SW03ES

Congrats!

Valentine One, my dad has had once since they've been around and he swears by it. I personally find them annoying, I've learned to be my own radar detector, if you're alert and are a courteous speeder (never be the fastest on the road, watch for parked cars, dont tailgate, dont weave, dont ride in the left lane) you wont have any problems with the cops. Radar detectors are only really useful on the highway anyways, too much interference in town, and avoiding cops on the highway is easy...

Good point...

Putting the wax on thicker makes no difference, its the amount that is cured to the paint and the rest is just waste. Won't guard you against swirl marks either as the protection is microsopically thin. What you need is something like a polymer sealant, Klasse, Zaino etc that you can layer and wont have to completely re-apply every month. A carnuaba wax is going to be gone in 2 months at the most, even the most durable of them. The best way to guard against swirl marks is simply to learn how to wash the car properly: 1. NEVER wipe the car in a circular motion, EVER. Always wash, dry, wax, buff in straight lines. 2. Always use good quality microfiber towels (we sell them at LexusCarCare.com) a good quality sheepskin or chenile wash mitt, and two buckets, one with soap and one with rinse water. 3. Use LOTS of water and never wipe the car with any pressure 4. Never use automatic car washes.

Sure, but you're going to need a buffer to do it.

Eh, its a new model, at least they identified the problem and fixed it.

No I mean a screw on the key face, but since you already changed the battery you already figured that out. I'd try cleaning the battery contacts and inspecting the button contacts for grime buildup...

Thats a characteristic common on every Lexus, its the way the throttle is set up. Driving in "ECT PWR"mode seems to help.

Like most other things that are wear related it really depends on how you drive...

wfm, you guys need to drive an Infiniti FX35 or FX45, worlds more fun than an RX330 ;)

Jeff- Thats just how Lexus is, they figure out the "optimum" levels of equipment usually in two or three groups and then ship the cars that way. It also varies depending on coast. For instance on the east coast we get ES's one of two ways, a "premium" car like yours without navigation or ML and no rear sunshade and a "Nav/Lev" car like mine, with the nav, the levinson, and the sunshade. You wont find a car equipped any differently anywhere on a dealers lot. No AVS or power pedals availiable on the east coast. Chrome wheels are also incredibly rare. NOW, on the WEST COAST they ship a model like yours, and the maximum loaded model of the ES including the AVS, the power pedals, and the chrome wheels. You can't buy one over there like mine. Now, your dealer has two options that they don't always offer you, one they can allocate a car from anywhere in the country. Meaning they can swap a dealer in CA for a car with AVS and power pedals and sell it to you here. OR you can special order any option or color combination you want and they will order it directly from Japan, but you've got to wait 3-4 months. This is a pretty common strategy for foreign carmakers that have long wait times for special models, they lump several levels of popular equipment together. Its actually pretty cool, Lexus doesnt charge for a special order, Mercedes charges $1000. Even if you allocated a car with AVS from CA you'd still have to pay for nav, ML, power pedals, chrome wheels. On the LS430 they ship 4 ways -Base model -Base model with nav/lev -Modern Luxury with sport package, 18 inch wheels smart access -Ultra Luxury And the Ultras are almost impossible to get on the east coast, they had to order my dad's from CA. Alan, Jeff lives around Washington DC, he and I bought our cars from the same saleswoman. Brian, I believe the only way is to buy the manual or have someone scan the pages for you, I don't believe they're avail. anywhere online.

Well, any mechanic would look at the heat shield when told about a noise like that... If I were you I'd find another dealer and subscribe to www.alldata.com so that you can view the TSBs yourself. This lets you stay on top of all the latest info and you can instruct the dealer.

As I know now the rattle is easily repaired by removing the offending weatherstripping. The smell in the climate system is caused by high sulfer content in the gas, I've remedied it by switching to BP low sulfer gas... Spend some time and type out your problems, there may be a lot of things we can help you with.

Do you have any door ajar warning lights on the dash?

Well in order to drop the trans they'd have to flush it, its possible they used the incorrect fluid, or there's too much or too little fluid...

I'd tend to agree with the dealer, it would be very expensive mostly in labor. I've never even seen an ES with the power pedals...

Hey Jeff. good to see you again! I was thinking about you just the other day... What PSI are the tires aired up to? The inflation of the tires greatly improves steering response and removes that "float" with the tradeoff being in ride. I'd air the tires up to 35PSI or so and see what that does for me before I made any suspension upgrades. If thats not enough, plenty of relatively easy things you can do that wont void the warranty, stiffer sway bars, stiffer struts etc, but I think the tire inflation will help you. I had an ES330 as a loaner with the tires aired to about 36 PSI (I run mine at 29) and I was very impressed by the difference, I prefer mine but the 330 with the higher infated tires was much more precise with the steering. In actuality the ES is a pretty stiff car with fairly firm springs and sway bars, it even has a stock strut tower brace which is pretty rare. A lot of the ride characteristics come from the tires.

Stinks sure, but theres not much they can do about it...

100% agree eith JPI, are you sure they didnt say $1400? That would still be a good price from Lexus...

If the car came with a scratch on the steering wheel then Lexus DEFINATELY should replace it under warranty... What kind of scratch is it, is it through the epoxy into the base wood or is it just a surface scratch? Lexus cupholders are notoiously bad lol, they try, and they get better every year, but its just not quite there... On my dad's old 98 LS the cupholders would only hold cans of coke...

Its a Lexus characteristic, it will "jump" a little before doenshifting but I wouldnt call it a hesitation nor would I call it dangerous.

Like TOG said, whenever you see color transfer to the towel you're using you've simply got single stage paint. Whenever you're removing swirls you're abrading the paint, only difference is with a clearcoat the paint that is transferring to the pad is clear and you can't see it.

Mine doesn't, at least I don't think it does... If you think about it it would make sense as a safety feature, if you're doing 30 and you had been doing 80, you can't bump the lever and then rocket off...

Its the battery inside the key. Theres a little screw on the keyface that allows access to the battery.

Also bear in mind that Audis require special diagnostic equipment that makes them very hard to work on, Lexus does not.