ArmyofOne

steve i figured you had probably just forgotten about the chrysler thing. LOL, no harm done.

Well im here at Ft Drum and it is Beautiful Country. No snoiw yet but i did purchase a car 24 hours after arriving...no unfortunately i didnt get a lexus, i couldnt find one ANYWHERE. so heres the scenario: 2002 Ford Escort ZX2 61,000 miles: $6900 asking price It has: -tilt/cruise -power sliding sunroof -5 speed manual -135 HP Zetec 4 Cylinder -Rear Sopiler and its FWD. its a good little runabout. I drove it off the lot a purchase price of $6,000. I got a First car loan interest rate of 8.44% so i didnt let them take me for a ride. i put $1,000 down, financed $7,000 out the door, the purchase of the 4 year unlimited mileage bumper-to bumper warranty and all taxes, titles and fees. But i told them i would only purchase the vehicle on one condition, the fix EVERYTHING that ios wrong with it and throw in a Timing Belt and Water pump change for free. here si what they found it needed, after 2 NY state winters (SALT :eek2: ) : -Front rotors and pads -Rear drums and shoes replaced Emergency brake cable and hood latch replacement. its a fun little car, and its charcoal grey. for right now they have loaned me a dodge neon for free, its an 03 base model with an auto...its slow and it sucks. i cant wait for the ford! lol. heres a pic of what it looks like Identical except mine has a sunroof and real wheels. I also got them to throw in new tires too, since they were so bald they wouldnt pass state inspection, not bad eh?

Its called SuperSyn. and before someone says otherwise: http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil...FAQs.aspx#FAQs1

when you said clear, you had me worried. becuase the only fluid i know of that is clear when it goes in is DOT3 or DOT4 brake fluid. but then you said a reddish tint, and im thjing poer steering or transmission. however, on an LS, its hard to imagine trans fluid in that area.

I agree, one of the better threads we've had in the last while! B) ;) That's intresting enough sw........but I don't think you do recall correctly. The MXV4's are also on that list & came in 6th overall, while the Falkens were 1st. The tests were performed in early 2004 & under the category Performance All Season tires. The rest of the top 5 in order were: Bridgestone Turanza LS-H, Bridgestone Potenza RE950, Michelin Pilot XGTH4 & Dunlop SP Sport A2. The Michelin MXV4's were also by far the most expensive of the 18 tires tested.:whistles: Same here, that's a strange one. I doubt Michelin would be willing to comment on the record to clairify. The Michelin tied the Falken for road noise in the CR tests......I concur with those findings as I have experence with both. Falken also beat out the Michelin in important categories such as dry & wet braking. The Michelin slightly edged out the Falken in rolling resistance & the other 6 categories both were tied, but the Falken was exactly half the price of the Michelin for the the same treadwear, traction & temp ratings. Remember I mentioned overall value.........:whistles: Even CR mentions the Michelin is pricey all things considered. B) With Army's pics, I have to agree with him that his Concorde is a step up from your average Camry or Taurus & the sister car to the LHS (if still a step down from the ES). B) ← Im definately not arguing that the ES is better built. even a fully loaded (and i just priced one out at $35,585 on the toyota site) Camry cant compare in build quality. but, it is considered by magazines to be in the same class as the ES. that was my point. B) we all know there is no competition. :D

To start life! I have a major credit card with a good credit history, I have been paying bills for a while now, but i have never lived more than 5 miles from mom and dad. I'm leaving the comfort of home and everything I know so well to make my start in another state. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I fly out at 4 pm, but i will check CL from my phone (I think i can do that!? ) so here goes. I'm off to start my Career and my life. wish me luck! I wont be able to check back for about a week or so probably. I'm now changing my location, from texas to Ft. Drum NY! P.S. In case you cant tell...I'm kinda nervous!

Buy a LS430. ← i'd agree on that one. if it's the last car, for retirement, get an LS430!! :cheers: ← Im with them!

now LOL. im heading back up there tomorrow. my leave is over.

ummm steve, the 02 concorde is the LHS. exactly the same car: 2001 (last Model year of the LHS) LHS: http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.ur?kbb....0LHS&5;CR;G2&&& and heres the 2002 concorde that sits in the driveway: Inside: how is that not comparable to an ES? Its got a V6, in the same size and weight class. its FWD. granted the ES is a much better car, im not arguing that. in 2002 the LHS name was dropped, as was the car that was the concorde. Chrysler took the LHS body and slapped the concorde name on it, thus doing completely away with the name LHS. the chassis, suspension, engine and transmission are identical to that of the LHS however. the concorde you are thinking of is this one: [ or this one: WHich were closer to an intrepid than they are a premium sedan, it was mid level, because the LHS was the premium. but when the 300M debuted, they didnt need the concorde anymore, why they dropped the LHS name for the conncorde i have no idea.

I only wish they made them big enough for the F150! it needed new tiers worse than the concorde. My mom had some BF Goodriches put on while i was gone that are just HORRIBLE. so i went down today and said "I'm getting you a set fo real tires for your birthday" guess what? for 4 225/55ZR-17 97W, i paid $395.77 out the door. not bad eh? these are the 420 treadwear rating too!

Yes steve, i did only have one set fo tires ont hat car, but i have had many other tires on other cars. thats what i was referring it to. and you know what, i liked themso much that i took the chrysler down to discount tire today and purchased another set for that car. the Concorde is in the same class of car as an ES330. not that theres any competition. oh, and my grandmother has them on her avalon. and she loves them. they come in a variety of sidewall sizes...big difference between this: and this: just food for thought, i cant MAKE you buy them, but they are an excellent tire all around. :)

Well maybe not, but they are similar, probably as close as you can get. those may have been a one off set used by lexus when they made the car for the movie. not sure, but i think SK's right now that i look at it closer.

If he was shady enough to do this... :whistles:

I hate flying on them since I design the parts! scary! :D ← you had to say it...jeez, i have to get on a plane in 2 days!

no problem :D if your looking into them, they are a great wheel, but int he chrome finish they can be super expensive!

hey, hes like me! my ES250 had a lot of faults as well . ok that may be an understatement...but the point is, the car had much potential, so i had to fix it. im now in your shoes, where i need a car.im searching for my LS400 cause quite frankly, i cant find abetter car for the money. you have hooked me on lexus forever LOC, and it is going to be a long and beautiful relationship. congrats on your purchase, and let us know if you have any questions. :D

I agree there is much more to ride quality than just the stiffness of the sidewall. I'll take a more aggressive tread pattern personally if that means I have optimum traction in bad weather conditions......a 'sedate' touring tread pattern won't give that as well. Like I've said many times before about any tire......they haven't yet invented the perfect tire, no matter what (whether it's ride quality, tread life, road noise, lack of an aggressive tread pattern etc, etc etc...) there will always be compromises.....dosen't matter how inexpensive or expensive a tire is, one will have to make their own personal choices depending on various factors that's important to the driver of that vehicle.........that too is common sense. B) ;) ← actually steve, you are wrong about the tread pattern bieng noisy...near as i could tell they were the quietest tire i have ever had on any vehcile. not a lick of road noise, ever. i do have a set of Bfgoodriches on the chrysler right now that are agressive, and thye are royal pieces of *BLEEP* in the roadnoise department. but the falkens were the quietest tire i have ever had, by far. try them sometime, ill bet you wont be disappointed... B) i tell ya what, ill have an LS400 once i get settled in at my base. ill only be 8-10 hours away, ill drive down and you can drive the car. cause you can rest assured shortly after i get it, it will have a brand new set of Falken Zeix ZE512's. ← Yup, army was quite happy when he put the Falken's on his ES, I concur & so do 3 of my buddies who have them on their respective rides, and my wife. ;) Only complaint has been with the 55 & 50 rated at only 30,000 miles. :) ← Happy? i was tickled pink LOL. and even with a 30K rating, they are cheap enoughyou can replace them that often and still not spend more than on any other tire.

Breyton Inspration...i recognize them:

this is gonna sound funny, but you said the car was perfectly maintianed. however, alot (and i do me ALOT, as in the VAST majority) of owners (not lexus, but car owners in general) overlook the fact that the intake needs cleaning regularly. the UIM (upper Intake Manifold...the big silver thing on the very top of the engine, that the intake hose feeds into) has whats cvalled a butterfly valve inside fo the throttle body. sometimes, in hot temps, if this valve is gunked up, the car will not idle normally, it may "choke" resulting in a stall or backfire and then a stall. to fix, simply take off the intake hose from the MAF (at the air filter box) and at the throttle body (on the other end). then spray Throttle body cleaner inside the Throttle body, first with the valve closed. then wipe off with a rag. then pull on the accelerator cable (MAKE SURE THE ENGINE IS OFF) and the valve will rotate to a flat position paralell with the surface of the earth LOL. the side facing up is the side thats gets really gunked. clean that off with the intake cleaner, and spray it liberally (not so much that you flood the engine though) into the intake manifold, beyond that valve. then start your engine with the hose still disconnected (yes it will start, and sound alot better) and spray inside it again. please note that when you rotate the butterfly valve with the engine running, it will REV as it is connected to the accelerator cable and linkage. if the engine stalls and dies, no problem, get in and start it again. ill bet it solves your problem, and if it doesnt, ill bet it helps, probably needed done anyway on a car thats 14 years old. if your asking how i know, i owned one of the first ES250's to come off of the assembly line. :) also, another thing you can do... take out your spark plugs individually, and spray throttle body/carbeuratir cleaner in the cylinders. just a quick squirt. this wil loosen up alot of the carbon on the tops of the pistons and the valves. the entire process of cleaning the upper intake takes half an hour maybe. and will save you some $$$. carbuerator and choke cleaner will work too.

fair guess says it aint the tranny, cause they are WAYYY overcharging you. $6k for a tranny swap? $3k is pushing it...especially for that car. i would saw CV joints are the more likely culprit, especially if it does it loud and hard acelerating out of turns. a CV joint is not a sudden thing though, it starts slow and as an occasional clunk, then gets worse and worse over time. best advice since i cant hear or feel or look in person is take it to a different mechanic.

does the RX happen to be black? if so, then for future reference, the Lexus Black is a soft paint,and to top it all off, it has NO clearcoat. so it requires extra care. i would wax at least once a month. at the very least a laser wash with the hot wax once a week in the winter. during the sammer a once a month waxing will keep your cars finish looking great. contact blake about the bird droppings. he had a similar problem on his LS4, and got it out with a porter cable polisher.

I agree there is much more to ride quality than just the stiffness of the sidewall. I'll take a more aggressive tread pattern personally if that means I have optimum traction in bad weather conditions......a 'sedate' touring tread pattern won't give that as well. Like I've said many times before about any tire......they haven't yet invented the perfect tire, no matter what (whether it's ride quality, tread life, road noise, lack of an aggressive tread pattern etc, etc etc...) there will always be compromises.....dosen't matter how inexpensive or expensive a tire is, one will have to make their own personal choices depending on various factors that's important to the driver of that vehicle.........that too is common sense. B) ;) ← actually steve, you are wrong about the tread pattern bieng noisy...near as i could tell they were the quietest tire i have ever had on any vehcile. not a lick of road noise, ever. i do have a set of Bfgoodriches on the chrysler right now that are agressive, and thye are royal pieces of *BLEEP* in the roadnoise department. but the falkens were the quietest tire i have ever had, by far. try them sometime, ill bet you wont be disappointed... B) i tell ya what, ill have an LS400 once i get settled in at my base. ill only be 8-10 hours away, ill drive down and you can drive the car. cause you can rest assured shortly after i get it, it will have a brand new set of Falken Zeix ZE512's.

for you no military types, SOP= Standard Operating Procedure. :D EDIT: aw hell, he solved the problem...im late again! :(

if you are referring to me, i didnt know it was doing that...the *BLEEP*ing needle never went beyond half. ask toysrme. his never did either. the needles on those cars dont eveer budge. im a mechanic, i know it does serious harm, but i didnt know the *BLEEP*ing thing was overheating.

yes you can do it in a japanese car...ask JPI, my coolant in my ES250 boiled every time i drove the car for more than a mile or 2. i just didnt know it until he did the WP. LOL.