lemon

I am not trying to come across as a jerk but just because it may be beneficial for you to do your own services there are many of us who not only don't want to do it also just don't have time to do it either. For me the little bit of time I have off the last thing I want to do is crawl under a car, have to find somewhere to dispose of the fluids. If I take off to do the service I will loose more money than if I had just paid to have the service done in the first place. It depends doing your own service "may" save you money and it may not. My time is worth money too. I didn't think the post I responded to was yours.... *edit* ..and now that I've checked, I see that it wasn't. Oh. My fault I guess if your post wasn't directed at me I am not supposed to respond? What? *edit* by the way if you had read the OP post he has already said that he is not a DIY kind of guy. Exactly (to your first point) To your second point, I have read the OP's post. If YOU had read the entire post, you'd see that I'm responding to chand3's post with the DIY comment, not to RXREY's post. RXREY is the one that said he's not DIYer. Hey, look before you leap...

I am not trying to come across as a jerk but just because it may be beneficial for you to do your own services there are many of us who not only don't want to do it also just don't have time to do it either. For me the little bit of time I have off the last thing I want to do is crawl under a car, have to find somewhere to dispose of the fluids. If I take off to do the service I will loose more money than if I had just paid to have the service done in the first place. It depends doing your own service "may" save you money and it may not. My time is worth money too. I didn't think the post I responded to was yours.... *edit* ..and now that I've checked, I see that it wasn't.

I have my 100,000 km (60,000 mi) service next week and they mentioned the same items as your list, but what I thought weird is the rear diff fluid. I didn't know we had rear diffs, thought the dealer was pulling my leg. Isn't the rear wheels just attached to the motor and that's it? Yes, there is fluid in the MGR (motor generator rear). It's the standard Toyota ATF-WS. Two litres if I remember correctly from when I did it myself (or 1.8 or 1.9, close enough). They may have called it rear diff but really it's the rear motor (or transaxle I guess). Next service, save yourself a few bucks and DIY.

I thought everybody loved the Alenzas...??

Some more positive feedback on the ENVigor http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2017236#Post2017236

Too bad, because otherwise I really like my phone (and the Android operating system). Oh well, guess I'm going to bite the bullet and get a lockpick from Coastal.

I'll race that Viper in January in a snowstorm and we'll see who wins..... Speaking of 0-60 times, here's an interesting site I came across... http://www.zeroto60times.com/ and the Lexus page.. http://www.zeroto60times.com/Lexus-0-60-mph-Times.html

For sure, the Rx400h is very sporadic; sometimes it's powerful and sometimes it's not. I think it has to do with the battery charge and... well, something else. If you were to do 20 or so 0-60 test runs, you'd get 20 or so VERY different times. It sucks... I can't always depend on it to accelerate the way i'd like it to. Hmm...I don't find this at all. The power is always there when I need it. However, if you did a bunch of 0-60 back to back, I guess the battery would get weaker and afffect speed/times, but in ordinary day to day driving, I don't do 0-60 over and over and I always find adequate power.

Hard to say, depends on the final gearing of the tranny (I 'assume' the transmission is different in the RX than the ES?). I was busy fooling around trying to make a 'hybrid' NAV disc today and didn't get out on the highway, but my Scanguage II is waiting patiently in the car. That weird feeling where the engine races and the speed of the car tries to catch up is sometimes called 'motorboating' and if you've ever piloted a boat with an outboard, you'll know where the saying comes from. I agree with you almost 100% by the way - I find on full acceleration (like pedal to the floor to pass someone) that the noise is excessive and harsh and very un-Lexus-like. But my God, can the RX sprint ahead - I don't know if it's the hybrid, the CVT or more likely a combination of both, but passing is absolutely effortless in this vehicle. On regular or moderate acceleration I don't find it noisy at all. One thing I absolutely don't miss is all the shifting - my wife's car is a 2010 Equinox with the 3.0 DI engine and the six speed tranny...all that thing ever does is shift up/down/up/down...it's crazy.

Well, supposedly a hybrid disc CAN work, but the copy I have didn't. It loaded fine, and the override worked, the map screen was good, but like I said, I couldn't enter addresses or POI's etc. Oh well, the 8.1 is back in the drive now.

Forget it...the override was still there, but the maps weren't working right. If anyone is wondering what I'm talking about, this is a NAV disc that has the maps from 8.1, but the system files from 5.1 The way it's supposed to work, is the disc has the new maps, but the override function is still available. Well, it worked, sort off. Override was still there, maps were new, but I couldn't enter any addresses or POIs or anything.

Someone else just went through this on the other board (clublexus) and replacing the 12 volt battery solved the problem. Update - I just went through this myself while fooling around with different NAV discs. After replacing the disc with a new or modified version, I disconnected the battery. When I reconnected it I got the Shift to P, Check Hybrid, Check AWD messages. I just disconnected the battery and waited about 15 mins and all was in order after I reconnected the battery.

If you don't know what it is, how can you say you dont have it? You do have it, it just doesn't bother you. I've driven probably 20 Toyota Hybrids...the only one I have not driven is the LS600hL. If you drive a 400h and then a 350 back to back on the highway at 70MPH, the 350 has less engine noise and the engine note when accelerating is very different, and IMHO is much more refined sounding in the 350. Is it a HUGE difference? Not at all, but the difference is there and its a characteristic of the CVT, not the hybrid powertrain per se. The engine on a car with a CVT tends to "drone", let out a monotone note vs the rising and falling note of a car with a conventional transmission. The reason there is more engine noise when cruising on the highway is that the engine is often running faster in the CVT, because there's no overdrive gear for it to settle into. If your RX had an RPM gauge you'd see that at 75 MPH the 350 runs at lower RPM than the 400h. Pull out to pass in the 400h and the acceleration feels great, very smooth and linear but the engine note is very brash and unrefined IMHO. The 350 may have to downshift, but I prefer the way the engine sounds. It may or may not matter to you, but the difference is definately there. Our Prius is the same way, I just drove a Jeep Patriot with a CVT on a 320 mile roadtrip and it was also the same way. On the highway I don't care for the CVT. Yes, the CVT is louder under full acceleration and at full accleration it does sound brash and unrefined - I agree. All other times, I'd argue not. As to the RPM being higher at a CONSTANT cruising speed on the highway I doubt it, but I wonder how you come to this conclusion, since you don't have a 400h or a 350, nor does the 400h have an RPM gauge. On the other hand I have a 400h, and I own a Scangauge II, which will tell me the RPMs of the vehicle. Next time I'm on the highway, I'll get up to 75mph and see what the Scangauge shows. All you need to do is post what the RPMs are on a 350 at the same speed.

The auxiliary battery (12 volt) is charged from the traction battery. There is no alternator, so the engine does not have to be running to charge the 12 volt. As long as it's in READY mode, the 12 volt will charge from the traction battery. It's not a matter of being designed better, I think the 12 volt is just too small (not in physical size, but in reserve capacity) for this vehicle. The CCA (cold cranking amps) do not matter, since there is no starter motor on our vehicles, however, usually with greater CCA comes greater reserve capacity. The factory battery only came with 450CCA, which is about perfect for a 4 cylinder Civic.

The other driver's rates will go up due to the 'at fault' decision against him. His insurance company will recoup their expense of fixing my car through his higher premium. I don't see how this will affect 'everyone' else's insurance. However, I'm not in the insurance business so I don't claim to understand their inner workings. Now, out and out fraud, like claiming a fail to remain accident when you did in fact hit a pole, or faking injury after an accident to collect accident benefits...I can see that affecting all rates.

I called the insurance company, told them the vehicle had been rear ended, gave them the other driver's information. A week later I dropped the RX off at the body shop, told them it had been rear ended, got into a rental vehicle and roughly a week later (it was over a long weekend) the body shop called me and said it was ready. Neither the body shop, or the insurance company called me at any time to approve the repairs or to ask any questions. My wife was never questioned about damage by the insurance company, only about what happened, and that was on the day of the accident. As you can probably tell, (it took me two months to notice the new emblem, and another week to finally figure out why the hatch was painted) I don't pay a lot of attention to the back of the RX. If the insurance company/body shop had asked me at the time, I probably would have said I had no idea (I couldn't remember the damage when I first posted this, I doubt I would have remembered it then). The pre existing scrape to the corner of the bumper is a moot point, as the entire thing had to be replaced due to the new damage at the back caused by the accident. LEXIRX330, I find your comment "I am not going to start my rant about why everyone's insurance goes up because of claims like this." highly offensive, as you insinuate that this was some sort of fraudulent claim. Everyone's insurance goes up when someone backs into a pole, then claims the vehicle was hit in the parking lot by another vehicle that left the scene, or when a driver/passenger claims injury that didn't happen. When some doofus who is texting while he is driving hits my vehicle THAT is a legitimate careless accident on his part. The police officer that charged him under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act seemed to think so as well, especially after talking to an independent witness that saw this guy texting and driving. There is no fraud here at all and if anyone's insurance will go up, it will be the other driver, who was 100% at fault.

I finally figured out why the hatch was repainted. Prior to the accident there were two vertical scratches in the paint just below the hatch handle (I think it was caused by the garage door closing, but wife's mantra is deny deny deny...lol. She did admit that she scuffed the passenger side mirror on the garage entrance, but it was kind of hard to deny that one when the paint from the garage door trim was on the mirror). Anyway, I can only assume that the body shop assumed that that damage was caused in the accident and included it in the estimate for repairs, and the insurance company OK'd it. It wasn't caused in the accident, but it worked out well for me. There was also a big scuff in the corner of the bumper on the driver's side, caused by the previous owner, which is now gone since I got a new bumper skin. In the end, this fender bender actually worked in my benefit.

Size envy...lol. I really liked the ENVigors, but couldn't pass up the deal I got on the MXV4 S8. I also had the chance to pick up four Michelin Latitude Tour HP in the 255 size, but unlike you, I wasn't comfortable going with the bigger size and when I finally decided to give it a go, they were already sold.

At the top of this forum, there is a sticky titled something like 'neat little tricks...'. Read the whole thread -there are instructions there about the windows, the sunroof, the auto lock feature, etc etc.

My old phone was a Samsung Instinct and the Bluetooth worked flawlessly. I just bought a new phone - the HTC Legend. This phone connects to the Lexus with no problem and receives incoming calls with no problems. If I dial out using the keypad in the NAV screen, it connects immediately and I get sound of ringing immediately through the car speakers. This is great, but only works when the car is parked/stopped. However, if I dial out using the phone keypad, it connects immediately, but I don't get any sound over the speakers (nor can the person I'm calling hear me) for 5-10 seconds - long enough for the other person to say 'Hello...hello....hello', and then hang up since they can't hear anything (and I can't hear them saying hello..hello..hello either). Anyone have this problem, or know of a solution, short of replacing the HTC with a newer Samsung (and hoping it works), or paying $300 + for a Prestigious Society override thingy.

Cduluk, thanks...you've gone above and beyond in those pics...I didn't expect measurements but they will come in handy. To answer the last few posts - hard to tell without seeing my rx in person, but the bodyshop truly did an excellent job on the parts replacement and the paint. The colour match is perfect and the finish is extremely good (no orange peel effect etc, no dust or bubbles in the clear coat etc.) I really think whoever installed it lined up the horizontal line of the 4 which may have looked right to him. The bodyshop also didn't try to dissuade me from the repair..he said he would put a new emblem on if I wanted. It was only when I asked how easy/hard it would be that he explained it couldn't be reused, and it 'might' damage the paint when taken off. He did say that if it damaged the paint they would repaint the hatch.

cduluk, or anyone else, would you do me a favour and take a close up pic like the one I have so I can show the body shop. I called today, and he said they'd gladly do it, but didn't think it would be worth it for a few millimetres. I think it's more than a few mm, and would like a comparison shot to show him. He did say that the adhesive is pretty much permanent. I asked if they could just heat it up or something to get it off and then use some 3M two sided tape or something to stick it back and he said not likely. He even advised that just trying to peel it off, heat or not, may well damage the paint and they would have to repaint the hatch and then put a new emblem on. Mind you, he did say that he would do it if the emblem really bothers me - I just wonder if it's worth all the trouble...I'll see if my OCPD keeps me up at night thinking about it...lol.

You must be OPCD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder (not OCD, which is different) like me, because that's the first thing I noticed as well (that the 400h was lower) and it's more noticeable in real life than in the pic. It looks like they lined up the horizontal line of the 4 with the bottom of the RX, rather than the bottom of the '00', which is what I would have lined up. It also looks like the 400h is too close to the RX, based on your pic. They replaced these metal triangular shaped things behind the bumper. I assumed they were the impact absorbers (I'll take a pic when I get home), and then sprayed the waxy coating all over. Like I said, they also sprayed the waxy coating inside the tailgate (you can see some of the goo leaking out of the tailgate drainhole in one of the pictures). Maybe it's a Canadian thing? Hard to tell from this diagram but I think some of these parts were replaced as well, hence the need to reapply the rustproofing. I think the bumper arm support, left and right were replaced (the diagram shows one, but there are two (it's part #2 in the diagram). and the rear body panel (part #1) were replaced.

Way back in June, some jackass who was texting while he was driving drove into the back of my 2006 while my wife was driving it on the highway (in stop and go traffic, so it wasn't a huge accident). I ended up with a new bumper cover, impact absorbers, new styrofoam filling in the bumper etc. etc., and they also sprayed that waxy anti-rust coating on all the new parts and into the liftgate. The bodyshop (recommended by the dealership) did a fantastic job - the paint looks better than the factory paint, I kid you not). Anyway, when I was reading the invoice ($2100 repair) I noticed "liftgate adhesive emblem 44.20, liftgate adhesive nameplate 36.40 and liftgate adhesive nameplate 41.70. I thought this was odd, since all the damage was to the bumper, and there was none to the liftgate itself. But whatever, insurance paid for it and it didn't affect my rate at all, since the other driver was 100% at fault. I can only guess that maybe the old ones had to come off so they could paint the liftgate to better match the newly painted bumper? I know something was done to the tailgate, since as I said, they did spray the waxy coating into the tailgate (it's been dripping out the drain holes at the bottom of the liftgate, especially when it's hot out - you can see it in one of the pictures). Fast forward to today, two months since the repairs. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I only NOW noticed that the "400h" emblem on the tailgate is silver with the nice blue filling. I'm 100% sure that the old "400h", was only silver with no blue (all the 2006 were like that). I like the blue - it looks good. Just one question for others with the blue - is it only blue on the 400h or is the RX blue as well?

There was a really good write up here http://www.greenhybrid.com/wiki/index.php/Highlander_Hybrid_EBH_Installation_Instructions but it looks like the images are missing now...too bad. You can use vice grips to remove the studs if you can't find (or strip, like I did) that weird torx stud, because the block heater comes with it's own bolts to replace the studs.