Jump to content

Ezgoin

Regular Member
  • Posts

    15
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Ezgoin

  1. I own a 99 300, and drive about 70 highway miles a day to and from work, along with running around town. I average between 25-26 mpg, with easy driving. I'm not quite sure about the break down in years, but I know that, at least for a couple years, the 300's with the auto trans had only 4 speeds, while the 400's had 5 speed trannys. Given this, I think the highway mileage was pretty close. I've never owned an SC-400, but I have driven them, and to be honest, have never been very impressed by the power/performance. I would love to have more power out of my 300, since I am a bit of a piston head, but I did'nt buy this car for it's output or performance. It seems odd to me, but I really think my wife's LS-430 feels much stronger than any SC-400 I've ever driven. I too was struggling between a 400 and a 300 before I bought my 300, and had actually decided on the 400 until I talked to a dealership service rep. who explained the differences in repair costs for various parts. Food for thought!
  2. Im contemplating not having the free Lexus Link removal done on my 02 LS-430. What are the pros and cons involved with this? My wife dosn't want to lose the message record option, and from what I've heard, this feature will go away with the Lexus Link system if you have it removed. I don't mind the inital Lexus Link recording that comes on at start up, even though it has always stated that my "Lexus Link Is Active", even though it has never been activated. Any comments?
  3. I have a 99 SC300 that I bought about 18 months ago with 57K miles. I drive about 75 miles round trip to work every day, and the car now has 80K on it. 99% of my driving is highway miles. As soon as I bought the car I replaced the old tires with a set of BF Goodrich g-force TA KDWS all season tires from Costco. I had them rotated and the pressure checked religiously. I really disliked them from the start because the car tuged and pulled at every line in the road, and the first bit of snow made the car almost undrivable. The road manners were so bad that it took a lot of the enjoyment away from driving the car. I had a 4-wheel alignment done on the car, and that helped a little, but not enough. Those tires lasted only 20K miles before they were completely gone, especially on the inside 1.5 inches of each tire. I could not believe that 20K of highway driving could eat a $600 set of tires. Since Costco does'nt sell a V rated tire with any kind of milage warrenty, I signed a release and had them install a set of Michelin® Pilot® Exalto® A/S, with an H speed rating, since I rarely see over 130 mph in the car. The difference was immediate and dramatic! The first thing I notice was that the few inches of snow on the ground was now a non-issue. A little weight in the trunk and I could now easily go places I could not have imagined with the KDWS's. The next thing was the road manners. The car was now relaxed and a pleasure to drive again. I could not believe the difference! I may have given up a little in turn-in response, or maybe a little in ultimate dry grip, but for my driving, any sacrafice was well worth what I gained. I love these Michelins and would recommend them to anyone.
  4. I take it that the snow traction issue has been fully covered here! LOL :-) Guess I should get on the forum more often! It just seemed to me that a big heavy rear driver like the LS with siped tires and and actual "Snow" setting on the tranny programing should roll a little better on a half inch of snow than it does! Guess the wife will just have to drive the truck on these rare days! As for the SC 300, 150 lbs of sand in the trunk makes her handle crappy, but at least I can get forward motion!
  5. I love both my 02 LS-430 and my 99 SC-300, but I have to say that they are probably the worst cars I've ever driven in the snow and ice. My gosh! Dangerous!!
  6. My wife went to press the ETC swith on her 02 LS430 to "Snow" mode the other day and it pushed right through the hole. Does anyone know how to remove the trim panel where the switch resides? I think that if I could even remove the ash tray I might be able to get behind the trim panel and get to the ETC switch, but I'm not sure, and the ash tray sure doesn't come out like a Chevy!
  7. I've read some of the conflicting discussion here, but all I can say is that in the street performance world, K&N is very highly regarded. Personnaly, I run K&N air and oil filters in everything I own, including my LS 430, except my SC-300 which K&N dosen't make an air filter for. I have used Mobil-1 oil and K&N filters in my 95 Chevy truck since it was new, and so far have 177,000 trouble free miles on her. I built a highly modified Corvette a few years ago and during the break-in of the 383 Stroker motor, I changed the oil about 6 times in the first few hundred miles. I used several different oil filters during that time, and each time I changed one I would cut the old filter open. You would be amazed at the difference in filter quality! Pensoil filters are absolute garbage. Never use a Pensoil filter! Wix was almost as bad as Pensoil! Fram was middle of the road, with reasonable filter material, and decent construction. NAPA Silver was quite good, and NAPA Gold was very well constructed. However, K&N was far and away the best made filter I've seen. If you properly maintaine a K&N filter, I don't think you will ever regret your decision!
  8. I have and 02 LS-430 Ultra Luxury. Sometimes when I leave the car running at an idle and open the door to step out, the drivers seat will automatically slide all the way back, and the steering wheel will move up and in. It does this all by itself, and does not return to the preset positions when I get back in and close the door. It only does this once in a while, but I don't know if it's designed to do this, or if it is some kind of malfunction. Anyone have an answer?
  9. I bought my wife a 2002 Ultra Luxury about 18 moths ago. She said she wanted a nice luxury car, and the LS-430 UL is about the nicest luxury car you will ever find. It had 34K on it when we bought it, and it now has about 45K. Most of the miles were from a few trips from Washington state to Reno Nevada, and a trip from Wahington to Yosimite National Park. The ride from the air suspension is unmatched as far as I'm concerned, even though there are some old concrete roads that seem to send a bit of a shutter through the car at times. The laser cruise control is the ultimate for long distance road trips. I drove almost all the way to Reno without doing anything except steering. Even when driving through some of the small towns along the way, the laser cruise took care of all the slowing down and speeding up required. It has a couple flaws, in that somtimes on narrower than usual roads, it will pickup a lane divider and think it's a vehicle in front of you, or a truck in the adjacent lane, and think it's in front of you, causing the car to decelerate. The deceleration isn't always as smooth as it should be either, but all in all, I love the laser cruise. I have had to replace a battery in the car, but in the time I've had it, that's the only thing that It's needed. We don't have any kids at home any more, so all of the frills in the back seat are mostly for bragging rights, and to impress our friends when we go out to dinner :-), but, I absolutely love the car, and still look forward to driving it any chance I get. I drive a 99 SC-300, and, while it is a nice car, the LS makes the SC feel like a Corolla! Good Luck, and welcome to the world of Lexus!
  10. I know that my 2002 LS-430 does the same thing. I'm not sure, but I don't think the trunk is designed to pop all the way open, but I have wondered about the condition of my struts too, since the trunk lid seems awfully heavy to lift open.
  11. Did 140 (gps certified) in my 99 SC-300 on the flat. Might of had 5 more in her with enough time, but 140 was about it. Handled solid at that speed. I've had my wife's LS-430 to 135 mph, but not what I'd call solid handling at that speed. Awfully floaty, might be from the Ultra Luxury Air Suspension, but you won't find a better luxury car anywhere! Had my 87 Vette roadster to 170. (383 stroker)
  12. I know I'm chimming in on this topic late, but forgive me, I'm new here! I owned a 1995 BMW 540i auto for a couple years. I hate to say it, because I've always been a fan of BMW, but the 95 540i was the worst car I've ever owned. I've never had so many problms with a car in my life! It was a nice solid car, but almost everything went wrong with that car, including the engine, which had to be replaced at 57,000 miles due to the factory flaw in materials used. Most don't know this, but when BMW first brought out the V-8 in the 530i, 540i, and 740i, the engine block cylinders were coated with a material called Nikasil. This material degraded rapidly, resulting in loss of compression. The only fix was to replace the engine block. BMW eventually extended the warranty on these cars to cover the flaw, but they had to replace thousands of these engines to the tune of about $14K each. My car not only had the engine replaced, but so many other things went wrong that there isn't enough room to go into it. Bottom line! Your buddy will probably end up hateing his 540i after some time. In addition, your friend will likely pull you to 100 mph or so, but I'd put my money on the SC400 on the top end! Just be careful if you decide to find out!
  13. Pearl White with Tan interior, 1999 SC 300. Bought it 14 months ago from a private owner in Portland Oregon with 57,000 miles, for $18,000. It now has 76,000 miles with no problems. I bought this car after buying my wife a 2002 LS430 and was sold on Lexus. I must admit though, that the SC-300 feels awfully Toyota'ish next to the LS430! The car is in beautiful shape, and for the most part, I love it. It's bone stock, and so far runs perfectly with everything working as designed. The only complaints I have are: 1. Twitchy and nervous handling on any road surface that isn't glass smooth. Replaced the tires with Goodyear KDW's but no help. 2. The radio (Lexus Premiun, not Nakamichi) won't hold the radio stations very well. Stations often sound like they are 100 miles away. Other than those two things, the car has been flawless so far!
×
×
  • Create New...

Forums


News


Membership