SW03ES

Alan- I studied under a psychologist that did an extensive series of experiments involving reaction time while driving when driving normally, driving in the rain with wipers on, talking on a phone, eating and drinking, using a heads up display, driving when intoxicated, driving while manipulating a navigation system and radio controls, and driving while carrying on a discussion with someone else in the car. The results? If you want to go after the #1 most dangerous thing you can do in the car its use a heads up display. He's currently working with the government to make these illegal on US-spec automovbiles because the lowered reaction times as much as 25% which was similar to intoxication. Second was windshield wipers, then after that came using a cell phone, eating and drinking, carrying on a conversation, using a navigation system which were all just about equal between 10-12% drops in the reaction times. SO that means yes, cell phones are distracting but they are no MORE distracting than talking to a passenger, drinking a big gulp, changing the radio station and are LESS distracting than using a heads up display or even just driving with the windshield wipers on. THATS why they're not the awesome danger that the media makes them out to be. Cell phones are very important in our culture and they draw a lot of even envy from people who don't have to be on them. People who talk on cell phones are described as being important, charismatic, wealthy, extroverted, and in demand. These are all positive connotations, you'd be surprised that when asked to describe a picture of a man talking on a cell phone vs the same man not talking on a phone the man on the phone was rated MUCH more favorably. So, this means naturally people using cell phones can be news, reporters write news to sell newspapers and stories about cell phones do. You also can't trust your own experience, like everyone else you're programmed to pick out the people on cell phones around you so of course you notice them more.

You did a great job, above and beyond what you possibly could have done in the situation. If you're the right kind of person you'll always feel like there's more you could have done, Imagine how paramedics feel every day... As for cell phones being the scourge of the highway and causing all these accidents, that may be the media darling but its not nearly as big a problem as they put on. Less than 1% of accidents are caused by cell phones, thats way less than driver error, less than changing radio stations, and less than eating and drinking. Cell phones are another instance of the media creating a problem that doesn't really exist. If you want to save a lot of people make it illegal to eat and drink in a car, that causes much more death than cell phones. This was a horrible accident that was clearly the Ranger woman's fault but it could have happened had she been fooling with her radio, fixing her hair, trying to adjust her chicken nuggets, etc.

I personally can't stand RainX and much prefer Aquapel. Actually I much prefer nothing. As for paying for an application, you can just buy Aquapel and do it yourself... I'll have to try AccuVision.

I remember a guy on CL traded his 97 LS400 in on a brand new S430, all $78,000 of it. Last we heard from him he'd had the car 3 months and driven it a week, it'd been in the shop the whole rest of the time. I work too hard for my money to spend it on something as extravegant as a luxury car and drive their crappy loaners all the time because its in the shop.

Oh yeah they begrudgingly agreed to pay the $700 estimate I got (they wanted to do it themselves but as I told them if they can't park it or wash it without damaging it, why on earth would I let them paint it) but I was able to buff out the damage 99% so I'm not going to risk giving it to the bodyshop for them to destroy. Never got an apology nor did they show any remorse so I vocally took my business elsewhere. Had a meeting with the service manager of the new dealer and he sat down with me and my new service advisor to make sure he understood my needs. No wash, and extreme care repairing and operating my vehicle. Its like I told the guy at the first dealership, I have never had a car damaged at a car dealership before, and I had an Explorer serviced at a very cramped FORD dealer for 8 years. For $100 an hour I would at least expect that they'd have some respect for my property. I told them I would have gotten better service at an Exxon station, had cars serviced there too and they never damaged anything. It was quite nasty...for them LOL

Yeah its not going to make much difference. The only reason to use 93 is because it makes you feel good, I use 93 because of that reason and its a tax deduction.

Can you post pictures of the rust? The warranty covers PERFORATION, not surface rust. If the surface rusted then metal had to be exposed to the air at some point. Thats why you've got to keep up with touching up stone chips in the winter. Every time I wash I head out with my touchup pen and make sure any exposed metal (even really light chips) are covered and protected from the salt. I had one very small ship on the A pillar next to the windshield that I let go through our most recent snow and sure enough it had surface rust, no bit deal I cleaned it out well with some alchohol which removed the surface rust and filled it in, can't even tell it was there. If its light then you can remove it and simply touch up over the spot.

Well you can't compare a Saturn dealer and a Lexus dealer, Lexus prices themselves comparitively to other dealers of the same caliber, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Cadillac, Audi are all going to have similar hourly rates, Ford, Saturn, Toyota are of course going to be less. If you don't want to hang for that inspection they'll give you a brand new ES330 or RX330 with a tank full of free gas to drive around in, no Saturn dealer will do that. THATS what you're paying for whether or not you use it. Generally they do apply it to any repair, thats a little odd. Is that the same dealer that treated you badly? Don't go back there. My dealer charges $99, the dealer I was using previously charges $94 an hour but they backed my car into something so I don't go there anymore.

I know a couple people who have switched from Benzes and all of them are happy. With 40k miles driven per year you need something thats reliable sheesh. If you want a Lexus, the LS is the most solid and "Benz-ish" of all of them, it will definately spend WAY less time in the shop.

18 isn't bad for this car in the city at all.

Again though, did you not drive the car before you bought it?!? I don't understand why all these people are having these problems after they've bought the car, doesn't anyone test drive cars before they buy them? I drove an ES for a whole weekend before I bought mine, as I did with each of the competition I was looking at. I felt the throttle lag right off the bat but I'm familliar with Lexus and knew they all drove that way.

Thats a good question. I know for a fact you can get professionally applied glass protectants on windshields that are replaced. Probably some sort of liability thing. No big deal just buy a bottle of Aquapel and do it yourself. As long as you keep the glass clean and don't let it get a lot of baked on contaminants I've never found a need for things like RainX, they clear fine. The repellant glass works really well though, next time you drive in the rain check the front side windows vs the back, the fronts clear much better. The mirrors are nice too as it keeps them clean, on other cars they get spotted since moving air can't clear them like it does windows.

Great! Hope you keep on enjoyin em.

A lot of people do it just because they think it looks cleaner, makes the car easier to wash and wax etc. The badges are a PITA to clean around.

I need to move to Texas...

All your Benzes have uncoated leather also I believe.

HRP- I've asked you several times, please don't pound Zaino on my board. You may always offer it as an option and give your opinion of it, but lording it up and implying that EVERYONE who knows what they're talking about uses it and feels its the best isn't appropriate. You know thats not so, I'm an Autopia member too and you know as I do that its not one of the most widely used products on Autopia. In fact it gets a lot of resistance on Autopia because of the attitude of "Zaino Zealots". What you're telling people (that waxes always last only days or weeks and that Zaino will ALWAYS last at least 6 months, that people ask if you like your new car only because you use Zaino) are downright lies, and I wont allow the LOC members to be lured into buying a product line because of lies, you can present them the TRUE information all you want. The TRUTH is some waxes will last 6 months depending on where you live and how you wash, and that Zaino may last significantly less depending on the same variables, all sealants are not created equal and some don't last very long at all, while Zaino does offer significant protection some feel the tradeoff is a more sterile look, and they're definately harder to work with as you must polish to 100% perfection as you can't use any glazes, people are stupid and they'll always think your car is new if you keep it cleaned and protected from the start. Again, this is fact. If you're going to keep posting links to Autopia then present yourself as an Autopian, impartial. You would have been drummed off Autopia for that post. For one thing he didn't even ask about an LSP, he asked about glazes. You can't even use Zaino with glazes! You aren't a heretic because you use Zaino, you're a heratic because you talk about it like its some great drug that you can't get enough of. Its a good product, but there are MANY good products out there. I wont allow the zaino zealotism that sets in on other boards to happen here, please cooperate with me on this. I'm not saying you can't reccomend zaino, you certainly canbut if you can't be objective I will have to moderate your posts to make them so.

Please don't type in all caps, thats considered rude ;) That doesn't sound to me like you paid too much...

Not that I'm aware of, its either those names or their Lexus alphanumerical model names.

The LX isn't actually sold in Japan, the closest equivilent is the Land Cruiser Prado. The Lexus IS is sold in Japan as the Toyota Altezza. Other than that, Jims got it! Lexus is being introduced in Japan so pretty soon all the cars will have the same names as here. casee- The GS has never been connected to the Carina, the Avensis is a different sedan. The GS has always been sold in Japan as an Aristo. The picture you supplied of the Carina looks nothing like the GS lol, its a hatchback and sinificantly smaller than the GS. Here's some photos of the JDM Aristo you can select them by year: http://www.alljapanesecars.com/viewmd.php3...oyota&md=Aristo As you san see its identical to our GS.

But, like I said before the starter of this thread, Ming, the person for which all this advice is for has a 2002 ES, the Triple Treads ONLY come in a T rated speed for that car.

Add to my list the Audi A6 and A8! I had some time to kill while my phone was being repaired (long story) and stopped into a local Audi dealer to sit in them. Veyr, very nice especially the A8. They'd better be though, very expensive.

The leather in the LS430 and SC430 is UNcoated. All Lexus made before the 2001-2004ish revamp have coated leather, the LS400, older ES300s etc.

I was going to just get the Vaistech Aux in kit because I didnt think there were presets, I may just wait for this to become availiable with Sirius. Thanks!

Welcome to the site, glad you enjoy it. We've got some great knowledgeable members here. As for the ticking, thats normal on the 3.0l V6, its nothing to worry about.