SW03ES

dc- LOL, thats very funny as well. I do gotta say, I wasn't entirely thrilled with our choices this time. I voted for Bush in 00, voted for Kerry this year but wasn't overly heartbroken when he lost. Next time's gonna be more interesting, Hillary Clinton is gonna run, probably Giuliani, maybe John McCain.

First of all you're not paying a mechanic $200 an hour for labor, Lexus labor rates top out at around $100. Thats not at all out of line when compared to other luxury car marques. You get a free loaner worth $100 or so a day full of free gas etc etc. You are paying a high markup on parts, but most dealers I've come in contact with will use YOUR parts if you can find them wholesale and still give you the free loaner car which I personally feel is very sporting of them. The dealer isn't trying to rip you off, they diagnosed your problem like you asked them to do and told you what they would charge you to fix it. You elected not to which is your right. If you mouthed off to the sales rep who is just doing his job and he thought you were an !Removed!, he was right. What you've come to realize is the Lexus is a luxury car, and luxury cars cost a lot of money to maintain when they break. Do you think a watch shop will charge you the same to fix a Rolex as they would a Seiko? No. The parts just cost more. You can use sensors from pepboys if you want but you risk voiding your powertrain warranty if they cause problems down the road. Now, I don't blame you at all for wanting to find a more economical way to repair the car but I do fault you for assuming the dealer was trying to rip you off because they quoted you a price. Thats what that service costs at that dealership, take it or leave it. If you dont like it, leave it but don't fault the service tech who'se just doing his job. What I would do is purchase those parts online wholesale from one of the parts outlets, lexus-parts.com or irontoad.com and take the car to an independent mechanic who has experience with Japanese cars. Make him your new best friend. He's still gonna charge you $70 an hour labor though. You'll also have to worry about taking a day off of work to sit around the shop etc. Thats what you're paying the extra $30 an hour for, convenience. Mechanics make a lot of money. They have a skill most people don't have and they deserve to be paid to use that skill.

LOL, it is a joke, and it is funny. Gotta have a sense of humor ;) Also gotta keep in mind Bush is very lowly regarded across the pond.

Well Chrysler didn't buy MB. Chrysler wasn't in a financial position to buy anyone, Mercedes "MERGED" with Chrysler in order to keep them from going out of business so effectively MB bought Chrysler. As to the resale value its really a function of brand image and the new car sales philosophy. BMW and Mercedes just plain have more prestige than Lexus does, although Lexus is far higher regarded than Infiniti or Acura. Also BMW and Benz are careful not to sell their cars at a significant discount where Lexus isn't. Resale values are computed off MSRP, and if you can buy a new one for $4000 off MSRP then that makes 1 year resale LOOK really low.

Just for fun I did a little poking around and got some fleet prices on the LS430. You're almost definately not going to do better than fleet on one of these cars. The best price I found for the LS430 UL was $65,975. Thats $5,000 off list. If you'd like the name of the fleet company I'd be happy to give it to you. They have an attractive lease on that car too, $680 a month.

Another possibility is the difference between projector headlights and reflector like on your 300. I've found the projectors tend to have a whiter beam but a bluer appearance, if that makes sense.

We have a Sam's too, its basically the same thing just different companies. I prefer Costco I find they have a better selection. Costco also has great meat... And caskets!

Yeah hell, if people will pay him $200 why shouldn't he charge that? I would pay $200 for him to do it just so I dont have to dissasemble the dash...

I love Costco lol. Where else can you buy a 12 pack of gallon sized Mayonnaise, a plasma TV and a Movado all in one stop?

Really the best place is online, or if you can find a marine store in your area.

Naa, doors and such are easy. They either go in through the drain holes or they just pop off the panel a little so they can slide their tools in. Be careful with dent doctors and other chains as the quality may not be consistent. Find a good tech with references, but you'll pay probably 50% more for him. Well worth it though.

Definately look at the 97, they made a lot of improvements that year including the xenon headlamps and the neon brakelight. Watch those neon brakelights they're really expensive (hundreds of dollars) to replace when they go.

Yeah that transmission fluid definately looks burned, even after 80k it should still be at least pink-ish.

I'm a little concerned about this: I wonder if sandy roads during the winter is something that is a concern. The roads around here get REALLY sandy.

Naa, I washed mine today and it was 47. It makes it harder to dry but its still do-able.

I've been washing it in the garage ever since LOL. That reminds me of a product I don't know if I reccomended it to you or not, ProtectAll Quick and Easy Wash? You can wash the car with a gallon of water and never leave your nice warm garage in the winter.

Go with the Lincoln. Only issue, get it looked at somewhere else. If the guy thought that Lincoln was a 99 then he doesn't know the cars well enough to know if its a good quality one or not. They didn't even make that Lincoln in 99. My father in law to be had a 93 Mark VIII that he bought in 1995 until recently when he traded it on a new Navigator. It had almost 200,000 miles on it and drove perfect. He kept it mint too, dark green (that dark green was real propular on luxury cars in the early 90s, like silver is today) with chrome wheels. Really a sharp car. Only problem with it was he had to do the valve cover gaskets at one point I think and the clearcoat was getting thin on the leading endge of the hood, thats from a lifetime of being buffed and polished. They run fantastic and aren't real complicated so they run forever. I've also not heard if they have the same air ride woes other Lincolns do. The only reason he got rid of it is that he's quite large and he needed something bigger that he didnt have to haul himself out of. He used to drive Corvettes and he was real happy with that Lincoln. The Lexus is a great car, but they're only as good as the way they're maintained like any other car. This Lincoln sounds like its been maintained, always driven by an older guy, the Lexus has no records and is driven by a kid, get the Lincoln. You can stay a member here either way ;)

Claying should help, then maybe try some sort of chemical cleaner like vb's Meg's #1 Paint Cleaner or Klasse AIO. We were just in NJ because my fiance's grandmother passed away and the rain there is SO hard, I always get terrible waterspots afterwards so I'm used to removing them. If they're really bad though you'll need something abrasive and a buffer to get them out.

Gold Class is terrible. You've got to try some of the other higher quality waxes vb! Maybe I'll send you a chunk of my #16 or some P21S to try out. #16 is a heavy carnuaba wax like collinite but it has a little bit better optics. P21S only lasts a matter of weeks but the look is unbelievable, very wet and deep. Its better suited as a topper wax going over a more durable wax or sealant as just a beauty step. You can't been Collinite for durability but you can definately beat it for look ;)

Yeah seriously. Once you've used microfiber you'll never go back to cotton. The normal MFs aren't very good for drying, you need a waffle weave MF for that, but they wipe so clean waxes and quick detailers and such that you'll never use cotton again. Make sure to mark them and never use the same MF for different uses, use a few for wax removal, a few for polishing, a few for interiors etc. I also dont like ordinary MFs for glass, they lint. Look for a glass MF at Pepboys or just stick to newspaper.

I was washing the car in the driveway a couple weeks ago when a acorn falls from the sky, nabs the roof right square in the middle between the windshield and the sunroof and puts a nice quarter sized ding (go figure the odds of that one, only woulda happened to me. Of course I'm irate, stopped at the PDR tech to see if they could fix it. $200, he had to pull the headliner and everything I was very nervous. No problems at all, headliner was pulled and reinstalled no problems, no rattles anything. He's great.

I'd drive it till it breaks down. Like others have said its going to be very hard to sell it and you'd wind up probably having to trade it in, and at that age and mileage its gonna be worth about as much to a dealership whether its running or on a flatbed. I'd drive it till it drops and put that 6k in an interest bearing account until its time to buy something new.

The MFs they sell at Costco are actually usually pretty good, nice and soft. The only problem is they don't last as long as some of the more expensive ones you can buy online.

No problem! If you need any help on what products to choose or what materials you want to pick up there's planty of info here! If you can't find any info don't hesitate to post and ask!

LOL, who knows.