blake918

Every SUV and minivan! It's hard to believe Chrysler was the one to popularize the power liftgate with the Town & Country in 2001. I don't know why the Japanese never caught on to the German turn signals because it is an awesome thing to nudge the stalk and get 3-4 blinks to change lanes. Surprisingly, a lot of late model GMs have this feature. That is one of my favorite features, especially since 90% of my miles are on the hwy. Blake, I did test drive the blutec also. Why do you ask? I love diesels, and I'm just curious what you thought about it? I haven't driven a Bluetec, but I have spent some time driving a relative's '05 E320 CDI (I6), and it is one of my favorite cars ever. I see they do charge you a premium for the diesel power, around $4,000 which isn't bad at all when you consider that the diesel option on 3/4 ton pick-ups is $10,000+. I wouldn't have considered the GX right now since it is so old, and I absolutely hate that stupid swinging rear door!

It sure is built like one. I sat in a 2010 the other day, and I liked almost everything about it except for the cheap plastics. I gently rested my knee on that gigantic center console (like I do in every car I drive), and it creaked and cracked like a '95 Chevy. I was shocked that this Prius actually had so much head and legroom. The seat was a little flat and could have been more supportive, but overall, I was very comfortable. I realize the technology aspect of the car, but I'm not going to pay $23,200 for something that's already rattling with 11 miles on it, 40+ mpg or not. Plus, I would have to deal with those Gulf States Toyota crooks; the Prius I sat in had $1,500 of worthless port options. The 6 they had on the lot all had these ridiculous add ons; I hope no one actually falls for that crap. I saw the Lexus dealer had 6-8 HSs. I'm sure they will be there a while since hybrids aren't popular here. It looks ok; I'm not crazy about the Ford Fusion grill--it works on a Fusion, not so much on a Lexus. I didn't get to sit in one. The dash looks bad without the nav. $38k is a lot for an unimpressive 34mpg hwy. For my $40k, there are a ton of better options out there, but I agree that it will sell well to those wanting to be seen in a hybrid and a Lexus.

I just put the Arnott upper arms in my '99 a couple weekends ago. So far, they have been great. They cured an assortment of clunks and a squawk! :D I absolutely wasn't going to pay $800 or $1,000 for a set of OEM arms. These aftermarket ones were $210 out the door, and they come with a lifetime warranty. They look and feel just like the OEM ones that came out the car. Worst case (assuming the stigma about aftermarket parts is true), even if the arms lasts 7 years instead of 10, it's well worth it, especially since it takes much less than an hour to change each upper control arm.

I drain and refill the pan every 3-4 months. You'll get about 2 qts out when you drain the pan (I think it holds something like 10 qts total). Unless you have a transmission problem, I wouldn't change the filter. I changed the filter on my former LS at 250k+ miles, and the filter was spotless, as was the one in my '99 when I did a transmission repair at 180k miles. I just ordered 12 quarts of T-IV from Park Place for $59 shipped. In the owners manual I have from my '95, the maintenance charts are on pages 184-187. If your manual doesn't have it, I can post the pages. Assuming you fall under the light service category, the 52,500 mile service is just an oil change, check the body for corrosion, check the a/c filter, and a road test.

Thanks! ;) Wow, thank you so much, Smooth! :D

Yeah, it's not bad. Aside from unbolting the pan itself, if I'm remembering correctly from when I did this years ago, the only other thing you have to do is unbolt a ps line or something that runs along the front of the pan.

Very nice! B) It seems like this is what you wanted from the very beginning! Did you drive the Bluetec as well?

That's unfortunate. I would have bought something else. $50,000+ is entirely too much money spend on a car you're settling for.

Happy Birthday SK! And, it's DC's birthday too; Happy Birthday!

A couple days late, but Happy Birthday! I hope you had a good one!

If you're still looking, here's the link: https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/...o.toyota.com%2F Keep us posted!

Sounds fishy to me too. I'm doubtful that they even installed the solenoid. These solenoids are typically special order, and special order electronic parts usually can't be returned, especially on a part that would be used (since they supposedly installed it). So, there's no way they'd eat the $270 on that solenoid instead of charging you for it. Can you fix this yourself? It's easy to turn the light off either by using an OBDII scanner or simply by unplugging the battery for 20 minutes, and of course, some new fluid and filter won't fix a solenoid problem, so even though they cleared the code to get you out the door, it came right back since what they didn't fix anything. In my case, when I replaced the solenoid, the light turned off by itself a couple seconds after I started the car for the first time after the repair. The PDF I posted tells you how to check the resistance on the solenoid to see if it's good. If you decide to tackle this yourself, I'd pay the $10 or $15 to Toyota and download the repair manual for your specific year since what I posted is for the '99 model, which has a different transmission, so the parameters might be different on a '95. Is your car still shifting smoothly and normally?

HIDs are not standard, but most '99s have them, and if this car has nav, it probably has HIDs too. Around here, the majority of the Gen2.5s usually come with the Premium Package (cd changer, HIDs, and moonroof). I'd probably steer clear of one with that antique nav system! The car phone is going to be worthless too, but that's easy to take out.What's new in '99? Nothing major: New_Features.pdf And details on the revision to the steering column: Steering.pdf

I'd encourage you to go drive the MDX. My parents have a '08, and I LOVE driving it. It feels pretty sporty, and the SH-AWD is superb (up to 70% of the power to the rear and up to 90% to the front wheels). This car is terrific in the rain; the MDX just eats it up--it feels very heavy and solid. I guess this is a trait of a good AWD system since the Subarus are highly regarded in this area too. They have the Tech and power liftgate package. I wish it had keyless start, but they kind of make up for it with bump start and a sweet looking switchblade key. Dealer service is first rate too. Oh yeah, the nav actually works when the car is moving too!! B) I know styling is purely subjective, but I don't see why people hate Acuras so much. I think it's a great looking car... Otherwise, I'd find a new leftover Mercedes W211 bluetec (one of my absolute all time favorite cars). I saw one on ebay the other day that was $12k off the sticker... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...p;category=6335

As far as I know it is. How many miles do you have? I wonder how many shavings there were....from an objective standpoint, and not from the eyes of someone trying to sell you a $2,000 rebuild!Here are my magnets at 180,000 miles. There's a light film of shavings, but considering the mileage (and that most of those are city miles), I'm not at all worried. I used to have a 95 LS, and I pulled the pan (somewhere around 250k miles) to change the tranny filter (what a waste of time), and the magnets had the same amount of shavings. The transmission was still fine even when I sold the car at 315,000 miles.

That's great news John! $350 for parts and labor sounds more than fair. I'm glad you won't have to go to those crooks at the dealership.

A '94 ES is OBDII. Moved to the ES forum...

You are correct, the code tells you which solenoid might be bad. I had a PO763, and the repair manual tells me that is the #3 solenoid. The repair manual says that a 770 is the Shift Solenoid Valve SLU. The text pretaining to the 770 code says that the SLU deals with clutch lock up, so I think this might be the part number 35280-50010, but have someone verify it for you (not your local dealer. I'll list some links below to reputable dealers that we buy parts from). If I did happen to stumble upon the correct part number, that solenoid is $268 at Park Place.This is where I got the part number from: http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/p_U_1995_LEXU...EPGKA_3512.html I bought my solenoid from Park Place Lexus in Texas. The Assistant Parts Manager (sent him an email through their website) was more than helpful in ordering the correct part for me. It was painless. These are the dealers that I use for parts. Park Place is probably my favorite. I've been buying from them for more than 6 years. Their prices aren't always the lowest, but their customer service via phone or email has always been first rate. Park Place Lexus: http://www.newlexusparts.com Sewell Lexus: http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/select.asp?cat=BODY Thompson Lexus: http://irontoad.com/l_home.htm Carson Lexus: http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...m?siteid=214915 (Carson is in Southern California, so they could probably get the part to you the quickest. PP and Sewell are in the Dallas area, and Thompson is in Pennsylvania.) And here's a picture of my transmission (might be slightly different from yours since I have a 5 speed), but you can see 5 solenoids staring you in the face on the left side, and there are 2 more on the right side that are not really shown in the pic. And the new solenoid (I want to say this one was about $240 out the door.).. This is for my '99, so the testing procedures may not apply to your '95, but here it is anyway: CI__P0770_.pdf

What he said. A used transmission is not $1,300, not even close. I very briefly considered going that route, and I found one online with 65k miles for $500 shipped to my door. These guys are just trying to take you for a ride every way they can. Could you imagine their engine diagnostics. Hmm your MAF sensor is bad, it would be silly to replace just that sensor, how about a whole new engine instead?

Just search ebay and the forums to see what number you should be at, and 30 seconds on ebay told me that $10k off a LTZ is where you need to start, and I'd suspect the forums would tell you that you can go even further. They ARE discounting them that much; I'm not sure why this is so surprising. It's the way it is, and it's been like this for years and years.I wish I knew how the Detroit marketing morons came up with their pricing strategies because they are laughable. Imagine if that Tahoe LS had a sticker of $33k, a fair deal for the dealer and customer was $29k, and if you really wanted to haggle, pay $27k (which I have seen local specials on new Tahoe LSs)....they would sell far more than they do now. They do $4k-$6k off new Impalas and Malibus too. Makes them even more appealing cars!

Sure they do. My dad got $12,000 off his Sierra last summer (no owner loyalty, no rebate from a GM credit card, etc.). It had a $53,000 sticker. And, he didn't spend hours haggling back and forth. It's a black on tan turbo diesel z71, so it wasn't an off color, and it hadn't been sitting there for months and months. He told them that's what he'd pay (after he and I researched it online), and they took it because that's the going rate for GM trucks and SUVs because they aren't $50k vehicles. I've seen on some forums that people come across Yukons and high trim Tahoes that have been sitting on the lots for months, and they get even better deals (that's where the $14k came from). It's not like a Japanese car where roughly 10% off is a good deal. Here's a quick example of a base model Tahoe with $8k off. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2009-NEW-Ch...d=p4506.c0.m245 LTZ for $55k sticker for $46k: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2009-NEW-Ch...d=p4506.c0.m245 Those are buy it now prices. A good negotiator could get even more off. And I'm sure a Tahoe owner would wonder the same thing! I, for one, would be far more inclined to get a Tahoe...scratch that I'm a Ford guy, the Expedition since the nearest MB dealer is a 140 mile trip away. $30k for that Tahoe is a good buy (bluetooth, stability control, 3 rows of seats, V8 engine, towing package, etc.); if I had a family or a need for a SUV, I'd seriously consider it since the Highlander, Pilot, and most other crossovers just don't do it for me.

Happy Birthday!!

They do if the service takes long enough, and with a GM, that's not uncommon! My dad has gotten a couple loaners due to lengthy warranty work needed on his GMC truck (which is a POS.). They give you a slip to take over to Enterprise (who is on site at his dealer), and they bill directly back to the dealer. It's not like at Lexus or Acura (where after you tell them what you want, they say there's a silver xx outside with the a/c running, that one is for you), but if they need it for a while, they'll give you a loaner. Given that GM is not a luxury dealer, I don't think it's unreasonable for them to be selective with doling out loaner cars. I can say, though, the new Malibu is a fantastic car. I drove one (3.5 LT) from Las Vegas to New Orleans, and I really enjoyed the car. Great performance, efficiency, quality, and superb looks in and out. I've got to agree with Steve, ML vs. Tahoe is apples and oranges. Sure, same prices, but they are going after two totally different customers. Most people get $8k-$14k off of a GM truck/SUV. I think $8k-$14k off of a MB is highly unlikely unless it's leftover or if it's brown or some other undesirable color.

The whitewalls don't look bad (not something I'd do)! ;) If you keep the whitewalls, I think you need to take the next appropriate step and add the canvas top! Should fit right in if you ever plan to move to Florida! haha B) Your '95 is just awesome! A pearl white LS with chrome factory rims is a match made in heaven. I hate chrome rims 95% of the time, but your LS is one of the few that can pull it off -- looks very classy.

A total failure of a LS400 transmission is very, very rare. However, shift solenoids crapping out is not all that rare. I had one die on my '99. I think the part was about $250 (shift solenoid #3 broke), and I changed it myself -- it's an easy job (you don't have to drop the valve body), although it is a little time consuming with clean up and waiting for the gasket to dry. The repair has been a total success. When I had this problem, it would shift normally at times, and sometimes a gear or two was missing. Sounds like they want to gouge you for a $3,000 repair instead of them just changing the solenoid. Did they give you the Check Engine Light code?