Threxx

I mean seriously... the 04 RX330 loaner w/ only 7,200 miles on it that I got today could have passed for an old Chevy if you only listened to the rattles. There were more of them than I could count coming from all directions. The mirrors shook slightly, the front right tire had an obvious problem as it roared at high speeds, etc, etc.

Very disappointing.

Sure enough when I got out and looked at the VIN it didn't have a J at the front (had a 2, I think) meaning it was built in Canada. As much as they talked about maintaining their quality control in the move to Canada it is beyond obvious to me that they did not. This is the second Canadian built RX330 I've driven with low miles and both rattled badly. I drove one Japanese build RX330 and while it had a couple of noises, it was nothing compared to these two.

I seriously would have parked that car at the dealer and demanded they permanently fix every rattle in there or else I would just go buy something else.

Ridiculous.

Lextranny

What can I say.........Canadian built!!! Lexus better think twice about building cars outside of Japan! I hope someone from Lexus Corporate looks at this forum......

Threxx

Yup... our 4runner has about the same # of miles currently and it has only one rattle and that comes from the cargo cover when going over bumps... doesn't really bother me since I understand something detachable like that is going to make a little noise, and I can always take it out if I wanted.

But anyhow... point is that our 4runner is a TRUCK. And it's not even a LEXUS technically speaking. Yet it seems to have faaaaar better build quality. (4Runners are built in Japan right beside the GX470 and then there is another plant that builds them in Japan as well)

bfx2460

I had two 2005 RX330 loaners in the past 10 days. One had 5000 miles and I heard rattles from door panels and dash board while bruising at 70 on the highway. Yesterday the dealer gave me an RX330 loaner with just 500 miles on it, it had some faint rattle from the passenger door. So the rattling seems to be fairly common for RX330 and gets noticable over times.

HarrierAWD

The "chuckwagon" edition of RX330 do have many build issues. Hopefully it will improve in the future.

Lexus needs to build its vehicles in North America. Back in the '90s, Lexus was almost put out of business because the Congress threatened to levy 100% tariff on Japanese imports. (So much for free trade.) So Lexus realized that it needs to build a plant here, even at the risk of poor quality. The new Lexus "chuckwagon plant" is a direct result of that endeavor.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lexus decides to build another plant somewhere in the U.S. - maybe build the ES along Camrys in Kentucky. The RX and ES are the high volume Lexus sold in the U.S.

Threxx

I absolutely refuse to buy and Lexus model made in North America until they can prove that the quality is not compromised in the least. I was willing to believe them when they said it wouldn't be compromised, but apparently their word is no good because the difference between what they claimed and what I've seen in person is huge.

RXGOLD

I will "ONLY" buy Japan build cars...............period!!!!!!!!!!!

parula

I don't like rattles, I still have a few on the '03 I need to get fixed that surprise and annoy me on the late-model vehicle.

spwolf

Eh, all rx's suffered from some kind of rattles as I read, and I wouldnt go too much into loaner cars. You never know if the car was hit, or how was it driven before you.

Our dealership cars always have more rattles than customer's vehicles, based on my experience, because they are used more and in worse conditions.

While there is always some time needed for new plant to come into proper action, rattles are relativly easy to fix and not an great problem, if you have an good dealer. By now, Canadian plant should be quite nice.

Here in Europe we have several different plants - Avensis comes only from UK, Yaris 99% from France, Corolla Verso from Turkey, and Corolla from UK and Japan - due to high demand for Avensis, we get all of our Corolla's from Japan.

And, I have to say that UK built Corolla's are better built cars than Japan ones. Attention to detail is better done at UK plant - for example doors close much better in UK build ones, and they sound better too.

Now, if you read UK forums, they all say UK build Toyota's are worse than Japan built one. Thats really not true - I wonder why people simply refuse to believe otherwise.

So I am sure that no matter what, NA built Lexus's will always be built """"worse"""" than J built ones

parula

SPW, I would think all plants make the same cars,mine is Japan I think.

bfx2460

Yup...if I don't see VIN starts with a 'J', I won't buy the car. Couple of years ago I remember watching a documentary about Toyota assembly plant in Japan, the way they meticulously perform the final checkup on every single vehicle just reinforced the way I buyt my cars.

Rx900

well the Japan version RX330 loaners i've had before had so many rattles and squeaks too. sometimes no matter how tough it's built, there's a limit for everything. people sometimes abuse the loaners and rental cars. So we can't just start blaming Canada for it (even though if I buy and RX330 today, I'd only get Japan version only).

Besides, I don't think Lexus put up a factory in Canada to ruin their name of quality vehicles. If that's what would turn out of it, I don't think they would even place a factory out of Japan.

liquidsilver

What does this built quality has to do anything with Canadians and their plant? These are the same people who assembles Corollas and Matrix and it's one of the most respected plants in Canada.

Lets just face it, The Rx330 is not designed well.....thats all there is to it. Still a great truck IMO but since there are rattles regardless , it's just a design flaw. I hope they'll fix it for 05 or 06.

Threxx

Well, like I said... I've driven a japanese built RX330 with only a couple of very minor occasional noises... then two canadian built RX330s that sounded like old chevy trucks constantly.

I'm sure the RX330 wasn't designed well, but the canadian plant, as far as *I* can tell personally, sure isn't helping things much.

And cars like the Corolla and Matrix are nice and all, but you're talking about decently-respected cars that sell in the low 10 to 20k dollar range... not the high 30 to high 40k dollar range.

Rx900

besides, I don't think Lexus wants to ruin their reputation all because of Canada.