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It really is a beautiful piece of state of the art, 21st century engineering. Others may disagree, but others may be willing to pay out $150 - 200k just to be !Removed! pigs. I too am glad you stayed with Lexus. I know you struggled with the A6. Regarding the thoughts on the 2013 reduction in quality, I would strongly disagree. Of the 05, 10, and now 13' I've owned, the 13 interior quality is superb. Grant you, it is a long way from the 1990's Ls versions where every empty space had wood put on it. This is a much more contempoary look and has more technology than the 2010. I ordered leather on purpose. The substitution of Nu-Lux for leather is a cheap a.. mistake. The rest, stiching, solid thud when you close the door, the floor carpets all match-the SAME color-, and the addition of the "mouse" system all keep what may to some of you be just a "entry level" car, a real reason why Lexus continues to sell at the top year after year. Did I mention the heated steering wheel? If you live in proximity to a place where it gets 32' degrees or so you will love this feture! I will challenge you to put your money where your mouth is and build a better auto for the same dollar that offers the same level of value. Ho Ho Ho.....LOL Again, Steve, GREAT choice!! Remember, after a tough day at work,just sit back, put on some good music, and drive as fast as you can......! Paul

Hi Metalblaze and welcome to the Club! We hope you enjoy being a member. I have zip experience with the VW excep for feed back from friends. However, while I was waiting for my 2013 ES350 to come from the factory, the dealer loaned me a 2013 RX350 for six weeks and I was able to give it a pretty good evaluation, admitidly just my opinion ( and as my wife reminds me, thats a continual victim of deflation). The RX has a remarkable smooth ride for it's size and especially it's tire size. It handled corners and quick lane changes well, not Formula 1, but very competent. There is some roll in corners that I'm not used to since I drive sedans, but I quickly adapted. The power from the 6 cyl is good for the weight and I wasn't afraid to punch it for a quick pass around a car in front of me. Inside, the cabin is very comfortable and well appointed. The dash is well layed out. Standard features are abundant, and storage spaces every where. I did not like the sound system, but then I'm pretty picky about sound reproduction. The Parchment interior is beautiful, but choose another color if you have a family with young children.. Please give it a drive before you settle for something else. In my opinion, beyond the Lexus if you decide on something similar, you will be doing just that, settling for less. Hope this has been helpful, Paul

So cool! I am very happy for you (and fri.....g jealous) as I know you've been strugling with this for a long time. Wether to trade or not to trade is a worse conundrum than telling your daughter wether she should marry for money or love!? As of last night, my lowly 2013 ES is in my garage, and I'm busy this morn. wading through the manuals. Speaking of which, The whole "bible" of owners manuals/tech guides, is almost 4" wide. Just the owners manual alone has 908 pages. (I've already filled out my application form for a mid-semester enrollment at Iowa State for Graduate School so I can understand some of this stuff. I know some of you wondered why I waited for a special order to come from Japan via a World War II supply ship, with only one half of a propeller left. I just wanted real leather, not Nu-Lux. To Steve and his new toy, you worked hard and you almost live in your car. You deserve it it!!! p.s. I know any body should know this, but I don't. How do you upload a pic? Paul

Hi Fastoy, I think one of the most overlooked items when shoping for a car is how the seats fit, especialy over a long trip. I can imagine that even though there both Lexus, the seats in your 2006 do not feel the same as your 2013 ES. I'm moving from a 2010 ES this week to a 2013 ES, and they have redesigned the contours of the seats just slightly. I like them better. Not everyones spine or rump roast is the same. So just think how difficult it would be to make a car seat that would be comfortable for the guy with the Big Mac or the ballerina drinking diet water. A suggestion is to adjust the Lumbar support a fraction at a time while driving at a moderate speed. It seems like many Lexus owners don't know there is a Lumbar support. Good Luck! Paul

Hi JMorg and welcome to the Club. I think your problem is several years of technology. My 2005 ES350 had the same set up as your 95' LS. You could plug your source into the cassette tape adapter and get a reasonable sound. However, the new Ipod's require a USB port to plug into. This type of connection allows the Ipod and the radio/head unit to "talk" to one another and share information such as the current song playing, name of artist, find a particular tune, etc. In my knowledge, there is no way to adapt your present system so it will work with your Ipod. Taking all of the Lexus original equipment out and replacing it with a new aftermarket system would be the only way to accomplish your goal. Paul

What year is your ES?

Welcome Shyre to the Lexus Owners Club. I understand what the dealer Service Advisor is explaining and in some ways it makes sense. However, Lexus has been selling all weather matts for years, even after the trouble with the so called stuck accelerator problem. Surely a set of OEM matts for a 08' or '07', or what about from a later year IS? It just doesn't seem like an insurmountable problem. An option would be matts made by "Loyds". They make them custom cut for make, model, and year, color. I've owned them in the past and the fit and quality are excellent. Paul

Hi Rebecca and welcome to the Club ! Well, luckily, you missed the fall vaccination drive to prevent us from making impractical decisions, but save us from missing one of the great joys in life. The Lexus IS250 wraps itself around you, and responds to your commands like an extension of your thoughts. Enjoy, and continue to let us know how your affair is developing. Check out and post in the IS250 forum to meet other IS lovers. Paul

Very glad you avoided a bad accident. Rudolf may be cute at Christmas, but they are so over populated across the country that every week, one of our friends or family have a run in with the beautiful animals. Happy Holidays and safe driving. Paul

Happy Thanksgiving to you Mr. dcfish. Long time since I've seen one of your post!! Paul

Wow Nc! That really sucks. I can't even imagine how frustrated you are when driving something you paid a good chunk for, yet you can't stand. I'd be going down the road as you. If you can get out of it with out taking a bath, I'd say goodbye and good ridance. The odd thing, is that we have had my wife's 2007 - S80 for 73,000 miles and have had little to no mechanical problems. I've done the regular maint. flushed the brake lines, new tires, etc, but no non maint. problems. However, I'm with you regarding the hard ride on rough roads regardless of which ride mode you choose, (comfort, sport, advanced). It has 18" low profile tires and I know that dosen't help the ride, but it dosen't bother my wife so I'm not going to spend the money for new wheels and tires. If it rode better I'd probably consider another one in the future, but I'd have to really think it over. One feature The S80 has I wish the ES350 had is the adjustable steering sensitivity. Works great. If you like you steering quick and effortless, just touch that seeting. Good luck on your next ride. Paul

Hi AKME! Sounds like your nearing the Doctorate (PhD) level of automobile suspensen and tire construction. It seems you've been able to solve some of your original issues and are finding even more ways of possibly further reducing road vibration. Hope things can continue to improve and best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving.

Good day to you Sam and also welcome the Club! A couple of things you left out about the car your looking at.....such as how many miles on it, are you buying the car from a dealer or private prvate party, as Lexirx330 said, do you have access to the maintnance records or have you pulled the CarFax report. There have not been any particular or unique problems with the IS300, and as most Lexus it's not unusual for any model Lexus to run up to as much as 200,000 miles. I'm not familiar with the specifics of up keep on this year IS, but most Lexus recommend changing plugs at 120,000 miles. This is the type of thing to look for. If your working with a dealer be sure to talk about buying a car with a "Certified Pre Owned" warranty. Paul

There's your problem....when you loaded your new update, you probably transposed it into F-flat instead of the standard Japenese key of B#. Next time when you enter your destination, try "The Hotel California". (from an old musician to a young one.) LOL

Hi Redgardencat and welcome to the Lexus Owners Club. Well, your situation does sound a little confusing. First of all, why did you decide you needed to buy an update for your GPS? Was it becoming inaccurate in plotting destinations, or did your friends appear to have updated features? Even though Lexus is a division of Toyota, it does not follow that the nav. units are identical. When you pay the bucks for the Lexus you also get some features and goodies that the Toyota badged cars do not get. So, it's not suprising that your two nav units may have different color backgrounds or icon shapes, road lines, etc. In order to check it's accuracy you may not have to play "the Amazing Race" TV show and travel halfway around the world. Are there suburbs in your area that have newly built homes or business since your last GPS update was issued. I would think you should be able to put some of those brand new address's into the nav unit and take off. You might come up with a better idea. If I've made a wrong assumtion about what you wrote or misunderstood your question, please let me know. Please write back and let us know how things work out. Paul

Hi Valk and welcome to the Club. Sorry no one has said hello to you yet. I've been driving a 2013 for a couple of weeks now, and have found no problems, cosmetic or otherwise. It's a real bummer when you get a brand new car, for that much money, and of all things, the paint is chiped!! I'm a little confused. Your post says the dealer will replace the part since it's brand new. I hope I'm reading into that it's actually being replaced/repaired becaused it's covered by warranty. Your RX, like most Lexus cars, carries a "Bumper to Bumper" 4 year, 50,000 mile warranty. That covers your paint chips. Where my confusion comes in is why would you expect any additional compensation since the repair of the problem, at no cost, has satisfied the warranty and therefore your damages/contract. Paul

Hi dgw and welcome to the club! At first blush it sounds like a classic short somewhere. It could be in a wiring harness, or a connector where harness's are pluged together. Additionaly, it could be a bad solder point on a circuit board in the head unit itself or amplifier. I see your RX is a 2010 so it should be in warranty. Unless you are really good with elecctronics and know your way around microchips and wiring, I would urge you to take advantage of your warranty and have you Lexus dealer do the repair. Odd thing about Mark Levinson is that they do not make available a repair manual or circuit diagrams to anyone, including Lexus or their dealers. Levinson makes this system only for Lexus, but they retain the rights to keep it's design proprietary and therefore the only way Lexus is taught to repair is the "plug and play". Unplug the old module and stick in a new one. Please write back and let us know how things work out. Hope this was helpfull. Paul

Hi "1Dave" and welcome to the LOC! Hope you find the other members on the site to be great people. Far be it from me to doubt the word of a very well trained group of Lexus technicians, but in this case, IMO, their wrong. Prior to the intrroduction of the ES350, your dealer is correct. The ES330 could have the AM/SAT button, but even with a subsrition to "XM/Cirius" you still could not get satelit radio unless the car came with the special Sat radio module for picking up Sat signals. (by the way, Lexus is set up to work with the XM monopoly. (please forgive my bias) If you did not order you car that way or Lexus didn't add it at the factory you could have the dealer retrofit it. Let's stop here just for kicks..... If Lexus didn't want you to be able to relativly easly upgrade to the Sat feature, why would they go to the trouble of printing a button that say's "AM/SAT? I think this is one of those siuations where the dealer simply doesn't want to do the job and is blowing you off. When the ES350 was introduced, 2007 and later,(read that 2008), all ES350's had Sat radio capabilities. Unless I'm suffering from early dimentia, Call XM radio while sitting in your car and the radio on. As you talk with XM, they will ask for various information to set up an account. Then they will ask you to tune you radio,( Sat button pushed) to the XM activation channel. It is usually the very last number at the end of the tuner, or the very first. They will then send a signal to your radio wich will activate the Sat signal and programing. They will also try to upsell you a bucket full of additional programing and features. I want to bet that this contact, signing up for service and activation is all that's wrong with your Sat radio. If i'm wrong, someone else at about warp 9 will come on here and tell us so. Please post back and let me and all of us know how wrong I was or If I should sign up for MENSA. LOL- LOL Paul

Gee Dave. Maybe next time you'll be able to afford a good looking one......?lol Man what a super ride my friend. Love the color and especially like the wheels. With good looks and a robbery of a deal I'd say you came out of this like a bandit.!!! One thing...you might want to have the front end alignment adjusted to accomedate that pull to the right every time you pass a gas station. 510hp engines likes to be feed often. LOL

Welcome kgrx to the Lexus Owners Club. Can't say whether yours is a "common" problem, but it happens to all cars. The biggest complaint with almost every car is "How much gas do I REALLY have left when that light comes on. The link below is a complete explanation and description of how the fuel sending unit works and what goes wrong with it. Hope it helps. Paul http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-gauge1.htm

Perfect timing to ask this question, because up until a week ago, I would have answered the same way. However, for the last week Ive been driving a 2013 RX350. And the first time I shut the engine off and unlatched the seatbelt. The seat moved all the way back as well as the steering wheel moving up. Getting out of the car was a breeze!!! I'm tall anyways so this is really a great feature. I assume it is new for 2013 as I have not heard or read of it before. Paul

500 hp?? If the insurance business gets slow you can bring it out here and use it to pull Catepillar bulldozers out of the ditch during winter. Nice ride...hell of a deal. It's obvious you really know how to put the pressure on in tough negotiations. LOL And this is from the guy who kept saying, "I just can't get in the mood to go look at cars. Ha Ha. Please post some pics so I can see and envy. ( My 2013 is still somewhere on the Pacific. The anticipation is half the fun.) Enjoy David good bud! Paul

Welcome back to the good old US of A. Keep us informed about your mods. Paul

I've had the pleasure of owning two upper end Garmin's over the past years, as well as three Lexus with Navigation. The Garmins have mostly been used in our Volvo S80 which has navigation, but is incredibly clumsy to use. The Navigation package in the 2013 Lexus models, in performance and accuracy, is the same as the previous years models. That being said, and after doing some reading and research, my opinion is that the two products provide the same basic services with differences only in features, and operation. NPR ran a story a short time ago regarding the complaint that automobile navigation systems owners swear that one is better than the other. This is true, depending upon how much the manf./ reseller spent on softwear goodies. But the one unchangeable fact that pervades all commerccial units is the accuracy or the proximity to your destination. This factor is, and can only be controled by the triangulation of the satellite signal. And unless your in the military your destination point will not be any better than the Garmin or the Lexus. The hot priority for the military and commercial aviation, as well as civilan use is a major upgrade to the GNS, which is owned and maintained by the military. Looking at the Lexus 2013 version, using the mouse versus the touch screen takes a little getting used to. For me, the whole package is very cool. But it's easy to take your eyes off the road for too long while adjusting settings on the Nav. Paul

Welcome Lexus 1211, You are absolutely in the right. Of course there is always a possibility that each Lexus dealer has some leeway in how they conduct certain aspects of there business, but Lexus/Toyota is very strict on how the dealers follow the Lexus franchise rules. In my experience, The $1000. CPO price is always included as part of the total purchase price as the car sits on the lot. You do have the choice to purchase the car without the CPO or "as is" no warranty. But since again, the total retail price on the lot included the CPO, the invoice would show , original retail, less CPO price, net price. plus tax ect. I should correct myself here for I see your CPO cost is $1200. not $1000. Correct? Having said the above, what I suspicion is really happening here is what a lot of dealer customers don't know. A car dealer can, and many times does, make more profit from what goes on in the Finance Mgrs. office than from the sale of the car it self. I can speak to this with some authority as I have a nephew who is the manager for the "Customer Finance Dept." at the largest Ford dealer in Iowa. He shares alot after a Scotch. When the Finance person tossed in the term "Extended Warranty" after the salesman had told you you didn,t need it, it feels like he's trying to squeze you into buying the Extended Warranty, then that would cover the repair which would have been covered in the first place had you not screwed up and told us you didn't want the CPO, which we can't find any paper work for or document. So, see. It's all your fault and you'll have to buy the Extended Warranty for $2300 !!! Probably exagerated. But here is a suggestion. Choice 1. Get the salesman and finance guy in the room together. This way, you can make each one tell there story, and you, in my opinion, are still intitiled to your CPO warranty. They cannot prove you did not, and the salesman either has to back his customer or lie to the finance guy. Choice 2. Insist on talking to the General Manger. It is in his/her best interest to resolve this so that you don't turn around, walk out, and tell everyone you know what a rotten dealer they are. Choice 3 Contact Lexus directly. Explain your situation and ask them to contact the dealer. Have all you paper work in case they ask you to scan, fax or mail copy's Choice 4 Leave the car there. It was advertised as "Certified" pre owned, and they boast that they perform something like a 112 point inspection. I am not a mecanhic, but if the rack&pinion truly are bad, and the car has only 15,000 miles on it, IMO, that doesn't pass the smell test. Any mechanic would have found a defective rack&pinion while doing their Certification inspection. I have no idea if this long ramble has been any help, but please post back with your progress so we can all learn from this situation Good Luck, Paul http://www.lexus.com/contact/