SW03ES

I can make mine hesitate like everyone says they do, but with my normal driving it seems fine to me, always has.

Continental also has another interesting tire, the ContiPremiumContact which is an H rated touring tire. Its new though and Tire Rack has no surveys on it yet though.

It has the Supra motor, a LOT of potential there. Great motor to work on. The manual is real heavy too, it accepts mods well. My fiance really wants an IS for herself, she like sportier cars than I do. If I decide to pay off the ES by liquidating some stocks, we might just go for one for her.

I can only imagine...

Why don't you consider the IS a Lexus? Its a great little sporty car. The owner of this site has an IS. ...and its considerably more powerful than the ES. As for AWD, yep AWD is great as long as its rear biased.

Yes actually, when my father got his LS, he found this and took it back to the dealer, the service guy asked him if it was his first Lexus, because of the electronic throttle control causing that hesitation. Mine does that, just like his LS does. This goes away as you adapt to how to drive around it. The primary problem is that lag at 40-60mph when you floor it to pass. I've gotten around that like Stevie says, to just use 3/4 throttle instead of full.

Not so much. FWD powertrains are prone to something called "torque steer", where the power of the engine pulls the front end in one direction or another. Very irritating and takes the fun out of the power. You wont notice it in the ES because it isn't powerful enough, but drive a Cadillac STS or DTS with the 300hp Northstar V8, and a FWD drivetrain, dynamic disaster. Theres a reason all the high powered sports cars and luxury cars are RWD and not FWD. The GS, IS, LS, and SC Lexus are all RWD. Leave the V8s on RWD, trust me.

Run a search for 02 or 03 transmission. This is a common problem in the ES when accelerating fully around 40MPH to 60MPH, like when accelerating to merge onto a highway etc. It can be dealt with by driving with the transmission in "4" as opposed to "d" or just not using full throttle. I keep it 3/4 at most and I've never asked for more power than it had. There's a new transmission fix for it out now, but if you read below its not met with a great response. Welcome to the club! As for the idle, no thats something the dealer should look at, when I'm sitting at a light its hard to tell the car is even on its so smooth.

Yeah how about that? I though about VMF too.

The Toyos are really soft, and are only put on ES when they're sold in a non snow climate, they're summer tires. When driving moderately hard, its understandable that they'd wear out at 17k. Probably lucky that Toyo will even give you 50%. Is that only on another set of Proxes? The rear wheels on most sedans are set to tip slightly inward at the top, its to improve stability. Shouldn't be a problem if the tires are rotated properly. I have Michelin MXV4s on mine, came with them from the factory. They're a pretty good tire but according to the reviews from TireRack they're not the best. Once I can justify it I'm going to move to these: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...rtnum=16VR6CEC& These tires are awesome (you did mention them), the ContiTouring ExtremeContact. They're a great price, $80 each for the ES, they have GREAT reviews, and you can get road hazard coverage through TireRack for $45. Plus Continental has a 30 day ride garantee and they'll give you your money back for them if you're not satisfied. They're on mine before winter for sure. I dont reccomend the Dunlop 4000s or 5000s, we've had wear problems with them, several sets.

Yeah you definately want to go ahead and do it, but just make sure that you use the correct fluid, the same fluid used at the factory, the Toyota fluid. I definately reccomend the flush, you should have the engine flushed too one of these days. Gets the old crud out of there that dirties the new fluid as soon as its changed.

Whats doubly annoying is the passenger warning light, when the passenger isn't wearing the belt... And its good you're an adult and realize not wearing the belt is your own responsibility, unfortunately others aren't as mature. Thats why Lexus has to do that horribly annoying navigation warning whenever you start the car too.

Looks awesome Todd, I love the way you painted the chrome strip that runs around the beltline to make it monochrome, very sporty. I saw a second gen one time with all the chrome painted black to match, even the trim around the grille and windows, and black pearl emblems. It looked great. I'm not sure about the lowering myself. Maybe not 2 inches, maybe just one. There are plenty of high quality coilovers out there for the LS.

No female golfers on the PGA either, does that mean they're inferior? Nope, as recent events showed us. You have whats called a "prejudice" so your view on the subject is tainted. You see more women on the road with beat up cars because thats what you're looking for. I see plenty of men with beat up cars too. Also keep in mind just because a car is damaged doesn't mean the driver is bad. I drove my Explorer for 5 years, and it was hit 6 times. If I didnt care about it and never got it fixed, even one of those times, then it'd look like total bleep. Could the woman have been backed into? Very possible. How did you know it was a 2003 LS? May have been a 2001, they're all the same. You say it had a custom plate, meaning it didn't have temporary tags. See, you're seeing what you want to believe. You want all women drivers to be bad, so thats what you find. Do women intimidate you maybe? Just food for thought. I agree with VB, lets get back on topic. Nothing I said is meant as an isult to you, I'm just trying to show you there's two sides to every argument. Singling out the entire female s*x from your limited experienced and biased tilted perception is hardly fair. How goes it with the repair, any estimates yet?

You dont want a FWD V8 lol

If you haven't met every woman in the world, then saying every woman can't drive, because you've seen 4 that can't is no different than saying all blacks like fried chicken, or all hispanics are poor and are a dredge on society. Those statements are no less ignorant, bigoted, or offensive than your statements. You know what they say about people that assume things right?

There are a lot of opposing viewpoints about the K&N. Run a search for K&N posted by steviej and look for a thread from some time ago, the discussion got quite heated. I personally think that improving airflow to the engine has always got to have a positive result, be it in gas mileage or in performance. The K&N improves airflow... Plus I think K&N has a 100% satisfaction garantee.

Paper towels don't do that great a job because of the chemicals they're treated with to make them absorbent, they cause streaking and smearing. Newspaper is much better.

Yep, thats the way. Just look for "Edit Signature" Mine is actually a Photoshopped image that I link to the signature from a picture hosting site.

Yeah thats an idea... I just find it really interesting that the ES is the only Lexus that the mirror doesnt fold down.

Tell Lexus just that...

Glad we could be of help Sam !

Square- Is it really? Shame, its the total quality of the Lexus vehicle thats so appealing. That mirror dissapoints me still after months of ownership. Most people dont care though I suppose... As to the tape deck, yep the 02/03 has a tape deck, on the premum car like steviej's its right there underneath the CD changer, on the Nav/Levinson car Alan and I have, the nav screen module flips down electronically to reveal the tape player and a one slot CD changer underneath it. There's a 6 disc in the armrest.

I echo everything said here, how does the car drive, any squeaks or whining or such?

Good point, about the labor involved in checking the belt for wear... And yes, never let the dealer do the inspection LOL. In MD, we dont have to worry about it ;0