carlexes330

hi id much rather post here since i ask questions on club lexus and dont get any repsonses.i have a simple question for the experts.i have a 93 es300 my headlights arent bad at all compared to ones ive seen.but there still a little foggy.i can live with them but ive seen and heard of some people whove bought some products that make a diffrence.im not into the whole baking and opening up my headlights.i know it works the ebst but id still rather not mess with it.has anyone bought or used anything that works good??id like to maybe make them a little more clear.any and all suggestions or advice is much appreciated thank you

I have seen good results from using an orbital polisher with pad and good quality wax polish bring the headlamps back to new again lamps

I'd be willing to bet that the emergency brake has very seldomly been used on this car since it was new, and now it is 12 years old. It sounds to me that because of years of lack of use, and corrosion, and the freezing temperatures, that the emergency brake shoes and its mechanism have seized in the locked on position, even though the brake lever has been released. The rear brake rotor has a drum brake system built into it for use as the emergency brake. If you are mechanically inclined, have the tools and the space to work on the car, it usually is an easy DIY job. In this case you may well have a very difficult time removing the rear brake rotors because the shoes are in the locked position. You may not be able to unlock them, and may do damage to the rotors getting them off. Maybe the emergency brake cable to each rear wheel as well. The brake shoes are very small and only have about 3 mm of braking material on them. If driven for any distance at all with the shoes locked on its quite possible that the shoes will need to be replaced because they will be worn through. It really will be impossible to tell until the rear wheels are off the car and you start at it. You might get lucky and be able to free everything up without a great deal of expense, or be looking at new E brake cables, springs, adjusters, shoes and rotors. Good Luck!

I have the same problem but it would seem that the rear emergency brake is rubbing on the drivers side rear and no amount of pressing the emergency brake pedal will stop the re occurring squeaking of the pad rubbing on the drum? It is not the normal rear brake pads as they are 90% new. How do you replace these small pads and isn't there an auto adjust mechanism once pads are installed? I could see the cable at the rear brake mechanism but couldn't figure how to release everything to take of the dic/drum combo . Help

Well first of all, your car is not 2.5 years old, its 4 years old. 2005-2009 is 4 years. If it was 2.5 years old then its 2007...which obviously it is not.

Did you ever take the car back to the dealer to have them look for the dye?

I don't know what else they could have done if you never brought the car back to them to look for the dye. If the freon is low, theres a leak somewhere and they obviously knew that because they added the dye...they recharged the system and it worked fine for another 20,000 miles, until obviously the freon evaporated again and that burned out the evaporator coil.

You say you took the car back at 49k miles and had them do a "thorough check", well that that point any dye would be gone. You needed to take the car back a week or so later to look for the dye.

They did intervene to assist you...they split the cost with you 50/50...

I was originally told that "lexus" would pay for parts and I'd have to pay the $1400 labor cost to install said parts . I later found the repair was $1941.00 so baically I was to foot all but the $541.00 parts charge

Well...if they told you that the repair was around $2,000 and that you would have to pay the $1400 labor cost, how much did you think the parts were? $2,000-$1400=$600. Sounds like their estimate was pretty accurate. What did you "later" find out?

I bought the car in august 2006 so as previously mentioned the car was 2.5 years old when this transpired....sorry about this but i had the service advisor tell me my car was a four year old car with my invoice showing I purchased in august 2006... anyways the parts on my invoice which doesn't include the liquid line drier replacement came to around $600. The thorough check was the 50K service ...no one told me to come back to check for the dye leak ...oh and sorry it was the condensor assy that leaked not the evaporator coil ..I'm now awaiting reply fom the california BAR to see what their remedy is ....I would have expected my "Elite Dealership" could have hired a decent enough Auto technician with his EPA cert so that this would have been resolved in one shot .

Since you are in California I would report this to the Bureau of Automotive Repair and get assigned a case. Have all of your records available. Give them your complaint to be investigated....

Just completed filing my complaint with the BAR I await their response and will keep you all informed thanks again for the advice

Since you are in California I would report this to the Bureau of Automotive Repair and get assigned a case. Have all of your records available. Give them your complaint to be investigated....

Thanks for the info Ill call them and see what I need to do to get this rolling ...

Sounds like the dealer is really butchering the whole job. Sorry to hear that it is not that cold anymore. Chances are they added too much oil to the system. If you have all your paperwork from the start, I would suggest taking the problem above the local dealership.

Thanks for the info Ill try another elite dealership ...maybe

BMW and MB have improved, we have to give them credit, but reports show that Lexus is still pretty high in reliability and quality rankings.

I think what's getting to the BMW owners (obviously I'm a BMW owner but I don't have the same frame of thought they do) is that they brag that there isn't a non-luxury counterpart with their company. We all know (and I admit) that hands down MB and Lexus do not compare in terms of performance and handling of BMWs but that's all they really could brag about. For a lot of people who need the most for their hard earned money, I know buying a luxury car may sound ridiculous to them but if they were to choose a luxury car that will last them and give them the most for their money, LEXUS is the only way to go :cheers:

Well I have friends who own both BMWs and Mercedes and all wish they had bought Lexus..for the reliability

I am the proud owner of a lexus es330 Oasis Green model with Nav 17" wheels cashmere leather etc

At 34K i took my vehicle in for service and brought an Air Conditioning defect to the attention of my "Elite Dealership" Lexus Carlsbad of California. The diagnosis was that the freon was low and freon was added and the vacuum checked and no leaks found. Now being an Engineering manager of a significant private company I am not an imbecile when it comes down to engineering principles and technical knowledge of equipment . However knowing what I know about Air conditioning and the like ...having noticed that the freon charge was low the Service advisor told me verbally that the air conditioning had no freon in it and he had the technician recharge the system with a colorant dye added in case there was a leak evident. I was sent on my merry way with the AC cooling as I expected :)

Now at 49K I took my car to the same "Elite dealership" and told the service advisor to make sure the car is given a thorough inspection and any defects located . None found and none reported .

54K ....Oooh dear ...4K passed my 50K warranty period my air conditioning seemed to be intermittent and not really cold...take to my "Elite dealer" and mention that the problem has reoccurred and as it was a "latent defect" previous "repaired" by my "elite dealer" under warranty I felt that they would step up and repair as necessary even though I was now passed my 50K warranty...

OOh how wrong I was ....no amount of pleading with the dealer would repair this "latent defect" under a previously flagged up repair' at no cost to me .....

Here's the diagnosis of my 2.5 year old air conditioning system :

Need to replace the Evaporator coil, Expansion Valve and Liquid line drier on a 2.5 year old car .....cost $2000

I was originally told that "lexus" would pay for parts and I'd have to pay the $1400 labor cost to install said parts . I later found the repair was $1941.00 so baically I was to foot all but the $541.00 parts charge.

I was also referred to the Lexus Satisfaction center 1-800-25-LEXUS so they may intervene and assist me with these costs remember this is a previous "latent defect" repaired under warranty ...( a quick shot of R134a refrigerant) cost around $20 from any good AC retailer ...

Here's the latest breaking news Lexus Customer satisfaction have decided that although this was a "Latent defect" repaired by my "Elite Dealer" under warranty .. I am able to have the car repaired on a 50/50 split ( a $1000 charge to me !!!! )

So if you are in the market for a "luxury car " with exceptional customer service as detailed below :

The Elite of Lexus Are Leaders

This is a special award given to Dealers who excel at sales, service and overall Owner support. We are proud to be recipients of this year's "Elite of Lexus" award.

Elite of Lexus dealers are chosen based on:

Customer feedback from surveys rating owner satisfaction, sales and service as extremely exceptional.

Dealership exceeding rigorous Lexus operational and certification standards.

We received this honor because so many of our current and past customers have acknowledged their satisfaction with our service and attention to detail. We invite you to stop by our Dealership and experience this exceptional service firsthand.

Please find some other brand Mercedes, BMW (Free service and brakes), Infiniti, who offer the same "elite kind" of service but stand by their product, their customer satisfaction, and warranty repairs UNLIKE LEXUS.

Be warned this the old adage of "once bitten twice shy" stands here .

The Lexus once repaired will be sold and the money used to purchase any of the above who will do the right thing when it comes to Customer satisfaction ....I WILL NEVER EVER PURCHASE A LEXUS VEHICLE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE......DUE TO THE TREATMENT I HAVE RECEIVED AT MY ELITE DEALERSHIP at LEXUS CARLSBAD California .

As a follow up to this report I asked the dealership to give me the parts they replaced ie the Evaporator coil the expansion valve and the liquid line drier. I never got the liquid line drier so I assume that I now have a contaminated system which will fail again sometime soon....grrrr...I tried to see the liquid line drier but can't locate it ...plus of course now my air con is not really that cold when on cold ...another trip back to the elite dealer me thinks ...OMG should have bought a Chrysler with the lifetime government warranty ....whatever that covers ...in the 50K that the chrysler would manage lol .

Here is my 2 cents: Bad economy, so dealers are all trying not to give free services if they don't have to. If you notice, a lot of dealership repairs are slow these days because they are freaking expensive and have to feed expensive union guys. They might have to try to brush you off from the 1st repair since they knew this is going to be an expensive fix. There got to be a reason for leaking so much freon to begin with. I can see this is an 8-hour for one tech because he got to rid out the whole dashboard from left to right.

If you took your car somewhere else, it might be a lot cheaper to repair.

In your case of evaporator coil, it's hard to say why it failed some early so. I can see why the tech didn't spot the leak because the evaporator coil is inside the car's HVAC. One reason for premature failure could be the AC is not turned on during the weather. the AC system needs to be used like 15 min every other week.

The ac is on all the time the car is driven :)

Does anyone know the hack to use the navigation while in motion for the 09 IS250?

sorry there isnt one . It was only available upto 2008

My 2002 SC430 seems only to be able to set the cruise control at 40 mph and above --- and always cancels itself out when I come to a stop. It works fine at highway speeds... but whenever I come to a full stop the settings are canceled out and I am unable to resume previous setting forcing me to manually set them again. Is this normal or do I have a faulty sensor?

once you brake then the cruise control will disengage have you tried pressing resume once almost upto sped? That usually works

2004 RX330

So far I found my passenger side mirror is hardly adjusted. It become sticky or weakly. Today It is finally dead. I still can hear the motor sound when I push button, but it just never move at all. Please help!

around a $350 repair at the dealership Im afraid unless you are still covered under your 50K warranty !

My '04 came with Bridgestone Turenza tires that lasted 18,000.0 miles.---Good Tires, but short on tread life--

The Dealer replaced them with Michelin MXV4 -Plus, Tires--(tires say M & S on Sidewall) but dealer says they are All Season-which are also identified, as such, on the Michelin web site.

My wife an I feel that they "whine" . Dealer checked them and says --all is OK--. I drove other Lexus models , with "Eagles" and they whine worse.

Question... Have others had similiar problems, on their Lexus, with Noisy tires ??

Or is it me ?

Michelins are crap ..go for the GOODYEAR ASSURANCE TRIPLETRED with the 80K warranty ..they are far superior to Yokohama AVID V4s Yokohama YK520s and MICHELINS MXV4s

I am the proud owner of a lexus es330 Oasis Green model with Nav 17" wheels cashmere leather etc

At 34K i took my vehicle in for service and brought an Air Conditioning defect to the attention of my "Elite Dealership" Lexus Carlsbad of California. The diagnosis was that the freon was low and freon was added and the vacuum checked and no leaks found. Now being an Engineering manager of a significant private company I am not an imbecile when it comes down to engineering principles and technical knowledge of equipment . However knowing what I know about Air conditioning and the like ...having noticed that the freon charge was low the Service advisor told me verbally that the air conditioning had no freon in it and he had the technician recharge the system with a colorant dye added in case there was a leak evident. I was sent on my merry way with the AC cooling as I expected :)

Now at 49K I took my car to the same "Elite dealership" and told the service advisor to make sure the car is given a thorough inspection and any defects located . None found and none reported .

54K ....Oooh dear ...4K passed my 50K warranty period my air conditioning seemed to be intermittent and not really cold...take to my "Elite dealer" and mention that the problem has reoccurred and as it was a "latent defect" previous "repaired" by my "elite dealer" under warranty I felt that they would step up and repair as necessary even though I was now passed my 50K warranty...

OOh how wrong I was ....no amount of pleading with the dealer would repair this "latent defect" under a previously flagged up repair' at no cost to me .....

Here's the diagnosis of my 2.5 year old air conditioning system :

Need to replace the Evaporator coil, Expansion Valve and Liquid line drier on a 2.5 year old car .....cost $2000

I was originally told that "lexus" would pay for parts and I'd have to pay the $1400 labor cost to install said parts . I later found the repair was $1941.00 so baically I was to foot all but the $541.00 parts charge.

I was also referred to the Lexus Satisfaction center 1-800-25-LEXUS so they may intervene and assist me with these costs remember this is a previous "latent defect" repaired under warranty ...( a quick shot of R134a refrigerant) cost around $20 from any good AC retailer ...

Here's the latest breaking news Lexus Customer satisfaction have decided that although this was a "Latent defect" repaired by my "Elite Dealer" under warranty .. I am able to have the car repaired on a 50/50 split ( a $1000 charge to me !!!! )

So if you are in the market for a "luxury car " with exceptional customer service as detailed below :

The Elite of Lexus Are Leaders

This is a special award given to Dealers who excel at sales, service and overall Owner support. We are proud to be recipients of this year's "Elite of Lexus" award.

Elite of Lexus dealers are chosen based on:

Customer feedback from surveys rating owner satisfaction, sales and service as extremely exceptional.

Dealership exceeding rigorous Lexus operational and certification standards.

We received this honor because so many of our current and past customers have acknowledged their satisfaction with our service and attention to detail. We invite you to stop by our Dealership and experience this exceptional service firsthand.

Please find some other brand Mercedes, BMW (Free service and brakes), Infiniti, who offer the same "elite kind" of service but stand by their product, their customer satisfaction, and warranty repairs UNLIKE LEXUS.

Be warned this the old adage of "once bitten twice shy" stands here .

The Lexus once repaired will be sold and the money used to purchase any of the above who will do the right thing when it comes to Customer satisfaction ....I WILL NEVER EVER PURCHASE A LEXUS VEHICLE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE......DUE TO THE TREATMENT I HAVE RECEIVED AT MY ELITE DEALERSHIP at LEXUS CARLSBAD California .

i have had good luck with bg frigi fresh but it sounds like you have a much more serious issue .. have you thought of using a bleach water combo and really drenching it through the intake?? there is also an ultra violet light that we used at our dealer ship to rid cars of smokers reek.. it worked very well but sometimes faded the carpet where it shined. we would start the car and run the ac on max w/ the lamp close to the return air intake for a couple hours.. it helped a lot.

good luck and let all of know what the ultimate solution is as that what this is all about..

Thanks for the suggestions and an update -

Removed the wiper arms and then the cover at the base of the windshield. No standing water or mold smell at the HVAC air intake. Checked all ducts that I could get to - removed glovebox/CD changer and checked the blower, no mold smell in the motor or the ducts. Removed the cabin filters, very faint smell. Put everything back together. Still a faint smell around the wedge shaped rubber drain guide at the base of the passenger side of the windshield. Sprayed it with hydrogen peroxide, then Lysol, then a 50/50 Clorox bleach solution and then dried out the area with a heat gun. Smell gone. Check inside by running the fan, smell is gone. But wait...I put the wiper arms and and the lower windshield cover back on. Check on the outside by the base of the passenger side windshield one last time, smell is back! I smell the wiper blades - ITS THE WIPER BLADE! The passenger side Anco blade somehow grew some very smelly mold, the blades look like these:

and the little channels must have gone moldy at some point.

So every time the blade got water on it (rain, snow, carwash) the smell became strong and as the blade rests right above the air intake, the smell went right inside the cabin. I am getting new blades today - neary 99.9% certain the problem is fixed.

Never heard of that issue stinky wiper blades ? You need to clean the evaporator as any of that mold would have gon into the evaporator coil when it rained

I have seen some posts from folks who have had peeling paint problems, but they appear to be back from 2004. My 2005 ES 330 with ~73k miles is suffering from this issue. The passenger side mirror is worse, but the driver side is starting to peel. Has anyone had this problem with a newer Lexus, 2003 etc? If so what have you been able to find out from your dealer or Lexus about the cause? I mentioned it to my dealership and he blamed it on the california sunshine or use of harsh chemicals when cleaning the mirrors ...sunshine damage is that covered under the warranty? good luck and keep us posted

05 ES330, driver's side mirror doesn't go up or down with either the 4-way switch on the dash or while in "automatic down when placed in reverse" mode. Is there a seperate fuse for this function? Is the problem more likely to be with a motor in the mirror itself, or with the 4-way switch? Side to side fxn works fine. Used to be intermittent, now, it doesn't work at all.

I had the same issue and it was the tiny drive motor in the mirror that had crapped out a known lexus defect with no recall ..about a $300 fix at your local dealer I'm afraid ...

A litmus test for potential K&N users:

Would you be comfortable running your car without an air filter at all? If yes, then get a K&N filter!

;) You must have run the K&N filter without oil as my engine intake is as clean as a whistle and the filter is filthy and ready for its clean and re-oil excellent product works a treat all the lexus owners here in cali swear by them due to our dusty atmosphere :)

Well sure, have the problem fixed by the dealer if your car is under warranty -- or by somebody if it's not.

Does your car have an emergency fuel filler door release in the trunk like other Toyota/Lexus cars with an electric fuel filler door release? Open your trunk and look for a pull tab or something similar near the fuel door.

If that doesn't work and you're in an emergency situation where you have run out of gas, pop the trunk trim away from the side and take a look. Our old 98 Camry isn't a nice ES330 but its non-electric fuel fuel filler door cable can be unplugged from the backside (inside the trunk) of the fuel filter door to allow the fuel filler door to open.

Edit!: I just checked my LS and the manual fuel door opener tab in the trunk was nowhere to be seen. I'm guessing that the body shop that removed the rear bumper cover had to remove the trunk trim and missed seeing the dangling manual fuel door opener cable when they put things back together. I just now removed the trunk trim and fished out the manual fuel door cable and then reinstalled the trim panels. If your ES has a manual fuel door opener in the trunk, it should be described in your owners manual -- at least it is in my LS owners manual in the section on how the fuel door is opened.

I understand putting a K&N on my 94 Lexus could damage/affect my mass flow center which is very expensive to replace?

Why if true?

Anyone replaced the muffler on an ES330 with anything thats quiet and works well and at good price ?

I have a problem with my Gas cap door it wont release when the release button is pressed is there an adjustment anywhere or shall I just dealer warranty this before I run outta gas ???

Just got my 09 RX350. It was a service loaner and has some scratches/pits, etc on front nose. It is black. First, would touch up paint on this new car work or would it make the marks just as obvious? Secon, I tried searching here for where to get the clear or black bra but couldn't find anything. Does anyone know best places to get one? If they don't have one for an 09, would one for an earlier model fit?

Thanks for your help

Larry

Look at the 3M range of clear bras excellent item and guaranteed not to go opaque

The 3M clear bra is a clear protective film that is placed on the front bumper, grill, headlights, side mirrors, hood and fenders to protect it from damage. The film is nearly impossible to see when installed correctly. The 3M clear bra is designed to protect your vehicle from chipped paint, cracks, and other harmful elements your vehicle contacts on a daily basis. Every day our vehicle are subjected to road debris, insects, rocks, and other elements that effect our vehicles paint job and appearance. With the 3M clear bra that can be reduced greatly.

Before the 3M clear bra the only other comparable option to add to your vehicle was a leather bra. Usually these bras did more damage to your vehicle than protecting it. Many times the bra would collect water and other debris under the bra and cause damage to the paint. Also they are bulky and don't really look that attractive on our vehicles. This is not the best option for your vehicle is you are looking to maintain the appearance and protect your vehicles paint job.

The 3m clear bra is a great solution to get the protection on the front of your vehicle that it needs without it being seen. The 3M clear bra can protect against small chips and cracks in your vehicles paint that occur from normal driving. Also it will keep the insects from harming your nice paint job. It is known that the acid found in insect guts is harmful to your vehicles paint. So, the 3M clear bra keeps those harmful acids from coming in contact with the paint. Also, an added benefit of the 3M clear bra is that it will make cleaning your vehicle easier. Since the insects will not be setting themselves into your vehicle paint they will come off a lot easier where the 3M clear bra is installed.

Keep in mind that the 3M clear bra will also help maintain the resale or trade in value of your vehicle should the time ever come that you need to do so. The closer you vehicle is to new conditions the more you will get for your vehicle.

So, as you can see the 3M clear bra is a great upgrade to add to any vehicle so that it stays looking great and remains protected from the daily elements caused by driving for a long time. Look for an auto body shop to install the 3M clear bra on your vehicle today!

For the first time since I owned our 2000 Lexus ES300 I actually had to change a tire. My wife drove the car a llittle off the shoulder of the road and the jagged edge of the asphalt ripped a five inch hole on the inside sidewall of the right front wheel.

This happened about four miles from our house. So I drove there in another vehicle, swapped vehicles so I could change the tire, and sent my spouse home. The tire changing wrench, jack, and tire looked new and factory fresh. The special key for one star-shapped lugnut was in place. Guess what? The five star key did fit onto the five star anti theft lug but would not stay on. It behaved like a stripped screw just slipping out again and again. I called for Emergency Road Service, but they could not remove the anti-owner lug nut. Finally a third party did manage to remove the lug bolt and change the tire, but the special star key socket got stuck inside his wrench, so he took it with him.

Now I have no key. I have no desire to replace the key. I just want to get an owner friendly lug nut the replace all of the anti theft lugs on our Lexus. Other than making an appointment with a Lexus Dealer do I have any other options? This difficulty did produce a long and frustrating day!

Buy Gorilla lug nuts far superior to the lexus item and also buy a gorrilla lug nut wrench all available on ebay

Our '95 ES300 has the four clips, and it's just stiff to lift up... the air duct is just stiff material. If it's like mine (and it should be), just flex it up a little more and you can get the filter out... just double check to ensure there aren't any vacuum lines getting tugged on when you lift up.

Replace the standard air fiter with a K& N part # 33-2260 Product Specifications

Product Style: Panel Air Filter

Height: 0.938 in (24 mm)

Outside Length: 12.563 in (319 mm)

Outside Width: 7.563 in (192 mm)

Filter Re-Oiling Amount: 1.22 oz (36 ml)

Weight: 1 lb (0.4 kg)

Product Box Length: 7.72 in (196 mm)

Product Box Width: 1.75 in (44 mm)

Product Box Height: 13.56 in (345 mm)

For around $50 it is a million mile filter that needs cleaning every 50,000 miles and is far superior to the crazy priced Lexus filter