1990LS400

Here is what Tire Rack has in winter tires in size 225/60-16: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp...mp;x=16&y=7 I suggest avoiding "Performance Winter" tires -- sometimes no better than all season tires. I've bought most of our replacement tires from Tire Rack over the past 20 or so years -- always get good service from them. The "survey results" can be helpful -- one reason I like Blizzaks is that they are fairly quiet. If you plan to keep your 98 LS for a long time, an extra set of wheels makes the twice-a-year changeover easier and less expensive -- and less likely the damage the beads on the tires. I wish I had thought to buy an extra set of OEM wheels instead of aftermarket wheels -- I doubt if I could find a replacement if I ever trash one of my aftermarket wheels. You could always use your current wheels for snow tires and look for another set of OEM wheels over the winter. Once you decide on an OEM wheel style, you could even buy them 1 or 2 at a time as you find them. I sometimes see used Lexus LS wheels on Craigslist but I don't see any today on the Craigslist for South Bend. If I understand correctly, any 95-06 OEM LS wheel will fit your 98 LS. Let's see ... you could drive to Montreal in only about 12 hours or, better yet, continue on to Quebec City -- one of my favorite places.

OK, landar ... read some past threads about snow tires in which you and I both participated ... like here --> http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...c=37386&hl= Having spent time in Michigan upper peninsula winters in lake effect snow in the 1960s and early 1970s, I regard the modern fascination with 4WD vehicles as silly. Almost nobody had 4WD back then and everyone got around just fine in the winters in which the total snowfall approached 200 inches. How? Simply by using heavy duty snow tires. I put my Bridgestone Blizzak WS50 snow tires on my 2000 LS400 two days ago -- I wouldn't think of driving a RWD car in snow without heavy duty (mountain/snowflake logo) snow tires. This will be the sixth and last winter for these Blizzaks -- they were used a total of 22,928 miles during the previous five winters and are worn down almost to the winter wear bars. I will be replacing these Blizzaks with a new set of Blizzak WS60 (the replacement for WS50) tires in Feb/Mar 2009 when snow tires go on sale. One more set of Blizzaks will likely get the car to 2015 which is my CPA wife's planned replacement year for the 00 LS. As I might have reported in a previous thread, only two of many family vehicles made it up a long ice and snow covered street a few years ago at a winter holiday gathering in Des Moines, Iowa -- the niece's 4WD Honda SUV and my 00 LS400 with its Blizzaks. Everybody else had to slog several hundred yards up the hill on foot except for a few geezers I shuttled up the hill in my LS.

A Florida dealer also sold an LS version of this ES300 "Palm Beach Edition".

The 2000 Lexus ES300 Millennium Edition was sold only in Canada. It was similar but not identical to the ES300 Platinum Series that was sold in the U.S. Have you contacted a Canadian Lexus dealer? If it is not a Canadian market Millennium Edition, it may be one of those "special" models that Florida dealers were well known to cobble together -- does it have a vinyl top?

In the gen 1 LS400, the wires are at the left trunk hinge. I don't recall anyone reporting a similar trunk hinge wire problem in a 95-up LS -- at least not yet.

All 2004-up LS430's with navigation have Bluetooth. Here are some specs: http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/2004/2004LSspecs.pdf My understanding is that all Lexus cars with nav come with a separate manual that explains the nav features. If you don't have this manual, contact a Lexus dealer or call Lexus corporate. Here is a where you can find which Bluetooth phones have the most compatibility with the 04 Lexus LS nav system and how to pair a phone with the system : http://www.lexus.com/models/LS/accessories/bluetooth.html

Maroliver, This simply isn't your problem. If your LS owner friend didn't follow up with the police, that's his problem. It's his car -- not yours. The damage was to his property -- not yours. Who knows ... maybe the police did get back to your "friend" and he didn't tell you -- he doesn't sound like much of a friend to me. For all you know, the LS driver's insurance company is paying for the repairs and your "friend" wants to get some spending money out of you. Plus, the LS driver's insurance company has an interest in having the other driver prosecuted -- but you probably wouldn't know since the insurance company is not going to communicate with you since the LS isn't yours. Yelling at the other driver was a bad idea but that doesn't give the guy an excuse to commit assault. Look at it as a learning experience. Learn to "smile" at people who p1ss you off -- you are the one who has the real power when you are able to control your emotions. I had a drunk driver hit-and-run my new Volvo 242 in 1978. A bystander got the license plate number and I got a glimpse of the driver. The Kansas City police was extremely interested in tracking the driver down and I was able to identify him from sort of a "police line-up" -- they spread about ten photos on a table and asked me to pick out the culprit. The police prosecuted the case and I was a witness in court -- I even brought a piece of his car that had fallen off to the courtroom. But this is not your problem. You bear no responsibility for paying. One could even argue that it was the LS driver's responsibility for your behavior -- after all, he could have rolled your passenger window up. I regard a driver as sort of "the captain of the ship". The driver sets the rules. Just move on.

Consult an attorney. I assume an attorney would tell you that you have no responsibility for paying. Assuming one of you weren't too drunk to get the plate number, file a police report. File a police report even if you don't have the plate number. This wasn't vandalism. This was assault.

The problem, AZ Mike, is that some auto parts stores (e.g. Autozone) were selling hood struts (one brand was Mighty Lift) that were incorrectly listed as fitting various years of the LS400. Some of the aftermarket hood struts did not have adequate travel so the hood did not open fully. Some of the aftermarket hood struts being sold were so stiff that it was almost impossible to close the hood unless only one strut was used -- some people reported bending their hoods when trying to close them when only one of these incorrect struts was used. I considered buying a set of these aftermarket hood struts for my previous 90 LS from Autozone because their parts catalog said they were supposed to fit my car. If one can confirm that an aftermarket set of hood struts has the proper amount of travel and tension, then buy them. But how many people have the equipment to measure the tension? Hood struts are often heavily discounted by Lexus dealers who sell on-line including on eBay. For those who like like to keep their cars original -- I'm definitely one of them -- OEM hood struts are a safe bet and can often be purchased at a reasonable price. Besides, OEM struts usually last at least five years so it's not like you are going to be buying them all the time. My first LS400 was on only its second set of OEM hood struts when I sold it in 2003 after driving it 13 1/2 years. My 2000 LS400 is currently on its second set of OEM hood struts.

All I'm saying is that I think you would be happier if the total loaded weight of a trailer you tow with your RX isn't much more than 2000 pounds. How far upward you go on weight is up to you. I guess you could buy a tongue scale but I usually "wing it" and guess by lifting up the tongue -- of course, since selling the boat, the biggest trailer I'm towing these days is a 4'x8' utility trailer that is usually lightly loaded. People tow trailers all the time so don't get paranoid -- it's not brain surgery. The main thing is to drive cautiously and make sure everything is in good condition: hitch, electrical connections, trailer lights, safety chains, etc. It is especially important to properly inflate the trailer's tires and make sure that the tires are in good condition. Many people don't use their trailers very often and forget that trailer tires can become unsafe from age even if they look like new. You should carry at least one spare properly inflated trailer tire that is in good condition. It is important to practice towing before going out on a trip the first time. It is especially important to practice backing a trailer up so you don't have to practice in a campground -- those trees don't move when you hit them! You might even want to practice parallel parking your RX and trailer on a city street -- easy once you get the hang of it. Have a family member stand behind the trailer and guide/scream at you while you back up. I used to get kidded a lot in the 1980s for painting my utility trailer the same baby blue color as the Mercedes I pulled it with. We dragged the trailer all over the place picking up gardening supplies; carrying bikes; hauling construction materials; picking up furniture we bought, etc. That little $400 utility trailer has paid for itself countless times over the past 30 years.

You can find plenty of websites on towing by googling "trailer towing". Since towing is officially sanctioned for your car, I would think that your owners manual would have extensive guidelines. I had a commercial license in the early 1970's so I could tow mobile homes to their final resting places. And I have had a trailer hitch on all my primary cars I've owned since the 1970s including both my first 90 LS400 and my current 2000 LS400. I've done quite a bit of towing. From a comfort and safety standpoint, I wouldn't feel comfortable towing a trailer that exceeded one half a vehicle's curb weight unless I was towing a short distance. If we round the curb weight of your RX up to 4,000 pounds, this would limit your trailer gross weight to 2,000 pounds -- that would be the total trailer weight including everything you are going to pack into it. Sure, you can tow a lot heavier trailer with a 4,000 pound vehicle but it can be stressful, especially if you are driving in high winds and in hilly country. I don't like stress -- it's not fun. I know a couple of people who tow substantially heavier pop-up tent trailers but they are using a full size van and a crew cab F150 pickup truck with full towing packages. I once towed a 2,800 pound sailboat/trailer combination about 100 miles with a 3,500 pound 62 horsepower midsize Mercedes Diesel sedan. I proved it could be done but it wasn't a pleasant experience -- wished my trailer had brakes. And the sailboat/trailer tended to whipsaw the car around in the high winds -- the wind always blows in Kansas. Needless to say, I rented a full size pickup truck the next time I needed to move the boat. If you don't have much experience with tent trailers, you might consider renting one at least once before you buy one. I've known several people who have rented tent trailers and even large RV's before they figured out what they really wanted. There sure are a bunch of used tent trailers for sale on Craigslist in my area -- like this barely used one: http://kansascity.craigslist.org/rvs/884205098.html The Forest River 176LTD like this one on Craigslist is more like the size I think is appropriate to pull with an RX -- "GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) 2,049 lbs." --> http://www.forestriverinc.com/nd/default22...&series=MAC At this time of year and in this economy, I'd bet you could buy a barely used nice tent trailer for a song.

I'm guessing the easiest way to tell would be to determine whether or not your car has a transmission cooler. If the "TO" option is the towing package, it looks like 2001 was the first model year it was an option on the FWD RX and that it was standard on the 2001 AWD RX. Maybe it was standard on the 2000 AWD RX. http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/2000/2000RXspecs.pdf http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/2001/2001RXspecs.pdf

I don't see chrome wheels as an option on the 05 RX so I assume they were a dealer option and not an official Lexus option. I had a similar situation on the 2000 LS400 I purchased in 2003 after it came off a three year lease. Chrome versions of the standard wheels were an option on the 00 LS. Since chrome versions of the Platinum Series wheels were not available, the dealer equipped the car with Platinum Series wheels chromed by an aftermarket company in California. The aftermarket chrome wheels were badly pitted when I bought the car in 2003 due to the lessee using the chrome wheels through three Kansas City winters. Before I purchased the 00 LS, I verified that the chrome wheels would be replaced under the car's original 4 year/50,000 mile warranty. Because the car was originally sold/leased with the aftermarket chrome wheels, the dealer provided the same 4 year/50,000 miles warranty on them as the rest of the car had. After five years of non-winter use, the replacement aftermarket chrome wheels still look perfect. I have a set of inexpensive aftermarket wheels from Tire Rack for winter use with snow tires. Several people on this forum have said that the official Lexus chrome wheels have a clear coat which makes the chrome hold up a lot better. If your RX is still within warranty, contact the dealer for replacement. It might be worth a shot even if the car is out of warranty. Most people I know who use chrome wheels in the summer have non-chrome wheels to use with snow tires in the winter. I know a couple of people who use their chrome wheels all year round and they look like crap.

I especially like the final sentence of the advice from "Click and Clack" (Tom and Ray Magliozzi) of National Public Radio's Car Talk program ( http://www.cartalk.com/ ): "Unless it's below freezing, cars don't need to be warmed up at all. Driving them gently is the best warm up there is. If it's 25 degrees out, you might want to let it warm up for 30 seconds. If it's 10 degrees out, warm it up for a minute. If it's -10 degrees out, move somewhere warmer." Even way down here in Kansas City, people let their cars idle in their driveways in the winter. I regard winter as "amateur car theft season" -- hundreds of unattended running cars are stolen out of driveways here every winter. Locked running cars sometimes get the passenger side rear window broken -- thieves seem to be smart enough to know how to stay at least a little warm while driving away. If you have access to 110V electrical outlets where you park, a block heater from your Lexus dealer is only C$195 including installation. I don't have a block heater on my LS and block heaters are not sold by U.S. Lexus dealers, but I sure loved the one on the Mercedes I drove for 10 years -- wonderful to have instant heat on cold winter mornings. After I had the block heater installed, I started noticing outdoor electrical outlets everywhere. I suppose I was stealing electricity but I don't remember anyone ever complaining about my plugging in the block heater in parking garages and no one ever tampered with the cord. I don't know if it's still done but some cities in the Michigan Upper Peninsula used to have electrical outlets for plugging in block heaters on parking meters -- anything like that in Saskatchewan?

Yeah, I see a tool kit on eBay today but it is missing the flashlight as are most used ones. I hope you are carrying a lug wrench with you in the mean time in case you have a flat tire. You could advertise in this and other Lexus forums for a tool kit. According to the eBay ad, the ones for 95 - 00 are the same. I found plenty of salvage yards by googling "used Lexus parts". Based on all the grief I've seen mentioned on the forums from using aftermarket hood struts, I recommend using only OEM. You can sometimes find OEM hood struts on eBay. I bought replacement hood struts for my current and last LS400 from Sewell Lexus in Texas. Replacing the hood struts is extremely easy. If you have not explored the handling limits of your car, consider taking it to a big empty parking lot the next time it rains and explore the limits of VSC, ABS and brake assist. Have fun! Knowing that California has some new laws prohibiting talking on a handheld phone, you might be interested in knowing that there is an audio mute pin in the driver's side cell phone connector under the air vent you see when you raise the arm rest. The mute pin is the center front pin in the connector. To connect the mute wire from a Bluetooth phone kit, all you have to do is strip a quarter inch insulation from the phone kit's mute wire, push into the hole for the middle front pin in the connector and secure the mute wire with a wire tie. There are lots of good phone kits. In the U.K. and Europe, Lexus and Toyota dealers sell and install the Motorola IHF1000 as a official Lexus/Toyota accessory on new cars that do not already have Bluetooth. The best place I see to mount an IHF1000 or similar Bluetooth kit control module in a 95-00 LS is to the right of the VSC button. Here is a link to photos of my own 2000 LS400 in the gallery: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...m&album=131

If I understanding correctly, only the 2001 and newer GS are compatible with adapters from VAIS and other companies that allow easily adding an interface for MP3 players (e.g. iPod), sat radio, etc. For that reason alone, I would choose a 2001 or newer GS. Check the application chart at http://www.vaistech.com/home.php

If you are talking about the AVG MPG and Tank AVG MPG on your trip computer in the dash and it works the same as in my 00 LS400, I would think the two readings should stay in sync if you manually reset the AVG MPG each time you fill up your gas tank. I've never paid any attention to the AVG MPG display -- I guess it would be interesting if you wanted to know the gas mileage for a long trip on which you fill the tank multiple times. I generally keep the trip computer on Current MPG for the amusement of watching the fuel usage fluctuate from zero to 99.9 mpg. It is kind of interesting to watch the effects of terrain on MPG when I'm bored and may keep my foot a little lighter on the gas pedal. I've kept track of fuel mileage in log books for every tank of gas for the past 40+ years -- probably left over from when gas tax was deductible on personal income tax returns. I keep a log of all repairs and maintenance in the same log book. A log book and a file folder of receipts for all repairs and the original window sticker always seems to make a big impression on potential buyers when I sell a car.

No! Suspecting fraud is not proving fraud. Also, if the car is financed, the bank has a lien and may have a financial interest which is even greater than the car "owner". The insurance company is required to pay. Consult an attorney. Do not provide cell phone information without an attorney's advice.

Sure you can. The Lexus website shows 215/60-16 tires as standard on the 02 GS300: http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/2002/2002GSspecs.pdf It also shows 225/55-16 all season tires as optional on the 02 GS430. There is no reason good you can't used the same 225/55-16 tire size that came on the GS430 on your GS300. If your speedometer is accurate with 215/60-16 tires, it will read 1.584% too fast with 225/55-16 tires. If your speedometer is accurate with 215/60-16 tires, it will read 0.075% too fast (virtually dead-on accurate) with 235/55-16 tires. If keeping your speedometer reading the same is important, when staying with the same wheel size (16") and going to a "+0" setup, one increases the section width by two sizes (to 235) and reduces the profile by one size (to 55). You can view the effects of different tire sizes at http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp If your car has the navigation system, you can probably see your true speed our your car by looking at the speedometer on it. The handheld GPS I used for hiking is surprisingly accurate for showing vehicle speed -- at least the speed it shows matches the aftermarket Magellan GPS I use in my car which is about 2-3 mph slower than what my car's speedometer says at 70 mph with new OEM size tires.

The specs on http://www.lexus.com/models/IS/detailed_specifications.html for the 09 IS say that auto-dimming outside mirrors are optional. We have had several cars tinted without any damage. I don't think you have much to worry about. If you don't want to find a tint shop on your own, most Lexus dealers will have it done for you. Dealers usually subcontract out the work. It is not necessary to remove door panels to tint the windows. It usually has taken about two hours to have a car tinted. After the tint has been applied, the windows should not be rolled down for several days -- we usually wait about one week. I had our car windows tinted immediately after I lost of a patch of skin on my left arm to skin cancer -- way too much time spent at the beach and too many scuba trips to Key West. If I had realized how much more pleasant a car is with tinted window, I would have started having car windows tinted a long time ago. The tint on my current 00 LS is over five years old, looks as good as new, and has a lifetime guarantee.

I may be hallucinating but I'm thinking that the flasher relay is on the back side of the fuse box under the dash and that the fuse box has to be dropped to get to it. Am I crazy, guys? If you have not already done it, inspect the wires in the left trunk hinge to see if any are broken. If any are broken, splice in small lengths of wire to repair any broken or cracked ones. Broken wires in the left trunk hinge can cause all sorts of dash light and transmission shifting issues. The wires in the hinge usually start breaking after about ten years.

ajis250, Have you driven other IS250's to verify that there is not a problem with your auto dimming mirror? Do the outside mirrors of the IS250 autodim like the ones on the LS? If so, are the outside mirrors dimming adequately? Have you had your eye's checked? Seriously. My eye doctor told me that many people like me have the beginnings of cataracts by the time they enter their 50s. Astigmatism and keratoconus like I have also can make eyes especially sensitive to light. Or you could have a undiagnosed eye injury. I had a scratched cornea several years ago - from the rigid contact lens for keratoconus - that made one eye so sensitive to light that I could barely drive day or night -- I even had one of those eyebrow tint strips added to the top of my windshield trying to cope before my cornea scratch was finally diagnosed several months later. OK, if your eyes are fine and your IS250's autodimming mirror is not defective, tinting the windows of your car would likely reduce the stress all that light is causing you. However ... I noticed that after my back window was tinted, the auto dimming mirrors are less sensitive to light from following cars and do not dim as quickly. Others on these forums have said that their audodimming mirror sensitivity was not affected by tinting their windows. According to http://www.tintcenter.com/laws/FL/ , Florida allows much darker tint than most other states: Front Side Windows Must allow more than 28% of light in. Back Side Windows Must allow more than 15% of light in. Rear Window Must allow more than 15% of light in. 15% tint on the rear and back side windows is very dark and could make it difficult to see well enough to safely back your car. I have 35% on our cars and my wife still sometimes complains about the glare. I'd rather have slightly darker 28% tint but we stayed with the 35% maximum allowed by the state where we live. I'd suggest that you get 28% tint on the sides and rear window. After all, you do live in mostly sunny Florida. Another bonus is that window tint reduces sun damage to interior materials

Here are some footnotes from the specifications of the IS on the Lexus website: [10]17-in tires are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 20,000 miles, depending on driving conditions. Please see your Lexus dealer for details and other information relating to tire selection. [11]18-in tires are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 15,000 miles, depending on driving conditions. Please see your Lexus dealer for details and other information relating to tire selection. --------------------- Lexus is warning you that 17" and 18" tires don't last very long. I find the trend to larger diameter wheels and tires pretty strange. I've rented plenty of cars with 17" and 18" tires and I just don't see the benefit in ride and handling.

This may mean nothing but a friend and I found that we were unable to replace the radio 1 fuse in the fuse box under the hood of his 99 LS400 a few months ago without it blowing -- unless we first disconnected the battery. When we disconnected the battery and replaced the radio 1 fuse again, it did not blow. I thought it was odd but I can't argue with success.

I don't want to offend anyone but I would avoid LS400s before the 1995 model year if only to avoid the pathetic headlights on the 90-94. You should be able to find a decent 95 LS near or below your $6,000 target. The 95-97 LS400 is so much nicer and roomier than the 90-94. OK, if I really, really had to go earlier than 1995, I would stay with a 1993 or 1994 -- vast improvements over the 90-92 LS including decent size tires that allow the car to actually stop within a safe distance. I see nice, older LS400s every day around the Kansas City metro. I can hardly drive the two miles to the grocery store here in Lenexa, Kansas without seeing at least one. Maybe you can have someone in your area help you look. In 2003, after driving my 1990 LS400 for 13 1/2 years, I asked my repair shop owner on a Friday afternoon to help me find a 2000 LS400. I gave him very specific specifications including color. He located a car even better than what I wanted within three hours. I bought it on the spot and sold my 90 LS a few weeks later to a friend. Maybe I was lucky.