VBdenny

The car is 15 years old. Go for the simple mirror. Heated? So what?

When my buddy opened up the hood of his chevelle and I saw that sweet 454 big block I (an American) said. "I like your motor" and got a Coors light in return. The British use all kinds of odd terms. Wings, bonnets, boots, amazing we can understand them at all. Guess it comes down to this... Why do we Drive on a Parkway and Park in a Driveway?

My IS has electric steering so I guess those are motors? Work pretty good and I doubt I'll have leaks ever.

A motor can mean many things, including an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor and even other specialty things. I watch Wheeler Dealers and it seems in England, they call an automobile a motor.

Ahh yah, maybe still and engine Becki, but when my friends got that 454 for his chevelle in a crate, well, it was a beautiful sight. Can you imagine finding a crate motor under the tree? Could use one for my cutlass

Oh yeah, those fog light bulbs are rare and hard to find. I paid almost 30 bucks for one to get my car inspected once.

Awesome Freddie, There is no better way to learn about a car than to disassemble the thing. I often go to local junkyards to learn how to disassemble things without breaking what I am working on. Your wife will not be unhappy for long because these cars are worth more in parts than assembled. Much more fun to take apart than an American car since all the plastic parts won't break.

Not all of us in the south are rednecks. Be aware however that some of us have the ability to appear that way. Never assume. I always thought they called it a crate motor because they came in a crate

I don't believe that Lexus is the only group doing the conservative low fuel treatment. Once while driving my Frontier on the Jersey Turnpike and my light came on. Drove about 12 miles to a service plaza and behold, all the pumps were closed due to some digging up activity. Then I got back on and drove to the next plaza with the light on. Needless to say I was up on the wheel and doing everything I could to conserve. Truck holds 15.5 gallons, took about 13.5.

Driving a standard transmission in traffic is an art all it's own. My Nissan Frontier has a 5 speed and I drove in a lot of northeastern traffic over the years. All I can say is that it makes me nasty in traffic.

Ha. Had my first CB in 1974. I only use it in the truck because putting a CB antenna on a Lexus would be .... Well, can't quite think of the word? Years ago they made what was called an "In-tenna" which went inside the windshield. Performance was poor so they never caught on. When my friend Jim bought a new 1983 Cadillac Fleetwood Broughm de Elegance the radio had a built in CB. Of course he also had his ROTARY dial, car phone. A radio telephone if I remember correctly, prior to cell phones.

Certainly with the evolution of the technology, both them and us will have better equipment. The traffic app WAZE often shows locations of cops and sometime descriptions of what they are doing. In my truck I have a good old fashioned warning system from other drivers, that being a Galaxy 949DX CB. Pretty good for traffic, weather and cops.

No barf bags, omitting the passengers is easier. My brother had a 1967 chevelle SS-396 clone convertible with a nasty 4 speed. Naturally he got volunteered up to do a parade. Pushing that stiff, massive old manual clutch in took his left leg out for a week. He ignored a very old car guy rule which is NEVER volunteer a manual car for a parade.

No, not traction control and no electronics involved. Not sure what Lexus calls it but the rear differential is the same as a Positraction differential on. chevrolet. Basically means that both rear tires dig for traction all the time. Called "Limited Slip" to provide the ultimate in traction. Traction control works by adding brake to slipping tires. Worthless in snow.

Know what you mean about before the "power" days. My 66 Cutlass has manual transmission, brakes, steering, windows. Come to think of it, I don't think there is anything automatic or power on the car. Of course back then, people had some muscle. Getting the things to stop from speed was a white knuckle experience. Let's just say that manual, drum brakes take some leg to operate. Meanwhile, your shoulders and arms are getting some good reps working that big ole steering wheel at slow speeds. As I was just driving my new IS, I was thinking how I can do everything with buttons except steer and brake. Might add that these new Lexus cars have some incerdible brakes. Already made my wife car sick a couple times with my "jerky" braking. Ahhh.

In my IS there is a flip down cover that exposes a slot for a micro SD Chip. Never tried to do anything with this function. Now, thanks to all of you, I will have to waste a bunch of time playing with the setup. Spending time doing this while my wife would prefer me doing Christmas stuff will most likely cause me to drink. Then we will see just how great this feature is in the long run. Merry Christmas

Most interesting since I always drive with two feet. I have not noticed this at all in my new Lexus even using the two foot method.

The only advise I can offer is be careful. I bought a fabric type dash cover for the Miata I had for about $40 something. To attach the flimsy thing they expected you to stick pieces of Velcro to your dashboard to attach the thing. Even on the old Miata, I was unwilling to stick stuff to my dashboard so it remained in the trunk, even when I sold the car. I have seen some really nice dash pads in taxis. Maybe ask a hack where he got the thing if you see a nice one. I suspect as always that you get what you pay for. I was cheap and paid.

Seems to me that selling a "luxury" car for under thirty grand is almost an oxymoron. Considering all the S550's and such seen all over the place that luxury, has moved up and price. A new LS460L had a $88K sticker stuck on the tinted window. Now you are up into the true luxury range. Not saying that there isn't a good $25 - $35 customer base because there are plenty of people in that range. I rode in one of the FR-S cars and they are small. Actually liked my Miata much better. Hate to say this but the Miata really is the best sports car deal out there. Of course I am now about done with convertibles so I much enjoy the comfort of my IS.

I guess everybody expects luxury now. Most moderate rental units come pretty loaded now. Never knew scion sales numbers before. Yeah, they should give it a go. Seems Toyota has a pretty good habit of doing this right so why not?

I'm not sure you can just change the bulbs. There may be some kind of transformer needed. I know the kid next door had a big issue with the bulb change.

Keep in mind the thing has posi so if you nail it around a corner in the rain, you will go around. More fun than Busch Gardens.

scion seems to be a niche market selling small, sporty cars or boxy looking things. Probably a good idea to compete in this market that was as opposed to dropping Lexus to a lower level luxury market. When a top Avalon lists for $15 thousand more than a base Lexus, it gives you an indication that something is wrong.

Just returned from a lap to Boston and Syracuse. Paid $3.09 on the NYS Thrusway but it was Sunoco and they had pump handle locks. Paid $3.01 in Syracuse again at a Sunoco. Stopped for gas on the eastern shore in Virginia (Sunoco of course) and forked over $2.66. Back in Virginia Beach, saw $2.29 at an off brand. Saw being the operative word.