SW03ES

Yeah nothing wrong with that, Yokohama makes an excellent tire. I can only speak about the Michelins because of my experience.

Another reason why the salesperson should have gone over the features with him when he took delivery.

Yeah but SUVs don't make a luxury car line, they add to what is already there. The Acura MDX is niether prestigious nor elegant, it simply functions well as a family vehicle and has lots of amenities and its cheap. Lexus sells more RX330s than MDX's and its not because the RX330 is a better family vehicle, its because its a Lexus.

But all companies are like that, its simply covering their own asses. In a way if the problem is what I suspect then they're telling the truth, the car is operating as designed if the drive by wire system is the culprit. Again, I'm not justifying their actions I'm just saying this behavior is absolutely not unique to Lexus. That said I am beginning to feel that Lexus is getting a little content in their complacency, something that happened to BMW and Mercedes before Lexus came around. I've seen a marked drop in product quality and service quality in the past few years. I'm thinking next time I might try a BMW because of their desire to show that they can make as quality an automobile as Lexus, or maybe the new Cadillac STS because of everything they've got riding on it. You can bet Cadillac's not going to tell people who just came over from Lexus, BMW or Mercedes the car is "operating as designed".

Jim- Thats a JDM Toyota Crown Athlete. If you really look at it you'll see that its significantly smaller than the LS, look at the rear door and the rear seat area. Lexus is VERY good at hiding their new models, we wont see the new LS until they want us to mark my words.

Yeah Jim didn't mean it in a negative way, he loves his LS and as far as I know from talking to him has no plans on purchasing anything else but future LS's. Thats precisely why Toyota created the Lexus brand in the US but sells the cars in Japan with the Toyota name, Americans need the name. In 2001 Lexus even removed "Toyota" from the windows and I remember car mags talking about this as a major design change. Americans are very shallow and materialistic. In fact the only reason they're bringing Lexus to Japan is to improve the image of the brand in AMERICA! I realize that vcv's real statement was why do people mention Lexus that way more than Infiniti, because Lexus is legitimate competition Infiniti isn't. Fans of Mercedes, BMW etc are very threatened by Lexus and Lexus owners, the current iterations of Benz and BMW cars are directly a result of Lexus coming on the scene and changing how the luxury car market worked and a lot of BMW and Benz "purists" hate that. The only thing they can say that really gets underneath the skin of Lexus owners is "its just a fancy Toyota". THATS why you hear it more about Lexus. Its like a bunch of blue bloods putting down the guy down the street that owns a string of dry cleaners. He's "beneath them" because of his "lowly beginnings" when in all reality he's more deserving of his success then they are, and they know it too. They get together and find ways to put him down to make themselves feel better, this is where the Benz and BMW heads came up with "its just a fancy Toyota" it makes them feel better and legitimizes their purchase. We do the same thing in a way when we harp on how unreliable and poorly built german cars are, we all know thats not really true anymore and that someone could buy an S500 and enjoy it every bit as much and every bit as long as an LS430. We still say it though. As for the Q45, they're nice cars but there are some fundamental areas where they lack from the LS. Their construction isn't as solid nor is their interior as high quality, they lack some features their contemporaries had like dual zone climate etc. They also have the lowest resale value in the industry.

Sorry, but all group buys on the LOC have to be cleared by the admins, JUST like on CL. You can tell the people running this GB that we'd welcome a group buy for LOC members but they have to go through the proper channels. We also have no problem sharing in a group buy with CL, but again we need to be able to clear it first. PM me if you want to set this up legitimately.

Naa they wont. The best indication is the GS, the new GS is sporty but its still smooth, understated and elegant. Whatever they do to the LS it wont be more "radical" than the new GS because if it is it'll upstage it. The cars they're trying to compete with are the 7 series and S class. Those cars even in their sportiest trim are extremely elegant. As for the RL, its a great car with lots of technology and a beautiful interior, BUT the exterior styling is terrible. The old one was much classier. As much as I know about cars I always still think its an Accord when I see it, it has no class at all. Huge mistake for Acura. The new Infinitis by comparison look great, the new M series is sporty yet very classy and is recognizable as an Infiniti. The TL is okay but I'm starting to doubt that Honda is capable of designing and marketing a car that buyers will take seriously.

The reason they refuse to go beneath the V rated tire is that was the speed rating the handling dynamics of the car were designed around. V rated tires have stiffer sidewalls than H rated tires, the car wasn't designed for H rated tires. I figure Lexus paid for V rated tires on these cars for a reason so I'm sticking to V rated tires.

Its a deformed secondary steering shaft. Tell them specifically to inspect the steering system and ESPECIALLY the steering shafts and the steering rack. If you just tell them its a popping noise they will check only the suspension, pat you on the head, and tell you its fine. My shaft is on order, this is a very common problem. I'm sure they'll have to wait a couple weeks for a shaft to come in then you'll have to bring the car back in for the repair.

Thats just how dealerships are, you shouldn't blame Lexus the car company. What you should do is complain to Lexus customer care and tell them exactly what you just told us. You're going to have the same experience at car dealerships for all different marques. Pop around other car make's boards, everyone complains about uncooperative dealers and people telling them things are "operating as designed" its the go-to "get them out of my office" line and they use it because for MOST customers it works. If you buy another make expecting to never hear those words again you're going to be dissapointed. I'm not trying to persuade you to buy another Lexus but I'm just suggesting, as someone who works with dealership service departments for a living, don't make that the reason not to. I've heard customers complain about this from Lexus, Cadillac, Infiniti, BMW, Ford, Chrysler, Acura, Honda you name it.

Thats why. I've found that on manual mode its very difficult to control the temperature of the air, next time try leaving it on Auto and setting the temp to 74 or so, it will heat up and back off when it gets to the proper temp. When you select the temperature manually the heat will never back off, the interior temp sensor is deactivated and the unit works like a HVAC control system. When you turn the temp down the air doesn't get cooler, it just blows less hard.

The PWR mode doesn't do much, but the snow mode works very well and I wish my ES had it. 04- I didnt mean to come across as upset but its frustrating when people hang so tightly onto incorrect information and refuse to believe multiple sources that try to show them the right way something is done. Not so much shame on the owner but shame on the Lexus salesperson that sold you your car, they're supposed to sit you in the car when you take delivery and show you and explain all of these functions.

Thats what all the new cars out are doing, its not really wasting any space its just filling space with dash instead of guage. I'm like you, I prefer the all one peice cluster I think it looks more high tech when the optitron guages are on vs off.

Here are numerous threads nd links in which the ECT SNOW mode is discussed: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...38&hl=ECT++SNOW This is straight from Lexus of Australia http://www.lexus.com.au/news/stories_show.asp?id=156 An exerpt: A post on our UK site: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/lof...php/t10024.html A review: http://www.autorevista.com/articles/99lx470.htm An exerpt: Another review: http://www.canadiandriver.com/testdrives/02is300_sptx.htm An exerpt: ANOTHER review: http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/jedlicka...d=10986&src=vip And an exerpt: So, as I said the ECT SNOW mode helps improve traction when accelerating from a stop by affecting the transmission's gearing. It has nothing to do with starting the engine. If your RX does not start in second gear when the snow mode is active it needs to be looked at by a Lexus dealership. I love these cars, and I know how the features work ;)

LOL, you can believe that if you want, but thats not true. All RX330s have the ECT Snow switch, its a standard feature. If they make them without that switch I have never seen one, and I've been in probably 50 RX330s all different packages. I have driven numerous Lexuses with the ECT Switch in the snow mode, both in the snow and not in the snow and it DEFINATELY starts the car in second gear, if yours doesn't it is defective. My dad had a 98 LS400 with an ECT snow switch for 5 1/2 years and I drove it several times in the snow, he has an 04 LS430 that also has this switch and I drive RX330s with it all the time as I always request an RX330 as a loaner. I'm not saying the ECT PWR and ECT SNOW modes are the same, they are two seperate selections within the ECT system. My ES has the ECT system as well I simply don't have selectable shifting modes, older ES's do. No the PWR and SNOW modes are not the same (hence why most Lexus vehicles have both modes) but they're both selectable shift modes and have nothing to do with starting the engine, they change how the transmission shifts. Your numerous friends are as mistaken as you. All the switch does is defeat first gear when accelerating, there is no reason the vehicle feels out of control when that switch is activated, thats purely psychological. Look around the internet, search for ECT SNOW and Lexus. Are you really so arrogant to believe all these people, including magazine editors are wrong and you're right? Come on now.

Thats a pretty tall order. The TPTs are certainly comparable to the Michelins in ride and should last longer, but they're no better or worse in the snow. The Dunlop SP Sport 5000s are similarly smooth and quiet, and good in the snow but the treadwear rating is low.

They're cheaper in the states...sort of.

Where have you seen pictures of the next gen LS? We wanna see too!

Thats precisely the car the LS was designed to emulate, they talk about it in the new Lexus story book.

This is from the Lexus website: As you see ECT stands for Electronically Controlled Transmission. I have dispatched an email to Lexus customer care asking for an explanation of the snow mode, which I will post here. This is an exerpt from a review of the RX330: Transmission with snow mode, meaning a mode in the transmission designed for driving in snow.

No such beast, the GS300 is the only model availiable with the AWD, the 430 is exclusively RWD.

You misunderstand what they mean. They mean when starting out from a stop, the ECT SNOW mode simply deletes first gear, it makes the car start accelrating in second which reduces wheelspin. The car having reduced traction when its on doesn't make any sense, as all it does is keep the car from using first gear when accelerating from a stop. How would starting the car in the snow need any special mode? That doesn't make any sense. If they meant that they would have said "during the winter" or "when ambient temps are below zero". It can be 0 degrees farenheit and no ice or snow, whouldn't you need the mode then? It doesnt help you to leave it on when driving, but it doesnt hurt either as once you have accelerated the car drives normally. Also don't believe everything Lexus techs tell you, In my experience they're often less than knowledgable about these cars, or since you misunderstood the manual you may have misunderstood him. No reason to get defensive, but you're definately wrong. Think about it, why would there be a mode on the transmission for starting the car? The transmission has nothing to do with that, "ECT" means Electronically Controlled Transmission. ECT SNOW means a transmission mode for driving in snow. Other Lexus models have two modes, ECT PWR which increases acceleration and ECT SNOW which works just as it does on the RX. What you're thinking of is something like an engine block heater that warms the motor up before starting. The main proof that the ECT SNOW button is not supposed to work as you claim is that the switch is inoperable with the car turned off!

COngrats! My guess is you'll be happy with them. BJs+Costco etc usually have the best prices on tires, DEFINATELY get the alignment done, you should always have an alignment done when you have new tires put on.

Yeah you SHOULD be able to do that here but there isn't any space allocated to that, it says global space availiable is 0 bytes. We're working on it.