tdgreer

Last week, for my son, purchased a 96 ES300 w/ 104,000 miles for $4500. Needs small amount of paint touch up. Mechanic gave it a good once over taking care of small issues and maintanance for $500.00. Just put new tires on. The tread on the tires were still very good, but because it was not driven a lot and the tires were on for quite some time, they were starting to dry-rot. Ordered new hood struts and replacement antenna from ebay. Those were put on today. Except for paint touch up, it is running great! :)

Yes, I feel that I have pretty good glass on my ES. I have not found any problems with it. It would seem strange for Lexus to use anything less on the GS, or any other car. I can't even begin to imagine what the reason would be to have a glass that would respond the way some are saying in the other forum.

I'm considering a new GS for sometime this summer. On another Lexus forum, I came across a thread regarding the windshields of the GS's. I'm guessing the newer GS's if not all. In the thread there are complaints that the windshields are not very durable. They easily chip, scratch and at times, even break. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253933 Unless I've missed a thread, I have not seen this complaint on this forum. Any complaints regarding the windshields? TIA

When I took the car in earlier this month, I thought the service rep said they had replaced the belt... although they were'nt sure that was the problem, as it wasn't acting up when I took it in. But when I looked at the service invoice, it said they tightened the belt. Regardless, the service rep said the belt looked fine, that they don't usually need changing at this time. I have about 34,000 miles. It's going back on Monday morning. But they just don't seem to know what to do without hearing it make the noise, and it just tends to behave when I bring it in!

Earlier this month (1/07) my A/C started making a squealing noise. Unfortunately it was on and off. At times continual through an afternoon drive. But then at times, it just wouldn't do it at all. Quit annoying. I took it to Lexus service and they couldn't duplicate the noise. They tightened a belt. It seemed fine for about a week. But then it started again last weekend. Myself, my husband and son, all agree it sounds like a cricket. But it really sounds like the aliens communicating to each other when heard over the baby monitor on the movie Signs with Mel Gibson. Seriously!!! Anyway, it's only when the A/C is on. Quits when it's off. Very annoying. The bad thing is that it doesn't do it all the time. The car is going back to Lexus on Monday morning, but again, there's a good chance it won't do it once there. It's not doing it today. I do wonder if outside temps contribute to it, as the it has been most annoying, the weather has been in the low 80's, and it seems to behave when we've been in the 50's to 70's. I'm in Tampa. I wish I were closer to the dealership/service dept when it does this, but don't live near it, and rarely am out that way. And it seems to had it's worst times during a weekend anyway. My mom has taken ill in Louisiana and will probably be making a trip there in few weeks and sure don't want it acting up. Anyone have such a thing happen? Any clues? TIA! 2004 ES330

Robert Redford's character drives a nice LS in the movie The Clearing. He plays a wealthy man who gets kidnapped. Here's a page with Lexus cars in various movies. Celebrity owners of Lexus vehicles include Steven Spielberg, Robert DeNiro, Holly Hunter, Mel Gibson, Cameron Diaz, Tony Hawk, Christie Brinkley, Tyra Banks, Michael Bloomberg, and Bill Gates. Info came from Wikipedia when looking up "Lexus".

Oh my. I'm hurt. :cries: Seriously... I do hope there is a small part of you that can and will respect other opinions and view points. Perhaps you were having an extremely bad day when you posted this? I currently participate in several forums, many that I rarely visit anymore because they have become horrid with too many postings that are quite similar to yours. Luckily this forum has been different. It has been a pleasure to visit and post here because the members and moderators do want to keep this forum not only informative, but also respectful, so that it can be a pleasure for it's members and visitors. I'm glad you are enjoying your 350. Good luck to you.

I'm in Tampa, and when I do the "build your own" and choose the highest Premium Plus Package ($7,137.00- total car $41,022.00), I can get the voice-activated DVD Nav, but no ML. According to "build your own", I can't get ML. Anyone know what the deal about why the UL is held back in some places?

IMO, you shouldn't have to be "stepping down". If the idea was to downgrade items in order to add other perks without raises the price much, that's crazy. They seem to forget about the current ES owners and how they would feel about that. I really like my 330 (save the transmission) and it really rubs me the wrong way to think that to stay in the ES line, I have to sacrifice. The car should be moving forward- at least don't take away from it. Also, IMO, the ML should be standard in the LS. Nav optional, but ML stereo standard.

Exactly how I feel. I was looking forward to sliding into the new ES, but I can't get past the interior. I have looked at the GS several times now, and I really think the GS350 is where I will be going. Next summer for me too.

I took my 04 330 in for the 30,000 mile service yesterday morning and was given a 350 loaner. I was looking forward to spending a day with the 350 to see how I would like it. My 15 year old son will be in need of a car next summer. My 25 yr old daughter wants to hand down her 2 door accord to my son and hoped I would pass on my 330 to her as I slide into the 350. I do like the drive of the 350. The exterior styling is not great, but I can get used to it. The newer bells and whisles are great. What I can't get used to is the interior. Lexus really took a huge step backwards here. I am really disappointed. The overall look and feel is cheapened. The wood is not as nice, and not nearly enough. I hate the dash... the lifeless top of the dash that carries over toward the glove box. Why is it the glove box when opened and closed feels lighter and cheaper? Even the sun shade that you open and close for the moon roof feels cheaper. Positives is that there appears to be a little more leg room. My husband is 6'2'', my 15 yr old son, 6 ft. (expecting to grow a bit more). They find it roomier in the legs. However, my husbands head touches the roof where it begins to fur down toward the door. He put the seat down as far as it could go. So even though there is more leg room, it looks like some head room has been taken away. When I bought my 330 in 2004, we looked at and test drove the GS and the ES. I liked the power and exterior of the GS, but I liked the interior luxury of the ES. But even though I am the primary driver, my husband just didn't fit in the GS nearly as well. I have just taken another look at the GS, and I definitely like the GS interior over that of the 350. At this point I'm not sure I'll be ready to part with my 330 for the 350. When I got my 330 back this morning, it was really nice to slide into it and feel like I am in a Lexus. I may take another look at the GS, and have my husband try it out again. I'm not interested in the LS. I just don't need that much car. Perhaps when we are older, and my husband drives my car about as much as I do.

My husband has back problems. When his back is really acting up, he has found that driving my ES330 actually helps it. He feels a difference when he has been in my car and then gets out. Funny where he found therapy. BTW, tomorrow 11/1/06, I'm taking my 330 in for 30,000 mile service. I'm getting a 350 loaner. Looking forward to checking it out. :)

For the 350 owners, what is your take on the road noise? And... What type of changes is a car maker, in this case Lexus, willing to make for the next model year? I, like many, don't always like buying the first year of a new model. So if we wait a year or two, how much of a change can one expect? Would they change the body if it could improve the car? Side mirrors?

Yeah, I'm realizing that dark is going to show more than light. Any thoughts on the Perma Plate coating or the like? Worth it? Gimmick? Like I said in my original post, I did have it put on my 04 when I purchased it. Paint job still looks brand new. But would it look like that anyway, without the coating?

When I purchased my 04 330, I paid to have Perma Plate, a clear coat put on. Overall the paint job still looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. Don't even see any swirling. I don't remember how much I paid for the coat. Question is... would it still look that way if I had not had the Perma Plate done? Is it a gimmick? I am considering going to the 350 sometime next year. My 15 year old son will need a car and my daughter wants to hand down her Accord to him and she would purchase the 330 from me. So I wonder if I should do the Perma Plate when I purchase the 350. Also, the 330 is a gold color. I am really picky about where I park it when out and about. I've had it for 2 1/2 years and can't see a door ding at all. I had a black Avalon before the 330. As careful as I could be, dings really showed up on it, as did surface scratches and swirling. I am considering going back to a dark color... love the royal ruby and saphffire pearl. But is a lighter color better? Does the lighter color hide alot, or maybe it's the Perma Plate that is doing the job? Any opinions on Perma Plate.... and any on light vs dark colors? TIA!

I'm getting approx. 22 in town and 27-28 highway.

I love every thing about my Lexus except how it drives. It is extremely disappointing. The best ride I've ever had was my 2000 Avalon. As far as adjusting my driving habits... I've been driving for 30 years, pretty much the same way now and when I started out. As far as I can tell, I drive petty "normal". Why change how I drive for this one vehicle? I'm not sure how I would change. I had this car for about 20 months before expressing my displeasure on any forum. Honestly, I don't even talk about it to my friends. I find it embarrassing that my Lexus drives like crap and nothing can be done about it. This may not be a problem with all recent model ES's, but there is no denying there is a problem. I think Lexus will eventually address it. Maybe they won't admit a problem, but will quietly fix it. I am holding on to it for a while. I am hoping another model year will come along and fix it. Even my service guy at Lexus admits this is a big problem for Lexus. I like the ES. Do the GS's have the problem? Haven't heard that they do. If not, and the newer ES's don't get fixed, then I may move to the GS. Or leave Lexus all together.

Not true, if the car doesn't have VSC the car doesn't have trac. I know, because it was hard to get me a car in 03 with VSC and TRAC because Lexus had suspended the VSC and Trac option while they upgraded it to work with the 3.3 liter engine coming out for 04. If your ES does not have VSC it does not have TRAC. tdgreer, do you have a button on the lower right hand part of the dash entitled "TRAC OFF"? No button, no VSC or TRAC. It absolutely does not, I've driven them back to back and it makes NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER in how the throttle lag presents itself. You've got to LISTEN to us wwest, we dont need to disable the trac/VSC systems on our cars to see if they cause the lag because we have cars without VSC and trac to compare them to. I thin jrag's right, the issue has to be somewhere in trying to tune the electronic throttle to maintain the ULEV status of the car. We already know of one component designed in such a way as to meet that status while causing issues with driver comfort, the catalytic converter Lexus released a TSB for. We also know that canadian cars don't seem to exhibit the issue to the same degree as US cars do, and they're not held to the same emissions standards. This all seems very simple to me. Personally, I feel occam's razor applies here, the simplest solution is probably the right one, and to me the ULEV status seems to fit the evedence and this theory about VSC and ABS and TRAC and geometry and physics all seems needlessly complicated and goes AGAINST the facts we do have which are: 1. ES vehicles exhibit the throttle lag whether they have VSC/TRAC or not. 2. ES vehicles in the US are ULEV certified, and they are not rated in any such way in Canada. 3. ES vehicles in Canada do not exhibit the lag as seriously as they do here. 4. Lexus has already admitted that they designed one component of the ES model to be so efficient as to produce odors that bother passengers in order to achieve ULEV status, the catalytic converter (replaced with a less efficient unit via TSB and warranty) So it seems that the evidence points to the ULEV status, and that it certainly does not point to VSC/Trac. I do not have a button for "trac off". Or VSC for that matter. I did have such button on my 2000 Avalon. On the lower right side that said "VSC off". No such thing on this Lexus.

The ABS light comes on for a few seconds. But there is no Trac or VSC on the instrument panel at all. The only thing I see in documentation is the ABS with EBD (electronic breakforce distribution).

I'm not into all this mechanical stuff.. I'm just "a girl". ;-) But my car definitely falls in the 1-2 second, heck I could just say 2 second delay. Yes, there are times I feel this could put me in an unsafe condition. Particularly when in bumper to bumper traffic or times I need to "get on out there" in fast traffic. You don't say if your car has VSC and/or Trac..... And DAMN, I was just in the Palm Harbor area for the entire week following the 24 hours of Daytona! ;-) This from the post I made just prior to the post you responded to: (does that make sense?) >>My 04 is a FWD and I do not see any evidence that it has VSC. Not in documentation or anywhere in the vehicle displays. I know I did have VSC with my 2000 Avalon. It could even be disabled. Anyway, just wanted to mention that hesitation is a definite problem with my FWD 04, and I'm pretty sure it does not have VSC.<< What is trac?

I'm not into all this mechanical stuff.. I'm just "a girl". ;-) But my car definitely falls in the 1-2 second, heck I could just say 2 second delay. Yes, there are times I feel this could put me in an unsafe condition. Particularly when in bumper to bumper traffic or times I need to "get on out there" in fast traffic.

I posted several months ago my problem with the hestitation. I have an 04 ES and from the beginning of ownership until now it has been extremely annoying. I appear to have one of these vehicles that has a pretty good case of throttle lag. Lexus performed it's latest update (twice) and it helped just a bit. My 04 is a FWD and I do not see any evidence that it has VSC. Not in documentation or anywhere in the vehicle displays. I know I did have VSC with my 2000 Avalon. It could even be disabled. Anyway, just wanted to mention that hesitation is a definite problem with my FWD 04, and I'm pretty sure it does not have VSC.

I tend to forget I have that key in my wallet. About 6 months ago I was going crazy because I couldn't find my keys. My husband had the second set with him and I thought I was out of luck getting anywhere with my car. I eventually found my keys. But through the whole ordeal, I never thought about the wallet key. As far as a hide-a-way key holder, I would never think to use one as I figure a thief would be looking for that very thing.

I thought this problem was unique to my car until I started researching the problem yesterday. Wow. I can't believe this is as big a problem as it is and I certainly wish Lexus would take it seriously do something more than what appears to be temporary fixes. I purchased my car in April of 04. It took a week or so but the problems with the hesitation became very apparant. At the 1000 mile checkup, I mentioned it and was told to give it some time since it's a new car. At the 5000 mile checkup I mentioned it again. They said they checked it out and it was "driving as designed". At 10,000 checkup I got really nasty about it and they still said they couldn't find a problem. At 15,000 (end of Sept 05) I brought it up again. This time they acknowledged a problem and did the re-flash, or fix mentioned here in this thread. It is better now, but still not what it should be. This morning I took the car in because on Saturday morning I went to start it and it scared the heck out of me with a really loud noice... like extremely loud knocking. I turned it off quickly as it sounded like something tearing up under the hood. I wondered if an animal somehow got into my garage and into the car. Anyway, I started it again and had the same problem. After about 5-6 starts, it finally quit. It didn't go it again. But I took it in this morning and of course they found nothing. While there, I mentioned this hesitation thing again to the service guy and he put his pen down and had this total frustrated look on his face and said that yes, it's a big probem and they get a new fix for it about every 6 months... but nothing that really fixes it. I filed a complaint with the NHTSA this morning. I really hope Lexus will step forward and do something. Their shining reputation is beginning to dull. Oh, and also, what does this all mean as far as the value of the car? When I'm ready to trade in or sell?