Moe

I was looking an found out my 09 rx350 is made in Canada but I always thought LEXUS made in japan....I am wondering what is really the difference? and is one better than the other, or they are the same???

lexus114

Some on here will say the RX built in Japan is better. But there is no real evidence of this being the case. All I know is my 05 330 was built in Canada, and it is just fine after 102,257 miles.

ramshyd

i strongly believe that things not just cars, made in japan are always at least one step better or superior than rest of the world. a lot of people might disagree, but just my opinion.

Carver

I've noticed it depends on where your car was made. Those with a Japanese made car tend to feel superior to those poor, benighted North Americans who have to make do with a Canadian made car and those with a Canadian car are all defensive and loudly proclaim there is no difference at all!

I'm old enough to remember when 'Made in Japan' was a punch line, synonymous with poor quality, how things have changed.

shikbas

I have one that was made in Japan. The hell of problems and poor quality issues

cartman57

It's a world market now.
Some, not all, foreign makes are assembled in the USA made up from components around the world.
Also drive a Saab, people think it's made in Sweden, nope, right here in the states!!

Rainbird

The Canadian Lexus Factory is considered one of the finest in the world. The RX350 assembly was featured on the Discovery Channel Program "Factory Made". The majority of parts and electronics are brought in from Japan. It is an interesting video:

cartman57

Always interesting to view this kind of video.
Thank you for the post!!
Quite impressed with all the pre and post-paint work.

RockfordRX

It seems that Lexus ensures that the product that wears its badge is always superior, no matter where the assembly took place. I'm confident that the parts quality is equally superior. As far as the build quality, or the part where Mr. Kanuk's assembly skills and work ethic are weighed against Mr. Okamoto's, I'd prefer the respectful and meticulous Okamoto's hand job! This may be the reason why domestic cars haven't been really popular among those of us who prefer the finer things in life. I've seen assembly at Chrysler, and those folks do not take pride at what they do; they come to work pissed off, they complain and whine, they screw around, they make mistakes in fit and finish.... it's ugly. Japanese, on the other hand, are a different story.
That is why the VIN # on my 05 RX330 starts with JTJ

Rainbird, Thanks for the video! That is truly state of the art!!! Not sure if Ford Edge's assembly process can come even close to that...

StLucchese

so i it starts with JTJxxxxxx it is from Japan. On the Canadian models, where does the letter start? I just bought an 08 so i got catching up to do

RX330inFL

If the VIN starts with the number 2 then it was built in Canada.

http://jalopnik.com/5165656/how-to-read-a-cars-vin

cmichael

It's my understanding that the Japanese version is 2 inches shorter

takeshi74

Info is easily Googled:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus#Production

The difference is the location of manufacture. No one here can really post anything that conclusively determines that one plant produces better product than another. Anecdotal evidence really doesn't mean anything despite the weight people seem to assume that it has.

biff44

I believe that all the accelerator pedal mechanisms recently recalled came from CTS in North America, while the ones that worked came fromDenso in Japan.

RockfordRX

Canadian-made RX's come with VIN # starting with 2T2XXXXXXXXXXX