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RX330
MDX
FX35
X5 3.0
XC90 T6
VW Touareg V6
The RX330 is now CR's top-ranked recommended SUV. Even though the VW finished at the bottom, it still received an overall grade of "very good".
A couple additional notes not previously posted:
If I remember correctly, the Touareg's 0-60 time was 11.9 seconds! (The Touareg review details are available only online.) Also, the XC90 required 9.4 seconds for 0-60 -- this was with the upgraded 268hp turbo six! (Reportedly, some of this was due to a lag between 1st and 2nd gears with the XC90's 4-speed tranny.)
Consumer Reports' acceleration tests typically come out anywhere from 0.3 to 1.0 seconds slower than the auto magazines and manufacturers' specifications.
In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Town Hall is the Only Place on Earth where that particular civil action ever gets mentioned. Wait - the losing plaintiff mentions it on all the other Lexus topic boards he frequents. Of course, he usually gets booed off those islands but that's a different subject.
bob - I gotta tell you, I'm taking delivery of my 4th Lexus tomorrow, a RX330 FWD Nav Prem+, and I expect that it's HVAC system will work like the other three..i.e., no problems....
For cooling, we usually set the Auto control to the mid-70s...if the fan blower kicks into high speed for too long, it's an indication that the system thinks the cabin air is quite a bit warmer than the control system is set for...if we agree, we leave it alone for a while. If we think the temp is about right, we increase the auto temp setting a degeee or two until we hear the fan noise decrease. At this point, we leave the system alone and it takes over.
For heat, we just increase the temp control with or without the A/C button depressed depending if any windows are open and how high the humidity reading. If there's some inside fog on the windshield, I would direct the air up thru those vents, A/C on, recirc on, fan at high to med speed. Bye bye fogging.
Worked in all three previous Lexii so I assume it will work on the RX330.
Wife looking forward to dual controls - and so am I! Talk about polar opposities...have to learn to check for that on the next wife before I sign the paperwork...!
LOL honey...honest...
If you simply over-ride it manually back into the footwell mode it will now provide predominantly warmer airflow and keep the cabin at a comfortable 72 degrees.
If you follow the service managers directions and set the temperature upwards (80F?) the airflow will be automatically routed back to footwell alleviating your discomfort, at least for a short period.
Once the cabin temperature now approaches 80F it will again switch to face and upper body, cooling mode.
Over-ride it to footwell and leave it set to 72F.
And you won't need to worry about the A/C mode.
However, the time to express an interest in the extended warranty is before buying a car. That gives you a lot more room to negotiate the price. Sure, you can get the warranty later, but the dealer then has the power and no real incentive to come down much on the price. I got my 7-year/100,000 warranty for $1,100, down from their "retail" price of $1,800.
In any event, I find it hard to believe that all of this salesman's nav customers bought the warranty. For you, it depends upon how long you'll keep the car. If you'll have it for a long time then I would recommend the warranty.
We usually replace the "Dogmobile" vehicle every 3-4 years so we're not good prospects for any extended warranty - but if you want one shop different dealers (usually the Finance person at each dealership is the one that sells extended warranties) - in fact, I'd do a web search with key words like "Lexus warranty" (pretty clever, eh?) and you should come up with lots of hits.
DO NOT buy a 3rd-party, non-factory warranty - too many horror stories and after all you're buying this for piece of mind, right?
Good luck and let us know the best price you find.
It's only when the cabin air temperature is sending a mixed message with regards to other, sometimes more important, human comfort factors to the climate control ecu that things get discomforting.
Denso US lays claim to being the only company with a bi-level climate control airflow model for extending human comfort. Their idea is basically sound, predominantly cooler and dryer airflow into the upper cabin (face, upper body, dash outlets)areas vs the lower footwell. I have measured as much as 20F cooler airflow from the dash as the footwell simultaneously.
As long as the human body comfort equation is balanced toward the need for cooling that's likely a perfect solution. But once nightfall approaches and exterior radiant heat factors begin to decline the bi-level systems begins to be more and more discomforting until at full night the system should adjust and not route so much cool and dry airflow to the upper body.
The sad thing is that it will still do the same thing on the coldest darkest night in the dead of winter, once the well insulated and restricted exit airflow Lexus cabin atmosphere has reached the system setpoint (72F) it will automatically switch to cooling mode.
You can avoid most of this discomfort by simply over-riding the system to footwell mode.
You never set-up the Denso HVAC system properly by entering the current date (day/month/year) and your zip code!
How do you expect the system to KNOW that it's winter in the Pacific Northwest if you don't enter the current date and your zip code?
It still thinks it's in Japan, rolling down the assembly line, probably in spring time. And no wonder your Nav system was off - it's probably looking for roads in Hiroshima.
Sheesh...all these frustrating years, post after post, all complaining about the RX's Nav and HVAC problems - and it turns out to be operator error. Sad, sad, sad.
TIA
I had thought the winch hooks are there but there's nothing but holes behind them.
When you get ready to sign the papers on the new ride, hit the salesman for a rear cargo tray and a set of all season rubber floor mats. They expect to throw in a "perk". I've got them and are really happy with them.
Gotta go now. To the wrecking yard down by the river and buy a new set of tires for my house.
My advice is just negotiate hard. It's all a game. I worked the same magic for my girlfriend when she bought a new Honda Accord.
I hope this helps. Good luck.
The pressure is on them, not me to accomodate them in order for the purchase deal to go forward expeditously.
The only time I see the system switch to recirculate automatically is when I first start it and the car has been setting in bright sunlight on a hot day and the interior temperature is above the exterior temperature, sometimes substantially so. It will usually switch back to fresh mode automatically once the interior temperature declines to something closer to the setpoint temp.
In these circumstances the best choice, clearly, would be to immediately turn on the system blower motor at HIGH speed, footwell airflow, until the overheated atmosphere within the vehicle is exhausted, and the interior air temperature declines to something near the exterior.
THEN using recirc to bring the interior temperature down to human comfort level makes sense, but one must remember to return it to fresh once that point is reached.
An example:
It's lunchtime in Dallas and it's 87F outside and over 100F inside my RX. 72F is my "comfort level. If the system is in recirc it must "pull" that 130F air down to 72F. On the other hand if I use high blower and fresh mode I can quickly exhaust the overheated interior atmosphere while simultaneously pulling in 87F airflow through the A/C condensor thus reaching my 72F setpoint much more expeditously.
But I can't fault Lexus or Denso for this one, it's the way things have been done with automatic A/C for as long as I can remember. Obviously a decision that was made before the ability to compare inside and outside air temperatures came about.
Time to rethink this aspect of the design, maybe?
Having lunch in Dallas on sat. so I'll check the procedure just to be sure.
Jack Henderson
I always leave mine in the auto mode and have noticed that when putting up the radar detector (using suction cups) just below the mirror that somehow that triggers the blades to wipe once, maybe twice. Never did that in my MB C320 with auto wipers. Also in my C320 the auto wipers were suspended while the driver's door was open - to keep from slinging water on you should you jump out to get the mail or the paper. Neat feature.
A nice thing on my MB ML320 is when your wipers are on and you put the vehicle into reverse, the rear wiper automatically sweeps to clear your rear view.
I wanted to know (and still do) if the filter is located as awkwardly in the 330 as the 300.
Am going in to Lexus next month for the "freebie: oil change etc. Also will have the various beeps etc. shut off.
Question: Does anyone know if you can reduce the time the headlights stay on after you shut off the ignition? Or better yet have them go off immediately when the ignition is turned off?
Was your question sincere or sarcastic? As far as I know, none of the Japanese automakers offer any free maintenance programs, contrary to the practice of the European manufacturers. However, Lexus offers a free inspection at the first 1000-mile interval and a free oil change at 5000 miles. I'm not sure I am a big fan of BMW's free scheduled maintenance program. The oil changes are free only if you wait approximately 15,000 miles between oil changes, give or take. Same with Mercedes.
finch3:
Yes, why not let Lexus change your oil, assuming we can find a Lexus dealer who charges a reasonable price?
But I thought all the luxury brands advertised free maintenance for the first 3 or 4 years. Those would basically be oil changes only because it wasn't within the mileage when you'd need tune ups or new brake pads.
But if they give you oil changes every 15k miles, that's ridiculous.