blake918

I agree with Bart, just don't over oil the filter, and you should be fine. I wonder how much better your fuel mileage will get? :D

I really don't think the column shifter is that complicated. It's not like you are going to find park, reverse, drive on your climate controls. LOL Those videos were pretty bad--mainly the commentary. He drove decently, but he was like a 6 year old the way he was trying to break everything, especially in the MB and RX. They don't have age restrictions at these events? LOL

Nice write-up! What did you think of the driver's leg/head room (did you have the seat all the way back?)?...you know I have to ask! ;) I really LOVE the floor mounted gas pedal in my LS, that's great that they put it in the M!

Even though these cars will run fine on regular, the savings of putting regular in v. premium is hardly noticeable (20 gal @ 2.20=$44 compared to 20 gal @ $2.40=$48....only a $4 difference.), so I've stuck with 93. I became a moderator in May--it has been just fantastic to help out with a wonderful Lexus Club like this one. ;)

Good to see you back on here Joe! My beast is doing well; she's still running and looking like a champ. B) The 460 comes out in October, I believe. ;)

WK, order your parts online if you are going to buy from Sewell. See the pic below to see what I paid for shocks. I too was suprised by the price when I bought the shocks because I remember seeing them for $50/piece; I think there was a new part number or something that bumped the price up. If you search on Club Lexus, there are usually some discount codes floating around or if you are a LOC Gold there is one as well, so that will help the price out as well. The price they gave you for the springs sounds about right; they are usually in the ~$100 range. My car got about an inch taller after I changed my struts (but they had a lot more miles on them than yours do.). Maybe yours will do the same, so that might be something to consider before buying new springs.

Well put, James! ;) My heart skipped a beat when Hoboken said that he's 6'5 and wants a LS! haha The LS430 is slightly more accomidating than the 400-just slightly, and it's mostly in the headroom because the 430 is taller than the 400. I'd be sure to take it on a good 30+ minute test drive to give your right leg an oppertunity to cramp up or not...hopefully! I agree about the LX, it is ancient, over priced, and underpowered, but be that as it may, it is still stunningly attractive to my eye. B)

How old are the plugs/wires/and company?

This happens a lot. When it happened to me, I just replaced every bulb back there, and the light went out. :D

I have a bit of slack in my steering as well. I'm sure it is either the tie rods or the rack & pinion.

There is plenty of head shaking to go around for everyone! LOL Benz, well, it seems like their cars are hit or miss. This one obviously missed, missed big. No auto manufacturer is perfect, but shame on them for not buying this car back a long time ago. As for the guys that serviced the car, it seems like after replacing control arms and what not numerous times, enough to collect a repair history 6 pages in length, you'd think they would think they would stop and say, hmmmm, let's see why this keeps happening because this obviously isn't normal? Well, I guess only in a perfect world! Have you pursued lemon laws yet? I'd bet that every lawyer in America goes home and prays for a piece of citrus like this one to fall in to their lap the next morning... I agree; cypress is one of my favorite colors! B)

In addition to the warranty being expired, this is something that is just going to wear out--leather does that, especially with 4 years and 70k under its belt. I'd call it a success if you got them to replace any of the leather for free. If your car had 30k miles you might have a better case, but I think you did pretty good considering the circumstances.

There isn't a normal light in the '95 (you have height hi or nothing lights up at all.). ;)

Welcome to the board Paul! ;) As for the air ride, the flickering light indicates that there is a trouble code. A lot of people are quick to say replace the struts, but I've heard that a bad air ride ecu or height control sensor can ruin a perfectly fine strut. I believe that you have to have a Lexus scanner to get these kinds of trouble codes, but I'm not 100% on that. I'd start by checking the simple things like the thermostat, coolant level, and coolant cap gasket to see if that helps with the overheating. Replacing the coolant can't hurt either if it hasn't been done in a while. Other than that maybe the radiator, or god forbid the water pump. My cold idle doesn't ever get that high (maybe 14-1600rpms tops), but it seems very dependent on the weather. The repair manual doesn't say much about it other than your idle should be 650+/-50 when the car is at operating temp. The repair manual recommends checking your IACV if your idle speed is off. Has your ECU been replaced?

It's cool from a technology stand point, but it looks like it's more trouble than it's worth. I read in Car and Driver that it takes about 20 seconds to manually tweak the parking barriers (it looks like they didn't tweak the settings too well in that news clip since the car was a little far away from the curb which is really bad when you parallel park.). Someone is liable to steal your space while you set this up! LOL They should have invested that money in something more useful like a cruise control that bring the car to a complete stop and then resume the car back up to speed like the Distronic Plus does in the MB S550. Or will the 460 have that feature? All you hear about is the parallel parking, 8 speeds, and the rear ottoman, so I'm guessing no.

That's pretty common to happen to people who have their air bags go off. Of course, the bruising comes from the bag flying out of its case at 200mph and making contact with you, and the burns come from the chemicals (I think nitrogen gas is the end result.) that make the bag inflate. There are a bunch of websites that explain airbags in great detail. I'd much rather get battered by an airbag than crack my head open on the dash or steering wheel! Sorry to hear about this. Most important is that you and the other driver are safe. ;) Jeeez, $8k? Did they give you the break down yet? Your car really doesn't look bad at all. That's good that the other driver wasn't a jerk, and even better is that he didn't pull one of those self righteous attitudes and said that if you weren't playing with your cell phone this wouldn't have happened. We all participate in distractive activities while driving, so sh_t happens. No one was hurt, and I'm sure both cars will be back to new in no time...

Well, I finally did it. It was about a month/month and a half ago. 5,000 miles later, it was now time for an oil change. I was skeptical going in to this (I ran Seafoam through my intake and was fairly unimpressed with the outcome. Sure, the smoke screen was cool, but my car was no better or worse than before.), so I photographed the oil on the dipstick for some before and after Seafoam comparisons.Anyway, the first shot is of M1 SS @ 5,000 miles, and the second shot is M1 SS @ 5,000 miles and post 8oz Seafoam in the crank case idling for 10min (it took 3 quarts of oil to flush all of the crap out of the engine.). Obviously, the oil is a lot better after the seafoam! I think I'll probably do it again to see if the oil can't get even better after 5k miles.

It's good to know that I am not the only one who has spent time at the asylum because of this. ;) After a while, I'll open the upper console lid or shove some magazines b/n the seat and console to make it stop because I truly can't take it another second. I've always thought tha the cars that have little cloth inserts between the seat and console lid were cheap, but what a treat it would be to have that!Craig, I'd start by checking for a loose bolt at one of the seat's 4 mounting points, seat belt, or something under the seat like the amp or a/c duct.

LOL Thanks man! Here ya go, here's some dirt for ya....2000+ miles of interstate in a matter of a couple days: I'm slow, but I have learned that a weekly wash and wax pays off so that you aren't out there all day killing yourself trying to polish swirls and defects out of the paint when you finally get out there and clean it. I wasn't thinking when I waxed the entire car in Collinite 845 and let it dry. You want to talk about a true, true PITA!!! I could hardly feel my right hand when I finished. I felt like Jerry Seinfeld in the episode "The Checks" when he had 100s of royalty checks to sign, and his hand was so exhausted that it turned in to a claw! LOL Lex, I'm probably going to keep the car a few more years, but I don't see the chrome rims happening. I'm odd in the sense that I LOVE the two tone paint/body work, and I'm not too crazy about chrome rims (especially not on a black car with dark window tint.). B)

I'm well aware of that, and I didn't mean it as an insult to those vehicles. All I meant was that they look like small, car-like trucks compared to the competition.

That's a good point. Although still very few, we see a lot more recalls from Toyota than we have in the past. They always seem to catch them very early on though... I don't think so. Toyota is a great car maker; their trucks/suvs leave something to be desired. With the exception of the Rav, most of them don't sell very high volumes. Ughh, and the new Tundra, I don't know if it's the pictures, but it looks very small, and low to the ground--almost like an El Camino! LOL

Ahh, ok! What do you do with a smart access Lexus if the batteries die? I read in a Car and Driver review that those lane departure basically make your radar detector worthless, and you can't turn them off (you can mute the sound, but you can't shut the system down completely. I can't remember if they were talking about an Infiniti or an Audi.). I'd have to look for a fuse to pull or something to disable that system! LOL

Thanks yall! B) If I had to pick, I think this one is my favorite. It's an interesting angle--it shows off the size of the car, but it also looks sleek and mean. haha

Wowo, congrats!! B) That's a really nice looking car! I don't know if I could buy a car site unseen. I guess that's where carfax helps out! Are you having it shipped, or are you picking it up?

Anyone know what that slot next to the trunk release is for (I couldn't find out anything about it on Infiniti's site.)? I really like that umbria grey color--that's a really sharp looking car! I wouldn't want diamond graphite just because there are so many Infiniti's that are that color!