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madyash

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Everything posted by madyash

  1. Was looking at Edmunds to get an idea of what they think my GS is worth (2006, AWD, 42K miles, Navi, NO ML, NO parking sensors, just about everything else). In clean condition the private party value was about $28K. But then I hear people on here picking them up for about $21K. Now I certainly don't consider Edmunds to be the pricing bible, but to be off by 25% seems excessive. So either their pricing is way off and these cars just took a nose dive in value (which the sales guy says will never happen when selling you the car - "amongst the best resale" they always say), or as gs300awd said the members here have a secret source for half-price Lexuses...
  2. Ouch! I haven't been following pricing for the GS for several months now, but low $20K stings. I have a 2006 GS (which I bought used in June 2006 for about $39,000 - AWD with navi, no ML). In hindsight I certainly feel like I overpaid, but even then, I've lost almost 50% in less than 2 years. Aren't these cars supposed to be good/reasonable in terms of depreciation?!
  3. take your time and find one with Navi, i recently got a 06 GS300 without Navi and really regret it cause trying to put in an in dash one is almost impossible.. :-( with the bad economy, you can really find a good deal if you are patient. DO NOT RUSH!!! I know that the OP asked about a 2006 GS, but I'd say take a look at a 2007 GS. They navigation system changed between the two years and the 2007 is much nicer. The functionality is about the same, but the screen resolution is greatly improved. I have an '06 with navi and wish I'd seen the 07s before I bought mine. Oh yes, I don't believe you can do the software override (i.e. the touch sequence that lets you operate the navi while moving) with the 07 version. I've been away from the forum from a while so I'm not sure if there's a hybrid disc that gets around this for the 07s...
  4. I agree - this may be a good time to switch out the runflats. The issue is further complicated by a tire warranty I have on the tires. Under the warranty, the tire with the hole will be replaced for free, and they'll also pay to repair the tire with the nail in it (though they won't do it at absurd dealer prices - which means I'll be visiting my local TireRack installer). So, I'm now left with two tires that I may or may not need to replace (I don't really trust the dealers opinion - I think they may still be good for another year). To be honest, I'm not very happy with the run flats - I find them harsh and noisy. So, I'll take the zero-cost warranty replacement to get me back on the road for now, and if I have to spend money on tires, I may as well get something different. Thank you very much for your offer, Steve - the price you're asking is very reasonable. I'd pull the trigger too if I weren't so interested in getting rid of the runflats when the time is right.
  5. That's interesting. What you're saying makes sense, which is why I was quite surprised when my local dealer (Woodfield Lexus in Schaumburg, IL - who, by the way, I'm not too fond of) told me they'll fix one of my Dunlop runflats that has a nail in the tread. Wife hit a pothole over the weekend causing the side of one of my tires to rip. The dealer is saying that in addition to that tire, I have one with a nail in it (which can be repaired), and the other two need replacement. He told me about $1200 for a set of four!! What surprises me is that when we had a similar pothole incident last winter (God bless Midwestern winters), I had a different dealer look at all the tires for the notorious inside wear problem, and I was told they were all fine. Now, a year later, I'm being told that none of my tires are really good (three worn, one with a nail), and that I may want to get 4 new tires. Sounds a little fishy to me!
  6. I certainly got screwed over by the dealer in that regard. Looking at the prices on here, it seems as if I overpaid by quite a bit (06 GS300 AWD with all options except parking sensors and ML, bought in June 07 with 17.5K miles for 39K). The salesman at the dealership was a good friend of my wife's cousin's fiancee (yeah, I know that's a bit long), and so I assumed I was getting a good deal. Don't have anyone to blame but myself - I should have done more research and been more patient. Of course, that was also more than a year ago when the automotive market was healthier, so maybe I didn't do as bad as I think I did...
  7. Thanks for the detailed response, Stevie - much appreciated. I'll check out the links you sent for parts. I called another dealer in the northwest chicago suburbs and got a very different answer. They charge $50 less (said it'd be $594), and said that they change oil, filters (oil, cabin, and air), brake fluid, and rotate tires. Oh yes, they also give it a "good once over". To be honest, $600 seems like a lot for an oil change, brake flush, and tire rotation. I did ask about the differential oil and he said that they don't do that - they typically don't mess with differential or transmission fluid until 60K miles. He also said the same thing you did about the coolant - it's not needed until near 90K because it's the "long life" coolant. So, I think I'll go ahead and order Toyota oil (or maybe Mobil1?), three filters (oil, air, cabin), and brake fluid. It's supposed to be gorgeous in Chicago this weekend so it's perfect weather to get her (the car, that is ;) ) up on the ramp.
  8. I'm due for a 30K and the dealer told me that as part of that service they change the differential oil, coolant, and "service the transmission". I was comparing notes with Lexus's maintenance schedule and have a few questions I'd like the community's wisdom on: The manual mentions that coolant should be replaced at 100K, with inspections in between. Based on what I've always known about cars, that seems long. Is that really correct? What are others out there doing? There is no mention in the manual at all about replacing the differential fluid on the GS - only to inspect it every 15K miles. There is, however, explicit mention of replacing differential fluid on the ES and IS every 60K miles. So, in normal conditions, does the GS never require a diff fluid change? Though I don't think it needs to be done at 30K (like the dealer says), I would imagine that sometime sooner than "never" would be required, no? Similarly, there is no mention of replacing the transmission fluid on the GS. It says that it should be inspected every 30K miles and explicitely says that it should be replaced in the ES and LS every 60K miles, but no guidelines for the GS. What gives? Should I do this too (since the dealer includes it in their 30K), or wait for 60K (which is what I would have conventionally expected). Oh yes, and if anyone knows any good sources for Lexus parts that would do better than the stealership, I'd greatly appreciate being pointed in the right direction. Thanks! Yash.
  9. Oh thank God, I'm not alone. sj Me three. In fact now I've gotten into the habit of hitting the lock twice regardless of the lights. Wife thinks it's weird - she'll add it to her list of "strange husband things"... ;) OP - in addition to locking with the keyfob, and pressing the black button on any of the doors, you can just leave the car for 30 seconds and it'll lock itself. I would imagine this is another setting that the dealer can change if your car doesn't already do it. Mine is set up that away. As long as the engine is not running and all the doors (including trunk) are closed - the car will lock itself after 30 seconds, giving you the "auto lock" feature you're asking about. Of course, whether or not you trust your environment enough to turn your back no the car and let the it lock after 30 seconds is a whole different question...
  10. I guess. I don't get to picky here. It does the job and thats what I wanted it to do. steviej The spray silicone would address any creaks from the sunroof due to lack of lubrication, but wouldn't address the wind noise issue the OP is talking about, right? I have the same issue - I hear wind noise when the sunroof visor is open (i.e. I want light in the cabin). As soon as I close the visor, the wind noise is gone. There is no creaking, but I can never leave the visor open to let in light because if the noise. I would imagine that some kind of rubber seal or weatherstripping around the glass roof would help eliminate the wind noise?
  11. I have the same issue with my car too. Though to be fair, my two previous cars (Infiniti and Nissan) also had this problem. I would have hoped to not see it in the Lexus, but when I discovered it in this car too, I concluded that this was an issue with all moonroofs. I'm looking forward to seeing what you learn from the dealer regarding the noise.
  12. can aftermarket GPS units transmit their screens outside of themselves? The answer is sort of... The aftermarket GPS units that you buy at places like Circuit City or Best Buy will not allow for an external display. However, Garmin does make a variety of units that don't have a screen and are designed to be used with an external monitor (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=157). So, if one really wanted to (and had the time and expertise), he/she could buy one of these units, find a way to tap into the Lexus screen and connect it to a computer, and then use the computer as an interface for the Garmin product. Of course, you'd also need to find some software that lets you use the touch screen (otherwise you'll have to have a mouse and keyboard in the car) to work with the computer. Overall it would result in an expensive and complicated solution, but it can be done. Of course, if you did make it work, you could really do some cool things in terms of in-car data/PC functionality (I'm thinking MP3 server, satellite internet, blah blah blah...)
  13. I don't believe so. My trunk certainly doesn't. Just unlocks, then I do the lift. Same thing for the automatic closer - it doesn't close an open trunk, but just locks the trunk lid down when you bring the lid to a closed position.
  14. Interesting. I called two Lexus dealers, the first told me about $200/manual, for a 2006 GS manual (and there are about 4 volumes). I then called another dealer who told me that there are about 3 volumes, and that it would be about $200 for the whole set. Can anyone throw some light on what the difference could be? Also, I don't see any on eBay. Are there any other places to get the manuals besides the dealership? Thanks. I went by Sewell Lexus' website. here. steviej Called another dealer in Pheonix today. He took some time to look things up and called me back later in the afternoon. He told me there are six manuals, and they're organized as follows: Manual 1 - Introduction, preparation, service specs, maintenance, engine control, and engine mechanical Manual 2 - Fuel system, emissions, intake, exhaust, cooling, lube, automatic transmissions, ignition, and starting Manual 3 - Suspension, brakes, steering, tire, wheel, and differential Manual 4 - A/C, pre-collision safety system, seat belts, lighting, and wipers Manual 5 - Navigation ,horn, garage door opener, other, doors, exterior, interior, multiplex communication (that's the "network" of computers for the car) Manual 6 - Electrical diagrams He also said that the prices on these manuals vary, but they're each in the range of $130-$140. What's frustrating is that I called my local dealer and he quoted the same prices, but told me there are only 4 volumes. Seems like we're getting different info from each dealer - some consistency would really help clear things up. I think I'm going to try the Toyota Information System instead. At a total cost of about $850 for the manuals, I'm better off getting and online subscription and downloading the information (though some people have said it's not as good as the manuals - I can't confirm that though). Heck, it only costs $10 for a one-day subscription so even if they're not as good, I don't have much to lose!
  15. I think he should go with a PC setup. Run windows on the main screen in the front, and mount the PC in the trunk. You can run Media Player (or your choice of music player) - it'd be just like having a huge hard drive of music and video in the car. Then, add a satellite internet connection to it and you can browse in the car, check your email, chat in IM, play video games, and just about anything you could do with a PC (including watch DVDs). Just one limitation - let me know where you're cruising so I'm nowhere near there...;) Don't want to be rear-ended by a driver who was busy IMing... :D
  16. Same story here. The problem came back over the long weekend when I drove down to Atlanta. Told the dealer about it when I got back home and went in for an oil change. He said he'd have the techs look at it - "it could be a mirror problem, or a computer problem". When they were checking me out he told me that it's a mirror problem and that they have ordered two new mirrors - should be in by the end of the week.
  17. Interesting. I called two Lexus dealers, the first told me about $200/manual, for a 2006 GS manual (and there are about 4 volumes). I then called another dealer who told me that there are about 3 volumes, and that it would be about $200 for the whole set. Can anyone throw some light on what the difference could be? Also, I don't see any on eBay. Are there any other places to get the manuals besides the dealership? Thanks.
  18. I don't really have a view on oil prices - it seems as if they should come down, but then look at today - over $140/barrel! However, I am somewhat confident that even if oil comes down a bit (say back near 130 or even lower), I'm not sure it'll make a huge impact on gas prices. Keep in mind that oil is the single biggest component of gas prices and retail gas prices haven't gone up nearly as much as oil has. So, even though oil may go down, gas prices still have to catch up to oil price increases so they're not likely to fall as much.
  19. Thanks! I'll give Carriage a call since they're much closer to me.
  20. Not sure I agree with you. I read that the Lexus recommended oil and transmission fluid are better than other stuff (part of the reason they only ask for oil changes every 5K miles). There is conclusive evidence of the fact that going with cheaper oils will damage the car and so I would never do that. There is NOT conclusive evidence that regular gas will damage the car, so it's not the same. I certainly agree that some articles talk about people putting premium in cars that require regular and how that has no benefit. However the articles I'm talking about specfically refer to cars that "require" premium but work just fine on regular. Note, not ALL cars that require premium will do fine with regular - there are always exceptions. As confirmed by Lexus techs, the computers in the GS (and most new cars) will adjust for a lower grade gas so as to not damage the vehicle due to pinging or knocking. You're certainly right about higher compression engines needed higher octanes to burn properly, but the computer will adjust for the combination of high compression and lower octane. Though "premium" is required for the performance to match the specs, regular will not cause any harm - a marginal lack in performance, yes, but no harm. I disagree that Lexus would advertise the fact that the car runs just fine on regular. This is for two reasons: 1) doing so would require it to drop down the performance numbers a bit since they can't be achieved with regular, and 2) it would be damaging to consumer pride. Folks can deny all they want, but psychology is certainly involved. Generally, drivers who buy 50K cars expect their high end cars to take high end fuel. I'm sure the rising gas prices are changing that psychology, which is part of the reason this thread exists. Would we have been debating this when gas was $1.50/gallon?
  21. Yeah, "ego" probably wasn't the right word... :) Agree that premium lets the vehicle run at optimum. Agree that premium gives you better performance (though, as I noted, I haven't noticed. I'm sure if I took it to a track, I would). Premium also probably gives better gas milage (though I haven't seen a notable difference - maybe it's because I only switched to regular a month ago). Disagree that I'm talking myself into the car feels the same. I can certainly judge very well what I feel and what I don't. Switching to regular has not made any difference in the feel of the car to me. Like I said, I'm sure there is a performance difference that I would probably notice on a track, but I don't feel it in my every day driving. Other drivers may - to each his own. The decision is not hinged on saving a few dollars only. If I had conclusive evidence that putting regular harmed the vehicle, then I wouldn't really give a darn about the savings. But given that no such evidence exists, why not save a few dollars. If saving a few dollars for a negligible difference belittles owners of 50K cars, doesn't negotiating on those same cars belittle the owners? How come I never see people saying "if you can afford a 50K car, you shouldn't be negotiating a lower price"?
  22. I switched to regular as well about a month ago. Did a lot of reading on the topic. Finally concluded that it doesn't really make any difference in terms of engine longevity. There is likely a performance diffference but in the one month I've been using regular I haven't noticed anything at all. Now if you're on a track timing things, the difference may show up there. It's not a huge saving over premium, but a penny saved is a penny earned. Plus, like others mentioned, it's frustrating giving money to the oil companies for no appreciable reason. P.S. I was also in the "if you can buy a Lexus, put the premium in. Otherwise get a Camry" camp for a while. I then realized that it's a form of ego more than anything else. Somewhere I felt "bad" putting regular in - I eventually realized it was more of a nervousness caused by putting what I perceived as a "lower grade" into my nice, expensive car and I love so dearly... :) $4.40/gal gave me a rude awakening!
  23. Never been to AZ so unfortunately I can't help with the recommendation. However, I did have a similar experience with my GS when I was in CT. As you mentioned, the Lexus dealers typically don't have their own body shops - they contract the work out. With that said, the shops they use do a lot more Lexuses than other shops (for the simple reason that the dealerships refer all their customers there), and so will have more experience with Lexus cars than your average body shop. The other thing I found was the the majority of the cost is in the parts and not so much the paint and labor. I needed a front bumper last August and the bumper alone was over 1,000!! So, rather than going with another shop, your biggest saving will be getting a cheaper bumper. Since this generation GS is fairly new, there was no one making cheaper aftermarket parts last summer. So, then you would have to buy the bumper from Lexus and then take it to another body shop to paint and install. Given the estimates I had for painting, it made more sense just to drop it off at the dealership and have them take care of it. So, call a couple of body shops (you'll find numbers and sometimes reviews online) and see if they can get an aftermarket bumper for you (it's been a year since I called, so they may now be available). If so, you may be able to save a bit. If not, forget the hassle, take it in to Lexus, and bite the bullet unfortunately.
  24. To be honest, I don't really know because I haven't spent much time playing with it. The last year has been so hectic with moving across the country multiple times (and a hard drive crash) that I never really had the time to organize my music library properly and then see what I can do through the nav screen. I primarly use the screen and steering wheel controls to skip tracks. I know that I can change within playlists, change playlists, and change album. Not sure about the artist though. Not sure about upgrading the units. I would imagine that it is possible - it should just be a change to the firmware on the unit. However, in order to do so you'd need to connect a computer or other device to the unit (depending on the types of connections it has - I don't remember) and flash the device. I haven't read anything about upgrades being available, but I'll post the question to their support folks when I get home. Sorry I wasn't of much help...
  25. I searched the forum but was unable to find any recommendations for a car detailer in the Chicago area. I'm in the northwest Chicago area and have an 06 GS that badly needs to be detailed. Anyone have any recommendations? I saw a couple of places online: 3 Oaks (http://www.3oakscarwash.com/index.php?page=detail-packages) - was thinking about detail package 4 or Fullers (http://fullerscarwash.com/detail.htm) - again, detail package 4 I bought my GS used about a year ago and have never had it detailed. I've moved around the country a lot in the past year and so have never had time to settle down and do it. That said, the car is a complete mess right now. I'm new to detailing, so even if you don't have any recommendations, if you think one place seems to have a better package than the other, I'd appreciate your input. Maybe even some questions I can ask them to determine which place is better? Thanks!!
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