1990LS400

You can buy sat radio integration products for your LS430 from http://www.vaistech.com/ where you can also view and download installation instructions. Their products are often available on eBay.

Does your ES have an "Auto" setting on the headlight switch that automatically turns the headlights off after you removed the key and lock the car? That was standard on some models including my 2000 LS400 beginning sometime in the mid-1990's. I don't know about your 2000 ES but the amount of delay on my 00 LS can be adjusted to keep the headlights on for (I think) up to a full minute or maybe even more before they automatically turn off. The 98-00 GS and LS has a customizable setting to sound a buzzer when the headlights are left on but the default setting of this feature is "OFF" -- probably since the cars have the "Auto" light feature. Again ... I don't know if the 2000 ES has this.

I get tired of Canadians and Europeans complaining about buying U.S. specification cars and not being able to make then work properly in their home countries. Why did you buy it? Was it because it was much cheaper to buy a U.S. spec car than a Canadian spec car? That's why my Canadian relatives come down here to buy U.S. spec cars but they just deal with the issues you are having. Buck up and stop complaining or spend to extra money to buy a car made for your home market.

A car that "changed my life" was a 1968 Mercedes 280S sedan that my sister drove from Marquette, Michigan home to northern Missouri during the Christmas holiday of 1967 when I was 17 years old. I was fascinated with that car. It had - hold your hats! - a motorized antenna and a Becker radio that could actually seek out radio stations. Wow! I was fascinated with its odd lighted "slider" heater controls and an air conditioner that wasn't integrated into the dash. And its doors closed with such precision and its interior and exterior finish seemed perfect. I don't have a photo of that Mercedes 280S but attached is a photo of the Mercedes 450SEL I drove in the 1970's. Yes, that's me 30-some years ago ... parked in front of my future wife's apartment building.

OK, I now see that you've got a bigger issue than just a paint mismatch. Either the bumper wasn't properly prepared for painting or the paint was improper mixed, applied or cured. Removing the bumper cover and having it professionally prepared and painted by a body shop may be your best option.

Unless the color mismatch is glaring, I'd let it go for a few years until the bumper gets scratched and dinged up by other cars (parking) and flying rocks. Who knows? Maybe someone will do you a "favor" and trash your bumper so you can get the cover repainted/replaced at no expense. This happened to me a few months ago when some sort of road debris bounced across six lanes of heavy traffic taking out my front bumper cover and damaging lots of other cars. Now I've got a perfect looking new front bumper cover replaced at zero cost under the comprehensive coverage of my auto policy. If you decide to go ahead and have your bumper repainted, consider contacting one of the mobile touchup guys who service car dealers. I had the front bumper of my LS painted in my driveway maybe six years ago by the same guy who touches up and repaints bumpers for the local Lexus dealer. My cost? $100. The quality was great, he used flex additive and the new paint held up well.

Tires usually become noisier as they age. Look for tires that have an especially low noise rating such as the ratings on the Tire Rack website. The "gold standard" for a quiet all season tire seems to be the Michelin Primacy MXV4. That's what I have on my car (except in Winter) and they are quieter than the other several models of summer and all season tires I've used on my 2000 LS400 over the past 102,000 miles / 8 years. Also get H-rated tires (130 mph) and not the V-rated tires (149 mph) that original on your car - supposedly can be a little quieter and may last longer. And maybe you are getting more sensitive to the road noise from your LS. The 98-00 LS400 was a quiet car in its day but more modern and sometimes inexpensive cars are about as quiet. If you are spending much time in other, new cars, your LS may not seem as quiet in comparison as it once did.

I've owned Lexus vehicles for 21 years and have lists of customizable features for a variety of Lexus models and I have never heard of that kind of feature. Maybe it's time for a "trade in" ... the wife, not the car. :whistles:

The wallet key does not contain a transponder and is not for use as an ignition key -- only for unlocking the doors. This information is in the owners manuals for your cars which can also be viewed without registering at https://secure.drivers.lexus.com

Are you in a populated area of Washington state in out the boonies? Have you had any contact with a repair shop that works on Lexus cars - maybe they could put you in touch with someone who has a 95-97 LS400 with Nakamichi. I don't know how common Nakamichi is on the 95-97 LS400 but they are fairly common on the 98-00 LS400 where I live. I don't know of another way to test your amp unless you can find a professional who could do it. I suppose you could call the car stereo repair company in Florida - website was given above - to see if they could test it and maybe fix it if it is broken but it sure would be easier if you could find another car to plug you amp into.

Lenore, I renew my offer to debate you one point at a time rather than address your laundry list of gripes. But I think you should know that, holding three college degrees and having training and experience in debating, you might consider me one of those educated elitists you don't seem to like. I like what Clint Eastwood said in Dirty Harry: "Go ahead, make my day. I know what you're thinking: 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"

Lenore, now we are getting somewhere. Let's just pick a point or two to discuss so we can keep our answers short and concise. What's it going to be? Education? Unemployment? How about the effects of the Internet and globalization. Or the impact of derivatives trading on the economy? And by the way. Most students of history consider Facism to be on the far right of the political spectrum - not to the left of the center where the Democrats reside.

Firestone? Surely there are good independent repair shops specializing in Lexus in the St. Louis area.

If you saw a post about a defective phone ECU in the trunk causing an LS400 audio system to go into mute mode, it might have been one of my posts since I've mentioned it a number of times. I got a friends 99 LS400 Nakamichi working again by disconnecting his defective phone ECU. Be sure to verify that both the radio 1 and radio 2 fuses are good. One is in the engine compartment and the other under the dash on the drivers side. One way to see if your amp is good is to try it in another 95-97 LS400 with Nakamichi. Know anyone who has one? That's how I tested my 00 LS400 Nak amplifier when the right side channel went out four or five(?) years ago. I pulled out my Nak amplifier, laid it on the rear floor of my friends 99 LS400 and plugged his amplifier cables into my amp. My amp worked fine so I sent my radio head unit to http://www.carstereohelp.com/ in Florida for repair. A wire at the balance control in the head unit was loose. My understanding is the that the interiors of 95 through 2000 LS400's are basically the same. If so, you should be able to remove your amp without removing the front passenger seat. It was fairly easy to do in my 00 LS although I needed someone else to press done on the metal tabs on the front of the amplifier when reinstalling it so I could slide the tabs into the slots under the front of the passenger seat. In theory it's possible that a grounded telephone mute is still causing your radio to mute but I think it is unlikely. If you haven't owned your car since new, check under the removable floor on the right side of the trunk to verify there is no phone ECU. On cars without a dealer installed Lexus phone, the phone connectors in the trunk containing the telephone mute are attached to the bottom of the tool kit receptacle where it is doubtful they could get wet and short out. I was told by Car Stereo Repair several years ago that it was getting difficult for them to repair Lexus Nakamichi due to a lack of parts availability. Nakamichi when bankrupt a long time ago and the current Nakamichi is Nakamichi in name only. If you have to pull the head unit, it is not difficult. Remove the center air vent, pry out the console wood panel and you will see the four 10 mm bolts holding the head unit in place - two top, two bottom. Be sure to cover the console area with a heavy towel or similar so you don't scratch it when you pull the head unit.

There is likely a diagnosis procedure in the GS300 shop manuals so you would not have to guess the cause of the problem. The attached diagram shows the senders. It would help if you would put the model year of your car in your profile with the model name (i.e. 2000 GS300) so we wouldn't have to figure it out.

Ah ha! Could it be the "COVER, ENGINE UNDER"?

I've searched parts website diagrams and lists and I can't find that part. I wonder what it is called It looks like something that could be removed, discarded and not replaced. My guess is that its function was for increasing fuel economy by a tiny amount.

Lenore, my take is that the political right is scared to death of Obama's political skills which they cannot begin to match and that no real skeletons in his closet have been found to exploit. About the best they can do is make stuff up. I have what may be an above average knowledge of political and economic history and was on my way to becoming a history teacher until I switched my major to something more profitable (computer science) forty years ago. Because I've actually studied the U.S. constitution in detail, I tend to write off the "birther movement" as nutcases, uninformed, or fools, or, perhaps more sinister, political savvy people whose goal is to foment discontent among nutcases, the uninformed and fools. As a scientist, I doubt if emotions play much of a role in my decision making process - which might explain why I find emotionally charged chain letters containing disjointed snippets of real and "pseudo facts" offensive, silly and/or sad. It might also explain how I've made a living largely by interpreting and "demystifying" technical materials for those who don't want to go to the trouble. Thankfully, I learned an important lesson in childhood: never, ever pass along a chain letter. Maybe it's not to late for others to learn. Here is a nice overview on the history of chain letters from a useful website: http://www.snopes.com/luck/chain.asp Now, Lenore, tell me why you are so angry and have expressed such a pattern of anger in past threads on this forum.

Check for stored error codes. Many, many issues - most minor - can cause the VSC and CEL warning lights.

IMO, there isn't much you can do unless you had a "walk around" inspecition of your car with the service writer - documenting all existing flaws - when you dropped off your car. I suppose you could tell the dealer that you think they did this damage and see what they say. Try to be cordial if you do that ... can work better than being upset when you talk with them. When I use a car dealer for repairs or service - I rarely do that - I remind the service writer of the excellent condition of my car and that it does not have a single dent or ding and that I would like my car back in the same condition. That seems to get their attention. I never allow a dealer or repair shop to clean and wash my car after it is serviced -- I've found that the cleanup guys (and the porters) do the most damage. The main reason I do most of the minor maintenance myself (e.g. oil changes) is to limit damage. I wouldn't dream of taking a car to one of those "Iffy-Lube" type quick oil change places and give some teenager a chance to trash my car.

Yes ... really ... No one. Why make a car difficult and unsafe to drive?

I would think it was a "50 state" car since it was "certified Low Emission Vehicle (LEV)": http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/1999/1999ESspecs.pdf According to the above website, 1999 was the first model year that the ES300 had that certification.

By all means lets discuss facts based on our personal experiences and knowledge rather than parroting chain letters that circulate the Internet ad nauseum. How and why did you get so angry? If you want to know how Snopes is supported, you can read it about it on their website: http://www.snopes.com/info/aboutus.asp

Lenore, do you have anything constructive to offer instead of just passing around silly chain letters?

What hump? (Why don't you look at a newer GS to see if that "hump" is acceptable to you. Others can't tell if it is acceptable to you.)