VBdenny

and I thought I was the only one who used a leaf blower to dry my car! My next door neighbor saw me and now he uses it to dry his Harley.

I use spybot. I couldn't believe all the spyware on my computer! I also use check it 86 which blocks (most) pop-ups. I hate those things!

I'm almost afraid to weigh in on this. Just like the rest of the country, we are polarized. Each side now even has their own news channels. Right wingers watch Fox News (fair and balanced if you consider the far right balanced) and CNN (very liberal, the opposite of Fox). I guess I will vote for John Kerry. To much BS from Bush. He lied to us about Iraq, he covered up the nations energy policy when Cheney met secretly with oil executives, and that deer in the headlight look after 9/11 really worried me. And all that religious stuff with stem cells and stuff?? While Kerry is rather liberal, I doubt he can outspend Bush who seems to be going for a new world record. He has spent ourt grandchilden into poverty. Finnaly, the negative ads with the attempt to slam Kerry's service record and all that "solumn duty" crap? I respect our veterans far too much to listen to someone who didn't serve, slam someone who did. We gave Bush a chance and things look a lot worse now. He has proven himself to be either stupid or a liar, and I suspect that latter. I hated Clinton for that, but that wasn't with my money. I admit I made a mistake in 2000.

Something else we probably don't need. Hey, what happens in Canada and Europe? Is milage measured in MPL? (miles per litre).

That's why I fixed my Chevy's EGR. The car still ran perfectly, but the check engine light was on and I knew it was causing pollution. We have to be responsible

Great information there Agent 99. I guess mine also leaks a little. Never enough to drip, but it just keeps it wet and hasn't seemed to get any worse. The dealer told me two years ago that the rack was leaking and need to be replace since it isn't a servicable part. I declined. After looking at the rack I decided it doesn't look like an impossible job but since my ps works perfectly and doesn't leak much, I have left it alone. My next big task is to fix my A/C.

Strange that you mentioned the ABS 400. The other day I was driving and some idiot started to blow through a stop sign off a side road. I hit the brakes hard and the ABS activated. Well the ABS works terrible on these cars, it was like I had no brakes! I would rather had had a lock up as I know I would have hit the dude had he continued into the intersection. This was the first time I ever had the ABS activate.

I played with the E C T button in my car and noticed no difference at all. Even with it in normal it shifts at 6 grand under throttle. It does look kind of cool having the power light on though.

Also, I would seriously stay away from a BMW or MB. One of my friends in a BMW mechanice and let's just say he keeps very busy and makes a lot of money. Last time I talked to him he had a 6 month waiting list. I was surprized to hear that he makes most of his money from buying BMW's from people who are overwhelmed by the repair costs. He fixes them and resells them. Then he fixes them again. BMW's and Mercedes have just as high repair costs as Lexus, but the Lexus doesn't break nearly as often. The Corolla's are kind of plastic looking inside, but when you fill it up for 15 bucks after driving 350 miles the plastic seems less important. I would try to look for a LE model. Toyota Corollas come in three models VE the cheapest, CE middle, and LE top model. One of the things I really dislike about the CE we have is that it doesn't have a tachometer. I think that is really stupid especially in a car with a stick

Usually a clicking noise indicates a weak battery. One of the easist ways to check it is to turn on your headlights and have someone watch when you try to crank the engine. If the lights go really dim, then your battery is weak. New batteries have been known to be defective. My neighbor bought a new battery which was dead on install. If you have a multimetter, test the battery while the car is off first. You should have between 12.5v and 13.2. Then test while the car is running. If you only show less than this, your alternator may not be putting out enough voltage. Often they will put out enough to keep the check engine light off, but still be weak. Regarding the power steering, the problem is that when the pump develops a leak, it can drip on the alternator which is located directly underneath the pump. The oil eventually damages the alternator and causes it to fail. To see if it is leaking is somewhat difficult. If you use a strong flashlight, you can kind of see if there is oil around the pump area but you really can't see the alternator from the top. The best way to check is to run the car up on ramps and remove the bottom splash pan. The with a little wiggling and a good flashlight, you can see the alternator and ps pump. More than likely you just got a bad battery or have corroded terminals and connections. Good luck with it

Hey, what great responses from all you. I know you don't want a 4 cyl but if you get one with a manual transmission, they are pretty good. I actually enjoy driving my daughters Corolla. Even with a 1.8 litre engine, it really has excellent acceleration. They really wind up. I have driven automatic ones and frankly, they suck. Buy something that will give you good service, good milage, and dependability. Then when you are older and can afford to spend the money, buy the Lexus.

The LCD on the A/C and clock goes black on all of them, a Lexus defect apparently. Mine is black except when it is hot. While the LS400 is a great car, for someone just starting driving, I would buy a Toyota. I bought my 19 year old daughter a 99 Corolla with a 5 speed for $6900 with 10,000 miles. It gets 32mpg in town and about 40 on the highway. It won't take you long to get sick of putting premium into the LS which does not get great milage.

I have always heard that a abd E G R valve will decrease your gas milage??? It cost me $130 to have one replaced in my Chevrolet. States that have emission testing will not pass a car with a bad E G R system. Luckily Virginia isn't one of them, probably Bama isn't either. It won't hurt to drive it. My brother drove his truck 100,00 miles with a bad one.

Wow, I had no idea the keys were so expensive. I have two keyless entry keys for my car and three regular keys without the button. I guess the previous owner told me something about a key problem he had and Lexus gave him extras. I'll make sure no to lose them!

The LS 400 is a great car. What kills you on these things is that when things break, they are extremely expense to fix. The engines and transmissions are fantastic but the A/C, and power steering units are troublesome. I have been driving mine without A/C for a year and they are HOT. They are still far better than ANY Ford Taurua which are junk. My brother had one (a 98) and the engine blew. He traded it for a 2001 which leaks transmission oil like a sieve, won't start sometimes because the key won't turn, has all kinds of electronic glitches, etc. If you can put up with the little things, the LS400 is a great car. In my opinion, most people sell them because they get tired off the expense when things break. Even doing your own work the parts are rather hard to come by and still expensive. You won't find one in a junkyard either.

I don't think you have to loosen the lower bolt on the calipers. Remove the top bolt and the inner caliper assembly should rotate out so you can remove the pads. The rear brakes are simple to replace as well. Just make sure you correctly assemble the shims and springs because it might not work right if they are missing. Email me for a PDF on how to do this.

Last year I bought 25lbs. of fresh shrimp. I put it in a cooler and iced it down, then put the cooler in the trunk. Little did I know that the drain plug on the cooler leaked. Well the next time it was warm I started getting a fishy smell which grew worse quickly. I pulled out the floor mat in the trunk and sure enough, there was about 5 or 6 inches of "fish" juice in the spare tire well. I pulled everything out and cleaned it up and found a rubber black plug in the bottom. I removed it and drained it out then took the hose ans flushed it well. In just a short time it had gotten quite nasty. After that I decided to take my pick up when getting shrimp. Luckily no other leaks in the trunk.

when I was in high school, my buddy Mark Brown sailed his rusted out Galaxie and the frame broke in the middle. Made a lot of sparks before it was towed to the boneyard. I have seen several cars do it on TV and I can't imagine that the same came completed the scene. I heard they went through a whole bunch of 69 Chargers "General Lee" on the Duke's of Hazard. I would try it with someone elses car but probably not one of my own.

I can't figure out why they just don't use a 4 gear transmission shift. Having an overdrive button really doens't serve much purpose. I know it looks cool but apparently it isn't obvious that it IS 4th gear. Want to drop your gas milage quickly? Turn off the overdrive. Whew

I suprized the cops aren't all over you for having flashing blue lights. I doubt anyone would mistake your car for a police car but still...... they seem to have a bad attitude regarding that, at least here.

Maybe you should try to scape off what you can with a putty knife or something. I have used a pressure washer before and it worked well. Do you not have an underengine splash pan on your car or did you take it off for inspection?

I expect 300,000 from my Chevy. My Lexus better go at least 400,000

It looks to me like there is some slow seepage from the oil pan gasket. When my PS leaked a little, it didn't get on that spot like that. I agree that is is an old leak because it has all that road dust mixed in. It is not a leaking head gasket because the engine would have blown a long time ago, longer than it took all that dirt to accumulate. Once the anti-freeze and the oiul get mixed, the engine is all done. Very caustic fluid will destroy your bearings in short order. I'd pressure wash it off and look to see what is really leaking. Either way, it's no big deal.

I gave used Mobil 1 for a long time in all my cars. I usually change the oil every 6 months regardless of the milage. I rarely go much more than 3000 - 5000 miles. I respectfully disagree on using the 10w-40. I would use the 5w-30 recommended by Lexus. The 10w-40 will give you worse fuel economy. I have used 5w-30 in cars with over 300,000 miles withour any problem. Also, I have never heard of any seal problems related to Mobil 1. One nice thing is they can't really raise the price of Mobil 1 due to rising oil prices can they.

Great job! very cool yard. All you need now is a parking pad for you Lexus so you can look at it while you're in the pool.