nicksan

Thanks Zinfandel for giving me an honest opinion, and not a sarcastic one like the other post. Somebody's got it in for me...oh well. I really appreciate that. I will thinking about rolling the dice at between $18k - $19 and work my way down. I feel kind of bad having to sell this thing, but I just have to. Plus I am redoing my house so the money will come in handy. Thanks Again!

SW, Adult? Hmmm...I AM 34, but I'd like to think I am young at heart! Drama Queen? Well, maybe a little, I must admit. Sometimes I'm a bit too passionate about certain things and being a New Yorker all my life I am quite a cynic, and am quick to cry fire. Or maybe I AM just a nut...AHHHHH....where's my prozac?!? Believe it or not, I do have better things to do than to obssess over my car. You know make it shine so much that you need sunglasses to stare at it (detailaholic...is that what you call it?), make sure there are no finger prints on it. In fact I often have bird sh*t all over my hood along with leaves, coffee, you name it, it's on there. Sure, I mind. But I'm too busy to wash the car, and as long as it starts and takes me and my wife to where I need to go, I'm a happy Joe. That's what cars SHOULD do. Nobody to impress. None at all. That was back in college. I have a good paying job so I bought my Acura MDX and the ES to finally have the nicer things in life, however materialistic that line of thinking is. Still, I do have bird sh*t on them. I am ashamed to admit. And you are absolutely right about my forum behaviour. In fact I was surprised that I had accumulated 150 posts. My my. I guess I WAS whinning. Whaaaaaaa. You are right! I apologize if I offended anyone by not taking their advice. Clearly I was acting like a child (??? ...hmmm who's actually acting like a child here again?) What are my 150 posts to your 6000. Obviously you spend a LOT OF TIME in here. I envy the fact that you have time to post 6000 times. It is apparent to me that you have a huge heart, helping all those who need it. What can I say SW. You are the best. Adios, ciao, see you later...I will miss you dearly.

SW, That's mightly big of you kicking me when I'm down, suggesting that I am some kind of mental-case Lexus customer from hell. And all I ever did was search for help. I never provoked you. I always showed my appreciation for all the help I got from here, if not in actions, definitely in words. But that's your right. Thanks for the posts where you have actually been very helpful. I'm just sorry that it turned out this way.

Well, I checked out the dealer rating and Bay Ridge wasn't too high on the list, not that I didn't trust your judgement or not appreciate you trying to help me. I'm sorry if I made you feel like an "as*". My life has been a real hell this past year with my home renovation so my mind was elsewhere. I decided to take it to Rallye in the hopes that they will actually be honest about the electrical. Because the car was purchased from Massapequa and the battery serviced there, Rallye would not give me the battery for free. They will however run a full diagnostics under warranty. Sure they are going to rip me a new one for the battery, but I have a $300 voucher from Lexus HQ so I am going to use that to get it done, plus the 25k service. Also I complained about the front suspsension making some noise. They said the struts need to be replaced! They will do it under warranty as well. Wow, I guess that's one more thing Massapequa didn't check. I said no thanks to the $149 wheel alignment offer. $60 to replace the wiper? Ouch...Actually the wiper assembly was broken...so that's beyond the blade. I still had balance left over from the $300 voucher so I went for it. Not going to keep the car too long so might as well use the full $300. So now, hopefully when I get the car back it will be "sale ready". I can feel comfortable selling it now that I will have my problems addressed. Again, I truly am sorry for not following up with Bay Ridge. In the end, Rallye was a little more convenient for me and since the house is going along now I feel I have the mental power to take care of other things in my life, like my cars!

Hello, I am looking to privately sell my 2001 ES300. I was wondering if any of you could clue me in as to how much I should list it for. 2001 ES300 Certified Pre-owned 24,000 miles Pearl White Chrome Wheels Wood trim and wood steering wheel. Heated seats. Leather interior. Tinted windows. New Battery. 25,000k service being done as we speak. 19 months left on Certified Pre-owned warranty. Clean inside and out. You guys think I can get $19,000 - $20,000 for it?

Just make sure that you are getting it from a reputable Lexus Dealer. I got mine from Lexus of Massapequa and they were like snakes. The CPO requires them to do the 100+ point check, but this dealer probably never even bothered. My wheels were out of alignment, wiper fluid didn't work, heated seats were wired incorrectly, break pads were badly "glazed". I think the only reason to get a CPO is the warranty. Don't believe the hype. Just because it's a CPO that doesn't mean too much. Again, you need to make sure to get it from a trust worthy dealer. Then you will be OK. They will take care of you. This was the direct opposite with Massapequa. The end result for me is that I am now looking to sell my ES. But I made sure to have all those issues addressed because I don't want to pass on the problem to someone else. I did the hard part. The new owner will have a nice time with the car. I just can't get myself to continue to own this. Call it bad karma... Good luck to you.

Speaking from my well documented experience, I can say that people should avoid Lexus of Massapequa like the plague. And yes, Rockville Center is owned by the same people. STAY AWAY, FOR YOUR SAKE, PLEASE!!! I have been bringing my MDX to Rallye Acura for a year now and they have been professional in every way. They might not be the cheapest service provider, but they are by far the best. It is easily felt when you walk in. Everything about the place is professional. I am going to bring my bum 2001 ES to Rallye, maybe next week. Hopefully they will be more honest than Massapequa. Just to review, Massapequa would claim to have looked at things and they would typically say "Symptom could not be reproduced". For instance, my heated seats were wired the wrong way, the left would control the right, the right would control the left! Now I don't know whether it was wired this way from the factory or that they F'ed up when they were installing the remote starter, but they absolutely insisted that they checked and found nothing wrong with them. One day I had the opportunity to show the manager over there and he took care of it in 5 minutes. Same thing with the breaks. I kept on complaining about bad breaks. After I threatened legal action, all of a sudden on the next check they found out that the breaks were badly "glazed" and needed replacement. These guys are a perfect example of the typical hustle of NY shops, not just limited to car dealership. NY is a breeding ground for dishonest people. And it is sad that these A-holes will do anything just to make that extra dollar. So the best thing to do is avoid them. I look forward to my experiences with Rallye Lexus.

Cardona, Thanks for all the suggestions. The car is actually still under warranty, but I am afraid the dealership, Lexus of Massapequa isn't quite up to the task of handling this problem, nor are they honest. I'm not sure whether the fact that the battery was drained initially is what caused permanent damage to it to a point where it cannot hold a charge for a long time. As I said earlier, when I got the Lex back from them after a new battery install back in March, the car seemed to be fine for 3 months...well actually it took 3 months for the battery to die with minimal use. After that, the time it would take for the battery would be shorter and shorter, however I do not know how much I really need to drive in order to fully charge the battery. Nor do I know whether it could fully charge again since it was drained several times already. So the best I could do at this point is to go to another dealer, have them install the battery and hope for the best...OR get an Optima deep cycle. Tried the Lemon route. Lost. Didn't bring a lawyer. They did. Predictable ending I would say. They blasted me out of the water pretty much, accusing me of everything from negligence to pruposely draining the battery myself to get a refund. The old !Removed! butt-hole of an arbitrator bought their story. I mean who's gonna believe poor old me right? I would sell the f*cker except I am really busy redoing my house. I'll sell it soon enough. But one thing is for sure. It will be a long time before I buy another Lexus.

I'll have to check on the dome light. I still have my ES. Too busy with my house renovation to get rid of it. It was good for a while, but after a long stretch of minimal use, it died again. I charged it up, drove for maybe 10 miles. 2 days later it came close to turning over but "click, click, click". Used my portable booster and this time I took a drive with my wife for 40 miles. We went shopping the following day with the ES (usually take my SUV) and drove another 60 miles. Figuring that 100 miles is good to charge up the battery (don't know if it fully charged...who knows) I again relegated the ES to minimal use, 2-3 miles here and there with 2-3 days in-between usage. It took 2 weeks, it didn't turn over..."click, click, click"... I can use a solar charger b/c the cigarette lighter is off when the ignition is off. So every freakin' day I have to drive the freakin' thing 10-15 minutes. I think I'm going to take it to Lexus again to get a new battery, but this time I am going to try my best not to let it drain. Too bad about the cigarette lighter...because a solar charger would have worked wonders. I can't use a trickle charger because my car is parked on the street, because my garage is filled with renovation stuff. I am definitely on the sh*t list when it comes to ES owners... I can say this. If I drive my ES everyday, even for 2 - 3 miles, I'm pretty sure it will hold the charge. It's annoying...when I get the car back from Lexus with a fresh battery, it typically is good for about 2 to 3 months. Then it starts dying. How much driving would it take to FULLY charge the battery in the ES?

I guess people are just different. I prefer not to pass the buck to some "poor sap" to deal with the problems. It's not like I don't need the car. Can I live without it sure...just like a whole bunch of other people who own 2, 3, 4 cars. But it's sure nice to have. But sure, being that I am going to redo my house, investing in that is probably a wiser thing to do. In any event, the reason why I obssess over this is becasuse 1) It's a Lexus. I want the freakin' thing to act like one 2) I paid good money for it, I want it to act like an expensive car 3) I don't want to pass along problems to another person. Call me idealistic. That's what makes me different from the A-hole car dealers, and so many other crooks out there. Anyways, I'll get the battery replaced by Lexus for free, then do that drive it once a week routine, see if it lasts. If it does, I'll be comfortable selling it. Hope to have another opportunity to buy a Lexus as my primary car. 2002 - 2005 models were zzzzzzzz....but from the looks of the new GS/IS, things a picking up for them.

Well, since I've been reading that I need to drive my car at least once a week at highway speeds, and given what the Lexus Tech said (whatever that's worth...) I gues I just need to admit the fact it's a "feature" on my ES300 and try to deal with it as best I can. Like I said I lost the arbitration hearing so... But I don't want to pass along this car to anyone else unless I can find a reasonable solution. As I said I am sure if the new owner drives this normally, I don't really see the issue. I wonder how good one of those solar panels are. Consequently the portable starter I have lost enough juice so that I can no longer boost the ES. Just goes Click, click, click...this is on a day when I was going to take it to my local mechanic for new inspection and perhaps replace the battery! What luck!!! The thing is, I don't have the AC Adapter that hooks the starter up to a regular outlet to charge it, due to my home renovation. So I need to go buy another one...I'm thinking I'll buy the same brand that uses the same AC Adapter...but a model wit Air...so I can put air in my tire. Tired of paying a quarter per tire at my local gas station!

Well, since I lost the arbitration, I have no choice but to feel that way. In reality, I never really let it sit there for 2 weeks. Only after I got fed up with this B.S. did I let it sit there. Before all this happened, I would drive it more often than that. But after 3 times, I never drive it any more. I'm looking to sell it. But I want to make sure I get things working first before I sell it, because I don't want the other person to have the same frustrations I have. Plus I need the money, I am redoing my house. In any event, I am sure if I drive it to work everyday then the battery won't go. But I used to drive the thing maybe 3 times a week to pick up my wife from the train station. Now obviously that's not 10 miles, more like a mile or two, but that's how I used to drive my Maxima, Honda Civic, Acura TL...NEVER had a problem. In fact the Acura TL I used to own, would sit in the garage for a while with a car cover on. I would take it out occasionally just for change of scenary from my MDX, no problems. That is why I was quite surprised with the ES. This is the first time I ever had problems like this with my driving pattern. I have 2 vehicles. I use the SUV 90% of the time. Whatever...I'm selling it...but you got a point. I might as well boost the car, bring it to Lexus to get the battery replaced, then drive it on the highway for 15mintues once a week until I sell the thing.

Being that the ES300 is my "secondary" car, I don't get to drive it too much. I drive it occasionally when I feel that my SUV is "heavy"...or to conserve gas nowadays. So when I leave it parked for a while, the battery goes. Obviously with the ES300, this it is sensitive with not driving it a certain amount per week. I figured if I get a yellowtop, I won't have to worry about it. When I juice it up fully (drive the thing for 2 hours+) then the battery will go without dying for a few weeks. Don't have a big stereo in there. Standard stuff. But not enough driving. There are times where I would not turn the thing on for 2 - 3 weeks straight. Then it's dead...sometime completely gone, other times click-click-click. Just don't want to have to deal with the thing that's all. Any other suggestions other than the yellowtopm that wil fit my situation of low usage are welcome! Thanks Nick

I have a 2001 ES 300. I would like to replace the factory battery with a Optima Yellowtop deep cycle type battery. Can anyone supply me with the correct model number for this? I went to their website and I see different power(?) models and I read somewhere about "R" for reverse posts??? I am totally not car saavy! Thank you very much guys!!! Nick

SW, I agree with all that you have said. I'm just blowing steam because of my huge disappointment with my experience. It's a big shame because when I drove the ES to the poconos on July 4th weekend it ran so well it made me forget about the probelms I've been having. I love the MDX, but sometimes driving a SUV is just too "heavy". Anyways, my opinions are based on NY dealers. I think a lot of people would agree with me that a lot of things in NY, especially service oriented things, could be better. It's ALWAYS a hustle in NY, ALWAYS! Nowhere does "You get what you paid for" apply more than in NY. I think I'd be pretty safe taking it to Rallye, but they are expensive. There is just too much margin between the "hi-end" and the "low-end". It's the same with everything. You either get crap, or you pay a lot of money to get good service. NY is a nice place to live...if you have a lot of money. You are right in saying that I should have walked away from Massapequa when the guy acted like a d*ck. I didn't. My judgement was clouded by the nice ES sitting in front of me ready for the taking. I figured "Hey, I'll deal with this jerk this once, and I'll never see him again...". I was right on never seeing the guy again, I was wrong with the overall service of the dealership. Oh well...I rolled the dice and came up short. I think now that I have exhausted pretty much all means of reversing my purchase, I am somewhat at peace with myself. I am going to try to baby the ES, maybe get some new tires...finally clean the car inside and out...no that I know it is my property for good... I still have a $300 goodwill voucher I got from Corporate Lex...I need to figure out what to use it for...maybe the 25k mile maintenance...that'll pay for half of it right?