SW03ES

But what I'm saying is that the chinese have the same work ethic. Thats just part of globalization, gotta get used to companies building products in other countries.

Honestly though, I've seen a drop in quality in the cars coming out of Japan. My ES is a great car but its nowhere near as solid as my dad's 98 LS was, and niether is his new 04 LS. Japan is changing a lot every year and becoming more and more like us. China is just starting out on that journey and they still have a lot of the old beliefs that you are the quality of your work and money doesn't matter, whereas in the US and becoming increasingly so in Japan it doesn't matter what quality your work is as long as you make lots of money. Think about it, newer lexuses have had transmission problems, recalls, bad press. That would have been unheard of in say 1994.

Yeah I agree. I think 300,000 miles is an admirable life for your LS. Couldn't ask for much more than that. Think about it this way, there's reasons they don't give 80 year old people heart transplants, at that age plenty of other components are ready to go and its just not worth it. Your 300k LS is an 80 year old man ;) If you can afford to get into a newer model (95-97 or even better 98-00) then I'd do that, find a nice one with low miles and run it to 300k again.

When I had my Sirius radio installed the installer was telling me that my wood console surround cost over $2000. He said he knew that because one of the installers there broke one and the shop had to pay out to replace it. Really, its their fault if they scratched it. Its hard to install stereo equipment and sometimes damage is inevitable, but if they're a legitimate business they should pay for what they do.

Thats not neccisarily true, xenons can fail also especially when put into an aftermarket setup.

But thats what you're missing, Chinese plants have a lot of the same quality characteristics because their society is similar to Japan's. Japanese products have the quality they do because of the personal worth their workers put into each product they make. A misaligned panel is personal and family disgrace. Consequentially thats why we're so bad at building cars, we do it to make money. As Japan gets more and more individualistic and capitalistic their quality control has waned. China is a heavily collectivist country and I'd expect they run a really tight factory. Be more afraid of Lexus building cars in Texas than China.

Thats terrible... Unfortunately all dealerships are independently owned so they're not all the same. We have 6 here within 25 miles so they all have to be pretty on their game to keep their business. I'd write the general manager a letter and explain to him why you're so dissatisfied. If that gets youy nowhere, call 1-800-25-LEXUS and lodge a complaint. Honestly in your situation, I'd find an independent mechanic to service your car and forget the dealer.

Well the whole rollover thing is not what most people think it is. The truck is actually not prone to rollovers as long as its fitted with appropriate tires. The only thing insurance companies care about is claims. A car is more expensive or less expensive to insure depending on how much insurance companies pay out for claims surrounding that particular vehicle. When he says its one of the safest vehicles a teenager can drive he means "We haven't paid a lot of claims for dead teenagers in Explorers" probably because not a lot of teenagers drive them.

If the car audio shop scratched the panel up they should replace it. There's no way to repair scoring of the matte plastic parts of the dash.

Not to mention should an aftermarket bulb burst it can ruin the inside of the housing, and those housings cost more than you want to think about...

Not to mention the AWD isn't as neccisary on the RX as some other vehicles as the car is FWD to begin with. a FWD model with VSC will go through 90% what an AWD model will. A RWD Explorer vs 4WD would be another story for example.

I'd actually say silver. My Explorer is white and while it is everything RX says white can get dingy down around the rocker panels over time and is very difficult to match when bodywork is done. Silver hides everything, even better than white. Plus Lexus' white is a pearl coat which can make it even harder to match if it should need bodywork. I also think black interiors look better longer than other colors also. I took a breif detour from light colored cars with my ES but I won't do it again, the next one will be silver or some other silver based color (silvery blue, silvery green etc)

You CAN swap a new DVD system in but it wouldn't display properly on the nav screen. The new system uses a 16:9 widescreen format while the old system is 4:3 sort of like the difference between a widescreen and a full screen TV.

Yes they are, SOME RX330s are built in Canada starting last year.

The pit pass works differently depending on the track. We had pit passes at Bristol and it consisted of a tent in the pit area for the sponsor and guided tours of the track and pit area, you do run into and see the drivers. We were on a bus headed back to the parking lot and Dale Jr popped his head in to say hi to the driver lol. Its unlike any other sporting event.

Yep, like anything else.

True, I guess if you have an insurance agent that you trust he could reccomend the best company.

True, but not all aftermarket glass companies. Without a knowledge of the different manufacturers how would someone know? With OEM glass you're assured OEM quality. Thats why insurance companies cannot specify aftermarket glass if the customer wants OEM.

Thats another thing I even forgot. Part of what you're paying a realtor for is protection in the transaction. Say your buyer finds a crack in the basement, a crack that you knew about (that he can prove which actually isn't hard) and didn't tell him about before the sale. Thats misrepresentation and its illegal. If he sues you what are you going to do? I'm insured against such things, I'd either turn it into my errors and omissions insurance or he could make a claim against my state's real estate transaction guarantee fund. You'd loose your house to satisfy the findings. Just another reason why realtors are worth what they're paid.

Why would they hate you? Dealers don't do warranty work for free LOL, Lexus just pays them instead of you. They LOVE you. Colin- Some cars have fogs independent of lows its not a US reg.

Not to mention the Dunlop SP Sport 5000 which are a great tire despite short treadlife.

Yes they are coated and no the mag wheel polish isn't a good idea ;)

I have to agree with SK though, I've never seen an aftermarket windshield look as optically clear as an OEM one. My dad had one put in a Cadillac he had when I was a teenager and it made me sick to my stomach to look through it it was so distorted. I'm sure there are aftermarket glassmakers out there that do good work, but for my money and my car why take the chance? Plus, I pay my insurance company $2000 a year, the least they can do is spot me a $1000 windshield every few years ;)

Chris- I can see what your parents are saying. The Lexus is a reliable vehicle but when you start looking into cars 3,4,5 years old they're going to need repairs and maintenance that is going to cost you money you may not be prepared to spend, tires, brakes, shocks, more expensive maintenance items that cannot be skipped. Thats why I bought a new ES instead of a 3 year old LS, I didn't wanna have to pour lots of money into brakes/tires/expensive maintenance packages right away. AND I'm an adult with a job ;) I'm not saying you should go that route but I can see where your parents are coming from.

I looked at the Kumhos, almost got them but chickened out lol I have to agree, when I'm shopping for tires I look for the NEGATIVE comments and see how they integrate into the positives and the vehicle the tires are put on. Again, *I'm* not saying the TripleTreads are a bad tire or even not a fantastic tire I'm just saying that TireRack's surveys while very useful need to be dissected to find the real truth out of them. I personally am just as leery of something everyone LOVES and swears is the answer to all life's problems as I am something everyone hates.