SW03ES

I spent several years consulting with car dealerships and I am well aware of the difficulties you mention. Its a tough business, made much tougher by the internet and the "deal at any cost" mentality of the consumer. However, I don't think theres a lot you can do to combat it...

The i35 is also considerably smaller than the IS...

Its just a marketing ploy. They want to sell you or lease you a new car and are saying they can make the payments similar. Meaning the amount of the payment, which of course makes sense since the car is about the same price as you paid for yours in 04. They're not offering you anything special.

This kind of pricing has been going on for many years. I bought my ES300 near invoice 5 years ago. While I understand what you are saying and I can tell you're a dealer, the internet and the access people have to pricing information is what gets the news around, posting on a messageboard isn't going to devalue anybody's year old car or ruin the prestige of the Lexus brand. The ES is the entry car, its a volume car. You don't get deals like that on the LS for instance.

LOL

There are a couple little wing lights in there that might be out and you just can't tell...

You can buy two, but there's a $50 surcharge. So that'll be $150 :D

Welcome to the site, try a search: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...Search&f=15

Boy do I feel like a weights been lifted off of all our shoulders since ol'MB got the boot. We should have done that years ago... To the OP, I agree its probably a bad battery. I'd replace it with a better one (I've never had an Optima battery but I've heard more good than bad) and see if that helps.

I know, how will we all survive? haha.

I added a couple other choices to your first question, I hadn't considered any of those options so I figured in the least there should be an option that selects that. Unfortunately for me I drive a lot for business, and its my own business so I have to expense myself! I drive the Lexus really only for work now, we drive the Prius on the weekends and on trips. I've also considered switching cars with my fiance because she doesn't drive nearly as much as I do (she drives maybe 4 miles a day. I drive a minimum of 35, and thats if I only drive to the office and back, usually its more like 50). But she doesn't want to do that because she loves her Prius...and I don't want to do that because I don't like driving it... Its a real conundrum. I can't drive any less...

What did you see that was different about the nav system? Its exactly the same system. Some of the menu layouts are different, but thats true from model to model too (i.e the GS has menus the ES does not, etc). If I remember correctly the Avalon's interface is a little different...maybe not touchscreen? I don't remember. Other Toyotas have touchscreens though, our Prius does. The disc should be the same.

You sure that was a great price? ;) Tire salesmen driving a Lexus... I had my house painted about a year ago. I was talking with the guy and we were talking about cars. He was telling me how much he loves his new Mercedes E550. I was a lil shocked LOL

Seeing that MB's no longer with us, I've re-opened the thread. Chat on...

Glad you're okay...people like that always make me shake my head...

Sorry to tell you, there's no way that can be repaired with PDR. They can't access the metal behind that because its a structural element of the car, and because of the side airbags behind it. Had it been in the actual roof panel it would have been possible. That'll have to be repaired with traditional bodywork. $1200-$1500 to do it right and match the paint...

They won't service it as a Toyota then...

Yep, I'd shod it with Michelin Primacy MXV4s.

Can you post a picture? Unfortunately it may not be repairable by paintless dent removal, it may have to be filled, primed, and painted. There are a few places on a car they can't get to with PDR, and if thats where I think it is...thats one of them...

Thats normal for an 02-03 ES. Part of the reason why the engine was refreshed in 04 was to help poor fuel economy. I get 17-18 around town, 19-20 in mixed driving, maybe 23 or 24 on an extended highway trip.

They don't make one for the front I don't think...

We gotta get you some better products. ScratchX and ColorX are fine for by hand touch-ups but you can do much more with better products.

Nobody's ordered my eBook yet. You guys are just throwing money away by waiting!

If you wanna pay more... Now's the time to buy one of these cars, it'll cost you $3-4k more in September.

Skip the reflash... You've just got to get used to it. You will, I've put 110k on mine and I hardly ever notice it anymore.