Zbird78

If it's just a dent in the bumper cover, you might want to try popping it out from behind using something soft. I had a dent in the bumper cover that I popped out with the rubber covered handle to my "club." Then apply a micropolisher like GS-27 (used to be advertised on TV. it was great stuff) or Meguiars Scratch-X (bought it at Target). If the paint damage is merely superficial, that'll work magic.

I bought my IS in 2001, after driving an 89 Firebird with an open differential for years. made sure to limited slip because of all the snow in new england. it helped a bit, but know that the IS300 traction control works by cutting throttle. the limited slip of course works, by forcing both wheels to spin. The end result is that in bad weather (snow, ice) you go nowhere unless you turn "off" the traction control. definitely a bit of an engineering oversight I didn't expect from lexus!

I have a 2001 IS, and this past winter, just out of the blue, the changer went all screwy. read errors, and then a fast whirring sound! then it said there were fewer CDs inside than there were. i think one of the CDs came off the spindle or something (I don't know what's going on inside the guts of the changer. To make a long story short, the car was under warrantee, so I took it to the dealer and they swapped in a new changer (the whole center radio, etc.) and a few weeks later, my cds arrived in an envelope from Lexus through the mail. one of the CDs was scratched, but I guess that's life.

Has anyone else found the 2001 IS300 with 16" all-seasons, and limited-slip to have really unpredictable handling in bad weather? I live up near Boston most of the year, and I've had my IS for about 2 /2 years now. On dry pavement, I've found the traction and handling of the car to be excellent, but as I wrote in another post, God help me in the rain or snow! The tires will lose traction on turns, suddenly causing a fishtail and the ABS kicks in when I'm going 3 miles an hour, pulling into a parking space if there's even a dusting of snow (like last night, before today's blizzard hit). This my first car with ABS, and it seems like it's actually lengthening my breaking distance instead of shortening it! Any advice would be great. you can also email me at zbird78@aol.com

I bought mine two years ago after testing both the 328i and the A4 at a lexus promotional event the year before. While the Beemer might be a slightly (and I do mean slightly) better car, I liked that the Lexus cost me about 7 grand less, fully loaded (including the limited slip differential). It's a great car that handles impressively in good weather. I have found it, however, to be somewhat unpredictable in bad weather. The traction control fights with the limited slip in the snow, and the standard 16" wheels with the all season radials seem to lose traction unpredictably in the rain, requiring some cautious driving in poor conditions. As for looks, I know a lot of women, and they are always very impressed with the car, even, as recenlty, when one didn't know what kind of car it was. Having moved up from a real muscle car ('89 firebird, 305 V8), this car is good entry into a more refined driver. And I don't know what I'd do without the heated seats :P

I've had my 2001 for about 2 1/2 years now, and I've found that the traction control prevent wheel spin and drift somewhat in dry weather, allowing some pretty aggressive driving, but God help me if there's even a little water or snow on the pavement. Then the car becomes very unpredictable. I've got the stock 16 inch wheels with all season radials, but I've been worried that maybe there's something wrong with the rubber compound to allow the car to lose so much traction, that the ABS has to kick in as I'm pulling up to a parking space! Has anyone else found unpredictable traction to be so much a problem that they are honestly afraid of the car in bad weather? (this post was really prompted by an incident about 2 weeks ago. I was driving down a winding two-lane that I take every day at no more than 30 m.p.h. in a drizzle, and the entire car started sliding sideways without any complaint from the traction control system. I was able to recover, having spent five years driving a 1989 V8 Firebird without even ABS, but the break free from traction with the road wasn' gradual at all. no warning.)