Put a piece of tape over all these door bottom drain holes and see if it really makes a difference and let us know. That being said, these drain holes in the door bottom are there for a reason. If you block off an area of the door that won't drain properly you will rust it out. A costly mistake I am sure.

 

+1 I don't know if covering the drain holes might be in your best interest. I understand it might have solved the problem but I would look into a different approach to solve the problem. Every time you wash your car or it rains water will accumulate in the door jam and after a while you WILL have rust.


Oh and one more thing, what are tar strips?

 

On concrete roadways, they are the tar strip joining each concrete section.

 

Thank you for the clarification!

If your car hops up when you hit those then it should be an indication of your shocks going out. Did you have them checked out?

 

the front shocks are not designed well for the RX, and will probably leak or bottom out. many of the early RX's did have noise problems due to weatherstripping that comes loose. the HID thing is understandable though most dealers probably wont touch it. Many people on this board i think are in denial about the problems the RX330-350's have. Lastly, just because it is made in japan DOES NOT mean it wont have problems.

 

Bad or worn shocks will cause a car to bounce up and down several times after hitting a bump.

This car feels like the shocks are too stiff or the oil is foaming up, causing them to stiffen. The ride now is similar to Vetts that I have owned. My prior experience has been with sports cars and hot rods where I expected an uncomfortable ride. I'm getting to old for this now and want to be pampered.

 

This is why I hate spending a lot of money on used cars, you never know what you are going to get.

 

True, But I'd rather spend 1/2 as much to find out if I really like a car first.
If I don't then, the resale is closer to the purchase price and if I do, then I have a better trade-in.