gundy

Howdy all,
(sorry for such a long post)
I just purchased the subject vehicle and overall am very happy with it (after less than a week that is). However, I do have some issues that I hope someone here can help with. I have spent hours going through the various manuals and online forums without finding definitive solutions. I got a good deal on the RX which I believe has everything you could get on it other than the Mark Levinson sound and rear entertainment systems. It just blew me away with all the technological advances on this thing especially for being 10 years old. I didn't even think some of this was available back then (backup camera, power lift gate, rain sensitive windshield/wipers, etc.). And then they go and include a cassette tape player(?!?!). Anyway, some of my issues are:

1) Can I play the music from my iPhone 4s through the RX speakers using Bluetooth? I got the phone call thing down and it works great (but having problems getting my addresses and phone numbers transferred to the nav system).

2) To open the sun/moonroof, I have to HOLD the slide switch down. I though you just had to push it once in the direction you wanted it to go and it went automatically. Same with the tilt, I have to HOLD it down for it to work and then after tilting, it goes into "slide" mode so I have to let go at the exact moment where I want it to stop (which also makes closing the thing an art).

3) I bought it from a local Cadillac dealer so I expected everything to be fully functional. However, right before pulling out of the lot, I tried putting in a CD and it gave the ERROR 4 message. Is this a common issue? It appears on the display that all the disc spots (6-disc changer) are full but the salesman said he saw the previous owner remove his CD's before trading it in. Is this a common problem? The dealer has promised to fix the CD player.

4) Back to the salesman...being a Caddy dealer, I figured (and still hope) they would be straightforward and honest. Before buying my RX with 86K miles, my wife, being a Honda owner for years and aware of the dreaded scheduled 90-100K maintenance, asked if any major maintenance was due soon. The sales guy said "nothing until 150K", so cool. I checked the maintenance manual in the vehicle but the pages (and ONLY the pages) for the 90K, 95K and 100K maintenance were strangely missing. I have since searched online and see at 90K the RX is due for major maintenance, contrary to what the salesman said. So, do I have grounds for a legal claim against the dealer for misrepresentation or is it the ol' caveat emptor?

Finally 5), what about this "scheduled maintenance"? Is all of it REALLY necessary? Again, looking online, I see mixed responses. I'm more of an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of person but I'm not against repairing/replacing something if it's about to break/fail.

Any help with any/all of my issues would be appreciated. Thank you!

Rainbird

Welcome to Club Lexus gundy. You should register at the Lexus Owner's website. The complete Lexus service history of your vehicle will be there as well as any warranty work or recalls. You will need the VIN to complete the registration.

https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers/home

Here is a long thread (4 pages) on the error 4.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...cd-player.html

The 90K service is a major service. Lexus recommends the timing belt be changed. Some members also change out the water pump at the 90K as well. It's easy access with the belt being done.

Your chances are very poor getting any concessions from that salesman. He would just deny saying that. The fact is he just made something up because he didn't know.

gundy

Thanks for the info Rainbird. I registered at the Lexus owners (drivers) website and printed out all the old service records. Nothing about a problem sunroof or CD player. The link with the Error 4 info seems to be about people who have CD's in the changer that are jammed but supposedly, mine doesn't have any CD's in the changer according to the salesman (who also said it didn't need any major maintenance until 150K miles!). We'll see after they "fix" it.

Any additional information about my other issues (sunroof, necessary scheduled maintenance)?

Thanks again.

jfelbab

Welcome to the forum, gundy.

Your sunroof probably just needs to be re-initialized. If the battery is replaced, or power is removed, a few settings may need to be re-initialized.

For the Sunroof press and hold the sunroof open switch. The sunroof will open, pause, slide closed, pause, tilt up, pause, and finally, tilt back down. You can then release the button and the sunroof will be re-initialized and be back to "one-touch" operation.

Other items that may also be affected and need reinitialization include the power windows and the rear hatch. The procedures for this are in the owners manual or on-line at Lexus.com in the Owners resources area. If you don't have the owners manual, you can request a new manual at the Lexus.com site.

As to the CD. I'd be sure to have the dealer repair this and I seem to recall it is not inexpensive. IIRC, it requires the removal of the unit from the dash. Take several photos of the dash and front area of the inside of the vehicle just in case they cause some damage in the process and try to claim it was pre-existing.

From your comments on the dealer and his claimed ignorance of the service needs, I'd be less than trusting of the sales guy. I also wonder why the specific pages were missing from the manual showing service requirements. Sounds fishy to me. Car sales people are driven to sell cars. It's how they make their money. Some will say and do anything to make a sale. This can occur at any dealership. Their motivation is to get your money for a vehicle they have on the lot. Some will be truthful, while others may be less so. Just because this dealer sells Caddys is no reason to suspect the sales guy is looking out for your best interest or being totally honest. It could be argued that not telling you something you need to know is deceitful. To a sales guy it is all about closing the deal.

All that said, I'd suggest stopping by your local Lexus dealership for a service appointment and inspection of the vehicle. You may wish to have your vehicle serviced privately if you have a good qualified and trusted independent shop or even a local Toyota dealer. Both will likely be substantially less costly than the Lexus dealer. For the 90k service a timing belt replacement is called for and I'd recommend doing a water pump replacement as well since they have the motor opened up at that point and the pump itself is inexpensive. Lexus dealerships typically also will give you a similar model as a loaner for most services that take more than a couple hours while Toyota or an independent shop will not. The Lexus inspection will cover around 90 items like the brake pad thickness, battery load test, inspect for any fluid leaks and numerous other maintenance items. Additionally, I'd ask them to inspect the steering rack as some have had issues. Also inspect the side mirrors for proper operation as some have been known to have motor actuator failures. Look for water condensation inside your headlights too. Ask your Lexus dealer if all the recalls and service bulletins have been applied that relate to your vehicle. With this inspection in hand you may wish to chat with the selling Caddy dealership if there any expensive maintenance issues they may have, or should have, reasonably known about and failed to divulge.

Finally, I think you will enjoy the ownership of your new RX. For the most part, the RX is a well built, highly reliable model. I also think you will find this forum highly informative.

Again, welcome to the forum gundy.

gundy

Thanks for all the info Jim!

When I checked under the hood, it did appear the battery was newer so I figured your reason for the sunroof issue could be valid. I tried your solution for the sunroof and it worked great but with a slight variation. After starting the vehicle, I pushed the "open" button and held it like you said. The sunroof opened, then stopped but didn't do anything else after continuing to hold the button for about 20 seconds. So I thought to try the same thing with the "close" direction and it went through all the iterations you mentioned and now all is well (which is awesome because I use my sunroof a lot and opening, closing, tilting the "manual" way was a pain in the butt).

The power windows all seem to work as intended but I am having some issues with the power lift gate (sometimes working, sometimes not) so I will definitely check on that. I know with other cars, replacement of the battery/removal of power requires other systems to be reset (e.g., radio station presets) so are there any other systems unique to the 2005 RX 330 that I should check out?

Good idea about taking pictures before the dealer fixes the CD player. I have done this in the past with pre-repairs and rental vehicles.

I printed out the past service records as found on the Lexus owners/drivers site and the last reported maintenance was performed at our local Lexus dealership so I plan to stop by there and try to get some "insight" into the vehicles history. As for 90K service, I will get prices from Lexus and Toyota and go from there. I have seen mention of getting the water pump replaced at the same time as the timing belt due to convenience but have also read where the water pump should last up to 200K miles and if it does fail, the vehicle is still drivable (within reason) until it can be repaired.

Any help out there as to playing music from my iPhone 4S through the vehicle speakers? I have read info about an aftermarket VAIS system (or something like that) that can be used.

And another new problem I am having is with the power outlets shorting out as none of them worked. I think the main culprit is the one in the trunk. I checked the two fuses under the dash and both were blown (is there one also under the hood for the back?). I replaced the fuses and both front outlets worked fine. I then went to the trunk and tested it. After providing power for a few seconds, it stopped and found the fuse for the outlet in the bottom tray blown again! Any ideas?

And yes, I am finding the responsiveness and quality of information on this forum to be quite impressive (just like my Lexus )

Regards,
Steve G.

gundy

Went to the Lexus dealer and got a LOT of good information on my vehicle. They were able to print out the original invoice showing all equipment/options and a detailed service history that's MUCH better than what you can get on the Lexus owners/drivers site. Reviewing the detailed service records showed that about 2-1/2 years and 20,000 miles ago, the previous owner had multiple services performed up through the major replacements for the 90K service (water pump, timing chain and serpentine belt) so I can forego what I was dreading to be a near-term replacement of those.

Still having issues with power outlets, sometimes the power lift gate and am getting the radio replaced by the dealer. Another comment in the service history of my 2005 RX 330 is leakage from the front right side of the steering rack. I believe this is an unfortunate common problem with the RX's according to the Lexus dealer who mentioned that they are surprised a recall has not been issued for it.

Thanks again everybody!

Poqman

Connecting your iPhone to your radio requires a BT to FM transmitter. Costs about $50. Consider a product such as the GOgroove FlexSMART X2, a device that plugs into the 12v by the radio. You can take calls on this, and stream pandora, itunes, spotify, etc over bluetooth. I like mine and like the sound. Much better than a cassette player adapter. The look uses the same color silver as the dash so it matches, but it is a device that sticks out of the 12V plug so it will never look built in.

Need4Speed

Welcome !

gundy

Thanks for the info Poqman. I checked out the transmitter you mentioned and that's a nice little unit. I like the fact that it works through Bluetooth so no wires to worry about. My RX has Bluetooth and nav so I can make and receive calls through my phone no problem. I listen to CD's and the radio over 90% of the time however, my CD player stopped working recently so I was looking for a way to stream the music from my phone as an alternative to just listening to the radio. My son convinced me to try the cassette adapter alternative since he has one and says it works great for him. So, given the limited use the music streaming will see, especially after I get my CD player fixed, I think I'll give the adapter a shot given it's only $10-15 instead of around $50 for the better transmitters. Thanks again.

jakenbake

For the sunroof initialization, you press and hold either the "tilt up" button or the "slide close" button to do the initialization. You also have to initialize the liftgate if it isn't working. To do this you open it all the way and close it all the way then open it again and press the close button. For the ipod/iphone, I would get an iSimple interface. It plugs in directly to the back of the stereo and can plug in directly to your phone or work through bluetooth and it doesn't have to play through FM.