Category Archives: Personal Stuff

Fixed!

So I drove down to OEM Auto Audio and woo they were able to fix my Lexus RX infotainment within 30-40 minutes!  The gentlemen I spoke to said he services Lexus head units (along with other cars) for many dealerships and that this is a very common problem unfortunately.  Why Lexus hasn’t done a recall or released a TSB is beyond me, all in all it cost me about $1k CDN to get the work done and I am happy that my car works properly again.

I drove back with the head unit just attached by the cables but when at home, I bolted it in along with putting the trim pieces back on.  Odd the center clock seems to have died but that’s a module that I can replace myself and I’ll look at it on the weekend. CBSA gave me the side eye when I explained that no one in Toronto (or Canada) works on Lexus head units, even authorized Pioneer dealers up here and yes I had to drive all the way to Manlius NY (a suburb of Syracuse) to get the work done.   I could have shipped the thing but it’d take another 2 weeks at least and I didn’t ant a huge gapping hole in the center of my car.

He said that Maggie’s car is also affected by this problem and that if I have to change the battery, to get it done at the Lexus dealership in case it breaks there too lol.

Overall I’m still pretty pissed at how things turned out and I might see if I can get enough names to start a class action, we’ll see how motivated (or lazy) I am but it’s ridiculous that my only option was a $14k replacement.

Lexus WTF?

So the battery that came with my 2018 Lexus RX350 was the original and was weak (died a few times which required me jumping it) so I purchased a battery from Canadian Tire with the intention to replacing it myself.  I’ve done this with other cars in the past and it’s fairly straightforward but just in case, I went on YouTube to look it up and followed these instructions minus the pressure washing.  The CT battery was neither tall or wide enough to use the Lexus battery restraint (odd it’s the one the counter gave me after getting my car details) so I didn’t even connect it, pulled it out and put the old battery back so I could get something else that fit properly and that’s the beginning of a nightmare.

Apparently it’s a common problem for Lexus head units/infotainment to stop working after the battery is disconnected (here, here, here & here as an example but there are more) and this affects all models, not just the RX.  I brought the car to my mechanic (who has a lot of experience with Lexus/Toyota products), he confirmed the head unit was dead, that he can’t fix it and a new one would cost $14,000 just for the parts from Lexus!  Talk abut being disappointed, in my search of forums, FB Lexus groups & Reddit this has been occurring since the late 2000s, how is this still a problem now?

So after assessing my options (buying a new head unit, a used head unit on eBay or trying to get it repaired) I’ve decided to drive 8 hours (4 hours one way) to Manlius NY (a suburb of Syracuse) to OEM Auto Audio to have my head unit repaired (they said it takes about 2 hours).  Finding the exact same head unit is difficult as there are a lot of different models for the 4th generation RX, even if they have the same features & specs and there are no local shops that can do this repair.  Yes I could ship the thing down but that’d add another week or two to this whole process and I want it fixed asap.

Anthony, my mechanic said after it’s repaired to plug everything in to test to make sure it works and fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly but OEM Auto Audio has good feedback by the various Lexus groups I’ve searched. Will update after it’s done but quite disappointed that this has been occurring for over a decade and Lexus hasn’t addressed it yet.

All set

Last week I got a new set of tires for my car as well, the Michelin X-Ice Snow tires that I wanted couldn’t be found after ordering them 2 weeks earlier so I settled for a set of Continental IceContact XTRM.  I thought I was getting the VikingContact series (should have asked) but whatever, much better than a set of all seasons and it’s not like the RX is a performance car as long as it grips on snow and ice in the winter I’m happy.

I usually buy Michelin tires, mainly because that’s what I’ve always gotten so I’m quite interested in seeing how these perform.

New tires for Maggie

Maggie’s winter tires were 5 or 6 years old, too old to take into another winter and with her summers 4 years old too we decided to replace both sets with Michelin’s CrossClimate 2 all weather tires.  Unlike all season, these are new and designed to be used in wintery weather too.

I’m sure that means it doesn’t perform well in any one aspect of driving but let’s be frank, Maggie has a Lexus CT200h it’s not like she’s going to be doing anything spirited with that car.  When it’s very snowy out, we either just stay at home or drive my car so I think we should be alright but we’ll see how things are this winter and if she doesn’t feel safe with them then I’ll buy a dedicated set of winters later.

The tires to my old Lexus NX won’t fit on the RX and I have a set of tires coming for my car this week. 🙂  Expensive but necessary for Canadian winters.

Sore and sick wtf

Last week I went to my first physio session and during the examination the lady was massaging my back and she must have unlocked something because I’ve had backpain for a week now.  What makes it worse is I somehow caught covid19 again!  Both Maggie and I are sick, so far Brandon is alright.  We’re both getting better but just to be safe I pulled out of going to the London airshow with some of the guys.  This makes it two years in a row that covid caused me to miss that, must be a sign.

Ahh well slowly getting better, back still hurts but hopefully will be alright soon.

High school

This morning I dropped Brandon off at his new high school and I can’t help but be a bit sad…  I’m not ready for my boy to be all grown up and soon he’ll leave our home for good!  Sigh, that’s life and I can’t fight it but while I’m excited, it also sucks because I have so much “dadding” to do with him still.

Fun!

I was telling Maggie, I totally get why the Lexus RX series of SUVs are among the most popular and compared to my old NX, the RX does everything better, albeit it’s a bigger vehicle.  I have the Lexus RX 350 F-Sport 3 model which means it’s fully loaded with a HUD, panoramic sunroof, adaptive suspension, etc and it’s so damn comfortable to drive in.  When put in Sport + mode, it doesn’t really feel any different though the accelerator is slightly more responsive but meh I’m not looking for a sports car.

I don’t like black but when all clean it does look pretty damn good.  Fits just fine in the garage though it is much tighter and yeah it totally dwarfs Maggie’s car.  Overall very happy with the car but the TD insurance process was a pain in the ass and I’m debating if I should complain about it or not…

Money heals all wounds?

So on Thursday TD sent me the offer for my Lexus NX 200t and was pleasantly surprised how high my car’s valuation was!  Got well more than I expected but hey I’m not going to complain.  I’m still not happy with the service overall and may complain about it later but the money does make things a lot better.

All week I’ve been looking at what car to buy and I settled on a Lexus RX 350.  On road trip vacations I found the NX a bit small so moving to a mid sized SUV may make things more comfortable for us.  With that said uh I bought a 2018 Lexus RX 350 F-Sport 3 today.

Haha it looks huge next to Maggie’s CT 200h but then again it’s in the background too.  I don’t like black because it’s so easy to get dirty but when you buy used vehicles, sacrifices are necessary.  In terms of technology it has all the gizmos that I wanted (like a HUD, the NX spoiled me there) so yeah I’m happy and can’t wait to pick it up early next week! 😀

TD Insurance sucks

Dealing with TD so far has been a bit of a nightmare.  Despite requesting all communication occur through email, my agent insists on giving me a call instead and I think their phone system is designed to be frustrating to deal with.  When talking there seems to be a bit of a delay which is resulting in both her and I talking over each other constantly.  Next this lady says my rental cover is denied because I didn’t go through TD to book a car, yes I initially declined to get a rental but they said I could get a rental anytime so I did.  I declined before I found out my car was totaled and now that it is, I’ll need transportation for emergency purposes, I also read my policy, it doesn’t say I need to have TD book my rental just that they will reimburse me for reasonable charges.  I have a Hyundai Kona, its not like I rented a super car…

Next she keeps insisting on valuing my car as a base model when my Lexus NX was the F-Sport 3 fully loaded one.  I have a bunch of policies for my cars & real estate with TD & I think I’m going to move them if this is how I’m going to be treated, I don’t know if other companies will be better but they don’t deserve my business if this is how they treat me.

And my back still hurts so these jerks are making things more difficult.

Back pain

So I went to the doctor last week and she said I have mild whiplash and recommended I get some physio. She said she could prescribe some pain killers but I declined as I don’t really like taking pills, maybe I’m being stubborn lol.  On Saturday since I was all stiff I decided to take a hot bath, I haven’t taken one of those decades but it felt pretty good and relaxing but the day after my back hurt even more what the hell. It’s a good thing I work from home, though I’ll have to make sure I sit with a good posture to not aggravate it further.

We were suppose to go on a road trip starting Friday but that’s out, no way I can handle that now and I have to buy a new car ugh.  I hate the whole car shopping experience, hopefully TD pays me out quickly and I can get that done over with quickly.