SW03ES

Nothing you can do for the plastic really, you might be able to heat it up and see how much it will reform... If the other guy hit you, its his insurance anyways...

Alan- Let me go see hang on- - Its 04.1 Thats the latest update for our system.

LF- I drove the new Avalon yesterday and it was nice, but not as nice as the ES. I'm going to write my review in the General section today. Lets just say its "value" was apparent at all times.

Nice! I like that better than a normal spoiler. I question their quality though because they bill it as "increasing downforce" which is preposterous.

The dealer didnt entirely know what they were talking about. Lexus USED to use a company called NAVTECH, thats who designs the mapping system for MapQuest. My Lexus has the Navtech system. Yours does not, Lexus did not switch suppliers before the update, your ES330 has always had the new supplier. Your system is not designed by the people that make MapQuest. Most mapping software has the same errors, because they all get their info from the same source. We had the nav in my fiance's Prius upgraded (same system as yours) and have had no problems. Its probably a fluke in your area. The dealer is right though, there's no way to go back to the old disc unfortunately. PS- I also just upgraded the NAVTECH disc in my 03 and am quite happy with the upgrades. Added a lot of roads in my area.

Yep, read that a while back. I do business with car dealers, I design and implement marketing and customer retention systems and consult on customer service for them exclusively. There's a movement towards quality in today's consumer, and with the Internet people know when they're being ripped off so more and more car dealers are trying out treating their customers like they're on the up and up. There's even a new field of car sales specialists that (for a fee) will help you buy a car from a car dealer the way a Realtor will help you through the sale of a house, by being your fiduciary agent and negotiating for you etc. So, dealers can't just get away with the same old tricks anymore. I have the statistics to show you, dealers that treat their customers right make more money than those that are greedy. Car salesmen can also be some of the most tragic people I've ever met, its a hard job. You can make a lot of money but its not easy, car salesmen are about one step higher than bums on the respect list and that takes a toll. I was at a Toyota dealer yesterday looking at the new Avalon and was talking with the salesman, I took his card. He asked if he could have my contact info and I gave it to him as I left he shook my hand and said "Thank you, being a car salesman can be tough, people can be pretty hard on you and its always nice meeting someone nice" he genuinely meant it too.

You'd have to look into how much of that 2 cu/ft is usable though, room around the wheel wells etc that isn't really usable space. Its so narrow though I dont know if a set of golf clubs would even fit back there.

Yep, I discussed this in my review. There's a sensor under the rear brakelight that measures the ambient light and agle of the light, it adjusts the gauges to one of 7 different hue/color/brightness settings depending on that information. The change is subtle but you can definately tell, its very cool.

Kid- The dealer won't adjust their value because the car was detailed. It will look better no question but their valuation system doesn't put much stock in it, especially after they've already appraised it. If he wants to buy it, definately do that vs trading it.

Whats your name on Autopia? I'm "GoodnClean"

I've been telling people that for years, that you can prevent the hesitation by addressing the gas pedal differently.

If hybrid technology is going to viably be the "drive technology of the future" like Toyota thinks it will be then they HAVE to give people choices. Think about your Porsche ww, Toyota is betting one day your Porsche will have a hybrid powertrain. It needs to be high performance right? Toyota needs to show people its possible.

How could they sell just the lens on a sealed lamp assembly? It all comes as one peice. I'm not aware of any car company that sells just lenses to their lamp assemblies, you'd have to glue them on... $150 is actually not bad...

Got your pics, I'll have them up today!

Naa I'd much rather have normal intermittant wipers.

The interior is similar in style (thats Lexus new look) but I think the two interiors have very different styling and personalities....

Lexus is working to change that, with the number of pre-orders and the chatter it gets around, I think they're doing that. Gotta face it, some people want power, some want economy, this makes the hybrid system much more legitimate as a future engine setup choice as it can go both ways.

No, wax is certainly not a gimmick lol. Look at my car: Same year as your wife's GS430, but only 40k miles. Thats still high miles for its age. If you maintain a car properly both mechanically and physically mileage isn't a problem, especially on a Lexus. These things are just getting started at 80k. Your car was abused, thats why it doesn't look like mine. I don't do anything special, I don't bang into things I take care of dings and scratches as they happen and I wax it every Spring and fall and once in the middle of the summer. On a dark colored car (like mine and your indigo ink pearl) it needs to be washed weekly by someone that knows what they're doing (a detailer will charge you $30 or so to come out to your house and wash it for you) and detailed (polished out and given a nice coat of protectant) at least every 6 months and it will look like mine.

LOL not at all, its simply a better way to facilitate the power needs with fewer drawbacks (like the lower economy that comes with V8s). Pretend its a V8, because thats what its meant to be an alternative to a V8 without the gas needs. Theres no law that says hybrid systems must ONLY be used to be as gas frugal as possible, they have many applications and uses. Get used to this because Toyota is coming out with many high performance hybrids including V8 hybrids for the GS and LS sedans.

The car is not in good shape overall lol, its a peice of crap. ;) Buyers don't care about body work if its done right, nowadays bodywork can be done so that nobody will even notice. Its all about what is reasonable for the car's age, thats a lot of wear on a 2 year old Lexus even with 80k miles. Walk around the dealers pre owned lot, most of the cars are almost indistinguishable from new. There are so many great used Lexus out there off leases that have been properly maintained that yours is not marketable. Do yourself a favor and spend a little less on this car if she's going to destroy it.

I just ran a KBB, thats a great deal, take it. The KBB reported value at that mileage and equipment and fair condition is $18,390. The condition you reported is extremely poor for a 2003, most people who drive cars this expensive keep them in pretty good shape. Thats a good deal, I'd take it. Come on man, its a $50,000 car you'd think you could have had someone wax it once or twice. You've obviously got the money. If it doesn't matter to you thats fine but you can't expect the dealer to jump all over it if its a pile. They don't want that thing, they can't do anything with it. It will probably need several thousands of dollars of work before it can go on the lot, they'll just sell it at auction. They may not even make anything on it after giving you $20.5k for it. If you abuse your posessions they become worthless. I wish I had the money to beat the hell out of a $50,000 car and then complain about the resale...

I think that price is quite fair as a trade in with that kind of miles (thats MOSTER miles for an 03) and the reported condition. That car can't be sold as CPO for instance because of its mileage and condition and that makes it worth less to them. I don't think they're trying to screw you. Taking care of your car is very important in preserving its resale value, I'd hire a detailer this time and make sure any body work is done right. I'd say letting it degrade has cost you $4-5,000 here.

The new one is at least as big as the old one, I don't think it gained any space but I don't feel it lost any space either. I would be comfortable in it, I dont think its cramped its just too small in the rear to use carting customers around all day looking at houses. Like my ES the space is fine up front. As for the trunk, the trunk IS small but its probably again the same as the outgoing car. The reason it looks smaller is because Lexus is doing cubbies on both sides of the trunk wall now like BMW, makes the trunk area squarer.

Just so you know the wheels you posted there are at least 20s. You will have reduced ride certainly with 18s, less so with 17s.

ikir- Are you an Autopia member? There are actually a few polishes out now directly designed to work with the Ceramiclear paint. I have heard that it does help guard against swirls and things of that nature.