JimmyD

Quiton Jackson, the Light-Heavyweight Champion of the UFC, has a GS350 and GX470

Here goes the American car debate again :) The reason people have this perception on American cars is because they have been hearing about it, or they have experienced it themselves. I bought several American cars new and would never go back to them again. I don't really see they have improved. Even if they have, we will know 7 years from now anyway and you certainly can't tell they have improved by just looking at them now. I have heard stories like these about American cars myself and have experienced them myself. Here's a little stat (the attachment). Surprise surprise. Toyota, Lexus, Honda are on top. Ford is actually average (shocking to me) and look at the American cars. This is why you can have a $10,000 rebate and the car still collects dust on the lot. This is why your profits are falling and falling, about to be surpassed by other car makers. This is survival of the fittest. If you don't make the best product, see ya. It is sad to see people lose their jobs over this.

Here we are in 2005 and you still have people like that. You live in the wrong era. You live in the era where mostly minority athletes (who some come from the "ghetto") in basketball and baseball are getting paid numbers beyond this world. You live in the era where rappers slap huge chrome rims on Lambroughini's & Rap is the most popular music in pop culture today (source: the billboard charts). I bet you must be living in misery just thinking about "ghetto" folks getting that type of paper. I'll stop it here because this thread has probably already drifted waaaaay off topic. This loser doesn't deserve our attention. It took away attention from a nice ride. I will say that people have different tastes. Some like big rims and others maybe customize their cars with gaudy paint or bodykits. Whatever your style, it's your ride. And for me personally, I like it.

Keep doing your thing. Don't let any haters get in the way. I like it! As for the hater who's really pushing it, I am from the ghetto. I am proud to have come from rags to living a decent life. I've seen most of the "ugly" that this country has to offer. I still love big rims and Church's Chicken. I went from a broken down Ford to a Lexus and I'm proud of it. Now tell me what's wrong with that?

http://www.diecastmuscle.com/store/Makes/Lexus/MX73128SR Word of caution: the quality is poor. Considering the price, you get what you pay for it. But if you are a Lex fanatic, I don't think you would mind much because this is the only company that makes them. Edit: and according to that site, looks like they're going to make an AutoArt IS350 1/18 car as well! No pics yet though.

Really? I got the 1/18 GS4 when it was $55 in '01. I would assume it came out in 98 or 99 right? And I also try to collect most Lexus 1/18 cars. Here's what I have 1990 LS400 1998 GS400 2001 IS300 2000 RX300 2001 LS430 2002 SC430 Am I missing any or is that all they make in 1/18?

It really depends on the area you live. In California, and with maintainance records, your dad could get $20k for it, if not a bit more than that. Not sure about other places though.

Whoa. I wasn't expecting them to make one. I have a Autoart 98 GS400 and this one seems to have even more quality. I used to collect 1/18 cars and still do to some extent, but $76.00? Is that the new trend or am I just getting older? Looks nice though. but still overpriced, no matter the quality.

I disagree. I hate the Faux news channel. B) It's not just blacks. It is people who are poor. Poor whites, poor blacks, poor asians and poor latino's. I don't think it is a race issue. It is an issue dealing with which social class you are from. If you took a survey out of all of the people in jail, I'm willing to bet that a good percentage of them are poor or grew up poor. Poor whites also have a disadvantage as well. And racism does exist. It is alive and well. If you don't believe in it, I respectfully will say that you should get outside more. It is all around us. I grew up poor. My schools growing up all had books that were 20 years older. I had to work for everything, my house, my Lexus, all. I encountered racially motivated discrimination from jobs, middle class or high class people, cops, etc. Whenever we drove to the nicer middle class neighborhoods, we used to get stares just because our car was a rag and 17 years old. Cops never showed up to our neighborhoods and when they did, they could give a rat's behind what was going on. It was all hush hush for them. I believe I have been a victim of racial profiling before, and I'm not black. Even nowadays, as a 28 year old asian with a tilted cap driving around in my Lexus, I get looks from cops. They probably think I'm "gangster" and I stole it. Or maybe some sort of drug dealer. It is better than it ever was, but it still exists. My kids will grow up in a better world than I did and their children will grow up in an even better world in terms of race relations. But to say it doesn't exist anymore if far from true. You can never say so unless you have been a victim yourself or you are a minority. This is not to badmouth any one skin color in particular because you could be poor and be of any color and struggle to live. Blacks, asians, natives and latinos have always been 2nd class citizens up until the modern era. Our parents have been through so much that we can only hear and imagine. It is fair for a minority to remember their roots, what they had to overcome and what they still have to overcome in this country. You never forget your roots, right? When you've been treated like a 2nd class citizen your whole life, you understand what I'm saying. I don't justify Kanye's ignorant comments, but you have to understand where I'm coming from. I am not refering to you or anybody here, but I am sick and tired of people who stand around in their half and million dollar home all day, work in clean suburban perfect-town, USA and cry everytime they hear about racism. What do they know about the struggles of life? And yes, there are minorities that think this way as well. It is easy to sit around and form an opinion on something you wouldn't even know if it hit you right on the forehead. No offense to anyone here. Racism is still alive in 2005. They are right in your backyard, in your local ghettos.

Very nice. However, I like your previous rims more too. I'm also in the minority that think it is not all *that* bad if you don't lower your car. I think it looks nicer lowered, but for a car that I drive daily, I would want it at stock height. I'm used to driving trucks, going through speed bumps (which btw I don't do on the GS) and flying through an intersection without putting on my brakes. And even at stock height, I hate the rubbing already on my 20' when I go through just a bit of uneven ground. I look at it as a hassle to come up on a speed bump and meanuvering through it. Not willing to sacrafice the looks for my habits just yet.

Rap, the element of hip hop, or whatever you want to call it, has come a long way. Just like every single type of music out there, it has its high's and low's. You had to have talent back in the 80's and early 90's to survive. A lot of people listen to the beats and discount it as useless crap filled dumb sound effects. It is not. It is poetry. Rap has not always been about women, cars and jewelry. The best of rap is when it talks about street life. I'm not talking about those rappers who threaten each other's lives. A lot of rappers out there only rap what they live through. Growing up poor, do they have a choice? Who could really blame them? If you lived in the projects, had no money and saw people around you committing violent behavior, is it your fault? And if you are a musician that had that around you, what would be your influence? Don't judge what you don't understand. Saying that all rappers are talking about killing, stealing and are talentless is like saying that punk rockers encourage suicide and are annoying just because of their tones. How is the drug addict Kurt Cobain different from the charismatic and controversial Tupac Shakur? If you want to point fingers at rap for society's problems, you are wrong. Would it be wrong if I just came out and said that rock sucks because it encourages suicide and that type of violence? Of course it would. Why? Because there are different types of rock, and yet, I am putting all of them into one and stereotyping it. That's what people do to rap nowadays. Do NOT tune into MTV today and assume that that is what rap is all about. If you want rappers today with talent talking about struggles and not promoting killings, go listen to someone like Talib Kweli. Rap is not all bad.

I don't endorse what Kanye West said. It may be true that Bush doesn't care about black people (or poor people in general) but what went too far was the setting of his comments and his comments about the national guard shooting blacks. I'm sorry, but no matter if they are white, black, green or whatever, if they are stealing TV's and other things while completely ignoring authority, they should be shot. And I also don't like how other people stereotype rappers. Not all rappers talk about stealing, killing and mugging. People that don't listen to it tend to think that everyone in rap does this, when in fact, it is just a few idiots. People think rappers all try to kill each other. But in actuality, it is just a couple idiots like 50 cent and The Game that are doing it. To say that all rappers talk about stealing and killing is almost as ignorant as Kanye West's comments. I don't want anyone here to take this personally, it is just a rant that I have been wanting to say for a while now. Kanye is NOT a gangster rapper. If anything, compared to everyone else, the boy is clean. Now is he an idiot? Maybe.

Another reason I won't buy a Ford is the resale value. I don't know about the other models, but last time I checked, the Camry retains more value than it's Ford and Chevy or Dodge counterpart. And the Tacoma completely wipes the floor with the Ranger and S10 in resale value. All new cars may lose their value, but American cars lose it more than any other car. With their questionable past combined with that fact, I don't blame anyone who walks away from an American car company. That's just on top of everything that has been discussed on this thread. 2003 Ford Ranger supercab 4wd w/25k miles = $21,855 2003 Toyota Tacoma of similar equipment = $24,775 and the Tacoma just came out with a new bodystyle, so it's value may have just taken a dive. 2003 Ford Focus LX loaded w/25k miles = $11,590 2003 Corolla LE fully loaded w/25k miles = $15,590 2003 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer w/25k miles = $30,630 2003 Toyota Sequioa Limited with same equipment = $36,355

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a car guy. I can't give any details unless my mechanic fixed up a bunch of issues that I wasn't aware of for free because I'd have to go back and dig them out. but if you don't believe it, you are welcomed to come check it out yourself :) Regardless of which car is more reliable than the other, I think if your Explorer has done you good, you're more than likely to try out another Explorer, just like I will do to the Camry name. and that's just 1 survey. Can you dig up the one where there's a bar graph on customer satisfaction? And I also think it's a little silly to compare a car's dependability when at least 5 years haven't passed on a particular bodystyle/platform. And I'm talking about a car company's overall line, not just a few cars. For example, Buick has high satisfaction rates by another GM brand might have the poorest. I also believe that Ford CAN make a good reliable car if they wanted to. They CAN make a car every bit as good and reliable as a Toyota. I don't think you can be clueless enough not to after being in the industry for over a century. I don't know if it's cost cutting or what is that that stops them from doing so, so far. edit and my friend blake918, I am very proud of my car. If you don't believe it and can make it to California one day, I will be more than willing to show you the car and let you take it out for a spin. It drives exceptional for a 10 year old car, for whatever mileage. And we could even sit back and talk about cars! = transportation not provided :D

I get that all the time. I've had the regular done (water pump, timing belt...) but no engine problems, tranny rpoblems or any issue having to do with the fit and finish of the car, although with a car of that mileage, I do think theres bound to be something on the horizon. Like I said, I just had the car for several years now but it has been in the family. No transmission problems, no AC problems, none of that, which plagues Ford's. 100% true that in 4 years of owning it, it hasn't given me any trouble. I don't know how everyone else with an 92-96 Camry is doing, but from my experience it has been nothing short of rock solid. In fact if I were to get another car right now, I would try to find a lower mileage mint condition model of these same Camry's. Well, I think magazines that rate customer satisfaction, problems reported and quality agree with me. Mass production does produce products that may not represent a company. But Ford has problems written all over it. It's not only mine, but several people on this thread, as well as the Ford boards as well. It is well documented about the problems that Fords have.

I still fail to see how a car’s door could malfunction when sitting in the garage. Or what does sitting in the garage have to do with the air conditioner system breaking down? Or the air bag warning light malfunction? Honestly, from my experiences with Ford and Chevy, Ford actually has less engine problems, but a lot more all around problems, such as the AC and airbag. I just don’t think they have much to do with the car sitting around. Toyota will be the #1 automaker in the United States. Only a matter of time. If Toyota offered huge $3000 rebates on their cars and on top of that, put in employee discount prices, I think they will move out most of their cars quickly, except SUV's and trucks, in this era of high gas prices. I hope for Ford's sake that their cars improve. Like I said, I can't and won't judge the 500 now. But if in 5 years, it has poor resale value, poor reliability and is the #1 car for rental car companies, then I will attack it. I don't have anything to judge the 500 on, other the what Ford vehicles have generally been like in my experience, which isn't good. I wouldn’t say that the current Toyota’s will be as good and reliable as the older ones either. But why do I stick to them? Personal experience. Until they prove me wrong, I will stick to them. I also think it is 100% for a consumer to judge a product based on past experiences. These companies make a ton of money when we buy their products. If they aren’t making the best products, then it is fair for us to judge them on that. It makes you an informed consumer. I think it is essential to do that to every product that you buy in life, no matter if it’s your car or the cell phone service provider. If you’ve had Cingular and it was terrible for you, would you go back? Well, I’ve had Ford and it was terrible and I won’t go back again. There will never be a perfect car. I’m not saying Toyota is perfect. Of course in any mass production business, there will always be something. I think if you ask 100 people who have owned both Fords and Toyota’s, more will give Toyota a higher mark than the Ford. And with Toyota just surpassing Ford as the World’s 2nd largest automaker, I think it supports this statement. And how many brands does Ford have compared to Toyota, just in the United States alone? Land Rover, Jag, Lincoln, Mercury, Ford, and what else? Toyota’s U.S. market is Toyota, Scion and Lexus. I just think, for example, if Toyota makes 20 lemon and problem filled vehicles per 100, that Ford makes more than twice that. btw, I enjoy this argument. Don't take anything personally B)

Well, my 98 GS4 has 67k miles, which means it hasn't been driven for much. But it hasn't broken down. I wonder if it was a Ford sitting in the garage instead. I don't just hate on random car companies. I dislike Ford and GM because of personal experience. Even though I hear Dodge is the same POS, never owned a Dodge before so I can't judge it. It is strictly personal experience. It's not that I want to pile it up on Ford, if you go to their message boards and talk to their owners, you would hear a lot of the same stories that I have posted on this thread. Moreso than the good ones. I look around Toyota boards and even this one, and I have rarely seen a story x30 about a Lexus or Toyota that has been sitting in the garage and just broke down on it's own. I wouldn't want a car that could break down on it's own by just sitting there. Never had one either and never heard of a Toyota breaking down because of it. I also respectfully disagree. I take all of these consumer reports initial quality awards as a grain of salt. It's a new car. It better impress. Of course you could tell a Camry from a Taurus by looking at the cheap cost cutting plastic materials all around the car. But other than that, any brand new car should look brand new. The only way I could judge a 2005 Ford is when at least 5 years have passed. When the compact Chevy Malibu came out in the late 90's, it looked to be a decent little car. 5 years later and they are dirt cheap. I remember commercials comparing it to the Camry. Yeah, the resale value of a 2000 Chevy Malibu compares to a Camry alright, a 1992 Camry that is. I don't think the 500 is bad looking at all. It looks more expensive than the Taurus and has room. Unfortunately, if I was to buy one, I would pass up on it because of the blue oval in the front and rear. If in 5 years Ford has the resale value of Toyota and reliability of a Toyota, then I would definately consider it. I hope they make better cars and I hope you are right. But from past experiences, I don't see it happening anytime soon. You cannot judge new car to new car. When my brother in law bought his 95 loaded Ford Aerostar, there was no way you could tell the difference between it and a Toyota Previa. The true test for a car is how it does over time. If Ford made it so that you could tell it was inferior to Toyota even when new, then they are in BIG trouble. But they don't. As for the Camry vs. Tempo, I agree to an extent. But go on the kelly blue book site, and pin Toyota vs. Ford. Previa vs. Aerostar Sienna vs. Windstar/Freestar Tacoma vs. Ranger Tundra vs. F150 Camry vs. 500 Corolla vs. Escort/Focus Sequioa vs. Expedition 4Runner vs. Explorer Rav4 vs. Escape Highlander vs. Freestyle MSRP's are around the same (of course, American cars nowadays offer huge rebates to compete more). But I have a hard time understanding why does the Ford have such low resale values compared to the Toyota. And as the car gets to about 8-12 years old, the Toyota has almost twice better resale value than the Ford. The only other time, besides the day they were first sold, that the Ford and Toyota's resale values are ever even again is the day both cars are beside each other the the junk yard. It is painful to buy a brand new Taurus in 2000, taken care of throughout the years, and then seeing the value drop faster than a rock through just a few years to the point where your 2000 Taurus with low miles is the same price as a 1995 Toyota Camry with ultra high miles. Oh yeah I personally know how that feels like. It's nice to hear that Ford can make a solid and quality vehicle. My family has had Fords for a long time too. My father bought his 1995 Ford F150 supercab brand new. Brother in law's van, my uncles old Fremont and a few more. The ones I just named were all bought brand new. I didn't include my Tempo because it was used.Our family USED to be a Ford family, but bad experiences have ruined it. Again, I do not bash Ford just for the sake of bashing something. I do hold strong feelings about Ford based on past experience however.

My brother in law's 95 Ford Aerostar. Bought brand new for $24,000. 60k miles to date. In the garage 90% of the time. Only driven on family trips to Disneyland - broken rear hatch while sitting in garage -- $50 - air conditioner breakdown in '00 -- $300 - AC problem #2 -- $400 - Air bag flashing problem in '01 -- $600 - Air bag flashing problem #2 in '05 -- $500 - 2 major engine repairs -- est. $2000 - 1 major tranny problem -- I forgot, but it was a lot current problems - sliding door is stuck and currently can't open. In the shop as we speak - cracking door panel - the drivers side door gets stuck to the latch He wrote a letter to Ford in outrage. The Warrantee had expired just 5 months before all of these problems started. This car was babied like non other. Maintained on time and only by Ford dealerships. It sees premium gas 90% of the time too. My first car, a Ford Tempo was nothing but a POS. My father's 95 Ford F150 that he bought new has a similar problem sheet to the car above. Finally sold it Their resale values are garbage as well. A 1995 Ford Aerostar (high output V6) with 100k miles and costs $24,000 and a 1995 Toyota Previa (tiny inline 4 engine) with 100k miles that costs $24,000 in 1995. The Previa is worth twice as much as the Aerostar as of now. I have also heard stories of Ford's going for 200k miles and even more. And it's nice to know not all of their cars are completely in the POS catagory. My family has bought a lot of new Fords. They never retain any value and they all have broken down at or around 50k miles and if they have not been sold for dirt cheap, they are in a junkyard right now. btw, my 95 Toyota Camry LE now has 260k miles. ZERO problems, other than normal maintanence. The car has been in my family since 98. It has been beaten up by long 200 mile commutes for years, redlined by teenagers and it is weathered down and looks more like a 1985 car than a 1995 car. Yet it has zero mechanical problems. I'm going to get it painted and will ride it until it dies. Everything that worked on the day this car arrived to the dealership still works today. I won't compare Toyota to Ford any longer, but I will say this: compared to that rattling troubled Ford Tempo, this car feels like a Maybach. No joke. Will never buy Ford again.

My GS400 gets about 14 city and 20 highway according to my NAV screen. Unfortunately, I travel about 90% city so I don't ever get to see the 20's :( . With 90% city, I get about 15 MPG

From my experience, the only supercharger I know of for the GS400, the RMM one, was around $6500 new, but they are hard to find and you may be able to get a used one for much less than that. They are discontinued so I don't think RMM sells them anymore :(

Does it give it that "ricer" sound or no?

Here's the GS450h more in the article HERE maybe someone could google up more info and pics :)

Interesting. I'm assuming you can mod these cars as much as GT4, right?

Thank you x100 And Merry Christmas :)

I would really appreciate it if you do this one for me (it's a GS) JT8BH68X2W0006430