mrsebastian

there are quite a few options and everyone has their favs. short of spending the big bucks and getting something like the valentine, i would check into specific features you are interested in and plan on spending atleast $100. do you want a larger display, or just the small lights? do you want your detector to tell you the band with voice or just audio tones? i've had several detectors and personally have found simpler alert display/audio to be actually less distracting while driving. for example, i picked one up for my gs with the voice and larger visual display, but found that tones are easier for me to pick up when i'm blasting my music than the voice. also the display, though big and with the actual name of the band displayed is always in red, seems harder for me to pick up out of the corner of my eye compared to the color differentiated small led display. another thing to consider will be the placement of your detector. i've got mine right next to the rearview mirror, i usually mount them on top of the mirror, but the gs doesn't allow for enough room. this lets me to check behind me and the detector every few seconds or as needed. i also had my local car audio shop "hard" wire the detector which has two benefits, the wire runs along the window and is completely out of sight (being up and out of sight makes the detector less likely to be stolen as well). two, it starts up with the car and you don't have to plug it into your cig lighter. once you've had one for a while, it's almost second nature when you get an alert you start to look around and figure out where there could be a police car. the biggest thing to keep in mind, they are not fool proof by any means and the best tool you have are your eyes! whatch out for blind spots that could be traps, check your mirrors, always take a peak way ahead of you for a cop on the side of the highway, and lastly watch overpasses and onramps, as they are great places for smokey to catch you speeding. that's a little more than you asked, but i thought it'd be helpful in your selection process. with my dectector and following the guidelines above, i haven't had a ticket in like 10 years (knock on wood) and i drive with a very heavy foot B)

welcome to the club :D as for gas mileage and cost of gas. i only get premium and depending on where in san diego, ca i get gas, it's about $1.80-1.90. as for mileage it's hard to say, but i'm guessing around 20m-per-g. i usually fill up right around 300 miles. on dependability, i'll have to keep you posted as i've had my 99gs300 for about a month now. so far it's been a real pleasure with absolutely nothing, not even a rattle anywhere! just to cover myself though, i did buy an aftermarket warranty just in case. enjoy your gs4!!

i say stick with it for several reasons... like others have said. by doing a few things your gs will feel like a whole new car. i haven't done my suspension yet, but adding some 20s already made a huge difference! unless the payments are killing you and you just gotta get out of it, keep it. it's a lex (toyota) and will not only run forever, but also retain it's value well. on that note, i'm surprised you're not getting any bites at that price with such low mileage. lastly (what i'm planning on doing), keep it for a few years and get your moneys worth out of it, till the new gs comes out and then upgrade :)

actually doing something similar and trying to find a little help myself. i like the factory head as it sounds pretty good. so i figured i'd ad a sub and amp with seperate control for the sub. got it all installed and it does the job pretty well. the down side as my installer and i have found out, the factory head automatically turns low end frequencies down as the volume increases to "save" the factory sub from blowing out. this of course sucks for my added sub as it can't really be used to it's full potential any one have any ideas how to bypass this besides getting an after market deck???

i'm with ralow! i'll take one too in cash

i'm do for pads very soon, anyone know where to get a good deal on the EBC Green Stuff Sport Pads?

i agree with bluelex :D the gs is so much more car! i don't know what you're getting it for as far as style, modability (is that a word?) for racing, or what, but the gs really says lexus and luxury to me.

easiest way to find out, is measure the height of your wheels and tires now and compare them to whatever size wheel and tire you will get. with 20s, my speedo is off by a few mph. with 19s and low profile tires i wouldn't expect the difference to be very much. don't quote me on it, but i would assume that the nav system works on sat tracking and not the rotatation of your tires to track distance. so bigger wheels shouldn't effect the nav, but i'm not 100% sure.

welcome! personally, i would do these three things to start... 1. wheels, gotta get some 20s! if you're on a budget, take your time and look around for some used ones that are in good shape. 2. radar detector! doesn't do much for the looks of the car, but will certainly save you from a ticket or two... and of course you have to "hard-wire" it and run the wiring around the molding of the windshield for that seamless look. 3. tint! it's whatever you like, but personally on a car like this a lighter tint looks classy. ok maybe 4 or 5 things... 4. change the side markers with clear ones. to match the head lights. 5. upgrade the audio system with a better sub. i'm a definate car audio nut and 9 outta 10 times would suggest replacing stock equipment, but i gotta admit the stock lex stereo sounds pretty darn good. the whole system needs more power in my taste, but adding to the low end will help balance it a little better. without taking the whole trunk an easy way to do this, is to change the factory 10" and build a small enclosure that mounts to the underside of the rear deck, where you can also mount the amp for it. keep us posted on your mods and again welcome!

you're right about the window safety feature thing... sure wish i had that on my last car when my poor puppy was hanging her head out the window and accidentally stepped on the window up button :( scared the hell outa me, t.g. shes' ok though... anyway, i'm wondering if there isn't a piece of glass stuck in the window molding at the top of the door (since you said it goes up to the top, but comes down again)?

welcome!! i agree on the 20s thing as they visually balance much better with the gs... (i gotta get some new picts)

i picked up a 99 gs300 and have nothing but good things to say :D i did purchase an after market warrany for 3 years/45k miles just to be safe, but somehow i get the feeling i'm not going to need it. i would check your lex from top to bottom for anything out of the ordinary. before i got this one i looked at one and it was pretty beat up. though it was subtle i did notice some scratched off paint by one of the bumper joints, leading me to believe that it had been a fender bender or two... before i keep rambling on, just make sure you check out the car completely, take it to a lex dealer for an inspection. it's a lexus/toyota so it'll pretty much run forever! my friend's got one and it's got 220k miles and still runs like new. good luck and enjoy your ride back

it's not so much deleting them, but more like saving over them. just tune to the station you want to save, then press and hold a preset radio button till it gives you a confirmation tone... that's it.

don't quote me on it, but i think the rear lights are different.

so i've been searching around for our mp3 changer problem and i found a few people talking about doing the same on their bmws at another website. one guy mentioned you can hook up an alpine changer to the factory deck, but the problem will be in the navigation of your folders and songs so even if we find a connecter that works, we're pretty much screwed without good folder and song navigation (searching through 1000 songs at random isn't going to work). i'll keep searching though, as there's got to be something!

glad to help :D please keep us posted on what wheels you go with.

hi greg, please let us know if you figure out how to get this to work and with which mp3 changer! i'll be the first to follow your lead and do the same :D thanks, sebastian

i was looking to do the same, as in getting nice wheels and not lowering the car. here's what i got... they're 20x8.5 with 245/35/20 tires and i have had no problems with rubbing. one thing to note however is the stock brakes need some updating (see other posts about wheels in the forum).

thanks gslx4s, but they are painted on. i did find an amazing detailer who showed me how he can take the stripes off! gotta get a detail anyway. thanks for the help everyone and i'll keep you posted on how it turns out :D

thanks :D it's kinda scary with the stock brakes when you gotta stop fast. i's actually planning on getting new pads as the back ones are just about gone. guess i'll order the rotors and just wait till i get them to do the pads too.

hi everyone, still working on the "pinstripes" issue, but i did get my wheels :D they're 20s, but damn if they don't look bigger?! how are you supposed to measure rims... i measured from lip to lip and got 21.5"? here's aquestion about upgrading the brakes, as the stock ones are not going to cut it (i think someone else was asking this in another thread). do i just need to upgrade the rotors, or the whole assembly? has anyone done the upgrades, what's an approximate cost, and what hardware would you recommend? check em out my new wheels here: new wheels new wheels (close up)

i had that thought too, of just doing darker pinstripes on top, but seems kinda silly to spend the money. i'm gonna go to my local lex dealer and see what they say :D

"certified" or not... i was in the same boat wondering if it's worth the extra dollars. remember that you can buy an aftermarket warranty... i got a 3 year/45K mile warranty with no deductible for about $1500 that covers just about everything. to make a long story short, i saved $2000 on an extremely clean gs 300. i guess the most important things are to have patience when searching, be very picky, and to make sure it's super clean. it's a lexus it'll run forever! good luck and keep us posted on what you get.

thanks for the replies and yes the pin stripes are painted on i called my local body shop and they said the stripes would have to be wet sanded and buffed off. that sounds pretty scary to me! i'm starting to think the stripes aren't that bad and not worth risking the paint. what do you guys think... see pictures here... my to do list: 1. get 20" wheels! 2. custom install radar detector 3. add sub to factory audio 4. chrome out the grill (maybe the benz look-a-like?) 5. suspension

hi all, just joined the club :D picked up a 99 gs300 and absolutely love it! the only thing i'm not crazy about are the pin stripes. anyone have any advice on taking them off and/or have you done this yourself? thanks for the help, sebastian