SW03ES

Really? Did you buy the car used? Maybe they've been replaced before...

Mine sounds great. Two things: 1. the Mark Levinson speakers are encased in wood, and their sound will improve with age just like Mark Levinson home stereo equipment. 2. Have you fiddled with the audio settings? Like any fine stereo you need to get out and drive, put your favorite CD in and just play with the treble, mid range, bass and the fade and balance settings until it sounds just right. Took me 30 40 minutes to adjust the sound settings to where it really sounds good. I find it better than the JBL Audio in my Explorer and the Nakamichi Audio in my dad's old 98 LS. If that fails to help then its always possible something is wrong with the system. I would go test drive another ES with the ML and replicate the same audio settings and CD and see if theres a difference. Maybe you have a bad speaker or amp. Does this happen with CD and radio? I've noticed the system does much better with the CD than the radio which is common in high end car systems. The digital music always sounds better.

One thing- The stock bulb is an Osram Sylvania 4100k bulb. The Phillips bulb is 4300k. No big deal but you're going to want to replace both of them because the color will be slightly different.

Also just for the record, I never experienced any issues like that on my father's 98, so maybe on the newer cars they fixed the problem. I would definately spring for a 98-00 they made a lot of changes to the car and IMHO they all make a car that still today looks pretty fresh and modern. You can read all of the changes year to year on lexus.com in the Certified Pre-Owned section. A 98 can be had with low miles at a great price. My dad had his 98 for 150,000 trouble free miles before he traded it on an 04. Welcome to the LOC!

No problem at all, thats why I'm here :D

Hope you got my PM. In the PM I said the size was D2S but I see you found it was D2R. Those are both good prices on the bulbs. If the dealer says thats what the problem is, then go right ahead and order the bulb and swap them out. Since you already removed it to take to the auto parts store then you should be able to replace it. You wont be able to see the ballast its attatched somewhere on the forward frame of the car to replace HID theft. Its the "igniter" for the HID system so to speak. I'd try the bulb first just as its the easiest thing. One word of advice, wear medical rubber gloves you dont want to touch the glass. You may also want to order two bulbs and replace them both just to ensure even lighting, although HID lamps aren't supposed to dim as they age. The HID lamps SHOULDN'T have burned out. They're supposed to outlast the car. However, sometimes things like voltage spikes, contamination etc happen. I'd say order the bulb from the $77 place (as long as its phillips) and replace away!

Contrary to popular belief, HID headlamps CAN burn out. It could be one of two things, bad ballast or bad bulb. Do they come on for a short time then go out?

Thats not what Lexus corporate is saying about the release date...

Beware... Ask him about the emblem on the back, it reads "300 ES" as opposed to "ES 300" This is a common bodyshop mistake, and could mean the car has been in an accident...

But if its hanging blue smoke like he's describing its not water vapor. The difference between the two is quite obvious...

I agree with Goss on this one, but I can't believe he is a "master mechanic". Some of his little "demos" are full of mistakes. Sam Memollo, now he is a mechanic, who obviously worked in the trade. I've met Pat Goss. The dealership I bought my Explorer at and have it serviced at is the new home of Goss' Garage, he runs the entire service department now. He definately knows his stuff, he's just sometimes a little "off the beaten path" with some things.

That dealer is definately a keeper, especially if they do the detail properly and don't introduce any marring... The baggie test is to see if the paint needs to be clayed, Put a plastic sandwich bag over your hand and gently rub the surface, if you feel/hear imperfections it needs to be clayed.

Welcome David! Everybody make sure to utilize every opportunity to learn David presents! If I were in CA I'd definately be at the detailing day!

I think there might be some confusion, I mean't as long as he wasn't talking about topping the #20 with a cleaner wax it would be fine...

Its useless and can even restrict airflow...

Check out the feedback forum ;) Everyone has that under their name. As long as it only says 0% then you haven't done anything wrong.

All OEM fog lights are pretty pathetic LOL, I'd try Steviej's suggestion.

www.lexus.com click on owners and register. There you can download a PDF owners manual and order a hard copy both for free. Welcome to the LOC!

Not too into the wood kit, but thats an impressive amout of technology there!

My guess is you're probably looking at two seperate issues. 1. As mentioned before, when a car is started especially when cold it runs rich, and sometimes you'll get a gas smell. This is more or less normal. 2. As the piston rings and seals get old they become brittle, especially when cold. This allows a phenomenon called "blow-by" to occur where small even trace amounts of oil are forced by the brittle piston rings into the combustion chamber and then are burned out, which would explain your light blue oil smoke. When the engine gets warm the rings become more pliable and the blow by stops. Some engines will do this right out of the box (its a VW characteristic) and most will begin to do this as they age. No big deal...

If you let the car idle to warm up you're doing three things. 1. Wasting gas. When the engine is cold it uses gas at almost twice the rate of when its warm. 2. Causing wear. 90% of all engine wear takes place when idling with the engine cold. 3. Extending the time the engine runs when cold, making problem 1 and 2 even worse. On a modern engine its just best to start the car, sit for 15-20 seconds and let the oil get to all points of lubrication and drive. Lexus transmissions are designed to hold upshifts longer to make the engine warm up quicker. It probably takes 2-3 times longer for the engine to warm up when its idling, all that time you're wasting gas, causing wear and just plain wasting time ;)

It depends on what you like. Personally I dont like the dash trim kits at all... They're quite easy to install though...

Also bear in mind there were all kinds of problems with the 98 GS, so as Mike said you may want to wait even until the next model year, 2007.

I've heard plenty of people say the current GS looks like a bunch of other cars. Fact is, there are SO many cars on the market, its damn near impossible to make something that isn't going to resemble another car in some way unless you make something so radical no one will want to drive. Wait until you see the new GS in person, it'll grow on you.

No help on cars not equipped with it... Go to your local pep boys they should sell extra bright halogen back up lights, I always install these in my vehicles, they're much brighter than stock and help a lot. I have an Explorer I drove before the Lexus exclusively and the tinted windows on SUVs like that make backing up at night hard...