SW03ES

Its not really a breach of contract, you put down a refundable deposit, they're not contracted to deliver anything. When I ordered my car way back when they ordered the wrong interior color. People screw things up...thats life. Call around to some other dealers and see what they have, but right now 08s are going to be hard to find...

4100k. All OEM HID systems in the US are 4100k, its the only street legal temperature.

The second dealer may not have recieved the call or the person they spoke to may not have been able to link it up with you at the time. Dealers WANT to do warranty work...Lexus pays them. I'd give em another shot. All cars loosen up, but I've had multiple lexus cars to well over 100k miles and they don't start wandering in lanes... The MXV4s are great tires, check the pressure. If the pressure is high or low (the dealer always WAY over-inflates the tires) it can make the steering twitchy and the car wander. Check the door panel for the pressure, on mine its 29PSI, but mine has 16 inch wheels and yours has 17s I bet yours is slightly higher. If the alignment is in spec as per an independent source, its got to be something else... As for them hiding a problem, your issue is hardly a problem across the model line. I've never heard this complaint before. Sometimes individual cars have specific issues...

It only applies if your previous ES was financed through LFS. It has to be the previous ES you are replacing.

I think your problems with the lower octane are in the fuel economy arena, your figures are pretty low. If you calculate the difference in cost between regular and premium over the life of that car and look at the figures others are getting with the same car, I bet using regular has cost you a lot of money...

My moneys on the steering wheel being cranked too far...

I wouldnt hold it against him as long as he's willing to flush it and put the proper coolant in for free. Every service manual for the car specified the red long life coolant. It was his mistake...

Happy Birthday Steve! We have entirely too many Steves involved in the site, some of us are going to have to change our names lol

You wear the key around your neck? Why? I've heard this from a few people, that they don't know what to do with the key if its not in the ignition. Why would you just not keep your keys in your pocket? Thats the whole point of the system. I just keep mine in my pocket.

No need to create a specific forum, this forum covers all Lexus hybrids.

No, Lexus dealers actually don't usually do glass replacement, they have a mobile replacement company come to the dealership to do it, the same company you could hire on your own. I would ask your dealer who they refer glass replacement to. Glass replacement is a very specialized skill and requires special tools, dealers aren't equipped to do it. Don't get hung up on the fact that its a "Lexus" and its an "OEM Lexus windshield". Its just a car and its just a windshield, these guys have plenty of experience replacing glass on far more exotic and expensive cars, it'll be fine. Safelite's very respected. I would ask your dealer for a referral, look around on Consumers Checkbook and Yahoo local for reviews and find a good shop. I prefer stationary shops to mobile shops personally, but it probably doesn't matter. Do you have rain sensing wipers? If so there is a sensor mounted next to the rearview mirror. You will need to tell the shop this so they can order the correct glass. When the car comes back I'd go over it carefully to make sure nothing on the dashboard, headliner, A pillars, hood, roof, etc has been scratched or damaged. The windshield will have tape on the top of it that you'll have to leave there for a couple days. The interior will smell of urethane from the adhesive. Its nasty but it'll go away in a few days. Relax, it really will be fine. I've had a bunch of windshields replaced over the years, including on Lexus cars and its really not a big deal. OEM glass is the way to go and you're doing that.

AZ, Really? How do you like it? I'd love to trade our Prius on one, but the other half insists it be a Hybrid and I don't want to pay $47k for the Highlander Hybrid. The new Highlander is a great vehicle. As for Mr. Banker, if he needs guidance as to what are appropriate ways to participate in an exchange on this forum he needs to only look at his own posts in the other thread. Absolutely nothing wrong with them...

IMHO thats why you have one vehicle that works well for family duty (Bren's Forrester and your 4Runner) and one nice luxury sedan. Who needs both cars to serve family duty?

Those tutorials are from the Autopia detailing community, we've partnered with them on this sort of thing over the years. Holly is the girlfriend of DavidB, Autopia's owner. I believe they broke up some years ago...

Yeah why does she have to change a flat? Lexus Roadside, and when that runs out just get AAA. I haven't changed a flat in many, many years. Its a MUCH better car without the runflats... And no, Lexus started putting a spare in because almost all owners get rid of the runflats when they replace their tires because of their incredible cost. You're talking about $1200-$1500 to put new runflats on that car...thats madness.

the 02-04 has HID headlamps too, they're just reflectors not projectors.

Disagreeing with people is fine, just loose the attitude. Even in that response...still full of attitude. Again, its a Lexus forum, Lexus is going to be people's favorite car. On Infiniti forums I'm sure its Infiniti. Engage people all you want, just cut the personal jabs and insinuations. Instead of calling the poster retarded for instance, share why you think Infiniti is better. 5th grade stuff.

Look, you came here asking for help. You have to take opinions that you don't want to hear together with the opinions that you do want to hear. I'm glad you took our advice and took the car to another shop to have an alignment done and I'm glad it shed some light on the situation for you. I have a lot of experience getting dealerships to do what you want them to do, I consulted with car dealerships for a long time and I understand the way they work and how they deal with the manufacturer. You're right, I'm often sympathetic to the dealers in situations like this because people who come on here and rant oftentimes expect way too much from the manufacturer and the dealer. For instance yesterday a guy gets a rock in his windshield and is all bent out of shape because Lexus won't replace it. People complain about the cost of the dealers when they don't have to use them. When you've seen first hand service consultants get berated and cussed at because they've told someone they need brakes...you have a new appreciation for what these people do for a living. On top of that you have the general sentiment that these people are the scum of the earth and looking to screw you any way they can when that really normally is not the case. So yes, I'm sympathetic to dealers often. If you want good service you have to work for it too. If you're calm, respectful, reasonable, and appreciative these guys will bend over backwards for you. I've had parts installed for free, I've had stuff covered out of warranty, they take really good care of me. If I were in your situation, they would keep my car until they found the problem...they've done it in the past. I may be wrong, but from the way you've denigrated me here for suggesting you do things that you don't want to do, I have a sneaking suspicion you've been just as rude and condescending to the dealerships and the Lexus regional reps. They want rid of you, not to help you. Look at the title of your thread, its not "Does anyone else have this issue" or "Can someone help me diagnose this issue" its automatically "Is Lexus concealing an issue with the car". Your goal here doesn't appear to be a resolution of your issue, it appears to be to "win" like I suggested before. Again, just advice you can choose whether to listen to it or not. You need to work with the dealer, not demand things of them. If I were you I would take that alignment printout and what the tech said with you to the dealer's service manager and ask him how the two of you can work this issue out. Ask him to drive the car on the types of roadways you've driven on when you've experienced the issues while you ride along. Drive another ES350 on the same sections of roadway to compare. It doesn't make sense that the steering dynamics of the car would suddenly change after 12k miles...somethings got to be going on. You still never answered my question about the tires, what PSI are they aired to?

It'll be in the '09s, the new Highlander has it.

You do actually have to maintain the bra, it can and should be waxed for instance.

I understand all of that, and what you're saying is that it is more important to you that you force the dealer and Lexus to do what you think is right vs fixing the problem, which is the opinion I knew you had all along. With that outlook you're never going to get them to do what you want them to do. The reason I keep saying that alignment is a wear and tear item is because he keeps saying it isn't. It is ask any mechanic. The root of the issue started when the dealer did an alignment at 12,000 miles, why did you request that alignment be done? I agree, and Lexus has done plenty of stuff for me for free over the years that wasn't their fault, including alignments. They do however know when they have a customer who cannot be satisfied, and at some point they will stop trying. To the dealer they've re-aligned the car and its within specs so to them its no problem, they don't realize they do crappy alignments! Me, when I deal with the dealer I am always calm, always very reasonable, and I never have any problems at all. I have a sneaking suspicion this guy comes across as someone who cannot be satisfied with his quoting warranty law and insisting alignments aren't wear and tear items, demanding that other dealers repair work from other dealers...they think he's a yahoo and they're not going to go out of their way to help him. Again, $150 and its fixed or you can continue to waste your time, energy, and frustration to make them do "whats right". Life's too short for that IMHO.

Sorry... this is utter BS!! Please explain which "road" and which "crown" that the alignment shop sets the alignment for!!!!?? Or.. .show me ANY factory wheel alignment specifications that include "crown of the road" adjustments!! They may exist, but I've never seen one. Thats why I said it was "sort of" true. Some shops dial in a little bit of adjustment and chock it up to "the crown of the road". The answer is no factory specs call for it...including Lexus. But that doesn't mean the dealer isn't dialing it in. Alignment IS a wear and tear item, ask any mechanic. What the Lexus book is saying is that they will cover one alignment for a customer having issues in the first 12 months or 20k miles. Its a courtesy, a customer service gesture. They'll also rebalance wheels, etc. Alignment WILL come out over time and the car will need to be re-aligned, hence it being a wear and tear item. You can say its not all you want, but it is. Ask any mechanic. You can also quote warranty books and say they can't be ambiguous and thats fine, but we've told you what you should do to correct your situation, have an alignment done by someone who knows what they are doing, and its now up to you whether you want to do it or not. It sounds to me like you're more interested in "winning" in this little power struggle with the dealer than actually taking care of your issue, which is the poor alignment of the car. Like I said, if thats the case nobody here or anywhere else can help you. $150 fixes the problem.

I'd take it as an opportunity to ditch the runflats for a good set of traditional tires. You'll be very happy with the difference in the ride and handling once you loose the runflats. No, I don't believe runflats can be patched. Chain link fence? Yikes.

I personally would re-flush the coolant and replace it with the red Toyota long life coolant...

Alignment is absolutely a wear and tear item in that driving the vehicle and driving over everyday road irregularities will slowly throw the car out of alignment even if you don't hit any potholes. Alignment is an adjustment, and as a working machine over time and with use, it needs to be adjusted. Thats why people have alignments done when they replace tires. No car manufacturer warranties alignments, its a wear and tear item. I can appreciate that you're an engineer, but I think that you're over thinking the situation somewhat here. I can also understand the law, and what the warranty says, and what you think they should do. However you have to ask yourself this question: "Do I want to be involved in a lawsuit and have this constantly take all of my time and energy, or do I want to be happy with my car?". Not all dealers are created equal. I've had cars before that just seemed to never hold an alignment. Sure enough, it was always the shop doing lousy alignments and once I had them aligned by people who knew what they were doing the car was right and I was happy. $150 is small price to pay to have the car drive right and get this off of your shoulders. Put yourself in the dealer's shoes, they think you're a nut. They keep aligning the car (not knowing they're doing a crappy job) and you never seem satisfied. At some point they're going to just deny you service (which they can do). You're better off to move on to another dealer, even if it costs you a little money and get the work done right. Now if your attitude is that making Lexus and the dealer cave to your demands is more important than having the vehicle operate properly, theres not anything I or anyone else can do to help you. I've driven these cars for a long time, and I've driven a bunch of ES350s. There is no design issue with the steering or alignment on these vehicles. Yours is caused by a crappy alignment from what you've told us. Other things to look at, what is the condition of the tires? What PSI are the tires aired to?