SW03ES

There's no point in making a thread like this...

Have you tested every other allseason tire in the snow? ;) Tread pattern doesn't have a whole lot to do with snow performance. It has a lot more to do with rubber compound, siping, etc.

The Exaltos would be my choice. Actually the MXV4 Primacy would be my choice on this vehicle. I have Bridgestone Turanza LS-Vs which are great if you can get them, but they've been discontinued.

Your issue is completely different than his issue with his '02. Your car suffers from misaligned side windows which is very common on the 92-96 ES. Its caused by years of shutting the doors by the frameless windows. The '02 has framed windows.

Oh I agree, I'm just kicking ideas around I have no plans to trade the ES until the market turns around. I'm just a serial shopper lol. The market hasn't been THAT bad here, but things are slow and we just don't know what the next year is going to bring. We expect it to be strong through the spring but thats how it was last year, then after June it just completely died and has been that way ever since. The inventory is clearing and things are picking up which bodes well for the spring, but beyond that is anybody's guess. It has certainly been MUCH worse just about everywhere else I've gotten reports about... The ES is paid for and I still enjoy driving it so its not going anywhere for a while. Alan, let me know what you think. I had read your original post about that and I wonder if the unit you had was an oddity, how many miles did it have on it? I've driven a couple of them brand new and while they're firmer than I'm used to I wouldn't call them "harsh" by any standards. Maybe the one you drove had bad tires? I know, the Prius has keyless go and I love it.

Oh...he knew haha. They know exactly what the profit in the car is because thats what his commission is based on, he earns a percentage of the gross profit. Anyways you made a fair deal, look for a fair price for the vehicle for your area and don't begrudge the dealer their profit. I would have had the bumper looked at though, a full inspection done by a mechanic, and insisted they throw in a key. You say the car is so brand spankin new, but its really not. Its 9 years old, PLENTY of things can be wrong with a 9 year old car. Its not like its an '07. Asking the dealer to pay the registration fee and the taxes isn't fair.

Its at the dealer now, still starts and runs perfectly fine. They're going to try and reproduce it and see if they can track it down, they suspect a throttle position sensor or something like that. I have 4k left on the extended warranty lol.

It doesn't really ride stiff, just firmer than I'm used to. Like the GS, or the 5 series (not as stiff as the 5 series though), or the Benz E-Class. I know a few people who have them and they've had no problems with rattles, whereas I've heard of lots of problems with rattles on the new ES. I'm definately an LS man, its just a question of cost. I would do that if I were buying, but I really would like to lease for the tax savings...

I don't agree with that. My extended warranty on the ES has been worthwhile, its covered probably $5-6k worth of repairs for $1600. But, I don't think I'd pay $2700 for one on an LS which is historically a more reliable car anyways, espcially for only 36k miles of coverage. Plenty of things can go wrong within the warranty period that would be covered, sensors, leaks, premature failure of belts, electrical issues.

Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving!

I do my Christmas shopping right before Christmas. By this point the stores have seen their holiday profits won't be what they've hoped and prices come DOWN from where they were the day after Thanksgiving. I do know people who do the black friday thing, for them its more a tradition than it is a way to save money.

Things that are still negatives: 1. No wood/leather wheel. I really like this. The Nissan Fuga in Japan has one that matches (its the same car) that you can order (much like you can order JDM parts for our cars from Carson) but its $1,000. 2. Dealer support. This is a big one for me. Infiniti dealers are much fewer and farther between than Lexus dealers and service in general has a reputation of being lower quality. Thats one of the things I really enjoy about owning my Lexus is the service. My dealer is great and so is my service rep, I'd miss them. I drive so much I'm in for an oil change every 10 weeks or so, so I see them a lot. Theres only one dealer in my area, vs 5 Lexus dealers and its a chain I've had bad experiences with (Jim Coleman). 3. Ride. The M is a sportier ride than I really prefer, sportier than the ES and LS. Although its very comfortable and quiet. So it'd be a tough move. I'm really happy with the Lexus and with Lexus in general, but I just kinda feel like the new cars aren't offering what I'm looking for except for the LS. The LS was a no brainer before the market slowed down but now I'd really prefer not to have a 4 figure car payment. So, my options are: 1. Keep my ES, which is fine. 2. Spring for the LS 3. Get a pre-owned 05 or 06 LS430 which I wouldn't be able to lease 4. Or look elsewhere...

Well the new refreshed 2008 Infiniti M has hit the streets. I'm planning on getting by to take a look at one this week just for fun. As many of you know I've always been a fan of the Infiniti M and this year they've made some great changes that addressed some issues I had with the car vs a Lexus: 1. Rain sensing wipers, finally 2. No more ugly yellow/orange lighting. The optitron gauges are white and blue as is the rest of the cabin lighting, much more attractive 3. Touch screen nav! I hate controller based nav, but now the system is controllable by the controller, touch screen, or voice prompts. 4. Better colors from the G35 5. Better base 18" wheels 6. better overall flow to the exterior although its still chunky from some angles, I'll have to see it in person. 7. AWD on the V8! Although I probably wouldn't get the V8. This might just be the next car. I'd definately go for one over an ES350 or a GS. Not an LS though. Loaded comparably the M35 is about $50k to the ES's $45k but the interior is more attractive (to me) and the M is RWD. Infiniti has killer subsidized leases though. I could probably do one of these for like $550 a month, the ES would be closer to $700. Long term the Lexus is no doubt a better car with better resale value and more solid reliability. But for a 3 year lease nowadays the Lexus really doesn't make sense. They don't subsidize their leases which makes them really expensive. BMWs are attractive because they have lease deals AND free maintenance. And since it'll be gone in 3 years, reliability is much less of an issue. I dunno... Now to buy, the Lexus is still better even with Infinitis 3.9% financing for 60 months or even better 2.9% for 36 months because of the depreciation difference and more certain ageworthiness and reliability. Check it out: http://www.infiniti.com/m/index.html

Oh the new one will have SKS, the Highlander does.

The lockout for the nav system exists on many different manufacturer's cars. Its fast becoming the industry standard. Its annoying, but not that big a deal. I've had the nav system for almost 5 years and use it daily, it no longer bothers me. Just put the destinations in before you set out on your trip. As for tires, all carmakers sell cars with crappy tires. Just wait until they wear out and replace them with better tires. Even if the car has two flaws, a nav system that doesn't operate as you would like and tires you don't like. The tires are replacable, you can get used to the nav system. My ES has nearly 100k miles and still rides, drives, and looks as good as it did when it was new, there are people here with 200-300k on their Lexus vehicles and they still provide comfortable, reliable, stylish transportation. To say that Lexus is not a good car because you can't input nav destinations when moving and they come with crappy tires from the factory is unfair. They obviously are very good cars, but nothing is perfect. If you want to enter nav destinations when moving buy a BMW, Mercedes, or Acura (thats pretty much it). The BMW and Mercedes will cost you a fortune in maintenance and repair costs as they age, and the Acura will depreciate like a rock and be outdated in 2 years but hey, you can enter nav destinations while driving!

I have been restoring PLASTIC headlights for years with abrasive polishes with no ill effects. No cars today have glass headlights. A headlight with oxidation and no surface damage? I would try a chemical cleaner first and if that didn't work I would reach for an abrasive polish, going from least abrasive to more abrasive dependent of effectiveness. What are your credentials? How long have you been detailing cars? Do you do it professionally. Remember here you're talking to about 70 years of collective detailing experience and thats just TOGWT, mburnickas, and myself. Maybe you should stop talking to us like we don't know what we're doing. And I've asked you repeatedly if you sell this stuff and you refuse to come clean. Own up to it and admit you're the manufacturer and stop pretending to be a consumer.

Cool it guys. Debating is fine, but your tone is out of line Elrukin. The statement "wax is outdated" is rediculous. Detailing is a collection of processes, skills that make use of tools. Products are just some of those tools. What product a detailer chooses isn't nearly as important as the techniques used. Waxes are old fashioned thats absolutely true, and some synthetics last longer thats also true, but thats where the facts end. Look is subjective, ease is subjective. I personally much prefer carnuaba to synthetics on my cars. Thats my cars though, if I detailed less and needed more protection I might feel differently. I haven't used Vapor Wax, but there are a lot of things about their site that concern me. When the manufacturers of a product lie to promote it, something has to be lacking in the quality department. Their website being as primitive as it is doesn't inspire confidence either. I expect its just a rebranded bulk product (tons of these out there). And at $70 for 4 ounces its outrageously expensive which isn't a good sign either, especially given the hokey taglines like "Alien liquid research" and the cheap, home printer labels on the bottles. The following statements from the manufacturers of Vapor Wax are outright lies. In 12 years of detailing cars both professionally and for fun I have learned how products and processes work, and these statements are factually lies. Lies. First of all, there is no reason not to wax a new car. Thats outdated 1970s nonsense. Modern paints are hard cured at the factory. The reason why you used to not want to do this, and still don't want to do this on repaints from body shops, is that the wax traps the offgassing of new paint which can keep it from curing properly over time. This product will do the same thing. Wax doesn't shine at all, and neither does this stuff. It simply fills in imperfections and creates a flat surface allowing the paint to shine. Actually it does a crappy job as will this if proper paint prep hasn't been done beforehand. Lies. The thinking is sound, but modern steel is galvanized and without some sort of break in the paint surface rust is extremely unlikely. Perforations are almost impossible. Plus, if you wax properly and use quality wax you won't have any hardened wax in your trim so its a moot point. More lies. They talk about rust like its this fast acting menace just waiting for a chance to strike and thats just not true. It takes a lot of exposure over a long time to rust any metal, let alone galvanized metal in a car that is primed and painted all the way around. More lies. Scratches are caused by improper washing, polishing, and buffing technique or by inferior towels, applicators, etc. True there are abrasive waxes that can scratch, but there are abrasive sealants that can scratch too. You can scratch your car with this stuff. Dried solids in towels and pads? Thats why you wash towels and pads in between uses. More lies. There are plenty of waxes that will retain their look and protective qualities for FAR longer than two weeks, and there are sealants that will only last that long. BIG lie. When you buy a car its already been detailed twice, once at the factory and once at the dealership. Guess what they use? Wax! Crappy wax too. To close there are tons of products out there for the detailing professional or the detailing enthusiast. To say an entire class of products is outdated is simply untrue. You say mburn can't comment on this product because he hasn't used it yet you can condemn all carnuaba waxes because you've used one product? How many waxes have you used? Can you name them? One product isn't going to make the difference, and at the end of the day the goal is to have a well detailed car that looks great and to preserve its look over time. I've certainly done that with wax, as has mburn. So obviously its still good for something. And yes, I do realize that Elrukin probably sells and makes this stuff especially considering he doesn't have a Lexus and his only posts here have been talking about this. Take a lesson from this. Selling a product based on the shortcomings of your competition doesn't work, and it absolutely doesn't work if those shortcomings are lies. Don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, I'm the consumer. Its your job as the manufacturer to assess my needs and create and market a product that fills them and that I would be interested in buying. You've done none of this here, and on top of that you come on here and make an !Removed! out of yourself calling your consumers backward and cavemen for not buying into your junk. If we don't see the value in what you're selling, thats YOUR failure. I wouldn't quit your day job.

So you thought it was six lugs and its in fact five right after you bolted the wheels up and saw and used the lugs? Sorry, I don't buy it. I don't know why you'd lie about something like this but this doesn't make any sense.

No noise here either. Have you tried cleaning and treating the door weatherstrip? Has the windshield ever been replaced?

Hey Guys, Well I was in NJ visiting the family-in-law as we always do for Thanksgiving. The ES hadn't been driven in a day or so and it had gone from really warm to bitterly cold. I went to start it up after we packed up to leave, it started and then stalled and wouldn't restart. Definately not a battery problem because we had full instruments with no fade, and definately not a starter problem. Tried on and off again for about 20 minutes, checked all the fluids. Finally after cranking for 45 seconds or so it stumbled to life amid a big cloud of smoke. After that it ran fine all the way home and now it starts up and runs just fine. Any ideas as to what happened? No weird gas, I filled it up with high test (I always run high test) from the gas station I always use here at home and half of that tank was left. It ran fine all the way up there. Almost like water in the gas or something...

Please don't type in all caps ;) There really isn't anything to this December to Remember deal. Its a marketing ploy. You'll get a much better deal if you wait until January. As far as leases, Lexus doesn't really do subsidized lease deals like Infiniti, Acura, Cadillac, etc do. They do offer some deals, but they're always on the ES and RX, never on the LS. So, the answer is the lease will be exactly the same during December to Remember as it would be right now. Worse actually because the residual would have decreased.

I have heard many stories both on the internet and in real life about LS starters going bad. Its especially bad between 90-94 but continues on. The problem isn't really that the starter is prone to failure, its just that its so difficult and costly to replace.

Since its outside of the 50k miles requirement to qualify for the new car Lexus extended warranty I'd say take a pass. $2700 is a lot...

She looks great!

Dude, you deserve whatever you get. Getting a speeding ticket twice in a week at the same spot? Its a miracle you still have a license. All the signs were there! Undercover car pulls out from the side of the road, why would you keep up with it? It may surprise you to know that police have a myriad of codes for how to respond to certain types of calls, and some of them specify no lights and no sirens. Police are also allowed to break the speed limit in order to catch speeders, which is what he did to you. If they couldn't speed to catch a speeder you could have outran him at 51 right? You need to wise up about this. Theres speeding and then theres speeding. 80 in a 50 is just too fast, 30 over is reckless driving in MD. Had you been going 70 I bet he would have left you alone, and giving you a ticket for 60 was a gift... You need to learn how to speed inteligently. Read the road ahead of you, stay below a certain threshold. When a car you easily identify as an undercover cop pulls out from the side of the road, give it some room. This was not bad luck, this was dumb.