I looked at a nice Rx350 here at a dealer with less than 80K miles on the odometer. After driving the vehicle everything works good and is a very clean car. I noticed only one issue that has me hesitant about buying it. When I was driving the car pulled to the right. I let the salesman know and left. He called me later and says they looked at the problem and have fixed it. The problem was the air was low in the tire.

Now I will admit that I did not carefully look at everything. I just kinda looked at the body and interior and neglected to take notice of the tires. I feel that low pressure can't make that much of a difference. I am suspicious that they just added air in one tire enough to counter that issue so long as they can fool me into believing it is fixed. They want me to come back and drive it again to see how how I like it now. I really like the SUV, but worried after many posts online with handling issues. People went as far as replacing the power steering and suspension parts.

Any words or advice? Could it just be something as simple as low tire pressure? Or is the dealer trying to trick me long enough to get me to sign?

Thanks for any help.

 

Take a tire pressure gauge with you.

 

I just drove it and I did check the pressure and the pressure was ok. He put it up on the lift for me to look under to check for rust since it was in NY.

Now all that aside I drove it again and it still pulls to the right. The dealer is going to do an alignment and let me drive it again and see how I feel.

 

That's good news. Yeah can be something as small as tire pressure especially with our fluctuating weather temperatures lately! Good luck!

 

how are the tires? Even slightly worn from front end issues should be replaced prior to an alignment.

 

I don't think so but I can check. They are doing and alignment and just called me. I am still concerned but let's see what happens.

 

If the car is at a Lexus dealership, you might want to ask the dealer for the service record or pop the Vehicle ID into Lexus.com and look at the record yourself. The record is not always easily read, however so asking the dealer would be my choice.

I'd check for any prior alignment work done or any suspension issues reported or addressed. You might also ask the dealer if all recalls and any TSIB's have been preformed.

And lest I forget, welcome to the forum.

 

The dealer is going to look at it tomorrow and get back to me. An alignment didn't work. I talked to my cousin who is a mechanic and he told me that it sounds like control arm bushings are worn out. So let's see what they report back. If they can't fix it, I'm gonna have to pass on this one.

It really sucks, I really liked this one.

 

How is it equipped and what's the asking price?

 

It's automation so they are asking 15k and arent very flexible. It bamboo peral with tan interior. Sunroof, heated seats, Nav, backup camera, and the other usual rx350 stuff. It's nearly 80k miles.

I gave up on it for the most part. They wasted a lot of my time and made it clear they aren't interested in fixing the issue.

 

It could be tire pull. I have the same problem on my ES. Rotating the tires sideways makes the car pull to the other side.