SW03ES

Welcome to the site! In all honesty, I wouldn't try and do this alone, at least without a proper Lexus service manual highlighting the screws and such. Are you sure you have to remove the entire console to get to the cig lighter for replacement? I thought you could just remove the ashtray assembly.

For example, stuff Lexus makes, not aftermarket :D

Wow Chill, you have a really rare car. The AVS option and the pedals are both two of those "phantom" options that Lexus only ships at special request, be it from a dealership or a customer. Does your car have the wood/leather wheel, HID headlights, Nav system etc? Generally Lexus only ships ES's two ways. One way is with the premium package, leather, memory, HID, wood/leather wheel, auto wipers. This is what steviej has. Two is with the navigation/mark levinson package, the rear sunshade, the VSC this is what Alan and I have. I've seen a couple weird ones at the dealer, one without the wood/leather wheel and the HID etc. But never one with the AVS or the power pedals. Did you order the car or just find it on the lot? If you just found it, then odds are it was a cancelled order from someone else. Alan re: shift problem. I've never really noticed the shift problem unless I'm trying to make it hesitate. My guess is that certain driving styles are immune to the issue. I'm a pretty aggressive driver, but I tend to hold the throttle off from full for more control. I did however register it with Lexus as having the issue to speed up finding a fix. The more complaints, the faster they work.

They're diff'frent ;)

Use the Woooooooooooolite ;) Then the Hide Food :D

It is, it would replace the Lexol cleaner in the process. You should always clean before you condition though, even if you can't see the dirt.

Try the Wooooooooooooolite ;)

Good way of looking at it ;)

Vacuum cleaner won't take out stains. Car mats get high traffic wear stains really bad becacause the use is so concentrated. Have light carpets in your house? Vacuum stairs ever day and they'll still be stained in a year and require shampooing. Auto carpets are no different. Actually home vacuums have a really hard time taking anything out of car mats because the dirt gets so ground in. Spill some orange soda on your carpeting, let it dry and then vacuum it, see what happens. Nothing. Heloooo :P

Interesting idea about laundering them...

Wanna make it easy? Just take it to a jeweler and they'll replace it. Go somewhere you've bought stuff from, and they'll just charge you for the battery. Its just a big flat watch battery.

I had the WeatherTech mats for the Explorer and really liked them. They look better in the Lexus, since it has a black interior (when I got them for the Explorer they only came in black, and it has a grey interior. I understand they now come in grey and tan) and definately are a lifesaver. Plus, when you want to clean them, just blast them with a pressure washer, and they're water repellant, no need to even dry them. Lexus makes some rubber mats too, but I looked at them and they didnt seem as functional as the WeatherTech ones, and they were more expensive. Wasn't a hard choice. If you wanna keep the mats clean, the standard Lexus ones (I can only imagine how the grey stains, luckily the carpets in my Explorer are a speckled darker color since its a Limited, so they dont show stains as bad) what you need to do is find a Petco or a Petsmart and buy some "Nature's Miracle" spray. It is the best stain remover I've seen, EVER on organic stains like you tend to track into a car. My fiance and I have three little ferrets at home, and they have the run of the house. The whole place is done in light tan carpeting, and they've never caused a mess this stuff didnt remove all trace of, not !Removed!, not digging in plants, not spilling drinks etc. Its all I use on carpets. Another thing you can actually do is powerwash the mats. Most people think this is insane, but it really does work. Go to one of those quarter wash bay places and just go to town on the mats. Spray some nature's miracle and scrub hard, then hit them with the pressure washer. Do this several times until they look clean, then squeegee (yep, the thing for the windows) them down until all the water is out, then let them dry outside in the sun. Letting them dry in the sun is important so that no molds or mustyness can take hold. The mats will look new for years. Be careful around the embossed "Lexus" though, because that can be destroyed easily.

Really Steve? I looked at mine, and sure enough it does say 87 is acceptable. Maybe its something as simple as a reprogram of the ECU between the two years. Probably like you said, people couldn't understand why the ES required premium while the Camry did not. Actually, there's no difference between the 02 and the 03, because none of the 03s even shipped with the adjustable pedals. Mine doesn't have it, and I couldnt find one that did.

Well then even more reason to try the Woolite ;) I used Lexol for years before a guy on Autopia told me about the Woolite, it does work great.

Wow Alan, I must have buzzed right over that, I thought it specified 91 or higher only... Nevermind then, I suppose you can run 87 with no problems.

My Lexus experience long term comes from my dad's 98 LS400, which has almost 140,000 miles on it. Its never needed any kind of repair that would have been covered by the warranty. I didn't get it on my ES just for that reason, I didn't figure I'd ever use it. Since you have the refund option though, probably was worth it for the peice of mind. My previous vehicle was a Ford Explorer, which I did buy the warranty on. I only used it once, it paid for a $60 part, and thats on a Ford if you get my drift. I'd expect that you'll never need it.

I agree, the owners manual specifies premium, I always use premium.

Really? Heh, I figured they'd be more. You have to buy them as a set? have you tried contacting Lexus-Parts.com or Steve Ganz? I actually ordered a set of Weather Tech rubber mats for the winter that are great, kinda ugly but they keep the crap off the carpet.

Just leave it in overdrive all the time.

Agree with what Steve posted above. I've never really had any hesitation problems on mine, but I tend to drive the way that Steve suggests anyways. If you absolutely can't stand it, and can't adapt you're driving style, then the thing to do is drive it in "4" instead of "d". You'll get lower gas mileage, but the problem will be gone.

Personally, I doubt that will bear any resemblence to the new GS at all. For one thing, it shares nothing in design philosophy with the current GS. Lexus restyles cars so that they're evolutionary. My guess would be some styling cues you're gonna see in the new one- -Trademark GS quad lights and tails. -Trademark GS short hoodline and low overhang. -Trademark GS solidity and heft. This drawing has none of that, so my guess is it's fake. Another cue is the emblem. When Lexus' are designed, they're designed mostly in Japan, where Lexus doesn't exists. Any drawings out of there would featue the car with a Toyota emblem.

Yeah, $100 for a whole set is cheap compared to Lexus' pricing. You'll pay $70 or so per mat.

If you have a Pepboys locally, they have Lexol. In all honesty, you don't need it. If you mix one part Woolite (yep, the laundry stuff) to 6 parts water it makes a cleaner better than Lexol, at 1/10th the price. Its all I use to clean the entire interior of the car, except for chrome, wood, plastic and glass.

Polish absolutely 100% does not protect, AT ALL. I've been detailing cars for a long time, I know a lot of detailers, anyone who tells you a polish protects is seriously blowing smoke you know where. The one and only purpose of a polish is to add oils to the paint, and to smooth and level the paint surface, thus increasing gloss. The purpose of a wax is to lay down protection. Polish wipes totally off the surface of the paint, leaving nothing behind but bare paint. Here's a little test. Soak two applicators, one in polish and one in wax. Put each in a bowl of water with a little dishwashing soap, let them sit overnight. The bowl with the polish soaked applicator will be full of polish, and the applicator will be clean. The bowl with the wax soaked applicator will have clean water, and the same applicator as before. Wax wont dissolve, polish immediately does. It offers NO protection at all. True, some car enthusiasts do skip the protectant step and just use a polish, on garage queens that never see weather. If you need more proof, go to www.autopia.org, one of the biggest and best auto detailing forums out there and post what you just posted here, I garuntee you'll get 100 responses of flabbergasted auto detailers telling you you're wrong. And also, beading isnt a sign of protection, really clean paint will bead with or without anything on it. Whoever gave you that information either has no idea what they're talking about, or you misunderstood them. For one, wax doesn't buildup on a car like on a floor. For one thing, it doesnt last long enough to anyways. A carnuaba wax is 100% gone from the paint of the car within weeks or days depending on the wax. It is very fragile. Two, most waxes contain some minute cleaners, so they remove the old wax layer as the new one is applied. All you have to do to remove wax from paint is wash it with dishwashing liquid. Three, just because someone is a bodyshop guy doesnt mean he knows anything about detailing or protecting a car. He knows how to paint a panel and putty it smooth. Thats it. Take everything he says with a grain of salt, because I've heard people like that say some things that are just laughably wrong and ignorant. Saying that a polish protects like a wax, and that wax is bad and builds up, then needs to be buffed off is one of the best I've ever heard. Its totally rediculous. I don't mean to sound like I'm going off on you or anything, but this is my forum, and I was chosen to run it because of my knowledge of detailing. What you're offering here is very bad advice, a paint finish must always be protected if it is exposed to the elements. If it isn't, then it will degrade much faster than it would otherwise. Polish is important to the detailing process, but it is just a step in between. It needs to be sealed. Using a product like a polish as a protectant is akin to sanding a peice of wood, putting no sealant on it at all, and throwing it out in the rain. What's it gonna do? Its going to turn grey and rot. You put polish on a car and no protectant, then let it sit out in the sun, with no UV protection, the rain, with no protection from acids or rainborne contaminants, let it be exposed to tree sap and bird droppings, with nothing between them and the paint, and you're gonna really be sorry.

I think a combination of Poorboys EX sealant (www.poorboysproducts.com) and P21S wax would look great. You have to remember though, that a great finish is a process, especially for black. Your ability to achieve great results depends on your materials, and the condition of the paint.