1990LS400

Do you mean the "spoiler" that was at the top of the rear window on the exterior?

Clogged sunroof drain hoses are a possibility and fairly common - see the attached diagram.

Having used a trunk mounted bike rack through the 70's, roof racks (mainly Prealpina) through the 80's, I now wouldn't use anything except a hitch mounted rack. I can plug my bike rack into the hitch receiver on my LS and secure it with it's locking pin in about 60 seconds. Unlike a roof rack, there is no wind noise with a hitch mounted bike rack ... no more damaging the roof when a bike slips while hoisting it onto a roof rack ... no worry about forgetting the roof rack is there and driving into a garage or parking lot with one of those 8' bars to keep trucks out. I won't go into who makes good hitch bike racks -- there are many. I bought mine in 1990 for about $50 and it is still as good as new. The same place I bought the receiver hitch for my LS has one for your ES: http://www.etrailer.com/hitch-2010_Lexus_ES+350.htm Installation is pretty easy.

Lexus is usually pretty far behind in testing new phone models. I've read on ClubLexus that Android phones work especially well with the current Toyota/Lexus systems but I've never tried replying to a text on my wife's new Prius via my Android Samsung Galaxy S3. It is cool to have the text message read aloud and ask if I would like to reply. You might try the new Samsung Galaxy S4 from AT&T. My understanding is that you can get phones from AT&T on a trial basis. I'm super satisficed with my Galaxy S3. It works far better than the Blackberry Bold my wife punted last year which was bad, bad, bad.

Here is a recent NY Times article about the Avalon Hybrid which has the same drivetrain and EPA ratings as the ES300h: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/automobiles/autoreviews/straying-a-bit-beyond-its-own-comfort-zone.html?hpw&_r=0 The author reported 36 mpg overall.

The most popular tire for the LS400/LS430 for it's low noise level, pleasant ride, decent handling and longevity has to be the Michelin MXV4 - it's what I have on my 2000 LS400, bought for our departed Camry and for which I have seen only positive feedback on this and other Lexus forums. I know they are available for the 05 LS430 with the standard 17" wheel but I don't know if they are available in 245/45-18 for the optional 18 wheel.

http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/1993/1993LSspecs.pdf There would be multiple rocker switches (instead of only a Power/Normal switch) by the gear selector if it has air suspension - my condolences if it has it. It was a fairly inexpensive option when new but horribly expensive to repair and troublesome. It has a CD changer in the trunk if there is a CD button on the radio. It has seat memory if there are three buttons for it by the inside driver's door opener lever. It has heated seats and TRAC if there are two seat heater buttons above and to the right of the center console ashtray and of course if there is a unit in the engine compartment clearly labeled TRAC. Nakamichi radios are labeled as such on the front of the radio. Otherwise it says something like "Lexus Premium, etc." I assume that you can determine if it has a moon roof.

Gosh, that is awfully close to the EPA rating of 40/39. You might be able to bump up your mileage to nearer the EPA rating by turning off as many electrical accessories as possible including and especially the A/C, emptying out your car, driving by yourself and pumping up the tires to the max allowed - but why would you want to do that. Car manufacturers continue to play all sorts of games during fuel economy rating tests, e.g. a single occupant of a below average weight. Since my wife bought a new Prius v wagon last summer, I've hung out on Prius and other hybrid forums and noticed that few people get the EPA mileage. Wife's Prius is rated at 44/40 but it has averaged 38.5 mpg in mostly city driving since it was purchased. I test drove an Avalon Hybrid a while back ... has the same drivetrain and EPA mileage rating as the ES300h. If I bought one, I doubt if I would come at all close to 40/39 since it was kind of fun to "put my foot into it" during the test drive. Now that the new 2014 Highlander Hybrid with PCS has come along, I'll likely be buying one of them next year - EPA rating of 28/28 ... I'm hoping for better than 24/24. You are doing great.

I can't help you with a roof bike rack recommendation but I can tell you that, after using only roof bike racks (Prealpina and Yakama) from the 70's until 1990, I would never go back to one after using hitch mounted bike racks the past 23 years. I'm sure that roof bike racks have their positive points - I just can't think of any.

If you don't want to continue the search for the Holy Grail, you could buy a new cupholder - here is one in gray: http://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-holder-assy-instrument-panel-cup~55620-50012-w3.html The part numbers for the various colors are shown at http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/p_U_1993_LEXUS_LS400_UCF10L-AEPGKA_5806.html Or is it just the "cushion" you need? New one in gray for cheap: http://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-cushion~90541-02008-b0.html

It is normal - our 2012 Prius Hybrid wagon does the same thing. Think about it. When you first take off from a stop in EV mode, the gasoline engine may not be running. That's why so many things that are normally driven by engine belts or engine vacuum on non-hybrid cars are electrically driven on hybrid cars. I assume your A/C compressor is also electrically driven as in our Prius.

Page 115 of your owners manual ( http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM48761U/pdf/sec_02-01.pdf ) indicates that your RX has friction type brake wear sensors instead of electronic ones that trigger a warning in the instrument cluster. Just keep your ear out for a "squealing or scraping noise" - hard to ignore! - and you will have plenty of time to get your pads replaced. Replacing the friction sensors doesn't cost much. Google "2008 RX350 brake wear sensors" and you'll get plenty of photos and prices. There's not much to my coat hanger brake pad measuring technique. Just break off a piece of a wire coat hanger (maybe six inches), straighten it with pliers, maybe make one end into a small loop to make it easy to hold, measure its thickness with measuring calipers, slip the straight end of the coat hanger into the space between the brake rotor and the backing plate to which the wearable part of the brake pad is attached. If you can barely slip the coat hanger piece in that space then your brake pads are getting down to the thickness of the coat hanger wire - my coat hanger wire "tool" is right at 1.5mm thick. Or just wait for a brake wear sensor to squeal. You won't have to replace all the brake pads at once - just the fronts or the backs since rear brake pads usually last far longer than the front ones.

The attached diagram should help. Access to the washer pump on cars from Toyota is usually through the wheel well after peeling away the liner enough to get to it. Maybe some models require removing the bumper cover. Don't know about your SC - I would try through the wheel well first.

If it is like my LS, the Auto on the right only works when the Auto on the left is on. I would have hoped that the noxious fumes emitted by Rick Perry would have subsided by now!

Customers are not notified of service bulletins - only recalls such as those that effect safety. I'm looking at a Lexus service bulletin that includes the following statement: "Warranty application is limited to correction of a problem based on a customer's specific complaint." Did you complain about a particular problem while your car was under the manufacturer's warranty? If you did not, you have no recourse. I'm not sure what you mean by "at under the extended mileage limit" - extended warranty? An extended warranty is a different animal and has its own coverage limits which may be different that the manufacturer's original warranty.

Yes, the A/C on vehicles made by Toyota automatically turns off at low outside temperatures on vehicles with the "Auto" and air filtration feature. I don't know exactly what that temperature is but it seems to be around 40 degrees. It's fine to run your A/C in Auto mode all the time but it wastes fuel in moderately low temperatures when A/C and the air filtration system isn't really needed. About the only time I run my A/C in auto mode when the outside temperature is between 40 and 65 degrees is when it is humid. Above 65 degrees, I almost always have the A/C in Auto mode with the air filtration system on.

Wait until the low fuel warning light (looks like a gas pump) comes on, fill your tank and see if you have about 2.8 gallons left per the information on page 447 of your owners manual. The miles to refuel is just an estimate.

Since you are having multiple problems with USB memory, my suspicion is that it is not of a type or is not formatted in an acceptable manner. See page 279 of your navigation manual for information about acceptable formats.

Register on http://lexus.sewellparts.com/ with your forum member name to get discounts. The only color I see that is available for a 96 LS is Blue/Gray: http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accessories-catalog/interior/LS400-1996/2944.html You might want to go aftermarket.

According to the specs I'm reading on Lexus.com, the 2010-up GS comes with A2DP Bluetooth audio. Your 2008 does not. You could plug a Bluetooth A2DP adapter into "the audio jack input in the armrest" - they are pretty cheap on Amazon and eBay but reviews of them are spotty. Your phone battery will drain substantially faster and you still won't be able to control your iPhone from your head unit or nav screen, if equipped. I stream audio from my phone via the Bluetooth A2DP in my wife's Prius but I almost always charge my phone while doing it. I often don't bother to use Entune (the Toyota version of Lexus Enform) to listen to Pandora ... just as easy to stream Pandora directly from my phone without using the pathetic Entune/Enform interface.

I don't do much heavy work on cars anymore but the last time I needed Toyota parts (Prius v wagon) the cheapest I found was at http://www.carsontoyota.com/parts/ in Carson CA. I've gotten great service and prices on parts from http://lexus.sewellparts.com/ in Texas but they are due south of me and shipping charges are fairly low.

Yep, it's you or your ISP. I've never had a problem with the VAIS website and I've been there countless times. I suggest you contact VAIS if unsure of the capabilities of their various products: http://www.vaistech.com I doubt if the supposedly higher audio quality of FLAC would be of any value in a car - even one as quiet as an LS. Just last week while sitting in my quiet garage, I went back and forth between the same mainly orchestral music on a commercial CD and also stored on my phone and played through a 3.5mm aux-in. I kept thinking I should be able to tell a difference but I could not.

No, it's not just you. I've had both the Lexus dealer and their separate body shop tighten lug nuts so tightly that I could not loosen them with a breaker bar let alone the lug wrench in the tool kit. Last fall, the Lexus dealer body shop removed the rear wheels of my 2000 LS400 to reinstall the rear mud flaps after an $8,000 rear end repair including bumper replacement. On a Saturday morning a few days after I got the car back, I tried to remove my summer wheels/tires so that I could install my winter wheels/tires. I couldn't get a single one of the 10 rear lug nuts to budge with my breaker bar. Luckily, the body shop has a skeleton staff and I zoomed to the shop and had them loosen the lug nuts. I think the phrase you were searching for was "They don't seem to give a rat's !Removed!."

Your IS probably has the optional iPod interface kit described at http://www.lexus.com/cpo/model_library/IS/2009_options.html The kit installation instructions has the iPod cable routed into the glove box. The kit was probably dealer installed.

Have any of you read about the bottom feeding scumbag journalist who went out of his way to make Tesla look as bad as possible during a long term test for a NY Times article a few months ago? Fortunately, Tesla had installed a data recorder in the test car that completely exposed and refuted the "journalist's" falsified and negative report. The whole episode makes me what to buy a Tesla - if they offered a station wagon! (Take that, Paul!) The new leader for replacing our 2000 LS400 is the redesigned much more station-wagon-like 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid - now available for the first time with Pre-collision System (PCS) and radar cruise control.