Is there a performance pkg which has air suspension, and is it reliable? Do all the 350's come with HID's active or not, Will toeing pkg negate the radiatior problems? How many come with Levinson in the 09 range which is about where I want to be to get some kind of warrantee. Wheel bearing issues?

Thanks have had a ls430 for 200k miles not a single problem but one bad bearing looking for a 23-34 ish 09 for the wife, if anyone sees one with performance plus pkg plus towing let me know.

Thanks

 

Yes, there is an available air suspension package in some RX and it part of the Performance Package. No, it is not reliable. Not in a Citroën, not in a Peugeot, not in a Mercedes, not in a Lexus. They all will go bad, not if but when, and when they do it is an expensive repair.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...uspension.html

No, not all RX350 come with HID.

Radiator problems seem to be with early 2nd Generation RX where there was an extension to the warranty provided by Lexus. I have had no problems in my 2004 with the radiator. The towing package just adds an additional transmission cooler and does nothing with the main radiator.

2nd Generation RX with AWD are prone to have wheel bearing failures at a higher rate than what one would hope. Other weak spots include ignition coils which fail early and power steering rack failures, amongst a host of other issues. The biggest worry but not necessarily often seen as a problem is for the oil cooler line.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...-pictures.html

Keep in mind that the 2009 RX350 is the last of the 2nd Generation RX. Starting with 2010 it moves to the new body style and the 3rd Generation.

Take some time to perform a few searches and do some reading here at CL. Many of your questions have been asked before with extensive followups in the forums.

 

Yes performance package has air suspension, not sure on reliability but some here have had to replace, so I'd say average at best. Most 350's have HID with moving lights but base does not have HID. The giveaway is the headlight washers on the bumper for HID. No radiator problems I am aware of, think this was fixed starting in 07. Levinson system is rare but out there, got to search hard for it. Rear bearings on the AWD is common to need replaced.

 

The air suspension in the RX with performance package was nothing special. Barely moved an inch up and down at most. I never had a problem in six years/50K miles but a few people have. Not cheap to repair.

 

i have a 2004 with just shy of 200,000 km, owned since 2009. never had a problem with the air suspension. did have the rear wheel bearings done though.

i also have the tow package, nothing special there.

the other nice thing about the Sport Package is the better transmission you get. much better than the standard one. i'll take my chances with the air ride for the better transmission anyday.

i do use mine for towing, nothing that extensive, just a small trailer to move the sport bike here and there, and get dirt / lumber for renovations.

 

Thanks for all the quick posts. The oil cooler line is something I would think everyone who is aware of it would fix, its hard to believe Lexus would not address this after seeing how bullet proof my 430's have been. The Performance Plus pkg gives ya wider tires so I bet the cornering is a little flatter, then you for sure get the swivel HID's I think.

Can you tow 3500 lbs with the tow pkg from the 2000lb w/o pretty well?

I will start poking around on old threads, thanks again.

 

There is plenty of information available out there on the various packages for the RX:

http://www.automobilemag.com/am/2009...s_options.html

 

I have RX350 with all the bells and whistles, so I can say air suspension is pretty reliable so far. The car has 66000 KM (about 40000 miles) on the clock and no suspension problems were detected so far. I owned VW Phaeton that started causing some air suspension issues after 55000 KM.

Compared to RX without air suspension, this one is much "softer" to drive