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Patience is truly a friend of your check book. Even with tight inventory, a dealer has to meet their "number of units sold" obligation to Lexus and whomever the dealer uses to finance their rotating inventory from month to month. As S.W. at least and I can attest to, anyone who buys the families groceries based on commisions from sales of a product, usually can receive an additional Bonus or "Spiff" if they can meet their required budgeted sales number each month. Additionaly, it is normal at two times during the year, the end od each quarter, and the end of December or what ever month of the year the dealers fiscal year ends. The end of the quarter, because the dealer may have an interest due payment owed to whomever does his/her financing, and remember that new and off-lease, trades, are always coming in that require constant cash flow out. The other boring part of your purchase falls under the dealers "Doors Open" daily cost such as payroll, utilities, taxes, blah, blah. OK, after all that, how can you buy that Hybrid and take advantage of this dealeers business model. Here in Des Moines, (about 850,000 MSA population) The Lexus dealer had a very luke warm December finish. The 2013's of all models were well recieved but no one felt their life would end without one. If the dealer inventory was short such as Hybrid they got on the phones and internet and scoured the midwest for a swap to get that Hybrid. With a lackluster yearend, The dealer, if they can find them, will be burning up the keyboard and phone lines to find you that Hybrid. Remember, there has never been a small to medium business that didn't need cash coming in.The 2013 ES350 I wanted was no where to be found localy or in the upper Midwest, equiped the way I wanted. It was approx 15 days until the end of the month. I told them I was serious about a car like that if they could find it. But I needed a couple of things. If it came with Bridgstone tires I would want them changed to Michelin Primacy. I wanted the $1,000 coupon off, plus an additional $1500 off. just for hassle factor in waiting to find what I wanted. To make sure they knew I was Serious, I gave them a check for just $1,000 as earnest money, and we shook hands with a deal. The next day, I got a call from my rep. saying they found a ES like I wanted, but it was still in the ship yard in Japan. It would be about 6-8 weeks and would I wait. I didn't need it right away so I said yes but, man thats 2 months. Your right he said. I'll take another anoter $750 off the price just because you've been so patient with us. Thiers a Hybrid somewhere at your price. Paul

Mmmmmm.......it's probably just my poor sense of observation, but over the last year or so, it seems like there are fewer and fewer members of the Lexus Owners Club that are actually driving a Lexus product anymore. If this is actually a trend, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not. From one perspective, it keeps Lexus on it's toes by listening to it's customers "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on features like the joy stick. (Personaly, the touch screen was Warp speed faster, but the joy stick allows for a more powerful software package.) It also informs the rest of us about whats better about the Lexus or what we're lacking that we die hards should be demanding. Competition is good and is the engine of change and improvement. If you no longer like the Lexus line, or have moved to another manufactuer, do you want to still want to be a part of the Club site? If so, why? Happy New Year!!!!! Paul Paul

I was being held at "GITMO" - Cuba, where they tried to break me over and and over again. Finally, I couldn't take any more of the water boarding so I signed the purchase order. But I wil say as a gesture of international good will, they swapped out the Bridgestone tires for new Michelin Primacy's at no cost, and a car with leather not the Nu-Lux covering. (Truth? I was in an accident with my 2010 ES and it was totaled. Darn shame too because that great car had less than 12,000 miles on it.) Happy New Year to all of you here in the Lexus Owners Club.

Great stuff Steve!!! And oh so True. Nothing better than English satire! What will they do if they come out with the "Peach" with the "Pit" in it? Paul

The Happiest of Holidays, and by some miracle, finally, Peace at Last. Paul

I couldn't help but laugh. I was thinking it must be something high tech, and here it was a very simple thing that as you pointed out has been around for years. I guess we should start with the simple first. LOL

Is your village missing it's Idiot? ....I'm available, will work for gasoline! Well, it happened again. Every warning light and normal start-up "System Check " light all stuck in the full on position. The climate control fan running. The seat belt buckled, door open and closed twice. In and out of the car to reset the security system. Shift lever moved from Park to Drive several times with brake applied/un-applied. Parking brake applied and released. More checks that I can't remember. Oh, yes. Held the remote key 3 inches away from Start-Stop button. While I was sitting there in my Dentist parking lot (Yea, i'd just come out from getting my Christmas root canal) I was trying to figure out what to do. Call Santa's Towing Service?....to exspensive. So I called the dealer and talked to my service advisor. We've talked about this problem before and because it's a 2013, everyone's scracthing their heads. The advisor went and pulled in their Master Mechanic. Designation by Lexus itself, one of first techs with Lexus, began in 1990. He asked me if there was a red or green light showing on the start stop button. I said there's no light. He asked if I was able to move the steering wheel. I said no. He said put your foot on the brake, try to turn the wheel as much as you can. Now push the start button. I drove to the dealer and gave him a big hug, and promised him a golden 1990 Lexus in Lexus heaven. Paul

Hi @bdul and welcome to the LOC. I believe that with the 2013's the Navigation Map updates are done via download by a Lexus dealer. Paul

Hi Darsan9 and welcome to the Club. If you just had your mechanic look at it and didn't actually have a Lexus tech look at it, I'm sorry to say that it may not be the bulb but the ballast that provides the voltage for the HID type Headlight bulb. I'm not saying that's what it is , but the whole system shold be checked out especialy since both sides are acting up. Try e-bay as a source for a new bulb, or Sewellparts.com. Sewell is a large Lexus outlet in Dallas that gives good discounts to members of the Lexus Owners Club. Paul

It used to make a difference in what and where you bought your gas. I'm sure there are some of you who remember when there were actualy "Gas Stations". You know, in your nieborhood, changed your oil, fixed a flat, came out and jumped your car? My Dad owned a Gas Station for over 20 years and all 3 of us boys grew up working there. We pumped Mobil gasoline. Down the street the Standard station pumped Standard. And every week you could watch the big tankers fill up at the pipeline dock and load up with their specific brand. When you said "fill'er up with regular" you knew you were getting Shell, Mobil, or what ever brand you liked. Frankly , where you went and what brand of gas you used was based more on how friendly the attendant was and if you could "charge it" at the station. As someone else said, what you buy today is basically all the same sense most prople seem to buy their gas at convienance stores. Paul

OK. As always, you folks are great and always there with help. Thanks to each of you. As you would expect, nothing has happened since our last exchange. I've been watching the instrument panel each time I start the car and nothing out of the ordinary is coming up. I've made an appt. for this Tuesday to 1, have them pull the codes, but my gut tells me thats a long shot. 2. The dealer is going to swap the Brigestone (Turanza?) for a new set of Michelin Primacy MXV4's. I just told them that the Bridgestone suck and they know, The majority of 146,000 members of the LOC agree that the Primacy is by far the best. Every time I buy a new car they always swap them out for me at no charge. I'll get back after they read the codes and see if we come up with any thing. Merry Christmas!! Paul

Welcome GXJ to the Lexus Owners Club! We are all glad you decided to join up. As is customary for new members around this time of joy and giving, It's your turn to buy pizza and beer for the other members. All 146,000 of them from around the word. I suggest that to get their fair share to the members in Dubai and Checoslavakia, as well as the guy I talked to in the Netherlands one night, you might want to make a deal with Santa and his Riendeer. Obvviously, just pulling your tail pipe.LOL Merry Christmas, Paul

Lexus has and is in the process of adding a "Technical Support Specialist" at each dealer. I'm not sure wether Lexus helps support the cost of this position, but my dealer has just added one and Steve W's has one as well. When I took delivery of my 2013, he spent about 20 minutes with me going over all the new stuff. If your dealer has this position, I would Highly recomend getting together with them, (it's free) and go over the audio and nav features. They know everything about the new technology.

The only warning light I'm seeing that MAY be out of the ordinary is the yellow triangle "Master Warning Light". There is no other sound. The hard part about this is that I have put my foot on the brake, and at the same pushed the start button as you normaly would. And, as normal, this starts the "systems check" sequence. For these few seconds all of the instrment panel lights are on including the Master Warning light. However, when this "no start" condition happens all the lights stay on until by some magic I hit the right combo and it goes into the start mode. I will check the A&B keys and also check to see if the key detector is activated. Thanks for all of your help!!! Paul

On two occasions within a week of having my new 13' ES350, I've gotten in the car with the FOB in my pocket, and pushed the start button. Nothing happens. The door is shut tightly, my seat belt is buckled, the shift is in park, the battery is charged, the car was unlocked when I approached and when I grabbed the door handle, and the car does not have a remote start. I am truly stumped. I haven't taken it to the dealer yet because as any of you know, with an intermitant problem like this it wouldn't do any good. My only guess is the engine immobilizer and the link to the security system. Now this mornig when this happened I did noticed the little yellow triangle with the exclamation point in the middle of the triangle. ( on the 2013 the yellow triangle is in the middle/center of the instrumrnt cluster. Either I'm doing something wrong or there is a bug in the system. Any ideas? Paul

Hi Fernicus and welcome to the Lexus Owners Club!. Like you, I am picky about the quality of the sound in my car. Good music is one of the true blessings in life. But here, I think you might have gotten your priorites mixed up. The car cost the most, does the most, puts you in harms way the most, and can drain your bank account the most if you need a major repair. If the timing belt breaks, the Mark Levinson isn't going to help one wit towards fixing the problem or reducing the repair cost. So IMO, the low miles of this car, the service records that should come with it to tell you how well it's been taken care of, and the over all reliable condition of the car are number one on the priority list. The Levinson is an awesome system. Rated near the top above almost all other custom luxury car audio packages. Such as Boston, Harmon, Bang & Olfsun, Bose, etc. IF you can find a great GS with the ML, go for it. Since the ML runs about $2500 new, you can put a super aftermarket in that red GS and enjoy great sound. Paul

"Please feel free to view how-to video tutorials by:" "• Utilizing the free Lexus Enform® Mobile App to your smart device and selecting "Vehicle Information" • Accessing the Lexus YouTube channel at www.lexus.com/tutorials • Visiting the Lexus Driver site at : www.LexusDrivers.com and selecting "How-to Videos"" "Once again, please contact your dealership Lexus Technology Specialist if you have any questions regarding the features in your vehicle or contact our Lexus Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-255-3987." (I recieved this e-mail today from Lexus and watched some of the tutorials and U-Tubes. Some helpful, others pretty basic. Their are a few parts that gave me some glimers of hope on how to solve some of these problems, but don't know for sure. Check them out and see if you can learn any thing.) Paul

$3.08 for 89 octane here in Des Moines. Expect it to move up to $3.12 by Holidays.

Greetings rrclark and welcome to the Lexus Owners Club. Lexus, in addition to it's reputation for #1 in reliability and Luxury, has introduced some stomping performance designs for 2013. When your out looking, jump in a 2013 GS350. I think you'll like it. Paul

I agree with James. A 90% bet it is the amplifier. Normally, as James eluded too, the only way to repair a part like this on a ML system is to unplug the old and plug in a new one. Why? Levinson has always deemed their product as proprietary, and license it for the exclusive use of Lexus. Levinson does not provide repair manuals or diagrams even to the Lexus dealers. The real slap is the price of over$1,500. for a new one. .( In my area) The link below is for United Audio in Syracuse NY. Many of our members appear to have had good luck with their service. I have no idea how much they charge, but they may be able to fix your problem and save you money. Please let us know what you find out. Paul http://unitedradio.com/automotive/

There's something in the water in Kansas......?

According to the richest zip codes as provided by the IRS, this company did a study of the ten most popular selling cars in the Beverly Hills zip codes. Do you believe this? How much area does the zip code cover? Speak up! http://autos.aol.com/gallery/wealthiest-zip-code-cars/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl10%7Csec3_lnk2%26pLid%3D242702

The Panamera's are beautiful cars! Drove the GS around some today, got to take it out on the highway for the first time. Rides great! I can't believe I was worried I wouldn't like the way the GS drives. Definately firmer, but the body is much more controlled and stable, and on the highway it just glides effortlessly along, much like an LS does. Super happy camper. I didnt get a chance to snap any pics, it was cloudy here today anyways. I'll do so tomorrow. Yes Steve, I spent about 20 minutes with the Tech Consultant before I left the dealer. Most of that time we played with the new mouse and voice recognition for guidance. More on that latter. Anyone with a 2013 of any flavor would be doing themselves a favor by taking advantage of this Tech Consultant service.

Click the "More Reply Options" button and then the "Browse" button under "Attach Files". After you have the location of your photo in the little box, click the "Attach this file" button to upload it. Repeat as necessary to upload additional photos. No, I have no interest in another LS. After being completely bummed out from test driving an LS460L last year and finding that I liked my 00 LS far more, I'm thinking that my current LS will be the last one. As I mentioned to Paul this morning, I'm hoping my next primary car will be an off-lease Panamera, preferably a relatively modestly equipped V6 (white exterior, of course!) -- I'll let let somebody else take the big depreciation hit like I did on my current LS. Driving the little Smart Fortwo for a month while my LS was in the body shop reminded me how much I miss having a fun-to-drive car. We've got room for only two vehicles at this stage of our lives (i.e. geezerhood) and I'm thinking that a Prius v / Panameria V6 would be a great combo as we skate into the sunset. Thank you very much Jim for the instructions! I feel like a 2nd grader some times when every body else on here seems to know so much. Your like the Shell Answer Man!!. I paid cash for my 2013 with the plan in mind that since I'm retired, and my wife is only a few years away, we'll be able to go into the :good life?" without those pesky payments. In addition, if you haven't sat in the new (Poor Mans) ES350 you, at least I, was suprised at all the previous features that were options are now standard. The car should satisfy my "itch" for a long time since the sucker is so loaded. Confession, Sometimes I would like to take the mouse/joy stick system, and throw it out the window. I don't see what purpose it serves that the 2010 did not. But thats just one prtsons opinion. Thanks again Jim, Paul