New RX model ?

rband

Has any one heard rumblings of when a new RX model (new chassis) will be available.
Using their 5 year rule, it should be 2009.
Butg will the upgrade to the 350 in '06 change that to 2011?
Doing some long range planning on my new one and wouldn't want to buy the last year of the old model.

Meni tankx.

maximafan

rband, I believe that the next-gen RX will
arrive as a 2009 model, since the only upgrade
so far to the 2007 model has been the engine
upgrade and a few minor tweaks.

I'm coming up to 8500 miles on my '07 RX, and
I've had not one problem with this car. I've
had one oil change at the 5000 mark and had
the XM tuner replaced, and that's it.

Definitely, a high-quality car so far!!!

rband

Thanks for your reply maximafan... I'm coming up to 67k miles
My '04 RX was flawless until the 18k point when all hell broke loose.
To date I've replaced under warranty including the center console cup holder, the battery (cracked) the radiator (leaking) both HID headlights (condensation) drivers side cup holder, right turn indicator (stopped working) rebuilt front transmission (took them 5 days and a letter to the President of Toyota for them to find a cracked 'O' ring) outside mirrors removed and repainted (paint peeling off) and most recently - the roof rack - corrosion under the plastic caps. N.B. it was 'corrosion' not rust and therefore not covered under any part of the warranty - unless you're persistant!
Lexus has fixed all the defects ( they call them product adjustments) so they don't feel that there's anything wrong with the car . . BUT Toyota/Lexus did provide me with an extended warranty to 2010 or 72k miles for my trouble, at no charge, but nothing for the out of pocket expenses incurred in returning to the shop time after time.

You'd be surprised at what it doesn't cover, but that's another story.

IMHO they're still "Persuing Perfection" - at the buyers expense.

I would have expected a better product for the price.

Perhaps a 100k mile warranty Kia or Hyundai would have been a better choice.

Keep notes - rattle cages and don't take 'NO' for an answer...the dealers make a good buck doing warranty work

Happy Motoring!

avery1

My '99 w/ 140,000 miles has been virtually flawless except the CD changer which went out the first week and front struts which were a TSB I believe and replaced the first year under warranty. (Oh and there is an ongoing problem with seat belt retractors that still don't work correctly.) But I am hard on my car and am very impressed with the quality. Was your car built in Canada? I wonder how there could be such differences.

rband

Had a choice of 2 cars when I purchased - the Japanese car or the Canadian one.
There had been so much hype about the Canadian one I chose it. I believe that all the N.A vehicles are made in Waterloo Ontario.

After taking the plant tour in Waterloo I find it very hard to believe that all these thing could go wrong - especially considering the price - which is about $20k more than the same car 100 miles away in New York state.

I'm seriously considering shopping in NY, Ohio or Illinois for the next one but I'm sure Toyota N.A has all kinds of restrictions on their dealers about selling a NEW car they know will be exported.

If anyone has done this with a NEW vehicle I'd be interested in hearing about it.

When it's working properly the RX is a great machine and still a head turner.

stever

Try this discussion for "gray market" cars:

Importing Car into Canada from US

There are some recent threads about Toyota specifically in that board that you can find with the Search This Discussion tool.

rband

Thanks for this heads up....all over it...R

maximafan

Wow, rband. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles with your RX! This is my first Lexus/
Toyota product. Before this, I had been driving Nissans for the past ten years and had
great luck with those vehicles. I am leasing
this car, so hopefully there won't be any
problems before turning it in at the end of the
lease.

rband

I've driven about 1m miles on Volvo's - when they were Volvo's and just prior to the RX, I put about 190k miles on a Previa and only had to change the shocks in 10 years.
That prompted me to go ahead with the RX.

I mean wouldn't you think with that kind of record the Toyota people had it figured out???

I've never had a car melt down on me like this one has and at over $60k CDN, you can believe that I don't very often show up at the Service counter with a smile on my face or a song in my heart.

It's running fine this week but then . . . it's only Monday! ;-)

Happy motoring!. . .and keep a log on everything.

rband

maximafan

Well, it's over three years later, and I have to report that my '07
RX350 has been flawless to date. I've only had to put new tires and brakes, and I follow the oil change/tire rotation every 5,000 miles. My lease is winding down, and I'm still not sure that I'm ready to part with this car. I picked up my RX back in August of
2006. It's been a great ride!

wwest

Purchased my second RX300, new 2001, in late 2000. Now has ~80,000 miles with only two complaints. Shortly after taking delivery I discovered that unlike my previous RX300, 2000MY, the '01 F/awd system had been made basically non-function via a change to the VC, Viscous Clutch/coupling.

My new '01 had VSC and TC, so my assumption was/is that Toyota felt there was no need for a functional VC if TC always acted quickly to alleviate wheelspin/slip.

My second complaint arises from the PURE IDIOCY of the NipponDenso, Denso US, climate control system design. But like the non-functional VC I adjusted to the short-comings of the HVAC system.

I'm now awaiting, expecting, the transaxle failure as I approach 100,000 miles. Should/when that occur then this RX300 will become a UNIQUE R/awd vehicle. A '99 VC installed and the center differential spider gears welded in place. Providing ONLY VC coupling to the front wheels and direct mechanical engine drive ONLY to the rear wheels.

wwest

I'm curious....

How have you adapted, or have you yet adapted, to your RX350's 1-2 second "re-acceleration" delay/hesitation..??

No (reasonably) instantaneous engine response to gas pedal depression could be a really frightening experience IMMHO.

maximafan

I can't even say for sure that I have ever had this occur on my vehicle in the three-and-a-half years that I've been driving it. The only thing I've noticed is that when I'm slowing down to pull into, say, the driveway or parking lot of the local bank and then slightly depress the accelerator pedal to continue moving forward into a parking lot, then I get a feeling like the car wants to just continue slowing down and I have to maybe give the pedal a little more of a push to continue forward. But I've never felt that I was put into an unsafe position at anytime in driving this vehicle.

By the way, my vehicle is FWD, not AWD.