akkidy

I have read from another website some negative reviews about the RX350, one of which I copied below. As a proud new owner of a Lexus RX350, I would say that I do not agree with the person who posted the review. I don't believe that a car being made in Japan is superior to the one made in Canada. I believe that with Lexus' reliability reputation, any car with a Lexus badge on it should be as good if not great. Every car company has strict standards to follow regardless of where that manufacturing plant is located. I believe that Lexus is no different. Aside from the car paint that somebody from this forum complained about, but was refuted by another CL member, does anybody feel that there is any difference at all in workmanship and parts used between the RX330 made in Japan and RX350 made in Canada? or AWD RX350 made in Japan and FWD RX350 made in Canada?

Quoted from another source.

"CHEAP, NOT MADE BY JAPAN"
2007 Lexus RX 350 AWD
04/18/2006
By: An MSN Autos Consumer
Owned: Less than 1 year
Review ID: #490447

2.5 Overall Rating
3 Styling
3 Performance
3 Interior
5 Quality
1 Recommendation

Pros:
NAVIGATION BETTER THAN OLD MODEL

Cons:
ENGINE DOES NOT SOUND LEXUS, INSIDE DOES NOT FEEL LEXUS, I FOUND OUT THE REASON BECAUSE UNFORTUNATELY 2007 STARTED TO BE MADE NOT BY JAPAN, SO OF COURCE IT WILL NEVER BE LIKE LEXUS.

Overall Review:
I AM NOT HAPPAY AT ALL WITH THIS PARTICULAR CAR, NO FUN DRIVING. IT SOUNDS ROUGH. I FEEL THE CAR IS SUFFERING TO MOVE FORWARD. DO NOT BUY THIS MODEL 2007 RX, TRUST ME YOU WILL REGRET IT. GO FOR GX470 IT IS A LEGEND. I WISH I DID.

Larry96815

I do not have a 350 but last year's RX 330. I wish I would have never bought it. No complaints, just no excitement either, just a ho hum car. I am 59 years od and have owned MANY cars. Sorry, just my feelings.

Aloha

32kcolors

So what do they have in common? They simply bought the wrong car. If you want excitement, get a sports car or a more sporty SUV. I'm constantly amazed at how people keep buying the wrong cars and fault them for not doing what they wanted in the first place.

Larry96815

I agree.

Aloha

h2o_247

It is argueable that the RX might not be the most "fun" , meaning performace wise, filled SUV to have in one's fleet of cars. Yet, it is important to realize that the name Lexus does not primarily associates itself with performace, but instead, the name denotes quality, and "best-bang-for-you-buck". Also, I think the country of manufacturing does not interfere with the quality due to the fact that all aspects of the car, for example, interior and exterior, are unify with those of Japanese specs. Furthermore, I think people who actually buy Lexus cars are those people who have previously own other marques and have been unsatisfied by those cars. Lexus owners are a rare breed of people. They don't need the constant showering of the so-called glamour of the "3-spoke" logo. Not to offend anybody...just my 2 cents.


With best regards,

Felix

rxdriver

There has been a lot of debate here about Japan vs. Canada build quality. The Canada plant opened during the second half of the 2004 model year, producing RX 330's.

In 2004, RX 330's made in both plants had major issues with rattles and poor parts. Most of us who buy Japanese brands believe that a car made in Japan is automatically better than if it were made anywhere else. If we didn't think that way, we wouldn't have as much brand loyalty to the Japanese. But in reality, there's no reason that a well-engineered car can't be built well anywhere with the right processes and parts. I think a lot of the anxiety about the Canada plant is mental and based on prejudice that favors building in Japan.

I'm very disappointed with all of the rattles and problems in my made-in-Japan 2004 RX 330. So, with the country-conscious mindset, I should now hate cars made in Japan. But I don't - I blame first-model-year issues that have not been typical with Toyota/Lexus but have been with other brands. I've just learned that every car maker is prone to having such bugs, so I probably won't buy a first-model-year car again for a while.

DakotaRX

When you buy an SUV you buy a vehicle made to haul more than a car, take on poorer driving conditions and better road vision, you're not buying a sports car like a Porsche. I have to agree with many of the comments, people buy the wrong vehicle. My previous Lexus was a GS300 and now it's an RX330 Thundercloud. Sure I wish my RX handled like the GS, but at the same time I like the better road vision, more hauling capacity and the ride is great! You can't really get in all in one vehicle. I guess that's the reason there are over 500 different models of vehicles. If you want sports car handling get the SC, IS or GS. But even those aren't the top of the class in sports car handling when compared to a BMW or others. But if you want quality and reliability in a nice overall package then you get a Lexus be it made in Japan or Canada.

Larry96815

I also have one of those "3 spoke" logo cars. I love it!....like you said.....just my 2 cents.

Aloha,
Larry

HarrierAWD

Based on Consumer Reports reliability survey, the RX's reliability has dropped since the 2004 model year. It used to be "excellent" all around, but it's been "very good" since 2004.

It's not bad enough to deter me from buying a Canadian-made RX in distant future (my RX300 still runs like new,) but there is a difference.

Larry96815

It is kind of funny that when I bought my RX here in Hawaii the salesman made it a point that all of the RX's in Hawaii are made in Japan. He actually used that as a selling point.

Aloha,
Larry

BN06

All I can say is I love the RX350. Just drove it tonight for the first time in over a week (its my wife's vehicle). Although we only have about 340 miles on it in just over a month we both love it. It is powerful, comfortable, and amazingly well constructed. We owned two newer model Audi cars before coming to Lexus this year. Both brands appoint their respective models very well.

Audi has a teutonic feel of course but the Lexus really moves out well and handles very well. The adjustable suspension is very well designed and we have no complaints. All I can say is that maybe Lexus owners are not used to the slight euro (very slight) of the RX350.

That is my .02.

Lil4X

Well, if everyone loved Lexus, they wouldn't offer anything else now, would they? When the RX 300 was introduced som seven years ago, SUV's were pretty much Suburbans, Tahoes, and other truck-based vehicles. They were pretty slow, handled miserably, stopped poorly, and rode like a lumber wagon.

The RX was a revelation to those of us who had suffered 20+ years abuse in these glorified and overpriced pickups. Here was a smaller, more nimble vehicle that went down the highway quickly and well under control. It was comfortable, dead reliable, and considering the cost of the competition, a bargain. Early in my ownership experience of my first RX, I spent three straight weeks at the helm, touring the western US with a load of camera gear. It was my faithful mount, my camera platform, and occasionally my sleeping and dining car. I was hooked.

If you're looking for a high performance SUV with ground clearance, some offroad capability, and highway manners of a thoroughbreae - that handles like a GT car and cuts 11-second quarters, while performing all in silence and security, you need to petition the Powers that be for a variance from the laws of physics. . .

jamesfabin

I've only had my RX350 AWD for a few days now, but I do find it very enjoyable. It replaced a 4 month old Infiniti FX (with all the options) that had some serious electrical issues and Infiniti stepped up to the plate and bought the vehicle back. I would have gone with another Infiniti except that the vehicle had a number of squeaks and rattles, and the gas mileage was 14.1 with my driving habits (I'm running 19.8 in the Lexus RX).

I've only noticed 1 item that is of concern in the Lexus - there is a slight stutter feeling when accelerating from a stop. I noticed this a lot in one FWD model I test drove, but the AWD I test drove didn't show this. It doesn't happen all the time, and it only last a part of a second, and isn't that strong so I'll keep an eye on it and see what happens. It may just be normal for this vehicle since I felt it on others I test drove. I work in the auto industry and we review all the new cars, so I'm very hyper-sensative to just about everything in a vehicle. My colleges tease my of my hearing - I can find any squeak or rattle in a car, even ones other people can't hear.

James

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I'm a believer that a cars build quality is only as good as the people bolting it together. Even if all the parts are the same, there can be differences in assembly quality between different manufacture plants. Whether that means the Japan built ones are better, the same, or worse than the Canadian built ones will be debated forever. The only thing I can saw is n the past the Japanese assembled cars were traditionally better than the US or Canadian assmebled ones. This was obvious when the serice techs used to take the cars apart during servicing. Now, I'm not talking about Lexus specifically here as my experience is with another car company, but the sometimes the techs used to guess where it was assembled without looking at the VIN just by how it was assembled. Obviously this is no scientific fact, so if you don't plan on taking your car apart than you really don't need to worry how it is put together or what is behind the panels anyway right?

The only thing that matters is if the buyer is happy with his purchase or not.

LexFather

I don't think he was a Lexus owner. I think he is some other brand fan that just posted there to scare people away. I like the GX, it is not a legend.
WHo the hell wants fun driving a RX anyway?

Lexus has proven it might be the only luxury car company capable of building quality cars outside their home country in North America. BMW, Benz and Acura have had tremendous difficulties in doing so.