SW03ES

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Chris is absolutely right, the cars just roll off the line like that and go to either Lexus badging or Toyota badging, Thats why I think his car should meet US specs. Piggy, See, for right now there is no Lexus in Japan, so all the Lexus models are sold in Japan as luxury cars under the Toyota nameplate. The ES is sold as the Windom The LS is the Celsior The GS is the Aristo The SC is the Soarer The ES is the Windom The IS is the Altezza Soon they're going to be introducing the Lexus name in Japan, and that will stop. The only difference now is that Lexus no longer say "Toyota" on them in places like the window glass etc, so I'm not sure how that changes the assembly line.

There are actually two that I've seen, neat commercials.

Cadillac's Northstar V8 has a gelling problem for instance, it holds up to a full quart of oil even after it has been drained. Cadillac never bothered to extend the warranty like Lexus did.

I looked, they have plenty for the LS style, the style that has the changer in the glove compartment area, but none for mine. Mine is different.

Yes, $140 a tire for 16 inch tires is beyond overpriced. $80-90 is a great tire in that size.

The car might be so old that the online Lexus deal doesnt maintain records on what VIN digits denote the color. The database may not be that complete. Think about how many vehicles they have to list just for new cars, not even considering those 10 years old. I agree with Amanda, check the numbers against whats on your door.

Dino oil is just normal old ordinary oil. The "Dino" refers to the fact that its from dinosaurs (fossil fuel) car guy lingo ;) I'd have them flush the engine for sure. They're not going to do it for free though, couple hundred bucks probably. Worth it though. Toyota may charge less.

True, its not exclusively a problem in vehicles with poor maintenance records, but not changing the oil on time exascerbates the issue, the fact that the engine doesn't drain fully (a lot of engines from a lot of manufacturers dont) I'm just saying, get the engine flushed, use synthetic oil, change it every 3 k and use a good Lexus filter, you're going to save yourself a lot of headaches and trouble. Much less likely to have an issue. I would agree with the dealer's assessment that probably the gelling in a car as young as yours has at least in part something to do with the frequency of oil changes. Regardless, the car is covered for 8 years so whats the big deal? And if the engine requires replacement (which can be the case with the gelling if its bad enough) its gonna cost you more than 5k, probably closer to 10 or 15. A transmission on these things is around 8k. As for the $40 and $90, while I'm the first to say Lexus dealers charge prices that are beyond excessive and extreme for most if not all services and parts (they markup parts as much as 300%, see Steviej's turn signal bulbs. $10 each at Lexus, $3 each at Toyota for the exact same bulb, dealer charges $80 for a CD magazine when www.lexus-parts.com sells it for $30 and still makes a profit in there somewhere, Lexus charges $120 an hour for labor, Toyota $60 when the training and certification is the same) however, if the customer will pay $40 for a light bulb, or $97 for wiper blades, then thats business. 95% of Lexus owners I know expect these costs, are happy with them, and even get suspicious when they're lower. Its just the chosen few of us that know better.

My guess is though Toyota just built them all to the highest safety standards out at the time, seems to me that would save money since the cars are identical. Toyota likes to save money... My guess is everything is identical to a 96 ES300 from here, save the RHD.

The LS has them front and back, as do Mercedes, BMW... I personally think they're helpful for SUVs and such, but I've never had a problem in a car. They wouldnt help for curbs anyway because they're too high on the bumper.

Carfax wont give the color, but the Lexus site does. Good idea.

Or just go test drive another 2000 ES300. Thats what I would do. Test drive several. I'd let the mechanic look at it...

Very possible that it might be a tranny mount or even the torque converter. Have they inspected the tranny mount? And the Lexus dealer is right about the gelling being the fault of the previous owner. It only happens on cars that dont have the oil changed regularly. And $40 for a bulb replacement is run of the mill for a Lexus dealer. They charged me $97 for new wiper blades once, I was utterly shocked. Wiper blades are much easier to replace then a turn signal bulb...

Yep, half of $80 or half of $30? A markdown on new parts of 63% is still a great service for all Lexus owners anywhere LOL.

We're looking at townhomes right now, those are really neat with the little porch and the garage...

Check out www.lexus-parts.com I recently realized what a deal it was actually when I tried to buy a CD changer from a local dealership, they wanted $80, Lexus Parts only wanted $30.

Looks great acf, just a nice light tint really sets the car off. I'm considering having mine done. Are those townhouses?

No LOL.

Well, it might already be in US spec...

Yeah you can import it, and the price varies for the purpose and duration of the import. Probably the thing to do is sell it in Japan, and use that money to buy a new ES when you get to the States. You'll wind up spending a lot less.

Hang in there Neil, things always look up eventually.

Well the Beemer still jarred lol

The trick is you dont want to soak the seat, so if you didnt have product pooling in the seat, you did fine ;)

Yep, the EX on the wheels. As for the waxing, some sealants like Klasse or Zaino are very tempermental and you even have to wait 24 hours to put a second coat on, not the case with the Poorboys from my experience and the experiences of those on here, Autopia or elsewhere. Poorboys is very forgiving. Some even think that it will bond to an imperfect surface, which is really unique for a sealant. You can wax right away. Make sure you have as many coats of the EX on as you want though before you wax.