SW03ES

Well, the vibrations aren't something the car is designed to do. I'd keep on them till they find what it is. The tranny issue is the way the tranny is designed, its just designed wrong for some drivers. Not much can be done there...

Thats why they make stuff like "defogger in a bottle" LOL. Its like touchup paint that you can reconnect the circuit in the defogger.

It is, however the site has been having some issues lately and it may not be operating properly right now. I'll bring it to Matt's attention.

My bet is it isn't fixed. People have similar concerns with the RX330. Issue is, its just the way the transmission is. So until they totally revamp it, add a gear, whatever, its going to remain that way. Its not really a problem, its more of the way the tranny works doesn't mesh with the way some drive. This is evident in that some owners get those notices and say "What? Whats wrong with my transmission?!?" and post here frantic.

I agree, there should be a fix. I'm just saying, I'm out enjoying my $40,000 car as much as I can, while others are spending their days calling the Lexus dealer and being all upset. There comes a point where you just gotta say "hey, its a problem but I can adapt to it, I'm going to start enjoying my purchase as best I can." Thats how life is, gotta roll with it. If it bothered me at this point I'd say "Well, Lexus will find a way at some point, or someone will come out with a shift kit or something that will solve the problem, may as well learn to live with it until then" StevieJ has the shifting concern, he's learned to live with it to the point where it no longer bothers him. Its never bothered me. All I'm saying is we're enjoying our investments a lot more than you guys. I'm not excusing Lexus, I'm just saying that as a person there's a time when I gotta say "this is ruining my experience because I'm allowing it to". If there's nothing you can do about it, its useless to worry. The other option is to get out of the 03, but thats going to cost you between 5-10k.

Really? Interesting thing about the satellite radio, I see the "SAT" button, but Lexus doesnt say it has satellite radio anywhere. Possible the button is for something else?

I'm not saying the transmission isn;t designed poorly, I'm just saying that maybe if he tries to adapt his driving style to the transmission, as I and others have, he'll enjoy the car a lot more. Banging Lexus' door down isn't going to help, he may as well just adapt to it, and find happiness.

I really want XM radio lol. Could you (if you dont mind) tell me what you paid for that install? It looks great. I have seen some great installs but nobody ever says what they paid and I have no ballpark to go on... Did they hook it up with an FM modulator?

Which will cost you over $1000 from Lexus. In my opinion, no preventative maintenance should cost a 4 figure amount LOL. If something's broken, then fine. If its not, then dont charge me as if it were. I mean, isn't this why we no longer drive our old clunkers? So we wouldnt have to drop a g note on them for service? Take the car, and a list of what Lexus does to a good mechanic you have references from and save yourself probably $600.

Yeah I dont use microfibers on the glass because of the lint. Thats one of the great things about the newspaper, no lint at all.

You shouldnt be using the whole clay bar to do the finish anyways, a peice 2 inches by two inches is plenty for the whole car.

All because of the transmission? Have you tried adapting your driving style? As I've said many times, the transmission shifts seemlessly and perfectly for me. steviej feels the hesitation, but he's adapted his driving style so it no longer bothers him. You're going to get screwed on the 03 trading it in.

Lexus does a sales event called "December to Remember" that always has great deals. I'm sure you've seen the commercials, dogs bringing people Lexus keys and such lol. You'll get an awesome deal then! As for the gold, I dislike gold cars but for some reason it looks good on the ES.

Just dont use a tool like a putty knife or a razor blade because that can damage the defogger.

You probably do have swirls (most people do) but they're just not noticeable on the gold paint. Since it is gold you can probably get around to using a swirl mark remover by hand on the scratched areas that bother you, polish and seal the whole car by hand. You'll still need some good microfiber towels. I'd reccomend 3M Swirl mark Remover for Light Colored Cars, a polish like P21S Gloss Enhancing Paintwork Cleanser or equivelent , and a sealant like Klasse. poorboys, Zaino etc. Also keep in mind that if you're using Klasse or Zaino, you'll need to dawn wash after the SMR and Polish steps to ensure that the finish is free of fillers.

Right, its designed to cling onto dirt.

Yeah order some Novus, its great stuff. Novus and Plexus are designed for Aviation, they're used to clean those plexiglass windows and such.

I think that at least 60% of the advice they give I'd agree with, even for a Lexus owner. For instance, if its not free Lexus will not change my oil, regardless of how many pastries I can eat, or how many miles I can put on the loaner, $100 for an oil change, a NON SYNTHETIC oil change is rediculous. I have a place up 270 thats a quick lube, run by a real nice guy who'se a car nut, I get a synthetic change for $29.99 and I bring my own Lexus oil filter. It takes 15 minutes and I can just sit in the car. Nobody ever has to drive my car but me. Its great! Oh and they have doughnuts too lol A lot of people overinsure, and it doesn't do anything for you because if you total the thing, they'll only pay you NADA book even if its $6500 and the vehicle is insured for its new price of 40 grand. Lots of people think insurance policies lower it themselves as the car ages. Them pass up on free money? Come on. Premium gas instead of regular, when the manufacturer specifies regular is a huge waste of cash. As for things I don't agree with, 3,000 mile oil changes being too much. I now, even with synthetic oil, change the oil every 3k miles. Why? Its only $30, it gives me peice of mind, lets me and the techs get a look in there and spot anything going wrong. Using the dealer's maintenance schedule instead of the factory's. Usually the dealer (Including Lexus dealers) follow the severe maintenance schedule. I always do too. Mainly because its my $40,000 investment, and if it makes me feel better to follow the strictest maintenance schedule, then I will. Doesn't cost you more, just costs you sooner. Changing your antifreeze every winter. Again, why not?

Check out this tire: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...romCompare1=yes The ContiExtremeContacts are $80 each for your LS. Read the reviews, they're rated considerably higher than the Michelin's in every aspect, and they're $80 less EACH! You could buy one hell of a DVD player for that.

Even at only $128 and with the DVD player the Michelins are overpriced. I always buy tires from TireRack though. I have them shipped to a little garage down the road that charges me about $8 a tire to mount and balance. GREAT deal.

Yeah they tighten up the suspension some every time they do a redo. Not so much to alter the smoothness, but to make it tighter and remove the looseness that Cadillacs ride with. My dad has a 98, which was a refresh from your 97, and its a little tauter than the 97 too. The 430 definately has more head and hip room...

Looks like the only physical changes are to the navigation surround to hold the new functions, and the satillite radio. Kind of irritates me because I really would have liked satellite radio and its hard to install aftermarket on the Lexus. The new nav looks pretty neat, looks just like mine with different color buttons. They moved the Map/Dest/Menu buttons on the actual surround making a larger map, which is nice. Who knows, maybe the unit can be installed in the 300... As for the pricing, looks like a car equipped like mine now MSRP's for $37,961 while mine MSRP'd for $39,671, a general decrease of $1710 which is substantial. Still if you want the best deal now the thing to do is to buy the 03. Even with the price decrease you're not going to be able to touch a 330 for the same dollar amount as a 300. They're selling nav/levs right now for as little as $34k, the most you'll get off the new one before December is $1500 or so. So all in all, only thing I'd want is the satellite radio.

The results on the Mitsu prolly won't be stunning, but it'll protect it better than nothing.

Silicone does nothing but attract dust and cover the finish in oils that wash off the first time it rains, I'm not sure why but I've always heard to stay away from any product with Teflon in it. MANY good products out there without having to resort to stuff like this.

The Michelins are good tires, but by far not the highest rated and WAY overpriced for what they are. Go to www.tirerack.com and search the tires availiable for the LS, you can get tires for it, great tires, for well less that $100 each. I reccomend the Dunlop SP Sport 5000, Continental ContiExtremeContact.