MadMax96

My mom's 01 Camry LE 4-cylinder does the same thing. I'm pretty sure it's normal. Tomorrow for turkey day I'm going to see my cousin who's a Toyota mechanic - I can ask him. BTW LexKid - you have quite a lineup of Lexus's (or is that Lexi?).. your son has a nicer car than me! Will you adopt me?? :D

Oh it's just for a go-kart? Those things have two speeds - stopped and floored :D We don't neeeed no stinkin tach!! :D

Wouldn't have done me any good - the one I got nabbed at two days ago wasn't listed. Usually the cop has his radar gun just on constantly and my detector picks it up waaay in advance. This time he blipped it and my detector went off for one second and it was too late... DOH. Forgot all about how they are hiding out in this certain spot every so often and tried to pass a couple of cars. He got me for doing 68 in a 40 in my Maxima.. I haven't had a ticket in probably over 10 yrs and I'm not even upset about it - I had it coming ;) Thankfully he didn't get me while I was on my motorcycle.. I've hit over 100 more times than I can count.

I know it's not analog, but did a google search and found this: TinyTach Search for a tach for a single cylinder engine as most are for 4, 6, and 8 cylinders.

I agree that the Lexus might not have as much character or soul as some of the other Euro cars out there... but at this point in my life I just want to be able to drive back and forth to work without worrying about it having problems. I'm sure everyone saw the list published about the best and worst reliability. The LS was on the best list (again) and over on the worst side was the Mercedes S-class, E-class, C-class and BMW 5 & 7 series as well as two different Jags. The S-class is a sharp car, but too much Chrysler DNA has leaked into it :P

One of the reasons I got the OEM wiper blades was to be able to get refills for it. Good timing on my part - today was Chicago's first snow and these things worked great on my way into work. When I was paying for the wipers the cashier/receptionist asked if I wanted them installed but I didn't have the car with me.

Unless the service guy was able to point out a clear problem that you could see yourself, I'd get another opinion. They probably want to make some money off of you. My mom had her Camry in for an oil change and something else and they said her brakes were 90% worn. I told her not to get any work done and that I would do it. After going through the trouble of getting the parts, I pulled the first wheel off and found they they were only 50% worn. These are the original pads on an 01 Camry...so she won't be going through the rest anytime soon.

Ok - I AM a tard.. after looking at these things a little harder I figured it out. :chairshot: Attached is a funny pic so your time spend reading this thread wasn't totally wasted. MODs - feel free to remove this thread.

Get to know your service department - you'll be visiting them frequently. :D j/k Been in an 05 A6 and it's a really nice car. Good luck w/ the new purchase.

The wipers that came with my car were pretty lousy. I can't stand when wipers have minor streaks let alone hardly work. I read that the Toyota ones were pretty decent and that the refills are cheap enough. So after bending over and paying full retail at the dealer I'm having issues installing the drivers side wiper. Never seen this type of end before... did I get the wrong one? The wiper arm has a metal loop like I've seen before but has two holes on the top. Was a metal part that was supposed to be screwed in possibly removed to accomodate aftermarket wipers?

Yes, I saw the MSRP alright...that's why I own a 3rd hand LS! :D Finally got the screws out after drilling them out with about 5 different bit sizes making my way from small to big. Those things were STUBBORN! Picked up some stainless security hex head screws. They are like a regular hex head but has an anti-tamper nub in the head so you need to use the supplied hollow allen key. Hope I don't regret that one.. ;)

Stopped by the dealer to pick up some wiper blades (don't even ask) and also asked about replacement screws. The parts guy said they use plastic screws also so they don't rust. Yeah - good call unless you need to remove the effing plate!!! I'm not sure of the thread pitch so I don't know how anything else would work.. I'd prefer the hex-head screw but I don't want to jam in a wrong pitch-sized screw. On a side note, I've never been to a Lexus dealer before. I was impressed with how courteous everyone was. Then I proceeded to drool on a new 05 or 06 LS430 in Blue Onyx Pearl they had... Me likey...

You're just up the road from me (Round Lake). It's getting cold out here but it really hasn't snowed or rained enough for ice to be a problem. I'm wondering if there's anything that can be lubricated? Maybe the parts that move have dried out and are binding causing it to work slower? Just throwing possible ideas out there.......I'm by no means an expert. :whistles:

I would imagine it would work pretty well. I used a device like that for the XM tuner I installed in the wife's Highlander. I installed the Delphi SkyFi car dock and then the Delphi car hard-wire kit that includes an FM modulator which replaces the tape adapter and it also supplies power connections which replaces the lighter cord. Usually those things can use like 3 or 4 different stations. When you tune the radio to the preselected station and power on the XM tuner, it overrides the incoming FM signal and allows the XM to play clearly (it looks like the on-off switch on that Scosche model is the override most likely). The ONLY thing I'd say is an issue is that it kind of plays a bit softer than the regular radio, which means you just have to turn up the volume a litte. Not a huge deal.. in fact it cold be something with the XM and not necessarily a prob with all of these modulators. If you want to retain the factory stereo and don't want wires all over the place I'd say the device you pictured would be a good bet.

As some of you may know, I just picked up a '99 LS last week. The seller was real cool and let me take the car before the check cleared but held onto the title. He also left his license plates on so I could drive around without being hassled. Tomorrow I'm giving him his plates and getting the title. I went to remove the license plate from the back and noticed it had plastic screws. Hmm - not a bad idea - won't ever rust. BUT those SOBs are so tight that when I went to unscrew them, the head just tore off leaving a little plastic nub! FRICK! I tore off both heads so I could give him the plates back, but now I can't get these suckers out! Should I drill them out? I tried using some larger pliers to grip the plastic nubs but they don't turn - just get crushed as I clamp down. I don't want to tear them off further. Suggestions? Also - what did Lexus provide as the regular screws? Metal or plastic? The front plate was held by metal 10mm bolts! Thanks in advance....

It's not ON a CL, it's from CL (Club Lexus). Notice the differential, it's a RWD car. Also, judging by those tail lights in the first pic it's an LS. Those mufflers almost look like the types found on sport bikes! In other words, probably doesn't muffle much at all.

I have those Falkens on my 02 Maxima SE. They were a huge improvement over the stock Potenzas which sucked from day one. They are a great A/S tire for the price. Since I had to replace tires during my lease, the goal was to spend as little as possible. I've had them on for about a year and they are wearing only ok... but you get what you pay for. What stinks for me is that in the size my Maxima requires there isn't much of an A/S tire selection (225/50-17), or at least a year ago there wasn't. It was either the Falkens or the Pilot Sport A/S for double the price. Being a lease, the choice wasn't hard. ;) The torque from the 3.5L engine can be a bit overwhelming especially without any sort of traction control. But these tires did pretty well..... The Maxima is being returned this week and I will miss the fact that I could light up those tires from now until next week if I wanted... heh.. :D

Well I stand corrected! What about the DRLs on those? Are they HID or just regular?

If yours isn't repairable, you might be able to get a replacement for much cheaper at a salvage yard. The though of a Lexus in a salvage yard is sad though.. :cries:

It sucks that they sometimes leave out those kind of sizes. I was eyeing a wrench set that had ratcheting ends on them and again, not all the sizes were there... and it was like $50 or more. I have a ton of Craftsman sockets & wrenches but I've recently discovered the Husky line of ratchets. Their professional series ones have very fine gearing so you if you're in a tight spot you can still use the ratchet even if the travel is like 1/8" whereas the Craftsman ratchets (and especially the ratcheting wrenches) are kinda clunky in comparison.

I'm pretty sure the OEM one has HID for low beam, and a regular lamp for the high beam, since it's also a DRL on my 99. Not sure about the newer generation LS, but I would suspect the same thing.

I thought I'd revive this thread in hopes that someone has an answer to disable the DRLs on a 98-00 LS. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? If not I might even disconnect the highbeams - I hardly use them anyway.

Well the car is in my driveway! The seller is holding onto the title until the check clears but was comfortable enough to let me take the car w/ his license plates. I went with my wife and she really doesn't like the ride of my 02 Maxima SE... so I even let her drive the LS home because of the smoother ride. Am I a nice guy er what? ;) The guy had all three keys too. Been browsing through the owners manual to see what else the car has. I didn't realize it has dimming outside mirrors too...cool. I also noticed it has a small visor above the rearview mirror - nice touch. My dad's '89 Lincoln Continental had that. I'd normally say "let the modding begin" but I'm kinda tight on money from a wedding (10 days ago) and purchasing a house about 6 months ago. But overall I can say I've had one hell of a year!

I've always thought of a lease as something you'd do if you don't have a lot to put down AND you can keep the mileage down. It's also a bonus if you can use it as a tax deduction. The residual amount will remain the same, you're only buying down your monthly payment when you increase the down payment.

Niiiiiiiice! It's a rare thing to see that car is such great shape AND bone stock, like dcfish said. Always loved the look of those cars but all the ones I've seen for sale are pretty roached.