1990LS400

One man's opinion? Have you guys read Supreme Court Chief Justice John Robert's opinion? It's quite close to mine. This doesn't seem to be much of a discussion - mainly uninformed people flaming.

I think it is about time for LEXIRX330 and Lenore to take their "hate-fest" off-line. Did I grow up in the same country as these two. I'm a fairly smart guy who retired from a very large multinational insurance company, who actually understands the provisions of the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" and who has read all nearly 200 pages of Chief Justice Robert's opinion on the matter - which is actually an easy and fun read. Would LEXIRX330 and Lenore please take the time to read the same information I have read and analyzed and stop just throwing bombs?

It may sound silly but the very first thing to check on a 90-94 LS400 when electrical gremlins arise is the electrical wiring harness at the left trunk hinge. Wires in the harness at the hinge tend to break over time as the trunk lid is opened and closed. The shifting problem due to broken wires at the hinge is very common. I've lost track of how many times I've seen this problem reported. It occurred on the 1990 LS400 I used to have in the summer of 2003 and the person who bought my 90 LS from me had to repeat the repair at least once.. After you unravel the tape from the harness wiggle each wire separately to determine which ones have broken cores. It's best to solder in short lengths of wire to repair the broke wires. Wrap each repaired connection with electrical tape. Let us know how it turns out. I think you will be surprised at what you find when you check the wires at the left trunk hinge.

I'm wondering if your Toyota dealer got you some ES brake parts from a Lexus dealership in the same ownership group. According to all the information I've seen, the front brake parts for an 04 ES and 04 Camry V6 aren't much alike - see the attached diagram. The previous generation ES and Camry V6 were the last on which the brakes were identical. And what the heck does Bendix (the correct spelling) being in business 2 years longer - 1924 vs. 1926 - than "Toyoda" (the original spelling) have to do with anything? Much of what Bendix has sold over the years has been substandard.

Did you do that on your 2004 ES? The parts lists I have show the 04 Toyota Camry V6 and 04 Lexus ES as not using the same brake parts. Weren't the previous generation Camry and ES the last that shared the same brake parts?

What is meant by "the rear calipers have movement"? I would expect a front or rear brake job for your RX to cost between $200 and $250 at an independent repair shop that specializes in Lexus and uses only OEM parts. This price would include refinishing the rotors. But do you really need a brake job? The minimum acceptable thickness of both the front and rear rotors is about one millimeter. To give you an idea of how much that is, a penny is 1 1/2 millimeters thick. Most repair shops will try to talk you into replacing brake pads long before they really need to be replaced - probably the most common scam in the auto repair industry. I don't know how long brake pads "should" last on your RX -- there is a wide range in how long brake pads last on vehicles made by Toyota. The front pads on my LS last about 73,000 miles with the rear lasting about 130,000 miles. The original front pads on our Camry are probably going to last beyond 150,000 miles and the rear pads way way beyond 200,000 miles if the car makes it that far. About all you can do is measure the pads and replace them when they get worn down.

Toyota/Lexus touch-up paint is a completely different formula than the paint on a Lexus. It essentially simulates the paint color of your car and is more like fingernail polish than car paint. The Lexus touch-up paint that is supposed to be exactly for my metallic Crystal White LS is far from a match. The non-metallic Toyota white touchup paint I buy at the nearby Toyota dealer for our non-metallic white Camry is a far better match and that is what I use on my Crystal white LS. It might be worth a try to give touchup paint from the Toyota dealer a try.

Well, not be be pessimistic, but let's wait a month or so before breaking out the Champagne - when of course you will send one bottle each of 1907 Heidsieck to SRK and me. I hope this fix holds!

I do not understand the questions but here is a link to the 1992 SC400 audio and HVAC operating instructions: http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM24405U/pdf/2.pdf

Wow. Lots of questions. Did your replacement seats come out of a 93-94 LS with the same seat controls (with memory or without memory) as yours? It's hard to say if the master key button can be fixed. A replacement master key set and ROM chip for the receiver in the trunk can be purchased from Sewell Lexus at a discount - see attached. The exterior color code is on the door jam. Touch-up paint is one of the few Lexus "parts" I've been able to buy at a Toyota dealer. Some Toyota/Lexus touchup paint vials come with both a pen-type applicator and a small brush applicator. The mirror glass can be removed although doing so sounds like an art. The instructions for my 2000 LS say to use a small shop towell. Insert the towell around and behind the glass and somehow pry the mirror out. The exterior mirror glass on my 00 LS in held in by clips. I've never done it myself so I can't provide more information. If you buy replacement mirror glass, be sure it is for a 93-94 LS as the mirror shape may have changed slightly from the 90-92 LS.

Why do you think you are going to have to use a health insurance exchange? Are you currently uninsured?

Please more this thread to "The Club Lounge". It is not appropriate in the "New Members Welcome" subforum.

That's quite low miles for a 2002. However, the UL is incredibly complex so don't be surpirised if you have an occasional multi-thousand dollar repair bill if you want to keep everything working. You might want to check out the cost of replacing just one air strut before you buy - that might change your mind. The shade could be a simple fix or require a complete replacement. Get an repair estimate on it and anything else wrong - like the sticky rear audio controls - before you proceed. No maintenance records for six years is a huge red flag. If you are buying from a dealer can you speak with the previous owner first? I'd recommend having an inspection by a Lexus dealer before you buy - they've probably seen way more UL's than most shops. I can't see $85 buying much of an inspection. That's less than an hour's work at a good specialist shop and way less than that at a Lexus dealer.

Per page 16 of your ES300's owners manual "The automatic light control sensor is on top of the driver’s side instrument panel." "THIRD CLICKSTOP (”AUTO”): The headlights and all other lights automatically turn on depending on the darkness of the surroundings." It's not like you are going to be able to shift the blame to a repair shop on a 15 year old car. Checking the lights doesn't mean a repair shop is going to simulate darkness and check the Auto function.

Please let us know if the dealer can provide you with much more detailed instructions than are in Lexus repair manuals. You could also do a short term subscription to https://techinfo.toyota.com which is the same website that Lexus dealer mechanics and my indie former Lexus dealer mechanic use when they need information although it's the same information, in PDF format, that is in the hard copy Lexus repair manuals.

Thanks....sites like Sewell and MyLexusParts do not show the level of detail that the parts explosions show in the repair manuals. I was wondering if anyone had the center console/navi repair manual explosion. Which repair manuals are you talking about? The official repair manual set for my 2000 LS400 has far fewer diagrams than on the parts vendor websites. The few diagrams there are in my manuals are much less detailed. Maybe it's different in the official repair manuals for your SC but I doubt it. I rely on the diagrams on parts vendor websites and especially on http://www.toyodiy.com/ which has the same diagrams but for all vehicles sold worldwide by Toyota since 1967 . There are similarities in the way the interiors of Toyota/Lexus products are held together. I've disassembled the center stack and consoles of several Lexus/Toyota vehicles. If you can do it on a Camry, you can do it on a Lexus.

There are a number of websites with diagrams including http://lexus.sewellparts.com

The part is called "COVER, FRONT BUMPER GUARD". You can find sources by Googling the part number but it might be less expensive to buy it from a Lexus dealer rather than pay minimum shipping costs some online sellers charge.

I just now verified that the CD's I burned and play in my LS400's OEM CD changer are ".WMA". The only disk type I have found to work is "CD-R". I've been surprised at the sound quality - can't tell the difference between a commerically produced audio CD and the ones I've burned while converting MP3 to WMA.

Is it impossible to convert MP3 purchased on iTunes to a standard audio format? I haven't done it lately but I've used Windows Media Player to convert MP3's to standard audio, burn them to CD' and play them in my 2000 LS400.

Doors are pretty heavy. It's at least a 2-person job without the special jig that body shops use to hang doors. I had my drivers door removed last year to change the hinges that had probably been improperly bent before I bought the car years ago - my guess it was an attempt to reduce wind noise. The door removal/reinstall was fairly inexpensive - I'm guessing only about $100 for my car but I was having a lot of other work done due to hitting flying debris on a freeway.

You need to view and test drive this vehicle and check to see exactly which options it has and what condition it is in. For example, when a seller says "Premium Sound System" for a Lexus vehicle, it usually means it has the standard audio system and not the optional Mark Levinson system. What does the word "sport" mean? I don't think the F-sport option was available until several years later. Is the seller using the word "sport" as a generic term? The car could be better than advertised in that the seller might not be stating or even understand how well the car is equipped or it could be as advertised or worse. Only you can verify which it is. TSIB's, unless a safetly related recall, must be applied while the original warranty is in effect in order to be done at no cost to the owner -- 4 years/50,000 miles unless that TSIB addresses a component covered by the drivetrain warrantly (6 years/70,000 miles).

Although they don't have ratings for the IS350, Consumer Union shows the IS250 as having the highest possible reliability rating in nearly all categories. The ratings are based on annual questionaires submitted by subscribers of which I have completed many over the past few decades. The condition and future reliability of any used car is largely dependent on how it was treated and maintained by previous owners. Does the car come with maintenance records and has all maintenance including the 90,000 mile service been performed? If the car is being sold by a dealer does it come with a warranty? I see little correlation between KBB valuations and actual selling prices where I live. KBB valuations usually seem closer to advertised prices than actual selling prices. Know what you are buying. Does "all the bells and whistles" mean it has all the many options listed at http://www.lexus.com...ry/IS/2006.html and all the options you want? I would be much less concerned if the car was still within its 4 year / 50,000 mile basic warranty.

Which MXM4 do you have? Pilot or Primacy? According to the customer surveys at http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?skipOver=true&width=225%2F&ratio=45&diameter=17 the Primacy is substantially quieter. I don't think a taller profile tire would necessarily be any quieter.

Your owners manual shows the anntenna being assocated with four fuses - numbers 1, 8, 23 and 32: http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM33426U/pdf/6-4_214.pdf