blake918

Hey Craig! I hope you are doing well also! What I'm thinking of is a Lexus diagnostics tool and not a regular old OBD scanner. The Lexus scanner goes above and far beyond an OBD reader. They talk about this scanner in the repair manuals, and it looks like it can check almost any of the electronic parts in the car. I guess it seems sorta like Vagcom for VW's.After seeing the list of replaced parts on your car, I'd say that anything is possible as far as the carbon is concerned. lol It can't hurt to try to blow some of it out! LOL I think checking the computer is a good idea too. What about your exhaust system? Have they ever checked it for plugged cats? Rats/birds/etc. (or you can combine the two and... rat+bird=pigeon) can find little nooks and crannies to nest in cars that we can't even imagine, and a car that was parked for months at a time makes it a prime suspect. I don't know! I'm just taking some wild guesses since your dealer has covered the likely causes already. You just need to bring the car down to Dallas where you have a plethora of Lexus specialists to pick from who would love to solve this weird little puzzle. :D Blake

I believe that the only Lexus models built outside of Japan are some of the RXs. Just check the VIN on the specific car you are looking at; if it starts with a J, then it was built in Japan.

There's nothing wrong with expecting decent fuel mileage out of the car. My '95 still gets great mileage (usually over 26mpg on the hwy), and its got a hell of a lot more miles than Craig's car. I hope he doesn't sell the car until he figures out what is making it so slow; I'll sleep a lot better at night knowing what it was! LOL I agree. It seems like this would be simple for the dealer to solve with their diagnostic scanners and what not.

Yeah, it's a pretty good little shampooing machine. I'm pleased. Shampooing doesn't attract more dirt. It will make it more visible because it's easier to notice dirt on something that is clean compared to something that is dirty.

Art, my LGCM with the heater is model 1425-R. Definantly get the one with the heater. I'm actually very surprised by how hot the water gets, pretty impressive for a small, low cost machince!

I saw that a CL/LOC member picked up a new '06 LS430 for $49k (he said it was $13k off the sticker...base model with factory chrome rims.), but I don't know how important the ultra package is to you. What an amazing deal; for that price I think I could do without indash nav and air ride (the most important features to me are std anyways, like hids, vented seats, and smart access). I guess nobody wants the 430 now that the 460 is out. Here's the thread: http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246039

I'm pretty sure they've had some variation of blue for every year of LS--a lighter blue in the early years, and it progressively got darker. Generally, blue is a hard color to come by for a LS, like red, green (not jade), brown, etc., basically anything that is not white, black, tan, or silver. lol Is this the same blue that you saw?

Oh yeah, no doubt about that. ;)

Congrats and enojy your new car!!! B) What colors did you get?

LOL That was great! Obviously, they are over exaggerating the complexities of the system, but at the same time, I've never read an overly positive review of this parking systtem in any car magazine. IMO, they should have spent the R&D money that they spent on this parking system on knocking off something more useful like Mercedes's Distronic Plus. I agree. Also, the fact that you can't use it on hills and it takes a fair amount of time to get everything setup makes it even less useful.

An oldie, but a goodie! ;)

Terrible news, Josh; I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Yall stay strong and be safe out there; we are wishing the absolute best for you and all of the men and women in our Armed Forces. Be careful, take care, and God Bless the USA!

The LS430 got smart access as a standard feature midway through the generation, in 2004. ;) Lexus seems to be anti smart access for its SUVs for some reason or another...

Great job Jain! Ohhhh air ride too...very nice! B) That's the main reason why I've never been that interested in converting my car phone over to bluetooth. I like having a cradle to hold and charge my phone!As for the mic, I have mine mounted to the windshield near the a pillar. There are probably better methods if you are overly concerned with the aesthetics, but it works 100%. I just speak normally-no head turning or anything, and it works wonderfully!

You're comparing apples to oranges though. No car (even a VW diesel or Honda Insight) is going to return reasonable gas mileage running such short trips. If I visit a larger city, my city mileage shoots up to 18-20 like it's supposed to be. If I didn't get 25-26.5mpg on the hwy, I'd suspect something is wrong with my car. Do some interstate driving, and that will give you an idea as to if there is something wrong with your car's mechanicals...because "city" varies from person to person.

Your car has a 22.5 gallon tank. ;) I too live in a very small town. My morning drive across town usually takes me about 6 minutes, slightly longer if I catch the one red light. After I saw 13mpg one time, I quite computing the mpg, but typical city mileage for me is around 15mpg. Short city trips kill the mileage because it's easy for me to beat the EPA estimate of 25 on the hwy.

I agree. Too, it will probably be a little tougher to get rid a car that is not a common color like black/white/silver/tan. A '98 with '76k would probably go for $14k +/- around here.I wouldn't pay $17k for any UCF20, for that price you are not too far from a 430.

I can maybe go there with you, but obviously, the lawmakers there have evidence that it is working for them. I remarked on the legallity mostly because you want him to be stripped of his license, and that'll never happen if he was acting under the confines of the law, that is if it's legal in the first place. You just stole the words right out of my mouth!!!!! ;) I'm a thousand times more worried about being in the remote vicinity of a drunk driver than I am of someone traveling at speeds well in to the triple digits...

I know you didn't pick those cars! ;) In the early '90s there was a 3.5l diesel, but I hear that it is an absolutely horrid piece of machinery. A Lexus with less legroom than a VW? Now that's a shock! hahaha That's good to know about the 460! I'm anxious to sit in one to see how I fit. The 430 was slightly better (legroom wise) than the 400, so if the 460 is slightly better than the 430, we might actually be getting somewhere! LOL Thanks for the lengthy reports on your new car, I really enjoyed reading them! ;)

dboy430, if you value your membership here, you'll refrain from writing the kinds of things that I removed from your above post. If you have a problem with a member of this site, take it up with them privately, or if not, at least say something more constructive than what you did.

The E320 CDI is the diesel E class that is still in production; the E350 is gas. The last thing I'd compare a RX to is an Explorer--the RX out classes and prices the Explorer by a long shot. A MDX or X5 3.0 would be a closer match for class range and pricing.

Congrats FourSixOh! My biggest complaint (which festered in to disgust after sitting in cars that are half the size and a 1/3 the price of the LS that have a better seating position for tall drivers.) about the LS series has been the head and legroom, and I'm shorter (I'm 6'4) than you are. So, what do you think of the head and legroom in your 460?? I've got my eye on a '05ish E320 CDI a few years down the road; they're very comfortable, stylish, and I have a thing for diesels! B)

What if it's legal where LS400 lover is posting from?...from what I'm seeing it looks like he is posting from outside the US.I'd agree that there are better places to go do 150mph in your car, but if a)there is not another soul around on (or off, too) the road like we saw in the video and b)you are alone in the car--putting only yourself at risk--and c)it's legal, then, I'd say go at it...

I have them (extreme whites) in my LS and LOVE them. Very bright, white light. I'll surely buy them again in the future. B)

I found some OEM Toyota struts from my car on ebay a few years ago. I think I paid $60-$70 for the pair. It was a great deal for them being real Toyota parts.