SW03ES

The car would not be "jerky" because your key wasn't in the vehicle. It would operate exactly the same. No need for a recall, nothing wrong...

Which dealer was it in MD?

I think the lady just had the size wrong...

I think that he has one side of what we need in a President, he's a good speaker, he's good at moving people and getting people to follow him. Thats what got him elected. What he lacks is the ability to get things done behind the scenes. He needs someone in his administration who can go to Congress and make things happen. Some sort of modern day LBJ... Of course its a major issue, but its not the most major issue thats in front of us right now.... I don't know, how many times do they need to get hit in the head before they realize that tax cuts for the wealthy and tax loopholes for big corporations don't "create jobs"? If you look at the budget, welfare isn't the issue (and I would hope that you don't actually believe 40% of the public is on welfare...). What created this issue we're in today is not welfare, its waging protracted multi-theatre wars in the middle of a recession.

Right... Since thats the appropriate size, I don't see the issue...thats like saying "I can't buy those shoes, they only come in a 12 and I wear a 12..."

Thats what dealers always say, but Lexus has been using water based paints for a long time, my 03 had water based paint so did your '05. The difference is the color, the darker the color and the less metallic flake the more noticeable scratches will be. Carwashes are bad for the car (not as bad as not washing at all), the cloths in brushless washes are dirty, the water is dirty, the towels used to dry afterwards are dirty. Little care is shown by the people who staff them not to bang vacuum nozzles into the paint and trim, etc. Best to do it yourself or hire a pro. Plenty of detailers will come right to your home or place of work and wash it for $25-30 or so. A good full service tunnel wash here costs $20-25.

The Pilot line of tires are much more performance oriented, completely different than the grand touring Primacy... Wrong type of tire for the ES IMHO. For a GS or IS sure, but not an ES or LS.

I haven't read all the posts since I posted last (lenore, do you really believe Obama wants the dollar to fail? Thats about as crazy a conspiracy theory as the people who think 9/11 was an inside job) but I wanted to weigh in on my feelings about the recent happenings. My issue with Obama is that I think we've found that he and his people lack political experience and savvy. You know I've been a pretty staunch defender of his, but I think this whole thing with the debt ceiling debacle was pretty poorly handled, and I think much of the blame for that lies with him. Of course the Republicans are petty and political, thats all they've been for the past 15 years. What they care about is winning, and they will say anything they need to say to do that (look at my favorite person, Michelle Bachman who blames the loss of the AAA rating on Obama raising the debt ceiling. She's either an idiot, or she is playing the electorate for idiots because S&P clearly outlined that in order for them not to downgrade our debt they needed to see deficit reduction of $4T over 10 years and the debt ceiling raised. Ergo...if "Obama" hadn't raised the debt limit, there would have been no question of a downgrade! If the Republicans had allowed some increased revenue, we might have been closer to what S&P wanted to see). The issue here IMHO was that Obama and his people handled this negotiation like a bunch of ammeters. They had nothing to give the Republicans in return for a speedy vote on the debt ceiling and defecit reduction because he had already given away the farm every chance he's had. The issue is, I don't see an alternative on the other side of this race. Who in the Republican field is that "hybrid candidate" nc speaks of, and won't lay down for the GOP leadership thats controlled by the religious right? I don't see someone there yet...best chances are Pawlenty, Romney (he's a boob), or maybe Rick Perry if he runs... To me the issue is not the issues...Obama just needs to learn how to take control of a negotiation. He needs some lessons from Bill Clinton...

The Primacy is what you want ;)

Interesting...I said "Jeep in mind"...freudian slip anyone? lol

Without a doubt, the Primacy is the right tire to buy. The Pilot is a more handling focused tire, the Primacy maximizes smooth & quiet ride which is what the ES is all about. Don't buy them from the Lexus dealer, sheesh. Order them from www.tirerack.com and have them shipped to a local installer. WAY cheaper. Tire Rack has them for $161 each plus a $70 mail in rebate. So shipped and mounted you should be at about $700.

To be fair, your issue with your lease has nothing to do with the dealer. Typically when you lease a car and then try to buy it you get screwed, this is TFS, not the dealer. If you're going to lease a car, lease it and turn it back in. Otherwise you should have bought it in the first place. As for negotiating, thats business. If they can sell their cars for MSRP, why would they discount them for you? Thats not "!Removed! customers", thats supply and demand. I've never had any problems negotiating a good deal on a Lexus.

Jeep in mind those pictures of the GS interior are all taped up, you can't see the trim or anything at all...wait for better pictures. The gauges are optitron, the numerals etc disappear when off. They're like the gauges in my ES. Different than the Lexus norm I agree, but I've gotten used to them.

The smart card key is an option, it replaces your traditional fob style smartkey. I don't see the point, I mean...I carry keys anyways...and the smart card key is thick, so it would be an issue in my wallet. If I were a woman and had a purse, well the little fob wouldn't take up much room in the bottom of my purse. Its cool, but not $300 cool. You are no more likely to loose your smartkey than any other sort of key, so don't worry about it.

I would never even consider doing this. Not that it would cause any issues, it probably wouldn't, but if Lexus ever has the opportunity to pin a claim on you using longer oil change intervals then they will. I use synthetic too, but change it at 5k miles.

Actually it belongs to the bank thats leasing it, not the dealer ;)

Mine just expired, and they called me last week when I was away, I told them to call me back this week. I don't want to spend $250 a year on it, but I'm thinking if they are calling me to renew maybe they'll deal... I'll let you know how it goes...

You can also purchase http://www.bumperplugs.com/BPindex.html Since your car is used it could have originally come from a state that requires a front plate. The front plate kit IS a dealer installed item.

We'll let it slide....this time! ;)

Yeah but thats the brake fluid...he's talking about the power steering fluid.

I don't know, for some reason I think the Traverse is odd looking, I prefer the Buick and GMC...

Welcome to the site! Looking dirty after 22k miles? I hardly think so.

The black armrests come with the Ultra Luxury package. I have never seen a '10+ ES with the grey interior and the UL package that doesn't have the black armrests. I almost bought a car that was smokey granite and grey UL. I love the black armrests too.

Even if you have to auto setting, the lights are likely still auto-off. Our Prius has no auto-lights and the lights automatically turn off. Every Lexus I have had, 98 LS, 03 ES, 04 LS, 10 ES all shut the lights off automatically even when the selector is in the "ON" position.

I've had Lexus dealers scratch the crap out of my car just washing it...