amanda

i think these things are generally available on lexus.com when you click on certified lexus then model library.

hmmm. i guess people really care about status. me, i just wanted a quiet car -- ha, ha. that's kind of funny given all my nagging experience with the vibration and wind noise.

how do the overlays look different, if anyone has a minute.

sometimes, i wonder myself.

wait a minute, why would your current remote stop working. am i crazy or does this sound fishy?

look at that, a newbie who contributes from day one (almost). that's cool.

ya know, these things drive me nuts! good luck getting yours fixed.

wow! $600. that's really good. do you get glass, collision and comprehensive and all that? i have the highest coverage for personal liability and stuff like that, but even without them, i don't know that i can get down to $600. i do live in a suburb of nyc, so maybe that's the problem. but you know what, your credit rating matters -- a lot. just look at my premium quote before/after running my credit report. it's shocking.

but i thought the two on-off was only for rewrite, not adding a new key.

hey, you guys, just wondering, have you heard of any !Removed! up the laser cutting. i have get a new key and am worried that if i don't go to the dealer, my local locksmith my screw it up. whaddya think?

try holding the lock/unlock for longer than 1 second. do 2 seconds. you can also try to push the unlock button in the end, though it shouldn't matter. also, you gotta be quick.

probably too late to jump in the fray, but i agree with jragosta and gav. all those things insurers do are based on statistics. i know it's weird, but someone i know had doubts about his fiance because she was a chain smoker and statistics say chain smokers have a higher divorce rate than non-smokers. so see, it's all statistics. dc steve is right. some people will be more harried/stressed than others and those things do make a difference in how you drive. a waiter's working 2 jobs and moonlighting as an actor would be a contributing factor. similarly, someone who plans his future out to include a doctorate is probably a little more forward looking and careful about life in general than someone who decided to wing it without a bachelor's (though, i personally think college is a bit overrated and wasted on most people). insureres need to make money too (and have a way of calculating their loss patterns), especially nowadays when shareholders demand accountability. and don't forget when insurers lose money, it's you and me who pay in the end. all you college grads, do you want new pricing based on new stats that show that college grads have more accidents than previously presumed because all the non-degree holders slipped into the group under the radar? but hey, none of these things probably matter nearly as much as your credit rating and your driving record. i do have a policy with geico and darned if they didn't quote me $3400 per year without my credit history. then i told them to run it and bingo, i pay like $890 year now. so watch the plastic and drive safely.

i think it might be illegal to sell you a lemon, but probably too late to take the issue up with the dealer now. piggy, did you ever run a carfax report or something to that effect to make sure your mileage at the time of sale was represented accurately? if it was misrepresented, i think you can still take it back. it just sounds so odd that you have been having so many problems. ============ you should still just think about going forward instead of anything about the $7K already lost or being responsible adult or not dumping a lemon on somebody else. you can sell it telling people that it has these problems. then take the money and buy a hyundai, which has had very good reliability rating for recent year models and which also depreciates quickly so you should be able to find a relatively new car, or do something to that effect. let's say you can sell the lexus for $3500 to someone then spend another $1000 to get a chevy or a hyundai or whatever. then you will be out $1000 if the new car doesn't have any problems. but if you keep the lexus and spend $2000 to get things right, you can see it still makes sense to sell the lexus at a loss and take a chevy. if you think you are only going to spend several hundred bucks on the es300 going forward, then the above makes no sense and you should go ahead and fix the lexus and drive it the best you can. but, these economic scenarios always make more sense on paper than on the psyche. so do what feels right for you.

well, you know, the money you've already spent is just that - sunk cost. going forward, will you spend more money fixing this thing or selling it as a lemon to a handy mechanic type and getting a car that won't be sitting at the shop longer than rolling on the highway.

it's only a warranty on the engine or something for gelling. it doesn't cover broken a/c or stereo etc. you've really got a new car if it only has 40k for a 5 year model.

what should the speed be. car has never been in an accident, though i think it must have scraped some parking concrete blocks. there's something screwy with the engine oil compartment. why else are they doing the extended warranty on only 97-01 (or whatever years they are). plus, one of the people who changed her oil regularly who sued was leasing the car and it broke down within 2 years and she couldn't even drive the darn thing. so toyota has bad design and so does cadillac. doesn't mean toyota didn't screw up, right?

hey, steve, that's a good idea about test driving 2000 models from a dealership. thanks for the tip. ============= steveij -- what's dino oil? and i should make those guys flush my engine for sure?

dc steve, it is not true that the engine gelling is always the fault of the owner. i've looked into this a bit now and there have been several people who sued toyota (hence got them to change their policy on guaranteeing gelled engines) who had perfect maintenance records. one was totally baffling because she went to lexus for every single one of her oil changes. whether they used synthetic is anothe question but there have definitely been engines with perfect oil change records that have gone bad. i mean, come on, toyota isn't going to guarantee engine gelling for 8 years with complete labor/parts if they can actually say it was because the owner didn't change oil. it's because they screwed up on the design. if lexus is going to hose me with $40 for signal change and $90 for wipe blades, they sure aren't going to go for $5000 rebuild for missed oil changes. doesn't check out with me.

easy with the language piggy. no need to panic. the paintscratch site is very helpful. just read through how to. you will need the clear coat to make your paint shine. no big deal. you can probably trust the paintscratch guys on the color. but you won't be getting your color shipped this weekend anyway, so why don't you call lexus or paintscratch on monday and get confirmed codes there. those paints ain't cheap so you want to get it right. also, see ifyou can find those codes paintscratch gave you on the tail end of any numbers on your doorjamb or your door. that's easy verification.

piggy, call the lexus customer service. they would have that info for sure. every year has different paint so i can't help you 100%. you could, however, check out this site www.paintscratch.com which has a list of all the codes and an accompanying color patch with names if you know your name. but the names don't always match because different years will use different names for the same color. check out the site if you want, but lexus customer service could definitely help you out.

hey, everybody. thanks for taking time to keep reading my posts on the boring vibration saga. yeah, i had the tires balanced. and yes, the vibration's been there all along, before and after. i think i might have a slight vibration that's different when i am driving that might be related to tire balancing (but sometimes i can't tell if it's just that the road is bumpy). plus, i need an alignment too as the car veers slightly to the right. but i am not as worried about that as i am about this stupid vibration at idle. so what happens is, i am in drive and come to a stop light and step on my brake pedal and this vibration thing kicks in. it gets much quieter when i take my foot off the brake. it's still there but i don't think i'd complain about it. this boring story has been going on for so long, i can't quite remember, but i am pretty sure it doesn't do it in park or neutral or at least is much less noticeable. as far as air conditioning goes, i think it gets a tad bid quieter when i turn it off, but i've been driving without a/c all this week and darned if the vibration isn't still there. i really should get a bike. good for you. good for the air. good for my mental state of health. p.s. should i get the engine oil flushed? the lexus dealer was of the opinion i would never need to do anything about it except keep a tight maintenace schedule. the whole thing with that washer fluid and other charges (like fluid disposal) really get me freaking going. plus, as i said he steathily tried to blame the previous owner for the gelling stuff. ====== m2pc, i can't believe that the stupid signal turn thing might have cost me $40. i just never was able to figure out how to get to the turn signal without lifting the battery. even if i were to get past that plastic sheating on top, there was metal barrier beneath. i guess battery remal can't be that hard. is that what i have to do? for $40, it's worth it. the signal bulb costs all of $1.50.

so, i take it you guys think i should spend yet more money and take it to that mechanic? after i heard it on the volvo, i was tempted not to. i think i am just going to find a neighbor who has an es300 (can't be too hard) and see if she gets it in hers too.

yeah, when they make that auto-parking thingmajig on a higher end car, i am going to take it. maybe the prius isn't such a bad idea either. i wish someone would make the darn thing drive for me.

piggy, on my door (not the doorjamb, i thnk), there's a long number 00258-004P2. the 4p2 is the color. i also have another code because mine's 2 tone, but you get the idea. i think lexus could help you too. call them 800-25-lexus.

yeah, i definitely hear it. but i am slightly miffed with the lexus dealer now for that lame gelled oil story and sneaking in extra labor and parts for stupid stuff. i guess that's the way it goes. back to vibration, it minutely resembles a washing machine towards the end of a spin cycle. i have bosch front load, so i can't completely remember, but it's something like that. it's a dull thwap-thwap-thwap noise and it's coming from the belt area. that import mechanic put a long ear amplifier thingmajig to one part of the car near the engine and it was pretty quiet, but then he put it near the alternator and said, "see how loud it is?" that could have been total baloney (what i mean is that maybe it's supposed to be louder near the alternator). i don't know. but it's some sound that's produced near the altnerator in any case. but i know i heard it on that volvo. i don't know if she hears it as much as i do in her cabin, but it is definitely there. i feel it in the steering wheel too, but mostly i hear it. i do feel like it's gotten louder, but that could just be my imagination. i think i also need a wheel alignment. i am just going to try to think of the car as my third child (after 2 cats). it's just going to keep tapping your wallet, but you wouldn't want to do without it. would wheel alignement cause vibrations? i think i've read several times that it's responsible only for skewed steering.