98es

That really sucks. I have a few active duty friends and they never get tickets. I'm surprised dude didn't even give you a good break. I would definitely go to court. You should probably find out how much court costs are, where I'm from sometimes they're upwards of $100, but well worth it in your case for insurance purposes. Judging on your premiums, I would say you might have a good chance of getting dropped if that ticket gets reported to your ins company. Good Luck.

Looks good- It was 70 degrees here in Memphis yesterday, so my lexi got a wash and a good buffing with my new maguires kit :)

Jin- I'm curious to know what type of mechanical work you've had to perform on your 02. Are valve cover gaskets still an issue on the 02-05 like they were on the previous versions? Thanks.

Nice ride... Last week I noticed an XLE with hubcaps and was very surprised; I didn't know that the alloys weren't standard on the top of the line camry... kinda weird. Hope your Mom enjoy's her new ride :)

SW- What's the story on the Michies in the snow? I'm sure you've had a good snow in DC by now, and I'm interested to know the comparision to the TPT's.

TELL IT NC!!! I too have been recently riled up, because I'm hearing these so called LEADERS say that we WILL NOT win overseas! Politics aside, GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS and may we not forget them in our prayers and NEVER stop supporting them!

Well, one thing you have to realize is that I had done previous business with this dealership and salesman (Helped a family member buy an LX470). They were originally asking between $25-26k for the car, and we worked down from there. It was definitely a huge blessing finding this car, because it had been taken better care of than any lease vehicle would have been. (Previous owner had ALL fluids flushed at least twice by 45k). I'm sure someone with more knowledge of how leasing works can explain why the price for the lease turn-ins is higher. Just know that you should not expect to pay near what they are asking. If you can find an honest salesman, after a little bit of dealing you can kind of get a feel of what they have in it and what you can get it for. Good Luck.

CPO or not, these cars bring top dollar in the used car market. I agree, if you have the $30k to spend, go for a new one. But those of us who only want to spend $20-$25k cannot afford a new one. Personally, I would rather have a car thats possibly a year older with a few more miles, and have it certified until 100k. Edmunds values for the '02 ES puts dealer retail at $24,000. Certified on edmunds is around $26,000. I think the point your missing is that these cars bring big bucks cpo or not. You should be glad that they are asking top dollar and can get it!

It's all about finding the right deal. We bought our '02 6 months ago. It had 45k miles on it and paid $23,000 incl. taxes(CPO from dealership). The odd thing was all the other CPO cars were lease turn ins and they wouldn't give us a good deal on any of those. The one that we got the best deal on was the same car as the others, the only difference was it was a trade-in and not a lease turn-in. The CPO warranty is almost exactly like the new car warranty, so you can bring it in for anything. Good Luck.

I agree, CPO is the way to go. We're happy with our 02 ES300 CPO w/the 3 yr/100k mile warranty. You might want to check out the Transmission hesitation thread to see what your getting into. I personally don't see it as a huge problem, but to each his own... good luck.

While the valve covers were off, I made sure to ask him to give me a report on the whole sludge issue. I bought the car used w/95k but was pretty sure it had been kept up. He said the inside of the engine looked brand new. No burnt or sludged oil residue. Good news to hear, i'm planning on keeping this car to at least 200k :D

So can I just say I've found the nicest, cheapest all around BEST mechanic ever!?!?! Check this out: Replace Timing belt (Toyota belt) Replace spark plugs (Denso) Replace Front and Rear Valve Cover Gaskets (Toyota) Replace Cam Seals (Toyota) Flush Coolant (Toyota Red stuff) Drain & Fill Tranny fluid (Dextron whatever) I spent $200 on parts (I bought them from Toyota), he charged me $200 in labor... $400 OUT THE DOOR! Here's the down side, he had my car for about a week, but it was well worth it. Lexus wanted around $1500 for all that work. He saved all the old parts for me to see, man were my spark plugs burnt looking. The car is driving awesome now. He stands behind the work just like the dealership does. He's really trustworthy, we've always taken my fiance's POS to him to fix, so i was a little reluctant to leave lexi with him, but i'm glad i did. Now all I have to fix is the dang LCD that I can't read a thing from, and she'll be just like new! BTW, this is the '98 es with 130k and the second timing belt. :D Just thought I'd share :D

I know what your talking about. I'm looking for a car for my fiance and we looked at an 01 camry 4cyl. He gave me the key to start it up and it immediately went above 2000rpms and stayed there. I immediately turned it off and said no thanks. I had a friend with a camry and his did that after he had wrecked it pretty bad. I'm sure it's probably something little, but it really turned me off....

Rear valve cover gaskets leaking onto the exhaust. Mine's doing the same thing. Do a search on it and you'll find out more.

I've really enjoyed the ride with the MXV4's as well. I have noticed a slight difference in handling though. The toyo's seemed to be more of a "sport" tire. I've really noticed it on the highway. It seems like its harder to keep the car going straight (does that make sense?). Not like it pulls or anything, just a little more mushy. As for MPG, I really haven't seen a change. Anyways, other than the slight change in handling, I think the MXV4 is one of the best tires out there.

Is this not something you noticed during your test drive? I honestly knew what we were getting into when we got the '02 because it drove the same after we bought it as it did before we bought it. I had also done research on it but since this is not my primary car(mine's the '98) it didn't bother me as much and I didn't see it as dangerous. Sure, it stinks, but a part of me feels like we whine so much about it over and over again (me included). If you REALLY hate it, sell it. Believe it or not the 02-05's are bringing good money. Just my two cents, not trying to step on anybody's toes or anything.

I would also like some input on this. I took my car into lexus for an oil change today and they said that my rear valve cover gasket was leaking on my 98 es. They wrote me up an estimate for cam seals, crank seals, 2 valve gaskets, plenum gasket, and a timing belt (he said to go ahead and do it while everything's out, just going to cost $69 extra). Grand total: $969.00 Is this extremely high or what? I am within about 20k of needing a timing belt. Thanks.

Got the MXV4's put on today... Now I remember why I bought this car! It's like night and day from the worn out toyos. Handling is a little more spongy, but the ride is awesome. Paid $575 after everything. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread for the input; it was a BIG help!

FYI- Just checked costco's website, they're offering $60 off any 4 michelin tires. So if I get the MXV4's that brings the total for my '98 (205/65/15) to $525 mounted and balanced w/o tax. Not a bad deal!

I agree. I think we know what the general consensus is. The sense of community on LOC is what makes it different for me.... Maybe you should close the thread before tempers flare..... Just my two cents....

Agreed

Here's a review of the Affinity LH30 from an es300 owner on tirerack.com: Vehicle: 1999 Lexus ES300 Location: jackson, ms Driving Style: Spirited Miles driven on tires: 4,000 Driving Condition: Combined Highway/City Reviewer's Overall Ratings: 9.88 out of 10 Review Submitted: 2005-09-27 i have had this tire over a year now and it seems to get better and better now the steering is effortless,the ride is smoother and quieter.i see from some of the other reviews that people still dont know how to read the lettering on the tire to verify that they do the lh30s and not the affinity standard tires.ihave the bridgestone tranza ls-h on my 98 ls400 and i think the firestones give a better ride,not taking anything away from bridgestone because it is a great tire even much better than the michelins mx v4 that i once owned and will never buy again. this tire makes the lexus es300 drives the way i think it was ment to drive,very,very smooth and very,very quiet,get the firestone lh 30s and you wont have to look at another tire. I found that interesting... but a lot of other reviewers gave them horrible ratings and said that they couldn't be balanced.

It's funny you say that, because that's exactly what the firestone guy was trying to sell me before I told him what I was looking for. It must be what they make the most money on. I called back to get a price on the LS-H's. On the phone he quoted me over $700. I asked about the buy 3 get 1 free thing, and he said it's not really going on but he'll do it as a "favor". Give me a break.... anyways, now it's 4 LS-H's WITHOUT the stupid road hazard warranty for about $550 (out the door). I was surprised at the price difference in the LS-H and the LS-T. LS-T's sell for $89/tire, the LS-H sells for $143/tire. DANG! That's a big difference. So the drama continues....

Isn't is rediculous how freaking worked up we can get over tires???? I probably won't sleep tonight!!!! So many CHOICES! GRRRR

Just something i noticed... dude at the firestone place slipped in the "road hazard warranty" in the price he quoted me. That comes up to about $50. So now we're looking at $364 for the T rated tires. I hate to be... stupid... but can someone give me a quick lesson on the speed ratings? I know the higher speed rating the faster you can go, but what else is the difference? Does a V rated tire ride rougher than an H rated tire? Or is the opposite? I guess it's just hard for me to spend $150 more for V rated tires that are only rated for 50k when the cheaper ones are rated for 80k. I want a smooth ride with minimal tire noise, i could care less how well it corners or how fast it can go. Can someone help straighten me out here???? ps.. this is for the '98, the '02 has new MXV4's.