When you took off decals off back of tailgate there was no holes or anything. And do not leave any marks

How much are you willing to part from the crossbars for?

So we just bought our RX-350 and will take delivery next week. My fiance is not at all a fan of the rails and would love to see them gone. We talked to the dealer and he said he would take it off and there would be holes with caps on. I read through the posts and I didn't find if anyone said that putting the caps would seal it off? My concern is water getting to the holes. Also another option we are looking at is changing the rails from the standard grey to white. The RX we bought is the starfire pearl. Anyone know where I can find white rails? I looked online and could not find any.

bolts w/ sealant plug the holes, so no leaks

the caps cover the bolts

never seen white rails

There are specific brackets needed that have a rubber seal on the bottom of them. You need to get the new bolts too as they are shorter and have a built in rubber washer. Snap on plastic covers finish them off.

Good luck and welcome. I have not seen a white rack. I sold my roof rack set-up on e-bay for $500 no intention of ever putting it back on.

Roof Rail Addition
 

I have a 2010 RX 450h FWD (Starfire Pearl) that of course did not come with roof rails and want to add them. I test drove the AWD with rails and did not feel that much of a difference in drag/noise etc. I am sure that it was not as quiet, little worse gas mileage, little harder to clean the roof but I can't get over the look of not having the rails.

After reading all of the posts above, it seems that the caps that are over the reservoir lines on the roof cover a set of holes that are pre-drilled for the addition of roof rails to the FWD version even though that is not the "intention" of Lexus. Can anyone verify if adding roof rails is a simple process of removing roof caps, purchasing roof rails with bolts and bolting them in to the pre-drilled holes that reside under the caps?

Does anyone have these roof rails and crossbars and are willing to part with them?

The holes do exist. To costly for Lexus to make a model with holes and without. It's just a matter of buying all the pieces. You might want to check Craig's List.

I think jskennedy had some "collecting dust" earlier in this thread. Do a PM.

I'm going to try and sell them together, that is rails and bars.

How to remove Roof Racks
 

I think my 2011 Rx350 looks so much sleeker without the roof
racks and wanted to know the best and cheapest way to remove
them. Thanks for your suggestions!

Do you mean the roof racks or the crossmember? If the crossmember there is a thread specifically for that with pictures. Once you remove the crossmember, the roof rack is held on by two bolts at the ends. However before removing, you need to buy a patch to cover the bolt holes. There is also a thread on this but I dont know the subject off hand. You need to search. But its doable.

Agree - Better look without the roof racks
 

I totally agree, the Rx350 looks much sleeker without the roof racks. Its seems crazy this is not option, why am I forced to purchase this. A luggage rack, really?

Be careful removing the bolts that hold the roof rails on. There are two at each end, and the nuts are mounted on a flat plate inside the roof, and project up through two holes. Those plates are held in place by a spring clip also hidden inside the roof. I cursed and swore through what should have been a simple half hour job to remove both rails when one of those spring clips popped off while undoing the bolts, allowing the retained nuts to drop down inside the roof. I was eventually able to pry down the headliner above the drivers door and force my hand inside to find the parts, pushing the nuts back up and capturing them with a bolt - never did get the spring clip back on, there's not much room to work, and there's an airbag up there! Taking off the grab handle didn't help either - just a tip - you don't need to disassemble the grab handle to take it off! To add insult to injury, the covers that my dealer sold me were too short and too wide, must have been for an earlier model, but he swears he used my VIN number when looking them up. Roof rail reinstalled, parts returned for full refund, much wiser RX owner who's now completely happy to leave those ugly rails alone.

Sewell actually sells the kit you need to remove the roof rack and cover up the holes. There is a different bracket that gets used to hold the cover plates as well as shorter bolts, you do not want to use the ones that came with the roof rack. I took mine off the day I bought it and had no problems. Sold the whole thing on Craig's List as I did not want to store it. I like the look better and it is easier to clean. When I take it in for service other customers ask about my RX not having the rack. Too funny.

PS The hardest part for me was removing the plastic covers on the ends of the rails.

Good Luck

I'm going to remove mine since my RX is Cashmere beige and they look silly painted silver with a beige car, plus we will never use them and its a pain to dry around them when washing the car. Does anyone have handy the Club Lexus discount code for Sewell Lexus? They list them for $91.00 on their site.