Leroy

Grew up in Knoxville TN and after college BSEE, electrical engineer, moved to Indianapolis IN where I have been for 21 years now with RCA then GE now Thomson, same company just take overs. Have always travelled a lot with my job, now to Nevada City CA 2 weeks a month. We live in Carmel IN, just north of Indianapolis. Would love to be near lake where I could water ski more with my MasterCraft.

I have a 2000 LX470. Does anyone else have a small buzzing noise inside? It's hard to tell, but it almost sounds like the mirrors turning, small motor like sound, only hear it when radio is off and everything is quiet, it comes on for maybe 5 seconds every 3-5 minutes, although there are times I don't think it is happening. It's hard to tell where it is coming from. I would just like to know what it is! THanks!

I bought one new in 2000, drove it for 1.5 years, had to move to Belgium for 2 years and sold it. Bought another 2000 when I came back in 2003 and absolutely love it still. These cars do not seem to age. Ride is the best, pulls boat like nothing is there, and adjustable ride parameters are great. The only negative is the gas consumption!

Rate the battery by spec's and then rate the brand. The Optima's have a certain design advantage, but is it really worth it (primary advantage is you can discharge and it doesn't damage the battery, normal battery loses 25% capacity everytime you discharge it). Assuming you don't have any unusual electrical loads like a 2,000 watt amp or a 300amp alternator! A. Generally for cars you can tell by CCA or CA. Cold cranking amps or just cranking amps. THe bigger the better. B. Reserve Capacity (RC) The second most important consideration is the Reserve Capacity. [RC is the number of minutes a fully charged battery at 80 degrees F (26.7 degrees C) can be discharged at 25 amps until the voltage falls below 10.5 volts.] More RC is better in every case! In a hot climate, for example, if your car has a 360 OEM cranking amp requirement, then a 400 CCA rated battery with 120 minute RC with more electrolyte would be more desirable than one with 1000 CCA with 90 minutes of RC.

I feel sorry for you, we also looked on ebay for a long time and could be in your shoes. We ended up buying a car we found on www.autocartrader.com or cars.com (?) we were looking at so many places. First I would push to have him buy it back. If it wasn't taken care of you will continue to have problems. Was the oil changed regular? Sounds like you are spending ~$3k on $6k car? I'm sure you would not have spent $9k for the car to begin with but that is what he is trying to make you do. He takes it back or pays to fix it or post negative which isn't much punishment. He bought this car and misrepresented it. We just bought a 95 with 118k for $5700 (in Lexington) and it appears to be in good shape. There are plenty of cars out there. As an aside, we found certain markets have much better selection and price, especially Lexus. In Indy there are not that many Lexus cars, in Lexington, Cinncinnati, and Chicago there were a lot more and the prices were significantly less. Chicago cars tend to have more rust problems.

I think it could be anything, but happens as we brake. Will do some looking to see if there is a lug nug rolling around. UPDATE: did look and the back is clean, nothing loose. Thanks

My son found that as he brakes and the car slows down to say 20 MPH or so, there is a "clunk" sound coming from the rear, seems like the left rear. You don't feel anything, just hear the sound. It's almost like a 2 pound metal ball rolling across the trunk and hitting metal. It doesn't do it everytime, but probably most. We didn't see anything in the trunk rolling around! Would seem to be brakes, but don't understand how it could happen. Any suggestions? Thanks!

You could find out in about 10 seconds! Ha! Impressive stats above.

I can't believe I've read 6 pages of posts to find the last one asking the question I was going to post. Was at dealer today and asked about Lexol and they told me to try their own products, so I have a bottle of Lexus cleaner and conditioner. Will be able to tell you in couple of days my results, even if I don't know how Lexol works. Will be trying on ES300, LX470 and the Honda Odyssey! Thanks

Was by the dealer today and they said they should measure to determine which shim I would need, so I told them I would have them look at this the next service trip there. I can actually adjust where there is no noise now, so no rush. Thanks for the responses, the people on this site are really great!

Thanks for the input, anything to watch out for or ask when doing this? My car is very lightly tinted now.

hey i was wondering, how much tints cost? I want a pretty dark tint, almost all black.i have a 95 ES300 and i want it on all windows except maybe the windshield. B)

Grinding and lifters knocking are different noises in my mind. Comments on which one it is? I also have lifter noise when first start up and want the dealer to look at it soon. Ticks for few minutes and then is gone. Oil is good and new, sometimes worse than others. Don't mean to steal you thread, but any comments on lifter tapping?

No sign of water, but was surprised to hear any noise. Definitely don't in my LX470! Thanks for response!

We just bought a 1995 ES300 for our son and the car is loaded and very nice. The only problem is you can hear a slight wind noise from the sunroof. If you rock the "Tilt" button you can get it where it goes away. If you close the inner liner you don't hear anything. Is this normal? DO I need a seal replaced or is there something more serious? Thanks!

The plain key is $52! Not like getting a copy of your house key.

I pull a MasterCraft 23' Maristar, around 5000 pound and it doesn't even seem like it's there! Tandem axle on trailer helps along with built in brakes. But with 6500 rating this is about my personal limit.

Oh, we only got one key with it and ordered a remote entry key from Tom Wood Lexus for ~$150. Expensive key!

I just bought a 95 with 118k miles for my 16 yr old son for $5700. Better than the Accords we were looking at. Really in great shape, fully loaded and I like to drive it also! I think you are in the range, we had located a 96 with 100k in Chicago for $5k, but he had a lot of calls and don't see it on autotrader now. You can always say $7500, and walk if you have to. I think you could get one cheaper, but you need to look over closer I think. This one looks very nice. Not a hard rule, but the better the deal, the closer you need to look. We have looked hard for 3-4 months, first one we went to look at. Good luck! Pix of car attached. Right click on pix, save pix as and then you can browse to find it and paste in your post.