DPJ

Wow, can't believe you got out for under $500.

RX330inFL

Keep in mind those are Canadian dollars and Canadian tax (VAT) rates.

kknguyen11

hi all

is this just for rx330 and rx350?, is rx400h using the different oil hole?

V/r

Khoi nguyen

RX330inFL

This is for early RX350. The RX400h uses the same gas engine as the RX330.

truenorth

Ya, taxes in Canada. The thirteen percent is six percent federal and seven percent Provincial. It's a VAT (value added tax) and you Americans will be getting one soon enough.

But, our health care is included in the taxation, and it's not bad.

..

Chocolate

If it's absolute reliability you want, I think you have better choices than the Tribeca. The Outback, for example, actually has a much better track record.

gt1209

I got a quote back from Lexus for about $440, and another quote from Toyota for around $520, which seems backwards to me.

katzjamr

with all due respect on the inside the Tribeca is handsome but on the outside between the bucked tooth front end and the elfin tail lights, i could not be seen in one.

RX330inFL

The look of the 2011 (and perhaps earlier) Tribeca and forward has a more traditional look to it.

http://www.edmunds.com/subaru/tribeca/2011/

carfan1111

tribeca is a failure of a crossover

it never sold well, and there is a reason for that

calavish

I posted on the first page of this thread that I bought a 2008 RX350 with 98K+ on it and I was planning to change the Oil Pipe for the VVTi and the Oil Cooler Pipe at the 100K oil change. Well after removing the under cladding to plan the upgrade I realized the VVTi oil pipe was going to be a real bear so I decided to just ask the Lexus dealer what they would charge in labor to replace the line with the all steel line. The Service Rep at my friendly Lexus dealership had to check with the Service Manager and when she returned she refused to give me an estimate because this would modify the vehicle. End of discussion. I walked to my car and called the Service Manager that I could see through the window sitting at his desk and he didn't take my call. I left a message and my call was not returned.
Drove 2 miles to the closest Toyota dealer and the experience was completely different. The Service Rep knew exactly what I was concerned with and said that if I brought in the parts they would charge about 2 hours labor around $140 to swap out the VVTi oil pipe with the new part.
I bought all the parts from Sewell the VVTi oil pipe and banjo gaskets (washers) as well as the Oil Cooler Pipe and gaskets which I planned to change myself. Total for parts was a little less then $100.
When the parts came in I called the Toyota dealer and asked them when it would be convenient to bring in the RX350.... he remembered me and said they were slow because of the rainy weather so I could get it done now if I could be there in 20 minutes.
When I showed up at the dealer I decided to show the Service Rep the Oil Cooler part too and he said no problem, but he'd charge another 2 hours ($140) just in case.... WTH I pulled the trigger and asked, since I planned to wait, if I could have a look when they were ready to remove the VVTi oil pipe... he said sure.
After about an hour and 15 minutes he called me back to look under the vehicle. I got to chat with Mike the mechanic who had already changed the Oil Cooler Pipe (I knew that one was easy, but Mike said he had to remove 2 studs to put the all steel pipe on... that is an interesting detail, so it was a little bit of a tight fit). Then Mike showed me where the VVTi pipe was and all I can say is, "I was getting my money's worth". It is a pretty congested location behind the timing chain cover even with the power steering pump out the way it was tight in there. Afterwards I was talking to Mike and he said it was much harder getting the new parts on than getting the old parts off, because he just cut through the rubber lines to make the pieces smaller.
When all was said and done the parts fit perfectly (not a modification) and the labor charge plus the cost of the oil/filter change I was charged $318. It really took about 5 hours because they wanted to run the engine for a while to check for leaks before buttoning everything up. (2,000 miles later there are no leaks what so ever)
Cost to upgrade to all metal VVTi oil pipe and Oil Cooler Pipe ~$400.
Peace of mind, for the sake of reliability of my wifes dream car, "PRICELESS".

So I chickened out and didn't tackle this job myself, but I learned theToyota dealers are the aging Lexus owners best friend. (and they were happy to have my business knowing that I would have done it myself)

Thanks to this forum I had all the info I needed to get the correct part numbers and place an order for the OEM dicounted parts.

I would recommend that all high mileage RX350 owners consider this upgrade.

Now my wifes baby is ready for another 100k miles.

PhillyRX

Calavish - Thanks for the informative post.

I want to log my experience since the message board helped me to figure out what's going on with this Toyota DEFECT.

I had the oil cooler line failure today. It's a 2008 RX350 AWD with 44,000 miles, and the dealer is doing the service under the powertrain warranty. I'm the second owner, and when I looked back through the previous owner's service history on My Lexus, it turns out THEY had the oil cooler hoses replaced at just 14,000 miles in 2010. Unbelieveable.

When I changed the oil a few weeks ago, I noticed some oil on the undercladding under the accessory belt. I couldn't find a leak, and decided to keep an eye on it in case it wasn't something I spilled during the oil and filter change. Yesterday, I smelled burning oil, so I planned on taking the car to the dealer this weekend. On the way to work this morning, I started hearing the accessory belt squeal and slip, and i started getting an oil haze on the back window. By the time I got to work, oil was actively pouring from under the car behind the front passenger wheel. Had it towed to the dealer, and the confirmed that the oil cooler hose failed. Fortunately, there wasn't enough oil loss to even trigger the low oil light on the dash, so I'll assume for now that there was no engine damage.

After reading this thread, I've decided to get the metal lines from Sewell for the oil cooler and VVTi. I assume I'll be paying for the labor on this, but regardless, I'll re-post after I get through the process to let you know how my experience goes.

RX330inFL

Welcome to Club Lexus, PhillyRX. Sorry to hear of your troubles. Glad you caught it in advance of any permanent damage.

Your dealer should be able to get the same parts for you if you wish to purchase local. We point out Sewell as they are a sponsor for Club Lexus and gives us a discount on products ordered. The part numbers at Sewell would be the same as your dealership.

PhillyRX

Picked up the car the next day. According to the invoice, there appeared to be leaks in BOTH an oil cooler line and a VVTi line. That seems like quite a coincidence to me, but then again, maybe I'm just being a conspiracy theorist (perhaps this is how Lexus is taking care of its customers without having to acknowledge that this is recall-worthy?).

The VVTi line was repaced for no charge under the powertrain warranty. The oil cooler line was NOT covered under the powertrain warranty - sorry for any confusion based on my earlier post. I have an aftermarket warranty that covered the oil cooler line, but for reference, the job would've cost about $250. At that price, it would be worth preventative maintenance.

BOTH lines were replaced with RUBBER lines. I wasn't given an option on that.

The dealer was also good enough to clean the entire exterior and undercarriage of the car, both of which were covered in 5W-30.

dcdyd

I wonder why they don't use the all metal lines shown here. Unless they changed the material of the rubber lines, it is still a ticking bomb based on lots of discussions in various Toyota car forums.