bplaney

Should I consider moving to a synthetic oil at my next oil change? brand? filter? Engine currently runs very nice and has been well-oiled (I can see via the service records of this just-acquired GS300).

What would be the next likely candidate for a "wear and tear" fix that I would need to deal with as the car turns 100k miles? I am thinking it might be along the lines of shocks/struts/ball joints/alignment.

The transmission has been flushed within the last 20k miles. Should I consider any other forms of checkup/maintenance besides checking the transmission oil stick? are there any particular known issues with this transmission?

Today my wife could not turn the ignition - it seemed locked. (I think this happened once with my 1992 ES300.) The wheels were not turned; the car was on a flat surface; parking brake not engaged. I don't know how I managed to get it to turn and start the car, but some combination of trying the steering wheel in both directions, trying to budge the shifter and pressing on the brake seemed to work. Does this happen to anyone here, and what might cause it? I'm afraid if it happens again when my wife has the car away from the house, it will cost money to deal with.

I am looking for a car cover, as our house has a car port, not a garage. I will want to use it when it's parked under the car port, so it will not need to keep it dry under torrential rain, but it would be nice to actually be waterproof and have something soft underneath to protect the paint. Recommendations? Any brands to avoid? Is it better to get the kind with pockets for the mirrors, or is that just something that makes it unnecessarily more expensive?

My GS300 came with a very new-looking set of Yokohama YK420 tires (215/60 R16). I have read many complaints about how these tires handle and wear (they are made exclusively for Discount/America's Tire). They will transfer the ownership to my name and if they fail before 60k miles will offer me a prorated refund to be applied to a replacement. The tires look very good, and I am not a "performance" buff. I will do very boring, very careful driving in them. Should I be happy with these? what should I consider replacing them with when they wear out (I am not interested in low-profile tires). According to Discount Tire, whom I called, these tires have 20K miles on them (and they really do look brand new). Anything better for the next round?

Can anyone recommend a good leather cleaner/conditioner for the seats (they are tan) and something to keep the rubber door gaskets supple? What about something that will safely clean shoe scuff marks from the hard plastic wrap-around corners of the front seats?

There are labels on the sides of the front seats (near the seat belt slot) that say "SRS Side Airbag" - does that mean there ARE side airbags in this vehicle? where would they be? After I bought it, I called a nearby Lexus dealership and asked if the GS300 had side airbags in 1999 and they said "no". My insurance will be a bit cheaper if the car does have them...

My GS300 has 96k miles and it had its timing belt replaced at 61k miles by a previous owner. The receipt in the car's history indicates that the then-owner complained of a high-pitched whine coming from the engine. The water pump was not replaced at the same time (contrary to most timing belt replacements). As I studied the front of the straight-six engine in the GS, I think I know why the water pump was not replaced - it looks like you can remove it with a fair amount of ease, as it sticks out from the side of the engine block rather conveniently; it looks like you can just loosen the belt that drives its pulley without much trouble. Can someone please confirm my assessment? As the timing belt was replaced at 61k miles, what should be the mileage mark for the next one?

What is the black plastic piece that hangs down a few inches from the undercarriage just in front of the rear wheel well? (It visually extends the curvature of the well sort of like a small mud flap, except it's not behind the wheel like a mudflap is.) One of mine is missing (driver's side) and the other is hanging by one remaining plastic snap-screw. What is the important function of these pieces?

Just bought a 1999 GS300 for 11.5k cash. I do not owe anyone a dime for anything, and plan to keep it that way.

If Toyota's repair manuals are so large it is because they were scanned instead of saved as PDF files from the original layout application in which they were created. I just downloaded the 1999 GS300 Owners Manuals from Lexus.com and used Acrobat Professional to combine them into a single file. Without even optimizing the file, it was only 3 mb. You can tell that these pages were generated directly from the (now legacy) layout documents, probably originally done in QuarkXPress. Lexus did this properly! Generating PDFs from the origin documents (as opposed to scanning the pages of a manual) means a better looking, smaller, and SEARCHABLE document. (I am a graphic designer, so I know wherof I speak). Anyway, I will have the 1999 GS300 manual for this site to download, I just need to know how to post it. The NAV stuff will be separate, as will the quick reference guide.