LexKid630

Are airbags really needed if the passengers in a car during an accident are wearing their seatbelts? Aren't airbags used to prevent people from whipping foward hitting their heads etc? But don't seatbelts do that? Just wondering...

I put a down payment for the rx400h april of 04. They said it should be in by this April- May, but not to get too excited; inferring that there could be some delays. At the time they couldn't give me an exact price for it but said that it came is 2 versions (as said above). They explained to me about the various options available and told me that i could special order other accesories but i would have to wait longer. The 2 base types don't exactly include everything you would expect in a 52k $ car...I am VERY mad that the interior doesn't have the wood option! I really don't like the silver metal look at all... I don't remember my sales person telling me that it had heated seats or laser cruise etc...I just assumed that it did; so i'll have to double check on that. but overall it seems the rx400h will be a great seller!

a body shop could fill the holes and repaint the tailgate so the holes are no longer visible. but having the harrier emblem would be rare ;)

The first few weeks my wife had her gs430 (which requires premium) she had put the medium grade 91 octane. There wasn't any noticable change for those few weeks though i would think that there would in the future. going to premium from 87 wouldn't have an effect in case you were thinking of that too.

I have to agree that the 06 gs is MUCH, MUCCCCHHHHH more appealing on the outside than the older gs's. But the inside of the 06 seems to be too "plasticy". Not the type of craftsmanship i look for in a Lexus. As said before the center console silvery plastic is cheep, and the, well everything seems to be cheep! Sitting inside the 06 feels like sitting in a tin can LOL. The older gs had the more leathery/elasticity "feeling" than the newer plasticy feeling in the 06. it also gave me the feeling that i was in a car that would have a lot of problems in the future because of then low quality. I was looking for one to replace my wifes 03 gs430 but we both decided to go with the 05 es330. The es330 to me seemed way more comfortable and luxurious. In the es i got the feeling that i was more safe, and in better control even when standing still...the dash is more "touchable" than the 06 gs..LOL when you sit in the 06 gs it seems...well, boring in my oninion. for the money (up to 60k loaded) it's not worth it. I would rather get an Ls430 for a few $ more....But that's just my opinion.

Amazing. Are you saying your former '97 LS400 rode and felt better than your current '03 LS430 ?? If so do you remember what tires (tire brand & model) you had on your '97 LS400 that helped make it ride so smooth? ← I got the Ls430 for my son, and haven't driven it in 2 years. when it was first bought it was nice yet not one of the higher end Ls's. I found it to be larger than the 97, and less agile for some reason. The ride was about the same i guess, but i have to say that the 97 ls400 felt more secure than the 03 in my opinion. Still a nice car though. ;) and i don't remember what tires were on it. They were the all year tires (as what i normally get) stock. I leased the 97 LS so i didn't do any of my own changes to it (not like i would have anyway LOL). I din't even thnk the tires were changed though they must have for 110k miles. The dealer must have done them at one of the services. Still a wonderful car.

unfortunately, if you have driven the car at all, your mileage on your odometer will never be accurate again. other than that, i cant be of much help...sorry :( well, actually, i do think the reason why they go out is because the LED's are rated for 12 volts and the alternator puts out 14...i read that somewhereon here about an hour ago... ← and since there is too much voltage going to the needles, the 18 SMD's (surface mount diodes, not led's), will heat up and actually melt the bottom connector going to the smd's. The connection will be somewhat lost and they will flicker to the point where the connection is TOTALLY lost and eventually lose connection all together and not work at all. I know this from a test i did. I went to my nearest junkyard (which my uncle owns B) ) and took 3 gauge clusters; 1995 es, 1990 ls, 1997gs. I took one needle out and tested it with 12 vlts, all the way up to 16 vlts until it burned out. I lookerd underneath and saw that the plastic was melted and there was a gap in the connection. I took the smd's out individully and tested each one; only 2/18 actually still worked. So there must have been enough electricity to burn them out as well as the connection. The other needles i still have, all in working condition for some more testing ;) ...

I had a 97 ls400 (pretty much the same as the 00) and thought it was the best RIDE/FEEL i had ever driven in! Better than ANY other lexus that i have owned (i've owned all of them except for LX and GX). B) for the serpentine belt making noise; i think it's just because it's not new. After it's fixed it should be fine. Mine didn't have one problem the whole 3 years (110k miles) i had it. <_< what i'm confused about is the white smoke coming from the exhaust... Has this ever happened in any of your other cars such as the "honda" ? Could it just be water vapor caused by the heat meeting the cold air? This should always happen; if you didn't see this in your honda i would make sure it was turned on LOL. :P If you're feeling bumps on the road i would have to say that there's a problem! I couldn't hear or feel ONE! Maybe your tire pressure is too high. Or maybe a problem with suspension....That's just my theory considering the ride of the LS i had was better than the best!! ;) and for the wind noise; i did have some as i remember. But it wasn't as evident until i hit high speeds on the highway. This was probbly the only thing that i noticed as a negative on the Ls400. Overall, the ls400 is an excellent car, enjoy it! ;)

Thanks all! And yes, I feel foolish about the rust comment. ← ...and if there are any other scratches on the body of the car (which is metal) touch tehm up right away!! If it's deep enough to scrape off even the primer, then the metal will rist and peal off paint around it!! BEWARE it's happened to me and it looks absolutely horrible!!

Isn't the problem that the bulbs are burned out? Why is everyone talking about sending it somewhere; aren't the bulbs like 99 cents each? Just wondering if i'm missing something...

These "auto glow" needles work as the 97-01 es300 needles work. They work by using 1 led shooting directly into the plastic piece needle, illuminating it. Unlike the older es needles, these auto-glow needles only use ONE led in the head that lights up the whole thing. I don't know if these needles will fit onto the es gauge clusters. The voltage could be different. The fittings could be diffferent, and the size would be different.

I guess it all does depend on the dealer. I know for a fact my dealer has the pen b/c i have gotten it from them once before. and since the bumper is plastic it will never rust. The paint should stick better as well if prepared right.

Thanks much! Now I can sleep. One last question, promise! Can I get the pen and paint from dealer or should I order off internet? Will I have rust issues down the road? I guess that's two questions. ← You can get the tough-up pen + paint from your dealer. It shouldn't be very expensive; probably like $10 depending on the amt. and color. Before putting the paint on, rub the surface with rubing alcohol w/ a cotton ball for ex. This is the best way to clean, and get the best adhesion. And isn't the front bumper plastic? This would mean that it couldn't possible rust? But i'm not sure; it COULD be metal someone correct me ;) If it is metal it should last a long time.

Oh my god they're making a new es! Gerr i wish i knew, i just bought an 05 es.

...and i don't even know why anyone whouldn't want the wood on the steering wheel..it makes the car's interior look so much more luxurious ;) it does end up looking raddy with rings marks as they develop over time, but that's just use.

Your Lexus salsperson should be taken to the woodshed and thrashed! I bought my ES 330 here in Virginia for $28,000 including a end to end warranty, taxes, etc. It is completely loaded with every option imaginable. The dealer is fantastic and provides me a free carwash/cleaning every time I take it in for ANY reason. This is the best car I have ever driven and my Passengers love it because this is a well designed PASSENGER car. The best way to make sure the car lasts is to treat it well. With you warranty and service contract take it to your service at each 2500 mile intervals. They will clean it, wash it, perform warranty and reg mantenance at no cost to you. When I lived in VT, I drove 35,000 miles without blinking an eyelash. In NE the car needs to be cleaned more often because of salt, corrosion and below zero weather. Let the dealer keep up the vehicle; if anytrhing goes wrong THEY give you a FREE loaner. What could be any easier? If you ever visit DC, come to Pohanka Lexus in Chantilly and drop in and get set for an experience in people first. ACK ← I can't believe you got a new 05 for 28k miles!! thats 11k less that the one i got!! I can't believe it was that less; it must have been used.

I thought the rx400h engine was a 3.3 liter as the rx330 is. If so, wouldn't it be called the rx330h?

I just tried it on my 03 rx300 and it didn't do anything either; even with a bad signal radio station on (AM and FM). I haven't noticed this botton before you pointed it out... weird..... And all the recals are sickening aren't they!! I'm selling my 03rx and getting the rx400h as soon as my dealer gets them in; maybe they'll have it all fixed for this one hopefully ;)

Is the ride (feel) different with each transmission? Is it more quiet? I have only driven AWD rx's and don't know if the ride is any better with the 4wd or front wheel drive. Since the energy is put towards the front in front wd, would it be louder to the driver and softer in the rear, than AWD etc? Also, is the acceleration/shifting different b/t transmissions?

I think he meant that all the 05 es330's had wood steering wheels. The later es's didn't ALL have them. I think they come in certain packages. But i don't think it is necesarily the navi package, b/c the one i test drove didn't have navi and it had the wood wheel. but i do like the wood/leather steering wheel better than w/o. B)

Today i was behind a 97-99 ES for about 30 minutes on the highway and noticed that the emblem on the trunk read 300ES. I always thought that it was supposed to be ES300? Do you think that this trunk was repainted and the emblems put on backwards? or are they made to be different? Just wondering too see if anyone knows what might have happened.

Nope it was never neglected, just ware and tear for 79k miles.

During the cold winter months i warm my cars up for about 5-10 minutes. Mainly so i don't have to drive in a cold car LOL. I have read in many places that warming the engine up before driving is excellent for the car. It makes the oil thinner and easier to flow through the engine parts. Even with warming it up i can still tell when taking off that its under some stress. But it must be better than no warming at all. During the summer when it's warm i turn on the A/C for a minute or 2, but the engine is warm to begin with so it's not that needed i don't think.

The gs430 didn't look anything like that avalon! not at all....No one who drove it ever smoked, or put dirt on the floor like that etc. The interior was very clean, just had a lot of papers and folers etc. everywhere. The back seat had NEVER been sat in at all. I don't think the back seat had ever seen daylight to tell you the truth. The rear was like her fileing cabinet..LOL The passenger seat hadn't been sat in much. She had never taken drinks or food in it at all; there weren't stains or anything. The interior even had a strong scent of the new car smell! It was like new. The exterior was the problem. Nothing was wrong with the engine or transmission (that anyone could tell). She ahd always put premium fuel in, and all services were done at the correct times. Actually, if the car had been repainted all around, it would have looked really new.

I'm still curious. How did you manage to completely trash a 2 year old $50 K car in only 79 K miles? ← The 03 gs430 wasn't trashed, it just had a few minor dents and scratches on it etc. It was my wifes car and she has to drive a lot each day; she manages to hit around 40k miles each year!! It's a lot of driving and it was evident in the look before i sold it. She had hit a deer in the front so there was some body work done, but then another car scraped the front side a little . After i cleaned it last week it looked o.k, but not like a 2 yr old car; more like a 5 or 10. She is a horrible driver and treats cars like dirt. That i won't lie to you I sold it this year because of the high mileage. I figured that if she kept it any longer it would have been in even worse condition and the mileage would have been over 120k miles in only 3 years. At least it's only 2 years old, still considered somewhat new. The car worked very well but i was worried about how much longer with her driving it was going to last.