SW03ES

I'll have my fiancee get me some pictures ;)

Naa, this dealer's full of it. If anything the 2005 interiors have MORE wood than ever before. The 400h has no wood, it has brushed alluminum trim to make it look high tech. Lexus isn't concerned about the use of wood.

This isn't first generation Toyota technology, the technology has been out since 1999. I wouldn't worry about that. Plus all Hybrid components are warrantied for 8 years. As for the mileage thats not entirely true. My fiancee is a member of a Prius board like this one and they DO get the advertised 60MPG. BUT you have to drive it very carefully to do that, plan and combine trips, etc etc. In real world driving it gets around 45MPG, which still isn't bad.

Thats not what I'm saying at all. When I was 16 I got a brand new $40,000 Explorer Limited. I don't buy into this stuff about kids being "given" things and that it automatically turns them into a terror that doesn't understand the value of money. That may be true for some, but I'm a case in point. At 19 I started my own business, on my own initiative, while in college even though I was handed an expensive car when I turned 16. It all depends on the person and its up to the parents to decide what they want to do and what they can afford. I knew a kid in high school, his mother drove an old Taurus wagon, his father drove an old Escort. He turns 16 and they buy him a brand new 3 series BMW coupe. He did what I knew he would, totalled it in 2 months. Each instance is a case by case deal that we really can't understand or judge. What *I'M* saying is that you've got to be smart. Nobody needs to drive a Lexus. Its a luxury item just like nobody NEEDS to wear polo clothing or have a coach wallet. They sell clothes at wal mart and wallets too. We all have to make decisions about what is important to us in life, and make smart decisions on what we can and cannot afford at any particular time. Even if we can afford something we have to decide if we WANT to afford it. A lot of people get caught up in "gasp a kid in a Lexus, MY GOD!" I'm realistic, it may be a Lexus but now at however many years old its a $4000 car. What we're trying to make you understand is that even though you're buying a $4000 car, you're buying one that has maintenance requirements and costs of a $60,000 car. All of the parts are priced to be sold to owners that can afford $60,000 cars, not owners that can afford $4000 cars. THATS what you need to realize. Now, I have no doubt that you can afford to buy the parts, but what you must ask yourself is do you WANT to? I've seen many friends of mine, especially when I was your age, miss out on so much fun that we were all having, because they had to work their butts off to buy shocks. No car is worth that. You're only 17 once in your life, you're going to own cars until you die. Plenty of time to own a Lexus, not plenty of time to be 17. Think of it like buying a Ferrari, only on a much smaller scale. You can buy an older Ferrari for $30-40,000. A lot of people think "Wow, I can buy this Ferrari or Rolls Royce for what I would pay for a new car, its WAY better!". Well, that $40,000 Ferrari is still a Ferrari, and it costs tens of thousands of dollars to maintain a ferrari. Some people I know with them pay as much as $10-15,000 a year even though the original purchase might not have been what some people think. Don't get caught up in telling yourself that the reason you're buying it is because its safe or has good power in an inconspicuous package. Plenty of cheaper to maintain cars have all of those things. You just need to be sure that you're ready and fully aware of what you're buying into. You've got to be prepared for that car to need several thousand dollars worth of work, and work you can't do like replacing motor mounts and stuff like that. There's a guy on the ES board, I think he's low 20s, just put his 92 ES300 in the shop for an oil change and a general inspection, it needs $6000 worth of work he didn't know it needed (some of it he did). He's now selling it.

They definately do not offer Lexus link as an option anymore. The service still exists for subscribers though. It IS OnStar but Lexus was uncomfortable with the same operators answering Lexus calls as answered Oldsmobile calls so they staffed the representatives themselves.

I doubt there will be any.

It should work fine. The nav head unit in the ES is a parts bin peice that is used on all sorts of Toyota models, the Camry Solara with radio controls, the Sienna van with radio controls, the Toyota 4 Runner with radio controls. The head unit MUST have inputs on the back for the radio controls. We know it does have inputs for satellite radio and voice activation, niether features the ES has. It wouldn't make financial sense to produce two identical head units yet leave out a connection. If you buy the wheel, the airbag, and the harness and have someone run it (a stereo shop would do it) it should work fine. Now the question is the cost. The Lexus wheels cost about $3000 from the dealer. Each wheel's wood is hand laid and they take about 3 weeks each to make. A leather only wheel would be cheaper I'm sure but they'll be rare. The wheel is too new to find on ebay or you could get one for 3-400. We also don't know if the wood finish will be the same. If you have a cream interior for instance the 05 has a yellow finished wood. I've heard people say the red finished wood we all have now has been discontinued. You would have to have the wood stripped and re-dyed. THEN you'd have to purchase a new airbag module because its a different shape. Again, its too new (the wheel is different from the RX) so you'd have to get it from the dealer, $1500 more. Its just not going to be cost effective. Now what you COULD do is get a leather only wheel from a Camry Solara (same wheel as the RX330 with radio controls) and get a Lexus branded airbag module (which you should be able to find somewhere used) and the wirinbg harness for the radio controls. THAT would be much more financially feasible.

Agreed. If you were keeping the vehicle for 25 years maybe you'd see a wear out ofm components slightly early from running at higher RPMs, but for the time most people own their cars? Its not going to make any difference. As for the RX vs ES thats because of the different torque curves of the two cars. The RX is built to handle more load thus more power is availiable at lower speeds.

They will definately fit yes! I've been meaning to do this for a long time, I think that the machined look is better also. The swap will actually be really cheap, in theory. The ES uses a 215/60R16 tire. The previous versions of the LS use a 225/60R16 tire on a wheel that is .5 in wider than the ES wheel. This shouldn't give you any problems if you want to use the tires that are on the ES now and the car should ride the same. you can, if you want, switch to 225 width tires and that will fill out the wheel wells better. Depending on what tires your ES has they may be pretty pathetic anyways and worth replacing. Be aware that the LS430 wheels are not machined either so you'll have to stick to older LS400 wheels, 98-00 or 00 Plat. The Plat. wheels from the ES will fit too, but the ones from the GS may need spacers. The Toyota Camry Special Edition has a wheel that is very similar to the ES' wheel but its machined that I've been looking at too. Its exactly the same size as the ES' wheel so it would be a direct fit, and the center caps are interchangable so you could replace the Toyota ones with your Lexus ones. Check out ebay, the wheels are always on there and you can sell yours again after you swap them.

Good luck!

It can't be beat! It would work great on a Harley...

Actually the feature load on the Prius in unbelievable. It has options only shared with the LS430 Lexus like smart entry/smart start, bluetooth phone connectivity, voice activated nav, bi-xenon headlamps. Most Priuses sold are package 8s and 9s, the fully loaded cars. Fully loaded cars get about 15 less MPG, case in point, people aren't buying the Prius just for its fuel economy anymore. Gas mileage simply isn't a huge concern for MOST buyers when shopping for 40k plus SUVs. The market simply shows that, which vehicles are the most popular? The ones that are the largest and use the most gas. Kind off topic but if you liked the FX45 why didnt you look at an FX35? Just as much fun with similar mileage to the RX330.

Agreed on all counts.

The car has no bluetooth, so no connection can be made. You can hardwire in a kit but that doesn't make for a install that would work through the nav system.

I know a lot of us have given you info that you don't want to hear, but thats just because we care ;) Look at it this way, you have PLENTY of years left to drive a Lexus, or a BMW, or a Mercedes, or whatever you may want to own someday. Listen to what we're saying, especially the older and wiser of us like vb and 1990LS400. No question the LS is a fantastic car, probably the best big luxury sedan on the road. The older ones ride every bit as good as the newer ones and the styling has changed so modestly over the years most people think a 90 is a 2004. Thats pretty rare when it comes to cars. They're very safe and relatively inexpensive cars to insure. I'm not a lot older than you, I'm 23. I own my own business and do very well especially for my age. I decided a couple years ago I wanted a Lexus. Basically what I wanted was something like my dad's old 98 LS400 which I loved. I looked at all sorts of cars and it eventually came down to a 2000 LS400 with 35,000 miles, or a brand new ES300. The main reason I didn't get the LS was the potential for repair costs, and I made close to $100,000 last year. Little things on this car, even newish ones can be VERY expensive, brakes, shocks and struts, maintenances. The 90k maintenance on an LS costs $1400 from Lexus. Thats MAINTENANCE providing nothing goes wrong. My dad traded his 98 at 150k, it was making regular $1500 service visits. I didn't want to deal with that crap. Sure you can do that cheaper elsewhere and by doing it yourself, but I just didnt want to worry about all of that. The service prices on the 6 cyl Lexuses are MUCH MUCH lower, less than half from the dealer. I couldn't imagine having to maintain one of these things at 17 working part time and going to school. That would suck, big time. I've been lucky enough to not really ever have to worry about money. I have high school friends though that bought semi-older BMWs and Lexuses etc, and they always worked their asses off to pay for something, struts, brakes, engine mounts, you name it. Thats a lot of work just to drive something because its a Lexus or a BMW. I agree with everyone here, $5-6,000 can buy you a nice newer Toyota (I personally think 95-96 Camrys are very stylish) that isn't going to make you afraid to put it in for an oil change and have it come back $1500.

The dings aren't a big deal, they can be removed by a PDR tech for $200 probably. The needles aren't that big a deal really anymore either as there are a lot of aftermarket outlets to have them repaired. Run a carfax on it and have a mechanic you trust look it over really well, if that all checks out and you have maintenance records I say go for it.

Several reasons: 1. First and foremost its an entirely different and non-comparable situation. A plane is not subject to the kinds of road forces that a car is, the type of interface and the forces at work are totally different. 2. Military Fighter Pilots are trained to operate the aircraft with those linkages intact, drivers are not trained to drive vehicles with electronic throttles. No one here who can drive a car learned to drive a car, nor drove a car for the bulk of their life that had an electronic throttle. They're too new. I have a lot of experience in both cars with cabled throttles and electronic throttles, they are different. The problem stems from people expecting a car with an electronic throttle to behave like one with a cabled throttle, it won't. When you give in and learn to drive AROUND the system then the car operates flawlessly. My ES is 100% smooth when I drive it, and I no longer have to think about driving it properly. Its akin to learning how to drive a car with ABS. It takes a very smooth and steady pressure on the gas, quick or jerked movements will cause it to hesistate because the system can't operate fast enough to keep up with the driver. This is plainly apparent when you look at the fact that some drivers, like steviej and myself have learned to operate around the e-throttle, some drivers, like Mike and epper have never experienced the problem, and other drivers like yourself, jragosta, and the author of this thread continue to have problems with the hesitation. The problem has to do with the driver not the car. It also always seems to be the drivers that are stubbornly annoyed with this characteristic and very resistant to changing their driving styles that continue to have problems. 3. If this is just Lexus claiming this problem, then why do all other vehicles with electronic throttles behave the same way? I've heard this round and round again, from drivers of all different makes. This is not something Lexus-specific. 4. You're comparing a $35 Million fighter jet and a $65,000 automobile, which do you think would have the most sophisticated equipment? I say give it time, this is a new type of linkage that we're all going to have to get used to. Like everything else, its the people that have the most trouble changing their behavior to accept this new technology that are having, and are going to have the hardest time with it. My car operates smooth as glass when I drive it, I've ridden in it with my fiance driving and its not so much so. She's not used to operating a vehicle with an electronic throttle, I am.

I'm a little interested in your choice of the word "chose" when niether the 400h nor the Highlander Hybrid have reached dealerships yet.

Endurance is solvent based Sharad ;) PERSONALLY I use solvent based dressings. I've found they look much better, and last longer. Tires are going to be a wear item and be replaced anyways so what has been gained by using water based dressings? I use Meguiars NXT protectant and found it works great.

Definately the 400h. I aggre with Willard that the "soon" is the question. For one not only are we not sure of a release date, we'll have to deal with wait lists. I just bought a Prius, its not easy to find one and its not fun either. We got ours in 2 weeks for sticker but we got lucky, that dealer is now charging $5000 over sticker. I seriously doubt this for one reason. Even if you're right that would: 1. Cost too much. Lexus is more apt to wait until the vehicle reaches a refresh time to make a change. 2. A change would cause them to loose face. When has Lexus drastically changed models that are unpopular (the IS300)? They don't, they wait it out. I also seriously disagree with this. For one, the market shows no evidence that this is true. What the market DOES show is that SUV buyers don't care at all about fuel economy. In fact, all of the consumer research puts fuel economy right at the bottom of the list with power in the middle, room and features being the most important. I've never seen ANYTHING in the SUV market tht would make me say people think economy is more important than power. Thats not even true of most car markets, let alone SUVs. Popularity of vehicles like the H2 and big V8 SUVs like the Expeditions and Yukons blow that theory right out of the water. Its the smaller engined SUVs that go unsold, if your theory about economy minded buyers were correct this would be the opposite. The H2 gets 8MPG, and they can't keep them on the lots. Lexus isn't looking for the "green" crowd with the 400h, they're looking to offer people more power and features while cashing in on the "hybrid" name which will bring Country Club noteriety (wow, Sally's got a hybrid etc)and will bring hybrid technology to the mainstream. Most Prius buyers don't even buy for the fuel economy, they don't get the kind of economy that they advertise anyways. Switching to an I-4 setup wouldn't yield enough MPG value to make the tradeoff in power worth it. I don't like driving the Prius because its simply anemically slow. I would never buy a Lexus that preformed like that. Luxury car owners want power, they have plenty of cash to buy gas. "greenies" wouldn't buy a $45,000 luxury car full of wood and leather anyways so designing an SUV for them would be insane. They'll go buy an Escape, they're not interested in cars like Lexus. This approach I believe is very smart, every Lexus car will have a high performance varient, and it will be a hyrbid. This saves Lexus their CAFE standards, and lets the buyer have high performance in a more effiecient less guilt ridden package. Nobody is going to buy a slow anemic LS430 hybrid, they will buy a fast, sporty LS500 hybrid. They don't care about economy, if they were so concerned about getting the most for their money, they wouldn't be shopping for a Lexus, a luxury item. We're talking about a 270hp SUV with 0-60 times under 7 seconds that gets 30mpg, thats exciting stuff.

Or the way you drive you just never felt it. Only some people feel the hesitation, some don't. I don't anymore. If you're smooth on the throttle you won't feel it.

I think they're talking about painting the 2 tone trim to match the body color...

Looks great! The wax I'd really reccomend on that color is Poorboys EX-P. My interest in NXT has all but dissapeared due to poor durability and horrible smearing when removing. Poorboys products are so much easier to work with I won't be buying another bottle of NXT. As for the area down to the primer, I highly doubt that. Clay has nothing abrasive enough to strip paint. Its either a peice of clay residue or its a cloudy spot of oxidation that needs to be buffed out.

Definately have the clear bra put on. The point of the clear bra is not to protect the car against collision like Alan was told, it won't do that. The point is to protect it against stone chips and light scuffs. $500 is nothing, dealers charge $1000 or so for the full kit. Most detail shops will do it for less. Its worth every penny. They don't crack or peel over time, nor do they yellow. They can also be removed at any time with no discoloration afterwards. Get the headlights coated too.

You think they'd really use a Sport Design as a loaner, I wouldn't think so...