monarch

Unlike American cars, there is no such thing as a "weak Toyota/Lexus engine" or "weak Toyota/Lexus transmission" or other "key things to watch out for". However, you will be making a big mistake if you think a Toyota / Lexus makes a good "beater car" that can withstand alot of driver abuse and preventive maintenance neglect. The legendary reliability / durability of a Toyota / Lexus is dependent on the car receiving all it's scheduled maintenance on time. And the maintenance involves much more than "lube oil, filter" every 5,000 miles. So the "key things to watch out for" is extensive preventive maintenance service records + gaining some knowledge about the driving style of the former owner. SC300 owners may tend to be younger, boy racer types of drivers so those cars may be more subject to considerable suspension, steering linkage and drivetrain mechanical wear and tear. ES300 owners tend to be older and less aggressive drivers and the ideal one to find would be one that was gently and calmly driven + had extensive preventive maintenance service records. Naturally, such primo cars tend to command a higher than average price, but they are well worth it. If money is tight, you probably should not be considering a Lexus because then you might fall into the trap of buying a low priced used Lexus with an unknown or spotty service history. Then later you might find out the hard way the car needs $5,000 - $10,000 worth of repairs to make it a reliable daily driver.

Go to lexus.com. Click on Owners Register your LX470 using the Vehicle Identification Number found on your dashboard or door sill. Once registered, click on "My Garage" Near the bottom of the page that is displayed click on Owners Manual Then click on the link for "2004 Lexus OM Supplement: Scheduled Maintenance Intervals" That will display the Maintenance Schedule of all Lexus vehicles (except the RX330)

Your 1995 Ford Contour's Z-Tec 4 cylinder engine was Designed by Ford of Europe, not by American Ford engineers http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/F/Ford-Zetec-engine.htm The hydraulic valve lifters of your engine (prior to 1998) were a source of mechanical trouble.

For several years the Bridgestone EL42 has been standard equipment on a number of high quality Japanese cars like the Infiiniti G35, Nissan Altima and Mitisubishi Galant to name a few. 30,000 miles of tread life is possible http://www.epinions.com/pr-Tires-Bridgesto...isplay_~reviews So I think you are making a big deal over nothing. Simply rotate your tires every 5,000 miles for long treadlife just as you would need to with any other tire.

Toyotas built at NUMMI (Fremont, Calif.) are 100% Toyota (except for batteries and some alternators and radiators in some cases) The Chevy Nova / Geo Prism joint venture had 100% Toyota Corolla drivetrain, body and other mechanicals, except battery and radiator. Some minor interior stuff like seat fabric was GM. I know all this because I put 234,000 miles on a '86 Chevy Nova built at NUMMI and I still own a 453,000 mile '92 Toyota pickup built at NUMMI The pickup was truly 100% Toyota including the battery, alternator and radiator. The Ford / Mazda joint venture is an entirely different kind of matter involving junk Ford mechanical componets going into Mazda products like the Mazda pickup and causing poor reliability ratings for the Mazda pickups.

Toyota hasn't done hardly any merger / joint venture stuff, but the American car companies have. Like I'd be willing to bet the engine of ArmyofOne's 375,000 mile Ford Coutour is either Japanese (Ford owns 25% of Mazda) or European, not American which could explain why the engine held up well.

Have you been using a name brand premium gasoline for the past 100,000 miles? If not, there's one possible source of the problem Has a Lexus dealer or Lexus specialty shop been working on this fuel delivery problem or an ordinary independent shop mechanic? If the latter, independent shop mechanic are notorious for lacking Toyota / Lexus specific troubleshooting experience.

Most Asian cars like your ES300 are about twice as reliable and durable as most American and European cars, especially if they are maintained using factory original Asian parts, fluids, lubes and filters. The correct Asian (Denso) filter to use in your '03 ES300 is Toyota part # 90915-YZZD1. The parts departments of Toyota dealers carry this filter for about $6.00 and they are sometimes on sale for $4-5. 1sttoyotaparts.com will sell any Toyota part for 28% off which means the 90915-YZZD1 will cost even less than $4 The 1MZ-FE engine in your ES300 is identical to the 1MZ-FE engine used in the '03 Toyota Camry so you can buy filters, fluids and most parts for your ES300 from Toyota dealers.

The ES330 brochure says (capitals my emphasis) : "Tires fitted with 17 inch wheels are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life MAY be substantially less than 20,000 miles, DEPENDING ON DRIVING CONDITIONS. Solutions are simple: 1. Rotate your tires every 5000 miles. Since you are a conservative driver, you may get 30,000 miles of life or more if you keep up with the rotations. 2. When tire replacement is necessary, simply buy a long wearing all season tire in the 215/55VR17 tire size and you may get around 50,000 miles of tire life if you keep up with the 5000 mile rotations. Ultimate solution: Get 16" wheels on ebay and then sell your 17" on ebay The Lexus salesmen lied to you if he really said all ES330's come to the USA with 17" wheels. Lots come here with 16's. Always remember a Lexus dealer is run by Americans, not the Japanese and there's nothing corporate Lexus can do to change our American automotive industry culture which has always included a number of liers, cheaters and manipulators.

The RX300 owners manual lists the proper Denso or NGK spark plugs to use and warns against using any other spark plug. So why are you using German spark plugs in your Asian vehicle?

The 22re requires proper cooling system care, regular tune ups and an unabusive driving style to go 500K just like any other Toyota / Lexus engine. Alot are abused and neglected so end up in the junkyard at only 125-250K.

If you are the original owner and have driven the truck gently to moderately then yes you can safely extend the timing belt change to 120,000. Toyota uses an extra heavy duty timing belt on interference engines like yours for an extra margin of safety against timing belt failure. Hard charging, pedal to the metal type drivers need to change the timing belt at 90,000 500,000-700,000 miles is the life expectancy of a gently driven and perfectly maintained Toyota engine. All Toyota engines, not just the 22R series.

Run the air conditioner at least 5 minutes each time you drive it to preserve the life of the AC compressor and compressor seals. When you first turn on the AC system after a period of non-usage, do it only with the engine at idling speed.

In southeastern Canada and northeastern USA the exterior fins of radiators can corrode from road salt exposure.

A Lexus is a Toyota and Toyotas nearly always have some body integrity type deficiencies during the first year of a new body design. Most are fixed during the second year of production but sometimes not all are found and cured until the third year of production. Meanwhile, a new problem or two may crop up because one of Toyotas suppliers accidentally shipped defective parts. 100% perfection is the goal, but it remains an elusive goal even for Toyota and Honda. You might consider picking up the April issue of Consumer Reports and look at the reliability & defect problems that Mercedes, Jaguar, BMW, Volvo, Volkswagen and Saab have. Those makes actually have as many or more problems than American luxury cars. Audi appears to be the only European car with at least an average reliability rating.

Transmission hesitation is a normal characteristic of the 5-speed automatic and electronic throttle. Injector ticking = an annoyance issue (and Lexus has a fix) Front suspension noise over bumps = annoyance issue Leaking rear window seal = cosmetic "body integrity" issue Both sunvisors broke = cosmetic "body integrity" issue Roof rack rails locks broke = cosmetic "body integrity" issue Peeling undercoating = cosmetic "body integrity" issue Hood stay failed, would not hold hood open = cosmetic "body integrity" issue A "lemon", to my knowledge, is a car with multiple serious mechanical problems that make the car undrivable and your car has had none.

Let us know if the engine still loses coolant and overheats or if that problem has been solved by the new radiator

You havn't mentioned any mechanical problems with your '04 RX330, just cosmetic and annoyance type problems. I wonder if the Lemon Law applies to cosmetic problems? The April issue of Consumer Reports is now on the newstands. The RX300/330 earned the highest possible score for owner satisfaction. The '04 RX330 earned the highest possible scores in every reliability category except "Body Integrity" (dash rattles), although even Body Integrity was rated above average.

Toyota dealers sell aerosol cans of "Toyota High Performance Penetrating Lubricant" Spray it on any rusted bolt every day for a few days before attempting removal and remarkably, bolts that seemed hopelessly rusted will unscrew slowly but surely. Alternate loosening and tightening in small increments.

My '92 Toyota pickup can top that by a small margin and it still passes tough California smog with its factory original catalytic converter http://www.saber.net/~monarch/smog92.jpg While a rare Ford / Chevy may go 375,000, it's on its last legs by then and has had alot of problems along the way whereas a 400,000 mile Toyota engine can still have like new compression and low emissions with alot of good running years left. Example: I'm going on a 350 mile trip tomorrow in my 453,000 Toyota and have no fears of it breaking down on me.

Study the LS400 power steering archives. It could take you a whole day because there is so much info there. Both here and at ClubLexus.com. Replacing hoses and pumps is probably a waste because they are really not likely worn out yet and not the source of your whine. More likely the steering rack solenoid filter screen is clogged and needs to be cleaned. The metal filter screen inside the fluid reservoir could also be blocked. Blockages = high pressures, leaks and whines.

> Just change oil every 3K miles. Oh > you WILL have to change that soon since the oil add pkg will be almost > zero and the OXD and NOX will be very high. In the real world, 5,000 mile oil change intervals with conventional have taken many Toyotas driven by sales reps and couriers to 500,000 miles and beyond. Back around 1975 when only API "SD" and "SE" grade conventional oils were available Toyota engines were still lasting 600,000 miles despite the primitive oil additive packages available back then (by todays standards). > I have better things to do with my time/family and using a > synthetic and going longer will provide the same protection > and in most times better You seem to have quite a bit of time to collect samples of your used Amsoil for analysis, package the samples, address and mail the samples and you have money for postage and money for the analysis and even more time to pay the bill that comes in the mail for the analysis . > Even Mobil and Mobil EP is better then dino, much better. In real world service, the durability limit for Toyota engines before they need an overhaul due to oil burning or because they suffer from sudden catastrophic failure due to excessive wear of one or more reciprocating parts has been around 650,000 -700,000 miles regardless if synthetic or conventional oil was used. Amsoil and Mobil 1 have been on the market for 30 years, but I have never heard of a Toyota or Asian car owner who attained 500,000+ miles of engine life using your strategy of 12,000+ mile oil changes. > Ps. your numbers 1 through 7 are comical at best...worry > about internal ohms of the wires...you crack me up...Or > worrying about the catalytic converter. You can check 4 of > those items in about 30 seconds. Those items are not > even an issue Those items have an important influence the physical loads that must be endured by the pistons, rings, valves and associated bearings as well as the temperatures of those parts. Any deviations from the ideal fuel mixture, ideal ignition of the fuel mixture and ideal temperature of the combustion chamber causes higher physical loads, higher temperatures and hence more rapid mechanical wear and metal fatigue. > Again you trust Toyota info way to much. As in my > engineering classes we were always tought to never assume things. You were not educated in a Japanese engineering school. Toyota's reputation for reliability and durability is legendary around the world. Corporate Toyota has earned the public's trust (although Toyota dealers have not always, but that's because dealers are run by Americans over whom corporate Toyota has little control).

What test numbers could be more convincing than this?: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/cole2.JPG This is true real world durability data. Perhaps you don't understand that even conventional oils that score "poorly" in your oil analysis tests are still capable of enabling a Toyota engine to last 600,000 miles if changed every 3000-5000 miles. That's why it's silly for a Toyota / Lexus owner to agonize over the choice of motor oil they use. A Toyota / Lexus owner owner who aspires to achieve 600,000 miles needs to be concerned about far more important things that affect engine life such as: 1. Is my cooling system thermostat getting lazy and worn out? 2. Are my oxygen sensors getting lazy and worn out? 3. Are leaves and bugs accumulating on my radiator and air conditioning condenser? 4. Is electrical resistance building up in my spark plug wires? 5. Is my catalytic converter deteriorating internally and increasing exhaust back pressure? 6. Are my engines intake and exhaust valve clearances getting out of spec.? 7. etc. etc.

Last year here on the west coast it was routine to see strippper '04 ES330's on dealers lots like this one: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/33114.jpg without the wood / leather steering wheel