shikbas

I was shocked when i drove a 2 year old highlander lately,no any kind of rattles< i have every kind of it in my rx330>,no transmission hesitation,no fuel pump clicking.

HarrierAWD

The Highlander is only made in Japan with Japan-sourced parts and labor.

Some RX330 are made in Canada with "globally-sourced" parts, at a new plant with an inexperienced work force. I have no doubt that they will eventually get up to the Toyota quality standard.

shikbas

my rx 330 was made in japan

700t

The Highlander and RX are made in the same plant and line in Japan.

Lexusfreak

The Cambridge Ontario Lexus plant (which I had the chance to personally tour in Jan 05) is up to the standards of other Lexus plants that operate in Japan (you would have been floored to see this 'well oiled machine' function). You suggest that shik's problems are because it might have been built at the Canadian factory (which was not the case as shik has cleared up) And hardly an inexpreenced work force

To my knowledge (2SAVVY please correct me if I'm wrong), but the only 'globally sourced' parts are the leathers & the interior wood trims......all other parts & materials are either local or shipped from Japan.

HarrierAWD

Not to hurt the Canadian pride, but I pay attention to the product, not how well the factory looked. FWIW, the Saturn and Corvette plants look fantastic, but the cars' quality & reliability are PoS.

Browse the RX forum in the past, you'll see many posts about performance mods, appearance package, big size wheels, etc. After the Canadian RX330 arrived, the RX forum has turned into whining sessions about tranny shift, rattles, suspension noise, etc.

Toyota/Lexus manages its quality control by the Japanese Kaizen approach. In business management terms, the Kaizen approach dictates that the quality of the workers must improve first, then the product or service. It will take a while for Canadian workers to buy into Kaizen. There's no shame in that. When Toyota first built Camry in Kentucky, it took about 3 years to get the workers in line with the management. Toyota obviously don't want to push the workers too hard too soon. They don't want to see a repeat of the "Gung Ho" movie where cultures clash.

krpster

Just so you know the plant in Cambridge has been producing Toyota vehicles since 1988. They are not just learning how to build cars nor are they just learning the philosophy of Kaizen. The plant has one of the highest quality reputations in North America. It hase won several AJAC and J.D Power Awards since it started production including 4 Golds and multiple Silvers.

Many of the issues with the new RX design are just that...issues with new design. Many can be found on both the Canadian and Japanse produced vehicles. Tranny shift problem.....design issue, rattles...interior component design issue, etc.

Before you start making claims about people and places you know nothing about you should do some homework first.

Lextranny

Before you start making claims about people and places you know nothing about you should do some homework first.[/QUOTE]

I would have to disagree with you krpster.....HarrierAWD is right Canadians just don't know Kaizen yet. That's the reason why you see so MANY problems with the Canadian built RX330's!!

HarrierAWD

Just so that you know that JD Power gives award to just about anybody. It gives out quality awards to quality cars. For crappy unreliable cars, they come up with "most appealing" awards. Under the JD Power system, there's an award for everybody.

Like I said, I pay attention to the products. Not how well the factory looks or how many awards it gets. If you like any car from a plant that wins honors, feel free. I like those honor students, too.

In the latest ConsumerReport auto issue, it gives RX's predicted reliability a half red dot, its second best rating. In the past, the RX has always earned a full red dot - the best rating. Also note that the Japanese-built Highlander gets a full red dot in this issue. Apparently CR has noted the slide in RX's quality & reliability in its annual survey.

BTW, I haven't done any homework in decades. I do research mostly. You may check out some books about the Kaizen approach at your local library. It's not just a fancy word. There are tons of Japanese business management philosophy behind it. It's the secret weapon that helps Japanese auto makers achieve great quality and reliability. We can learn from the Japanese, or simply stick the head in the sand and shout "we are #1."

Lexusfreak

The Cambridge Toyota & Lexus plants BOTH have awards for quality plastered everywhere! Perhaps there were some 'teething problems' when the Lexus plant was first up & running for several months, but that's not the case today.

krpster

I appreciate that both you and HarrierAWD have an opinion. But what is it based upon?

Do you both have a thorough knowledge of the operations at the Cambridge facility? Perhaps you are experts in behavioural sciences with respect Canadian work philosophies? Maybe a deep understanding of the automotive industry in Ontario?

Even if one or all of these were true, what makes you both experts in evaluating someones understanding of kaizen or their ability to apply it? Because you read a book about it?

krpster

Just so you know the awards the Cambridge facility received were for quality.

Lexusfreak

Agreed krp ....& Harrier, I sincerely doubt you know very much (if anything) about Canadian culture Let alone our work ethics. It's funny one assumes things (that if one has problems with their RX, they say "OH! It must have been built in Canada, not Japan") when in fact problems come from both plants about equal......if not more so from Japan from what we learned on our tour of the Lexus plant & speaking with some of the plant supervisors & management team.

HarrierAWD

Perhaps someone could tell me why the Japanese-made new-gen Highlander got CR's best rating for reliability, while the RX330 only got the 2nd best rating. Both have the new 3.3L engine and 5-speed tranny, among other things.

Please refrain from personal attack and stick to the topic. Thanks. (Unfortunately I have to place the newcomer krpster in the ignore list.)

Vagus

Harrier, don't be retarded !!!!! Think about the cost of a highlander compared to the RX. This factor is taken into account when they do the ratings.