SW03ES

My dealer charges $20 a quart for Mobil 1. I bring my own oil that I buy at Pepboys for $5 a quart.

Yep, we let the door hit him on the way out lol

Nothing you can do about that, but my experience is the damage is caused by the dealer not the port.

Well, tires are wear items. 25k is good life for low profile tires like that, I'd just replace them with something better and see what that does. Its not reasonable to expect Lexus to replace tires at their expense after 25k miles.

I've been on several forums before that have chatrooms, I'm a fan of the idea too. It could even be open 24/7, no need for a manager or moderator to be around. I'll bring it up to Steve as a part of the site upgrades.

In case you haven't seen it, here's the car with the molding:

And you made the right decision to skip the dealer's paint sealant. For one, its a ripoff, and for two anytime they touch your paint they will destroy it. From now on tell 'em to skip the wash when its in for service ;)

Actually Lexus has always had subtle side molding on their cars until the L-Finesse models rolled out. Have you seen the Lexus OEM moldings? Normally I agree with you but the car just looks "right" with them.

Check your PM's Jib, time for a break.

They'll fit, I've seen a couple that have done it. The taillights will NOT fit though.

I believe they are not good for certain components of the vehicle long term. Plastic components. By proper washing I mean a detailed wash by hand using a good soap formulated for automotive finishes. haha. After a detail I'm sure it'd be a wash (no pun intended) BUT After me taking 40 minutes and handwashing my car after a period of rain and bad weather and you taking yours to the touchless, I'd take that bet. Putting any question about chemicals and their effects aside, the touchless wash doesn't do any detailed work to the wheels, leaves road film on the paint and the glass which hides the true beauty of the paint. I don't consider that clean ;)

Zaino's an excellent product, but there are plenty of other great products out there as well.

Yep, one dealer wash is enough to make one learn their lesson haha.

I agree with you, and for some reason it looks better on the LS, GS, & IS than it does on the ES. The ES just looks unfinished without the door trim.

I've used many of them too, and you're right they vary in quality but none of them will clean a vehicle completely, unless its only very slightly dirty in the first place. In terms of chemicals...think about it. How do they clean dirt from the surface of the car without touching it? By the use of chemicals. All of these things have their place and I use them too, but none of them would replace proper washing in my car maintenance routine.

The dealer did it when they detailed the car before you took delivery. Look around here for the proper products and techniques to fix the issue, and never let the dealer touch the car's paint again.

I agree, but when you wax regularly like me, are you really getting any added protection for the effort from the Zaino?

Thats a GREAT article. My favorite points: I like that approach. I've said this myself on this forum before. Parents set their kids up for the American syndrome of their tastes being way beyong their means by giving them things they're not going to be able to replace on their own with things of similar quality.

Happy Birthday Jibby!

Generally a car wash will induce marring into the paint yes. Theres one here that I've used several times for the same reason thats not bad, they do extensive spraying before the cars enter the wash (this is key, the wash mechanisms pick up salt and sand and drag it on all the other cars that go through the wash) and they use microfiber towels to wipe the cars down (this is AlSO key, often most of the swirling comes from the wipedown with nasty, dirty towels afterwards. That wash costs $35 a wash though. The better approach is to hire a professional detailer with references to hand wash it for you. IMHO touchless washes are almost as bad as normal carwashes. For one they never get the car completely clean, for another they use extremely harsh chemicals that strip any wax from the surface and age all the plastic and seals.

Great! Most people don't realize it, but cars are pretty beat up when they come off the truck and they do a lot of airbrushing.

Theres no literature, thats just how headlamp beam patterns are designed per DOT in the US, have been for many many years. Go to some of the websites for automotive lighting makers like Sylvania or Philips and look for diagrams of the beam patterns, you'll see the passenger side pattern goes much farther down the road than the driver. its "aimed higher". In reality its not really that the bulb is aimed lower, its the shape of the reflectors.

Yep the dealers have them, they really improve the look of the car too IMHO.

Check out the detailing forum, tons of info in there. No need to wait, the paint is cured at the factory. You did the right thing by turning down the dealer's sealant kit. I'm not a fan of NuFinish, too abrasive and outdated. Tons of better products out there. Check out the detailing forum ;)

I'd bet on never, thats the purpose of the LS600hL.