SW03ES

Dealership here just quoted me $230 for an oil change

By law they must use original equipment parts to repair your car if you so request it, but there may be a statute of limitations on the year...

My dad has the Sony Ericcson from At&T and it works fine with the Bluetooth.

Talking is fine, but if you're going to be making profit off of these things then you'll need to become an Authorised Trader. No big deal, its $40 or so a year and you can sell anything you want in the buy and sell forum, put links in your signature etc. Pushing products you use and enjoy and pushing a product that you yourself are selling are two very different things. We have a lot of members here, and we've worked hard to get them and the site deserves to be compensated if you're gonna use it for personal gain. If you can demonstrate that you're not making a profit and simply providing a service to Lexus owners and recouping your costs, then that would be another story and the site wouldn't need to be compensated for that. Shoot me a PM if you want to become an Authorised Trader.

I have ther Autosharp pen and its awesome, 10.

Well I agree with him, switching to synthetic oil can cause leakage when the vehicle has high mileage, but I wouldn't consider 43,000 miles high, and this is more of a problem with engines with lower tolerances than a Lexus... I wouldn't worry about it, and always take anything a salesman says with a grain of salt. A lot of them just like to hear themselves talk, and just because they sound like they know what they're talking about doesn't mean they do.

I never top it off, I suppose a case could be made for it being accurate if 0 ~ 2 gallons left...

I find the range computer on the ES all but useless to the point where I dont even look at it any more. Mine rarely reads over 300 miles when I fill up, yet I always run closer to 400 on a tank. Compared to other cars like my Explorer with the range computer I think the system on the ES works differently (and only the ES, niether my dads old 98 LS or his new 04 LS are like this). On my Explorer if you reset the economy meter it would always vastly weigh on the range, on the ES its not like that, it must have a longer scale number its using for the calculations that the driver doesnt have access to. In short, its not a very good aproximation of the actual range...

Good point... So then the update would come out in October 2004.

LOL ;)

Mark- Thats very rare. Keep ahold of them! monarch- Thats the V6 though, the V6 has a known sludging problem, the V8 in the LS doesn't have this problem. I'm not reccomending stretching out the oil change intervals, just using synthetic oil (which is much more resistant to sludging in the first place) and changing it every 5000 miles. The reason the Lexus manual recomends the Toyota dino oil is because thats what Lexus sells, you said it yourself they dont have a synthetic, so why would they point you to another manufacturer's product?

Welcome to the club! Yep run a search its a very common problem.

Look up 2002, 2003 its the same magazine. Sometimes Lexus-Parts is a little disorganized. I ordered mine from them for like $26 which is a great deal.

No... Lexus dealers use Mobil 1 if they do Synthetic. Oil is always the same color to be uniform, could be contamination, coolant maybe...

Thats not normal in any Lexus I've ever driven... Try another dealer... Welcome to the LOC!

330- I agree with your assessment, I can only compare the FX to my Explorer and my parent's old Sequoia in the snow but the FX does well, I've heard the wheel tire package makes a difference, the 20s break into the snow capacity (they have the 18s). My dad drives it to work when its snowing instead of his LS430 and he loves it, it got us all up the snowy moutain roads a couple weeks ago with no problems at all. To me though its like choosing a sports car over a sedan, sure you make sacrifices, but you get all those thrills and grins. The RX330 isn't designed for grins, the FX is. Its a family vehicle the dad would actually drive happily, I think thats really really cool. SD- Theirs has the black interior, they chose between it and the Willow, my dad really likes black interiors. The willow looks great though. Have you checked out www.freshalloy.com? They have a bigger set of FX forums. Its funny because my fiancee doesn't particularly like it, she likes the RX330. And we're planning on having a family here in a few years after we get married and she's the kind of girl that would rather die than submit to driving a minivan, and me, no way either so we're really going to have a problem unless we want three cars. Its like I said to her, if we get something like the FX as a family vehicle, I'd gladly drive it. Wouldn't be the case for the RX but thats just me...

BUT, most dealerships dont have their techs change oil, its "beneath them" they're just kids like at Jiffy Lube. If you're only paying for an oil change and not a full maintenance, no Lexus tech ever sees the car, its the same kid that washes it that changes the oil. Which makes you even more mad when you think about the $160 price tag...

I agree, white doesn't typically look good, but IMO it looks great on the 98-00 LS400, dont care for it on the LS430 though. I go back and forth on which looks best, silver or black. Theres a deep red too that is rare and looks great...

The only way to really fix them is to repaint the front end. A touchup solution like www.autovisuals.com will work well, but wont help with the dents... As for the lamps, try picking up the "Novus" trio of plastic polishes ;) Welcome to the LOC!

See, the car just looks great in white... It also looks great in silver, my dad's 98 was silver with a black interior. Looks great in all colors I think except the champagne and that mint green (thats just because I dont care for those colors, it actually looks good in both of them)... I also think that the 98 sounds better. For one look at the average mileage per year will tell you how heavily the car was used. The mileage is similar but the 98 is a year older, so the 99 means the car was driven roughly 15,800 miles a year, which is close to national average, whereas the 98 was driven roughly 13,500 miles a year, which is pretty low use...

I'm almost positive that the LS430's "LEXUS" emblem does not have a pin. I'd just heat it up with a hair dryer, then use some fishing line or dentalk floss to slowly "saw" the emblem off. Works usually on newer cars.

Thats just like my parent's, exact same color. What color is the interior? I too really liked the RX330 when I drove the loaners I get from Lexus, but once behind the wheel of their FX35, theres no comparison in my mind. The FX is a sports car with cargo room it really is. I'd love to have one. They love theirs, we all went skiing in it a couple weeks ago and all 4 of us with all our stuff and two sets of skis (my mom and my fiancee dont ski) on a ski holder on the rack we were very comfortable. Its an awesome vehicle it really is, hope you're happy with it ;) My fiancee however prefers the RX330, and I have to agree with her on a few points, the RX has a lot more room, lots of fun cubby holes and such. To me the styling and the drive of the FX outweighs those concerns, but if you have a family I can definately see how the RX would have its points. Don't be a stranger on the board! Owners of all makes and models are welcome here ;)

Well, "full time" only means that the system is always active, when in normal operating mode the RX330 is basically a FWD vehicle, which is best for fuel economy, then the system modulates power to the rear wheels when stability or traction is needed.

There is ONE manufacturer that prints the original markings onto the wood, even where it says "LEXUS" but I can't remember the name! I'll try and find it...

tan- I dont believe there are pins on the "Lexus" on newer cars, I've seen many gen II, III, and IV LS's with removed emblems and there are never any holes... Mark, They look great, I'd have them except they kind of wash out on a darker car... I'll find you a picture.