SW03ES

In my experience with Benzes they're always one whole size class off of Lexus and BMW. The C Class Mercedes is terrible, cheap plastic, tiny econocar look and space, comparable to the IS300 but not the ES or the BMW 3 series. To compare to the 3 series or ES you have to look at an E Class for $20-$30,000 more which is similar in size (to the ES) in equipment and in quality. When you compare the E to the LS (same price class) its no comparison, the LS is bigger, smoother, faster, and has much more room. The S430, no equipment at the price base (which is the same as a loaded LS430) not even xenon headlights. You have to move up to something like an S500 designo edition at almost $100,000 to equal the quality and the equipment on the $70,000 Ultra Luxury LS model or the $80,000 745Li. That 3 pointed star is nice, but not worth 30g's. I will never buy a Mercedes until they get some sort of realistic grip on their pricing. Beautiful cars and I'd love to own one someday (owning a Benz is just something you should do) but not at those kind of price premiums.

Try increasing them. I think my TPTs are smoother and ride better somewhere around 30.5. Airing them down makes them "smoother" but it also increases noise. To me 30.5 offers that right Lexus ride, smooth like glass but not floaty and totally silent. I tried a whole bunch of pressures before I found this one.

I wouldnt have driven 2 hours for $1200 and I'll tell you why. See the actual sale is but a small part of the total relationship for both you, the buyer, and for the dealership. Dealerships make way more money in service than they do in sales. I design customer retention systems and consult with car dealerships for a living. The dealership looked at a lot of variables when they decided to sell your car out from under you, and one of those was probably location. At 2 hours away you were almost certainly going to service your car somewhere else. They had some other guy where they were going to not only make more on the sale, but more on the service. This is how they got your car, the salesman wanted the higher comission, and the GM wanted the local service business. Underhanded sure, you got screwed sure, but thats business. With no deposit you had no legal claim and money talks. Be happy about a good deal and skeptical of one thats too good. The best way to buy a car is to forge a long term relationship with a dealer, then you can have them in your corner to handle warranty problems or buy another car down the road. Thats not possible 2 hours away, and its worth $25 a month. This is why most people hate buying a car, because they make price the only variable in the equation. Would you choose a realtor based soley on what commission they'll be making or on their experience as an example? Well car dealerships and salespeople are different also and like everything else you get what you pay for. You've learned that now, Lexus of Orlando might have the best price but they'll turn right around and stick it in your back in 30 seconds if the deal's right. In a lot of ways bargain hunters and dealers like this deserve each other, because more often then not bargain hunters will do this to salespeople they've been working with too (not saying you at all did, its just people treat others the way they get treated). Salesperson from dealer A has put in 15 hours on this sale, talking back and forth with you and setting it all up, running numbers to his SM and allocating your car. You call salesman at dealer B and all he has to do is beat A's hard earned price by $300 and he makes the sale on 35 minutes work. Thats just as underhanded as what this dealer did to you but people do it all the time. Everyone's always quick to condemn underhanded sellers but never underhanded buyers.

Drive something else to compare. One thing I've noticed is when you drive the car every day in and every day out you get used to the ride quality and the car will stop impressing you, until you drive something else. Anything else and you'll be impressed again when you drive your Lexus. THink about it this way, as long as you don't have the computer suspension then nothing could have changed with the car that would make a firmer ride.

I like the look too but I agree with the color comments (might get used to it) and the issue about the top bar. I assume the space to the left is going to be used for banner ads so that should help, but I did prefer the bigger forum name off to the left on the old forum.

Read that article and you'll have it down! You can certainly hide the swirls by hand with some sort of glaze , but they'll come back.

But for some reason nobody illuminates those stalks...

I wouldn't use Lexol on the dash, only on leather materials. Lexol makes another product, Vinylex that is designed for parts such as the dash. I don't know if the Vinylex CAUSED that damage but it won't offer any protection against it.

The LS430's problem is unique to the Lexus line. All other Lexus models have a problem with the electronic throttle that most people incorrectly diagnose as a transmission problem. That actually is inherant to how the electronic throttle performs. The LS430 problem is totally different and has nothing to do with the "lag" issue. They repaired the problem with this recall so it stands to reason that it would also be repaired in the 2005 LS. I wouldn't be concerned. As for the lag, its still going to be there. I've heard similar complaints about the new BMWs though. Drive an LS though, you may not notice it.

Thats really strange, my tires are totally silent. The Dunlop SP Sport 4000 and 5000 are quiet tires but the TPT is at least just as quiet. What PSI are they aired to?

But if he was going to have it hauled off...

They actually do care, the company can "punish" the dealer through their CSI score which effects pay rates, car allocation, finance rates to keep cars on the lot. Etc. There's really not a lot that you can do, if you didn't put a deposit down then there is no contract to hold the car and it can be sold. It might not be that salesman's fault. There are several ways that an unsold car can be sold out from under a salesman who has a customer that wants it and doesn't have a deposit on it. It can be allocated from another dealer and traded etc. Most likely what happened is just waht you said, he found a way to make more money on the car and he took it. What an a-hole. Thats probably why they refused a deposit. But if you let two people who don't even work for Lexus sour you on the brand you're being more than a little rediculous. There are plenty of ES330s around, this isn't some super rare car that can only be very rarely found in certain combinations. There are thousands of ES330s out there just like this one, and a good salesman and dealer WILL find you one I promise. Just go to the next lowest price dealer and explain what happened, they will find you one at the price you discussed. You learned a lesson I learned when I bought my ES300, don't let price be the ONLY consideration when buying a car. This happened to you and the dealer was hours away for what? A few hundred $$? I was working with a very nice woman at one dealer when a dealer offered it $400 cheaper somewhere else. I apologized to the woman who could not meet their price and went over there. The guy ordered my car and when it came it 3 weeks later it had the wrong interior color. I was so shocked I couldn't believe it. He had ordered the wrong color. So I called back to the other woman and she had actually allocated the car for me anyway because she knew from the allocation computer that there was no way that other dealer was going to be able to get me the right car, it just didn't exist (I had ordered a rare combination). She even came down on the price $200, halfway between the two. I happily paid it and have someone to trust when I buy my next Lexus. You get what you pay for.

That MAY have to do with the traction control but more likely its simply the air being more humid and that changing the powerband of the engine. I've never noticed that though.

Mercedes and to a lesser extent Lexus are trying to find alternatives to backlighting. Mercedes now for instance uses very very low amber lighting inside the cabins at night to help illuminate some of the controls and space that is not backlit. Studies have shown that this very dim ambient light is not as distracting as over-lit backlighting. Lexus is doing this too, in the RX330 for instance the center console area is very dimly illuminated at night by LEDs, as are the door handles. On my ES the footwells are dimly lit amber at night. Not sure about the 04 LS as I haven't looked at my dad's close enough to know.

Even if it had excellent care taken of it though, at 250,000 miles even perfectly maintained components are going to be reaching their maximum life. As for the dash plastic that is odd. All the Lexus' I've seen on used lots always have very well preserved materials. Lexus chooses the interior materials on these cars so that they all age at a relatively comparable rate. You know, I bet at one time some sort of silicone based dressing was used on the dash. Armor All for instance used to be a silicone based dressing. Silicone dressings should never be used on non.wear items (anything other than tires) like dashes because while they will protect the dash the silicone dries the material out and once you stop using it it will greatly accelerate the process and can cause it to crack. Thats my bet on why its so dry. That may also explain the little creaks as that material is getting more more brittle. You might want to try cleaning the dash top well and applying a good water based dressing like 303 Aerospace or Poorboys Natural Look to see if that will rejuvinate it somewhat.

Enjoy! Buying a new Lexus is a great experience.

If you're that nitpicky you're simply just not going to be happy with that high mile a car. You can't reflect anything about the car's behavior back to its original quality or the quality of the brand when it has 250,000 miles. Thats all how its been maintained and how its lived its years. You say your parents put 310,000 miles on a Town Car, thats right they did. I don't have any problem driving my 97 Explorer with 160k miles because those miles have been put on by me and I know the car has always been serviced properly, driven properly, cared for properly and parked indoors. You simply have no idea what that car has been through when you buy it with 200,000 miles. MOST people don't care for or drive their cars properly. I'll happily drive my Lexus 100-150,000 miles probably, but I will know exactly how it has been serviced and cared for that whole time. I will be able to make an adequate judgement of Lexus quality. To say you're disgusted with the quality of the Lexus marque though when you have one thats 14 years old with 250,000 miles only what 30,000 of which have been put on by you is just more than a little unfair. My dad put 160,000 hard miles on his 98 LS400 in just 5 years, it was always serviced and washed weekly, maintained properly both mechanically and cosmetically and it was still a great car when he traded it. No squeaks or rattles, was just starting to vome into some need for expensive maintenance like struts and I think he was having some sort of looseness problem with one of the ball joints that was going to have to be replaced. It never saw the shop for anything other than maintenance. Thats pretty good...

The Bridgestone tires are HORRIBLE in the rain. Get them off your Solara ASAP.

I have the TPTs and am very happy with them B)

I think the screws that hold in the airbag are torx screws but I'm not sure. I'd swing by the Lexus dealer and see what they have to say about the proper tool. As for the steering wheel wrench any auto parts store should have one.

I have 160,000 miles on my Explorer, but it costs thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to maintain lol.

You never know! lol

Michelin tires in general dry rot and age before they run out of tread. Id say a change in tires is a good idea if only to increase your confidence.

Very nice Matt!

Naa its not going to increase in value.