I spoke with Eric on Friday and he told me that he, "hadn't had time to run down to the guy's shop who's manufacturing the exhaust yet to light a fire under him." I'm getting rather fed up.

Let me know what I can do to help our cause... I have a feeling if they know we are organized like this, things will happen for us rather quickly... We need to create a sense of urgency, ESPECIALLY since they've already charged for the product BEFORE shipping it.

I'm fairly sure that this is even an illegal business practice based on an amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act - I will do a little web legal research if I get a few minutes today... It would be fun anyways - haven't done any legal research since my business law minor in college.

Again, let me know what I can do to help - we can all conference call them together today if you guys want to via my business phone. Just PM me if you want to do that.

I think I'm going to send an e-mail to Eric with a link to this thread so that they can see the irritation that they've created here... I'm mean, come on - I don't care how busy you are, the amount of time we've been waiting is MORE than reasonable.

I want that exhaust THIS WEEK!

 

I sent this letter to RMM on Monday, September 23, 2002....

To Eric and others at RMM:

I thought that it might be useful for you to read about the frustration that has been growing at www.clublexus.com, more specifically on the RX300 forum at this thread in particular https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...hreadid=56136. As you undoubtedly know, there are several of us that have been waiting for many, many weeks now for the RMM exhaust system for the RX300.

Most, if not all of us ordered the exhaust on the verbal promise that it would be 'ready and shipped within a week or two of our orders...' This promise was obviously far from the truth, as has been indicated by your repeated failure to meet promised 'hard deadlines.'

To your credit Eric, you've been VERY nice in all dealings I've had with you (it doesn't sound like the same can be said about other employees at RMM according to anecdotal reports from other members on the Club Lexus RX300 forum, but I must say that everyone that I've personally dealt with has been congenial)... However, you need to realize that whether it's the fault of a 3rd party whom is manufacturing the exhaust systems for you, or whether it's your fault for the delay/missed deadlines/broken promises directly is IRRELEVANT. RMM is the company that has obligation to fulfill the orders of it's customers, and any lack of delivery upon this obligation, regardless of circumstance, is a direct reflection upon YOUR business alone. You are responsible for the suppliers and 3rd party manufacturers that you chose to deal with, and it is therefore your responsibility to hold them accountable.

What is especially unsettling is that Club Lexus members' credit cards have already been charged for the exhaust system, when nothing but empty promises have been delivered. I'm uncertain as to whether this business practice is even legal in interstate commerce dealings, but it is certainly UNETHICAL at best. Something like a 20% down payment would be a far more appropriate business practice, especially given the circumstances surrounding this particular order.

My purpose for writing this e-mail is not to smear the Rod Millen brand name, but simply to shed light upon the fact that your customer base is communicating quite regularly with one another about this particular issue. I know that you have a good reputation within the automotive aftermarket parts industry, and I'm sure that it's well deserved. All that I'm asking is that you now live up to this reputation, and use whatever means necessary to deliver upon the promises that your customers have already paid you for. Please do what it takes to resolve this situation in the very near future.

I will post follow up on the Club Lexus RX300 with regard to the resolution provided for this issue, so a positive reaction on your part would be rewarded!

Thank you in advance for your direct and immediate attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXX
(CK1_RX3)

Cc... The Club Lexus RX300 forum at thread https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=56136

 

Man, Ck1 that was professional. Thanks alot for writing that letter...I wish I had more time so I could do more to resolve this situation. Sorry I couldnt get up with you Friday but I had to leave town. I am up for anything...like a conference call.

Either way all I wanted was to have my exhaust on my car for this weekend because I get to go see all my old car-lovin buddies from high school and i wanted to show off. Thanks to RMM, I am very dissappointed because everyone else will have done stuff to their car, but not me....and its not even my fault! It really isnt that big of a deal...but I am at the least VERY DISAPPOINTED. (VERY being an understatement)

 

I spoke with two gentlemen from RMM yesterday. First I spoke with Blair, who is a manager at RMM. Blair was very nice, and did some checking for me on what they had learned recently as to the status of the exhaust in the manufacturing process. Blair told me that the exhausts are complete except for the polishing phase, and are expected to arrive at RMM to be shipped to customers by the end of this week.

Eric then called me later on yesterday to confirm the very same thing that Blair had told me.

I want to say that everyone I have dealt with at RMM has been very nice, and very professional... Even though it's no excuse, I truly believe that they are at the mercy of their 3rd party supplier. I have been told multiple times be Eric that this is just "the nature of the aftermarket parts industry," and I don't doubt this to be true. It's just a shame that an industry can operate in this fashion and survive... Part of this may be that the industry is heavily reliant upon craftsman that are more "artists" than businesspeople...

Until that changes, we as end consumers may have to settle for missed deadlines and increadibly long lead times to obtain the performance parts that we so desire... but that DOESN'T mean we have to like it!

 

Well, today is d-day for RMM once again... Hopefully they'll deliver this time! Guess we'll have to wait it out and see, but it sounded solid last time I spoke with Eric and Blair.
FINGERS CROSSED!

 

Alright, are you ready for this? My RMM came today and it's installed, sitting pretty, looking gorgeous, and sounding like a MONSTER!

The look of the tip is perfect for the RX - classy, sporty, and tough - everything the OEM exhaust should've been... The tone is mild mannered at idle and cruising speeds, but DEFINATLEY deeper and bassier than the OEM... When you give 'er it growls with a PERFECT deep and throaty tone - those here on the CL forum couldn't have described it more perfectly....

Really what it does is bring out the true character of the 6 cylander VVT-i under the hood - sounds like I've always thought my RX should and could sound. Definately the sound I pictured and wanted to hear in my head.

As for the performance gains, I've noticed maybe a tiny bit on the butt dyno, but nothing major... wasn't really expecting much though, I mean, com'on, it's a muffler! I did NOT notice any lack of low end torque after install as some have reported - that said, I already have an intake, so this may have negated the loss of low end torque at launching...

I really got exactly what I hoped for - a great tone and a great look out of my RX. Thanks to Eric and Blair at RMM, as although it took far longer than I would've liked, they were at the mercy of their supplier/manufacturer and were persistent in getting me the latest info on the status, and even better at returning my MANY phone calls... Excellent, polite service, and a great product that turned out to be worth waiting for!

So that's the conclusion to my part of the RMM saga - Jonnystan, any luck yet?

ck

 

Alright, I'm the only one posting on this thread, and it's my own thread, so I admit that's a little wierd... However, I'm super bored at work, and I've got a couple more observations on the RMM that I've gotta post...

The tone is amazing when you open up the throttle to redline - the tone of the RMM seems to harmonize perfectly w/ that of the WR Intake. Makes the RX sound SOOO high performance and nice.

My other observation (and more important than the sound) is that I haven't noticed any loss of low end torque at launch, and I'm think that's because of the intake. Further, the combination of the two seems to have a compounding effect, because my RX accelerates more smoothly and quickly now w/ both than w/ just the WR intake...

It's like now that greater flow in = greater flow out, everything is in perfect balance! Of course, this is all as observed by my butt dyno and not based on any real scientific instrumentation - so there may be a "hole" in my methodology... (pun DEFINATLEY intended )

Seriously now, for the $550 and 2 hours worth of time that both mods cost me, whatever gains I acheived are definately worth it to me for the looks, sound, and peformance.

But all I keep murmuring in my sleep at night is 5 little letters over and over... W-R-E-C-U Mmmmmmm.... WR ECU. MMMM....

 

Right on CK... congrats on your Exhaust... seems like your loving it

ahhh... i remember when i had mine installed... memories... hahhaha

but hey, your right about all that descriptions, but one thing that kinda gets to me. When ever i race anyone, with the intake and exhaust, it PULLS!!! but when it hits 2nd gear, it does not PULL as much as i want it to. It kinda lags a bit in 2nd gear and i think its the gear ratio.

I think it was last saturday, me and my buddy was getting back from work and we were cruising around just zooming all over the place and the car picks up QUICK. I was seriously driving that thing like a SPORTS car!!! haha. Sometimes i think i should get some Tien coilovers or some advox (toms) springs to enchance my handling but i don't want to lose my Silversport Handles

but anyways. Its much faster with the exhaust and intake but still lacking that power... mabbie its all the bars on my car HAHA

BTW, if u get a chance, TRY driving on a straight stretch (of course safely) to FLOOR it all the way. I think at about 5000-6000 RPM, you can really NOTICE the RMM Shine. i'd did it 2wice on the freeway and me and my buddy noticed it big time.

good luck and have fun. Safety first

 

Spin- already did what your talking about many times... had my RX out to some country backroads last night for some "test runs," and I agree about the high revs being where you notice the big difference - I'd say from about 4,500 rpms to redline is where you get the benefits. I don't really notice what your talking about in second gear though... Could be all your bars adding weight? In fact, when I've got the throttle to the floor, the downshift to second is very quick and smooth, rpms fall back to 4,000 rpms, and the intake is working in full force right after the downshift and the extra pull from the exhaust picks up just shortly there after - I'm going from 0 to 60 far faster than 8.8 seconds (based on my rough estimate time trials w/ a stopwatch... 2nd gear takes me all the way to 68-70 mph... It'd be interesting to see what my 1/4 mile times are versus a stock RX.
The other benefit of the exhaust and intake combo seems to be in passing cars - the RX gets up and goes more quickly and responsively now.
Spin, did you reset that ECU yet? That would optimize your shift points a bit, and might help w/ the symptoms in 2nd gear your describing... Is it all revs and no go that your experiencing? How many miles on your RX? When was your last tune up?

 

i guess i'm kind of expecting too much hahah. its just in 2nd gear, i dont get the pulls i want. Maybe its time for that new air filter... ya i ha've resetted the ECU and drove hard quite a bit. Felt better

I had some time to bring my car in for those spark plugs, but dood was gonna charge me 80 to install... expensive... lexus gonna charge 400 to install... sigh so i'm thinking about it that 80 i talked it down from 150... so i'll try to get it installed soon also. Maybe it'll help more.

Ya, when it downshifts, the Rx3 ROCKS.

about 18-19 thousand miles... too much hahah, but i seriously need a new filter...

 

My shift points in second gear are at about 70mph too. I haven't reset the ecu either. I think my vehicle has adapted to my driving style because I usually hit 100 or better daily. I have exhuast but no intake yet. Still pulling off on folks. I took out a new Ram 20's and all on the turnpike. Funnything when we were at it - he had his fogs on - after I pulled off a fair distance I let off. I then notice a truck coming up fast, I guess the guy thought he could creep up on me with his fogs off. I knew it was him and I let him roll on by.
I have taken out a couple of ML's 320's, X-5 3.0 too - wating to try a 430 & I'm absolutely ailing for an MDX! However, the new 260hp version might present issues - in a straight line that is. ML500 will probably leave me, but I got faith in the RX. X-5 4.4, not even going there - driven a couple if you know what your doing not much can mess with you in the Bimmer. The 4.6is is not from this planet. Beware, we can leave the Jeep Grand Cherokee up until our govenors kick in. They must be governed down around 120 or so.

Anyway I think what Spin is referring to, is sometimes in second gear you can get caught out - or out of the power band - I've experienced it several times. If you get on it while your rolling , not going fast - but somewhere between 40 & 50mph, or less than 3k-rpms, the car seems a bit gutless briefly. Pass the 3Krpm mark things happen rapidly. Try this, turn off your overdrive and let it wind out. I do this when merging on to the highway so I'm constantly in the power band, - works in traffic too, you get even acceleration and not an abrupt down shift. You can use the torque to move in you into the next lane with the flow - and utilize the engine braking to keep you from having to use the brakes. I'm pretty impressed with the transmission in these cars even with the occaisional 2nd gear occurences. It's not the touch shift 5spd auto in my Benz, but as far as 4spd auto's go, it has to be among the best.

p.s. I love winding out on so called "hot hatches" they have some pretty blank faces( :eek: )when they get left

 

white01- GREAT post. GREAT. I totally forgot to mention using the O/D button to put yourself in third when already crusing - that's something I do daily on my commute to/from work as well, and you're right, it does very well for merging, passing, or just showing off
The 4.6 X5 is downright scary. That thing STOCK makes 340 hp and 350 tq. I want one. Period. End of story. Terminado. El fin. Or better yet, I want to transplant the DOHC 4-cam 32 valve V-8 from under the hood of that beast into my RX, since the RX is still the cooler LOOKING of the two. Okay, I'd also like to transplant those bimer HIDs too - I think that'd be the perfect SUV... RX body w/ dual exhaust (like the one currently being discussed in the engine/transmission section), BMW DOHC V8 engine and HIDs. That'd do it for me - is that blasphemy here in the house of the Lex RX?

 

haha, I too am waiting for a race with a Ml430 and a MDX for sure. I have not yet gone with a X5 of anykind yet, but doens't hurt to try... just doubt i'll do it with the higher end ones.

 

Thanks man! Blasphemy Not! Just call it being real. Look at you though. You have hooked your RX UP in a relatively short time. Time to post some pics of that bad boy .....roll out

Oh and Spin about those Giants.....I heard the city was off the hook when they won.

peace

 

Kinda like how my town's gonna be off the hook when Favre and the Pack bring home another SB victory this year!

Thanks white01 - yeah, I've been busy... Not gonna post pics yet for two reasons: 1) no digicam yet; and more importantly 2) it's still a work in progress - I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve and I feel like if I show it at this point it's like leaving for the office in the morning with no shirt on - as good as that might look, it just isn't right for the moment