Gavinw35

We bought our 2004 RX330 with plenty of recommendations and great stories of Lexus Service. Well so far here is the experience. I think I have received 3 recalls, when taking it in for service I reviewed the bill and found Lexus overcharged on everything and took it back to the dealer where they basically said "woops it was a mistake" (crap we got caught) and wrote me a check back for the overcharged amount. Less than two weeks later while sitting at a stop light my check engine light comes on accompanied by the VSC and Trac off light..

Now also we bought this car due to hearing of Lexus' quality and their long lasting ability. But let me tell you about some of the exterior defects. BOTH side mirrors are peeling paint! Are you kidding me?! A luxury brand car with a $40,000 price tag and the paint is peeling off like an old Honda?

Then you have the headlamps that Lexus put the cheapest plastic they could find and have those fog up after going through a car wash and then be completely worn and faded from sunlight.. Fyi the car is always garaged, always handwashed, and waxed every 2 weeks..

And lastly the trims on both sides of the last windows behind the rear passenger doors. The trim comes of and then the only way to fix it is a whole new window...

Now this is the first car we have over 50,000 miles and by a long shot but with all we heard about Lexus we thought we would be fine... We were definitely mistaken.

It is very disappointing beings that it truly is a great car to drive and a comfortable car for road trips... but in terms of long term im not happy.

Carver

Your inservice date may be as much as 9 years ago. It may be a bit optimistic to expect trim items to remain in pristine condition for that period of time. As I recall from another thread your particular color has had some issues, nonetheless that is a problem as is the window trim. The other things are not unique to Lexus.

Would you say the 330 has been more problematic than the Jag S?

Gavinw35

I do expect wear on a 2004 now in 2012 very much so. However the pieces falling off completely? And then just to replace a plastic trim you have to replace an entire window? That just does not make sense to me.. Originally we thought the Jag would be our problem child lol we have had a coolant leak which was $1400 to fix but besides that the car has been great, The Lexus in terms of wear, service, and now the Check engine light with the trac off and VSC light has been the problematic one. Its a shame because before all of this started happening the car was a great buy.

RX330inFL

Sounds like you got a used one that was abused or at least not taken care of proper by the previous owner. All those recalls should have been addressed some time back as they have been known about for some time now. Notices were sent out to all registered owners. None of them were major.

Without more information it would be hard to tell, however, the lights on the dash could be the brake switch problem previously discussed here. You can search for that. If you have the trim pieces still in one piece they can easily be reattached.

Also sounds like you need to find another shop to perform your out-of-service maintenance. A Toyota or local independent will suffice as long as you have a good relationship with them.

RX330inFL

Heck, even now Porsche is recalling $100K 911's due to a fuel line leak that might lead to the vehicle catching fire.

sdwtchlvr

iTrader: (1)

I would recommend taking your car to an independent service shop that specializes in Lexus....there are several in SoCal and I'd have to imagine there are at least a couple near you. Trim wears down...cars have recalls...and the check engine light does come on. As frustrating as the CEL is, have it checked (by independent shop)...often it isn't a big deal. Regarding the paint, if you're not the original owner then it's tough to tell how the car was cared for prior.

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

Paint is a common issue if not taken care of. That is why I buy my cars new and maintain it properly. As for the other issues, other posters already commented enough on it

jfelbab

I am not surprised that a 9 YO vehicle has some issues. I own a 2004 RX myself but have not experienced any of these.

The trim piece should be findable from a salvage yard if you don't actually have the original piece. You can reattached it with some adhesive.

The paint issue... take it to a body shop and have them repair and re-clear the mirrors. This is not a hugely expensive endeavor. maintaining the paint is a maintenance item, IMO.

As been mentioned, sounds like the brake light switch needs replacing and that might be covered under a TSIB. Your dealer might do this for free. Not an expensive repair at any rate.

Headlights lenses are polycarbonite and they weather. You can polish them clear and seal them again. Since this is a used car you don't know if this has been done before. Once done the polycarbonite lens has a tendency to weather even faster unless you reseal them with a UV protector. My RX lenses have a slight orangish tinge but they are clear. I hit them with UQW every week along with the rest of the vehicle and that provides some UV protection.

Lexus has been known to have some issues with RX headlights and moisture. There is a DIY thread here to fix. If you are getting moisture inside the headlight, I would urge you to repair it ASAP, as if this continues you will be faced with a very expensive replacement.

I've not experienced any of the issues with my 2004 RX 330 that you have but I bought it new and was able to care for it along its 9 years at a high level. I expect to see my RX still on the road 9 years from now. The RX is holding up better than any other vehicle I've owned and looking back, I've owned over 30 vehicles over the years.

I see the problems you are experiencing as annoying but minor. Fix them and enjoy your RX. It's a great vehicle.

mandyfig

Sorry to hear of your misfortune but please do not blame it all on Lexus and not on the RX330. If you take a general poll from our members here, you will probably get a better than average evaluation of the car.

Now all Lexus dealers are created equal and for that matter it is true for most Luxury car dealers. You need to find the right one that matches your personality and expectations. Simply a rotten egg your dealer is.

You have mentioned a few RX330 issues. Unfortunately your unit took a brunt of the issues well know to most of us:

a. My RX330 I can tell you that both my side mirrors and door handles had paint issues, replaced under extended warranty. My door trims have paint defects as well and were not replaced because the warranty ended. These items are supplied to Lexus-Toyota and may have failures from the supplier and I can guarantee that they are not suppliers anymore or have de-bugged their paint issues. Such is the automotive world, extreme pressure on cost and quality.
b. The famous rear door glass trim, I do not have an issue with, but a few of our members have seen them and it sucks that you have to replace the whole glass. Hence we have asked our members to periodically check the quarter trim and proactively apply better double sided tape. If you were a lurker here before you bought your Lexus, you would have learned about these issues.
c. The VSC, Trac Off etc. going off all together is the brake switch. They had a recall on this. Mine was replaced under warranty.

Again we would have recommended a few things if you were purchasing a used RX330 with out of warranty condition. But hopefully you keep the car and start enjoying it. We have a vast amount of DIY’s and a ton of what to watch out for. Members have saved money using the tips found here and have also encouraged them to send in their findings, give and take.

That’s how I enjoy owning the RX330. Hope you can, too.

Gavinw35

I understand that it is not all Rx's it just is frustrating when all of these petty issues come up out of all of our cars owned we have never had problems like this. The Rx is a great car it drives great and its comfortable. Im just annoyed with continuing to throw money at this car and the $1200 service that is due... it is never ending

Bakemono36

Youre whining about paint and trim issues and fogging headlights on a 6 year old car? Seriously? About the recalls: would you prefer they just ignore them and not stand behind the product?
Im sorry that you were under the impression that Lexus were perfect vehicles. They are not and never were. No car is perfect.

RuninRoach

you are luck they have extended warranty over there....here it is not an option...5 years and you are on your own...but its nice that they give you 5 years x 100,000 km warranty as standard.

but the dealership here is like....well the only way to describe it is like .... hmm...imagine its a pep boys with everything at 20x the price.

Gavinw35

Absolutely I am complaining! Ha ha I am pretty certain you would too if all of this suddenly appeared in the last 6 months or so. The recalls are simply an inconvienance and I have never had so many on a vehicle before! They are certainly the least of the problems. We have owned jaguars, Cadillacs, infinitis, the 08' ls 460, and Lincolns, no other car has had anything close to this. I understand it's obviously not all of the rx's out there and I got an unlucky one but come on paint peeling off severly on a car like this? Btw the lights are not for a brake anything but is for 3 different error codes, all emissions and some sensor I forget which one. I'm not expecting a car to be perfect FYI I am expecting a luxury brand however to play the part. Clearly it's forgotten how.

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

first of all...the service experience and the overcharging is the DEALER...not Lexus Corp.....

check engine light and VSC: You need to find out what the codes are in order to find out what exactly's going on....

good luck and keep us posted

ManXP

So what? I owned 10 years old Jag which hadn't problems with fogging headlights or paint and was extremely reliable. I bought my RX350 when it was less than 3 years old (got it from dealer with full history and only 25.000 KM) and I noticed the same problems; fogging headlights and terrible quality of mirrors painting.