deilenberg

Being a DIY sort of person, and having an obsession on knowing how some things work, I always try to get factory service manuals for anything with wheels that I own. For BMW motorcycles, not a problem - BMW sells a DVD that is the same one the tech uses. BMW cars - luckily there are decent aftermarket manuals (by Bentley Publishing) that cover the popular models. Porsche has a 15 volume (about 3' long) manual for the Cayenne, which has been reduced to PDFs, and is available.

I went looking to see if I could locate a manual for the RX-350. Lots of websites listing for-sale copies of the free owners manuals from the Lexus corporate website. I also found a link here for the Lexus (Toyota, Scion) Technical Information Service (TIS) website, where you can buy access for different periods of time. https://techinfo.toyota.com

In the TIS "FAQ" they mention two things of interest:

1. A link to a website that can provide printed service manuals. The website is: http://www.helminc.com/. It does list manuals for the 2011 RX-350, 7 of them to be exact (including the electrical manual) for a total of $1,446.00. This is a bit out of reach for me..

So, reading onward I found:

2. "Will I be able to print the information after it's purchased?
Yes. But don't forget all information in this site is protected by copyright. You may only use the information, text or graphics contained in this site for your personal use and may not reproduce, adapt or publish it, in whole or in part, for any purpose without the express written consent of Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc.. "

So my question is - has anyone gotten the 2 day access (reasonable price of $15)? And if so - how does it let you print it? Is it printing just the results of some sort of search, or is it the entire manual?

Anyone experienced in using the Toyota TIS, I'd be interested in hearing of your experiences.

Oh - if anyone knows of an aftermarket manual - I'm all eyeballs (Google didn't turn anything up), it would be wonderful if Bentley came out with one (the one for the BMW 5 series the RX replaced was a bit over 1,200 pages in two volumes 3" thick. The second volume was just electrical..) at a cost of $150. It was worth every phennig.

Cruiter

The new cars like or RX Gen III are so complex now maintaining like we could cars without the computers and complex systems we have now is pretty much out of the question. When you take the car in for service, even though all the tools required are at the service dept, the techs are mostly trained in specialty's and the car goes to the one with the specialty. The $$$ of the manual is expensive indeed but only a small part of what it would cost you to have all of the equipment and training needed. Maybe it's just me but unless you just want to change the oil & filter and rotate the tires type of maintenance, I'd leave the complex stuff for the dealer.

My last BMW bike was an '84 R100RT. I could change the oil & filter and plugs but not much else. The dual front rotors were a major PITA and kept warping. The factory put on two sets before I sold it at 25,000 miles.

deilenberg

Jim,

I suspect it depends on your comfort level. With both mechanical, electrical and computers. As a ex-physicist who then went into a career in computers, I'm pretty comfortable with all these disciplines.

I don't like being at the mercy of a dealer, and not knowing what's involved with doing a job. That's on any vehicle I own. My BMWs once out of warranty coverage NEVER go back to a BMW dealer. Either I DIY, or I have an excellent mechanic who does the dirty/heavy stuff. Even with the mechanic - it's useful sometimes to be able to hand him a printout of the workshop procedure so he can see how the factory says to do something. Sometimes he can improve on the factory way, sometimes not. My personal tool-chest is about what you'd see in the dealership, and aside from some Toyota specialty tools, probably as well or better equipped (I like tools..)

I have excellent aftermarket diagnostics tools for my BMWs (bikes and cars) and my Porsche. When I travel with any of my vehicles - I carry a computer and the diagnostics interface, just so I'll never have to use them.

I'm just guessing here - but my guess is that the average Lexus owner (at least of recent models) is less likely to get their hands dirty then a BMW or Porsche owner. That's based on watching the discussions here.. I have a hard time finding any posting where someone asks for help fixing some mechanical problem. Might be just that the vehicles are all under warranty, but I suspect the reliability of Toyota problems also attracts people who just expect their vehicles to work (like my wife.)

FWIW - I've got probably 200k miles now on BMW bikes, my current one (an '07 R1200R) is as computer laden as an early 2000 model car, but so far I've never needed to use my diagnostics tool on my bike. It now has 62,500+ miles on it. I plan on keeping it until I wear it out, or I wear out. It gets lots more use and miles then any of my cars.. It also has never been to the dealer since warranty was up, and even then, it only went for a few minor recalls, never for regular service. I'm just a DIY kinda guy, and I trust myself more then most mechanics. I have a real incentive to do the job right, I want to stay alive.

Anyway - still looking for anyone with any hands-on experience with the Lexus (Toyota) on-line TIS.

Best regards,
Don Eilenberger

Cruiter

My apologies, you certainly do have more tools than the average owner. My hat's off to you .

If I had your tools and expertize I'd feel more comfortable shelling out the bucks for a Morgan 3wheeler. The closest dealer is in South Beach (I'm in north GA) and I can't see going that far to have warranty work (if needed and it's British so ...) done. And for the price I could own a loaded CTh or ES300h.

But I still like the Morgan. All the reviews take it back to when you really had to know the dynamics of driving without computer assist . Because it's not very forgiving on errors in judgment .

FamilyRX

I have used TIS at work and can't imagine it would be any different for the consumer site. For the repair manuals, the screen comes up with interactive PDFs (PDFs with hyperlinks). It is not the entire manual, just the pages you are reviewing. The table of contents appears on the left side of the screen. The wiring diagram is a little more involved as it is a Java-based program for vehicles going back to 2010(?). However, when you click the print button, it reverts back to a color PDF file for the specific wiring diagram page you are referencing.

DunWkg

Don,
I agree with FamilyRX on the structure of TechInfo web pages. I'm not a mechanic nor do I pretend to be one, but I do like looking up and trying to understand sequence of operation or finding service bulletins. So I have shelled out the $15 on rare occasions.

deilenberg

Thanks much! Pretty much what I thought it might be. BMW uses a similar system on their "RepROM" (repair-ROMs) DVDs. Pages were saved as PDFs with hyperlinks to other applicable pages, but for printing, you can only print out the pages for the topic you're currently viewing. Meaning that to print out the 7 manuals on the Toyota system might require a bit more then 2 days of access..

Sounds like a link to keep for when a specific problem pops up, which is too bad since I actually like reading service manuals (my wife finds that sorta weird, but other gearheads, not so much.)

Thanks again!

Don

AZJoe

http://www.alldatadiy.com/buy/current_coverage.html

This may not be detailed enough for you, but thought I'd pass it on.

deilenberg

AZJoe,

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried AllData for my Porsche. The info they had was basically copied from the factory manual, and was somewhat sketchy.. but it's certainly less expensive then anything from Toyota/Lexus..