Art3

Hello everybody! Assuming my dealer can find a Matador Red (who thinks up these colors?!) RX 350 AWD with a black interior next week, we'll be the proudest of new owners. I was truly impressed with the test drive: performance, elegance, handling, and it has that "carved out of a block of steel" feel like those German cars so many blubber about.

My question is this: what should I do and watch for in the early days, if anything? Do I go easy for while, is it imperative to learn the joystick cold, is there a whine or a serious rattle others have heard, are there any quirks or tricks not covered in the manual?

We're excited! We'll miss our ES 350, but, while it's a fantastic car, we just couldn't see out the rear; it was making my wife and I crazy.

GoHuskers

Hope they can locate one for you. That is a great color (own 2 in that color).

Just take it easy and drive normal. They engineer it very well and plus you have 4/50000 miles covered so enjoy.

kitlz

Welcome Art. Hopefully your dealer can find the RX you want. Best thing to do once you get it is to check out the owner manuals. There is lots of information in there. Probably the first thing on the to do list will be to personalize settings. Most of them are pretty intuitive once you get a hang of remote touch which is pretty easy to use BTW. Other settings have to be programmed by the dealer. Hint, it's in the manual You'll have time to figure it out. And t's probably not too far off from what you already know coming from the ES350.

Once you get the RX, take it easy for a while so the trans can learn your driving pattern. No fast starts or sudden accelerations. It's not recommended to maintain a high speed or use cruise control right away. For the rest of your questions, I'd spend a few minutes reading through this forum.

MX5NES350

Welcome aboard. As you can tell from my username I owned an ES350 (2007). I took delivery of a Stargazer w/ Light Gray interior 10 days ago and am not looking back. So in the first 10 days is there a list of things to look for? Not really. I opted for a Rock Guard 3M clear bra to help preven chips, etc. I am also getting Rock Guard 3M door cup protection installed in the next week or two to prevent ring scratches from either my wife or passengers. I recommend all weather mats and all weather cargo mat as well as Scotch Guarding the interior carpet. While it doesn't prevent all stains it certainly helps repel some stuff which may stain the carpet.

As with any new vehicle look over the car very carefully when delivered trying to find any small scratches which may have been none of your doing as well as listen for any small rattles (usually plastic rattles) which come from loose bolts or fasteners in the interior. Sometimes these plastic vibrations are normal since in colder weather things shrink. Once the cabin comes to temp they go away - give it 5 minutes. If anything remains call the dealer and get it addressed. Normally the tech will want to ride with you to pinpoint the location then investigate the cause.

Other than what I mentioned above enjoy the new car smell and your certainly to be above average experience.

Oh... the mouse thing? If you work on a PC regularly you need not worry about that. Your salesperson should take you through a lesson in how to operate it as well as what it controls. Anyone who works on a PC daily shouldn't have an issue figuring it out since, IMO, it's quite friendly and intuitive. There are, howver, a BUNCH of voice commands available to you so I would recommend trying to learn and use those as soon as posible.

markrivers

If you're getting the 2012 , then you'll be FREE from the dilemma of " using an 87 vs a 91" gasoline.
Yours will have a recommended regular unleaded. ( 87 octane).
Set up everything from the garage. Destination, all your Bluetooth enabled phones (up to 4) , iPod, USB, garage remote controller etc.
Most of those settings are disabled once you're in motion. For safety reason obviously.
Enjoy!

jamiec

Took delivery of my 2012 last month and you might want to consider adding body side moulding either before delivery or as an after market purchase. In my opinion they should never have removed them, they provided protection from the "door ding bandits". If you'd like I can post pictures of my car so you can see how they look. Good luck and enjoy!

Art3

Many thanks to you all! Good stuff; someone should wrap it all up for a car mag article. And, yes, jamiec, I'd love to see a picture or two .

Follow-up question: what's up with the OEM tires? Between brochure and salesman I'm hearing numbers like 15,000, 20,000, and MAYBE 30,000 - gimme a break!

jamiec

At my dealership cost for moulding and install was $500. I understand Sewell (site sponsor) carries them as well and provides instructions for self installation. Here are my pictures hope you can see them okay. I also installed door edge guards purchased from Sewell.

Art3

The extra trim actually enhances the look of the car! I'll check out Sewell's site. Many, many thanks.

kitlz

Art, make sure you register with Sewell to get the discounted price. Here is the link to the side molding without the discount. It's less than $100 once you sign up.

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...2012/4477.html

mac12

Man, your dealership robbed you on the body side moldings. I purchased mine from Sewells for a little over a hundred dollars and had my local Toyota dealer install them for another hundred.

jamiec

mac12.....Nope didn't get robbed, they comped them! Otherwise I would have purchased from Sewell as I did the door edge guards.