Rx300 New Owner Gripes And Questions

[RobinGBrown]

Hello All

I'm the new owner of a 2004 RX300 and I've got a few questions and concerns if anyone would mind lending their ears.

Starting - my Lexus doesn't start instantly, I usually have to keep the starter going for a couple of seconds - is this normal? If not what should I look for? Battrery? Tune up?

Parking brake - I need to really push this down all the way to get the Lexus to hold while in gear at the lights - does it need adjusting?

Jemca - My nearest dealer is Jemca on Purley way Croydon, London, has anyone had any experiences with them worth noting? So far they've been not terribly useful

Roof rail cross bars - I've seen 'OEM' cross bars that appear to latch into the roof rails so they that are very low profile and aerodynamic and I was interested in gettign some for next year when we will be taking the car to Europe - are these available in the UK?

Tyres - my car needs new tyres very soon, I'm planning on going with Michelin Latitude Tour tyres - has anyone had much experience with them? Know anywhere in South London that's doing a deal on them?

Other than that I'm really enjoying the car, great to drive, great family car, very comfortable.

Thanks in advance

[jasons]

Hi fella,

At that age, I be prepared to go indy rather than main dealer...

I've just had my IS300 serviced at Toyotec down in between Redhill and Crawley.

Guy knows his stuff and their labour rate is £65p/h so much better thn main dealer rates.

J

[steve2006]

Has the car got a full service history? Is it therefore up to date?

You could have the Battery tested locally, mine fires up within 1 second but if your Battery is low this may be your problem as the engine won't fire until the correct cranking RPM is reached.

As far as I am aware the parking brake is just that and not designed to hold the car whilst stationary in drive,(please ignore this if yours is a manual) the footbrake should be used in this situation, however it could need adjusting if there is too much play in it, the parking brake shoes could be worn or need servicing.

For the roof bars I would speak to Lexus.

Sorry can't help with the tyres.

[RobinGBrown]

As far as I am aware the parking brake is just that and not designed to hold the car whilst stationary in drive,

I was wondering if this was the case, i'm used to using the handbrake on my Accord Coupe (3.0 V6 auto so similar in many respects) when stationary in traffic so I was expecting the RX to be okay with a similar technique. Looks like I'll have to adjust my driving style.

Thanks for the other items, I'll have the Battery checked ASAP.

Jasons - thanks for that I'll look into Toyotec, I'm not very enthused with the Lexus delaer in Purley so far when all I've tried to do is get an idea of costs for accessories and had to run back and forth between showroom and parts/service shop

[Duncan Roberts]

^{You do not state what mileage the car has covered , nor do you record what servicing work had been carried out prior to your purchase . Was it a private purchase or Lexus Dealer supply which could also have a bearing upon its maladies.}

^Brakes

^{Points to adjustment or needing pads as this should not occur. I had an RX 300 from new for 3 years and now an RX400 for four and the travel has always been short and the car held against this brake.}

^{Starting -}

^{Is it due service - spark plugs or other attention? Bear in mind service has to be carried out properly but the only way to diagnose this is to take the car to a dealer. If it is high mileage - and six years of age is getting long in the tooth for a modern car - there could be engine wear which might account for this.}

^{For roof bars you would have to refer to a dealer for a future purchase to see if these available, even someone buying last week does not guarantee that stock remains.}

^{Tyres - I have always used Bridgestone Potenza with good results in life and comfort.}

[RobinGBrown]

Little update on this: the car is a 2004 with 70K miles and a full service history, although the recent servicing was not Lexus dealer, and it came with a 3rd party warranty.

I've booked it in for an engine diagnostic at Toyotec and a brake check at Kwik-Fit. So unless both of those come back as perfectly clerar I'll be booking some work on it too.

No tyres yet as I've been saving the pennies, still interested if anyone has experience with Michelins on the RX. Also noticed that the wheels are bubbling in places so I'll need to get those sorted sooner or later too...

[DanD]

Corroded (blubbling) alloys is a known and well documented problem on all RX's. If you do a search, you will find plenty of postings.

[RobinGBrown]

Well Kwik-Fit said the brakes were okay and I asked them to replace the brake fluid - still feels soft though, like it's got a small air bubble in the system. Is it normal for RX brakes to be fairly soft on the pedal?

[Duncan Roberts]

Well Kwik-Fit said the brakes were okay and I asked them to replace the brake fluid - still feels soft though, like it's got a small air bubble in the system. Is it normal for RX brakes to be fairly soft on the pedal?

No.