SW03ES

Odd, never seen that before, of course I've never examined a first gen closely. And yes, the Lexuses do really hide the speed, they all do. Gotta be really careful...

My Dad's 98 LS windows roll down when holding the unlock on the key, and then roll back up when you turn the key in the lock. My ES does it too, but they dont roll back up (odd). C-BEST came out in 98 or 97, I dont remember which. But no, I'm fairly sure the first gens didn't have C-BEST settings.

That price is not at all unheard of for a 99, I see several around in that range and cheaper right now. Definately check it out, take it to a mechanic first, but I say if all seems good, go for it.

Yeah its supposed to have 17s (new ones) as standard and optional 18s.

I reccomend that you look into either having a detailer shampoo the carpets using an extractor (carpet shampooer) or you rent one from the Grocery store, Home Depot etc and do it yourself. I personally just get new mats when they get really nasty though. I'ma moving this to Detailing.

Def. good advice.

I've seen plenty of men that can't drive either. I've also seen women do things with cars on tracks that nobody here can even imagine. However, I'm not debating whether or not women can't drive, I'm saying statements like that have no place on these forums. Its just not fair to our female members. You can understand where we're coming from though right?

Naa thats reliable.

I never noticed this on my dad's 98 LS, with a 5 speed auto. I can make it happen to the ES though...

Yep, its going to be awesome.

The service can be done anywhere, the Lexus isn't hard to work on, save a few poorly placed parts. I'd say find a good import repair shop, they can do everything.

Its not a DVD, its a hard drive. The entire peice of hardware has to be replaced, thats why its so costly. The systems after 2001 are DVD based, and the DVD is still $250.

Good luck. I know how that is, my Explorer nickeled me to death before I got the Lexus.

Oh no, they top out right at 40k. Mine has every option availiable on the east coast except chrome wheels and it stickered at $39,671. Does not have AVS suspension which is another $600 (not availiable here), power pedals at $200 (not avail. here) or the $1700 chrome wheels (very rare). The 97 topped around $38k. The GS300 tops out at the upper end of 40s.

But at least it isn't worse? I still haven't had any problems using Steviej's technique of never using full throttle. Its become automatic now.

Thats why I use both, the sealant and then the carnuaba wax on top for look. Its gone in a week, but the sealant stays.

I reccomend two buckets. One with soap, one to rinse. Get a good sheepskin wash mitt, soap it, then rinse it in the other bucket periodically. Dont wash in circles, wash in straight lines, and start at the top of the car and work down, with the wheels being last. Then dry with something that wont scratch, a chamois, cali water blade, microfiber towel, absorber etc. Thats how you should wash ANY color car ;)

Glad I could help you out tic! You've got everything perfectly right. No need to rush on the P21S wax, at this point its purely for cosmetics because all your protection is in the EX. In fact, i reccomend you put 1 or 2 more coats of the EX on before the P21S wax, because the wax cannot be layered, the sealent can.

Meguiars Gold Class is okay, but there are plenty of better waxes out there. Wont be long and we'll have access to GREAT detailing products at great prices right here at LOC. If you want the job to be a lot easier you need a Porter Cable orbital polisher, it'll cost you around $160 with pads. If you want a great quick wax job by hand, I reccomend P21s/S100 wax, easiest on and off wax out there.

NO, never drive a dark colored car through anything with brushes or cloth that touch the car. It does scratch regardless of what they say, on a light car you wont notice, on a dark one you will. I use a good touchless laserwash at a local gas station when I can't wash it well. Nothing but water.

GOOD microfiber towels are much better than terry, and a sheepskin wash mitt is much better than a sponge. For windows, newspaper works best, just spray, spread with a cloth, wipe with newspaper to a shine. sk- We do exactly the same thing ;)

We have the same color, and its not that the scratches are coming out, its that the dealer didnt remove them. They were probably put there by the dealer in the first place when the car was prepped, dealers are notoriously bad detailers. Then they used a glaze that temporarily fills them in to cover it up. They did the same thing again when you took it back, and now the glaze is washing away. You have two choices: 1: Invest some money and get yourself the materials to detail the car correctly, you'll need 1 Porter Cable Orbital Polisher, 3 pads, yellow white and grey, a swirl remover like 3M SMR for Dark Colors or Meguiars #9, a polish like P21S Gloss Enhancer, and a good wax. SMR with the yellow pad, buff, polish with white, buff, wax or seal with the grey, buff and the scratches will be gone. Really gone this time, not covered up. You can buy everything you need from www.properautocare.com, www.autopia.com and you can get the polisher at any hardware store. Once you've removed the swirls, then proper washing and drying using only Microfiber towels (www.pakshak.com) and a good sheepskin wash mitt will keep you from introducing new scratches. 2: You can find a good, reputable detailer that will do it for you, get references. Either way, NEVER let the dealer touch the paint again, dont let them wash it, wax it, wipe it, or clean the windows. They'll ruin all your work. Its not the paint, I assure you they used a glaze. In fact I find the paint is quite durable.

I HATE Air fresheners. In houses, but ESPECIALLY in cars. Something about the concentrated space, ugh terrible. If you keep the interior clean, dont leave food around, you'll never need one. Ugh ;)

Never seen them. Interesting though, I wouldnt go wiping the car down with them when its dirty ;)

If you use a Polymer sealant on the glass it'll last a lot longer.