Lexus RX 330

blackrx330

I would hold out for the performance package. I ended up with it by sheer luck - it happened to be the only black/black color combo available. I am glad I have it now.

I would not worry too much about the reliability of the air suspension as it has been in place in the LX470 (although with slightly functionality) for years.

Also to consider are the adaptive headlamps that come with the performance package. If you have not seen them yet, they turn side to side as you drive. This really helps light up the way as you are rounding curves or taking corners. It also comes only with the xenon lights so if that's an option you want you know you're going to get it.

You are right about the use of space. Those locking doors even have hooks on them to hold up those plastic grocery bags. In front of those storage covers is another storage compartment you may not have noticed(for the jack and access to the NAV DVD). There is also plenty of space in there for tools, flash-lights, air pump, etc.

j4ydubs

For those that are having problems with the auto moonroof, it's because it hasn't been "programmed" yet. Mine was the same way. The dealer should set it up, but some are slipping through.

You can fix it by pressing and holding the open switch (not the tilt). After the moonroof is open, hold the switch for 10 secs more. Then close the moonroof and hold the switch for 10 secs after it's closed. It should now be "programmed" to auto open/close.

John

tomtomtom

Usually, sales tax on car is based on buyer's residence. Person from Oregon would not need to pay tax if he/she picks up his/her car in California.

seabiskit

Those headlights will help scout out the deer that are constantly ready to leap out from the woods into the road at night!
You mean there are MORE fun storage compartments to explore. Oh yes.

seabiskit

It's interesting that you had to special order the perf pkg w/Nav - our dealer led us to believe that they were only made that way and it would be a special order w/o nav. I think he doesn't want to bother searching around for the car I want. I have several dealers yet to check with and will see what they say. Then there's always that sticking point... price.
I love the FX (so much better looking than the Cayenne) but maybe in about 10 years...

tsheer

Woo-hoo! Thanks, j4ydubs. Now I working moonroof switches.

For others who need this fix: After opening it and holding 10 seconds, then pressing forward and holding, the moonroof went closed, tilted up, tilted down, went all the way open, then slid closed again and stayed there. I counted 10 seconds after that, and all was well.

I also programmed my door locks to close when I shift out of park (that was in the manual). Are there any other fun things to program?

Thanks again. I'm going to have to ask my dealer why they didn't set it up.

tsheer

Didn't see your msg 'til I'd already made the "fix", but want to thank you also.

JPham

It should've been programmed as part of the PDI but sometimes things fall through the crack. Your salesperson should've inspected it before delivering it to you (that's how I caught mine).
No biggie.

jeffmust2

...didn't check their 622-page RX330 manual on the moonroof operation "normalization."

On page 129: "The moon roof may not operate automatically and the jam protection function will not function correctly after you reconnect, replace, or recharge the battery. In any of these cases, you should normalize the moon roof."

Then it goes on to explain the procedure already outlined by the posters above. As mentioned, a delivery oversight.

Now, what was the remaining review problem...oh, right, close to $50k if you check all the option boxes. Oh well - can't fix that one!

rx4me

Based on your latest post to this board, sounds like you are also an RX330 owner. Curious to know if employees of Lexus (specifically, car salesman such as yourself) get a generous employee discount, and if yes, how good? At or below invoice? Btw, what color/package do you have?

lok888

Tom is right. But he/she has to pay tax in CA when he/she register the car in CA, sale tax based on the market value.

Tom - Isn't true the Lexus has discontinued the milt-panel sunroof for RX330? And will Lexus still import the RX from Japan?

tomtomtom

Not sure about the multi panel sunroof, I haven't seen one in person, then again, I haven't seen the dark green color RX330 neither.

JPham

No, I'm not an RX owner. Our employee discount is invoice plus a few hundred $.

rx4me

I inquired about the multi-panel sunroof with my salesman, and it's confirmed that it's been discontinued.

pdxmark2

I was in my local dealer looking at the RX330 this weekend, and was asking about why the Mark Levinson stereo can't be obtained if you buy a performance package w/ Nav (I think I had read another posting in here about that issue). The salesman said something like "Lexus is discontinuing that stereo in the RX330."

This sounds like bad info. But it doesn't make sense that if I want performance and Nav, I can't get the premium sound system. Especially since I just read the review of the base stereo on edmunds.com, and it wasn't exactly glowing...

Anyone have any corroborating data on this?

chrisjoo

I just bought my RX 330 yesterday, and it doesn't come with Levinson Audio. If you want the Mark Levinson Audio, you have to get Navigation/Mark Levinson package. I don't know where you are from, but in mid atlantic area, you can't get Navigation/ML package right now from the dealer's lot. You have to special order which takes about 4 months. Unless you do special order, chances are you can only get premium plus package equipped RX. Hope this helps.

uis00sn

If I place a SO say in December, put a deposit down and the car to be delivered in February, then would a dealer report the purchase in December 2003, or upon getting payed in February 2004? Just trying to win "end-of-year" game. Appreciate any insights.

j4ydubs

Glad it got you working. Enjoy your RX330. It's a great car, no truck, no SUV, no LUV, oh whatever. It's a great vehicle...

John

lenscap

Sales of the RX 330 just keep climbing. In August, for the first time ever, RX sales passed the 10,000 unit mark. Sales for the month were 10,430.

The popularity of the RX just continues to grow.

mapleleave

at 10,000 monthly rate, it out sell the Sienna by 15%. A lot of rich people benifited from the tax cut.

adb3

During early spring I wondered how luxury SUV sales would shake out with most of the heavy hitters including Porsche, Nissan/Infinity, Volkswagen, and Volvo introducing new products into this increasing heavily contested segment. IMO, most if not all products in this segment are solid performers and pretty high quality (particularly as compared to offerings from past years--it really is a great time to be a consumer), but there eventually had to be some winners and losers due to the high price of admission in this segment, as compared to the still shaky economy. I don't think a clear picture can yet be determined, but my previous believe has been confirmed that Lexus (Toyota) hit a homerun with the 330. Yep, I'm a strong Lexus enthusiast, but my wife's 330 has been everything as advertised and more. Looks like others recognize the same thing in increasing numbers. Compilation of Small/Mid Luxury SUV Aug sales:

RX 330----------10,430
MDX--------------4,964
X5---------------4,010
FX---------------3,125
Aviator----------2,934
XC90-------------2,814
M-Class----------2,670
Cayenne----------1,165
Touareg-----------?
SRX--------------?

To be fair, Porche, Infinity, Volvo, and Volkswagen are probably not too concern about numbers since that had no products in this segment previously and so these sales represent a "cash cow" for the company to shore up sales shortfalls in other products. However, I do believe the sales numbers are starting to be revealing.

grover6

Asked salesperson to check out my RX 330 for this possible recall problem before I took it home. He said it was on recall and they would replace parts. I didn't notice any noise, so am having it repaired at the 30 day/1000mile checkup. The manufacture date was 7/03. Thought some of you might be interested since I thought it was only in 6/03 and earlier.

grover6

Signed onto Lexus.com as owner and when I entered the vin# and checked, it says I have no special campaign notices or recalls. So, I don't know where the local service department got the information that my RX 330 was part of the recall. Or maybe the website is wrong?

jeffmust2

I did the same on our RX330 (same 7/03 build date) and same result - no recall listed. Will check with local dealer to see if they have different info; 1000 mile check up coming mid-month.

Great vehicle - congratulations Lexus! No wonder they sold 10k of them in one month. I think the biggest previous year of sales was in the mid 80,000...?

rx4me

I registered on lexus.com and also saw no mention of any recall on my vehicle (build date 07/03). Btw, the info. on mine said that it is a 4-speed automatic, but obviously that info. is incorrect, as it should say 5-speed automatic.

wmquan

Of course, the negative of the high RX330 sales is that you end up seeing one at every intersection. Takes away some of the exclusivity of having a Lexus.

I think the previous high in annual sales was about 95k? I think this was the 2000 or 2001 model year.

rx4me

Anybody else have problems with the power rear door hatch? Occasionally, when pressing the power rear door hatch button either by key remote and/or pressing the button next to rear view mirror controls inside the vehicle, the power rear door hatch does not open electronically. I checked to make sure that the button inside glove box is pressed in and that the doors are unlocked. Still, nothing happens; however, when I open the hatch manually and then close it manually, and then again press the key remote for about 1 second immediately afterward, it works fine. Anybody else have this problem?

katherine6

rx4me--my RX hatch won't open using the inside button unless all four passenger doors are unlocked, the engine is off and the transmission in park. I think, but can't remember exactly, that the key needs to be out of the ignition too. It took me a while to figure it out. Page 30 in the manual gives instructions for setting the locking and unlocking functions.
Katherine

cotmc

grover6: Based on your 07/03 manufacture date, I would have been greatly surprised if your vehicle was affected. I personally never take information from a salesperson too seriously. No offense, but some of them make claims and state "facts" without performing thorough research. Did a representative from the Service Department confirm the salesperson's assertion? I would confirm this with your service advisor at the 1K checkup. Please let us know if your RX330 is indeed affected. TIA.

wmquan: Came out of our neighborhood Blockbuster store today to see an exact duplicate of our Flint Mica RX330 parked just two spots away from us! It took me a few seconds to figure out why my remote didn't work! Yep, when we changed our minds from the XC90 to the RX330, we had no doubt it would be a matter of months, if not weeks, before we lost any semblance of exclusivity. No regrets, however.

rx4me: The same problem happened to me once in our garage. All the doors were unlocked, and the key was not in the ignition. After yelling at it, and then manually opening the hatch, everything was fine (just as you had mentioned). After the verbal abuse I gave to this poor vehicle, I really don't expect this problem to happen again!

samang

I have the same problem too. Every now and then, the power hatch just won't work. It's almost as if everytime I don't use it for a long period. It happened again yesterday. Dealer could not duplicate the problem at 1000mi service.

Yes, all doors are unlocked, keys out etc. My fix is to reset the power hatch switch in the glove compartment. Off, then on, and it works again. When it is working correctly, all you have to do is have all doors unlocked and tranny in park. I have opened the power hatch with engine running, before.

I will try next time to just open and close, and see if it resets the power switch.

grover6

The sales person did speak with the service department guy about the exhaust manifold before he told me it was in recall.

But, maybe the guy in the service department told the sales person about the recall in general terms and not specifically about my RX 330. I'll ask again at the 1,000 mile checkup.

tsheer

If you have the driver position memory, then when you put the car in reverse, the outside mirrors tilt down. If you don't want them to do that, you can put the mirror adjustment select switch (the one that chooses left or right) into the middle "neutral" position. If the switch is set to left or right, the mirrors tilt.

This is in the manual, but there might be a few people who haven't finished all 622 pages yet

jeffmust2

On my 1998 LS400 just the right outside mirror tilts in reverse gear so you get a good view of the curb when parking.

On the RX330, on the other hand, BOTH outside mirrors tilt down.

Why?

Are we parking in England or Australia and need to see the curb on the driver's side?

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Unless there's a way to stop just the driver's outside mirror from tilting down, I'll have to forgo this entire mirror-tilt-in-reverse feature because I believe it's dangerous in the default setting.

wwest

I suppose some of us have never had to park with the curb, obstruction, on the driver's side....

wwest

Last month we drove 2500 miles much of it in the south with temperatures predominantly above 100F. While traveling dead slow in a construction zone the temperature gage starting rising rapidly so I turned off the A/C and pulled over at the next opportunity.

I discovered that one of the two radiator cooling fans had failed completely. Okay, simple, now we continue our journey without A/C.

Not too many more miles down the road it was becoming obvious how much the temperate climate in Seattle has spoiled us over the years.

Unless we were moving at least 50MPH we could not use the A/C (of course at those speeds the breeze was sufficient) and the temperatures were basically unbearable.

What to do??

I finally realized that I could reduce the A/C load on the engine cooling system if I could bypass the A/C "reheat" function. So I turned the A/C temperature setpoint to max cool (no airflow through the heater core in this mode) and recirculate (no danger of interior windshield fogging at these temperatures) and manually controlled the blower speed to regulate the cabin temperature.

So for the next 2300 miles we had A/C comfort in spite of the fan failure and the gage never rose substantial even in slow moving city traffic.

Makes on wonder how much fuel is being sacrificed due to poor A/C design.

jeffmust2

...how your electrical mods in the past to the HVAC system overvolted the cooling fan and caused it to die prematurely LOL.

tsmith67

Anyone that has the rear seat entertainment system: is it on a rf modulator? Do you have to turn the tuner on your radio to a certain station to get sound on your speakers. Any complaints with the system? Does the monitor tilt side to side? Anybody know of an aftermarket system that is better than factory?
Thanks.

finch3

Does anyone have this? It's a print-out of all the adjustments you can make to the settings. The one I have is dated Aril 9, 1999 and had the setting changes possible for all Lexus models. For example, there are seven options for the remote door lock for the RX. I don't remember where I got it for my RX300. Here is the exact heading on the two sheets:
CUSTOMIZE PROGRAM CARD VERSION 1.1 - SS001-99

avery1

Any way to scan it and post it? I just tried a Google search and it came up negative. Since I have a '99 it would be interesting to see what is available. I did get them to reprogram so that it opened all the doors on the first push rather than the second.

tsheer

It's hard-wired to the audio system. You can control the system from the dashboard controls and view the picture on the nav system LCD when you're in park. The LCD does not swivel side-to-side.

There's a video and audio input along with a 115V AC outlet so you can plug in an auxiliary device like a PlayStation.

tnguy1

I have the DVD RES with NAV/ML system. The DVD sound does not play through RF modulator. I love the surround sound put out by the ML system. The other nice thing is that I can watch DVD on the front (navigation) screen while at a red light with the emergency brake on while still in "D". The only thing is that the screen does not swivel side-to-side. I also wish that the screen can be lock in place. Overall, I love the system.

dallas_mmic

I have programmed the Homelink system for my garage door, but it does not work consistently. Last night I had to press the programmed button 10 times before the door opened. It seems to work more consistently when the door is opened -- perhaps the signal strength on the homelink system is insufficient? Has anyone else had this problem?

blackrx330

Has anyone installed either in thier RX330? I've got it (factory XM) in my Chevy truck and it's really great.

I was wondering which radio model fits well in the RX and where it was installed (location of control panel, antenna, etc). Also, is there an AUX input on the standard (non ML) radio? I would rather not use an FM modulator. I understand that the RSES plays through the stereo when you hit DISC source button twice..... is that the AUX input? Probably not that simple I guess.

wwest

Depress and HOLD button briefly.

Not just a "clicker".

dallas_mmic

Thanks, wwest... I have tried various lengths of time in pressing the programmed button, but didn't find any magical time lapse that worked. Maybe there is some sort of "feel" that I will get used to?
I'm not sure I know what you mean when you say it's "Not just a 'clicker'".

jeffmust2

Is your garage door opener the "rolling code" type? These are a bit harder to program than the older single-code type.

You might try re-programming the Homelink; here is their website with better instructions than the ones in the RX330 manual:

http://www.homelink.com/home/home.tml

Good luck!

s852

I live in a gated community and even the entrance gate has a rolling code, so my Homelink doesn't work. Annoying. So I haven't bothered programming it for the garage doors.
They actually have individual codes for each remote and can keep tabs and computerized logs on who entered using what remote and when.

damormino

The DVD Entertainment system will not remember the video source when the vehicle is turned off. This means that each time you get into the car, you most press buttons to get the screen back on. So if your kids are watching a movie, and you stop and leave the car, when you get in and start the car, there is no movie there. It would be like your stereo system not continuing to play the CD you were listening to, just because you stopped the car to get fuel. Most well-thought-out systems don't have this annoying quirk. The Lexus RX330 does.

damormino

...Another gripe is that the DVD screen only has one detent position when it is down. You can try to adjust the angle lower (for short passengers), but the screen will work its way back to the detent. My daughter constantly asks me to readjust the screen so she can see it.
To put this in perspective, the DVD screen on our 2003 Acura MDX has two detents and we never have this problem.
Also, the Acura MDX Entertainment system resumes playing the movie where it left off when you get back in the car and start it - just like you would expect.

rparis

Any thoughts of RX owners who have owned both the 300 and 330? Aside from the smaller turning radius, does the 330 feel, handle, etc. vastly different than the 300. Is it worth trading from the 300 to a 330?