SW03ES

Looks like my father may be trading his 98 on one ;)

I'm pretty confident in the new shop, I talked to the guy who has used the before and I think they'll do a good job. Also PS, if anyone wants to contribute to the vulgarity and language discussion, I created a new thread for it and put it in the feedback forum, here's a link: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=ST&f=7&t=4158&

Lexus phone systems are terrible... My dad bought it on his LS400, different system but just as useless. Complete waste of money. He thought it would be worth it too since he's always on the phone. If the system is slave to the navigation, there is a way to install a switch in the nav system's speed sensor that will allow use while in motion, but you'd have to hit the switch, dial the phone, then hit the switch again because the system wont work without the speed sensor. Is this the new Bluetooth system?

Its also possible that the heating element itself has burned out. Kind of like a heating pad, with continuous use they just get old... This can be replaced...

The only parts the same on the body are the roof, the doors and the rear quarter panels. The whole front end (hood, fenders, headlights, grille, bumper) and the whole rear end (trunklid, bumper, rear deck, taillights) are all new. The changes are evolutionary but they're there.

If you buy the wheel new from Lexus you're looking at a 4 figure price... Go with American stitches there, and they'll match it to your factory wood, I've never heard one negative experience here, or on CL like squarehat said. And no, there was no wood shift lever until 2002 and that one wont fit on the previous ES because of the O/D button. American Stitches could probably create one though...

And also keep in mind that the nav screen is a touch screen. I think the Invisible Glass will be fine though, as long as it has no ammonia I wouldnt worry. If you want to buy Plexus locally, try somewhere that sells plexiglass sheet, or a boating store. Its a great product for all the clear plastic in the car, guage pods etc.

Its a question of the panels being actually wood, or there being wood taped on top of them. The steering wheel will bolt right on, check out www.americanstitches.com As for the radio/hvac controls I'm not too sure, you may have to wind up replacing both headunits which will get expensive.

I have high hopes for the shop. And its like someone said to me, if it doesn't match, or it isn't right, they'll just keep on doing it until its perfect.

You want to buy a product called "Plexus" to clean the nav screen. You dont want to do glass cleaner because a lot of it has ammonia in it, and that is harmful to the coating on the touch screen. Plexus and a Microfiber work great. You can also use Plexus on the wood, or lemon Pledge, or a piano polish like Cory.

Also keep in mind that saddle leather is VERY different from Automotive leather. Lexol wont hurt the leather in your Lexus. A lot of saddle products will harm finished leather like in the car.

I got a lot of estimates today, and I've narrowed it down to two shops. One is a husband and wife that run the place, and it seems like a really nice shop, they seem to do good work. They want to take the bumper off, sand down the whole thing, then color the area effected and blend that color across the bumper. then clearcoat the whole bumper, and re-install it. She didnt seem to think the paint would be hard to match... about $270 from her. The second guy is a shop that a client of mine uses to repair his fleet of Mercedes. The shop was really impressive, LOTS of expensive cars. They had three 02-03 ES300s in for body work just then, several S Class Mercedes, an LX470, and LS400 and a Rolls Royce. They seem to do great work. He seemed to think that if they tinted the color to match perfectly then completely repainted the whole bumper (off the car) that the job would turn out better. He says between $400-$500, more expensive, but he really seems to do great work, he knows the Lexuses, and he comes well reccomended. He also seemed to be the only shop that acknawledged that the paint was specialty and a pearl coat, which makes me think he knows more about whats going on. Another reason why he thinks color coating the whole bumper will look better. Makes sense to me. He also mentioned he'd use all Lexus parts and clips. I think I'm going to go with #2. Either will take the car Monday and have it back to me good as new on Wed.

The stealth come in the same...

It is here too.

Thanks guys! Steve, I remember that, and yours looks like new so I should have confidence. I went out and looked at it in the light this morning, it sure it ugly, but it could have been a lot worse. I'm confident that if I choose the right body work it'll look great. I dont know if that Xpel shield would have helped, in the least it probably would have stopped it from where it ground down to the plastic in the two places, the shield probably would have had to be replaced. Might look into that though actually... I've complied a list of 10 acclaimed body shops in the area, and I'm going to get estimates from all of them. I'm taking the day off today to do so. I'll let y'all know, thanks for the support.

No clue, the cover is fine, no dents or waves, it was a light hit, It'll just need to be sanded and completely repainted. I'm just concerned about them matching the paint, I want it to look 100% like new...

Can you believe it? I park it out in the end of the lot like I always do, nobody else around. I was away from it for 45 minutes and someone backed into the rear bumper. White paint on it, and scraped right down to the eurathane. Just happened. Unreal....

No it wasn't your fault, I got angry and I'm mean when I'm angry lol. I'm going to go ahead and lock this as Matt had intended.

I'm fast and get misunderstood a lot, so I'm used to it ;)

More likely a problem with the key, I'd take it back.

Will ya look at that... I looked in 3 Pep Boys and 2 Advance Auto Parts and couldnt find anything.... I'll definately buy a set and try em out. Thanks!

Is it grey or black?

I even altered my above statement to more adequately express what i was trying to say.

I do apologize for saying that bbsal, it wasn't how I actually feel I assure you. I was simply very, very angry and even a little bit hurt and the insinuation that we're here for the purposes of our own profit. The members are the backbone of the site. Without you all here posting and helping people, then the site isn't anything worth getting passionate about. However, you all don't commonly go around expecting to be entitled to financial statements. That expectation is beyond over the top. What got me so angry and brought that comment out was Chris' apparent feeling that we owed him something like financial statements, which we obviously don't. He got ahead of himself and it made me angry, I apologize. The whole point of me being as involved with this site as I am is because I've been treated unfairly on other sites, and treated as if I as a member weren't important. I work hard here to make a better place for us Lexus owners. Again, I'm truly sorry if anyone took it the wrong way...

We've actually seen this situation before, and we cannot allow that either. We offer a service where people who own businesses can pay us a nominal fee, and after we've verified their business practices they become authorized traders. They pay us to be able to do that. Steve@Lextacy.com is one of these traders and a banner advertiser, I'm sure you've seen him around, he posts a lot as a member and as a vendor. What our issue is with is people who think they can just come on here and use us to further their own commercial businesses and not to contribute in any other way. For instance we removed a bunch of pictures some guy posted in our galleries of wood dash kits, I removed them and contacted him asking if he was interested in actually paying for the right to do that, and he wasn't He just wanted free advertising. Well guess what, this is not a public club. This club and website are OWNED by someone, this is someone's property. It was built and is designed as a great community for Lexus owners, which I think it is and will continue to be even moreso. It is not a for profit enterprise, its not designed to make somebody rich, its designed to be the best that it can be. In order for it to be, we have to protect our own interests, and those of our members. The admins, the managers such as myself and SK and the moderators are all here to help make this place what it is, and can be. Now Chris, you seem really interested and concerned with what happens here, its time for you to decide if you want to put up or not. if you care about the site that much, then help us. Contact Matt and see if he can use your talents somewhere. Keep in mind that talking is easy, and typing is even easier. Action requires something.