alicias

the IS is a very nice car. i had one as a loaner for a couple of days. not to put a fine point on it - but its not really fair to compare the top of the Lexus line with bottom of the Lexus line. I like the SC and the cash. I can live without the new car smell and the new gadgets.

i don't want to burst your bubble because i'm going to try what you suggest but - people remove the headlights and do the oven treatment because the lamps leak and water gets in them. your method won't help that - unless i'm missing something.

i'll answer you since no one else has ... i have the same car as you. i love it. take care of it and it will take care of you. i'm no mechanic and i've been able to do a lot of things pretty easily. it's really well made. parts fit together and you won't find rust or corrosion. We all seem the have the same problems - The headlights you figured out. The instrument cluster and climate control can be replaced/fixed by lextech. i just did my instrument cluster and they did the work within a week. The dealer does almost everything. they will treat like like a king. the lexus dealer is actually cheaper than the toyota or honda dealer. go figure. If you're thinking about improving performance - i wouldn't recommend a cold air intake. i got a rod millen CAI and there wasn't much of a difference. Not $300 worth. You're probably better off with a BFI. I put in a "better" torque converter - rebuilt or whatever by lextreme and i'm very happy with it. This forum is very helpful. i get a lot of information out of it. if you ask a question that's available elsewhere in the forum - prepare to be ignored. You've got a great car. i can't think of a way that it could be improved - really.

i'm happy with the one i got from lextreme.com

i put in the one from rod millen. it was kind of pricy and the delivery took too long. it didn't make much of a difference. if i weren't so lazy i would have done a bfi. i still may.

i think i have a similar problem. its like the engine hiccups or catches its breath. its not the the 02 sensors or the tp sensor because i had those changed. the dealer has never witnessed the car doing this, BTW so they probably think i'm nuts. anyway, i just had the torque converter changed to the one with the higher stall speed. i'm still having the same problem. searching throught the forum, to me, it sounded like the idle control sensor - valve whatever needed cleaning/replacement. i have to ask the dealer the next time i'm there.

is the passenger seat just as easy to remove - aside from weighing a lot? i have the same problem. the dealer gave me a $1200 price - but that's from someone they outsource to and is probably for a new seat. even the dealer thought it was ridiculous. i got a new track and motor on e-bay. i'd do it myself - if i could find the bolts but the seat doesn't move.

i just had a lextreme torque converter put in my sc400. lextreme was very fast with shipping the TC and giving me credit for the core. my installation was a little more than i had hoped but it was still well worth it. Here are the approximate numbers. TC was $395 - $175 = $220 installation = $500 shipping to return TC = $55 the car is a lot more responsive.

about a year ago i had 2 o2 sensors and a tps replaced and it wasn't cheap. that was because the trac light was stuck on. those are the breaks. less than a month ago i had my rear pads replaced - now the brake light is coming on and off. there's plenty of fluid and everything feels fine. i love my car and have it dealer-serviced. its suddenly looking like a money pit and it only has 140,000 miles. do any of you gents have any ideas? while we're at it - how hard is the passenger seat to remove? the track is apparently no good. i got a replacement for $120 on ebay. call me naive - but how hard could it be? yes, i know the seats weigh about 90 lbs. but wait - there's more! the car is tuned, etc. and hesitates slightly. usually when its driving under momentum - that is - not accelerating or decelarating - just cruising. this started after the 02 and tps were repalced. dealer did the diagnostics and found nothing. does it sound like a transmission issue to any of you? thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.

My CHECK ENGINE and TRAC OFF light were lit. I went to the dealer. They put in a new TPS, cleaned my throttle body and installed two 02 sensors. This set me back over $1,000. The car feels almost exactly the same - except now there's a hesitation when accelerating. Not a hard acceleration, either. If the tach is at 1500, its almost like the car is taking a breath and the tach goes down to 1,000 and jumps back up. It doesn't matter whether the ECT is on or off. The gas is the same - premium plus I put in dry gas periodically. I have to try it using cruise control. It doesn't appear to be a change in the weather. The dealer took it for a test drive and of course, the car didn't do it. They're suggestion was to put it through diagnostics which - i would think - would have been how they decided that the TPS and 02 sensors needed replacing. Go figure. Any ideas? Please don't say Mass Airflow Sensor or whatever our car has. That costs too much money. Thanks for letting me vent. I love my car.

thanks for your answer. i agree. OEM is probably best.

i'm no mechanic and changed mine -- it was easy. make sure you get the gasket. there are instructions with pictures somewhere in this forum and they were very helpful.

i have to replace my oxygen sensors and my tps. i've heard denso, i've heard bosch. i'm sure there are others. i think the people who designed our cars are geniuses so i'm not particularly inclined to "upgrade" anything. i tend to stick with OEM equipment but i'm not fanatical about it. needless to say the dealer charges too much. if i'm going to replace all of these, what should i get -- call me conservative -- but i'm thinking if i'm doing 2 02s, i might as well do 4. i know the rear 02s last longer than the front ones or so i'm told. i'm also hoping that the is going to make my car a little more peppy -- its been kind of sluggish lately. am i off base with this assumption?

I had the exact same problem. the dealer says its two 02 sensors and the TPS -- plus there's carbon build up on the throttle body/tps area that needs to be removed. it'll be $1,000. Before they checked it out [for free] they checked to see that the gas cap was on securely. Supposedly that will give a false reading. I'll get it fixed when I round up the money -- in a week or two.

i wound up getting a new heater control valve. it was $385 + tax installed at warnock lexus in livingston, nj. a really good dealer if you need one near NYC.

my thermostat wasn't the problem. i put in a new one. it was really easy. still no heat. my next step is having some look at the heater control valve. at least the seat heaters work.

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for.

my heater is blowing cool air. it sounds like the thermostat is stuck open and needs to be replaced. at least that's what i'm hoping since that's relatively cheap to fix. where is the thermostat located? Some postings say its easy to find some say it'll take 3 hours to change. if its not the thermostat, i'm going to check the heater control valve ... does anyone have any pictures of the thermotat location and/or heater control valve?

i was in my sc400 on saturday and hydroplaned on I80 at about 50 mph. i twirled off the road and into the grass. it was like an amusement park ride. no damage to me or my car. i guess its time for some new tires. i'm getting bridgestone Turanza LS-Vs at the tirerack uness someone suggests something better. our cars take a lickin' and keep on tickin'!

i have a 93 with keyless entry. the button is on the key itself. i believe the price of a new key was about $175 from the dealer. you can get a remote starter for that much.

91 acura integra - loved it. 91 mazda miata - underpowered but fun 83 mazda rx7 - really smooth - lame quality interior. 76 datsun 280Z - loved it. fast & reliable even in the snow. 67 mgb - ran great - when it ran. loved it but it treated me bad. 65 vw bug - always ran - but the heat was on 24/7/365. i also have a 2001 honda S2000. i love japanese cars.

i just had sway bar bushings replaced. according to the dealer - i've had absolutely no problems with the dealer either - control arm bushings are available by themselves and not typically a problem on our car. i have to go over some speed bumps to determine the effect of the new bushings.

rod millen has them. their service is kind of slow.

i have the same car and the same problem. i got the visors from japan really, really fast with instructions in japanese. [sigh.] everything went smoothly except they really don't solve the problem. the inside of the car extends out past the visor. its probably fine if you're a smoker and want to get some fresh air but other than that ... its not worth the time and energy. you still need to keep the windows 99% up or you'll get soaked.

the rear speakers on mine wouldn't work because the rear amplifier was dead. i don't know about the other stuff. my last car was an integra and i loved it. i didn't think i could find a more reliable car than my acura but believe it or not - the lexus has it beat. ok so one is the bottom of the line and the other is the top ... and the integra has 190,000+ miles on it with an original clutch. they're both great cars. don't give you your lexus! bite the bullet and take it to a dealer to have it fixed.