iammikey

Stevie, See if your car has an impression of the words maintenance on the instrument cluster. I know Toyota will install the option on some vehicles but not activate it. Usually, activation is as simple as adding a bulb or fuse or even a sensor.

I used to switch between 87 to 91 Octane, but I am convinced that the car runs and shifts smoother with 91. When I drove to Seattle last month, I filled the tank with 93 Octane and my car has never run any smoother than that.

I remember Lexus really pushing the sale on that feature last year. I'm sure it was to move the inventory of parts or to satisfy an agreement so they pushed sales hard to meet contractural agreements.

But, for $19.95, you can have a genuine Lexus fuse (hehe). Damn, That's got to be the most expensive little part for the car.

Steve, You're right, I drove my car in town today in 5th and did notice a little more of a lag. It seems like the car shifts into 5th gear a little too early.

I drive in 4th gear while in the city or areas where the speed doesn't exceed 45mph. After 45mph, D is fair game. I've been driving this way for a while and have not experienced the shifting issues.

Inquire more about the film. Some of the kits I found also include headlight, foglight, and upper rear bumper protection as well as the front bumper, hood, airdam, and portion of the fenders. They want around $700 installed for this kit in my area.

Hmm, this link looks familiar. I forgot to post it here as well. Thanks Alan.

Contact your credit card company and ask explain the situation. The will end up processing a chargeback on PayPal who will then be forced to deal with that vendor. Works every time. Credit card company's do not tolerate fraud.

I say go for it. Nothing looks worse than a car hood and bumper full of rock chips. I stopped counting after 30 rock chips on my 2004 ES. I am now going through the should have would have stage.

Check your driver seat backing. The large plastic piece behind the drivers seat has been known for some failures. Mine was replaced after popping off several times. It used to make the cracking sound as you described. The RX actually has the problem more than the ES.

You may have to purchase a 2 din dash bezel from the dealer and then use a toyota double din kit. the lower portion of the kit will be a little storage pocket.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...wtopic=6165&hl= I'll have to dig out the attachment tomorrow since it was deleted.

My co-worker ran her car on Carfax which did not show the major accident she was in. Consider how long it takes to do a major repair as well.

Knipster, Now that you got that done, try the back-up camera upgrade as well. It's pretty cool. I posted the wiring diagram a while back. There are a lot of upgrades you can perform on this head unit. Fujitsu-Ten (Eclipse) manufactures this unit for Denso.

Walt, I live in the same town as you. I currently have a little over 25,000 miles on my '04 ES330. I ordered 2 sets of tires today to replace the V-rated tires that came on my car. I ordered 4 H-rated 17" Dunlop A2's with new wheels and 4 V-rated 16" Michellin MXV4's as a winter tire. You're welcome to feel the difference in ride comfort in my car next week when the 16's are installed. I'll put the 17's on just after I wax and polish the new wheels I bought so can try that set as well. I don't find the ride harsh at all. I travel frequently in my car and found that 30lbs of air all around seem to give the best ride comfort. Make sure you measure the air pressure before driving the car so that you get an accurate reading.

Don't forget to check out the Toyota Sienna club. I think it's http://www.siennaclub.org/forum/index.php?showforum=8 for more navigation mods. I beleive the NAVS are the same. The amp and speakers differentiate the ML system from the JBL system.

I just calculated my gas mileage since new. I have used 87, 89, and 91 Octane fuel. 85% of my driving is freeway and the result isn't as good as I thought. As of 5/30/04, with 18,599 miles on the odometer and a total of $1528 in fuel expenses since September 2003, I am currently averaging 22.84 miles per gallon. My eyes are drawn to 89 Octane since it appears to give me the best mpg. Does anyone know where I can post my spreadsheet for all to view? I don't know of any servers I can upload to.

I do have an '04 ES330. The Navigation will only give audio directions on 5 points.

It's not hard at all as I do it all the time . All you have to do is save the areas (POI or address) you want to travel to under your favorite places or mark areas you want after you review the destinations and "Mark" them on the map in the order you will be traveling. I think you can save up to 100 points with the first 5 as immeadiately accessible. You can review what you saved under "My Places" On July 1, I'll be driving from Sacramento, CA to Canada through Oregon and Nevada then to Tijuana and back home in 2 weeks time. It took a little while to program my destinations, but it's worth the time. Just follow the CD Rom on your computer and listen to the tutorial in your car in front of the Navigation unit. The instructions that came with my car were detailed enough to figure it out. It's makes me wonder if there a different instructions or editions out there.

Sounds like you want a chartplotter like I have on my boat that will allow me to plot courses over routes I select. The navigation system is what it is- A Navigation system and not a chartplotter. I haven't experienced any issues with programming multiple destinations on trips. It has worked flawless since I read the manual and followed the user disc.

Jay, What issues are you having with your Nav?

Sounds like my 4runners. Turned out to be a bad cable at a cost of $180 plus installation.

I too live in the Sacramento area and was going to purchase a black '04 until I remembered how hard it was to keep the car nice and shiny. The water her in Sac is pretty hard, so be careful when parking near sprinklers and wash only at dawn or dusk and never in the sun. I ended up with a white '04 after evaluating the upkeep and the interior abuse from the sun.

So do you think the HID driving lights are a waste of money? I wanna be able to see any possible objects on the road and maneuver around it instead of hitting it. Here are the lights I'm referring to: http://store.yahoo.com/rodi/sylxenx1auxl.h...364&PID=1323201