper-most portion of windshield in an area not greater than the 5" square a CHP Communicating Device or electronic toll device; in the 7" square in the lower corner of windshield farthest removed from the driver; and in the 5" square in the lower corner of the windshield nearest the driver. " http://www.gpspro.biz/vehiclecodes No mention suction cups, but it seems pretty strict about where things can be and if it's in the most likely spot (center) it must be somethign the CHP can communicat with... IMHO the State is over reaching in declaring this to be State interest. I can see keeping visiblity from being obstructed, but there are many places on my windsheild that I could put something like a GPS unit that would not block the view of the road. I'm more concerned with the size of the A Pillars on many cars. I drove a vehicle for a year that gave me a serious peripheral blind spot on each side of the windshield because the A Pillars were so wide. Not good for seeing pedestrian traffic at crosswalks. The police car I cut off once at a stop sign (I had the stop sign and did stop!) wasn't too pleased with me either. I showed him the size of the pillars and he gave me a pass...

I was thinking in front of the sliding center console down by the floor and the 12v outlet... I don't like stuff on top of the dash either. I think it comes standard with a remote.

Smiley6, Here's a link that will help you out... Calculate Lease Payments

Give it another try... Here's the link: HD Jump I updated the above link as well...

Hi, I posted this on the "other" Lexus site as well. I'm thinking about picking one up this afternoon. Found a local distributor that has them in stock. I'm hoping it will fit well down in front of the center console area near the 12v plug and still get good reception. Has anyone had any experience with this unit? Looks interesting. Digital CD quality on 1700 stations without a subscription. Portable and inexpensive too ($250 base). HD Jump And by the way, it has a built in MP3 jack to hook up and play you're IPOD through your stereo. Jim

Any chance you could post a picture or two of the tires on your vehicle? How much did you pay for them Jim? How many miles do you have on them now? What were the OEM's you replaced? Thanks... Yes, I have a few pictures on this site...look up "New Toyo Tires"...let me know what you think. I paid less than $600 for four and everything was included...I think it was $540 out the door. I got a great deal though... I LOVE the new look, the car looks totally different and much,much better and more ...well, masculine! Or since I called her the "Prioncess" before, I now call her "Xena"! Rey Bustos Thanks. I guess I wasn't clear. I was actually hoping to see pictures of the Goodyear Responsedge tires on MadloR's vehicle... Are there any of those floating around? I saw the Toyo's (very nice!). I thought the Responsedge would work better for me here in the northeast... Thanks

Something is off here with your interest rate calculation... A money factor of .003 equates to an interest rate of 7.2%, not 4.68%... You may want to take a closer look at the deal. What is the residual value, miles per year, actual MSRP with all options including freight? The selling price before deducting your $3300 down payment is $43,500? Do you know what portion of the agreed selling price is TTL and aquisition fee? Did they offer or explain to you about the option of using multiple deposits on the lease to decrease your payments? LFS was offering a deal like this. You could put down deposits equivalent to up to nine monthly payments on the vehicle in order to lower your monthly payments. These nine deposits were refundable at the end of the lease. Is the lease through LFS or another company?

Any chance you could post a picture or two of the tires on your vehicle? How much did you pay for them Jim? How many miles do you have on them now? What were the OEM's you replaced? Thanks...

I would assume that since the car would be available in 3-4 weeks from the time you ordered it, he has a car coming in with the spec's you wanted under his standard allocation. I ordered a Volvo before that had my name associated to the vehicle. It took about four months to get the vehicle. After about two months, the dealer was able to supply me with a printout from Volvo as to when the car was going to be manufactured. Once the car was ready to be loaded on the ship, I was able to track the location of the vehicle as it traveled across on the ship right up to its port delivery in New Jersey. Once it hit port, I think it took another 7-10 days before it made it to my local dealers lot.

Thanks... I think I'll stick with the Michelin's through this fall and switch to the Alenza's next winter. Jim

Newtoncd, Can you tell me a bit more... Such as how many miles you've put on the Alenza's; If you've run them in snow, and how they compare to the Michelin's; If you considered the Michelin's to be loud at highway speeds, and how the Alenza's noise levels compare on the highway? I think the Michelin's are good around town, but on the highway, I find them to be a bit noisy... TireRack's snow and wet traction customer reviews aren't that great for the Michelin's. Do you find the the Alenza's to perform better under these conditions? Lastly, what pressure are you running the Alenza's at? Thanks, Jim

Has anyone had the Michelin MXV4 S8's and switched to the Bridgestone Alenza's? I would be interested in a comparison between the two on an RX400h... Ride, wear, snow traction, handling etc... I've looked at the customer reviews on tirerack.com and the Alenza looks superior in almost every way. Is it significant enough to make it worth shelfing the Michelin's and switching to the Alenza's? Thanks, Jim

A.Box, How did you end up with a RHD in TN? Jim

it is very simple, it is only pushed in! i did a documentation for a change to increase the reversing lights. the first picture shows how to push. make sure that the plastic cover is warm and not to cold when removing it. plastic splinters easily if to cold. have a look here Removing bulb cover from reversing light Thank You Very Much! Interesting download site for the attachment... Jim

Hardy Har Har!! Maybe we need some Head and Shoulders! Seriously folks, I think it may have been pieces of the cabin air filter in my case. It happened a couple times on mine but it hasn't reoccured in a week or more. One piece that landed in the front cup holder, looked like a thin piece of white cloth about an eighth of an inch wide by three eighths of an inch long. At the same time, there was a spattering of white flakes about the size of that fake plastic snow on the dash area. Probably fifty of them if I had to guess... I ended up pulling out the cabin air filter last weekend just to take a look at it... It looked normal to me. I haven't seen any white particles since. The filter element wasn't desintegrating or anything like that. I had a little difficulty getting the plastic pins to come out that allow the glovebox door to drop down. I think I was trying to turn them both out counterclockwise and found out that one needs to be turned clockwise and the other counterclockwise. I messed up the pins and plastic stops on the inside sides of the glovebox a little in the process. Jim

I have had a similar experience with the 400h this past winter. We had one storm that produced 12-15 inch drifts. I was able to drive through them without a problem with the Michelin OEM tires which were brand new at the time. I'd only had the vehicle for two days when the storm hit. These tires aren't my favorite in the snow (prefer Michelin Cross Terrains) but they worked okay. Jim