Firewalker

Definitely warped rotors, heavy car chews through them pretty quickly. I had the exact same problem, replaced the rotors and pads and it is like new. Easy job, only took me an hour to do both fronts, rotors and brakes.

Personally, I think picture "how to" guides are WONDERFUL. I also have a caliper sticking but it is on the rear of my 2002 ES300. I may be too late, but yes, I would love to see them!

..... wow that sounded elitist...I didn't mean to imply that. Simply put, the majority of the areas that I saw (didn't see all of the damage) were lower income housing. It doesn't make them less than, only that if you have to choose between food for your family and driving a Lexus you know which one will win. Awww if it were up to me there would be bread in every basket, a lexus in every driveway....with a full tank of gas.

Having been to Louisiana recently and doing all the katrina tours and all I would say this. There are a lot of cars there, certainly many more cars were undamaged as damaged. For that matter, the majority of the damage I saw was confined to areas where 2005 Lexus ES330 vehicles would have never been. So with a clean carfax, and a good inspection I would buy it. It would be a shame to pass on a gem of a car just because it spent time in LA. Good advice from blk on blk!

I agree with Mburnicka...that price is good and I would have them look at the water pump before replacing it ad hoc, the actual 90 thousand mile service does not even mention replacing the water pump, although I do see that it would be a good time to do it since they are right there. I would also recommend new belts, have them check your valve cover gaskets for leaks and your cam shaft seals. As far as parts are concerned I thought the Toyota Camry and the ES300 were pretty much identical, I know the haynes manual treats them the same, so maybe they just want to be sure, either way, sounds like your in good shape. Consider yourself lucky, I spent $1600 at the lexus dealership for my 90k service and some incidentals.

I agree....that is hard to answer, depending on what you are looking for from the wax...shine, durability, etc. However, what always holds true is that the best wax ever made will still look and perform badly if at first the car isn't ready for the wax, meaning, a good wash, then using a clay bar to pull out all of the impurities. I have detailed many, many cars, while wax is important, nothing is more important than the steps before the wax.

I have a 2002 ES300 and I LOVE IT. It is the nicest car I have owned. I can make my car do the hesitation thing, but honestly, it isn't an issue to me. If you know that while slowing (almost to a stop) and then speeding up very quickly that there will be a slight lag then it isn't an issue, rather a quirk of this vehicle. Regardless, it would be silly for someone to NOT buy this car simply because of this design. Again, it is not a "problem" with this car, it is simply the way it was designed. My advice, drive them, take them out, try to get the car to duplicate this delay, you will see it really isn't much of an issue at all. Thats my .02. Happy driving. ps- I have 83,000 trouble free miles on my car.

I just had my 2002 ES300 serviced at Lexus of Dayton (Ohio) and I could not have been more impressed. I initially brought it in due to a check engine light which showed P1130, Bank 2 air/fuel ratio sensor, I told them to fix that and while they had it they may as well complete the 90k service even though the mileage was at 83,000. They completed the following: All prices include labor: Replace air/fuel sensor $495 90,000 mile service $705.40 Replace wipers $35.40 Replace cam shaft seals $109.60 Replace valve cover gaskets $343.44 they discovered a leak at the valve gasket which is why they replaced that, they also suggested while there that the cam shaft seals should be replaced as a preventative measure. They did all items on the 90k service in the maintenance book but did not change the water pump. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me. I was impressed with the Lexus service....simple things like respect, fresh coffee and cookies and real glass lexus mugs. They were very cool to my kids, giving them stuffed teddy bears with lexus logos on them and a bunch of coloring books. Yeah, I know, I paid for it all but still, it was a good experience. The car runs like new, they of course detailed it as well. Total bill was $1600. Now I have some piece of mind about the timing belt and look forward to another 200k miles. I thought I would post this so others could compare prices and get an idea what other services cost at a lexus dealer. Have a good one.

I have a 2002 ES300 and it takes longer than all of my other cars, has since new. No worries!

I know a lot of motorcycle owners use OVEN OFF when they need to remove melted plastic from their exhaust pipes, it works like magic. To remove the larger pieces you could always try to freeze it and chip it off, dry ice, liquid nitrogen? I don't know, I would try to scape/cut/pry off as much as I could while cold, warm up the car and try to scrape away what I could while hot....and then lastly try the oven off for what is left. It would be an inexpensive remedy if it works. I know I would hate to pay for a replacement on a perfectly good (although smelly) exhaust. Keep us posted!

I am not a strut or shock expert, but I have replaced several back in the day....... It may not be your strut making the noise. Usually when struts go bad, it isn't noise that gives it away, it is your vehicle bouncing over bumps more than normal. Most often than not, noise, when made by struts and shocks are made by the mounts, shock or strut mounts that may be loose. Additionally, if they strut is not tightened to specs and is slightly lose, it will have a little play that could make the noise you described. The only issue then is why does the noise go away when the car warms up, for that, I have no answer. Lastly, your $200 price is low. Struts are expensive, moreover, they should be replaced in pairs. I would think new struts to the front of your car (pair, installed) would be closer to $800+. Bottom line, if your car is not bouncing like a yo yo, and does not drive noticeably different, it may be nothing more than a worn mount or play which can be fixed when you finally do replace your struts. So, game on!

kioto, Congrats on your car, I agree with other posters, go OEM as most aftermarket rotors and pads are either less than OEM quality or designed for "more performance" type of driving, all of which isn't needed by your average driver. Also, this is such an easy do it yourself job. I recently did my front rotors and pads on my 2002 ES300 and it only took an hour or two (some of which was spent painting my rotor hat.) There is plenty of information on here for "how to" work on your car and/or I would recommend a chilton or haynes manual. They are invaluable and nothing feels better than working on your own car. Good luck. Jeff

I had the exact same thing happen to my car, however, it was a plastic bag dancing on the highway, as soon as I went over it and I didn't see it come out behind me I figured it was stuck. It was, and smelled like hell. Ultimately, I did nothing. After a week or two it simply degraded to the point from the heat that it no longer smelled, today you cannot even see where it was. So, I would just let it ride, although I know that burned plastic smell is hideous!

I have the same model year and my lexus is ultra quiet.

Heartman, I have a 2002 ES300 and it too seems to crank longer than all of my other cars. It isn't problematic, it has always done this and I just assumed thats the way it was made. I love the car and have never had any issues with it. So, while I cannot offer a solution, I can only ask, how long are you talking about. I mean, how long do you have to turn the key and initiate the starter until the car is running? Under 5 seconds? More than 5? I think that information would give us an idea of if you have an issue or not. Currently mine starts under 5 seconds, but still all of my other cars are immediate, <2 seconds, my Lexus however takes her time.