SW03ES

Thats a question for the ES300 forum, you should post it in there as a seperate thread.

You need to make VERY sure the car has complete oil change records. The engine in the 97-01 ES is very prone to oil sludging and gelling even when oil change intervals are slightly drawn out. Personally? I would not buy any 97-01 ES unless it had complete oil change records showing strict changes every 5k miles and the dealer agreed to have the valve covers removed for inspection for sludge at their expense. Sludge is a catastrophic failure and results in basically the engine needing to be replaced. there is no way to check for it except pulling the valve covers.

I've always said both of my Dad's LS's, his 98 and his 04 have always gotten better mileage than my ES... I dont think the LS would cannabalize GS sales though, the GS and LS are too different. ES sales maybe.

Check out www.aaarims.com....

This is great advice. In fact, I'd go ahead and replace the starter even if you aren't having any problems now....you will.

I have 2005 es330, 34422 miles, just started exhibiting this low speed turning clunk problem. Just out of 4 year warranty. I am a new member and don't see any replies to this thread. How dangerous is this and what is the approximate repair cost? Thanks for any reponse. No idea how expensive it would be...expensive. I would take it in right now and try and get them to cover it under warranty, if you stay firm about it, I bet they will since your car is so low mileage and just out of the warranty based on time.

Yeah but a V6 never feels as effortless as a V8...

I think $350 sounds cheap... I wouldn't balk at $350 to replace ANYTHING on a Lexus pretty much...

Gotta have snow tires. Its a pig in the snow with allseasons.

I've tried a bunch of tires...but I just keep coming back to the Michelins. They really are a great tire, so smooth and quiet, never have any balancing or unusual wear issues. Check out the new Primacy MXV4, it has a higher treadwear rating (620), and you can do H rated to save some cash.

I too have consistently had fiber problems using MFs on glass. Some do it, some don't in my experience...very frustrating. I have one that works well and I use that, newspaper works very well too.

Hey everybody. Well I took the afternoon off today and a buddy of mine and I went downtown to the Auto show. First time I've been on a weekday and it was great, very few people there and we were able to spend a lot of time with a lot of new cars. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on some cars that stood out to me. Lexus Of course I spent most of my time there ;) IS convertible I was very impressed with the new IS convertible. It was on a turnstile so I couldn't sit in it but it its a very good looking vehicle and I'm sure it will sell well. A smart replacement for the SC430 I think, which is outgoing this year. RX350 & RX450h I was more lukewarm about this vehicle. I like the changes they made to the exterior, less minivanish much like the new Highlander was too. However, I was dissapointed in the interior. My opinion was similar to the reaction I had when I first saw the ES350. The new RX has more wood trim than the ES which is good, but I am continually dissapointed in their decisions to use thinner and cheaper feeling plastics and materials. The new mouse controller works really well, which is an upside. Toyota One the whole, one thing I've noticed is Toyota has decided to use new and weird textures on their interior materials and their leather seats. Wavy lines, leaf textures etc. Very strange and makes the leather surfaces look unnatural. Its all over their new models. Venza I really like this vehicle. Its kind of like a big Matrix, very comfortable, well laid out controls and this I've actually driven and its very nice. Very reasonably priced too fully loaded around $35k. I'd say this is a very good competitor for the Ford Edge which I also like. Prius The new 2010 Prius was on display. And shockingly...I actually LIKE the way it looks! Its much lower and leaner looking than the current Prius with some nice bodywork lines. The interior has a more normal driving postion too. This Prius may actually be purchased by people because of its styling...not despite it. Solar panel in the roof adds to the air conditioning. Well done. I would choose to drive this Prius, whereas ours I only drive when I have to. Hyundai Genesis I'm continually impressed by how much car this is for the money. Very well made, excellent materials, great seats, awesome stereo. Great car...I'd like to test drive one. I was impressed by all the models, and I really feel that on the whole these cars feel higher quality than the current crop of Toyotas. I was surprised by how cheap the current Camry feels when compared to the Acccord and Sonata. I still say, we need to watch Hyundai. BMW 7 Series They had the new 7 on display. Nice car, however I wasn't blown away by it. Its an improvement over the current 7, but the front kidney grills are huge, and they whole front clip feels less substantial than the current car. Very nice interior, typical great BMW seats and layout. The dashboard had a kind of retro BMW feel to it which my friend actually noticed but he's right, not sure how I feel about it... 1 Series I've seen these on the road but haven't sat in one. Its a weird looking little car, looks like a scruched up 3 series... Audi A5 Nice luxury coupe a'la BMW 6. A8 I'm continually impressed by how well this car has held up. It still feels fresh and desirable, beautiful interior. Hard to believe this body style has been around since 2004. Buick Lacrosse The all new Lacrosse was there, on a turntable. I was very, very impressed with this car. The whole goal of this car isaimes squarely at the ES350, and I gotta say I was impressed. Its a very good looking car, very nice interior. They literally reverse engineered an ES350 and made this car smoother, quieter, more powerful, more luxurious etc. A ride and drive will tell but its a looker. Ford Taurus New Taurus was there on a turntable. VERY impressive! Great looking car, great looking interior. Its a considerable car, if you can believe it it looks bigger than the current Taurus/FiveHundred. I'll have to sit in one and drive one before I pass final judgement, but I'd definately drive one of these cars before a Camry. Fusion Very impressed with this car too. I'm so impressed by Ford, its very obvious they're several steps ahead of GM and definately Chrysler. Lincoln MKS I've said before how much I like this car, well built, pretty good looking (a little awkward from a couple angles). MKZ New body style for this Fusion variant. BIG difference from the previous car which was hideous. Nice interior, they're ditching the weird flat retro looking interiors which is great. MKT This was on a turntable. Very nice new crossover-SUV. Like the styling inside and out, much more attractive than the Navigator. I'm also very impressed with Lincoln. All the new cars were very fresh and young feeling with great features like Sync and adjustable color cabin lighting. Very exciting. Not a Town Car in sight! Nissan Maxima The new Maxima, on top of being a beautiful car IMHO, has a great interior and is a lot of car for the money, again, I'd much rather be driving this than a Camry. Mazda 3 I've always liked the Mazda 3. In fact before we bought the Prius I wanted a little 3 5 door hatchback. The new 3 is a slightly bigger car with a great interior, excellent quality. Front end is a little odd, but distinctive. If I were buying an economy car I would buy this car, no question. It was a good show, lots of new product from all the different carmakers. All in all I was impressed by the quality of EVERYTHING. Everybody has really stepped up their game.

I sat in the new RX350 today at the DC Auto Show and saw the RX450h (it was up on a pedestal, couldn't sit in it). I liked the exterior of the vehicles, but I have to say I was dissapointed in the interior of the new car vs the old car. The swooping dashboard is odd, the screen is nice and the mouse-controller works very well, but materialwise and designwise I have to say I'm afraid my opinion is similar to when I first sat in the ES350 and compared it to the previous ES. I think material quality has taken a downgrade...

LOL, foul play was my first thought too...

Yeah I'd agree with Randy, Val-U brand bomb or a bunch of morons planned it.

Here's a picture:

You should talk to a Bankruptcy attorney in your state. It varies a lot from state to state... Also, in the current climate don't be afraid to contact your creditors, tell them that you are in or are approaching a difficult situation and ask them to work with you. They will, its better for them and for you than bankruptcy. Sorry to hear about your job. We just found out that my wife's company is going to be closing in June and they laid off half the support staff in my office yesterday....its tough out there.

Its such a shame Hyundai didn't bite the bullet and create a luxury division. These cars are so much car for the money, and what ultimately will stop them from being completely successful is the American obsession with brand.

BMW with the 3 and 5 series.

That does sound weird...

LOL... It looks like it was definately a bomb, the blast distorted the metal frame of the car and the explosion was heard as much as a mile away.

I never have... You just never know, maybe the guy borrowed money from the wrong people, etc...

No coach edition on the LS430. I think what you mean is the Ultra Luxury package. It has a lot of neat goodies, but the concern is about the air suspension system and how expensive it would be down the line to repair...

The latest, the ATF does believe there was some sort of bomb involved...

Did they actually review the Hummer? Sometimes if they haven not actually reviewed the cars they don't have any stats.