SW03ES

Sheesh, tell me about it! Hey Ed, welcome to the LOC! No idea about lowering the RX330 but I do have some advice for you. First off have you really looked at the FX35? I drive RX330s all the time as loaners and my parents have an FX35. The RX330 has a nicer interior, smoother and has more space but the FX35 is just flat out an awesome car. When I got my Lexus I swore I would not drive an SUV again, the RX330 wouldn't make me rethink that but the FX35 would. Your brother has one though so my guess is you're pretty familiar with it. Thats true, the 20s do look better but there is a huge tradeoff in ride and prowess in the snow. Check around on some of the Infiniti boards people are always complaining about the ride of the FX with the 20s and its prowess in the snow. My parents have the 18s and yeah they look kinda frumpy with the thick sidewalls but the ride is better and its better in the snow, always tradeoffs everywhere...

I don't believe the update changes the way the map looks. The reason it looks different is Lexus changed nav suppliers so its actually made by a different company. I actually prefer the way the nav looks on my 03 vs the new nav in our Prius and in my dad's new LS430. You'd have to swap out the nav computer to change the appearance. As for voice activation, its not worth it. Totally a gimmick. FWIW though there is a kit that can make your nav voice activated availiable in Japan.

I would go ahead and let a body shop do it if only because most of them require drilling. If they do it and it ever rusts or something they can stand behind their work.

No problem No problem ;)

Congratulations, I'm glad you were finally able to get it sold. I guess its all in how you advertise it huh? Please do stick around! Once a member of the LOC family always a member of the LOC family, Lexus or no Lexus!

No problem. Another quick test you can do is to open up the oil cap and feel around for any sludge. Thats no guarantee it wont have sludge but if you can see any its a definate pass because that means its pretty extensive.

Cool... I've wanted to add a few things like reverse tilt down mirrors and maybe power mirrors, I wonder if mine is pre-wired too. I know that the steering column has at least some sort of residual something for a power tilt wheel. When you take the key out of the ignition the wheel clicks and you can feel it as if it were going to tilt up and away like other Lexuses.

I love my ML stereo but test them back to back first. IMHO most of the benefit of the ML stereo comes with listening to classical music (which I don't). I definately would buy the nav again, but I might have skipped the ML if I could have.

Most people say that the car rides too soft (wollows and floats) in the comfort mode and rides like the normal car in the middle setting. Its probably not worth buying that package unless you want the ML stereo. I wouldn't.

Do make sure that you have complete oil change records on that 99, the years for the sludge problem were 97-01.

Ehhhh designwise maybe, not in quality. The LS has never had an exciting interior, just high quality. I like the look of the interior in my ES better than the LS.

You have to see it in person, its really sharp.

More than that, cars similar to the Lexus' they give as loaners cost as much as $150 a day here. $50 a day will get you something like a Grand Marquis or a Crown Vic.

Used to be that there would be the same part numbers, recently Lexus changed their numbers so that may not be true now...

Search the ES forum for a thread posted by iammikey. He installed the kit in his ES330, should give you some insight.

Having a salvage title is not always a huge deal. My uncle bought a wrecked Toyota Solara and repaired it for my cousin when he turned 16 and now he has a great car and it cost them several thousand dollars less. I don't know about $2500 though, around here they were going to charge me $1000 to repaint my bumper... Another potential problem will be insuring it when you get it fixed.

It does have a lot more equipment than the ES, more HP, AWD, smart entry and start, DVD audio, voice activated nav and controls, distronic cruise control, power everything (wheel, headrests, seatbelt anchors, adaptive lighting, bixenon headlamps, bluetooth phone, OnStar, its equipment list is more similar to a low model LS430. Thats what attracted me to the ES though, the fact that its feature list, its look, and its ride and drive make it SEEM much more expensive than it is. People are always shocked when I tell them what the ES costs, they assume its a 50-60k car. Thats part of the problem with the Acura I think, its a $50,000 car but from the outside it could be any number of much cheaper cars...

Yeah I think the one at the mall was $50k and change and it was pretty well loaded. Its designed to compete with the GS, 5 series, E class, A6 etc. I dunno, its a pretty appealing car, especially that interior. The real issue is that it still doesn't have any road presence. I was listening to the questions the people were asking (this was at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, these are some very wealthy people) the first question was "What is this" answer: "This is the new Acura RL, just came out" and then: "Acura, thats basically Honda right?". Now, the people we're still interested in the car but would they really buy one? Everyone knows what a Lexus is and of course a BMW and Mercedes, but $50,000 is a lot to pay for something where the first question out of people's mouths is "what is it" and then "Thats a Honda right?" You get that sometimes in the Lexus but its just people being smartasses, everyone knows its a Lexus. Seems everyone doesn't know what an Acura is. I think they can sell entry level TLs without that brand recognition, but at least from what I've seen those buyers move up to "real" luxury cars. No doubt thats what Acura is trying to stop here, but is it too late? Its too late for Infiniti, they have some great cars out now that get awesome praise from everyone, but sales are still pokey and resale is still poor, even on the "hottest" Infinitis like the G35 and the FX. I remember when I told my fiance that I was going to buy a luxury car and I was looking at the Acura, her first response was "An Acura, thats a luxury car?" whereas she knew exactly what the Lexus was and automatically found it more appealing, having never even seen either car. Thats another question, resale and how well it will hold over time. All three cars, Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes age well and maintain their status and panache over time. A Lexus is still a Lexus and something really worth having even when it gets to be 4, 5 years old, Acuras really aren't like that. Think of a 99 Acura TL, its outdated and frumpy looking when 99 Lexus' still look fresh. Definately BMW and Benz are that way too, it comes from being responsible in their redesigns.

I responded to your other post. Yep, that wheel should bolt up just fine and you can use your buttons ;)

Thats interesting, the 02+ ES has sound deadening material in the doors...

$1300 is WAY high for the 90k on an ES300. Thats about what the 90k on a V8 Lexus costs, and at least around here thats going to be significantly more than a V6 one. I think my dealer quoted me $800 or so for the 90k.

No way I would take the older gen RL over this one, this one puts the older one totally to shame in content and quality. I wasn't as impressed by the exterior as I was by the interior, the interior is one of the best looking luxury car interiors on the road, gotta go see one in person. I'd say its about the size of a new ES. Little bigger than the GS but not as big as the LS. Also has that DVD audio system and its unreal, much better than the Mark Levinson system.

Probably what you're dealing with is the very same waterspots that have never been removed. Waxing alone won't remove waterspots, it will protect against new ones but it won't remove spots that are already etched into the clear. Some paints allow etching to occur easier than others but the actual spotting should be the same, and that is caused more by the type of wax or sealant used on the car than the paint. Dealerships are really clueless about detailing and probably have no idea how to remove those waterspots. That said you need to figure out whether the waterspots are just on the surface or if they've etched into the clear. If they're on the surface then they can be removed with a 50/50 mix of Isopropyl Alcohol and water or with a claybar. If they're etched into the paint these steps wont work and the paint will have to be compounded to remove them. Check out the detailing forum for more info. If you're not interested in learning how to and detailing the car yourself I'd reccomend you ask around and find a good detailer to take care of it on a regular basis. I can reccomend detailers both in FL and in NJ for you. As long as you keep it clean and well protected you shouldn't have any more problems with spotting after these spots are removed.

We were at the mall yesterday and there was a salesman with a brand new 2005 Acura RL, silver with black interior. What an impressive car for an Acura! Exterior styling seems a little overdone in some places (like on the TL) but the interior is fantastic. Great quality materials and nice leather, a really great and unique design to every aspect. The center stack looks like some sort of high end home stereo. Very cool. All functions are run through an i-drive like controller on the dash that seems easier to use than BMW's system, more like Audis. Everything had a very high quality finished appearance including the trunk which reminded me of the way BMW makes trunks. Here's some pics:

I looked around at 15k and again at 30k (that one's $600) but decided to let Lexus do it for a couple reasons: 1. So it would be in the Lexus database since its a major service. 2. So I could get the loaner car. I dropped the car off the afternoon before and picked it up the evening after so really I had their loaner RX330 for at least a day and a half. If you figure in the cost of the loaner the price really isn't that high. My mechanic was going to do it for somewhere around $250 but he needed it for at least 4 hours, I'd have been left without a car etc. At least thats how I rationalized it to myself lol. If you do it yourself or have an independent mechanic do it make sure you keep your reciepts and only use the Toyota ATF.