SW03ES

I'll keep ya posted.

Yep. its going to be 230 at the very most, 220 possibly.

Poney- Basically any buisness sets their prices to what their customers will pay. I personally hold no grudge against lexus dealers for charging what they do. People will pay it, thats how it works. That does not mean however that I am willing to pay what I know I can get done for less. Fact is, most Lexus owners know they can get the service done for less, they just don't. Not Lexus' fault. If people will pay $650 for brakes, then all the power to the people who charge it. Nobody holds a gun to your head and says "Go to the Lexus dealer!" you chose to go there. A lot of people think people who spend as much for a car as we do are spending way too much. Thats how free enterprise works. Don't like it, take your business elsewhere. As for the key lock, there actually isn't a master key lock. I've always been asked for mine, but thats just it, I've always been ASKED for mine. That is, they come out and ask me to come back and get it out for them, they dont go rooting through my property. That's unacceptable. I definately agree with Steve, management can't fix a problem if they don't know its happening.

Here's what I meant Steve, I apologize I should have been more clear This guy states that he had no dimming at all with the Plastikote Metallic Silver, thats what I found at the Advance Auto parts. I'm going to try that, I'll let you know.

I got your pictures via email. From what I have experienced with Lexus paint is that it is in reality quite brittle. That is, it isn't as resistant to chipping as other finishes from other manufacturers. I've seen this with my father's 98 LS400 and with my own ES300. It is interesting that you aren't noticing this as much with your wife's LX470. Is it possible that since it leaves a whiteish defect in the paint you're not noticing it as much on the LX? The primer is whitish, which makes it stand out like hell I know (mine is almost black). Where does the car sit out during the day? Away from any trees or such? There's no possibility that it could be prone to hits by say acorns? Or something of that nature? How does the roof look? In all honesty, you'd be really surprised where rocks can come into contact with the paint on a car. Generally what I've seen of Lexus paint is that its more easily chipped by rocks, which could explain why you're seeing chipping where you'd never noticed it before. I recall seeing some chips on the rear deck of my father's LS, attributed by an independant body shop to the brittle nature of the paint. I can steer you in the direction of some products, which may not remedy the problem but will definately help you live with it. One, is a product called "Xpel" which can be installed by your dealer, or plenty of other type places just run a search for it on the web. Its a superthin clear bra that is applied to the front of the car to resist chipping by stones and such. Its expensive, but helpful. May not be so much what you're looking for because the main % of your issues aren't with the front. Another is a great paint touchup device called the Autosharp Pen. Its colormatched touchup paint that is inside an easy to use, precise pen. May make you more able to hide those blemishes. www.autosharppen.com Moreover though, don't let up on Lexus. Keep calling the customer service line. Eventally they'll dispatch someone to your home to examine the car. While they may not pay for it, they'll at leas help you find out whats causing it. It has to be coming in contact with something somewhere. Acid Rain couldn't possibly cause that much damage. You'd have to pour pure acid on it to go all the way to the metal...

It'll be the same horsepower rating as the RX330, as the RX330 already has the new engine. 230hp, 242ft-lbs of torque. I'm sure it'll have exactly that. Thats why i've been telling people not to get so excited about the ES330, we're only talking about 20 horses and 22 lb-feet. That'll take .5 seconds off the 0-60, thats it. In all honesty it may actually have less hp than the RX, citing the RX300 as an example. Same engine, 220 hp while the ES only has 210. If this is true we may see only 220 out of the 3.3 liter. Lexus has no intentions of making this car fast.

Yep, thats gotta be it, and dont forget to select daylight savings time. I'm moving this into the feedback forum.

Its not a problem across the board, just an isolated issue. What type of paint defects are we talking about, and can you take some pictures. I might be able to help you.

You can expect to definately pay full MSRP probably until December or January, its a big enough change. I wouldnt expect any serious discounts until next spring. I may be wrong though, the market is soft and they've started discounting RX330s pretty good.

They're called "Black Pearl" or "Black Chrome" emblems. The whole kit costs $380 from Lexus, not including installation but its easy to do it yourself. You can do better though, look around. I'm still deciding whether or not to do these emblems, I'm afraid they'd get washed out on a dark car.

Ah, I see! Good ;) Now, what you want is called "303 Aerospace Protectant" it protects without adding much gloss. It adds a little, so I dont use it because I like 100% matte, but its great stuff. You can buy it from www.properautocare.com

Blue with black doesn't exist, unfortunately. It says it does on the website, but in reality Lexus doesn't produce them, only special order from Japan. Thats what I originally wanted. No grey either, only with ivory. Partly why I dont like it. I hate ivory interiors. Thats a problem with the Mystic Sea. The Starlight Pearl also no longer exists. It was available right at the first run of the 02, but since Lexus has no longer been producing them. Think of it as somewhat like a baby blue. Quite.....ugly. A lot of the color combinations shown in the brochure in reality are unavailable. You can't get black garnet with grey for instance, only black or ivory, and black is rare. Black exterior with grey interior? Forget it, only black and ivory. Even Millenium or Alabaster with black is fairly rare. Mystic sea with grey? Forget about it. White with grey? Forget about it, only ivory. Its frustrating, so before you get your heart set on a color combination, go to the dealer first and see their color allocation chart. That'll tell you whats really out there.

There's some different paint here, I'll give it a try. Using this paint on is300.net the guys said they had little to no change in brightness.

Yep. I love the Mystic Sea actually, I think aside from what I have, the Black Garnet, its about the best looking color on the car. Personally I think the car looks great in that, the garnet like mine, it looks great in silver. I'm not fond of black, I think its a little stark on the ES. I'm also not fond of the blue, I think its a little flat. The Alabaster (kind of milky not quite silver which Lexus calls "the unwanted child") is a little odd.

I can definately understand your frustration Alan. I have a great dealer that I use for service, same one my dad has always used for his LS. Still though, for anything that I dont need a loaner car, I just take it to the Toyota dealer that is literally right down the street. They're huge, have a nice big waiting area, and they allow customers back in the garage, so I get to keep an eye on them. Plus, its about half as expensive. Lexus has great service and all, blah blah blah, but I dont find it worth the cost. I've also noticed that Toyota is much quicker getting the car done. My guess is time is money to them, gotta move the car out to get the next one in. An oil change at Lexus can take all damn day. Whether you're waiting or not. Plus, Lexus always wants to wash (also known as, destroy) the car, and they dont understand when I ask them not to. Toyota just pulls it around.

So what you're saying is there's enough decrease in lighting that they cannot be seen safely during the day? Yikes, dont know about that... They look good though, real good. Maybe a thinner type paint would wortk better? The Rustoleum is pretty thick stuff...

Unfortunately, now that you've used Armor All you're going to have to keep on using it. Armor All is one of the worst car care products out there, and it drys and cracks plastics, if you stop using it. My advice is to find some lower gloss Armor All.

Salesman don't have any more insider info than we do. The car will definately have progressive styling otherwise it would kill the resale of the current GS. It'll look different, but not !Removed! different as that picture above.

Naa, don't bother. Modern gas already has plenty of cleaners and additives in it.

I agree immediately, take the car back today. Leave it just the way it is. Thats unheard of for Lexus service. I also agree with Stevie, ask for the 10k service. Remind the general manager (no use talking to anyone but him, not the service manager, the general manager of the dealership) that you're driving a brand new Lexus, sold by them. And his decision will decide your future sales and service business, and whether or not you should contact Lexus corporate. I found that when starting out with a new dealer like that, you have to do something like this the first time. Fear breeds respect. If they dont respond the way you want, walk out. You have the money they want, you have the power. Plenty of other Lexus (and Toyota) dealers around NYC. They'll all do pickup and dropoff too.

Great, looking forward to it.

Basically the iridium plugs have a cleaner more precise spark, they last longer, and they retain their performance longer into their lifespan. I would stick with Iridium.

I know my dad's 98 LS400, and my ES300 can be swapped out. I'd guess 97ish.

Glad I could help

They're working on a fix for the transmission, it should be out by fall. Its simply a computer problem, thats all. The slow wait has been designing a fix that would still allow the car to be ULEV certified. As for the needles, in all honesty I can see their position. Dash lights are a wear item, they're an item that was never designed to last forever. They're light bulbs, light bulbs burn out. Replacing dash lights is something everyone who owns a car should expect to have to do. They cost a forune from Lexus, but then again, so does everything else. I see it as a sort of "thats life" deal. I can understand why Lexus feels no responsibility to pay for burned out light bulbs in cars, most of which are 10 years old, or older. it'll cost those of us with HID lights $250 to replace them if and when they fail when the car is 10 years old. Know what, Lexus won't pay for that either. And they did change the design of the gauges, so the needle can be replaced seperately in later model cars, thus reducing the cost to the owner.