Django44

Third party warranties are a waste of money on a Lexus in my opinion. The brand is ranked the most reliable car in the world by Consumer Reports with the ES350 the best of the best. I've been offered such warranties on my 2008 ES350 for years. Why do they keep offering them? Because the insurance companies know this model of Lexus, on average, is the least likely to breakdown of all cars on the road. I'm about $7500 richer today because I turned down all their offers over the past eight years. Total repair costs for me with 95,000 miles on the car is $90 for a battery cable.

Be aware that all radar detectors in Virginia, hard wired or not, are illegal.

A few days ago I received a notice form Lexus that they are initiating a Warranty Enhancement Program to cover the problems of "cracked and/or sticky/melting" dashboards in covered vehicles as a result of heat or humidity. The covered vehicles include the 2007-2008 ES 350. There are timeline restrictions with a date of May 31, 2017 as a cutoff on Primary Coverage. All the details are included in the material Lexus sent. I have not had any dashboard problems with my 2008 ES350 even living in Northern Virginia. I do not regularly park my car, however, in sunny hot locations in the summer so that may have something to do with the lack of deterioration. If you are registered with the Lexus warranty program I would expect that you should receive this notice as well.

Recently I had work done on my 2008 ES350 that required a battery disconnect. I had to reset the radio presets, auto seat positions, and clock. I also lost all my "previous destinations" in the Navigation system.

Today, just about the time gbhrps sent his message, I received yet another phone solicitation for extended coverage on my 2008 ES350. The car has 75,000 miles on it and I have not had any problems in the nearly 6-1/2 years that I've had it.

I posted this earlier in the year on the topic of extended warranties: "Across the broad spectrum of all cars on the road the extended warranties are not worth it. If they were the warranty companies would not be in business. Unless you know that your car has a high likelihood to breakdown then I don't think they are worth it (and if the model has a poor reputation the warranty companies will know it and charge you accordingly to assure that they make a profit). When I was considering an extended warranty for my 2008 ES350 a couple of years ago I did a little research and found that JD Powers ranked the Lexus (and Lincoln) as the most reliable brand on the road. Given that, I decided against the extended warranty and just put a little more money into the savings as a means of self-insurance. To me its like buying fire insurance on pig iron stored under water. And, by the way, the warranty companies are still sending info and even calling me (had a call last week) about purchasing an extended policy. Do you think they would be doing that because the Lexus has (1) a good reputation for reliability or (2) a poor reputation?" Having said all that, the $584 for another two years of warranty does not sound like too bad of a deal. I was quoted something like $2200 for three years. Note: my 2008 ES350 now has 73,000 miles on it and if I had purchased extended coverage I would have never used it.

Yes. We've raised the seats to max height and would still like a little more (we're somewhat short folks).

Can anyone recommend a comfortable and durable seat cushion that could add 1-2” of height to the front seats and that fits the ES 350?

If the button is getting physically stuck (as opposed some internal electrical problem) you may want to try using an electronic cleaner and lubricant spray such as that sold by Radio Shack. Just spray a little directly into the gap between the button and the molding.

Across the broad spectrum of all cars on the road the extended warranties are not worth it. If they were the warranty companies would not be in business. Unless you know that your car has a high likelihood to breakdown then I don't think they are worth it (and if the model has a poor reputation the warranty companies will know it and charge you accordingly to assure that they make a profit). When I was considering an extended warranty for my 2008 ES350 a couple of years ago I did a little research and found that Edmunds ranked the Lexus (and Lincoln) as the most reliable brand on the road. Given that, I decided againt the extended warranty and just put a little more money into the savings as a means of self-insurance. To me its like buying fire insurance on pig iron stored under water. And, by the way, the warranty companies are still sending info and even calling me (had a call last week) about purchasing an extended policy. Do you think they would be doing that because the Lexus has (1) a good reputation for reliability or (2) a poor reputation?

I agree with 1990LS400. I too had a trailer hitch (Curt #12343) installed on my 2008 ES350 and find it much easier to use than the old trunk rack that I used with my Camry which seemed to put a lot of strain on the trunk lid. I had it installed locally for $95, although the guy said he should have charged me more since it wasn't as easy as it originally looked. I then purchased a Thule 954 Ridgeline 4-bike rack which is easy to mount on the hitch and comes with a locking device to prevent theft. According to the ES350 manual the car can tow up to 1000 lbs. so if I ever need to tow a light trailer/load I suppose I can do that as well.

As SKIP2929 states, the Prestigious Society offers a terrific work around that permits you to use any function otherwise blocked while the vehicle is in motion. I purchased and installed one and find it invaluable especially on long trips. The installation took about one hour and the instructions that came with it were very clear. The only additional thing I did was to place the device, which is smaller than a pack of cigarettes, into an old sock to prevent it from rattling once it is inserted behind the control panel. I was able to place the on/off switch (a very small button) into the ash tray space (we removed that the day we bought the car) making it otherwise hidden from view. The only problem I had was reinstalling the two vents above the nav screen. I couldn't get them to snap competely back into the dash which left about a 1/4" gap at the bottom of the vents. The next time I took the car in for servicing at Lexus the technician snapped the vents back into place. My wife and I love the device since she can now explore many things on the nav system while the car is in motion. On our cross country road trip last summer this turned out to be very helpful tool in combination with her iPad when looking for hotels, restaurants, cafes and other point of interest. The device runs about $300 but is well worth it if you travel a lot. And, yes, it should not be operated by the driver while the car is in motion because it does take a lot of attention. Google "Prestigious Society" to find their web site.

good stuff, thanks for the info weird how even though it was off, it was not consistent in one direction I reviewed my notes and find that I went through about 30 minutes of congestion south of Harrisburg, PA on the return trip and I suspect that gave me the low MPG reading (29 MPG) on that one leg. Interesting how a few miles of stop and go congestion can effect mileage.

In August I made a round trip from Virginia up to Canada and tracked my mileage. The trip totaled 1,695 miles (about 70% on interstates) and I used a total of 54.4 gallons of fuel (premium) which means I got 31.16 miles/gallon for the entire trip. My earlier examination of the odometer readings compared to actual marked miles along interstates showed that the odo reads about 1.9% low. As a consequence I estimate that the 1,695 mile trip measured on the odo was more like 1,727 actual miles thus giving me a mileage reading of 31.75 miles/gallon. I also compared the MPG readings on the Lexus dash display to actual MPG for individual segments between fill-ups to see how accurate the MPG gauge is. In the four tanks of gas that I used, the MPG gauge showed 31.0 MPG compared to an actual adjusted 29.0 MPG on one segment (why it was low I'm not sure). The other three segments showed the actual MPG to be higher than the Lexus display MPG: (1) Lexus 31.8 / actual 33.1; (2) Lexus 29.0 / actual 31.3; and (3) Lexus 33.0 / actual 34.9 MPG. Bottom line: I think the Lexus MPG gauge reads low and that we’re actually getting even better mileage than the gauge indicates.

I have a 2008 and have had absolutely no problems. Usually I'm carrying water.

Well, I just made a 1600 mile round trip to Quebec from Northern Virginia and I had a chance to compare my 2008 ES 350 odometer to the actual miles posted on three portions of the Interstates (I-95 and I-81) that I traveled on. While we were concerned about the speedometer giving us a low reading that might indicate we were being shortchanged on our mileage warranties, I found that the odometer readings were off as well but to our advantage. Here's what I discovered: I checked the mile markers against the car's odo readings on three 70-mile sections (one in VA on I-95, one in PA on I-81, and one in NY on I-81). By doing at least 70 miles (rather than just a few miles) and doing the readings in three states I hoped to average out any major differences in roadways, the way state DOT's marked their miles, or other anomalies. The ES 350 read short in all three cases. That is, for the actual 70 miles measured by the markers the ES 350 read 68.6, 68.58 and 68.83 miles, respectively. That results in an average reading on the ES 350 about 1.9% lower than the actual miles traveled. If I'm right (and please correct me if I'm not), this means we are actually getting almost 2% more warranty coverage if we are using mileage (as opposed to the 48 month coverage period) as the warranty coverage limit. This may be a case of Lexus playing it safe again. In any case, don't tell Lexus.

When I bought my new 2008 ES350 I asked the dealer if I could get it with an all-leather steering wheel. I was told (truthfully or not) that they would have to special order it from Japan and it would take several months. I went with what was the standard wood-leather combination. The reason I don't care for the wood steering wheel is that it gets awfully hot when left in the sun and it doesn't offer the same positive grip that leather does, especially if your hands are sweaty. Wood looks great but isn't practical in any way as far as I can tell. (You are not even gripping actual wood but rather the varnished surface of the wood wheel.)

Yes. Compared to other makes, the Lexus provides only a modicum of cooling, and the lower back of the upright seat does not provide the fan vent. Keep in mind that Lexus advertises that the seats are "ventilated" not "cooled". I'm not certain I would want actual cold air from the A/C unit blowing on my bottom.

What is the best method and cleaners to use when cleaning the semi-aniline leather in an Ultra-Luxury model? Is there anything I should avoid?

I just may call them for a test. First I want to test the accuracy using my Garmin GPS to document the variations at different speeds. I'll keep you all posted.

don't get paranoid my texas friend, lol, I was correcting Django44 who had everything way wrong the calculations that you did are correct Rob, You are correct. I meant to say that my speedos (both for the 350 and the Camry) read HIGHER than my actual speed, so we are getting screwed out of ~2k of warranty. (I'm a UT '73 MA graduate but in social sciences so that's my excuse on the math!) I don't think anyone complained about readings lower than the actual speed so I think this is a deviation that Lexus/Toyota obviously builds into the car. For whatever the reason they do this it does cut short their responsibilities under the warranties. Something to think about.

Good point about the warranty. That means at a reading of 2 mph lower we're being cheated out of 2,000 miles of coverage on the basic warranty of 50,000 miles. (Is my math correct?) My '96 Camry also read about 2-3 mph lower at 50 mph - a little less at lower speeds, a little more at higher speeds. Someone (is there an attorney in the house?) should raise this with Lexus. Warranty aside, I don't mind the slightly lower reading - tends to keep me off the radar screens.

Years ago when working as an environmental planner in the transportation field I remember using a computer program that calculated automobile fuel consumption at various speeds. I know the program is too old (1980's) to be relevant now but I do remember that the best mileage was obtained at the lowest end of the highest gear (assuming a level road) which means that just after shifting into Overdrive may be the best speed setting for best mpg. It may be possible to identify just when the transmission shifts into O/D, perhaps by watching the tachometer, and then carefully maintain that speed as best as possible for the best MPG. Something to play with on the next long trip.

Thanks for your thoughts, Steve. I've been living in the Northern Virginia area for over 30 years and know that it can go five years with barely any snow and then drop 24" in 24 hours, like last year's Snowmageddon. No, I don't intend on using chains for anything but emergencies. For example, during last week's disastorous snow (Commutageddon) my wife, who is wearing a temporary leg brace, was trapped at a local Metro station with no way to get home. I tried to drive up to get her but couldn't get up a hill on our street due to packed snow over ice. If I had a set of chains I could've slipped them on and made the run. I don't consider snow tires practical since 98% of the time in the winter I'd be running them on dry pavement - plus I don't like the noise. I've done a bit of research and find, first, that the my Lexus manual (for my '08) does give guidance on chains on p. 169, including specs on sizes (for clearance purposes I suppose). I also see that Thule shows chains for Lexus at their web site. I saw mention of snow cables as well. I'm going to continue looking into it, again for emergency purposes (we also make trips to the Midwest in the winter at times over the Alleghenies). I'm just interested in knowing if any other 350 owners have experience with chains.