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Comments
I'll contact Lexus and see what they say about the seatbelts and warranty.
I'll post a reply if I learn anything new. Thanks.
What are the "two simple buttons over the Navi screen to change it to dark background at night"? It is not obvious in the manual.
Did all the negotiating via email and phone with Tracie Holliday, the Internet Sales Manager. Lexus of Seattle had the identical vehicle priced at $36,500. Was emailing with Jim Simmonds, the Internet Sales Manager, about this one but the Burnished Gold got sold the night before I was ready to commit. Then got the better pricing from Lexus of Bellevue. Traded my 1999 RX at wholesale.
Dealing with both Jim and Tracie was smooth, straight-forward and professional.
Draining and replacing coolant isn't really a good idea either IMMHO but the cost should be minimal so...
If you push up on it the sound is there. Has anyone else experienced this problem?
Congrats! How do you like the feel of the '02 vs. your '99?
Those who've had a repair made, did it stop the noise for good or has it come back?
So far have not noticed a lot of difference in the feel of the '02 versus the '99, but we only have 132 miles on the new one. The new one has Bridgestone Dueler tires which are quieter than the Les Schwab Wild Country APT tires (which I felt really good about and hated to lose) that I had put on the '99. The important things to me are that the '02 has the VSC/TRAC and side-impact air bags...and of course you can't discount that new car smell!
I am planning on calling my dealer in a week or so to attempt repair again. He tried to fix it about 5 times last year without any success.
Strange!
With the Nav sys working, push the "Display" button on the lower right. The screen preferences will come up on the monitor; push the "Day Mode" screen soft-touch button and your display's background will turn from white (default)to black.
Unless the value of the '99 has dropped significantly in the past year...Last I checked, they were around $26-27k.
I can't imagine any RX not having this noise as it seems to be a function of the seal and expansion and contraction due to temp changes. My Rav4 had it, the Highlander has it. It's like the strut mount pop noise (all of my 4 Toy/Lexus have had it) that so many Toy's have. Nature of the beast. I'll live with it (until someone says they've been able to successfully correct it without creating a leak or something!) and still enjoy the heck out of the moonroof.
Does anyone know if the manufacturers are answering the call of a performance styled tread on an SUV sized tire? Is the Pirelli Scorpion the closest to this?
Also, the RX in Question had 54K miles. Now, I know it COULD be 4 years old, and that's under 15k/year and all..
But there is absolutely no shortage of low-mile RXs. 99s with under 40K? I can go buy 20 on Tuesday.
A 54K miler is worth $21,500 or so.. Maybe into the VERY low $22Ks for the right color at the auction, assuming Leather, Roof and CD of course. Cloth/No Roof cars are in the $17K-18K range. But I can buy nice ones with mid-50s on the clock all day long for $21K-21,500.
Briegel, Especially against the deal on the new car, you got a great deal, you got top wholesale dollar for your trade. It appears ya done well!
Bill
The price on the '02 did surprise me since Carsdirect.com was still showing prices at only about$700-$800 under MSRP in my zip code.
I took it for test ride and they offered to appraise my vehicle. The v8 powered beamer is fast and powerful, much more so than the RX. Only problem is I consider the RX to be plenty fast enuff, I spend alot of my driving time exceeding speed limits by about 20mph. I've been lucky to get only one ticket, which I was able to beat on a technicality and the judge was an old classmate. The x5 stereo is not better than my RX, (stock stereo in my 01). I prefer the rx leather and seating. They offered me what I consider fair value on the RX, but I couldn't justify buying. The difference in the out the door prices between the two (new) vehicles is about 16-17K, it just seemed way out of line to me.
I'm not in the market until the GX470 comes out.
Your experiences??
But, as spakchar pointed out, the dollar difference just isn't worth it. You have to have serious bucks to own one.
Thanks!
DeLorme
Pete
http://www.delorme.com/gps.htm
Pete
Thanks.
As far as "nature of the beast", I had many cars with sunroofs without this problem, one of them being a 2000RX. The problem seems to mainly be with 01 RX's and HL's.
Most cars are FWD and do pretty good in the snow. The Lexus dealer told me last week after driving my RX that my car was one of the most smooth RX300's he has driven. I told him that probably due to the lack of AWD. My gas mileage has been 21.5 mpg and I drive a little on the aggressive side.
In a nut shell FWD will serve you fine. Other climates may need the AWD but it's your call.
Speaking of RX300 brakes....these things are awesome! Every time I've had a 'close one', they get me out of harms way fast and smooth.
Anyways- pumped the brakes and also changed lanes and saved my [non-permissible content removed]! I guess brake assist works!
Senthil
Maybe the coming winter will also be mild and next spring the redesigned RX will have the Sequoia's AWD and enough wheelwell clearance in the rear to use chains.
Pete
My original response to your post was "and pigs can fly", which was justifiably deleted for "sniping".
IMMHO most aspects of the RX300 are, as you said, superb.
But.
1. The climate control is totally out of control, don't try to demist the windshield with it, it will just make matters worse, if not immediately, then later. It is very discomforting to have it automatically switch to cooling mode at night (or anytime of day) in the dead of winter when the very last thing your body needs is a draft of cool dry airflow to the face and chest.
2. The GPS nav is so unreliable as to be useless, you can't know when to trust it or not.
3. The AWD functionality. I'm truly glad you got through the winter(s) in Buffalo with only your FWD RX. But I would ask you, are you really willing to advise others that the FWD RX is satisfactory for wintertime use based on only your personal experience?
My own experience is that even the AWD model is severely lacking in wintertime on-road utility. There is basically no difference in the FWD version and the AWD version. In normal use only about 10% of the engine torque is delivered to the rear wheels and in the most severe conditions only a maximum of about 25 to 30%
You said you have owned "true" 4WD vehicles previously. Did you ever have occassion in the wintertime "on-road" (or having left it due to slippery conditions and needing it to regain the pavement) to need part-time 4WD in any of those vehicles?
Did you ever have to install tirechains for any reason? You can only use chains on the front of the RX and Lexus will tell you that can be extremely hazardous, extraordinary roadbed traction in the front vs the rear.
I like my AWD RX300, I truly do, but if Lexus puts the Sequoia AWD system in the next version I will be one of the first standing in line to trade up.
The current RX300 is an SUV in name only, I would as soon recommend a FWD Camry or Avalon for wintertime use as any version of the RX. Personally I would select a RWD vehicle wherein if I need snowchains I could start with the rear ones.
1. Climate control system works great. When you push buttons, you get plenty of cold air, hot air, demist air, windshield clears quickly, rear hatch window clears quickly, front and rear wipers wipe stuff off the glass when we tell them to. You can make the wipers go slow or fast - really cool!
No unusual drafts except when driving in the nude.
2. Nav works grrrreeeaaaat! Don't ever wanna leave home without it, according to Better Half. Me, I dun need no stinkin' directions; I can get lost on my own.
Nav Whiners need to read the manual - at least Page 1:
"Please be aware that all current vehicle navigation systems have certain limitations that may affect their ability to perform properly. The accuracy of the vehicle's position depends on the satellite condition, road configuration, vehicle condition or other circumstances. Please also be aware that changing tire sizes to non-standard may adversely affect the navigation capabilities of your vehicle."
3. Front wheel drive system works great on roadways with no water, some water, lots of water, some dirt, lots of dirt, some oil, lots of oil. Regarding ice, snow up to your waist, pea gravel, and the movement of icebergs in Alaska - if you sometimes need a Jeep - buy a Jeep. Guess what? - the RX ain't no Jeep. Get over it.
OK, I added that part about non-standard tire sizes.
heheh..
Seriously, Willard, ya need to remember that the priority on the RX is ride comfort and noise isolation. Not off-road ability. The LX is actually quite good off road. But if you want to stay in the mid $30Ks and have the best 4WD out there, you buy a Discovery Series II. Period. You really gotta go off-road and want a Luxrious SUV? Buy a Rover. Very simple. I cant think of many vehicles made that can hold a Candle to them.
Drawbacks? Rougher ride, worse mileage, etc... Although, a Disco 2 with ACE is far better on-road than most cars. The 2000 SE that we have with ACE has been flawless as well from a reliability standpoint.
I have driven RXs in FL and NJ, Winter and Summer, and have found the climate control systems in them to be quite capable. None of our company Vehicles have NAV so I cannot comment on living with it.
Bill
I think they both use hydraulic clutches to engage the non-driven wheels, which is very effective for low traction surfaces.
The problem comes when a wheel or wheels lose traction, then the wheel(s) with the least traction will determine the maximum amount of torque that can be delivered overall, with all four wheels still getting an equal level of torque, it doesn't take much torque to spin a wheel that has no traction.
In the RX this is where the VC should come into play. The VC is mounted across the center diff'l, one shaft connected to the front axle and the other shaft connected to the rear axle.
The theory is this, if the two shafts of the VC turn at disparate rates (a wheel has lost traction) the viscous fluid is heated by the turbulence created by the two sets of clutch plates turning at differing rates and the viscosity increases which in turn increases the coupling coefficient between the front and rear axles, "forcing" the wheels with traction to turn at the same rate as the wheel without traction.
The engineering problem is this: when the vehicle is turning, say fairly tightly, the rear wheels do not "track" the front wheels exactly, so there is ALWAYS a disparate rate of rotation between the front and rear axles in a turn. In this case, if the VC were to react quickly you could have driveline windup, tire scrubbing on the pavement, or broken knuckles and/or fingers. So almost all VCs are designed to be slow at reacting, hundreds of milliseconds is typical.
Lexus has made the VC in the RX, and likely the HL, so "flaccid" (slow to react) that when it finally does come on-line it only couples 25 to 30% of the torque to the rear.
And no, the Jeep Quadra-drive is an entirely different animal.