LEXTECH

Lexus is recalling 15,000 RX330's for radiator replacment. The cause is in cold conditions the bottom of the radiator will crack and break letting out most if not all the coolant from the radiator. 56 cases have been reported, so Lexus decided to recall these vehicles (mostly the RX's built in Canada) within a certain VIN range. Lexus will contact all the owners that own one the 15,000 RX's. Looks like Lexus is loosing it's focus on putting quality first because recall after recall is going to hurt them in customer loyalty, or are they in the passionate pursuit of the perfect recall?---D'OHH!

rxdriver

Thanks for the heads-up.

This would be the second recall, or in Toyota lingo, a "Special Service Campaign", for the RX330.

The first SSC was for the first 12,000 model year 2004 units made in Japan. The catalytic converter had problems and needed to be replaced. That SSC came out as soon as Toyota discovered the problem, which was within weeks of those cars being manufactured.

The first 1999 RX300's were also subject to an SSC. If I remember right, the first 20,000 or so needed adjustments to the automatic headlight sensor. It ididn't come on soon enough at dusk, so it posed a safety hazard if people assumed the lights were on and they really weren't. (I think that's why there's an idiot light on the dash that shows you if the headlights are on.)

Technical Service Information Bulletins, or TSIB's, aren't recalls. They're factory-tested solutions to problems that customers may report to their dealers. Granted, a few of the TSIB's are for problems that a lot of us experienced, but they're not safety hazards or even actual mechanical problems. Except for BR004-04 for the brake rotors, they're all for noises or other irritants that any car could experience but we don't expect them from a $40K+ vehicle. Also, keep in mind that every vehicle in the VIN range doesn't necessarily experience the problem that the TSIB addresses.

Should Lexus fix all of these things, regardless? Yes, and they do. My dealer is responsive to these issues, and none of them have cost me any money to have fixed. I would love to see proactive mailings to all owners about all TSIB issues, but since we don't have that, we have forums like Club Lexus for sharing that info when someone gets it.

Should the car have all of these problems in the first place? Ideally, no. But then again, it's a new design for a 5,000-pound machine comprised of thousands of mechanical parts and dozens of computers. It's bound to have a few wrinkles. I'm sure the 2005 production run will have a lot fewer issues than the 2004's; everything that came up in 2004 must be fixed by now.

I guess my point is this... as irritating as the problems are, Lexus and other Toyota products are made very well, and you need to keep things in perspective. Some other brands of cars have recalls for things like airbag malfunctions, defective seat belts, inexplicable fires, a tendency to rollover, and other things that I'd consider to be major safety problems. Plus, they usually don't perform the recall unless NHTSA gets on their case.

So, I give kudos to Toyota for being proactive about issues that really could cause serious mechanical problems or threaten people's safety. I'd prefer that they be up front and honest about ten recall issues, rather than wait for someone to get killed before issuing recall number one.

HarrierAWD

They just got a batch of bad radiators from their suppliers - most likely Canadian or American.

This is how it goes... part suppliers always come up with "creative" ways to save cost by cheapening its products. Make it a little thinner, make it a little weaker, and hope the auto maker won't notice. Sometimes they get caught during the acceptance process, sometimes they fly under the radar screen.

Overall, Lexus/Toyota is still among the best in quality and reliability. I won't let little things like this deter me from buying another Lexus/Toyota. After all, I had enough with the Big 3 cars.

LEXTECH

Maybe, Lexus should be more careful with which suppliers they do business with. They took a hit with the ($4,000 ea.)transmission replacement on 14,000 LS430's earlier this year also the fuel pump replacement,not to mention the other models have their "bugs"too. I'm a Lexus technician, and I know when we have our weekly meetings and we get the news from our service manager that there something else wrong with another car and there's a new campaign. Even the veteran techs who have been with Lexus since the begining feel that this is starting to come along sooner and the promblems are more major, and it's the cost of shooting out the cars and trying to catch up to this very fast, competetive market.

NeverSatisfied

LEXTECH, thanks!

nthach

i wonder, are the radiators in the TMMC RXs made by Denso or Delphi Harrison?

Fern

This rad recall should apply to all Toyota products with 3.3 litre motor.

A neighbour of mine just purchased a new Sienna and had the short block replaced due to overheating resulting from a defective north american installed radiator.

Once more, just proves built in Japan is best

Cheers,


//Fern

Traturn

Only saw problems with NAP RX330's with the TO option.

not a single one without TO failed (that i saw).

I only wonder if they're goingto put *another* new radiator in the vehicle if its already been replaced?

HarrierAWD

Good point. Though it's not always Lexus that takes the hit. In most cases, they'd force the part suppliers to foot the bill for parts and labor, or they won't do business again. In case of the LS430 tranny, I'm not sure if it is coming from outside supplier. I'm sure you'd know.

Look at it in another perspective: Having all these "service campaigns" give you Lexus techs "job security." A rarity these days.

LEXTECH

It was a parking shift lock failure that caused the recall. The part that failed was from one of their suppliers. Is Lexus still doing business with them? who knows, I know I wouldn't.

LEXTECH

I agree with Fern, when I found out in March '03 that Lexus was going to build RX's outside of Japan, in the same factory where the Toy Matrix and Corolla are built. I felt maybe it wasn't such a good idea. It has to do with the whole Toyota-General Motors complex. I've done pre-delvery inspections on Canadian RX's most of them arrive filthy from sitting around on a lot somewhere and tend to have more problems mostly minor ones that can be fixed before it's sold to a customer.

nthach

Toyota owns the Aisin group.

LexFather

If you guys notice, Lexus recalls with a small number of cases. It would rather be safe than sorry. With the LS tranny, it was only 6 or so cases on cars parked on hill (something of that nature). They recalled them all just to be safe. First year Lexus have had recalls and TSBs before, like all other car makers. they just have the LEAST amount of them and handle them like no other company.

Sully C5er

I have had more warranty problems with our RX330 than any car I have even owned and equally disappointed when I contacted Lexus Corporate.

Transmission replaced twice.
Windshield replaced because it developed a 2-ft long crack.
Virbration prolems - After returning to the dealer three times, they finally they gave up & replaced the wheels & tires.
Electrical problems with the windows.
Cruise control problems - Never resolved; I just gave up.


For comparison, the other cars we currently own, Corvette & Maxima, have not been in for warranty work.

LEXTECH

I'm not knocking Lexus, all I'm saying is there's been a noticable drop in initial quality. Lexus has dropped to 6th behind Saturn in customer satisfaction. Lexus is now scrambling to find a new survey system in order to get the information they need to do better, with that they will get a better idea on what their customers want and be able to draw in new customers, I attended that meeting 3-4 weeks ago. Lexus is going through a transition period right now, they're going through the first steps to "separate" from Toyota to become a real luxury car manufacturer yet still be a division of Toyota Motor Corporation. Let a few years pass and Lexus will up to speed kickin' *** and takin' names.