If you can eloborate on this it would be helpful. I work in the assembly plant and am curious to know where there are perceptible differences so that we can compare manufacturing methods between Kyushu and TMMC for those processes/items.

 

at this time, im no longer able to comment on this forum regarding any Lexus product or my former employer due to being threatened with legal action if i violate the agreement set forth Friday October 14th, 2005. My apologies to anyone if i offended them and to Lexus if i made any derrogatory statements about their products. Im a professional and as such i wish all those out there who have time and time again attempted to do ill upon me the best. I have found a more suitable position for myself and look foward to being better compensated aswell as more appreciated. Have a good one gentlemen and good luck

Dan

 

I have a July built 400h, built in Japan naturally, and my sister has a May/05 330 built in Canada.

Since I bought my car in August, I've been amazed by the drum-tight fitment of everything in the interior - there's no noise of any kind anywhere (yet, 2200 miles). The car makes the most satisfyingly solid/muted thud/thump from slamming the doors to going over rough and uneven pavements.

I just sat in my sister's Canadian-built 330 this weekend. Her car is a different story. Going over not even that rough of pavements, I heard pops and squeaks coming from the dash and the trunk area. Her car generally sounds hollow, if you know what I mean. I did not get that drum-tight feel from my Japan 400h.

 

I think the real question here is DOES YOUR PAINT CHIP EASILY. I would be much less concerned about orange peel than I would about the abundance of gravel chips on the hood that has been widely discussed on the Edmunds forum.
As some have suggested, Canada has much tighter emission controls than Japan, and that could translate into a lower performance paint.

 

Whoa...lets talk about paint chipping in a new thread. We're talking about where your RX330 was manufactured...not build quality of your RX330.

 

It's the injectors.

 

Lou bob, you're in the wrong thread...go to IS 2nd gen or GS 3rd gen. Anyway it's the fuel pump that makes the clicking on those....

 

Is this true on the '06 models?? I didn't check the VIN (btw, what's the code for a Japan built model vs Canada built my VIN is JTJGA31U360061492), but I'm assuming that since I had to wait for mine to come in from the ocean port, instead of being trucked/railed in, that it's Japan built. Am I correct?

-Mike

 

If you put the VIN into Google, click on the "Find car with VIN X" and it will give you some info on the car. Also the first digit indicates where it was built

J = Japan
W = Germany
9 = Brazil
5= USA

 

Now that production of the hybrids have been ramped up...a mix of both Japan and Canada made RX330 now RX350s should be in the mix. japanese RX's are most common here in CA. Your vin# and the vin plate inside your driver's door jamb area will tell you where your vehicle was made. The first character of your vin also indicates it.

J = Japan
2 = Canada

 

Updated to reflect the RX350 and RX400h!

 

My 07 350 premium pkg built in Japan 01/06

 

No he is right. The ealier RX330's had a problem where the firing of the solenoids in the injectors reverberated through the fuel line at just the right frequency that it became very noticable in the cabin (sounds like a ticking coming from the dash). A fix was implemented that added a small pulsation damper in the fuel line that isolates the reverb and eliminates the sound.

And yes i know......wrong thread....

 

i'd pick japan too if i purchased a new rx.

 

04 FWD made in Japan.