dayaln

Well, here are my first impressions on the C320 - The ride is sportier and tighter than the ES300 (Lexus is a bit of a “floater” as you know). It is a bit smaller inside the cabin, but I do not miss any space. I got the 4matic sedan, so hopefully I would be OK in winter. Fuel efficiency for my mixed driving has been 20 mpg (worse than ES300). But, I get over 27 mpg on freeways. The car is happier at higher speeds such as on a highway, it feels like the engine is not even trying... The controls inside the cabin are way too complicated with no apparent gain in functionality. It does have some features that can be called "decadent" though! GPS that came with the car sucks, I still use my Garmin iQue 3600 which is simply great! Mercedes is a head turner, I did not realize that until I bought it ;-) At this point, I just want something that will last, hope that the Mercedes reputation holds up. My review may sound negative, but I am reasonably satisfied. Remember that Lexus sets a pretty high bar for comparison... I guess, I will have the real scoop after 50k-100k miles… Please note that Consumer Reports did not recommend C320, they had reliability concerns with the auxiliary/convinience controls of the car. They did like the handling and the drive. Then again, it did not do much good for having followed their advice last time...

I just traded mine in for $5k. With the problem it has, I did not want to try selling it. It was worth a lot more to me and could have easily driven many more miles. The shame is, I spent nearly $4500 since the beginning of this year trying to fix it Good luck all! ← i had a similiar problem a couple of years ago and it turned out to be an ignition coil my 91 had 2 but my 98 has one for each plug i dont know which category yours falls into but it would have been worth checking out if i could have caught you earlier ← Problem is that everything I "changed / fixed" is supposed to have fixed the problem - IACV, O2 sensor etc... I was not prepared to keep pouring money down the drain any more. Coils are not cheap... I would have been ready to spend any decent amount of money IF some one can give me a guarantee, but as you know, that is not possible...

I just traded mine in for $5k. With the problem it has, I did not want to try selling it. It was worth a lot more to me and could have easily driven many more miles. The shame is, I spent nearly $4500 since the beginning of this year trying to fix it Good luck all!

I talked to my mechanic, he says it was cleaned when the engine was changed a couple of months ago. It is owrth noting that with in a week of the new engine being installed, I noticed the problem. Now the mechanic thinks it is "Mass Airflow Sensor"... The engine code was an O2 code, but one of the O2 senors was already changed. He thinks the code is a symptom, not a cause. I tend to agree... But the fix proposed would be just an educated guess, again! ← Dayaln; since we have very similar problems let me suggest that chances are if you replace the Mass Air Flow Meter, it wont fix the problem. from my experience, just some info, the part from lexus runs about $700-$800, I purchased one from ebay for about $250. when lexus ran a diognostiscs on my car they said the problem was the MAFM and the Idle Control Valve. since then, ive replaced both and still the problem continues. I mean things might be different for you Dayaln but its just some info to help you on your decision for your next move. later ← Thanks for the advise LEGENDICON... I will keep it in mind. I am off to test drive a C320, as I said, I am very close to throwing in the towel...

I talked to my mechanic, he says it was cleaned when the engine was changed a couple of months ago. It is owrth noting that with in a week of the new engine being installed, I noticed the problem. Now the mechanic thinks it is "Mass Airflow Sensor"... The engine code was an O2 code, but one of the O2 senors was already changed. He thinks the code is a symptom, not a cause. I tend to agree... But the fix proposed would be just an educated guess, again!

Hi All: I read through the topic with much interest as I am at the end of my patience! I have a 1997 ES300 with 122k miles on it. Here is a quick version of my story - I had (and have) the same shudder/idle problem. I think it happens when I am coasting downhill at 50 to 70 mph. I can feel it happening and when I finally come to a stop (park or idle) my car is choking, well rough idling below normal idle speed (smell of gasoline and all). If I turn the car off for about to 4 to 5 minutes problem goes away, always!! Now, I had this problem for over 2 years now, I had numerous things done trying to fix it. To boot, my engine seized on me 4000 miles ago, so I paid $$$$ to get another engine and here is the kicker - IT STILL HAS THE SAME PROBLEM!! My mechanic changed all reasonable items with the engine change - timimg belt, spark plugs, wires, intake, water pump, PCV vavle among others. I recently got the IACV changed after reading the forums here - STILL SAME PROBLEM. Last week, new Oxygen Sensor (front only), still the same problem!! I had injection service and tuning all done with the new engine. What else is left? I thought Lexus is supposed to be reliable... :cries:

amf1932: "Does the engine burn any oil?" - Hmmmm, I do not know how I can find that. I noticed that the exhaust smells bad lately, almost smells like you smell unburnt gasoline. The fuel efficiency i.e miles per gallon has not changed though, at least from what I can tell. May be you are on to something. I wil ask the repair guy to check the pcv valve as well. Thanks! Dayal

Thanks all for the suggestions, I will try them and report back... Dayal

Hi All: I have 1997 ES300 with around 110,000 miles on it and I love the car! Around last year, I noticed a strange problem. I noticed that the engine was rather rough while I am on the freeway, once I stopped, the engine RPM was all over the place... Let me explain, it does not idle properly, it will drop to around 200 rpm or so and then suddenly jump back to just below the normal idle speed of 750 (for my car). Basically jumps between rpms and shakes the car as it is going to stall (it does not actually stall). This problem happens only once in a while, many days I am fine. Once the engine cools down for a few minutes, everything is ok again... Almost all long trips on a freeway cause the problem. I think this is what I noticed - if you are coasting a down-hill and then push on the accelerator momentarily and then let go - then this problem comes up... Some times, this happens with in a few minutes of drive from home. Most times, I can drive my 20 miles to work without any problems. I can not consistently repeat the problem... I do not like to go on fishing expeditions trying to fix this problem with my money while the repair guys experiment trying to guess what is broken... Engine has been tuned after this problem came up and I had an injector clean up service - did not help... Could anyone help? Did anyone else have similar problems. Thanks all! Dayal