1990LS400

Hi Paul. Snow in Des Moines today, eh? Click on the pricing/registration tab at http://www.lexus.com/enform/ where the Enform app suite is shown as "complimentary" which I assume means "free" like the similar Entune app suite is on all Toyota brand vehicles. Paul, what Enform services do you have? "Around $250.00" ($265.90 ?) might be getting you Enform Destinations with Safety Connect.

Per the FAQ on drivers.lexus.com , there are no fees for using the Enform app suite - only registration is required. I suggest that you find and print this FAQ and take it with you to the Lexus dealer. I have 24 years of experience listening to inaccurate "B.S." spewed by Lexus dealer employees and have often had to show their own documentation to them to prove my point.

What do you mean by "Nothing works"? Which Enform apps are you trying to use? It is necessary to set up separate accounts with app vendors such as Pandora, Slacker and Open Table and then to link them to your Enform account before they function. It is a pain in the you-know-what but it only necessary to go through the process once.

I've never fully understood how the updates work but they seem to be more reliable when my phone (Samsung S5 Android) is connected to my home WiFi network. I sit in my garage until an update is completed. It might help that I have super long range (super expensive) WiFi router on my home system and exceptionally fast Internet connection.

I suppose you could ask your Lexus dealer. I've never heard of anyone wanting to turn the entire Enform off and I suspect that this would be a first for your Lexus dealer. What part of Enform do you not like and why don't you like it? The basic part of Enform (Enform App Suite) is not part of the one year free trial - it is included in the vehicle purchase price. Updates to it over the years will also be at no cost. You don't have to use any of the Enform features that you don't want to use and none of them should get in your way if you don't use them.. Why not just let those features expire. There are some wonderful features in even the basic Enform such as finding locations on the Enform app on a smart phone so that they sync up to the Enform system when you enter your vehicle - enter your destinations at the kitchen table instead of in your vehicle. And Destination Search means being able to use the vehicle navigation system to navigate to a business that opened recently and is not in the navigation system POI database. And then there are all the Internet music streaming apps in the basic Enform: Slacker, Pandora, iHeart. Who knows? Maybe you will crash your RX into a ravine with no witnesses and the automatic crash notification feature of Enform Safety Connect will send emergency personnel to save you. By the way, the Safety Connect feature can be renewed separately after the trial period is over and multi-year discounts are available. We renewed Safety Connect in our vehicles for multiple years.

The Enform/navigation system is a computer with an operating system and an application written by a subsidiary of Research In Motion (Blackberry) if I remember correctly. The Enform logo is displayed while the is booting up - similar to when booting up a personal computer. I don't know if the 2011 ES350 Enform allows it but I'm pretty sure that later versions allow substituting your own image for the Enform logo. My wife has family photos displaying on the similar Entune/navigation in her Prius when it is starting up instead of the normal logo. She loaded the photos into the car system from a USB memory stick. If your Enform allows it, you could have it display the attached "Back to the Future" image instead of the Enform logo. Maybe start your engine before you put your seat belt on to eat up some of that incredibly long three seconds. Way more than three seconds have passed by the time I have fastened my seat belt, pressed my seat memory button and allowed the seat to move into position, snapped my phone into its holder, put on my eye glasses, tuned to a radio or Pandora station, and verified that I remembered to open the garage door.

More advanced technology is available and/or more common in the current ES generation - Enform, Pre-Collision System, Radar Cruise Control, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist, automatic high beam headlights. Watch out for the wheel size: the standard 17" wheels provide a softer ride than the optional 18" wheels. The GS is very different from the ES in the way it rides and handles. I was surprised when I looked at the GS a couple of years ago to find that it has grown to have almost exactly the same dimensions and interior space as the 2000 LS400 that I had a the time. The current LS is "land yacht" size but the current GS is still small enough to be nimble and fun to drive. Will snowboards fit in the trunk of an ES or GS? The longest snow skis I could get into the trunk of my 2000 LS400 were 160 cm and I had to bend the heck out of them to do it.

Look at products from www.vaistech.com

Based on eBay and Google, it appears to be accessory part number PT922-60160 which works in multiple Lexus models. It looks like there are also less expensive aftermarket wireless headphones on eBay.

That's scary - reminds me when the "Lucas, Prince of Darkness" headlights on my Triumph Spitfire convertible failed on a dark country road back in the 60's. I held a flashlight over the windshield to get home. Maybe the light level sensor on your dashboard is defective. I don't remember anyone ever posting a similar problem. These systems seem to be very reliable and have never failed in our Lexus and Toyota vehicles.

A man named "Thomas" who is in Germany found a person in Hungary that supplied him with a product that allowed the navigation system in his U.S. market Toyota Sienna to display maps for Europe although functionality is limited. I do not see the name of the Hungarian on Thomas's blog but maybe you could ask him who it is. A page on his blog about the U.S. navigation system in his Sienna displaying maps for Europe is at: http://toyota-sienna-in-germany.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html

Did the car you originally test drove have the standard 17" wheels and all the others including yours have the optional 18" wheels? If this is the case, then maybe you could get the 17" wheels. A one inch wheel size difference is a lot in my book. My Sienna is currently on its 17" winter wheels and the ride is substantially softer than when it is on the 18" wheels that I use the rest of the year. Are you running your tires at near the minimum allowed pressure? Tire pressures changes on their own by about 1 psi for each 10 degrees of temperature change. So ... a 30 degree increase in temperatures causes about a 3 psi increase in tire pressures - easily enough for me to feel when driving.

Unfortunately, they all seem to start sticking on zero at some point. A sharp ramp on the dashboard usually got it going in the final year I owned my 2000 LS400. My suggestion is to have Tanin repair it: http://www.taninautoelectronix.com/

My, that's bad. I've had that kind of problem with rental cars with light colored dashboard top surfaces - always irritating. Do other GS vehicles have similar shiny dashboard surfaces? My perception is that this problem has become much more common due to the trend to more severely sloped windshields to improve aerodynamics and fuel economy and the larger dash tops that come with them. I miss the days when bolt upright windshields were the norm. Other than using sandpaper or harsh chemicals to dull the surface (kidding!), the only easy way I know to mitigate the problem is to use a "dash topper" ... maybe one with a "flat black" surface. Some of them look pretty tacky but maybe there is one that would be tasteful enough. Google "dash topper".

If just the mirror glass is shaking, it is held in place by four plastic prongs that snap into the part that rotates and tilts. If one or two prongs are still intact and have just popped out of the underlying part then it is just a matter of snapping it back into place. If one or more prongs are broken then the mirror glass must be replaced. The last time I checked, OEM exterior mirror glass was several hundred dollars each. Since they are heated and might also be automatically dimming, there is an electrical connection on the backs of the mirror glasses. The mirror glasses are fairly easy to replace but the method of removing them can vary by model. I've used a small blade screwdriver to pop the mirror glasses out.. I know that automatic car washes are handy but I've watched numerous people fill out damage claim forms at the car wash I use. I use only the manual bays of the car wash and have not used an automatic car wash for decades due to damage I've had on vehicles. I am also "cheap" and can do a much better job of getting a vehicle clean with a car wash wand at a lower cost.

The dashboard light rheostat adjustment knob does nothing?

Are there that many two year old used 2014 ES300h on the market yet? I would think that most of the ones available would be turn-in's from two year leases and how many people do those? I'm not a fan of CPO. Here is the story I've told many times on this and other forums: In 2003 I went looking for a low mileage 2000 LS400. The local Lexus had two with each being at about 36,000 miles (off three year leases with 12,000 mile annual caps), average equipment level, in exterior colors I didn't care for, in showroom condition and both priced at $39,999 which seemed very high. A few days later, I bought a non-CPO 2000 LS400 from a broker who had bought the car at auction and bought and sold cars to support his main hobby which was building race cars. The non-CPO 2000 LS400 was even better (a Platinum series). It had a higher level of equipment, was in the exact color (white) I wanted, and was at 38,000 miles. The broker, who was a friend of a friend, was advertising the car for sale for the first time the very next day. He was asking $30,999 which I thought was amazing since the car was exactly what I wanted. I didn't quibble on price and I bought the car on the spot for cash (I.e. personal check) at his asking price. I drove that non-CPO 2000 LS400 to 179,500 miles until 2014 and didn't have a single problem that would have been covered under a CPO warranty. Another reason that I didn't care about a CPO warranty was that I bought a 1990 LS400 new shortly after Lexus was introduced to the U.S. I knew what to expect which was a very high level of reliability. So maybe expand your search and look for non-CPO cars. Or wait a while until more of the 2014 ES300h become available. Or maybe also look at the Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited which has the same drivetrain and dimensions. I test drove a 2014 Avalon Hybrid Limited just before I finally settled on a new 2014 Toyota Sienna Limited. Like the 2014 ES300h, the 2014 Avalon Hybrid Limited was available with Pre-Collision System (PCS) and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC). We no longer buy vehicles without those or similar features. Or maybe consider buying a new ES300h or Avalon hybrid one since hybrid sales are down due to low gas prices.

The taillights look like some of the aftermarket ones that used to be sold on eBay. The wheels are not "Platinum Series" wheels - here is a link to photos of those: https://www.google.com/search?q=2000+es300+platinum+edition&biw=1664&bih=906&tbm=isch&imgil=maiQwRLy1FnOwM%253A%253BA0dkWzKiuB_soM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwcimiami.com%25252Finventory%25252Flexus-es300-platinum-edition-rare-low-miles%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=maiQwRLy1FnOwM%253A%252CA0dkWzKiuB_soM%252C_&usg=__ZjdXuGifF8jthTKH-XDv0UUyjFk%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjIucbnlsvKAhVEyYMKHRkXDoEQyjcIJQ&ei=E1epVojkL8SSjwSZrriICA#imgrc=_ If the headlight lenses are as worn as they look in your photo, they can be quickly restored to almost like new condition with a refinishing kit - my favorite is from Sylvania at about $25.

There are some new aftermarket (from China) 2006-up headlight housings on Amazon and eBay but they are only for the standard halogen system and not for cars with HID and AFS. You may need OEM headlights if you have HID/AFS. You might look on eBay for used ones or at one of the online discount Lexus part sellers for new ones. Are your headlights broken or leaking? If the plastic lenses are worn/yellowed, it is usually possible to restore them to nearly like new with a refinishing kit - my favorite kit is from Sylvania and cost about US$25.

You can view the owners manual in the Owners section of www.lexus.com

You might have the dread disease known as TPS (Tight Pants Syndrome). Something in your pocket is pressing and holding the unlock button on the remote or key causing the windows to roll down and the sunroof to open. This happened to me only yesterday when I was laying on the garage floor working on one of our vehicles.

The RX300 was from the era when all customizable settings had to be done with a Toyota/Lexus scan tool with the appropriate program card. Even on much newer vehicles, some of the customization can still only be done through the OBD2 port and the headlight off delay interval is one of them. You might check out the Carista smart phone app (google it) to see if it can do it. It can be purchased on Google Play and requires a Bluetooth OBD2 cable. It takes a mechanic only a few minutes to customize settings with a scan tool. The headlight off delay interval was one of the few features I had customized on the 2000 LS400 I used to have but I had it increased to the maximum 90 seconds. Or you could what we have always done on our past and current vehicles. When we don't want to utilize the headlight off delay, we click the headlight switch to the off position and then back to the Auto position as we exit the vehicles.

Arizona is not exactly snow free. One doesn't have to venture very far north of Phoenix before running into snowplows and salt/sand spreaders during winter. Flagstaff averages over 100 inches of snow per year and Sedona over 75 inches. We drove on icy roads in blowing snow from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon a few years ago ... in April !!! Speaking of Arizona, why on earth do so many people in the Phoenix metro have chrome wheels? It's weird. Is their motto "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Chrome"? If you need replacement wheels, consider getting refurbished OEM wheels from http://www.wheelsandcaps.com/c-2283-oem-aluminum-alloy-wheels_Lexus-IS350-2010.aspx I bought refurbished wheels from Wheels and Caps to use with winter tires (Bridgestone Blizzak WS80) on my 2014 Sienna. The refurbished wheels were like new when I received them and still are like new in their second winter. I thought that Wheels and Caps takes trade-in wheels but I don't see information about that on their website - call them if you are interested. I have wondered if the chrome wheels on my 2000 LS400 would have been replaced in 2003 under warranty if I had complained about it. The auto broker I bought the car from seemed to be pals with the Lexus dealer parts department manager and had already initiated the wheel replacement before I bought the car.

Obviously, the prior owner used the chrome wheels in Winter just like the previous owner (lessee) of the 2000 LS400 I bought in 2003. My car was in warranty so the aftermarket wheels were replaced at the three year mark. I never used the replacement aftermarket chrome wheels in Winter and they were still like new when I sold the car in 2014. Lexus dealers have sold aftermarket chrome wheels from the beginning. I bought my first Lexus LS new in early 1990 and the Lexus dealers were selling them then. Yours is far from the first thread about this problem. I doubt that you have any recourse since the base warranty has expired. You can have your wheels re-chromed. One Winter, my late next door neighbor had his Lexus wheels re-chromed while he had his snow wheels on his car. You might even find a re-chrome company that will exchange your chrome wheels for non-chrome for a price.

Of course everyone laughs and hangs up! Do you think you are going to get a professional mechanic to go to the trouble of figuring out all the parts that are needed, verify that all the parts can be obtained, try to calculate the number of labor hours needed while knowing that you will be shocked by the cost and won't have him do the work? Even if you agreed to his price, he would surely require much of the payment up front. The only way this is cost effective is to do it with salvaged parts and to do it yourself as a hobby. At least you should not have to fabricate parts although getting most of the parts from salvage might be a challenge. Some of the tools you need like engine hoist and transmission jack can be rented. It actually might be a fun project if you have a place to do it and don't need to use the car. I think it would be more "fun", however, on a higher value vehicle - a vehicle where a modification like this would add to the vehicle's value ... think 1960's Porsche 911 with the awful crap-o-matic transmission. It would be less expensive to find an existing 5-speed SC300 that appears to satisfy your requirements, fly to wherever it is located in the U.S., buy it and then have it shipped to you in Florida by a cartage company that specializes in such things. I actually thought about replacing the LS400 I purchased in 1990 with a 5-speed SC300 as soon as they came out for the 1992 model year. One of the aspects I liked was that the 1992 5-speed SC300 was available with the same cloth interior that I had and liked in my 1990 LS400. If I remember correctly, the base retail price of the 1992 5-speed SC300 was in the $31,000 range and I could have bought one for a bit over $26,000.