GMoney749

Absolutely would buy again. Awesome car.

The settings for surround sound and asl are confusing to me. Is "surround" on when the "Off" is white and the "On" (with blue outline) is set - or - is it the reverse

Don't have the car with me now, but if I recall the buttons are white when they're selected. And since it's touchsreen, it's whichever state it has when you touch it, they don't toggle.

Ok, so I don't get a lot of time in this car since it's my wife's, but I finally managed to find the sweet spot in the sound system tonight. I'd been having issues with what seemed to be a bad crossover setup - the speakers sounding like they were going to explode at higher volumes, having to fade the sound to the rear and turn down the bass. So I was fooling around with it tonight, turned off both the surround and the ASL, set the treble one click from max and both mid and bass two clicks from max, and suddenly I had great sound. Still not comparable to the Bose in our FX, but definitely enjoyable. I think the main culprit was the Surround setting. I'll never push that button again, at least not for straight stereo sources.

Wow, can't believe there's so many complaints; I absolutely adore my car! I have an '08 ES 350 UL Package fully loaded(Black Sapphire Pearl/cashmere int.), so maybe it's the difference in year(got it Oct 5th '07). My previous car was a 2000 Lexus Es300 Platinum Edition. My only complaint is the ASL on the Mark Levinson system. I don't think mine is working right, but I will have it looked at when I go to the Lexus Owners Welcome in mid December. I will also agree that the Navigation isn't so great(would be awesome to have the option for the passenger to be able to operate it while in motion), but I don't use it that much. Overall, it's an amazing car. I live in Atlanta, GA, so snow isn't an issue -- just bumpy-messed up roads from all the work they're doing in the city! Atlantans know what I'm talking about! I've even driven through AL to Hattiesburg, MS for Thanksgiving with no complaints - so smooth of a ride, I got a ticket in AL thinking I wasn't going so fast! I'll update in a few more months. :D

See, now this is what happens every time I buy a new car: I search the internet to find a forum where I can share experiences with other enthusiasts, and what I find instead - every time - is that it's just a place for crackpots to hangout and whine about how [insert manufaturer here] isn't kissing their a$$ just like they like it. And if it's not some troll who doesn't even own the car, it's owners with the previous generation model hanging around for no other reason than to insert their criticisms into every thread. Total broken record.

I bought an '08 Tundra yesterday, maybe that'll be my last-hope auto forum if I can find one.

FWIW, I don't think I've ever driven a rural road with only the low beams in any car I've ever owned. I don't have an issues with low beam intensity either, but then, my last several cars have all had HID headlights.

I have the Ruby Red as well, but i gotta tell ya - I would've thrown a party if my old Infiniti G35 had nothing but swirls. THAT was paint prone to chipping/scratching, even after I'd had the front end repainted (and not by the dealer) TWICE. Can't quite figure it out because I own an FX35 with the same paint (obsidian black) and it is infinitely more durable than on the G.

Count your lucky stars that it just swirls and not big chips out of the front end.

And it's only been since May, but the Ruby on my wife's ES had held up remarkably well. Still sparkles like new and I haven't noticed a bit of swirl.

Parents, please monitor your childrens' internet usage....

I'm prettier. :whistles:

Shop around, but when you're ready to buy, do so at the end of the quarter, and go into the dealership in the evening. The closer it gets to closing time, the less dealership BS you have to endure.

Please share with us the size of your rims, maybe it is just me, but from your avatar those rims are definitely bigger than 17 inches. My point is that having large rims that are flashy and gaudy (gaudy is more cacophonous between the two synonyms) is similar to having a modest amount of wood trim in your car as far as showing wealth/having luxurious things. I mean you said more is not always better but your rims are bigger and shinier than the stock ones for the ES. That seems contradictory to me, but I guess you think otherwise.

Do you know anything about the English language at all? Why are you trying to correct people when you are misinformed? If you think that "I suppose you know that because you yourself characterize one of those people to a high extent" does not make sense, then you need to relearn English. Lay some foundation before you attack and criticize, because in this case you are wrong.

I said gaudy, and you watered that down to "flashy" in order to expand the scope of the discussion in an attempt to include my wheels.

My opinion is that the current ES does have a modest amount of wood in it. You think wood all over the dash makes a car more luxurious. I don't.

The fact that we've never met or spoken, yet you believe you can sum me up in one poorly-written sentence based on looking at my avatar is ludicrous.

Where is that ignore button when you need it...

Really, and I guess that is why your ES350 has 19-20 inch rims which is at least 2 inches more than stock. Not to mention these rims are chrome and have a flashy look to them.

First off, I didn't say flashy, I said gaudy. Maybe you should look those up in the dictionary.

If you're saying that, by default, chrome wheels larger than stock are somehow gaudy, well I guess you're entitled to have that opinion, but I disagree.

Secondly;

I suppose you know that because you yourself characterize one of those people to a high extent

Are you a Wayans brother? Because that line looks like something from that skit on Living Color where the black guy in prison is using words he doesn't quite understand trying to sound sophisticated.

If you're unfamiliar with my reference to Living Color, ask mommy as she might know.

If you're going to GET smart, you should actually BE smart.

Thirdly, I want to fully agree with SW that cars seem more luxurious when they have a reasonable and modest amount of wood in them. I mean if you look at history, most cars (Japanese and German) over the past few years (04-06) have for the most part omitted wood from their interior designs. Of course they didn't fully omit wood, but it was considerably less abundant. Now in the year 2007, automakers have finally realized that wood in most cases is a good thing. Look at BMW's X3 for example, it had wood on the door handles and near the gear shifter in 04-06. Now it is all over the dash. The same goes for the facelifted 5. Look at the LS. All LS model years have had good amounts of wood, and perhaps that is the reason we find it to be such a high quality and fine automobile (from the inside). The fact of the matter is, luxury cars are known to have high quality wood inside them while sporty cars are known to have trims of carbon fiber or aluminum. So when you get in a car like the ES, you just feel like there should be a lot of wood in it.

Yeah, well I know folks that think having gold teeth is pretty luxurious too. People do all kinds of gaudy/ugly things to show off their money.

More is not always better.

You're missing the whole point of having the system in the first place...

Yeah, this whole thread is getting confusing to me. I keep my keys in my front pocket, and my wife keeps hers in her purse. What's the point of a keyless system if you're going to pull them out and put them somewhere or worry about them both being in the car???

The best thing about the Lexus though is the free car wash. Clearly they do it for a reason as you wait for your car to be finished, you can drool over the next new Lexus model.

Funny, I've taken to asking that they NOT wash the car after service. My car has chrome wheels and they NEVER dry them (two different dealerships), so they go in to the dealer nice and clean and come out covered with waterspots. There's usually a pond on top of the rear bumper as well...and water dripping off the side mirrors.....

Along those lines, I took the car in today for the 5000-mile service and was given a new Camary sport as a loaner. Anyone who thinks the ES isn't worth the price difference is either on crack or hasn't spent any time in both cars.

In my opinion. : :whistles:

Use the information provided as you see fit, but it seems to me to be a bit inappropriate to state what might be the ES350 reactions based what a Prius' did or didn't do.

Its precisely the same system. My parents have an 04 LS430 with the same system and they each carry keys and I've heard of no problems when they're both in the car at the same time.

FWIW, my wife and I have both keys in the car pretty regularly and haven't experienced any issues. It even seems to discriminate between what side of the car you're approaching when setting the seat and mirrors, if I get in on the driver's side after she's unlocked the car on the passenger side it still sets everything to my fob.

Its not that its not a great car, it is and its a huge improvement over the previous car in a lot of ways. I don't mean to sound like a "broken record" its just whenever I allude to that frustration it always turns into a discussion. Which I don't mind but it obviously bothers some people.

Sorry, didn't mean to de-value your opinion, everybody's got a right to like what they like.

Its the wood, I really miss the wood in the previous model's interior. Its not just me, there are plenty of previous ES owners that feel the same way. Other cost cutting measures bug me too like going from triple stitching to double stitching on the leather, reduction in the amount of soft touch plastic, but the wood is what I miss.

See, I'm just the opposite. I could hardly even look at the instruments in the loaner because of that (IMO) tacky bit of wood above the steering wheel. It's overbearing and doesn't compliment the look, it just says "hey, there's a lot of wood in here so I must be classy". Wood should be an accent, not an interior motif in a car. Subtle, not garish. And the flat palstic all over center of the dash around the radio and AC has driven me out of Lexus showrooms for years.

Stitching? Who's looking at stitching? That's just a nit. If my seat doesn't fall apart why do I care how many stitches it has in it? Maybe they're using a better quality stitch so they don't need as much. Who knows.

But that's just me.

I personally don't see anything appealing with the bird's eye view.

Well, like I said, I do think the Lexus system is overall superior, but if it had the Bird View I would NEVER use the plan view again. I have both options in the Infiniti and I NEVER use the plan view as it does nothing but constrict your view down the road when compared to the Bird View. Choosing to see LESS about where you're going just doesn't make any sense to me so I'm really not sure why they even have plan view as an option in the Infiniti.

While I still dislike the 350's interior (the LS and my ES are much nicer IMHO),

Interesting. Last time I was in for service I was given an ES 330 as a loaner and distinctly recall thinking that I would NEVER have bought an ES if it had that interior.

To each his own.

I think it may actually be a patented feature. Thought I read that somewhere.

That said, I think if you look at both systems overall, you'll find that the Lexus system (at least compared to the system in my '05 G35) is superior. I did test drive a new G, but I haven't spent enough time with the next-gen system in the new Infiniti's to know if that still holds.

I recently test drove a G35. Nice car, still love my ES more. One need feature was the birds eye veiw on the nav system. For finding actual locations....i think the plan view (which is what WE see on our nav systems) is easier to follow...however....on a late evening drive that birds view is pretty cool.

Wondering if Lexus could accomplish that view with just DVD upgrades? I know most new aftermarket nav's have this feature.

I traded in my G35 (with Nav) to buy the ES for my wife, and now drive her old FX35 (with Nav), and the Bird View is a VERY cool feature. The best part about it is that you can see well down the road without zooming out like you have to do with a plan view. Very nice, every navigation system should have it. I end up doing a lot of zooming and scrolling with the ES that's unnecessary when I'm in the FX.

Yeah I normally don't like aftermarket wheels but those look great.

Thanks guys.

The cool thing was, when I went to the wheel shop I had initially picked out a different style, but I was watching them mount the wheels and when they put the first set on the car I didn't like them. Looked really nice on the shelf, but not on the car. So I talked to the owner and they ended up letting me check out two more different types of wheels on the car (at no extra charge) before I picked those. Good deal.

New sideview mirrors? Thats surprising I wonder why. I wonder if its to address some of the noise complaints?

I'd be interested in seeing the new mirrors. That's the one bit of styling I don't care for on our ES, the mirrors are pretty boxy (although very practical) and don't really fit the rest of the car IMO.

G money where did you get your rims? They look great. Thanks Terry

Thanks. They came from a local tuner/wheel shop. Nothing special, can't even recall what brand they are.

The ES350 can sense the presence of a Lexus electronic key when the key is near the car. I have misplaced, somewhere in my house, the key for my ES350. Is there an electronic searching gadget that will detect the presence of a key when it is near, say 6 feet, to the searching tool? Thanks.

Just carry the car around the house, and when the door unlocks you'll know the key is in that room.

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. :D