Poppi

And all these years I thought that Canada was NORTH of the border of the U.S. Poppi

I have often wondered why LEXUS Corporation had to mess up the ES300 with this dadblasted jerky transmission. I will never forgive myself for letting my wife talk me into buying the 2003 ES300. I have been driving a 2006 rental car, a Ford Taurus ES, and the darn thing drives and rides like a good car should drive and ride. Much smoother and holds the road better than our ES300. The transmission shifts very smoothly and another big plus is the fact it averages 23.5 miles per gallon of gasolene CITY driving. That's not just what the electronic display says, but that's what it averages when I figure it with a calculator after filling up with fuel. That is the average after three full tanks of gasolene. The electronic display actually shows within one 0.1 the same average miles per gallon as my calculations do. After relying on the electronic display for accuracy, I then checked the following three tankfuls of gasolene and sure enough my calculations were within 0.1 of the electronic display. I know this will not be allowed to post on this site beings it is an endorsement of a FORD Taurus over a LEXUS ES300. It woiuld be mighty hard for me to justify paying several thousands of dollars more for another LEXUS ES over a FORD TAURUS ES. Actually FORD has discontinued the TAURUS and there will not be any new available. The TAURUS was replaced with the FORD FUSION. I have no idea how the FUSION will compare with the TAurus. I never did lilke Taurus's,......thought they looked too ugly and frankly they didn't start off with very good quality. On the other hand LEXUS had been building ES300's for a number of years and should have all ES300 models shoved up their #@%! for ever putting the blasted thing on the market before correcting the transmission fiasco. Also the ride is very stiff on the things. Poppi

In other words you all do not want anything said that is adverse to Toyota/Lexus products. This stinks!!! How else would those who are searching for answers to questions they may have about Lexus vehicles find out about problems with the vehicles? If I had known about these websites concerning the ES problem transmissions, I would have never ever purchased one. I know one thing, I have been broken from sucking eggs and will never ever think about purchasing any more Lexus vehicles. The RX300 has been a dandy; but our ES is the pits. Poppi (Glenn Camp)

My RX300 is in the body shop following an incident with house paint on the surface of the highway. The paint splashed up on the lower molding and right doors, under the right side wheel wells and on the tires. I am not blaming my wife for this but she was driving, in the rain, when she came upon some white paint on the roadway and ran through it causing the problem. While my RX has been in the body shop I have been driving a 2006 Ford Taurus. This Taurus has surprised me with the way it handles and rides. I have to admit it drives and rides better than our 2003 ES300. Don't know how well it will hold up as far as maintenance goes, etc.. But I would have to think long and hard again before spending the money required for an ES and the price of a Taurus. Oh well, can't buy a new Taurus anymore because FORD has discontinue building them. FORD Fusion took its' place. This dadgummed Taurus sure fooled me. Poppi

I was going to say that it should be covered under warranty if the car is in fact a 2006. However, there was no ES300 in 2006 and 41k is alot of miles for a car less than a year old. what year is it really? new shells can be had on ebay and they come in many colors. other than that SW covered your options. steviej Folks I have no idea why I typed 2006 as the year model. It is a 2003 model ES300. That's the reason it has 41,000 miles on it.

My wife's 2006 ES300 has 41,000 miles on it. When she turned the key to start the car the other day, the black plastic that is molded around the end of the key broke and the inside and covers fell apart in her hand. No apparent reason for it diong so. I have a 1999 RX300 with 104,000 miles on it and never had this happen with its' keys. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem. These keys are extravagantly high priced. I got a quote of $154.00, and then the thing has to be programmed before it will operate. I have tried gluing the key back together but it will not hold. Yes, I used CRAZY glue. I've used crazy glue to glue almost anytning, but can't get it to hold that key together. The key will start the car if the square thing inside it that has the lock/unlock buttons in it is held close to the ignition when trying to start the engine. I just wish I had some kind of glue that would bond the pieces so it will hold together. Poppi

Typical ES engine noise.

The 2003 ES300 that my wife is in love with is a pile of trash as far as I am concerned. Honestly, it is one of the worst driving (handling), riding and performing car I have ever owned, and I've owned 35 different cars and two pickups during the past 54 years. Worse than any Ford or GM product, with the exception of a 1991 Nissan Maxima. I couldn't get rid of that thing fast enough. Lost a ton of money to get rid of it. I would sell this 03 tomorrow if my wife would consent. :cries:

You mean your '97 ES actually rode smooth prior to installing the Falkens? My wife drives a 2003 ES and that thing has never rode smooth. Came with GOODYEAR INVICTA's on it and I just replaced them with Michelin MXV4's and I thought for sure the Michelin's would make the car ride smoother but it doesn't ride one bit smoother with the M's on it. I have had MXVV4's on other cars and they made the cars ride smoother but not this one. If my wife did not like the thing so much, I would get rid of it today. Never want another ES. Maybe an LS some day. Poppi

I just today purchased a set of four Michelin MXV4's for my wife's 2003 ES300. Paid $565.00 drive away price for them. I have bought these tires in the past a couple of times and like them. I bought 'H" rated tires. I know, I know 'V' rated is what is recommended but there is no reason to pay extra for 'V'. My wife is the primary driver and she doesn't do a lot of fast hard cornering when driving and there is not a need for a higher speed rated tire for this car. Poppi

Y'all still crying over the ES rough shifting transmission. It's a shame that Lexus put this car on the market with this problem and then deny there's a problem. Lexus should be made to put salt and pepper on every one of them and eat 'em. Get another brand of car and tell Lexus what they can do with all ES's. No, my wife's 2003 isn't the only year model with the crappy rough lurching shifting. One of our best friends bought a 2005 and it shifts the same. They are terribly dissappointed but we tried to warm 'em. Told them to buy any other brand except a Lexus but some people have to learn the heard way. Poppi

SW, I should have said ... "for your information", not 'news' Anything I have posted was not meant as an argument. It's a shame one cannot post their opinions of fact(s) without being interpreted as being argumentative if our opinions do not agree with yours. You have completely ignored my posting of me being satisfied with the RX300 in spite of the fact that it has a slight hesitation when applying sudden acceleration, or I would have already traded it. It is not as bad as the ES. I am dissatisfied with the ES, my wife isn't. My gripe with LEXUS is for offerning a car to the buying public for a premium price knowing that it has defects that could have been corrected prior to leaving the factory. That's my complaint. It is not a complaint against you and I haven't been argumentative. So you will not have me to 'kick' around on this board ever again. Your help was appreciated. Poppi

SW I have news for you. We have owned three different Toyota's, one camry and two different avalons. The avalons actually had a little smoother ride than the ES does. The Avalons's actually hnandled better than the ES. We almost bought another AVAlon a couple of days before my wife found the ES and fell in love with the thing and there was no way of changing her mind. There is no way I would have chosen it as my vehicle. I have an RX300 which I have always liked. That said, we will not run right out and trade the ES anytime soon. My gripe is the hype of LEXUS that this is such an 'all-fired' super car which it in no way is. As I have stated earlier, the jerky shifting transmission and the popping/clunking steering stinks. There is no way this is quality and certainly not something that shoud have to be tolerated in especially a luxury car. I have owned primarily Ford vehicles along with a couple of Chevrolet's, a Toronado Oldsmobile, two different Buick Rivera's, a Nissan Maxima that was a lemon, A Nissan 300ZX which I really liked, A Toyota Camry that was a good car, two different Toyota Avalons that were great cars and not hiccups, one Toyota 4Runner and now I have a RX300 and my wife has the ES300. I said all that to say that other than this dadblammed ES NONE of the other vehicles, a total of thirty two, had jerky shifting transmissions or clunking sterring. But I will not buy anymore LEXUS vehicles unless LEXUS gets their act together and produces a complete quality car like we thougth we were getting. So there you have it. Poppi

SW03ES, I'm having a problem with understanding what a secondary steering shaft is. I will ask the service manager next time I take the car in about 'the fix'. He has never mentioned it. Thanks, Poppi

Ask yourself what comes to most peoples' mind when you mention LEXUS. They think QUALITY. Not to argue, but the above quote makes no sense at all. Why not buy a car that will last longer and acquire more mileage without excessive repairs? Why pay a premium price for prestige? Not me. I buy vehicles because of quality and LEXUS in the past and presently continues to peddle cars as the zenith of quality. Poppi