jbrooksbreeden

Yes, And, that't the whole point. It took me finding the kit (which they denied existed) and demanding that they get it and install it. God only knows what it costs Lexus for such clowns to service their cars. You'd THINK that in the "big city" you'd find better service. But, you'd be wrong. Columbus had service a light year better than the DC area, IMHO.

I hope I'm going to nail the lid on this box, finally. One service "clerk" said, "Can't do it." The Parts guy said, "They don't make 'em." I kept on my salesman's case and finally, he got the Parts Dept Manager (the only one with any sense, I think) to look it up and order the whole kit. Yesterday I took the car in for the net "installation." It took just about two hours of eating bananas, drinking water, playing solitaire and surfing the web. But, when the car, freshly washed, was pulled out, there was a rear vertical net installed just like they said "couldn't be done." I still don't know what the parts they used to convert the fittings look like. Sewell had returned my email after about a week with a link to a shopping cart with a part listed. I telephoned to find out if we were talking about the same thing. Nobody could take the call so I asked for a return call which hasn't been returned for over a week. So much for Lexus service: You CAN get something done if you keep pushing. Don't take "we can't do that" for an answer. If you've seen it done, it can be done. :chairshot:

My '05 has hooks like those shown for the '05 on both sides of the TOP of the trunk panel and "plugs" like the one I removed from the TOP of the '02 installed on the bottom of the trunk panel. Based on earlier comments I saw on this site (or the CL site?) I assumed the "plugs" would unscrew and the "hooks" would screw right in. Nope. The HOLE the plug fits into is too large in diameter (see photo) and it goes in too far for the hook's small-diameter post to find anything to screw into (if anything's there). :(

I was given an '05 LS430 cargo net for my 2002 LS430. Unfortunately, I was given one "hook with screw post" and one "hook" without the screw post. MOST unfortunately, when I pulled the top "clip" on the first side of the '02 back trunk panel, the "clip" doesn't screw in but pushes into a much larger hole than the '05 post screws into. This should be clear from the photo: I understood that the cargo nets from the parts department sealed in the plastic bags have the appropriate adapters. Any way to fit the gifted net short of buying an entire net just to get the adapters? Or, am I just out of luck.

Well, that explains why, when I had a mirror on my LS430 develop a oily/greasy smudge behind the surface that the dealer just replaced the entire mirror assembly under warranty. Probably way cheaper to replace it and send the part to Lexus (or just throw it away). Lexus paid for the repair, in any case.

I NEVER run regular in an LS430. But, I will burn mid-grade occasionally when the price difference gets ridiculous. Most stations used to separate fuel grades consistently by $0.10: E.g., Premium = $2.09, Mid-grade = $1.99, Regular = $1.89. However, in northern VA last Wednesday, the neighborhood station was $3.06 premium, $2.97 mid-grade and $2.87 for regular. Not much difference at the "high end." But by Friday, there was a $0.20 difference between premium and mid-grade and the same $0.10 between mid and regular. When the difference is a dime I'll always spring for premium, maybe even 12 or 15 cents. Already over $3 per gallon, it doesn't make much of a percentage difference. But at 20 cents plus more for premium, I'll sometimes spring for mid-grade, especially on a long drive in flat country. What burns me is the changes are so erratic and cannot POSSIBLY be related to the cost of the fuel already in the in-ground tanks. It is pure gouging. And Exxon/Mobil turns the greatest quarter profit of any business in US History while the market crashes.

The amount of change depends on where you live. If you drive mostly in a built-up area that isn't "booming" there's not much change. In a rapidly changing area it may be worth it, but you'll still find yourself driving through blank space on roads that aren't mapped. In the northern VA/DC area, the map-makers can't keep up with the changes. I have ver. 4.2 on my '05 LS430. The later gen 5 versions don't have much more data over here, but on a new GPS UNIT, the graphics are MUCH improved. that doesn't help unless you buy a new car, though: You can't change out the in-dash unit.

... My most recent visit is for a problem with the driver's seat belt. It is not retracting properly and makes odd noises. It's a safety hazard. ... At that point, they tried to convince me that there was nothing wrong with the seat-belt and that it was functioning normally. I had to go to another car in the showroom and demonstrate that my seat-belt was not functioning normally before they had acknowledged again that there was a problem with mine. At this point I had already been at the dealership over and hour and was late for an appointment. I decided to make an appointment for another day when a loaner would be available and come back. When I left, I immediately called Lexus Customer Care and filed a complaint. I told them about how they had promised a loaner when in fact none was available and about the poor service I had gotten. This was the first time I had ever resorted to calling them. ... ← I had a 2004 ES330 and damn near got flattened by a semi due to the hesitation. That was one reason I traded for a 2003 LS430 (with lower mileage :D ) this spring. Glad to hear they finally got the transmission problem fixed. Now, the seat belt thing: I got an official Lexus recall notice just before I traded the ES330 for the LS430 (early spring). It took them a half day to fix the belt assembly so they gave me a loaner (they always do, even rented a car from next door for me once) AND because my tank was already full, gave me a rain check for a full tank of gas for my trouble, all courtsey of Lexus national. It troubles me that your dealer isn't on top of things and worse that you didn't get a recall notice from Lexus. Did you buy the car new? If not, the original owner probably got the notice. In any case you should check that Lexus has your VIN number registered in the Lexus Owners database so you get notices of things like this straight from the "mother ship."

That is nice to see: Directional wheels correctly done. I can't tell you how many lower-priced "sporty" cars with dramatically swept wheel patterns that are pointing the wrong way on one side of the car. If you use a directional wheel, you really need to use right and left versions. Your example is spot on the money: Done right!

Well, it's sort of a game, isn't it? If you put off buying gas for a day the price may drop $0.25 or more (in my area anyway). When the price drops, the gamble is whether to wait or jump on it and fill up...then watch the price drop another $.15 the next day. Can you afford to wait? Will it go up? Or, down? Then, the question is when had you better fill the tank, or at least get some more gas in it while waiting for the "coup at the pump!" :whistles: I found Mobile High Test for $2.04 a month ago at one station when everything else was around it was $2.40. (Might have been a dyslexic error at the pumphouse but it went through!) You feel great getting a small victory like that, but then you're sorry you were only half-empty. (Or, is that half-full?)

I've got to hand it to that East Carolina Pirate. That is the best one I've read anywhere. It sounds like he really had some of you going...it isn't even April 1!

Around here, it seems that premium is always $0.10 higher than mid-grade which is $0.10 higher than regular. E.g.: $2.10, $2.20 and $2.30 at the Mobile and Shell stations I frequent. Very rarely, it is a $0.05 step. At that rate, premium is less than 10% more than regular. Way back in the dark ages that many of you don't remember (ca. 1973) gas "steps" were more like $0.35, $0.45 and $0.55 per gallon. It may not sound like much, but $0.20 more for premium back then was 57% more than regular. That wa a REAL premium to pay for higher octane. b.

I had been. The old '96 did fine with it. Actually, the Lexus notice he brought up was to burn 89 octane, mid-grade at most of our stations. I put in a half tank (filled it) with HIGH test (91) and have been burning mid (87 octane) since. Not much difference; maybe a little smoother...maybe I just want it to be. b.

Well, I never had the problem with my '96 ES 300 and although I noticed something similar with my '99 RX300, it wasn't too bad. Then I got the '04 ES330. I'd read about the problems with the ES300s but had heard it was "fixed." Yeah! My ES330 almost got me killed. I passed a semi in a 45mph zone, speeding up from about 35 to 50 or so and at about 3/4 throttle, the transmission just seemed to shift to neutral and it was as if I'd "popped a drag chute." All I could see in the rear-view mirror was Peterbuilt grill! Fortunately, it kicked in about then and surged away enough to prevent the crash, but it was close...WAY too close. I took the car to my dealer (really good dealer, BTW) and discovered the "official" fix was to...get this..."Burn High-test gas!" I just may have to change marques next car... :( b.

Back in my old "Hi Fi Nut" days, I can't tell you how many times I traced a problem to a cold solder joint or a short or a break in a connector cable. It is maddening because you can't SEE anything wrong and it is usually intermittant. That's the key: If it comes and goes, it is usually something "shaking and breaking."

Try holding and shaking each wires to see if you can create the intermittent connection. Wires ofetn break connection at the plug, inside the shell where you can't see it. (RCA plugs in home systems can fail with ground connections inside the plug shell---last thing you'd think to check.)

Anyone know what the All-Season options are with factory stock tires from Lexus on the ES330? They used to be Dunlop SP4000s, period. I've seen Bridgestone Potenzas on 2003 models, though. Here in Columbus, we get a little snow (except last year :whistles: when we got a lot more). Tire Rack has widely varying ratings for the different Dunlop and Bridgestone tires. Which ones are the factory stock options (my dealer would swap tires). TIA, b.

My 99 RX300 does the same thing: Floor it to get out of the way at 40mph and it red-lines then shifts down with a trememdous jerk before it starts winding out again.

Curious. I remember the enormous flap over requiring Formula 1 cars and Indy Cars to run gas instead of methanol back in the late 50s and early 60s. The argument was that the perfoamance would suffer greatly. It didn't take long to regain the performance of 2.5 liter methanol engines on 1.5 liter gas engines, though. ;)

I'm getting about 21.7 average for road and around town. b.

My dealer sprayed some "air freshener" in my car last time it was in for service. Now it smells like "Pepe Le Pew" (the cartoon skunk!). Anybody got recommendations for a real "deoderizer" I can spray everything with. The car is clean, it just stinks with a sort of sickly sweet vanilla odor. :whistles: Thanks. b.

No mention of the Continental ContiExtremeContacts. They are only $77 at TireRack and are the #2 customer rated all-weather tire. They seem wonderful from what the reviews there say. Anybody here have any experience with them?

I buy Mobile 1 at Sam's Club or Walmart and my dealer uses my oil at my regular service, saving me about half the price of dealer-furnished oil. Not much of a difference with regular oil, but about a 50% savings with Mobil 1. ;) b.

This is the inner CD box. Burl inside and out. Well, I still can't get the file to post. I did get them in the Club Gallery. When I try to link them using the IMG button above the editor, I just copied the URL from the Gallery address and pasted it in. No soap. Dang! I feel stupid. b.

Okay, help. How do I get the image to display in-line? I "browsed" the file from my hard drive but it put up a box and asked if one wanted to download. Uploading the Avatar worked just fine.