jragosta

I found an IS: http://www.lextasy.com/product_747_detailed.htm After a while of searching Google, I didn't find any ES toy cars. That's rather odd.

Blanket statements like that are usually wrong. While leasing doesn't make sense in lots of cases, there are cases where it makes sense. For example, my wife got a new Volvo V70 wagon on a 3 year lease for $292 per month. My brother bought a new Volvo V60 sedan at about the same time - on a 5 or 6 year loan. Let's say my brother pays off his car and keeps it for 9 years, then it has a fairly modest resale value. My wife will get a new car every 3 years. Even after allowing for the resale value my brother's car will have, my wife will not have spent much more over the 9 year period than him -and she'll get 3 new cars rather than one. There are other situations where they make sense, as well. Granted, leases make the most sense with cars that have very high resale value, but there are clearly cases where they do make sense.

I'm not real impressed with any lease deal I've ever seen from Lexus (see comparison below). Given the claims that Lexus makes about great resale values, the leases ought to be better. To be fair, BMW and Mercedes also offer terrible lease deals. For a 2006 IS (auto), based on $3 K cap cost reduction, I get: 24 months $396 per month 36 months $373 per month 48 months $383 per month 60 months $372 per month First, note the odd time behavior. Normally, you'd expect that the price would decrease steadily as the length of contract goes up. In this case, the 60 month is the same as the 36 month - and 48 month leases cost more than 36 months. For comparison, let's look at my wife's Volvo V70 wagon. This had a similar MSRP to the Lexus and my cap cost reduction was lower (about $2,500 IIRC). The monthly payment is $292. I'd have a hard time justifying the lease rates on a Lexus - unless you were planning to buy the car at the end of the lease. The above suggests that they have a lower residual than the Volvo.

Yep. Paypal's buyer protection is pretty much worthless. The buyer can say anything they want in an ad and even if the product shipped is nothing like the ad says, Paypal won't refund the money. As long as the seller ships something that's even remotely like what they advertised, it's OK with Paypal. I still use eBay a lot, but with 2 rules: 1. I check feedback. Unless the feedback is >50 or 100 and AT LEAST 97% (preferably higher), I go elsewhere. There are few items so rare that you can't find a seller with 99% feedback. 2. I am currently over 1500 transactions on eBay and have had probably 5 that I got ripped off. Considering that I typically save about 30% average by buying on eBay, the 0.3% rip off rate is something I can live with.

I can't figure out why the dealer hasn't done this - after all that this guy's been through. It would only take the dealer an hour or so to at least find out which circuit is causing the problem. I've lost track - how many times has he been back to the same dealer and they've never run that simple test? I think he needs a new dealer if there's one who's anywhere close. I'd probably even go to a Toyota dealer rather than go back to this one.

You might start by learning to use punctuation marks so that people can read your post.

Their web site says only 2001-06. Have you tried contacting them? They should be able to answer your question. If they don't have one, they might be working on one - and you might even get yourself involved as a beta tester. (I've been able to beta test a number of products by being in the right place at the right time). Good luck.

It's quite possible that it could hit the equivalent of 160 on a dyno. Running on the road is quite different (wind resistance, for starters).

Look in your manual. There are a LOT of things that you didn't mention. For example, did you change your belts (including timing belt)? Fuel filters? PCVs?

Stick with the OEM filters. This has been discussed repeatedly here, so you can search for the details, but the K&N filters are no good. To summarize First, they are not very efficient filters for the very fine particles which you need to worry about (they filter large particles well and that's why they claim high dirt holding capacity which is a worthless measurement in this regard). At least one person provided oil test numbers which showed that the K&N filter was dumping far too much material into the engine. Second, you need to oil them very carefully. Too much oil and you can damage the O2 sensors. Not enough oil and the filtration gets even worse. Third, air flow measurements were reported here and the K&N didn't even offer the air flow advantages they claimed. Do yourself a favor and stick with the stuff that Toyota designed for the car. They spent billions of dollars in R&D to make sure that their cars work as planned. It's not worth messing around in the hopes of gaining a HP or two that you won't even feel, anyway.

Probably a stretch, but what about temperature? If the person drives only short distances, the tires will be colder this time of year then when he bought it. This might give a harsher ride. Or, conceivably, the fluid in the shocks could become more viscous in the cold. Again, this would disappear after the car warmed up. Seems unlikely, but I guess it's possible.

If your wife's happy, then you made a good deal. The ES is a great car other than the crappy shifting problem (and it does apply to 2006 models). In many ways, it's far superior to the Mercedes or BMW you can buy at the same price level. Many people never experience the problem (particularly people who don't drive aggressively), so it may never be an issue for you. Also, the latest firmware upgrade helps, but doesn't completely eliminate the problem. Eventually, they might get it completely fixed, but a lot of people will be happy with it now. As for the paint, my recommendation is not to mess around with third party 'upgrades', either internal or external. There are very, very few that really add any value, so why waste your money? With proper normal care, your car should last indefinitely, so why spend money on something that won't help and might hurt? Good luck and congratulations on your purchase.

www.discounttiredirect.com like $80 a piece, Falken Zeix ZE-512. Hands down the BEST high performance/general use tire IMO. ← It all depends on your desires. The Falken is a sportier tire. The smoothest tire I've found is the Bridgestone Turanza LSV. I drove a Michelin MX4 at the same time and the Turanza was much quieter.

I've now tested two portable units and am reviewing them per someone's request. I tried the TomTom unit. It was nice and compact and runs on batteries, so you can remove it from the car and walk around. It took quite a while to find the satellites, but seemed to work OK after that. ease of use was pretty good. However, it had one major flaw - my housing development (which has been here for at least 6-8 years) wasn't even listed. I have to assume that coverage in other areas is limited, too. I also tried the iWay 500 from Lowrance. This is one huge, hefty unit and you might have trouble finding an easy way to mount it on the dash (they provide a suction cup to hold it to the windshield, but that just doesn't seem secure for such a heavy unit. They also provide a clamp to secure it, but I'm not sure where I can use that on my 04 ES. The screen is very large and very bright - much nicer than the TomTom screen. There's no battery, so you can't carry it around with you when you're walking. Coverage was great - it took me right to my house without difficulty. I'd much rather have a built in unit, but if you want to save some money, these portable units do the job very well. Personally, I'd prefer the iWay because of its better coverage, but I'll have to work a bit to find a good mounting mechanism. Both of them can be found at local retailers.

Sorry, your post resembles a teenager having a tantrum more than anything else. And you can brag all you want about the massive experience you've had in your 6 years of driving, but it's laughable compared to the experience and skills of the people who designed and built the car - and they happen to disagree with you.

I think it would be incumbent upon you to document (prove) any of these cases of problems/damage due to any of these mods being done as instructed. Therefore I am now asking you for that documentation. After all, we are adults here and any reasonable person would understand what risks, if any might be involved, and any reasonable person would also understand his own skill level and any limitations he might have in doing such mods. ← You've got it completely backwards. The person suggesting that someone should violate their warranty and implement some changes that the factory doesn't approve is the one who has the burden of proof to show that their change won't hurt anything. Leaving it alone will certainly not hurt anything - as shown by the number of Lexus vehicles which go past 200 K miles without problems. So where's the proof that your modification won't hurt anything - particularly in light of the fact that people who have made these changes have had problems long before they would have in the normal course of things.

Exactly. Transmission and engine failures in that car are rare. A transmission failure after implementing the suggested change is VERY suspicious.

Yes, the bigger picture is that you're recommending modifications which void the Lexus warranty and have the potential to damage someone's car. Other people have reported engine and transmission damage after doing the mods you're recommending. Yet you insist that there's no risk to doing the things you recommend. IOW, you have your eyes closed tight and refuse to acknowledge the there's a world out there that you're too blind to see.

You can scream all you want. The facts are simple: 1. Lexus spends many millions of dollars designing their cars, testing them, and guaranteeing them based on their design. 2. Changing that design without an equivalent amount of testing is just as likely to cause problems as to improve things. 3. People have reported problems with the things you're suggesting. While it's impossible to prove that the problems were cause by the mods you're suggesting, you also can't prove that they weren't. 4. Given #3, I'd default back to #1. Lexus knows what they're doing. There's no evidence that you do. ← I think it would be incumbent upon you to document (prove) any of these cases of problems/damage due to any of these mods being done as instructed. Therefore I am now asking you for that documentation. After all, we are adults here and any reasonable person would understand what risks, if any might be involved, and any reasonable person would also understand his own skill level and any limitations he might have in doing such mods. ← I've already said that it would be hard to prove that the damage was caused by the modifications. But people report having tried the modifications that Toysrme is recommending and have had problems (a ruined engine in one case and a ruined transmission in another). Given the reliabilty of Toyota engines and transmissions, that OUGHT to make a person suspicious. As for yours and Steviej's comment that 'we're all adults and people should be able to try whatever they want', I agree completely. But lots of people will believe a post from someone that says 'if you do this, you'll have miracles happen and there's no risk at all' -- when there is, in fact, plenty of risk. Instead of attacking the person who's pointing out that there is a risk, you ought to be chastising the person who says 'nothing can go wrong, trust me' when he's clearly wrong. At the very least, you screw up your Lexus warranty.

You can scream all you want. The facts are simple: 1. Lexus spends many millions of dollars designing their cars, testing them, and guaranteeing them based on their design. 2. Changing that design without an equivalent amount of testing is just as likely to cause problems as to improve things. 3. People have reported problems with the things you're suggesting. While it's impossible to prove that the problems were cause by the mods you're suggesting, you also can't prove that they weren't. 4. Given #3, I'd default back to #1. Lexus knows what they're doing. There's no evidence that you do.

I don't mind people posting suggestions. What I mind is Toysrme's ignoring the risks involved when he posts all his suggestions. Then, when someone points out cases where his suggestions have caused damage to the car, he waves it away and says that they don't know what they're talking about. Readers need to know that changing the car to do things it wasn't designed to do carries risks. ← The way I see it is if the MFG. engineered the automobile with adjustments, Then the adjustments should be taken advantage of , After all the MFG. sets everything very moderate , So if you want to readjust the settings so the car runs and performs optimally for the owner then so be it. MFG'S get you in the ballpark If you want to hit a home run, More power to you. [A fitting analogy ] My 2 cents. ← That's a silly argument. There are all sorts of adjustments in the car and they're designed to be set properly. When you change them, you're no longer in spec. For example, your car has adjustments for toe, camber, and caster. They're designed to be set within the design range. Just because you CAN move them to the extremes doesn't mean that you won't wear out tires by doing so.

I don't mind people posting suggestions. What I mind is Toysrme's ignoring the risks involved when he posts all his suggestions. Then, when someone points out cases where his suggestions have caused damage to the car, he waves it away and says that they don't know what they're talking about. Readers need to know that changing the car to do things it wasn't designed to do carries risks.

Attention readers: This is a common trend for Toysrme. He recommends some modification to the car. When someone reports that they tried this modification and it caused engine or transmission failure, he waves it off and says 'the modification didn't cause it'. All of these modifications carry the risk of damage. While Toysrme doesn't feel that he should warn you of that, you need to know that using fluids in your car that the factory doesn't recommend, or making the shift go much harder than designed, or increasing the pressure in your engine all could damage your car. While you may want to 'upgrade' anyway, you should do it only on the basis of a careful evaluation of the risks and benefits - and only when receiving advice from an experienced professional. Someone who recommends all these changes and who simply waves off the risks (and the experience of people who have tried it) is not giving you balanced advice.

Just be careful not to suggest that his use of Seafoam could have anything to do with his continuing problems. BTW, everyone needs to read advertising with a huge grain of salt. They're taking something extremely mundane (injection of a mist which then evaporates) and trying to make it sound like magic ("breaks the water into it's gas parts and injects the gas (H2o)"). It's not always easy to see through advertising crap, but it's a worthwhile skill to learn. The article you cite is a good one. They accurately point out that water injection has no value for most users, but could be beneficial for people with engines like yours that just beg for more octane. If I were driving a car which was marginal even on 93 octane gas, I'd probably install one. Still, you need to be careful because if it's not installed properly or maintained, you could get a lot of headaches.

No, I simply quoted the person who had a problem. I guess you know more about his problem than he does. BTW, how much does Seafoam pay you for this?