Adjustable Pedals On Es330

[anotherbrian]

Hi *.

I'm trying to determine how difficult it would be to install adjustable pedals in a new ES330.

My inlaws have tried to order the car with the pedals, however the dealer initially claimed that they are only available when purchased with a fully loaded car (nav + Mark Levinson stereo?), and has today said that they are not available at all.

I stopped off at the parts department of the dealership today asking about the necessary parts, and they responded to every request to look up the part numbers with:

1. it's impossible to do

2. it'll void the warranty

3. if it were possible, it'd cost at least $6000

4. if you were in an accident, your insurance would be void

5. oh, the pedals + acuators are in the database for ~$180, but that can't be right.

I'm wondering what is necessary to do a change-over. Are there other electronics needed, or do they hook into whatever module controls the existing seat+mirror memory? Switches to control up/down? Are the pedals interchangable with the stock ones, or is more needed (saw a write-up on installing factory pedals on to a domestic, and it required a different brake booster -- anything similar?).

Since buying the car is contingent on getting adjustable pedals, it's too early to invest in a service manual. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian

[SW03ES]

I'd tend to agree with the dealer, it would be very expensive mostly in labor.

I've never even seen an ES with the power pedals...

[jeffnpigs]

Could any of the "elders" of the board (or anyone else for that matter) enlighten me as to why Lexus (which lists few options to begin with) makes a substantial number of them unavailable. I would have purchased the adjustable pedals for my 330 - my wife is 5'0." I was also tempted by the adjustable suspension, despite decidedly mixed review. (See my recent suspension post - I could really use that suspension on my new commute.) I can understand trying to keep costs down by limiting the number of available options - but Lexus has already done that. Why they can't have these options available on a car somewhere in a 100 mile radius of a major city is really beyond me.

[jeffnpigs]

Could any of the "elders" of the board (or anyone else for that matter) enlighten me as to why Lexus (which lists few options to begin with) makes a substantial number of them unavailable. I would have purchased the adjustable pedals for my 330 - my wife is 5'0." I was also tempted by the adjustable suspension, despite decidedly mixed review. (See my recent suspension post - I could really use that suspension on my new commute.) I can understand trying to keep costs down by limiting the number of available options - but Lexus has already done that. Why they can't have these options available on a car somewhere in a 100 mile radius of a major city is really beyond me.

[amf1932]

My Lexus salesman told me that none of the cars delivered to his dealership had the adjustable pedal option(NYC Area). It seems that certain accessory packages are only available in certain parts of the USA and to get a car so equipped it would have to be trans shipped to your area.

BTW: Where do you live? You left NO information in your profile.

[obsidianr]

I live in the Metro Detroit area and my dealer also said that all of the cars they receive don't have the AVS or the adjustable brake pedals. I wanted those options, and the dealer said the only way to get them was to custom order. That would have taken way too long.

[anotherbrian]

Thanks for the feedback.

Does anyone have the service manual that would be willing to scan the page(s) relevant to the adjustable pedals?

Are the service manuals available online from Lexus? Nissan/Infiniti has a subscription services to all of their manuals online (including a single-day access at $15-20/day). Does Toyota/Lexus have anything comparable?

[SW03ES]

Jeff- Thats just how Lexus is, they figure out the "optimum" levels of equipment usually in two or three groups and then ship the cars that way. It also varies depending on coast. For instance on the east coast we get ES's one of two ways, a "premium" car like yours without navigation or ML and no rear sunshade and a "Nav/Lev" car like mine, with the nav, the levinson, and the sunshade. You wont find a car equipped any differently anywhere on a dealers lot. No AVS or power pedals availiable on the east coast. Chrome wheels are also incredibly rare.

NOW, on the WEST COAST they ship a model like yours, and the maximum loaded model of the ES including the AVS, the power pedals, and the chrome wheels. You can't buy one over there like mine.

Now, your dealer has two options that they don't always offer you, one they can allocate a car from anywhere in the country. Meaning they can swap a dealer in CA for a car with AVS and power pedals and sell it to you here. OR you can special order any option or color combination you want and they will order it directly from Japan, but you've got to wait 3-4 months. This is a pretty common strategy for foreign carmakers that have long wait times for special models, they lump several levels of popular equipment together. Its actually pretty cool, Lexus doesnt charge for a special order, Mercedes charges $1000. Even if you allocated a car with AVS from CA you'd still have to pay for nav, ML, power pedals, chrome wheels.

On the LS430 they ship 4 ways

-Base model

-Base model with nav/lev

-Modern Luxury with sport package, 18 inch wheels smart access

-Ultra Luxury

And the Ultras are almost impossible to get on the east coast, they had to order my dad's from CA.

Alan, Jeff lives around Washington DC, he and I bought our cars from the same saleswoman.

Brian, I believe the only way is to buy the manual or have someone scan the pages for you, I don't believe they're avail. anywhere online.

[amf1932]

Brian: Is this what you wanted? ;)

[iammikey]

Brian,

I looked at through my ES330's repair manual and to add power pedals to a car is not only expensive, but is also very invloved.

loweradj.pdf

[jeffnpigs]

Steve,

[jeffnpigs]

Steve,

Sorry for the delayed reply, and the messed up posting. I can certainly understand their desire to minimize configurations to maximize profits if customers will accept this. However, given the limited number of options which they offer to begin with, the relatively large volume of sales for the 300/330, and the position of the car at the luxury end of the near entry level luxury market, it would be nice if Lexus would offer the luxury of choice. As it now stands, all of us on the east coast are driving one of two configurations (apart from aftermarket stuff). And some of the "options," like adjustable pedals or variable suspension, (as opposed to black interior wood decor) can be a significant factor in the driveability/safety of the car.

Oh, well. Maybe someday Lexus will listen. But this will probably not happen while they are selling cars at an acceptable rate (I would love to know the numbers for the 02/03 in comparison to th 00/01).

Jeff

[SW03ES]

The 02/03 sold significantly better than the 00/01. Sales are down a little for the 330 but they are in the whole entry level market.

I like the way Cadillac does it. They have regional warehouses where they keep cars of all different configurations and colors not normally shipped to dealers. When a customer wants a unique car they can usually have one shipped from one of these warehouses. Only problem with implementing something like this for Lexus is the Japanese don't take the risk of waste, they're too conservative. Thats another reason they ship the way they do, they've analyzed what people want and it lessens the risk that any car will be carried over on a lot to the next model year. If you think about it, at the end of the model year, most Lexus dealerships are completely out of cars whereas on other lots there are lots of previous years that were never sold. BMWs are typical of this, you can find brand new 2002 BMWs still on dealer lots unsold because they were of a configuration nobody wanted.

[jeffnpigs]

Steve:

So we're back to the basic cultural concept of (lack of risk) v choice and individuality. I thought that one was settled by WW2. It sounds like Cadillac has a reasonable compromise by having central warehouses where they can stock cars for individual tastes, but minimize the number involved.

I still say SHAME on Lexus for listing (important) options that are not available to the consumer.

:chairshot: :chairshot: :chairshot:

Jeff

[SW03ES]

Exactly ;)

Funny thing, my fiancee wants a Mazda 3 (which has radio controls on the wheel, costs $19,000 LOL) and she wants a somewhat hard to get color in the very rare nav/HID package. Guess how long until they can get it, they would have the car in a MAXIMUM of 6 hours. 6 HOURS! Thats the American Ford influence on Japanese Mazda there...