blake918

Well Steve, I must say you have steered me in the right direction, again(steering wheel ;) ). I clayed my car, polished with Meguiars #2, and used Meguiars #26(I think it is a yellow wax and not a sealant, but I dunno); I didn't see any sealants at Pepboys or Autozone. My car has never looked better...ever :D . I think the $10 I spent on the clay bar is the best thing I've ever done!!! I noticed all of the stuff of the clay bar itself that it cleaned off of my car; I was shocked and pleased at the same time. The clay also cleaned my lower two tone section flawlessly; I had some dirt that was just stuck in there, and I was previously unable to get it out. Now my car feels like the finest Italian silk :D ...I love just going outside to see and feel how silky smooth and siney my cashmere paint is after 9 years...it's truley amazing!!! I think I'm going to go in the gargae and shave from the hood just like Ticman...just for kicks ...j/k. Thanks again Steve, Tic, and Denny!!! :D :D :D (I think yall can tell how happy I am by all of the smilies )

Born in Houma, LA and lived their for about 4 years...which is about 60 miles southeast of New Orleans. Then, we moved to Baton Rouge, LA... stayed here for about 7 years; while living in Baton Rouge, we spent a few summers in Victoria, TX(a wonderful little TX town), and then, my father got a job offer in New Orleans; we've been living in New Orleans for about 6 years now.

Again thanks Steve. It's good to have a car detailing guru(Steve) and several members that have used the guru's methods ...that way everyone can answer all of my little questions. It looks like it's going to be a fine day for cleaning up the ES down here; we have a cool front coming through, so it's nice and cool, in the lower 80's which is cool for us.

Ticman, thanks for the step-by-step instructions. I hear nothing but good reviews about the Poorboys on here, but my parents don't like the idea of their credit card number floating around in cyber space. I think that's reasonable, but I hear that the best products are only available online :( . Denny, thanks also for the advice :D . Is the Meguiars polish available in AutoZone or Pepboys? Like I said, I wish I could buy all of the good stuff, but I have no/no access to a credit card. I have had good results from Meguiars products like their Gold Class wax which always makes my beige car glow wonderfully and their car soap, so I would imagine the polish is the same way. Thanks again

I just got back from AutoZone. I was happy to see that they had the Clay Magic brand, and it was only $10 with the lube spray; I didn't see the Mother's; they only had the Clay Magic. Steve...you say you rinse immediately after claying...on the box they say to just wipe it clean. Do you rinse to help prevent scratches or something? When you soap right before you clay, do you use dishsoap or car wash liquid? I'm sorry about all of the tedious questions; I just want to make sure I do this right! I can't wait to try it tomorrow morning.

Thanks everyone...I'll give that a try and let yall know how it turns out.

The part of the bumper that I'm talking about is the bottom most part of the bumber which also houses a black grille and the fog lights.

It seems as though Louisiana has the worst possible streets that I've traveled...lay asphault on a big swamp and in no time you will get many, many potholes . Anyways, I guess I've zoomed through too many of these potholes or however else this might happen...maybe scraping on the driveway(?), and it looks as though my car is frowning or maybe a swollen lip from fighting with the pavement . Is there any kind of simple diy fix for this? Or would I have to pull the whole front bumper off which I don't want to get into as I am no body expert. Here's a pic of my poor car...

I sent him an email asking if there is anyway that he could verify that color scheme to my car. I'm having a really hard time tring to tell if the color is off. Do you know for sure that the interior colors were changed? What's "drape?" Why are these covers so cheap if they normally go for around $750?

I've been wanting to clay my car....let me get this straight I 1. soap the car, 2. rinse, and 3. while still wet clay or do I dry first...what's lube spray? Then do I wax as usual? I'm new to this car washing thing, so are their any ways that I can possibly screw this up(I read that I should throw away the clay if I drop it)? Also, can I buy this at Autozone or similar, and I read about different grain counts I guess?...which one should I use?

I found this set of seat covers on ebay for my '94 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...item=2431024530. They say that they are made by classic soft trim. Are these junk...will I be better off paying up for more expensive leather? $310 sounds a little too good to be true :o .

1994 Cashmere Beige ES 300, bought(well...parents bought) May 22, 2003(I'm obsessed..lol) with 106k from an individual, $6300 plus a new egr valve. Problems to be fixed...vibrations while idling,broken antenna, blown front speaker, hazy headlights, must must get windows realigned...it sounds like a tornado inside when I go 80mph on the freeway, flickering needles, and a dried and terribly cracked drivers seat. What I have replaced/repaired....broken hood struts($60 a piece at Lex dealer), replaced lights behind speedo cluster($40), egr valve(as per purchase agreement), vacuum switching valve for egr($100), leather on steering wheel($310 at American Stitches...I highly recomend), engine, tranny, and injector flush at Toyota dealer($250), and just in today a new set of Lexus floormats($120...these are so beautiful!!!). Runs and drives like a dream(except at stop lights ...see other post ), and I love the silky smooth shifts into the 5000+rpm range too B) . I wish I knew when the timing belt was last changed(the car wasn't serviced at Lexus; I already checked); this is the only major servicing I'm worried about. Mods...these cars are already beautiful as is...that's why I have none ...no stereo, rim, or body modifications...just a gold package I just bought from a gentleman on LOC...and maybe a K&N in the future. Insurance....its got to be killing my parents...I'm a 17y/o boy in a Lex...ouch!! I want to say they pay around $1500-$2000 per year for my insurance...but I really dunno. I do know that if my grades drop below a 3.2 I loose the good student rate and then that money comes out of my empty pocket. This club is the best on the net :P !!!

I did a little investigating...I opened the hood while the car was running, and I reved it. However, I didn't see my engine flinch at all, so I'm thinking the mounts might still be good. I can't list a rpm becuase I gave it some gas manually, but I'd estimate 3500-4000 rpms. I did, however, hear a hissing sound. I'm guessing I have a vacuum leak somewhere. I still have the same symptoms as above, rough idling and tranny shifts. What do you guys think?

Fortunantly, Lexus thought about that! Look in your trunk...there should be a little cord on the side that the gas filler is on. It will manually pop the gas cover open should the electronic one fail. ;)

I guess my local Lexus dealer is a step ahead of this game...they require a valid driver's liscense and the car registration to be present before they even talk to you about duplicate keys. I found it kind of aggrivating at first, but knew it was probably for a good reason, and it sounds like it is.

I'd have to say that I was unimpressed with the Meguiars leahter wipes. They really remind me of armor-all...I have night mares about the stuff . After I wipe the seats, they are so freakin slippery it's not even funny. I do agree that they do leave a nice clean smell. I've had much better luck with sk's coco butter :D .

thenewanomaly(...man u need to give us a name or something shorter to type ...I'm just being facetious again), would u happen to know any aftermarket websites or anything like that?

Prozac, what kind of wallet key do u have? My wallet key won't even fit in the ignition...just the door. That's interesting <_<

If you have 2-3 days to spare and $33 order a wallet key from Lexus, but if not, I would guess that pop-a-lock or other auto lockmith service could open it up for you. Then procede to the Lexus dealer, and order a wallet ket to prevent this in the future ;) . My thinking is that in one use your wallet key will pay for itself. The best $33 I've spent in a while . Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

I second that motion :lol: Thanks for all the advice everyone :D ...isn't this place the greatest? Anyhow, I was leaning toward the motor mount too. Do I have to buy this at Lex or Toyota or will an auto part store have a similar quality one for cheaper? Amanda have you gotten yours fixed yet?

How much are you asking for the gold kit? Is this kit for the 92-94 or 95-96...I'm concerned about the emblem embedded in my tail light.

In my '94, I am experienceing some vibrations while idling and when I am at a stop light...all of this is mainly at the 600-1500 rpm range. I tried it with the a/c off and the vibrations were probably 25% less. My tranny is also acting kind of funny...some rough shifts sometimes and other times they're seamless. I just had my injectors flushed at Toyota was well as a tranny and engine flush; I had all of these problems before they worked on my car, and I did all of this in hopes of curing it, but to my dismay I had no such luck . After searching through some previous posts, I found a couple of things: 1) Dogbone(?) and other motor mounts and 2) a loose timing belt...I dunno when my timing belt was last changed(I currently have 108k). Also how hard is it to change the motor mount...is this a diy or dealer thing? Do either of those things effect the way the tranny shifts? Help!!! I can't take these vibrations anymore :(

Does anyone know what the size limits for gallery pictures and avator pictures are? Are they both 100 kb???

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