Now The Proud Owner Of A 1990 Lexus Es250!

[ArmyofOne]

here she is! the moment you have all been waiting for LOL,

introducing...LEXI!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Arm...ne/DCP02086.jpg

sorry for the nighttime pix, but i just got her!! had to take some!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Arm...ne/DCP02087.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Arm...ne/DCP02085.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Arm...ne/DCP02084.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/Arm...ne/DCP02083.jpg

Opinions??? i know you cant see much in the dark, but throw something out there!! lol, i will have better pix tomorrow, when i clean her up!

[ArmyofOne]

i know the front bumper is damaged, thats ok, not a big deal to me right now.

and i knwo it has the other querks. theres a few inside the car as well, but nothing too bad...

and heres the stereo system thats going in it:

thats what was in the contour and it bumped pretty good LOL.

and for those that say "its just a rebadged camry...i have a real lexus too...a 2004 SC430...

....

it is 1:18th scale LOL!!

[steviej]

Josh, you need to size your pictures down some.

you got us scrolling up and down AND left to right. Don't inconveniecne people if you want them to say nice things. (just a tip for future posting).

enjoy your diamond in the rough. It's time to make it shine.

steviej

[ArmyofOne]

aww hell..my bad... you want me to link them for this post? and then i will resize from now on. my bad man, seriously, i thought photobucket resized automatically...oops...

EDIT: pix are now linked. sorry, wont happen again! :D

[Lexusfreak]

Post some more pics taken during the day & we can see the car better! Congrats! B)

[ArmyofOne]

Brace yourselvs guys (and gals...) theres A LOT of pix here...

First:

the arsenal of weaponry:

i can tell you this car hasnt hadd a coat fo wax since it was new probably...after 4 coats fo wax, i can STILL fell grit in the finish...time for a claybar, but im afraidit will take the paint OFF (this paint is horrible...)

[ArmyofOne]

more:

And no car is perfect... :cries:

[ArmyofOne]

...

well thats it...what do ya think???

[blake918]

She looks great! Congrats! That is one rare machine. The interior still looks brand new! Nothing to complain(not that you are! just an expression.) about at all for a car that is almost 15 years old! ;) Enjoy her and have fun putting tons of miles on her. B) What do you think about the car itself(comfort, power, ride quality, etc)?

[SW03ES]

I'm gonna move this to the ES forum, it'll get more hits.

The claybar isn't going to hurt the paint regardless of its condition. The real question is whether or not its clearcoated. Did you get any paint transfer when you used your cleaner wax (black on your pad or towel)? If its clearcoated then that clearcoat is pretty thin and you're not going to want to go over it with abrasive polishes unless a repaint is a possibility. If its single stage then you've got some room to try and improve the paint...

Lookin good, especially for its age...

[ArmyofOne]

no, no colors except where i accidentally went over the rubber trip or weatherstripping LOL.

the pad was clean. she drives OK. she has a pretty bad oil leak coming from somewhere around the top of the motor (heads or Valve covers, i cant tell which).

as a result, residual oil drips onto the exhaust (cat) and burns off, causlinga horrific smell and smoke...

the previous owner had a high flow cat installed (magnaflow i think) when the stocker went. he told me, but you can also tell by the sound.

140K and it still has the original TB and WP...

the steering has a bit of an issue, i think its the power steering pump, groans and kicks the wheel around if the car isnt moving...

also the steering wheel is cocked at like 20 degrees when the wheels are straight (alignmnet possibly???)

the switches there in the last pic, the Door lock one is not sorking correctly and to roll down the windows i have to hold the switches in place with 2 hands, otherwise they do that...

the stock stereo is NOT DIN sized, and i cant find a kit anywhere...i guess im stuck listening to only the radio sicne the tape player doesnt work either...

the Power sunroof is EXTREMELY nice.

needs a new mirror glass on right side (got a stick on circle one for now...GHETTO RIG!!! LOL)

AWESOME sound from the stock pioneer sound system.

the drivers side rear door...has issues...the door lock on that door has to be locked manually, it wont unlock or lock with the other locks...

has 3 new tires, and one a half a year old.

NEEDS REAR BRAKE PADS!!! OMG those things squeel like a SOB.

and we will see about how it works tomorrow, i just took it out for a little spin and i had my hand resting on the shifter. as i came into my neighborhood (i was doing ~15 mph), the selector slipped from D(drive), through N(neutral) and into R(reverse)...while i was going Forward!!!

the car came to an INSTANT halt. i didnt do anything tho, i was just resting my hand there. i guess i put a little push on it or somethingh...

Anyways...I GOT REALLY LUCKY. the car stalled as soon as this happened. i turned off the key after putting it into P(park) then i turned the key back on, and it fired right up...and went to put it in drive...

....

and away i went...LOL (sorry, had to pause for dramatic effect). so that was my 1 slip up/ ATX's usually allow you to do 1 or 2 of those before the REALLY start compalining...riiight??? i hope so.

anyways, we will find out when i drive it to work tomorrow.

sorry if it seems like i am complaining, im not, im pretty happy with the overall purchase...after all it is a lexus...and a rare one at that. is there any chance ths car will be worth money someday??

and on a scale of 1-10, i give the following:

Handling-4/10 (due to disrepair/lack of maintenance)

-Speed: 8/10 (gets onto the freeway pretty good, scoots around decently...)

-Power: 8/10 (again, scoots around decently)

-Ladies factor: (pending) :whistles:

-Conforts: 10/10

-Quality: 10/10 (there are parts that need rplaced yes, but i cant discount the fact that the car is 15 years old and is going to need some kind of replacement parts...i will fix them one at a time as i have $$$$)

Looks: 10/10

[ArmyofOne]

heh new ratings...i took it out today and opened er up...cleaned out the motor really good *cough* Triple digit speeds *cough*

Handling: 8/10-(the steering wheel is still off centered) i think the steering system was out of wack because this car just DIDNT get driven...i put more miles on it today that it had ever had put on it in a month for the last 5 years. (put 68 miles on er today) once i got it moving and actually use the steering wheel other than to just make a right, 2 lefts and another right to get to motorola like my boss did (he lived right behind the office), it got the fluid flowing and seems to feel really good.

Speed: 9/10-(its alot faster than i thought with the OD off and the shift lock override on B) )

Power: 9/10.-for its time and class the 2.5L Four Cam (cant tell if they are DOHC or not, dont think so...)V6 puts out a decent amount of power.

Ladies factor: 9/10-ladies dig the key and the car that goes with it, guys think its a rebadged camry (its a good thing i could give a S*** what guys think about my car )

Comforts: 10/10-for a 15 year old car, its got a lot of nice features. thansk to this car, i now have build quality standards, compared to this lexus, that ford contour's interior was !Removed! (may she RIP :cries: ). it was only 10 years old and the drivers seat was starting to tear, this car is 15 years old and the seats look brand new...)

[Senna4ever]

Lookin' good!

PS...I saw a ES250 in brand-new condition at my stealership last month! Absolutely mint! It's a testament to Toyota quality when a 15 year old car can look so nice with proper maintenance.

[H8R Proof]

I would have never bought that car (just my .02)

However, enjoy!!! ;)

[JPI]

I would have never bought that car (just my .02)

However, enjoy!!! ;)

Be nice...it's still a lexus. B)

Hey josh, we have a monthly meet at JPI. Monday 10/04/2004 8p.m. There will be a lot of lexus and toyota. See you there.

JPI

[ArmyofOne]

unfortunately, i cant get there...i will be in class...next time..sched. for a weekend Dood!!! lol.

and what do you mean, you woulda never boght that car??? i like a challenege...

heres some more:

if i didnt buy it, he would have had it hauled off, and i NEEDED a car. it has its issues, but thats not the fault of the car, its the fault of the previous owner.

personally, i think he should have had the damned valve cover leak fixed before i bought the thing...whenever i sell a car, i make sure that it doesnt leak. even my contour thats for sale, its front end is bashed in, but it doesnt leak a drop of oil.

[SW03ES]

personally, i think he should have had the damned valve cover leak fixed before i bought the thing...whenever i sell a car, i make sure that it doesnt leak.  even my contour thats for sale, its front end is bashed in, but it doesnt leak a drop of oil.

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But if he was going to have it hauled off...

[ArmyofOne]

personally, i think he should have had the damned valve cover leak fixed before i bought the thing...whenever i sell a car, i make sure that it doesnt leak.  even my contour thats for sale, its front end is bashed in, but it doesnt leak a drop of oil.

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But if he was going to have it hauled off...

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true, true, im saying as a seller, if he was selling it to make money, than i would have fixed it first if i were him.

BUT, he was doing me a favor and i was giving him some cash.

dont get me wrong man, i mean i paid $2,000 for the car, i fully expected to have to do some work on it. im very impressed with the car for the price, i dont htink i got screwed. he told me about the leak before i bought it, i told him that it was ok. it actually wasnt leaking that bad when i got it, but then again, i put over 100 miles on it that day.

it has steadily gotten worse as i have increased the driving distances on it, and i expected that.

once i get it up to par (not leaking, window switch fixed, etc) i can turn around and sell it, and make alomost a grand...if i wanted to....but i dont think i will. i will keep it for awhile, it is soon to be a classic, we willseeif the value drops any lower.

she drives real good despite the leak and a few other querks.

look at it this way. most people that pay $2,000 for a car, get a beater. i bought a $2,000 car and i got a LEXUS...whats better than that??

was it you SW03ES that said once i have Lexus ill never want anything else??? cause you were right, i just dont think i can bring myself to drive anything else except lexus/toyota from now on.

i came into this deal fully expecting to have to lay donw some cash...im not upset about it at all.

long story short, dont listen to the above comment made in the quote...i had had a bad day at work and i was upset, my bad.

[93lexuses]

I like it! I think it looks real good! The only thing is i can't see the second set of pictures. It has an x and says user posted image. Is that just me? :( I tried right clicking and hit show picture, but it did not work.

[ArmyofOne]

no, its not just you, photobucket deleted my account for some reason. i now hosted them in the gallery.

starting on pg 38. in the ES gallery.

[1SICKLEX]

I would have never bought that car (just my .02)

However, enjoy!!!  ;)

Be nice...it's still a lexus. B)

Hey josh, we have a monthly meet at JPI. Monday 10/04/2004 8p.m. There will be a lot of lexus and toyota. See you there.

JPI

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Congrats on the new purchase!

[eriksmiles]

I too am the new proud owner of a 1990 ES250...

I just purchased my ES250 a couple weeks ago for $3500. It has 155K miles and the body only has 3 little dings (i.e where someone opened a car door into it or something... barely noticeable). All of the equipment and car are more or less original. The previous owner(s) took it to Lexus dealer for all it's maintenance when it was needed and specified in the users manual (verified in Lexus owner's manual and by dealership). It has a very slight tranny pan leak... nothing a new gasket couldn't fix. Looking at the car you'd swear it was a 2000 at the latest. Only noticeable flaw in interior (again all original) is a small hole in dash where hands free unit was installed and worn edge on drivers seat. Believe it or not... original windshield, and no cracks.

Runs 1 1/2 hours to/from work at 75-80 mph w/ no problem, pleanty of power when "asked".

[ArmyofOne]

I had to jump start it today (i left my headlights on, not an easy task when you have auto-off headlights) for about 4 hours. I came out on my lunch break to start my car, nothing...not even a set of dashboard lights greeted me. I called my friend over to give me a jump (1998 dodge avenger).When left her car running while i hooked up the jumper cables...i got in and turned the key...still nothing...this battery is was DEAD. I let it charge for about 5 minutes and tried again; it cranked, fired, but did not start. I did this 2 more times. On the 3rd try, it started, but being the dumb*BLEEP* i am, i shut off the key (still don’t know what i was thinking) and when i tried to recrank, it just cranked over, fired and then died. Repeated 2 more times, this time with the gas pedal on the floor. Finally it fired, and i didn’t shut it off. Let it run for a good 10 minutes...after the first 45 seconds or so, the idle started jumping around, and then dropped from 900 down to about 450. It hovered at 450, engine barely clinging to life. I kept my foot planted on the gas, around 3,000 RPM for about 3 minutes (no worse than highway driving) and when I let it back down, it stalled. I re cranked, and it started right up, but then continued its goofiness with its idle. I dropped it into neutral, and that made it even worse. I dropped it into drive, and it jumped back up to 900-920 and ran smooth as a baby’s !Removed!…ok WTF??

I shut it off and went back inside to do some work, all the while running the probable causes in my head, alternator, battery, fuse, IAC valve, Distributor, Plug wires, even fuel pump.

On my way home, I have the batt/alt checked at AutoZone, everything looks normal, but the battery is low.

I drove it home and checked the plugs on bank one, sure enough, they are coated in brownish tan powder…fried…I take it up to city garage, and they tell me its $120 for a spark plug change!!! (I don’t want to mess with it because the rear bank is a PITA!)

I only have $45 I can spend. The dud hooked me up with free diagnostic test, ran a compression check on the front 3 cylinders. The first time around, all were low. #1 was at 40 PSI the first time around. #2, and 3 were between 110-125. Then they did another compression check, and they were all 140-150. Good news….

Anyway, long story short, it looks like I need plugs and wires, bad thing is, I just paid $339.00 for brake rotors and pads on the front yesterday, cause my s rotors were glazed and cracked. The dammed things looked like cracked mirror, they were so shiny. No wonder I had to put the brake pedal on the floor for 100 feet to get to a stop…

so, i hope you have better luck with yours, than i am having with mine. the previous owner of mine didnt know *BLEEP* about maintianing his vehicle...it had tranny fluid in it that was 100,000 miles old when i got it.

mine still needs alot of work. good luck to you, and if you have any issues, with the amount of work i am doing on this car, i can be of some help i am sure. the garages i take it to (excpet for the oen for plugs) are letting me do most of the work, so i am learning about this car...quite a bit.

EDIT: Update, car runs fine, apaprently i erased all the data in the ECU/PCM when the batt went kaput. runs great now.

Brakes are now fine too. i cant help but love this car. i love thew looks i get, i love the amenities, but more importantly, it is an extension of myself and as such, will be suited to my taste.

next week is a pwr steering belt (the one thats on there is so dryrotted i can see through it!), $60 P&L. then Spark Plugs, then window tint. the plugs are old and worn, but they are nto the issue with my stalling out, as i said earlier, the PCM didnt have time to relearn itself before i took it to my mechanic LOL. really the only reason i go to these palces is to have access to tools cause i dont have access to a lift from my home.

maybe ill keep her for a while after all. she hasnt left me stranded yet, except by reason of my own stupidity.

[DKRC-2003]

Nice Car!

I just sold my Ford Contour and bought a 94 ES 300, lol about ditching your contour for a lexus...

So what if it is an older model...I took mine to the dealership on Monday to get the oil changed and see if I could get a copy of the maintenance history (11 pages...almost all PM! only major probs were dead batteries (2) and a leaking transmission pan @ 60k!)...there must have been 35 cars there for service that morining, and mine was the oldest one there! It was funny though b/c everybody thought that I was the original owner and kept asking me questions about how well it was holding up and how great it still looks LOL....

[eriksmiles]

I too am the new proud owner of a 1990 ES250...

I just purchased my ES250 a couple weeks ago for $3500. It has 155K miles and the body only has 3 little dings (i.e where someone opened a car door into it or something... barely noticeable). All of the equipment and car are more or less original. The previous owner(s) took it to Lexus dealer for all it's maintenance when it was needed and specified in the users manual (verified in Lexus owner's manual and by dealership). It has a very slight tranny pan leak... nothing a new gasket couldn't fix. Looking at the car you'd swear it was a 2000 at the latest. Only noticeable flaw in interior (again all original) is a small hole in dash where hands free unit was installed and worn edge on drivers seat.  Believe it or not... original windshield, and no cracks.

Runs 1 1/2 hours to/from work at 75-80 mph w/ no problem, pleanty of power when "asked".

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