The G Man

How the #@ do you calibrate a computer :)

I agree with most post here, brakes are consider a wear and tear item. Warranties on them is hit or miss, some dealer will do and some wont. The dealer doesnt know how you use your brake and how much abuse your brake takes. Instead of dumping your car, you can buy a whole new set of after market brakes and rotors for $500 and have a shop put it in. The rattles on your dash, door and pillars are a difference story :) Those are harder to fix. Do you still get the brake malfunction message on your dash, if you do, then you have a good case for the lemon law. I do agree agree with you though, Lexus does not make cars like they use to.

snowabode, In step 5 Press the ODO/TRIP button for 60 second not 10.

Sticking anything in between the dashboard and the windshield to stop the creaking noise is just a temporary fix. All you are doing is stretching out those plastic clips, the noise will come back sooner or later. Thats fix is fine if you dont plan to keep your car for long.

1st of all, it will be pretty hard for you to find a AWD in Cali and you dont need a AWD in that weather anyways. There is no known issues with the AWD system. The major issues I would look for is dash and door rattles and creaking, squeaky brakes, start problems and issue being rough. All minor issues but none the less still an issue for some.

OEM navi would be the most expensive choice and not necessary the best one either. After market in dash nav can have the same features as the oem for less money. Finally, portable units are the cheapest and just as many features but it lacks the big screen and you have to wait for it to link to the satellite everytime you turn it on.

Many people have tried that do it yourself solution for the dash creak. The foam between the dash and windshield sometimes work for a while or sometimes not at all. All they are doing is stretching out the dash board clips, the creaking noise will come out once the clips are stretch out. The real fix is to change to th new clips and apply a foam tape kit for the rest of the dash, its a expensive job. Rail dust is a common problem but its easily remove by any pro. detailer or some clay bar.

Try Troy from Toyota of Greenfield (MA). His full name is Troy Dietrich. He's at 413-772-0231. He has been the cheapest source for Lexus warranty I have found so far. I bought a 7 year 100000 Lexus platnium warranty from him for $1700, the dealer wanted $2600.

If you drive a lot of mileage and have decided on a extended warranty, I would recommand a Lexus platnium extended warranty. The Lexus warranty is a peace of mind compare to aftermarket warranties. With the aftermarket warranties, the company have to approve the repair before the work is done, that process can sometimes take a long time or deny altogther. There are also issues such as the comapny going out of business. What happens if a part fail and cause other part to fail as a result, many aftermarket warranty will only cover the original part that fail and will leave you with the bill for the other parts that fail due to the original failure. If you do some research on the intenet, you can buy a Lexus warranty pretty close to that price you got from the credit union.

Most extended warranty including Lexus' do not cover rattles. You GS has a standard 4 year bumper to bumper warranty and a 5 year power train warranty already, what exactly is that $715 buying you? One year of bumper to bumper excluding the powertrain, since your powertrain is cover for that 5th year already??? There is a dealer on the internet that sells a 7 year 100000 mile Lexus warranty for around $1600, you might want to look into to that.

MXRacer, I had the dash rattle as well, the dealer tried 3 times to fix it without success. I heard there is a redesign dash clip that just came out that is suppose to fix the problem. If I were you, I would ask your dealer about it. I too were very much like you, had quite a few Lexus before my 08 GS. The GS has been by far the most disapointing Lexus I have ever own. It had reliability issue, rattles everywhere, starting issues and squeaky brakes. My last 4 Lexus were close to being perfect, although each newer Lexus I had were not as good as the older one. I personally will not buy another Lexus until they turn things around.

In a car like the GS which breaths pretty well already, K&N doesn’t really do much. Most engine management computers cannot take advantage of the higher air flow anyways. For the people that notice better acceleration, it’s due to the fact that you just put in a new air filter or the fact that you just paid $50 for an air filter :) One thing I did notice is that it is louder at higher rpm with the K&N, maybe that’s why people think they are getting better acceleration.

The GS350 have electric steering too.

Since they already authorized the repairs, I would bring it back and tell them to finish the job.

Not exactly a job for the beginners :)

Your GX470 is in 4WD all the time, no need to push any button. That button you push for locking all wheel with the same amount of power. You should only use that if there is alot of snow on road, otherwise, you can damage the 4WD system.

joeb427 sold his GS months ago :)

Its probably just another brand relabel as Lexus brand, you dont think Lexus has its own refinery do you :)

Is there a manual eject like a computer CD drive?

steviej, did you get a chance to see Tony Blair at your school, I heard he was there.

The GS has electric steering, check the fuse box.

I beleive rattles are not cover in the extended warranty, better have them all check out before the bumper to bumper expires.

For the most part, the GS460 is the same as the GS350 except it doesnt have AWD and cost $10000 more, performance is very similar. Personally, I am very surprise Lexus didnt upgrade the GS460's HP in 09.

I think the STS' rattle problem is just bad luck on your part, since there is not too many report of rattling problem with the STS. I hope you have better luck with the GS since you had some bad luck with the STS. The GS along with the Acura TL both have some design issues in which there is a good chance the car will develop rattling issue some time down down the line, especially in the cold climate.

Just lean forward a bit :)