Sc4 Door Panels

[AngelsAmongUs]

Picked up a SC4 and I am having a blast fixing her up.

Minor issues I have not dealt with yet are both door panels have split dead center on top. They are identical and appears this might be a flaw in the design of the support. Funny thing is I have been looking at SC4's fo six months and I never noticed this before. Records check showed it spent her first year in TX. Maybe the sun did it.

#1. Are the any vinyl repair kits that are worth a damn? I repaired furniture in my early years and could match if they really worked.

Secondly, the automatic shift button is broken but still works. I tracked down the original owner with the intent on getting history of the car, spare keys, etc. I logged into Lexus service database and know it has all the recommended service up to but not including 100,000. It has 107,000 and I suspect this is why it was given up as wholesale. I am curiuos how the button was broken.

#2. How easy a fix is replacing the automatic shift button?

Every SC4 I have driven does not shift smoothly off the line. They seem to be fine on the upper end and do not clunk down gearing.

#3. Are auto SC4's inherently rough shifters in low gear starting out? Is there a fix?

[Micah]

My car shifts very smoothly in all gears except when upshifting into 3rd gear. The transmission shop I use (I trust them very much) said that it was probably my motor mounts causing the engine to come at rest precisely when the car was shifting into 3rd gear. It also has a slight vibration in park and varies with rpm. Motor mounts are the suspect on my car and I'll replace later as they are not really a priority to me and I wanted things like the brakes and timing belt all replaced first. Hope this helps a little. I have not had mine very long and it is a 1996, but it drives and shifts very smoothly (for the most part), especially for a car with 206000 miles on it.

[AngelsAmongUs]

My car shifts very smoothly in all gears except when upshifting into 3rd gear. The transmission shop I use (I trust them very much) said that it was probably my motor mounts causing the engine to come at rest precisely when the car was shifting into 3rd gear. It also has a slight vibration in park and varies with rpm. Motor mounts are the suspect on my car and I'll replace later as they are not really a priority to me and I wanted things like the brakes and timing belt all replaced first. Hope this helps a little. I have not had mine very long and it is a 1996, but it drives and shifts very smoothly (for the most part), especially for a car with 206000 miles on it.

Thank you Micah. One suggestion was I am running it on economy and not power mode. I'll give that a try this weekend.