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timzter

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Everything posted by timzter

  1. Maybe try using some baking soda mixed with some water to form a paste and using a rag from an old t-shirt to lightly rub around the spots? Could it also possibly be that the spots are actually on the inside surface of the mirror?
  2. In order for "Play Song" or "Play Artist" to work, you need to connect your iPhone (not sure about Androld) to the USB port in the compartment next to the gear stick. Connecting it to the cigarette lighter won't work. Once you connect your iPhone to the USB port it will start uploading the info to the nav system. It will take a while (over 20 minutes I think for 1500 songs, approximately). Then and only then will the menu allow you to say "Play Song". Also, if it is updating its database (say, if you added 10 songs later), it will say it is busy and to try again later. If the song's name is like "Piano Concerto No. 2" and you say "Number 2", you'd be out of luck. Also, it cannot understand languages other than English. I have a Russian artist named "Игорь Крутой" pronounced "Igor Krutoy" and it has no idea what I am saying. Piece of *BLEEP*. Honestly, the voice recognition system in the Lexus sucks. I have a friend's name in my Contacts list name "Ed Cohen." It couldn't understand "Ed" unless I say "Ee Dee Co Hen".
  3. I turned on Expanded Voice Commands. Then I turned on the AC and pressed the Voice button on the steering wheel and said, "Warmer." Couldn't recognize it. "Cooler." No deal. Do YOU have success making it work? I don't understand why they took away the ability to be able to simply say, "67 degrees" like in the 2010 ES. Even if it "Cooler" works, how many times must I say it before it hits the desired temperature setting?
  4. Wow, NO REPLIES to my question??? Is it true, then, there is NO WAY to control the climate with voice commands anymore???
  5. In my previous 2010 ES350, assuming my A/C was on, all I had to do was hit the voice command button on the steering wheel and say, "75 degrees" and the climate control system would echo my request by saying "75 degrees" and automatically adjusted the temperature setting on the console to the target temperature of 75 degrees. What is the equivalent command(s) in the 2013 ES350? I called my dealership's service center, but even they did not know the answer! I then called the Lexus Customer Experience (1-800-255-3987) and the rep I was talking to didn't know either and had to put me on hold for over 10 minutes to look it up. At the end, her answer was the 2013 ES350 doesn't have a way to control the temperature with a voice command anymore! Really???? I looked up the manual, but couldn't find anything useful. Anybody knows?
  6. I have seen this on TV infomercials. Since it has gel inside, I assume they would conform to the shape of the ES's bucket seat. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ANOMKTM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1375586880&sr=8-1π=SL75
  7. I have been driving my 2013 ES 350 for about 9+ months now. Odometer reads less than 7000K. Recently I noticed that when the car is moving at 55-60 mph and especially if the road is somewhat in a downward incline, when I apply the brakes gently to slow down, I can feel the wheels (?) / undercarriage (?) / whatever sort of chatter and vibrate. When I take my foot off the brake pedal, the chattering stops. At low speeds, the behavior is less or not apparent. Anyone else noticed that too? What do you think that is due to?
  8. You mean even after raising the height of the power seat to its max height using the switch on the side of the seat?
  9. I agree about the joystick in the 2013 ES 350 being awkward. The reason they have to use the joystick is that the screen is set further back to make way for the other controls. There is no way you can reach forward while driving to touch the screen. Apparently the BMW also uses some sort of joystick to access the screen. Perhaps this was Lexus's way of trying to compete with the BMW. But I agree that using the joystick is a step backwards when the touchpad metaphor is the way forward. It is not as easy to access as the touchscreen in my previous 2010 ES 350. But still, I do like the ES 350 in general. The ride is great. The 2013 interior is much improved from my 2010. I like the way the dashboard looks compared to the 2010's ugly horseshoe shaped dashboard.
  10. I just can't understand why Lexus would use this cheap fabric sheet to cover the steering wheel neck when they have invested so much in making the new ES350 (and the RX350 for that matter) look so nice. A black rubber "accordion" type contraption would have worked better. Let's hope more people complain about this.
  11. Oh, and it did come with Michelin tires instead of Bridgestone, which I am happy about.
  12. Picked up my new 2013 ES350 today (with luxury package E) I am happy with the Satin Cashmere exterior and parchment interior. There are enough dark lines inside and outside the car to frame it to make the color pop. Overall I am very happy with the car. The only complaint I have--which is something I noticed only today--is this soft, black leather (?) flap that covers the "neck" of the steering wheel between the back of the steering wheel and the dashboard. It looks ugly and cheap to me. It is not taut. It is sort of loose and soft, and has a couple of creases here and there, reminiscent of the loose skin under a komodo lizard's neck. Why did they choose to do that? Can't they cover it with a stiff, black plastic material instead? My 2010 ES350 didn't have that. Still haven't played with all the features. The nav's mouse-like Remote Touch Controller really does take some getting used to. I am not sure if it adds to or takes away from driving safely. I predict that people will find it distracting and I won't be surprised if it is later found to be the cause of some accidents.
  13. The reason I am vacillating on the parchment is mainly the tan carpet on the floor and bottom sides of the cabin. It is exactly the same ugly material I have in my 2010. See picture below. The rest of the interior is nice, but the cheap looking carpet which extends all the way up the sides of the middle gear box bothers me. Choosing the black or gray interior will hide it. (The gray interior is the 2-tone combo which I am now gravitating to.)
  14. The reason I am vacillating on the parchment is mainly the tan carpet on the floor and bottom sides of the cabin. It is exactly the same ugly material I have in my 2010. See picture below. The rest of the interior is nice, but the cheap looking carpet which extends all the way up the sides of the middle gear box bothers me. Having it in black will hide it.
  15. I only signed the "Buyers Order" form. 10K miles is a bit tight. My current 2010 3-year lease ends early January 2013 and right now I am at over 28K on the odometer and there are still 3 more months to go before the end of the 3-year period. If I drive the new 2013 the same way I do my current 2010, I will have only 1500 miles left before exceeding the mileage limit. So yeah, it will be tight.
  16. So it is still DVD for the 2013? The sales guy I was dealing with said the map is now updated "over the air".
  17. What wheels should I expect the 2013 to come with? Bridgestone or Michelin? Am I allowed to pick which one I want?
  18. Driving from Delaware to Baltimore downtown last week to pick up some dinner before returning to DC, I noticed there were some discrepancies on the Nav's map. It said "keep right on I-95" but the sign showed that I-95 was only if I kept going straight. Keeping to the right showed a sign for 836 (or something like that). So I kept straight on I-95 instead, but shortly after that, I noticed on the nav screen that my red triangular cursor (my car) is already off in la-la land. I had to keep driving on I-95 to let it correct itself. I ended up driving 4 more miles before reaching the restaurant in Baltimore. So my 2010's map definitely needs updating, but I won't now that I am getting the 2013.
  19. I am not very good at the number game. I think they got me on this one, but I relented. It is a 3-year, 10000-mile a year lease, with a downpayment of $3755, and $514 a month. Thats for the premium package (E). They used the same downpayment I paid for my 2010. However, my 2010's lease was for 12000-mile a year. Somehow in their mumbo-jumbo and sleight-of-hand this time, I wasn't paying attention and they were basing the quote off of a 10000-mile a year lease. :-( I have already put down a deposit of $1000 to wait for the Satin Cashmere Metallic exterior with Parchment interior. So there is no changing the terms, I guess. I must admit after I browsed the Internet more last night, I am not so sure I want the Satin Cashmere/Parchment color combo. I saw some pics with the two-tone gray interior (http://www.parkplacetexas.com/web/new/Lexus-ES-350-2013-Grapevine-TX/4582355/) and it looks really neat. However, the two-tone gray interior does not come with the Satin Cashmere. It does come with the Cerulean Blue and it does look nice, but my current 2010 is already the Cerulean Blue and I thought I should go for a different color this time. Shrug. Decisions, decisions! Do you think they will let me change my mind to a different color even if the Satin Cashmere is already on its way from NY to their showroom? I am not pulling out from leasing with them, just vacillating about which color combo I really want.
  20. I tried. The sales guy said it can't be done because the map data is no longer updated with a DVD. He said it is updated wirelessly and it has to match your VIN number.
  21. I went to the dealership today and test-drove the 2013 ES350. It was a "Premium car", i.e., with Luxury Package E (per the "build your own Lexus" website). The car seems to hug the road better than my 2010. Played with the Drive Mode Select (Normal, Eco, and Sport). The Sport setting definitely gave the car more power during acceleration although I am not sure how often I will actually switch out of Normal mode to either of the other two modes. I liked the Blind Spot Monitor System where a light inside the side mirror turns on when another car is within the blind spot area of the car. I also like the way the dashboard looks compared to the 2010's. The mouse-like controller for the Remote Touch System next to the gearstick may take a while to get used to. On the 2010's Nav screen, all you have to do is to take a quick glance of the screen to determine where you should touch and then you simply touch it. In contrast, this mouse-like controller requires you to move the cursor across the screen which means you will need more than a single glance to see where the cursor is going as your finger manipulates the mouse-like controller. I am not sure if it is safer than the old way. As I said, I am sure it will take a while to get used to it. According to the sales guy, apparently you cannot just mix and match the exterior and interior colors however you like. You 'can', but it will require you to special-order it and you have to wait for 120 days for them to put it together and have it delivered. So, the Nebula Gray Pearl exterior does not come with the parchment (tan) interior. It only comes with the black interior. So he says.... I almost decided on the Starfire Pearl (basically pearlescent white) but ended up picking the Satin Cashmere Metallic with Parchment (tan) interior which has to be delivered from New York. Will have to wait about a week. I think I will be happier with the 2013 than my current 2010.
  22. I am surprised you said that you saw a "cerulean blue and parchment 2013. No nav, nu luxe seating. Sticker was $41,500." I just went to the Lexus website to build my own 2013 ES350 with the Package E luxury package (which includes Nav and leather seating), and the price is $43,350. The delivery fee and handling fee does seem steep though! Almost $1000 for that alone. Model: ES 350 Year: 2013 Exterior Color: Cerulean Blue Metallic Interior Color: Parchment Leather with Espresso Bird's Eye Maple Base MSRP*: $36,100 Available Package $6,355 Package E: Luxury package Heated and ventilated front seats Lexus Memory System Power tilt-and-telescopic steering column Espresso bird's-eye maple wood interior trim Remote Linked Memory Perforated leather-trimmed interior Navigation System Voice command and color LCD display Enhanced Bluetooth® technology [1] NavTraffic™ [2] [3] Lexus Enform® [4][5] Lexus Enform® Application Suite Integrated wide-view backup camera Eight-speaker Lexus Premium Sound System with HD Radio [6] with iTunes tagging High-resolution 8-inch color LCD display In-dash DVD/CD auto-changer Blind Spot Monitor System Wood- and leather-trimmed shift knob and heated steering wheel Power rear sunshade High-Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps Intuitive Parking Assist Rain-sensing wipers Accessory Options: Delivery, Processing, & Handling Fee: $895 Total MSRP**: $43,350
  23. Whether buying or leasing a car such as the new 2013 ES350, after the final price and terms have been negotiated, is it unreasonable to play hard-to-get by further asking that you get to bring the car in for a FREE upgrade of the Nav software/map data whenever a new version is released during the next 3 years?
  24. For those of you who have purchased the new ES350 with Nav, can you comment on how well (or not) the Nav's voice recognition performs? After you have uploaded your phone contacts via Bluetooth from your smart phone to the Nav, is it consistently able to understand you when you say, "Call ___X___ ___Y___" where X and Y are the first and last names of your phone contact? The 2010's Nav sucks big time. "Call X Y" can sometimes be misunderstood as "Lower temperature" or "XM Stocks." Ugh!!! Also, is there a way to lock/hide the destination history? It would be a good thing if you can lock/hide it as no one else needs to know where you had driven your car to before. Alternatively, there should be a way to delete selected entries from the destination history. For the 2010 Nav, I believe you can only delete the entire list, not selected entries. Some people suggest not setting up the Nav with the "Home" entry, at least not with your real home address. In case your car gets stolen while being parked at the airport for days while you're away on a long vacation, you don't want the thieves to be able to quickly determine where your house is and steal not only your car, but also the things in your house since no one's home!
  25. I think I know what the Ultra means in this context, but what is "premium"? How is that different from "fully loaded"?
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