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Comments
That's what saved the doe.
I'd buy the rollover rating theory if the 75-lb limit was from Lexus, but I'm not sure what Thule would have to gain from being overly conservative. The 75 lb spec glares out at you when you look through their documentation for all vehicles. (Even the REI salesman couldn't keep from expressing amazement over and over again.) So Thule's got a lot of incentive to spec something more than 75 lbs. (Their marketing collateral for option 2 even makes a point of being able to carry more than factory racks.)
Like I said, could be that they're just conservative. Maybe they couldn't get Lexus to verify more than 75 lbs so they're playing it safe. I suppose it could also be a simple error (cut-and-paste?) The Yakima rating of 125 lbs suggests one of these explanations.
Still, I'm not ready to test out the theory yet. Especially considering that canoes need to be tied down *very* firmly at the bow and stern, which will certainly add extra stress to the roof.
I hauled a 17' light lay-up Dagger tandem (~60#) 32,000 miles in '99 on a Yakima setup (separate towers and bars from the factory stuff). I tried the Yak rack mount bars and my roof flexed under load on my rig.
I agree that some extra capacity is needed, and most factory racks, in my limited experience, don't provide enough. Too bad the Yak and Thule stuff is rather pricy.
Steve
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Steve
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But at least you can take the loaner (ask for an IS300) to a local autocross rally if you schedule your maintenance date properly and have some darn cheap fun...
Jeff: Last time we got an oil change we got an IS300. I have to say it is too small for my taste. And it was kinda dirty - so it detracted from what could have been a nice interior. Nice ride though. This time I'm gonna hold out for a GS loaner - think that's possible? Hope so.
Thanks for the help!
The only thing I can think that might be outstanding is the DRL high beam bulb sooting/failure problem. Lexus will be forced to acknowledge it sooner or later.
You will notice that TSB 2 relates to the headlights. I don't know if this addresses your DRL issue but I'll check later. So as much as I want to save money I will have Lexus do the 15K service and checks all TSBs as well.
Home Depot, Lowe's, Do-It Center, etc.
Furnace filter, 20x25, $7 for the good one. Cut into 4 equal pieces. Wrap along edges of each piece with duct tape. Fits perfectly into RX filter slot behind glove box.
WW, I am surprised. Very surprised.
Next, you'll be saying the HVAC system smells Spring Time Fresh.. and...dare...I...whisper...the...words...the RX AWD is OK for most buyers...no No NO - say it ain't so!
steve_ "Mazda Tribute/ Ford Escape problems" Aug 8, 2002 12:01pm
Steve
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Steve
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Just spray some 3M adhesive over your Lowe's homemade pollen filter and dust it with the pellets, wait until it drys for a few minutes, re-insert into your Lexus or other fine vehicle, and you're set for 6-12 months. All for under $10.
No need to "pay" for the free expresso and croissants at the Lexus dealership by paying $37 for a single pollen filter.
Steve
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Steve
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Lot's of flow through capability at the touch of a button.
That's also a bit of my conundrum finding my next SUV, one to replace the RX. The ML320 also has rear wing window vents but the X5 has rear torque biasing. Was hopefull of the Cayenne but who needs that kind of HP/price in a mid-range SUV?
*Why do I get the feeling you're gonna buy the RX330?*
Start off with a 10-HP defroster blower. That outta do it.
"Willard's Wonderful World of SUVs" - how it doth roll off mine lips.
Steve, just curious, but why did you saw the Simca in half?? Increase power to wt ratio?
Steve
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While reading the most recent Business Week "Jeep's identity crisis" it did occur to me that right now might be an excellent time to enter the SUV market.
"Jeep" has clearly lost their way.
Both the RX and the HL are more minivan that SUV.
The Cayenne is "way" overdone, too much "off-road" and BIG HP stuff and over-priced for where the current SUV market lies.
The ML320's styling is un-inspiring, is a tad over-priced for the market, likely because of the name and the cost of the useless low range gearbox.
The X5 3.0 has the perfect AWD system but is WAY over-priced and there is no way to avoid that ugly two-tone, Black and xxx, interior.
With a few simple modifications and styling touchups here and there Chrysler has the perfect product for this mid-range SUV market.
Start with the base AWD T&C. Add VSC and TRAC, a Bose sound system, a leather interior with "gathered" leather on the seats (like they show in the brochure but don't actually produce), HID bi-level headlamps, a powered exhauster port, an automatic climate control system designed by Delphi, price it in the range of $45k or less.
The 94 Ford AWD Aerostar is now gone so I must make some sort of reasonable 4WD/AWD arrangement on the prospect that we have a hard winter.
I'm thinking of looking into a one year lease on an X5 that I can convert to a purchase if the RX330 doesn't have a reasonable AWD capability, or in the alternative enough rear tire clearance such that chains may be used.
A $45K minivan? Did you hear that, Chrysler? You're sitting on a goldmine!
You are seriously overlooking a lot of good candidates. Even you have spoken better of the Sequoia.
Honest, that's the story in one of this week's Wall Street Journals.
Which proves that truth is stranger than fiction.
And, often, a lot funnier.
I have spoken very highly of the sequoia's "virtual" AWD system, I know absolutely nothing otherwise about it.
And I think you're exactly right, DC is setting on a veritable gold mine and is totally unaware of it. So how do we go about telling them?
Discovery, Uppie piece of junk.
Don't even know what a range rover is, is that kin to the range rider?
I'm guessing it's either a form of "uppity" or a play on "yuppie!" :-)
Don't even know what a range rover is, is that kin to the range rider?
It's an anglicized form of the affectionate appellative "Rover" given to dogs in the Plata River region between Argentina and Uruguay! The caballeros are the riders whom the dogs accompany. :-)
tidester
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If you want to delete options, you should speak with the salesperson.
So I bought a GS300 which he felt would have good trade in value since the GS wasn't up for a model revision anytime soon.
As I just said a few posts back I am looking seriously at dumping my 01 AWD RX300 and getting an 03 X5 3.0, on the shortest lease term available. The X5's AWD system is absolutely the best in the mid-range/(weight) class of SUVs. The only thing I really don't like about the X5 is the price and the mixed inerior color, BLACK and "whatever".
With a short term X5 lease I would be safe if this next winter turns out to be as harsh as some are. And I would be free to switch back to the RX in the short term.
Assuming the RX330 arrives with a much more adequate AWD system, say a clone of the Sequoia's (itself a clone of the ML). Or even an improved rear tire suspension clearance so one could use tire chains safely as a backup to the current (or future) "flaccid" AWD system.
AMEN BRO !!!
Why do I get the impression that some of the respondents on this board have a high level of resentment for the ability to print books that they, individually, have absolutely no interest in reading?
Steve
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It was there in 1440 that Johannes Gutenberg (c.1397-1468) began using the printing press in conjunction with a series of blocks each bearing a single letter on its face. The press used by Gutenberg was a hand press, in which ink was rolled over the raised surfaces of hand-set letters held within a wooden form and the form was then press against a sheet of paper.
Gutenberg's name does not appear on any of his work but he is generally accredited with the world's first book printed with movable type, the 42-line (the number of lines per page) Bible, also known as the Gutenberg Bible or the Mainz Bible (for the place where it was produced).
In three decades, printing spread across Europe where it became one of the chief means by which the Renaissance, the humanist re-birth of interest in learning and the classics, was transmitted from culture to culture.
In time the printed book became a means of political revolution, the necessary technological corollary for the rise of the vernacular (ie. non-Latin) as a vehicle for literary texts, and the larger democratic revolutions of the eighteenth century.
Then, about 500 years later, Lexus invented the 1999 RX300 AWD model and the rest is history.
Can we get back to the RX300 now?
Steve
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