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I used to employ orphans on sidewalks near Lexus dealers to sell them but the cops started rounding them up and the legal bills amounted. Pure political discrimination if you ask me.
Then I went on Ebay but talk about taking a cut...so that marketing idea died out.
Yup, Town Hall is my dream Get Rich Quick Scheme!
(and, for those of you with zero sense of humor -
This Is A Joke)
Craig
If you look at the VIN, if the fourth space is a "G" it's a fwd model. If it's an "H", it's an 4WD.
You can also look under the car for the telltale (black) driveshaft on the 4WD that redirects power to the rear wheels.
With the advent of lockup torque converters automatics could finally be equipped with a true overdrive. But even so, the engine/tranx output/input final drive ratio is still very close to 1:1.
So I would assume that any substantial decrease of engine RPM from the RX300 to the RX330 at equal speed must be due to differential final drive ratios, right??
120db dynamic range and virtually limitless bandwidth relative to audio reproduction.
But.
The average ambient noise level in an RX at cruising speed, say 55MPH, is above 70db.
That means that in order to hear the "low" music passages they must be reproduced by the system volume elevated to overcome the noise level. The problem is that will put the high passages at 190db.
With permanent hearing damage beginning to occur at 140db even moderately high level musical passages could do some serious damage.
What the market apparently needs is CD's especially recorded, processed, for automotive use, compressing the dynamic range from low volume content to high volume content to within the 50db range useful in a typcial automobile.
In topical stuff, Automotive Luxury 101 — How to Create a Luxury Nameplate
Steve, Host
http://www.calcarcover.com/
You can use the "Contact Us" button to email Shaun 'cause he's the only guy there that knows about the new RX330 unit.
Sheesh - guessing some folks Just Need to Get a Life.
when they fix the problem.
I think it's related to a factory defective exhaust manifold that has been documented here in the past; there are replacement parts available for your dealer and it should have been corrected BEFORE you took delivery - so your New Car experience was not ruined. They should have known by the VIN number and/or assembly date if your RX was subject to the TSB/recall.
I would talk to the General Manager (not the Sales Manager) at your dealership about what they can do extra for you in the future to balance the scales. A full detail coupon would be acceptable in my book.
If he/she is no help, call Lexus Customer Service or better yet write them; the address is in your owner's manual.
Good luck - I know you will enjoy the 330 when you get it back and put some miles on it.
The build date on our RX330 is "06/03" according to the label on the B Pillar at the driver's door. (Coincidentally, we purchased this on June 30th.) According to my Lexus service advisor, the exhaust manifold problem was already resolved by that build date.
If anyone discovers a manifold problem for any RX330 with a build date of June or later, please post that information here in this forum.
I'm guessing some people are not going to understand how this could have occurred. Well, here is a quick synopsis. A gas pipeline rupture nearly 2 weeks ago had caused the Phoenix metro area to fall into a gasoline "problem". (According to certain local politicians, this was only a "problem", not a "crisis". We must not describe it as a "crisis"!) Nearly all stations ran out of gas by Sunday, leaving some people stranded with empty tanks. As gas was trucked into the area, some stations re-opened to 1hour+ lines at $2.30/gallon or more. There was talk of some stations selling at over $3/gallon. The situation has much improved, but the experience has provided us with further validation that we made the right decision by purchasing a relatively fuel-efficient SUV like the RX330.
Can anybody tell me what the functions are of the right-hand side buttons?
I just bought a new RX and was asked if I wanted to purchase a paint protection system for the car. It would cost me another $500.
Any advice is highly appreciated!
In my opinion, of course :-)
Steve, Host
Surely the Lexus sedans couldn't be that loud?
As for compressed dynamic range content for cars, I remember prerecorded cassettes were recorded that way. Even classical tapes would be recorded with the equalization set to make the sound more bright.
Really, as some of gets older, maybe absolute fidelity in a car is not that big a deal. Personally, I'd rather have an easy interface to plug in an iPod instead of shuffle around CDs.
Some aftermarket stereos have line input jacks in the front for MP3 players. I'm hoping that becomes more common.
But there was talk that OEMs are planning bigger and better things for OEM stereos, including support for DVD Audio and MP3. Apparently in Japan there are already OEM systems with surround sound music playback.
With $500, you can give your car a very nice detail job every year for the next 3 years.
Consumer Report's evaluation, Sept03 issue, page 54: "The (RX330's) well-detailed interior is as plush and quiet as many luxury cars." And their tested model was the AWD which is probably a bit noisier than my FWD.
In their round-up spec summary on page 59, same issue, the RX330 received the only "best" rating for low noise reading - and the other SUVs tested MDX Touring, FX35, X5 3.0i, XC90 T6) did not.
So there.
Thanks,
Wes
The RX300s "downfall" ocurred only because the local Lexus dealer was holding an open house to introduce the RX330 and talked her into a test drive the next day. That did it - her only real complaint, the turning radius, was solved; she "authorized" me to do the deal (we have such a Formal Marriage!) for the same payment as the RX300...no brainer.
Otherwise she would have kept the RX300 for a few more years. So enjoy your 2003 - you won't be disappointed in it OR the move to the RX330 down the road.
Speaking of the Consumer Reports review, did you catch the CRxtra review of the VW Touareg V6 at CR's website? 0-60 in 11.9 seconds?? I have't seen anything that slow since William "The Refrigerator" Perry lined up at the Fullback position. No wonder the T-Reg finished below all the other tested SUVs. I would have liked to see them review the V8 model, which probably would have been at the same price point as the XC90 T6 and the X5 3.0.
Also, how does this work in conjunction with the feature that blinks the turn signal lights twice when the unlock button on the remote is pressed. The two features seem to conflict with each other. Could it be that you can only choose one but not both?
Thanks
What I do is get a clay bar (~$10) and wash the new car, and then apply the clay. It's easy and does a great job of getting rid of rail dust (those "rust" spots) and other surface dirt. Then I rinse it and wax it.
Then I wash and wax when I get the urge (maybe 4 times a year for me). Every year or so I'll take the clay out of my baggie to get that ultra-smooth surface back again.
Lots more tips in Store Bought Waxes Part II (No Zaino Posts).
Steve, Host
I'll be taking delivery of my RX330 sometime within the upcoming week. Am I taking delivery of a Japan built RX330? Also, will my RX330 be effected by the exhaust manifold recall that others have mentioned on this board?
You can purchase a low-cost inverter that plugs into a 12v accessory outlet (I think the regular RX330 has 3 of these receptacles) and will power your laptop directly without the need to boost to 115v. Check with your laptop vendor and if that's a no-go try CDW - Computer Discount Warehouse - or PC Connection - all the mail order computer places have this kinda stuff.
All that should result in a higher engine RPM at equal speed in the RX330 vs the RX300, yet it clearly is lower. The wheel/tire circumference is slightly larger, but seemingly not by enough to make up the difference.
But the bottom line is that you should, certainly, often see more "dropouts" from overdrive than with the RX300, and likely more downshifts from high (4th??) gear.
5 gears plus overdrive or 4 plus overdrive??