Lexusfreak

Male

you give them an out because you don't specify your expectation. "As best as possible" can be interpreted by them as meaning "not possible" within their expertise. Putting it in writing is always a good idea. But writing it so there is no misunderstanding or room for interpretation is better.When you find something you've been looking for or something that not much else can substitute, you wind up putting up with oversights but it does make you check things twice and a little closer. It sounds like the service mgr could be a good one. Easy to consider the dealership incompetent or careless. Depends on what his explanations were. It doesn't give you much confidence though does it? One thing to consider once your present dealer gives it a final service, would be to take the car to another dealer for a complete inspection. Better still, since your in Canada, call the APA. They can refer you to an approved garage that does only inspections - no repairs. They will give you a complete written report on every part of your car for about $125. Nothing overlooked. Last poiint: stay cool and calm and you'll get more co-operation. It sounds like that's what you did anyway since the mgr was apologetic and is willing to remedy things at their cost. Trust should be earned and not assumed. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out. The car was originally in their used car showroom (from the pics I posted). The day I test drove & purchased the car, it was snowing & roads were slightly slick so when we returned to the dealership the car was a little dirty which hampered & masked my inspection somewhat. The car I thought drove very well overall & one must keep in mind that it is a pre-owned vehicle.....not brand new, right out of the box if you will. I did spot the slight scrape on the rear bumper however......which was mentioned on the bill of sale. For the most part.....I guess I just needed to vent more than anything else when I got home from my local Lexus dealer......I was very angry about the steering knuckle more than any 'cosmetic' issue.......like I said, the selling dealer is 2 hours away & I drove the car home not knowing about the steering knuckle defect.....why was I so mad? Well I was glad my Wife & 9 month old son did not come with me the day I take delivery if you know what I'm saying. One of the reasons I wanted to buy only from another Lexus dealer.....what their throughness & attention to detail when going over the car which gave me piece of mind :whistles: .....that since has been lost. Missing a defective part like that was inexcuseable even for a regular Ontario 'certification' (at 'Bob's' used car lot) never mind a Lexus CPO 150+ point inspection. :chairshot: I will stay calm & will report on how things will be looked after in the coming days......but I think I will be taken care of moving forward by the sound of things. B)

I've owned my 'new' 2005 ES 330 for 2 weeks now....(Lexus CPO still under full factory warranty) & I have noticed some concerns that I wanted to get some feedback on. Sorry if this is a bit of a long thread. First off, I should say that I am a bit disappointed with the selling dealer (2 hours away & I bought the car off the sales manager himself with no sales reps involved) for the following reasons......I purchased this car on a Saturday & gave the dealer a full week to prep the car which I felt was more than enough time to get the car in CPO condition (IE going over the entire car with a fine tooth comb, order parts accordingly....and maybe perhaps follow what was on the bill of sale.....Imagine that! ). :whistles: This morning I took the car into my local dealership for some warranty items... - The power passenger mirror moves left & right, but not up & down (this was one of the first items I listed on the bill of sale with the selling dealer which they said they would address.....they 'forgot' to order the part! Fine.....it's under warranty and my local dealer has ordered the complete mirror assembly. - The exterior 'B' pillar mouldings are pitted (which is quite common apparently on these cars) which should have been addressed during CPO.....it was not......my local dealer has ordered replacements....under warranty. - I ordered (and paid for) a set of Lexus all weather rubber floor mats.....they have clip holes in order to be secured properly. First, all front clips were missing (replaced by my local dealer) & the service manager said that they are the wrong floor mats for the ES 330! Does anybody know the correct part number for these mats for the 2005 ES? The back ones appear to be fine and fit properly. - After going over the car myself in the last couple of days (picture me on my hands & knees checking things out!), I noticed that the rear wheel fender linings (plastic & on both sides) have slight tears in them in the '10 O'clock position on the passenger side & about the 2 O'clock position on the drivers side....these roughly 'half inch' tears will allow the salt & moisture inside the rear fender area now.....the service manager said that this is the result of damage (he was scratching his head as to how the heck that happened) and is NOT covered. - The OE 17" alloys have some pretty bad damage & chips as the result of stones & beleive it or not.....from air gun damage & are chipped by the lug nuts! My service manager said again this is the result of damage & not covered. - The rear bumper on the passenger side has a slight scrape on it & I asked to have it 'buffed' out & touched up as best as possible (in writting on the bill of sale). This was not done & the sales manager said he was worried about making it worse than it was! - Now heres the last item now....and this is the kicker.....at the dealership today, the service manager drove the car about 150 feet to one of the service bays.....he immediately came back after taking the car to his tech & asked me if I noticed any type of noise in the steering wheel while driving.....I said yes but explained that I was still getting to know my new vehicle and was not sure if this was normal or not.......long story short, the steering knuckle needs replacement! :chairshot: This is an item that should have been caught without question during the CPO inspection as it is quite a popular thing to go on the car apparently & is a safety issue (they have a revised steering knuckle and the part has been ordered under warranty). But the service manager was questioning (and shaking his head) how well they went over this car & now so am I. He also advised me not to drive on the highway for a few days just in case & until they replace the item. To put it mildly, I am p ed! Now I have contacted the sales manager of my selling dealer......he is going to address ALL my concerns (including switching all 4 alloys with another ES 330 on his lot). I expected to get some resistance, but he is actually been quite embarassed....especially with the steering knuckle issue. I spoke with him in a polite & calm way.....and was prepared to tell him I will go to Lexus Canada directly if need be, but the conversation never went that far which I am happy about. Now my question to everyone is what is the best course of action here? I will make an appointment to take the car back to my selling dealer for some of these items (others will be addressed at my local dealer as mentioned under warranty). I want them to re-CPO the vehicle at their expense because I'm wondering if they 'missed or forgot' anything else here (the big thing I did get under the CPO is the rear rotors & pads were replaced). This sort of paints a bad picture of my vehicle.....but the appearance of the car is actually in fantastic condition & all service records were present and accounted for.....just an FYI & I do not regret this purchase (the blue shale mica is one of the most difficult colours to find and was what I wanted). Any thoughts or opinions.....I am all ears.

To siphon the old PS fluid out of the resovoir.

Oil

Could be a number of things......when was the last time the car had a full major tune up? Also possible that there is carbon build up in the throttle body. Did the car throw any codes (IE check engine light etc)?

Ensure

As far as I know (depending on the equipment package on the ES 330 as the base & 'appearance' packages does not have TC or VSC) there is a VSC off button on the lower right drivers side of the dash. It also explains things in detail in the owners manual.....if you don't have one, I highly suggest contacting Lexus to get one.....I think they are free. B)

Very sweet looking ride Pete! And for that price? It's just awesome! Enjoy. :D

As mentioned, find one with Traction Control, get a set (4) of good winter tires with a little weight in the trunk....you'll be just fine. :)

Definately invest in winter rubber if your going with the RWD LS.....especially for us in the Southwestern Ontario or GTA (it's a mix of freezing rain & ice pellets currently here in London).

I was going to ask the same question. ;) Congrats on the new ride!

Park ave & Buick's are an excellent choice......but you will get the stigma that goes along with it (the average age of a Buick driver is dead or has one foot in the grave & the other on a banana peel...take your pick) lol. My Dad's owned Buicks for the last 20 years (Buick's trump Chevy's for overall quality & design imo).....I too owned a 1991 Buick Riviera which was a beautiful ride & they are good cars. For someone younger though I'd stick with the Regal or even the Regal GS (Grand Sport). But you have to watch the GS......supercharged 3.8L V6 & insurance premiums! :whistles:

Gonna have to give the nod to the Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren due out soon. It's got 617-hp, 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 with 575 pound-feet of torque. Maybe not the baddest.....but deserves to be on the list. ;) In my personal opinion however (again not the baddest perhaps) the Aston Martin DBS & DB9 models are just s*x on wheels! :whistles: :D

For the PS fluid, all I do is pick myself up an empty spray bottle at the dollar store......drain as much fluid out of the resovoir as possible (which is almost all of it) & refill it with Amsoil Synthetic ATF (makes a huge difference over conventional Dexron III ATF....especially in very cold weather). Total cost is about $6.00 & I do it every 2 years or 30k miles. I've been doing that for years now on my power steering systems......never had a single problem. ;)

If the LS is anything like the current ES, it should be a lifetime fluid. Is nothing mentioned about that in the owners manual?

If you take your time & find one in good enough condition that's been well looked after, sure that's possible. You won't be able to compare driving an Impala to any Lexus though.....one you drive all 3 (LS, ES & Impala) you will more than likely take the Impala off your list all together. :) How much are you looking to spend (ballpark)?

I like those Yoko's you mentioned......however for your RX, I'm inclined to suggest you put the Michelins on. I think they will be the quieter of the two. :)

The intake manifolds are a problem for GM on most of their V6 (OHV) engines.....not just the 3.8. In fact, they are one of the better V6's overall that GM offers in the midsize class for the early 2000's models.....I'll take GM's new 3.6L V6's any day however. ;)

Again, it depends on mileage & condition. I did consider an Impala at one point myself (use to be a GM guy)......but at the end of the day, it's still a Chevy & one can't compare it (or any of GM's midsize sedans for that matter) to a Lexus. I'd go for a Regal over the Impala personally.....and one thing is for sure......I would only get the 3.8L V6 from GM.....but that engine is so ancient it's not funny. ;) Stay very clear of Caddy's though.....especially if there is no warranty left.

I'm searching for early Lexus magazine articles, write up, reviews, comparisons etc from Car & Driver, Motor Trend or Road & Track (or all of em lol) dating back to the late 80's (1989 I'm guessing), &/or early 90's on the original Lexus LS400 (early 90's I'm looking for the same for the second generation 92 ES300). Does anyone have or know of the specific magazine (including month & year) that has this info in it? I want to try & get these issues off e-bay at some point, but I don't have enough info to go on. Or if anyone has them & are willing to part with them, please let me know. Any help is appreciated. B)

Yup that's correct Steve. :) I managed to get a free copy of it too.....compliments of our friend Steviej. B)

It really depends on the year Lexus you get & naturally the condition. Do you have a rough time frame on when your looking to buy? :)

Might want to give the ES some serious consideration (I'm on my second one myself) in addition to the LS & GS (drive all of them to find out what you like). Lexus or not, I'm more than happy to assist when the time comes though. :)

Not sure how many folks are aware, but there are two Lexus Books in Print available (that I am aware of anyways). One is called 'The Lexus Story' & the other is 'Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit'. Both are excellent reads that explains how the Lexus brand was conceived, became the best selling Luxury automaker etc. Another good book is called The Toyota Way that gives insight to the company's entire process of manufacturing (The Toyota Production System etc) & management principals that have made Toyota Motor Corp one of the most efficient companies in the world today. I have all 3 (currently reading Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit) & just wanted to share that if anyone was interested in what makes Lexus/Toyota tick.....pick yourself up a copy & enjoy! B)