BillyShaft

I saw a post from a guy yesterday that had info on a shop that works on the nav systems... Nav repair shop info

Tire Rack is indeed a great resource for researching. I have found that my local Discount Tire always matches/beats pricing from Tire Rack. They seem to know that people shop on line, and when you say, "I've been doing some research and Tire Rack says..." they instantly go into competitive pricing mode. I also second the opinions posted on Discount Tire customer service. They seem to really want to take care of me anytime I come by, even if it is with tires I didn't buy from them.

Come on Troll...are you the self-proclaimed Guardian of the Idiots? Your premise is wrong, hence the argument is invalid. If the man's family acts like the Sopranos, I don't have to lead a squeaky-clean life to recognize it, point it out and judge it to be wrong. We have every right to judge his family based on their activities. Matter of fact, we can judge based on nothing whatsoever in this country. Remember, we did not show up on his doorstep and sleuth this out...Captain Genius came here and posted it for all to see and asked our opinion on his illegal activities. I don't care how he justifies the situation, the facts are: he crashed his junk, he wants it fixed, he cried to mommy, and mommy will break the law and lie to protect her little sweetums. Nauseating. You may want to check your own motivations, Dim Sum...most of us have faced situations like this in their lives. I think the point, as someone pointed out earlier, is that when someone goes about doing something a little shady or grey-area or is justifying their own behavior while they break the law, they usually acknowledge it as such internally and feel a little shame and guilt and certainly keep it on the down-low. This guy seems proud as a peacock that his family is willing to commit fraud so that his car can have straight body panels. Straight body panels! How petty is that? Why not just go pistol-whip some old ladies to get the money to fix the car? After all, Junior needs straight body panels! And to answer your question, no, I would not commit insurance fraud so that my mother could fix her car...I would also not ask her to do that for me. In fact, when Granny started to lose it and was crashing into everything in town, we made the hard decision of calling the DMV and had her license revoked. It was the right thing to do because she was a menace on the roads. One last thought: a person's character can often be determined by examining what they do when they do not have to. For instance, in that book/movie Alive, where the soccer team crashed in the Andes and had to eat the bodies of their teammates to survive...you know the one? Well, that is a pretty bad story and must have been a tuff set of decisions for those people to make, right? Well, what if the team had decided to start scarfing their teammates immediately after the crash when there were still ham sandwiches available from the galley? That is a whole lot different, right? Do you see the point? Sometimes bad behavior can be justified when people are in desperate times or circumstances. When people act all lawless when they have plenty of money and resources, those people suck.

phew...it wasn't just me with my pet-peeve alarm going off... :whistles:

Your wife is awesome...please tell her to keep up the good work! It seems that today you only hear of teachers that tell poor lil kids that their daddy will be at war for 100 years because they serve the country or vote McCain

Go to Lexus.com and log into your Owner's login. If you don't have one yet, create a login and Add your vehicle by using the VIN number. Click "Search Owner's Manual" under "Manage My Vehicles". At this point, you can look at the Owner's Manual in PDF format. Also, on the right side of the page, you will see a link "Order a Replacement Owner's Manual". You can order your manual and they will send it free of charge. Enjoy, ~Brian

I assume you are talking about new cars...I can't speak to that, but I can speak to used cars. This is a fantastic time to be buying! With poor sales right now and gas prices at a 5 year low, this is also a great time to nab a hybrid. The wife and I just picked up our CPO 2006 RX400h in the last two weeks or so and got what I consider to be "stupid-low" pricing on it. I suspect you would be a popular guy indeed if you showed up as a serious buyer between Christmas and New Year!

I have owned 3 RX's: 1999 RX300 AWD 2003 RX300 AWD with Nav 2006 RX400h AWD with Nav and RSES I think that each RX gets better and better. I honestly look for a vehicle that offers more for the same money, and I can't find one. The only major issue I have had was a weak door lock actuator on the driver door of the 2003 RX. It was a fairly expensive part ($230 iirc) and was a PITA to replace. I like the RX. :) Sure, it may be a bit of a chick-car, but it certainly isn't a VW bug convertable or anything.

To override with a hybrid disc: 1. Press Menu 2. Press Volume 3. Press Upper left hand corner of screen 4. Press Lower left hand corner of screen 5. Press Upper left hand corner of screen 6. Press Lower left hand corner of screen You will then have the service menu. Press and hold the "override" button for about 4 seconds and it will beep. Press OK. You need to do this every time you start the car if you want to be able to use the Nav while driving. If you put your newer 7.1 or 8.1 version back in, the system will reload just like it used to be...no worries. Important Safety Tip: Do not mess with other functions in the service menu. People have -permanently- pooched their Nav by messing around in there. ~Brian

The fuse you are looking for is labeled Radio 1. The fuse is located under the hood on the driver side in the square fuse box. This fuse in my RX is 15a. I only had to pull the fuse for about 1 minute. Do 5 to be sure. I used DVD+R DL Verbatim disks and they work great in my Gen 4 5.1/6.1 hybrid disc. I tried Memorex discs first, but over half of them failed while trying to set layer sizes. :(

If your daughter takes the car by her local Auto Zone, they will read the codes for her and give her a printout of the fault codes and will attempt to reset them. This is something they will do for free and that will at least tell you if it is safe for her to get home. Like Jeff said though, have her check that gas cap. My wife had this happen several times in our RX300...if the cap is loose (make it click 3 times!), the CEL will reset after driving a couple days or after the Auto Zone guys reset it. HTH, ~Brian

Typically the circuit will double-cycle when one of the bulbs is out. It's just trying to let you know something is amiss! Change that front bulb and you should be back to normal. HTH, ~Brian

wow! That is quite the difference! Thanks for the post, I will check into this myself when the time comes.

I do not think I am wasting my breath here, so again I bother to reply... Brother man, I hear what you are saying. I know you are young and that your personality is under development. There IS a lesson in all of this as there is in most things unpleasent. As you grow to be a man and as a responsible member of society, it is your JOB to make judgments on a daily basis. You are a bright guy and it is obvious. You have also been taught that you are not supposed to judge others. This is simply not true. As a man you must make judgments on a daily basis. You must judge situations, people and circumstances based on your own experiences, and if you are wise, the experiences of others. As you gain wisdom, you will realize that you should not judge simply based on things like race, s*x or stereotype...that is what they mean when they say you should not judge. On the other hand, you must be able to correctly judge the nature of things that you encounter. For example: the snarling rottweiler running at my daughter is a THREAT...it is not dogism or breedism or snarlingism or just being a hater of dogs. If someone walks up to you wearing a swastica tattooed on his forearm, you need to make a judgment about that person, judge their intentions and consider any risks associated to you and yours. In your case, you seem to think that we should not judge a family that will support its own members to the point that they will lie and break laws. Our "hurtful judgments" are based on the reality of the situation as you presented it. Where exactly does your family draw the line? Obviously insurance fraud is ok. False police report? Would they cover it up if you had accidently run over my little girl instead of hitting a hydrant? I suspect so. Again, your Monkey-sphere is not more important than mine, and your family acting like the Kennedy family is pathetic and sad. Just once, I would love to hear the story of a family who says "we love our son, but he must face and resolve this situation he has gotten himself into." I tell you this now; there is a huge difference between providing financial support to a family member and lying and commiting fraud to support them. One shows loving concern for your family, the other shows you are anti-social and believe your people are above the rules and the law and are willing to do anything to anyone to further your own family. It is possible that your mom hasn't thought about what she has done and if she did, maybe she would realize that the right thing to do is to pull out the fat wallet and fix little junior's mistake. If she is doing this with full knowledge of what she is doing and the fraud she is commiting, then I stand by the hurtful judgment that your family sucks. You freaking people do not get to do whatever you want despite the law and then expect to hold me to a standard where I can't judge you. That, my friend, is the "entitled" attitude we are talking about. If you act like a thief, I will judge you as such. If you dont like the judgment, change your activities.

Congrats! PICS!

Do you swap tires fall and spring or have another set of snow rims? While people like us who live in snow 4-6 months a year may find it worthwhile to have dedicated snow tires, I think al_adams is in a different boat and only heads for the snow infrequently. In his case, I can't see having snow tires put on as a resonable expense. In his case, I think that being careful and having chains just in case should work.

:D

Like Jim was saying, tires really have more to do with your snow-handling than any other factor. You did mention that your RX is AWD and our 2006 RX400h AWD is very predictable and stable in several inches of snow, even with mediocre Bridgestone Duelers. I will say this about mud: even in my Jeep Rubicon, the worst traction I have ever had was on a Forest service road on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The road was flat and wet and non-challenging and the mud was fine and sticky. This sticky mud filled the lugs on my mud terrain tires almost instantly and I was suddenly driving on what acted like ice. Moral to this story? Mud sucks. Snow sucks less (until it becomes ice). If you are heading over some of the high passes in the sierra and you dont have snow tires like Blizzaks, you can pick up a set of chains for the front tires to have for peace of mind. If you get chains, don't go cheap. Get decent quality ones so they dont come apart and flog your RX. I think you will feel confident in your AWD RX once you get into the snow. Once you find snow, go to a parking lot and try the RX out! See if you can get it to spin. I think you will be surprised how well it does.

Roland, I am with you...the Lexus Nav system is certainly love/hate. I find the Lexus touchscreen nav to be beautiful and intuitive, but at the same time, an annoying PITA because of the lockout. I think people keep hoping that eventually Lexus will unlock our nav and all will be right with the world. When I lived in LA, I didn't need to update our Navigation because the roads were stable and had been there for years. When we moved to Utah, there were many new subdivisions and roads and they had even renumbered the exit numbers on I15...we needed an update, but I didn't want to spend $300 and hope that my issues were addressed...I wanted to know before I dropped the cash. This info will help you decide if you are in the same position as I was. The reason I posted a link instead of posting the raw info is that: 1. The file is in PDF and is multiple pages based on State. It would be a huge post. 2. When Lexus updates their junk, this post will not be obsolete...the location info will be valid and reflect the new info automatically. 3. The link to the flash or java based map interface that lets you actually see what is on the map database also may change over time. Also, I assumed everyone would have a Lexus.com owner account. There are actually fantastic resources there. They have all your service records, the ability to read the owners manual online, and even the ability to order a free replacement owners manual and schedule service. Utility is unusual for a owners website, but the Lexus one is pretty awesome. I think you are missing out if you aren't an Owner at Lexus.com. Regards, ~Brian

Welcome Gizmus! That is quite a pricetag...is the RX350 uncommon there? ~Brian

Frankly, I would not respond had you not asked; "where is this coming from?" I sense that for some reason our reaction to you in this post truly surprises you. Narcissistic...self absorbed...above all the little people who have to follow the rules so that you can take advantage. I do not know you, but based on your posts in this thread alone, that is the impression that is delivered. That is how I dare. If this thread does only one other thing besides trigger your own sense of self-preservation (as evidenced by the scramble to delete the thread), I would love to see you do a little self-seeking. Nice people do not break laws. Nice people do not commit fraud. Nice people do not act like a spoiled brat entitled to everything mommy and daddy has to offer. I think that your own inflated self-image is interfering with your ability to see the truth of the matter. You may be nice to people within your own monkey-sphere, but you act like an anti-social child toward general society. It may be time for you to re-evaluate "nice" to include the society in which you interact. I am not trying to be mean or horrible, but the message IS indeed honest and unpleasant...you are NOT a nice guy. Not as evidenced by this thread at any rate. Edit: Giving credit where it is due, I checked out your mods on your cardomain site and they are very nicely done. You certainly have skills integrating them into the RX with a factory look. The deer-slayer pushbar doesn't do it for me, but that is only my taste. If you like it, bravo!

You know? This was a really interesting thread from both an ethics and finance standpoint...considering different options based on right and wrong and cost now vs. cost later. There were informed posts by guys with body shop experience and from someone who sounds like an insurance underwriter and there was good info here. But all of a sudden, this thread has managed to make me sad for the future of our society. How do kids today learn integrity, honor and honesty? From parents who have ample resources yet commit fraud to resolve a relatively minor accident? What kind of lesson is that? I am not trying to be overly dramatic, but just reading the replies from this privileged and narcissistic young man really does bring the suck. Now I am not sure if I should continue my meaningless job while I finish up my MBA...

Wow guys, that is great info! I discovered the rear tonneau cover rattle on the test drive, and the dealer told me that when the cover is closed, the rattle stops...great solution. I think I will use some felt pads I have around the house to solve that one per your suggestions. I think the one I am having that sounds like a tin pan must be the seat positions in the back. I think I will roll them forward an inch or so and see if it goes away like Rey was saying. Does the rattle also depend on the reclining position of the rear seat? Or only the front/back position? I am fully with you Rey...I can accept (and even expect!) rattles from my Rubicon or my F150 hoopty, but not from the Lex. Katz, we bought the RX400 with 37k miles and they had just put on a brand new set of 5 Bridgestone Duelers on it. I am pretty sure those came stock on my 2003 if I remember correctly, and I wasn't partuicularly happy with them especially in the snow. On my 2003 I replaced them with Michelin LTXs and those handled fantastic in the snow. I was seriously considering the 3m cover from the front, because like you said, the front of our 2003 RX300 got trashed with chips. There is a concrete plant near my house that keeps a copious supply of gravel spread on the roads and highways for our driving pleasure. I just hadn't gotten around to researching what people said about the clear bra yet. I am also intrigued by the idea of having the headlight assemblies theft-proofed...does it make the car look any different? Thanks for the suggestions guys...I will be going on a rattle-killing safari as soon as the global warming lets up so l can get out of my snow filled driveway. :P ~Brian

I know that optima makes a Blue top battery with a white body that is supposed to be for "marine" use (as we all know, every boating accessory must be blue/white ) Honestly, I haven't looked into it too much as the Jeep boards have done all the nauseating research on our application. I am still marveling that our "maintenance free" batteries require adding distilled water. Maybe they should be called "low-maintenance" batteries?

Sounds like Lexirx knows whats up from the insurance front...I had no idea kids were paying that much for insurance these days. From what Lexi says, it sounds like preserving your existing carrier might be the wise move. Save your insurance for when you cause a million dollar 12-car pileup and ride around with a tweaked door until you can pay cash. Honestly, insurance is not for the piddling stuff, a good insurance policy is the one that will save your financial bacon when you cause a crash that ends up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.