SW03ES

But again, aluminum wheels cannot rust, and the wheel surface is painted on the inside anyways so the moisture issue is moot.

Cool, keep us posted!

And Lexus black has no clearcoat, so its very soft.

LOL, I'm not a Lexus dealer...I just simply disagree with you "Dr. Cantu". More car companies disable nav functions when driving than do not, thats a simple fact. If its a big deal to you, by all means spend $50,000 more on a BMW or Mercedes. After all, like you said...its only money... As for your "lawsuit" you had an opportunity to test drive the car before you bought it, I'd bet money you'd loose any lawsuit. Caveat emptor.

Welcome to the site! I always feel for people who care about their car's condition and live in NYC. Thats got to be one of the most nice-car-unfriendly places on earth. The package your dealer offered you was most likely a paint sealant, wouldn't help against door dings and isn't worth it. One question only you can answer, how much time are you willing to devote to your vehicle on a weekly and quarterly basis? And at what level do you want to maintain the vehicle's finish? It may make the most sense for you to hire a professional to maintain the car for you.

Run...run away. "Teflon" coating cannot be done with a wax-type product. There are plenty of products out there that claim to have "Teflon" but its a snake oil. In order to be applied and have any effect Teflon needs to be baked on at over 600 degrees. I don't think you'd want to do that to a car... What your guy is doing is waxing your plane...and your car. Thats all it is...

I heard Bruce Wayne Enterprises was heavily invested in Lehman Brothers lol

I don't see it going back up anytime soon, demand has got to stop falling through the floor, I personally think we may see $.99 a gallon gas before this is over...

I have heard good things about the Versados, I have a friend who has them on his '06 ES330 and likes them. However, my previous experience with Toyo tires is that they start out great, and then get very loud as they age, specifically past about 15,000 miles. This experience has been shared with others here with several different models of Toyo tires. So...I personally would never spend money on a set of Toyo tires again. I've been running Michelin LTX M/S on the Explorer I had before the Lexus for years, my folks still have that truck as a third vehicle and its now on its third set of LTX M/S tires (installed 6 mos ago) and it has 190,000 miles. The first set went on at about 25,000 miles. So do the math, thats 80,000 miles a set, and the last set had plenty of tread, they were simply starting to get dry rotted from age and sitting out in the sun not being driven much on. I would only run these tires in an SUV personally, quiet & smooth and very long lasting. Not overly expensive either...

Who knows...ask the rat why they chose the ES. Animals do weird and random things. What you're saying is like claiming its Lexus fault because a tree fell on your ES, and didn't fall on your other two cars all parked together. Or because a vandal smashed all the ES' windows and left the other cars untouched. Its random acts of an outside force at work, and Lexus cannot be held responsible for that. Thats why you have insurance

Again...your truck is 10 years old and does not have the water based eco-friendly paint we are talking about. Trucks and SUVs tend to be less prone to road debris also because they sit higher up...

$220 is really inexpensive for the 15k at a Lexus dealer... I think I paid closer to $400.

Have they looked at it? You would be surprised how lightly a modern car has to be hit to bend the frame...

You're talking about the GS300, we're talking about the ES330. Totally different cars. I'm well aware of creaking issues on the new GS, but they are different and not as widespread on the ES. This repair does not involve replacing the cowl on the ES, its simply adding some bushing to keep the two parts from rubbing together.

If anything its probably less prone to damage...the semi-analine leather is dyed all the way through, as opposed to painted like the normal leather. Can you post a picture of the staining?

That doesn't look like the Lexus OEM batteries I've had... Does everybody else's RX battery look like that? Does the battery say Lexus on the front? That doesn't look like a maintenance free battery...

I think the issue is that with all the features and functions they are putting into these vehicles, touchscreens are too difficult. The mouse idea is great...providing it works well. I've never used a system that I thought worked well, Audis is okay. Infiniti now uses a joystick AND a touchscreen. The Joystick also means that they can move the screen up towards the windshield which makes visability safer and better, and it leaves them more room to keep HVAC and radio controls on the dash as opposed to having to integrate them into the screen...

The new X5 is nice, but waaaaaay too many reliability glitches for me.

They constantly make little refinements in process, Lexus doesn't wait until the end of the model year to make improvements. The 08 had a couple slight changes from the '07, but I don't know of any in the '09. I would work out a deal on an '08 and call it a day.

There is a TSIB for this issue, the plastic in the windshield cowl rubs which causes the creaking. Its a very easy fix and was done to mine years ago. Ask the dealer to search their TSIB database.

I don't want to bum you out, but that car doesn't exist. They never made the Ultra or Custom Luxury packages with the silver interior, only in black or in ecru (really light ivory). Sorry...

Any drivability problems? That might be a significant repair, lots of possibilities for frame damage...

So...it is maintenance free.

My dealer puts remote start systems in the keyless cars...

Its the only reason LOL. My ES doesn't have one, but our Prius does. I hate that light. You can reset it yourself though. I don't think they can do it on purpose, its just on or off and the only interval is 5,000 miles.