irishcurtis

First, I will say that when you see the old timing belt, it will likely look just fine, if not almost new. Ignore this. Changing the timing belt is cheap insurance compared to what a failure will cost. Second, this is not a job I would ever trust to a mechanic who cannot offer any warranty. If a Lexus service tech or Midas/NAPA/other-chain tech does the job and messes it up, you are covered. If this guy does it in his backyard or garage and messes it up, good luck. If this is your only route, you might as well set aside a weekend and do it yourself. If you or this fella screw up the job, you will have only yourself to blame. I did this job on my Corolla back in '93 and it really took 2 days. Had to tear down the whole right front wheel area, disconnect a couple of motor mounts, remove covers, loosen tensioners, change the belt and reverse the whole process. Naturally, I knocked a pulley out of line and had to retime the whole valvetrain. Never again.

What can I expect a Lexus dealer to charge fo the 60k service call? Is it worth it to shop various dealerships or will they all charge about the same? My wife's Miata just hit 60k. Local Lincoln/Mercury/Mazda dealer wanted roughly $400 (very similar to the Lexus 60k). Didn't really get a good vibe from the service manager, so I shopped around. Local quicklube did all of it for $170.

Just got my '02 ES back from the dealer for what I consider to be excessive wind noise around the driver's side mirror/door. They replaced the mirror and noted the gasket was improperly installed. Trouble is, I think it's worse now. Passenger side is quiet as a tomb; driver's side has a constant roar above 45 mph regardless of wind direction, direction of travel, etc. When I call the dealer on Monday, I think I ask to demo another ES300/330 to see if this is typical. I don't think it should be, but if another similar car does this, I suppose I will have to live with it. Any similar experiences or explanations out there? Thanx Curtis

From the Dewalt website... "Heavy-Duty 6" Right Angle Random Orbit Sander with Electronic Variable Speed" ...so should be safe, but why would you pay more for the Dewalt when the PC is a proven, popular tool? Curtis

Check out Sewell Lexus (in Dallas/Ft. Worth) at their website. Much, much cheaper than my local dealer with terrific customer support. Instructions to program the remote are everywhere. Search this forum. Curtis

Picked up a CPO 2002 ES300 a few months ago. It is by far the finest car I have ever owned, but one small problem continues to nag. I find the amount of wind noise on the driver's side window to be unacceptable for a Lexus. The passenger side is as quiet as I would expect, but the driver's side is quite noisy regardless of speed, direction of travel, wind speed, wind direction, etc. During recent service, the seals were fine; they did "lubricate" (????) the seals and found no other problems. Any other ES300/330 owners with similar complaints? Thanx Curtis O

We used the Delphi MyFi on my wife's Miata. We bought it for the portability. The guys at our local Best Buy did a great job of hardwiring the power and FM modulator directly into the sound system. Nice install for around $100 plus parts. Regarding XM vs. Sirius, we recently recieved a letter from XM stating that the two were merging. Don't know what effect this will have on subscription rates, but it should greatly expand the channel line-up. Curtis

Thanx vetmx 1. I saw that e-tailer on ebay and will give them a shot. Your post had all the info I was looking for. Curtis

Anyone here using a remote/key purchased on ebay? They represent a significant savings over buying from the dealership and claim to be very easy to program to my car. If anyone does use one, where did you get it cut? The locksmiths in my area claim that Lexus keys are "restricted". The ebay seller claims that the key can be cut with a laser. Thanks Curtis