SW03ES

Paintless Dent Removal, they charge a flat fee per panel, check out www.dentwizard.com

I'm going to say some sort of vacuum or compression problem too.

He's a tough one, he's fine I'm sure lol.

From what I've heard they do actually work, it just takes a while to get it perfect. I'm not sold, I wouldn't use one myself. They're just terrifying lol. Other than that there's really nothing you can do, aside from PDR or straight bodywork.

No problem VMF, how were things up there? From what I heard everyone handled it fine, like one big sleepover in NYC lol. Very good point 132, in fact I was trying to get just that point across to someone in the ES forum.

Stuff like that always makes me think too.

Tainted perception... ;)

Yep, this is good info my mechanic gave me some time ago. I asked him to go ahead and do an alignment, he asked "Does it seem off, drift or anything" I said "No, but go ahead and set it to make sure its right" he said "No reason to do that unless there's a problem, its a waste of money and it just chances that somebody will screw it up" Good advice from a good mechanic more concerned with keeping my business than making a fast buck. He could have just charged me $70 for that alignment and I'd have been happy to pay it.

I've never had any mechanic tell me that the car is hard to align, I've just only had one guy ever align it properly. Not a problem on my ES, or on my Explorer so it just shows that for some reason people have trouble aligning the LS properly. Be it that the LS is more picky about the alignment, you can feel it more when its off, whatever. I definately agree the thing to do is find someone who takes pride in their work and wants repeat business. We did, and he aligns it fine now.

VMF, glad to see you're back from the blackout! The LS is hard to align even with the most advanced computer system.

We weren't here in washington. Sk hasn't been on, my guess is he must have been hit since he's usually here several times a day.

Yeah an aftermarket keyless system would be able to pop the trunk right?

Yeah thats definately not right. Its even hard to tell my car is running when standing next to it on the outside. Its even possible that the bulk of your lack of power is coming from whatever the hell is wrong. What kind of gas do you run, brand and octane? Have you tried changing gas companies? Any other Lexus dealers in your area?

I bought mine in Annapolis, but Tom Lane is a great salesman at Lindsay, he sold my father his LS400 in 98. He's still there I believe, real nice guy. Lindsay's a great dealership. Lexus of Silver Spring is running a deal where if you buy before September 2nd you get free maintenance until 15,000 miles. Every dealership in the area has their claim to fame. I dealt heavily with Len Stoler up near baltimore, but we couldnt see eye to eye on a price. You can buy it and then service it anywhere, Lexus dealerships generally treat all customers the same whether you bought from the dealership or not. I definately reccomend Annapolis, but its a haul from our area for sure.

I'm the same way, it depends on the car. Maybe that means we're bisexual?!?!

You can also do this, just taking the spaces out : cheers : : rolleyes : Also the normal smilies work too, again taking out the spaces ; ) : ) : ( etc etc. What dealership have you been working with in the area?

Check out the Inside and Out/Detailing forum, lots of great ideas in there.

Yeah, I dont know why the seats don't fold down, they dont on the 02/03 either, just that ski pass through.

Not unusual, the IS has been out longer than the ES, the LS is refreshed, the ES will get some new colors when it gets refreshed in 2005. Jeff, all you gotta do is put the cursor where you want, and then double click the smilie you want. Have you driven an 03 to see if the geometry of the transmission really bothers you at all? It honestly doesnt effect me in the way I drive, you may be the same way. If you're smooth on the throttle and dont ask for immediate full acceleration, the tranny is fine. I say this because we're expecting a price hike for the ES330 of possibly $5,000, and as you can see almost nothing is new. If I were you, and the tranny didnt bother me, I'd go ahead and get an 03, or at least hold off until I see final pricing on the 04, then you could always snatch an 03 up at a great price. My worry about the transmission for us 02 and 03 owners is that it wont be a fix that they can just put into our cars, that it will be a hardware revision. The taller gear ratios and such, the introduction of the revision now, less than 2 months from the ES330s arrival...

Okay guys, here it is from AutoSpies, what is included in the ES330. Not all that much, like we'd thought, and no exterior or styling changes at all. I've come to trust AutoSpies because of their somewhat true information on the LS430 refresh: Nothing spectacular except that they do seem to think the tranny is being reworked, maybe thats good news for us with 02s and 03s. That acceleration number is much improved with so little new power, may not be accurate. I'm very interested in the headrests that pivot, that should be a direct swapout for our cars. I'm all over that. As for the all new Gen 4 nav, I've seen it on the RX330, its basically the same with some new options and more pixels. The upgrade for our nav systems should have at least the new functions. If you wanna see it for all Lexus models in 04, here ya go http://www.imakenews.com/autospies/e_artic...le000175132.cfm

The LS is a !Removed! to align and balance, make sure you find someone who is aware of this. We can't even get a decent alignment for my dad's LS at a Lexus dealer, we take it to an independent shop. My guess is its a balance issue, try rotating the tires and see if the problem follows a certain wheel, or if it stays right where it is. Any vibrations while driving?

Well, I dont think that a light 1 inch drop or so will effect the ride all that much. Have you noticed a difference now that you have the bigger wheels? That difference would be much more pronounced. Just make sure that you pivk a good coilover with a bias on ride, there are some in a similar thread in the GS forum now that should work on the LS also. Great price on the wheels too...

Nono, dont use that thing LOL. Ever hear of paintless dent removal? Check out www.dentwizard.com, they charge a flat fee per panel, its $80 here.

Only problem with the Town and Country van is the reliability. They're known as one of the most unreliable on the market, bad transmission is a main concern. My aunt has a 96, its a beautiful van, but its always in the shop. The Odyssey is MUCH more reliable and refined, even if it isn't quite as fancy. For most families, reliability is more important than fancy, thats why the Chrysler van's market shares are slipping rapidly to Toyota and Honda. As for the IS, I really dont care for it either. I usually request one as a loaner just to drive something different, but its small, gen Xilly styled, rides hard, just not my thing. She loves it though. She wants either it, or a Mini Cooper. I vote Mini because its $15,000 cheaper ;) Its definately a Lexus though. Through and through. As for the manual in other Lexus models, you'd think there would be a big market for the manual, but actually no there isn't at all. The vast majority of all cars, BMWs, Porsches, even Ferraris are sold with automatic, or at the most manumatic trannies. The manuals are as little as 5% of the sales volume. Thats why Lexus doesn't have any, because Toyota caters to the masses only. Thats why Lexus has no high end V12 LS, or a AMG type division. Not enough sales for them to care. They're starting to realize though that they need those things just for image, hence the 5 speed IS (which sells like crap). Carla (the fiance, in case you didnt follow lol) actually doesn't have expensive tastes at all, I have much moreso. Money means nothing to her at all, its the damndest thing. She could have it, or not she doesn't care. She wants either an IS300, an SC430 or a Mini Cooper, I try to tell her that those cars are all in wildly different price brackets, and she just gives me a blank stare. She'd be equally happy in any of them. We were both raised in comfortable families, but it made me want to go out and maintain a certain style of living, she feels been there done that, she wouldn't mind doing it again but its not all that important to her. I'm the one that likes fancy restaurants, luxury cars, nice hotels and first class flights. She doesn't care, give her a PT Cruiser to drive to the airport for a coach flight an Econo Lodge and a 6 peice Chicken McNugget and she's happy LOL.

The CLK500 will do that just fine LOL. You'll love the car, 100% and totally. $36500 is an okay price, but you can do better if you want to. Silver/black is a great combo too, I almost got it. My dissapointment is the wheels also. I like the stock look, but I'm not 100% a fan of chrome, the chrome stock wheels do look better. I've also looked into other Lexus wheels, but getting them to fit on the ES is problematic. I've decided to wait and see if they change the wheels on the ES330 before I do anything. If they do and they're better I'll do a swap, if not I'll have these chromed.