wlfng2005

Guys,

How do we check to see if the mounts are busted? and what are the problems would they cause? On my 97 ES300, it seems the dog-bone mount (Torque Strut Front Right) is broken. Currently, my car seems a bit rough on the road time to time (not everytime) so I am wondering if I can blame the issue to this mount. Also, could it be the sway bars?

Please advise,

wlfng2005

Thats a shame...I think you paid way too much for an inferior tire.

I think so too, and the energies' treadwear is pretty bad too...the price is way too high for 4 tires.

so I took the advise and went ahead to buy 4 NEW michelin primacy (H rated)...Afterward, my previous tires which were the Energy...felt like junk. These primacy tires are incredibly smooth, quiet, good traction. The only noise I hear is other car's noise and the engine...Although it is quite expensive, but let me tell ya, these things worth every penny. I am glad that I took the advise and go for it.

Anyways, here is what I paid for, please let me know if I got a good/bad deal:

+4 New Michelin primacy MXV4(H-rated) size=P205/R65/15

+Installation+Balancing for all 4

+Tire Replacement Warranty (for the rest of the tires' lives) for all 4

+4-Environmental Fee

+4-Tire disposal

+California Tax (I hate this)

=>Came out to be $541.60 (From America's Tires)

I priced them via the America's Tire Web site at $159/ea, or $636 for 4 tires for my size (255/55/R17). Sounds like you got a good deal. Where in CA are you? I'm in Orange County, in Southern CA. Did you use the AT price or did you come in with competitor pricing?

Thanks to all of you for your feedback. As soon as I scrimp a few (hundred) pennies together I'll get my tires replaced. Sounds like Primacy is my best bet!

I am located in San Jose, which is Northern CA. Here is how I got my price:

-I called around to different shops/dealers and ask for a quote on these 4 primacy tires and take notes carefully. I then, check my tire's price at tirerack.com and realize that they have the cheapest prices. So I went ahead and go to America's tire website to get a quote and apparently their price is 10 dollars more than what I get from tirerack. Thus, I filed a "price match" request with tirerack, and within 24 hours, I was contacted by a representative regarding the pricing. He spent 10 minutes trying to persuade me that they got the lowest price when everything factors in and tirerack price is not as low as I think since it does not factor in taxes and installation, etc...He told me that his best price is $590 after all the fees. I told him that I will call him back after I do a price research on the tire. I waited one day, and I called him back to discuss about the price. But this time, I am well-prepared. I told him that I called around 8-10 blah blah blah different shops/dealers regarding price quote, and two of them told me that they would honor tirerack's price and the out of the door price would be $530 (I came up with the number myself by calculating America's tire costs with $110 per tire). He asked me if the price is after the $70 rebate -> I said no, it is BEFORE the rebate. I also told him that "blah blah blah" (which is the name of a shop I made up LOL) is giving out this offer, and I think America Tire should able to beat that. I continue by saying that I would want to go with America's tires since they have good reputation but this shop's attractive price is holding me back. Boom, he agreed and gave me a quote of $520 for all 4 tires including all other fees...

sorry if I wrote a bit too long....just hope that it benefit someone else as it did for me...I saved myself (590-530=$60), my sister $100, and my friend $75. The last time I checked, Costco's prices are even higher than this.

so I took the advise and went ahead to buy 4 NEW michelin primacy (H rated)...Afterward, my previous tires which were the Energy...felt like junk. These primacy tires are incredibly smooth, quiet, good traction. The only noise I hear is other car's noise and the engine...Although it is quite expensive, but let me tell ya, these things worth every penny. I am glad that I took the advise and go for it.

Anyways, here is what I paid for, please let me know if I got a good/bad deal:

+4 New Michelin primacy MXV4(H-rated) size=P205/R65/15

+Installation+Balancing for all 4

+Tire Replacement Warranty (for the rest of the tires' lives) for all 4

+4-Environmental Fee

+4-Tire disposal

+California Tax (I hate this)

=>Came out to be $541.60 (From America's Tires)

guys, what about the michelin HARMONY? it has great reviews, did any one try it out yet?

my god, i just called best buy(s) around me and none of them have it....out of stock, is it really that hot? lol

already replacing new tires @ 20k miles? Man, that sucks!

Anyways, in my opinion the energy MXV4 is pretty decent with good traction (both wet and dry), comfortable, and low road noise. I have 4 of these on my Lexus ES 300 so I can tell. However, the bad thing about these tires is that they wears off quick, so if you are into long tread life, then you should look for something else.

Can't comment on the turanzas since I never had it. I heard michelin Harmony is pretty good: good tread life (80k mile), comfortable, very quiet, good traction. I suggest you check it out and give it a try.

I wont risk it if I were you. The worst thing can happen to anyone on the road is ....the timing belt being broken. Also, did you know that it costs even more if you fix it than whether "change" it now?

Still to this day...most people don't understand gasoline and burn rates - your car is designed to run on 87 - if you run any higher rating than that you are throwing money away - for decades people have misunderstood how gasoline burns and what octane readings are and what they mean especially in relation to gasoline and its burn rate. If you put a fuel in that has a higher octane number/rating, not only are you wasting your money but the engine will have less power - you want the FASTEST burning fuel you can get away with not the slowest - my grandfather used to do the same thing for decades and I finally got around to telling him "Grandpa...this thing is designed to run on 87...why are you wasting money on "premium" ... so he finally realized after I explained what you see in this blog and he stopped doing that and started saving money - what happens is people get fixated on the word/term "premuim" and back in the old days...there was some merit to the "quality" and cleanliness of the fuel, plus most everything in the old days was high compression so higher octane fuels were necessary - but in modern day...the three grades are basically identical fuels with identical cleanliness (required by auto manufacturers and the feds) and then compounds are added to change the burn rate/octane rating.

With all due respect, I use premium gas only on my ES300 97 because it gives me a huge boost in performance comparing to the lowest unleaded fuel. I think the money we pay for premium is well worth it.

have you tried FM transmitter?

What I think you should do is....call around first, don't settle for just one dealership. I would call toyota dealers, along with lexus. A good deal at dealer for timing belt change+water pump is around 600-800. If I were you, I would call and low ball each one by saying something like "oh, this abc dealership gives me a quote of changing such and such for 700, can you beat that?" Then see how it goes from there. Also, try to go to a trustworthy garage mechanic instead (I did all my timing belt+water pump for 400 bucks while the parts already cost more than 200 bucks).

However, in my opinion, you should not get carried away or scared when the dealer picks on you about the timing belt change. The belt itself is made of very high quality rubber, unlike normal ones. My ES 300 is 1997 has 89k miles when I bought it, so clearly a car with 12 years timing belt can still be ok. My car is much much older than yours and it has more miles on it, and it is still ok. IF I were you, I would just ignore the dealer and bring that baby home LOL

OH MY GOD. I am having the same problem. My lexus' engine light is on and it kind of makes me nervous. But I feel much better after seeing this post of yours. Thanks a bunch and please keep on reporting.

how is it even possible to compare Hyundai to Lexus? I'm just curious here LOL