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Lenore is right. In addition to looking at their cars like their kids Big Wheel, people seem to to use their garages as a storage locker and there is never any room for the cars. There is a T.V. program on the "Home & Garden" channel called "House Hunters". During the show people are shown various homes for sale. It is amazing how much stuff people can put in their garages. It's not surprising then that the riding lawn mower and the bicycles are in there instead of the Lexus. Being obsessive like I am, I am just the polar opposite of your neighbors. I over care for my cars. I garage them all day and night when their not in use. I have them hand washed and vacuumed once a week at a detailer, and I perform all maintenance one thousand miles before it's due. I also have them waxed and buffed twice a year, before and after our winter season. I know, somewhere in there is a happy middle ground. I need to get a life.

Jim I felt that same "Out of body/car" feeling last year when I switched from my ES330 to the 2010 ES350. It took me a long time to get used to the fact that I couldn't see out of the back window without looking at the rear view screen, and that required me to take my eyes off of the mirrors while backing and look down at the center of the dash. Still is awkward! I also found the ES350 cabin to be sparse and void of those real wood touches that the 2005 ES330 had. It just looked cheap. Now, I think it looks contemporary, and to slap on the amount of wood the old 330 had would make it look like an "Old mans" car. (That by the way includes me.) It's just what your used to I guess. If I've been in the same car for 11 1/2 years, anything would feel very strange. It's like loosing your favorite recliner in front of the T.V. I'm going to have to drive an LS and see what it's like. I have toyed with the idea once in a while of buying a lightly used one, but never thought I wanted to try an convince my self that an $85,000 car is an asset instead of a deep hole of depreciating value and no tax write off when your retired.

On my 2010 ES350, the parking assist volume is adjustable by the dealer only. The range in volume is 1-5 and the factory default is set at 3. This is in the 2010 owners manual, page 516, and may not be exactly the same for a 2008 but I bet it is. (This change in setting is true even if you have navigation.)

Looks like it to me! Beautiful.

I've never driven a LS460, so I'm curious as to what it was more specifically that you didn't like about the LS460L. Such as too stiff, too soft etc.

Your best bet, short of knowing someone who just bought the identical car from the same dealer one hour before you did, is to look up the following: Go online and access the Kelly Blue Book (KBB). This is used by many as an industry bible for current market prices including new car price, used car value, and trade-in values. Also just Google the car your looking at for new car prices and you can also look up NADA. National Automobile Dealers Association. This is a guide book like the KBB and gives the same information but based on different markets. Try this site for recent purchase prices paid: http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.efc53ba

Very thorough article about both Hyundai and Kia's luxury car strategy against Lexus and German makes. This information is a perfect companion to a lengthy discussion in the ES350 forum a few weeks ago. Very lively. Worth the read. http://autos.aol.com/article/hyundai-kia-luxury-cars/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl18%7Csec3_lnk3%7C108186

What's not to like about Door County? A beautiful piece of the Great Lakes creation. Are you from there dcfish? We spent a fantastic day on Washington Island riding scooters all over the island.

lanH is right in that your road noise is probably caused by the tires. Lexus cars are renowned for their quiet cabin and smooth ride, and a large part of that quiet cabin comes from the right tire matched to the model of car. On my 2010 ES350 I use Michelin Primacy MXV4. Several members use the same tire for the ES because it gives a superior ride for that particular large boat. I don't have any knowledge of what would be a good selection for your IS but a good place to start is to do a search of the board for other threads regarding the subject. Also Tire Rack and your Lexus dealer. My dealer will price match any price from anybody on any tire wether it's local or Internet. Check what the car came with as OEM. The fact that your tires are low profile is going to affect to some degree the amount of road noise your going to have. If the noise is more important, you might want to try a higher profile tire.

I have the info you require to address that concern, but I'm afraid you will continue to increase my 'warn' status if I respond to any of your comments. Take a walk on the wild side. I would also like to hear your information. Go for it.

My translation of what CuriousB said: "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" Your kidding?...well that's a relief. I thought he said "Gort! Screw Earth..nuke 'em!"

CuriousB: I'm impressed!

Hello and welcome to the LOC. I don't know the answer to your questions, but I would suggest you re-post this to the ES350 section for better response and a quicker answer. Also try doing a search using words like "es350 headlight conversion" "navigation aftermarket". (The search engine does not accept 3 letter words like "nav" or "HID".)

I'm not the one that brought race into the discussion Lenore, he did. I see now that he has chosen to remove all his remarks...removed or not he said the things that he said. Gabep: I guess you don't have the courage of your supposed convictions. This is what Thomas Paine spoke of when he coined the phrase "Sunshine Patriot".

Hi and welcome to the LOC. Sorry your having this problem, but from what I gather from reading some previous threads I don't think your the only one having this problem. I can't really help you because I don't have the knowledge, but I have pasted a link from the search engine with several post about the same type of problem. Also I would suggest you post your problem in the IS250 forum as well. It will get more readers that way. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?app=core&module=search&section=search&do=search&fromsearch=1

Hi Paul! Welcome to the LOC. Look forward to your pics.

I'm not saying they didn't. What I said was its a culture of non-cooperation that both sides are to blame for. Per our approval, Congress continues to be the worlds largest and least selective cluster f****. It has no shame in who or what it will bed in order to sustain it's own power, and control over those that have power. This power does not derive from the constitution, nor the electorate. It comes from the rules of the house and senate. As we have watched the various congress's operate over the decades, the rules or procedures for impaneling committees, introducing legislation, moving legislation through committees, filibustering on the floor and in committees, and blocking legislation from coming to a vote, ad nausem, have all been enacted, changed, reenacted, used, etc. And, by both parties feverishly. These rules are put in place by the party in power at the time, and then reformed by the party in power during the next cycle. A freshman senator or representative introducing a bill would be no more welcome than a skunk at a picnic. The rules are designed to allow the party big boys to control all legislation. No matter how many phone calls you make or e-mails you send to your senator, your bill isn't going anywhere with out Mitch McConnell's blessing. These rules are choking the life out of the legislative process in my opinion. An elected Representative to either chamber should be allowed to introduce legislation without the approval of the party whip. Filibuster should be eliminated. Both the House Speaker and Senate majority leader should not be able to block bills from coming to discussion and a vote. No lobbyist should be allowed to contribute to any campaign nor be allowed in or on the Capitol grounds. No Senator or Representative can serve more than two terms. Remember Lenore and Steve and who ever else is lurking, this is not a Obama thing, it is not a party thing, and it is not right or left. It is strictly OUR thing. WE let this stuff happen because we put up with it. I know we vote for different Senators and Congresspersons all the time. But, we have got to find a way to make those people reform the system from within if there is any hope for change and forward movement. Like Will Rodgers said; "We've got the best Congress money can buy".

Hi and welcome. For best results, post this in the GS400 forum. That's where most people will look for it.

aaaand their off!! LOL (Chapter 2 in a series.)

Is yours broken/missing? What about you warranty?

You'll find several different recommendations by doing a search of the forums.

I'm not sure whats going on, but this paragraph Lenore makes no sense. Literally. I don't mean ideologically, it is just gibberish. This has been a discussion and argument between myself, you, Steve and Jim for the most part. At this point it is just you and Steve. I agree with Steve's positions and unfortunately the one person who was sharing your views apparently got mad and went home. Everyone had said their piece and staked out their territory. Anything else to be said will be just plowing the same ground OVER and OVER again. So, time for the four of us to move on? We can wait for the next topic (I started this mess) which will come along soon enough I hope. I enjoy a constructive banter. Enough?

Hello Emery. Wecolme to the LOC.

Remember Ronald Reagan? Some cities are so hard up for money, they're hunting parking ticket violators down 5,10, 25 years after the ticket was issued !!! Read on !! http://autos.aol.com/article/beware-cities-hunting-you-down-for-reagan-era-parking-tickets/?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl24%7Csec1_lnk3%7C107310

I think the biggest issue is that your posts seem to parrot rants from a variety of angry chain letters. They don't seem to be based on your own experiences. To persuade people you really need explanations and they need to be in your own words - explanations based on your own reasoning ... not somebody else's. that is the typical belief by many, however When I talk to friends, neighbors, and aquatances, the belief is the same that the country is headed in the wrong direction. Yes I read the chain letters etc. however your side does the same when putting blame on opposite views. Those are only inputs to the general feeling of so many in this nation. Frankly I do not affiliate with either party now, I look at whom will make this country move back to the center and cause a more positive change which is really needed right now. I personally want the old guard out, and have new ideas which are constructive to making this country great. Not a counter culturalism ran by Socialist, whom feel government is the solution to all that ails them. People need to accept responsibility for their own lives, and make our representatives move toward that cause. Americans are truely spoiled, and need to tighten their belts and role up their sleeves and take hold of their lives. Funny immigrants (legal) feel we are still truely the land of opportunity. Too bad the folks on Government dole dont feel the same. Misery grows misery, and that is what our society has moved towards. I believe we are still truely the greatest nation in the world and our capitalism is what made it that way. I have been in countries where that is not the case. Top of the morning to everyone. Again, can you please be specific ! When you claim that the current administration is Socialist and is/has turned the country towards/into a Socialist state, what specific actions or laws or new legislation have they enacted that have made it that way. I get that in your opinion, you feel the country is headed in the wrong direction, but where are the incidences that uphold the Socialist claim? You talk disdainfully about "the folks on the government dole". I assume you mean me, collecting Social Security and on Medicare. Or, as I've said before, my daughter on short-term unemployment. Yes, we are real dead beats sucking the government dry. If you always feel the need to blame someone or some group, why not turn to Congress. THAT is where the power lies. Congress makes and passes the laws and programs for the country. The President only has the power to sign or veto, and then the Congress can override the veto. Examples are part ownership of GM, Fannie May, Freddie Mack. Health care. As for on the dole I mean the 5 generations still on welfare which has failed the very people it is suppose to help. As for Congress, yes agree totally, however look at Obama's direct order for such things as housing yesterday to buy more voters...blaming it all on Congress for not enacting further tarp, which failed to correct this economy. As for unemployment, yes needed, but the extensions have caused people to quit looking for jobs as reported on all of the networks. What the government did with our banking industry is truly a direct move on banks...THey should have been allowed to fail....But the Administration as well as Bush didn't want that to happen.... Well, as you might have already predicted, I disagree with your arguments. Especially as they pertain to letting the banks fail, the healthcare legislation bill, and the new housing refinance program. I assume you don't know anyone who's upside down with their mortgage through no fault of their own. (Not everyone is on the dole.) Given the length of this thread and the voracity with which it has been waged, it is obvious we'll never agree on too much of anything political. I do believe that "GABEP" is incorrect in saying those of us who disagree are "closed minded and wasting your time" The FREE exchange of ideas, the expression of strong opinions, regardless of how out of the mainstream someone may think they are, is just the very thing we are arguing about. What is best for our country and maintaining our freedom of speech without censorship. Before today and last night, I never viewed the current affairs of the day through your lens. Again, I don't see them the same way. But , you can bet as we go through the upcoming campaign I will think of them and measure each candidate by some of your beliefs. Close minded?...I hope I'm not that shallow.