Patric

Welcome Falcon6. I can't recommend having the seats re-dyed. My dealership had that done when I purchased my used 95LS and it only lasted a year or two. An upolstery shop should be able to solve the problem with a more lasting fix. Pat

While out for a test drive of the new LS 460 today I took another new ES out as well. Fully loaded with UL package. It had everything but radar cruise which the salesman said they only special order because we have too much rain in this part of the country (northwest) and depending on how hard its raining, it can have an adverse effect causing the car to speed up and slow down. Sounds a bit strange to me but what do I know? The car was white with cashmere and the dealership had chromed the wheels for an additional 2K. It also had the protective film on the nose, doors and handle recesses, a slightly darker tint to the windows which gave good contrast to the white along with a gold pin strip down the side that gave a nice visual touch to the otherwise somewhat bland slab sides. The gold package for the emblems and rear lettering finished it off. Comparing it to the new LS I have to say the ES is a much better bang for the buck and the technology packed into it is first rate. Of course I shouldn't really be comparing the two as they are two completely different cars although they share several options. Pat

Drove the LS 460 today. It had the following options so wasn't loaded by any means. Comfort Package with Additional Options $5,300.00 Comfort Package includes: - Heated steering wheel - Climate comfort front seats with heat/cool knob - Heated rear seats - Power rear sunshade - Headlamp washers Additional Options: - Lexus voice-activated HDD Navigation System - Intuitive Parking Assist - Power door closers and power rear trunk MSRP was 67 and change and no dealer mark up. Fit and finish was great. Transmission was smooth. Power seemed OK but was not as quick as expected for 380 HP. My only concern was wind whistle at 45-50. Didn't have the road to go faster. I thought it might be a cracked window but after runnning them all up and down a couple of times it was still there. Seems to be the mirrors. The salesman could hear it as well. This was with everything off inside so music, radio or conversations would likely drown it out. Still a let down though. It will be interesting to see if anyone else notices this. I'm not excited about the wheels but there are always options for those including having the dealer chrome them at about 2K. All in all a great car though. Pat

Today is the day. I'm heading down to my dealer shortly for a look see. Bib on. :) Pat

Steve, your financial thoughts and advice are well taken. I wish all young people had your outlook toward their fiscal future. I will be retiring next month and although I have to admit my late start and lack of conviction on building a nest egg may have limited where I am now, I feel fortunate that I'm in a position to be able to retire at all as I know several people who never will. Any work I do in the future can now be on a volunteer basis. Although sooner is better than later on building financial security, the main thing is to Start. Pat :)

If I buy a 460 I will only have a 400 to add to the used pool, although a very nice one. Dealer invite is for this Friday. Horse dourves to be served with test drives. Pat :)

Check out the new LS at www.lexus.com Very nice. Pat

Sounds like Lexus is doing the right thing here. I hope they get the new ES squared away soon as I plan on trading my 95 LS toward one in a month or two. Happy retirement to me from me. :) Pat

Good read. I wonder when Lexus is going to update their site? Perhaps they have too many 430s they want to move first. Pat

Wheels that actually look good. Whouda thunk it? Pat :)

Thanks for the heads up Robert. Pat

Thanks for the info guys. When I bought the car 7 years ago the cold idle was around 1200 depending on the ambient air temp. As stated, its been going up slowly the last few years to where I don't have any reason to expect it will stop and may well be 2500 before long. I'm wondering if the dealers will still be telling me its "normal" then? Too bad it doesn't have a simple idle screw like the old carburated cars had. Pat

I've done a search and can't find any info on my problem. Starting the car up cold each day the idle is between 1800 and 2000 rpm. This has been slowly going up the last few years. As the engine warms it slowly decreases to 750 rpm at normal operating temp. I have had the car to TWO Lexus dealers who have checked the car and say everything is operating normally. B.S. They say there is no idle adjustment on this car. Idle is controlled by the PCM with input from the various sensors which are all working normally. This has been a great car for me but I'm about at the end of my rope and am considering getting rid of it for the above reason. Anybody have any ideas? Is it time to move on? Thanks; Pat

Welcome to the site. Lexus lists an E Sport Alloy wheel in the accessories section of the ES website. They look nice in the pic but I don't know what they look like in person. Pat

Very interesting read. Thanks; Pat