SW03ES

Yeah the definite plus is building a relationship with the dealer helps when it comes time to get difficult things covered under warranty or out of warranty. I had a great service writer but he moved from Lexus to Jaguar and thats when I met my independent mechanic. He was a Lexus master tech for 16 years and keeps up his trainings and accreditation. Most of the service writers have no background in mechanics or anything technical at all, they are merely customer service reps, and when it comes time to have a repair done, they just know what the techs are telling them and what the manual says it costs. When you start discussing the options with them its obvious you may as well be asking them about brain surgery... Whereas my mechanic, being a tech himself, knows what the issue is and what options there are to fix it, and he knows the benefit of a long term relationship. The other issue with older cars is the dealership really sees newer cars and does a lot of maintenance. A lot of issues with older cars they may not routinely see, as was the situation with Jim's trunk leak... I'm not advocating using "any" independent shop, but a shop that specializes in Lexus and Toyota vehicles, with techs who were Lexus techs...should be able to diagnose anything a dealer can...

I don't know, I've looked up under the rear corner of the car and haven't seen any signs of rust... I'm going to try and swing by the dealer on Wednesday and see what they think...I need to have the possessed seek/track buttons on the steering wheel looked at anyways.

I've noticed a weird issue with the driver's side exhaust tip. After driving in the rain...really coming in contact with any moisture at all, that tip gets rusty water that builds up in the edge of it and stains the hell out of the tip. The tip itself is not rusted, the water flowing into the tip is rusty. The stains polish out with metal polish...but that literally needs to be done every wash. Very annoying. Here are some pictures, this never happens to the passenger side tip. The water builds up there, but its always clean water. This is after two days of driving in the rain, and a carwash today. Before the rain the tip was polished with metal polish. First photo is the clean tip on the passenger side, the second is the issued one on the driver's side. Any ideas? Water is flowing over something rusty inside the exhaust on that side...

It really comes down to a question of price. The only reason not to use the dealer with a new car is the cost. I always enjoyed using the dealer for service, the nice surroundings, good service, loaner cars, the way they treat their customers. However, the cost is so prohibitive that I came to the conclusion that I could use an independent mechanic that specializes in Lexus and Toyota vehicles, and have enough left over after each service to pay for the next service...and I just couldn't justify using the dealer any longer. With an older car I've found the dealers have a "just replace stuff until the problem goes away" mentality that just costs a fortune, so overall with older cars I recommend a good independent shop.

Yeah I wouldn't spend $13,000 to get the exact same vehicle with simply 30,000 less miles. 30,000 miles is nothing on one of these cars. To repaint the hood and bumper is MAYBE $1,000 at a good shop that will get you a good result...thats what I would do.

Bear in mind though, thats the 2010 system, the '08 has a different system. I don't know if it announces street names...

My iPhone works fine with the system in my ES...

Also I've found some sites have some parts cheaper than others...

Just what I was thinking LOL

I had the OEM Lexus all-weather mats for my 2003, they were nice. They sell them for the ES350 but they are much thinner and not as nice, because of the "sudden acceleration" fiasco. I bought a set of WeatherTech all weather mats and they are GREAT. Really nice...and only $100 for all four...can't go wrong. Laser cut and precisely shaped for the car. www.weathertech.com

First thing you have to understand is all these sites are dealers, I am sure Lexuspartsnow is also affiliated with a dealer. Lexus doesn't allow anyone to resell their parts other than a dealer. I too looked around Lexuspartsnow and was unimpressed. The biggest issue to me was that they don't seem to offer most models on the drill down after 2009. The setup you are looking for is called a "drill down". Sewell also has one, its very simple to find. To find parts for my 2010 ES350 you click "Sedans" from the main page ES350->2010 You have links on the left of the page, the top links are for accessories...the stuff the dealer sells in the glass cases, The bottom links are for parts. Click what type of part you want... If you want an emblem you can also just write "emblem" in the search at the op of the page and tailor it to your model. Couldn't be simpler. Right now there seems to be something wrong with the site, its not loading completely... Another site I use is www.mylexparts.com they also have a more updated drill down than Lexuspartsnow...I like this drill down better than Sewell's as well. They have your emblem for $28.71, Lexuspartsnow is $28.42 so its comparable. Shippings a little cheaper on Lexuspartsnow. Bunch of these sites on the web, but Sewell is cheaper when you mention you are a forum member.

Generally they came shipped four ways (these all build on each other): -Standard car with leather (pretty rare) -Opt 1: wood/leather wheel, HID headlights, parking sensors (most common) -Opt 2: Navigation, rearview camera -Opt 3 Ultra Luxury, panoramic roof, special wheels, Mark Levinson audio, rear sunshade, upgraded leather, adjusting seat cushion length for the driver. (also rare)

Should be... As a note, I have switched back to premium. For some reason the engine felt a little hesitant and not quite as smooth on the regular, I switched back to premium for a couple tanks to see if that helped...and it seems to have. All in my head? Maybe. I'm going to try mid-grade.

It depends on what you are used to. I much prefer the Lexus system to Garmin's system...but some others disagree...

Yep, most certainly am!

In order to find links we have to go through the same searching process as you. Go into the detailing forum and start reading the threads, there are great stickies on the top of the page. IMHO you should run premium in the car, but there are some with very different viewpoints...

The best is when you try and use it to impress somebody and its just terrible LOL

Welcome! It might be more helpful if you think of some specific questions to ask us...

Yeah we get a few requests like this every once and a while. Weird. Just don't use your account...its not hurting anything just sitting there...

I use a product called Eagle One NevrDull. Its a wadding polish, so the can is packed with cotton wadding impregnated with the solution and you tear off a peice and use it to polish the tips, and then buff them off. You can use any metal polish though.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Chrome+exhaust+tip&x=0&y=0

Ah...thats a typo, it should read 90.

Marv...great name!

Wow, its in incredible shape! What a find!

The other thing is who knows what could have been spilled in the interior before you bought it...