JGTNewLexusOwner

Hey Lexusfreak, I do have to say that I have never had a RWD with the new technology. My points above though about FWD with ETC and VSC being as good as AWD probably gives credence to your points about RWD with ETC/VSC. All I know is that my ES350 definitely handles snow well! I also has a Cadillac STS owner tell me that his RWD with ETC/VSC drove great in the snow. I guess, though, since I never drove one and have only had FWD since ETC/VSC came in, don't think I would buy (wouldn't trust it....this would be my "head" issue not reality)!!!

Wow.. I'm amazed at what I "didn't know"!!!! Great info!! Thanks, guys!!

Hey, welcome to the post Randy. Feel free to post pics when you do your first detail. I started this post seems like months ago and I haven't had the time or weather to do my first detail...oh well. But good luck!

Ok, gotta add my 2 cents. I just purchased the ES350 UL in Dec. I researched this for 6 months (yep, anal I am). I considered and test drove (more than once), the BMW 3 and 5 Series, Mercedes Benz C Class (the new one), the Infiniti M35x, the Acura RL, the Cadillac CTS and STS, and, yes, the Lexus GS350AWD. Now, my primary consideration was quiet and comfort in the ride with technology advancements inside (bluetooth was a must). No where in my requirements was driving around corners 80 mph.

I have to tell you though, each of the German cars let you drive the "cloverleaf at 80 mph" and that was way cool!!! If I desired that, I would not be on this forum. So, the BMW is a great car, but not what I wanted (the 5 Series was comparable in room to the ES, the 3 series was small like the Acura TL). The not so good reliability was also a factor and the "value for the money" was a factor....that shifter (if I remember it is called something like idrive) is strange though!

As to the Infiniti, another great car but noisy inside. What I researched though is driving enthusiasts want to feel the road and hear the engine. I didn't. The Toyota Avalon was a very good car, but not very sporty looking (in my opinion). The Cadillac CTS was very cool but it didn't come with bluetooth (go figure...Cadillac could have had a sale) so I had to look at the STS which was almost what I went for. But when you come down to Cadillac and Lexus...resale value got me (plus I paid less for the ES). The GS AWD just was too much money for the loss of space in the trunk and that bump in the driver's floor drove me nuts (but I liked the inside and outside styling a little better than the ES). So, again, value for the money with the quiet and comfort and reliability, I chose the ES. Bottom line (ok ok I went on too much), BMW is a good car and "to each, his/her own".

u better watch it JGT---another thread had people biting at each other on the Lexus nav system... particulaly on the hack overide being stopped and not letting you access certain functions while driving.

So AN old analog clock is now Classy, wait a few years and the digital readout will be the in thing

I am not bothered by this I will look more closely at the clock later, and by the way, my volume works real well on the wheel, no lag there.

cheers

Agree with a classy analog clock (gee, even a more modern LED clock would be ok). The voice recognition is something that could be enhanced. Gee, even the Ford Focus Sync system seems to work better than ours. My big issue is that it should have a way to operate the nav while driving. In Hertz rent a cars, if you try to operate it while driving, it says "do you want the passenger to use this" and if you say yes, it enables it. Either that or firm up the voice recognition. Has anyone figured out how to have your nav system (via voice) to search for an POI like a golf course (I don't mean show the POIs). I mean trying to get a list of golf courses, scrolling down the list, and then setting one as your destination (while driving). I don't think that is available and I wish it was.....oh well, I hope Lexus is reading this forum for the 2010 ES!!!! Wonder if we will get a royalty!!! ha ha

Yeah rtj, and so will 8 track tapes!!!! :P ha ha!

If you are in Dubai, RWD is the better handling car. Since I drive in mixed conditions, FWD or AWD are needed here in the snow belt of the United States. I have had FWD cars now for several years and with Vehicle Stability Control and Electronic Traction Control, FWD is sufficient. But if I didn't need it, I would get the RWD....however, the Lexus ES is a nice car!

OK...ok...ok detaildoc and rtj..............I am not worthy!!!! I am not worthy!!!! (he said on bended knees!!!). God, and I thought my little Excel spreadsheet of the products I was going to buy was anal!!!! LOL!!!! I bet you guys are like the one guy on the Moment of Truth who slept with over 100 women and had a spreadsheet on it (no, wait, I wanna be that guy..ha ha...no just kidding (my wife is standing behind me now).).

Hey AZ, you that anal? I have been called an A-hole but phew, this is amazing! :P

Hey rtj, gr8 pix!!! Thanks for sharing. Now, to make me put you on a pedastal (like I have detaildoc), you have to send pix on the organization schema for your supplies. I would send you mine....but you all know what an old towel hamper looks like (LOL)!

And who would have thunk it that my little post would grow to 10 pages and create detailing monsters like rtj!!!!

But you have to admit, this has been fun (at least for me and hope you also)!

No, I am not very anal. I am not good with lists, I used to make them and never go back to them. At work I wish I could hire a good list maker and maintainer, it's a skill that is so hard to find! I did print your list of what you purchased and put check marks by what I ordered to see what I will need next, so thanks! That's about as anal as I get.

My wife is the list maker, honeydos, family goals, tasks, what purse she wants to buy next, etc. My son and I just follow what pertains to us.

Hey AZ, thank you, thank you, thank you. rtj and ddoc started making me feel unworthy to even post in this forum! God, I hope this weekend is nice...but I think it is supposed to rain again and I go on business travel the next 2 weeks. Oh well.

Hey rtj, from the directions I read and from what ddoc has said, the paint guard plus sealant should be fine by hand...I plan to do it by hand. On the autopia-carcare.com in the How-To section under the product description says it should be 10 minutes or something like that...you just need to let it cure for 12-14 hrs.

You should definitely go with the Lexus spoiler :D It looks so awesome, I plan to get it soon!! I've also seen those sport rims that they offer, like BBS styl wheels, they look really nice. Also you can check out ebay, if you are a fan of chrome, they have plenty of cool accessories to choose from like chrome billet radio knobs for instance. I even saw a listing for a stainless steel chrome trim package for the bottom of the car to make it look like the GS and LS. hope this helps, good luck!

I have the spoiler, but I am not sure it is work $400 like I think they wanted for it (I negotiated this in). I, mean, it's ok but I guess I thought it would be bigger. If you look, you can hardly see it. In my old car (Pontiac Bonneville), the rear spoiler really made the car look better....I am not so sure with the ES. Just one man's opinion!

I think the lip spoiler gives it a subtle boost. If you look at one that does not have it and compare it to yours you would notice the improvement. That's what I like about Lexus, everything is subtle, not so flashy. Flash is up to the owner and how far they want to take it.

Yep, I agree with you AZ regarding the subtle not flashy!

I have a Tungsten Pearl ES350 with the UL package. I am just curious about what everybody likes when it comes to car care. What has worked the best for you on your car and provided the best results? I am looking for anything from interior care to polishes and waxes to tire shine. Anything you can think of that you can recommend to me I would appreciate it! I am a big clean freak when it comes to my car and I want people to see it coming a mile away :D

Hey saabkyle, the thread that AZ referred to really is a good one. detaildoc and SW03ES contributed to it. and now, rtj seems to be mastering the art of detailing. I am a NOVICE....I bought the supplies but I am waiting on the weather in PA to cooperate so I can do my first detailing. I don't own stock in any of the supply companies and I don't work for any of them. I, like you, just wanted some advice to have my car look nice. I suggest you print out the 10 pages in that post and then highlight the key points. There is some polite banter off the subject but there is alot of good stuff.

I also recommend you watch the videos at this link: http://www.pinnaclewax.com/productline.html

This is so you just get an idea of what you will need to do. I bought stuff from this site, plus autogeek.net, and autopia-carcare.com. Plan on at least a few hundred dollars if you want to buy the good stuff! Good luck and post your experiences on the post that AZ supplied above!

I've had nothing but problems from my 2007 ES350. The transmission slips when the car is cold (Lexus has done anything yet because they say they need to reproduce the problem) and I have a terrible squeek from the dash. Nothing has been fixed yet! I wish I had gone with a different car.

Sorry to hear that 1st Lexus. I always shy away from the first year on any car make. I have the 08 and it doesn't seem to have the problems that the 07 has. Maybe your state has a lemon law like PA....good luck!

By the way, rtj, I am not claying at all. Of course when I get up close a personal with my car when I wash it and get ready to use the Ultima Paint Guard, I may change my mind. Also, if I do, I am not going to dry my car before I clay it. I think the water and the lubricant will help ensure that the clay glides across the paint (and doesn't marr it too much).

OK...ok...ok detaildoc and rtj..............I am not worthy!!!! I am not worthy!!!! (he said on bended knees!!!). God, and I thought my little Excel spreadsheet of the products I was going to buy was anal!!!! LOL!!!! I bet you guys are like the one guy on the Moment of Truth who slept with over 100 women and had a spreadsheet on it (no, wait, I wanna be that guy..ha ha...no just kidding (my wife is standing behind me now).).

Hey AZ, you that anal? I have been called an A-hole but phew, this is amazing! :P

Hey rtj, gr8 pix!!! Thanks for sharing. Now, to make me put you on a pedastal (like I have detaildoc), you have to send pix on the organization schema for your supplies. I would send you mine....but you all know what an old towel hamper looks like (LOL)!

And who would have thunk it that my little post would grow to 10 pages and create detailing monsters like rtj!!!!

But you have to admit, this has been fun (at least for me and hope you also)!

JGTNLO:

Do you see any scratches in your black Car when you look at certain angles to the sun? How have you washed for the last 3 months--no car wash issues? Mine is not noticable looking straight on, just see a lot of scratches at 45 degree angle.

Alas, my easy cleansing polish (as ddoc stated) did not remove those scratches (curse the damn car wash!)

I luv my car but the Obsidian black will pray on me, making me mad.

I think I will continue my light detailing course, wait a year or so than invest in a porter cable orbiter or equivilent and than polish out the scratches.

Cheers guys

Hey no fair you beat me to it!!!!! Don't forget to post pics. You answered my question about polishing when you told me you had swirls and then ddoc said what you were using...so sounds like you are good!!!!

As to swirls on my car, I have only used the spray car washes....I will never go to a auto car wash that has anything touching my cars paint. Did that with my last car and regretted it; also used cheap crap on my wheels and ruined them on my last car....that is why I started this post. Thanks to ddoc and SW03ES and mrburnikas and others, I won't make that mistake again and I will use good stuff. Now, I am probably not going to ever grow up to be like my hero detaildoc (ha ha), but I want to at least seal the paint and wax the car every so often to make it look good when I want it to. detaildoc is a mad man with his regimen (detaildoc were you in the Army?). Phew, I am not sure I could keep up with that and do my hobby (golf).

On the PC or UDM, I may do that in a year or so also....but right now, I want to do it by hand. But hey rtj, you are now the expert huh (don't forget to post pics). Pretty soon I will have a second hero...you! ha ha!

Somewhere else on this forum goes into that. If I remember correctly it is supposed to work on the 07. I am out of luck since it doesn't work on the 08's! :cries:

I was at a South FL dealer about a week ago to test drive the ES350 they said the only thing changed was that the parking system is standard on 2008 true or false?

I don't think this is true. I am assuming that you mean the Park Assist; which is an option that last time I checked. Now, I bought my 08 ES350 UL with it because I wanted it. (Side note: I hope you don't mean the automatic parallel park feature which is only available on the LS...just wanted to make sure). I know if you look on www.lexus.com and you build your Lexus, it will give you the Park Assist information as an option. I originally thought that you needed the Nav system for this but someone else on this forum said you can get the Park Assist without the backup camera....I don't know since I got the UL loaded (except without the adaptive/radar cruise control). But, check out www.lexus.com! Good luck.

You found the perfect avatar for you detail Doc!

JGTnewLexus: I am assuming you in PA (I think) might have had the good weather on Saturday we had in NY, so did you get to detail? if so let me know how it came out.

I am supposed to get most of my stuff today, hope to get the polish cleanser and more MF towels Tuesday I work from home so plan to try to sneak out when i get my 2nd shipment (sent by air this time so should be faster), Polish (sonus Paintwork Cleanser), than the 2 or 3 coats of the Sonus paintguard- than carnuba.

Inside as well.

cheers guys

Yep, I am in PA, but it rained here....crap! Don't you have a new car? Do you need polish? Be careful, I wouldn't use it unless you have an older car with a bunch of swirls in the paint. I am afraid to use the clay bar but detaildoc helped me with that (even though with my new car, I plan on washing and drying my car, putting on a sealant (Ultima) and letting it cure for 12-14 hrs, then waxing with P21S-100 carnauba wax). So, I wouldn't use the polish until you check with detaildoc (or unless you know for sure you need it). I probably will do it this weekend...but the Masters (:golf:) is on TV so I will probably work around that! Priorities you know!!

And I agree that detaildoc has the right Avatar....I hope to get one too...but much smaller....haha!

wax will not remove wax.. lets say if u used klearkote moose wax on ur car.. be sure to use the same wax over and over.. dont switch to another brand... ok!!! more waxes the better.. the slicker the paint be .

This is not true, it will remove other wax...sort of. See TOGWT's above post for a good explanation.

Hey SW03ES, wanted to validate something with you and detaildoc. I plan (when the darn weather gets warm) to use the Ultima Paint Guard Plus first...let it cure for 12+ hours and then use P21s-100 carnauba wax. That should work right?

just turned 21 black on black is the way to go IMO I woulda gotten one earlier but I bought my parents 07 camry for their aniversary

lol @ saabkyle, for about 2-3 months I was considering getting an infiniti too but decided to go w/ the reliable toyota esp in toronto where our roads are full of salt/snow/worlds worst drivers (toronto statistically has the worlds worst drivers :( )

OK Tom S. we all hate you too! ha ha. Did you buy your parents a Camry? Ok, you and saabkyle are the two guys who invented google!!! LOL

I know about salt and snow....Pennsylvania is the same way....but maybe not the world's worst drivers' though. But you know what, I think Boston, MA has the dubious honor for having the world's worst drivers...I think Toronto is a distant 2nd then! :)

You should definitely go with the Lexus spoiler :D It looks so awesome, I plan to get it soon!! I've also seen those sport rims that they offer, like BBS styl wheels, they look really nice. Also you can check out ebay, if you are a fan of chrome, they have plenty of cool accessories to choose from like chrome billet radio knobs for instance. I even saw a listing for a stainless steel chrome trim package for the bottom of the car to make it look like the GS and LS. hope this helps, good luck!

I have the spoiler, but I am not sure it is work $400 like I think they wanted for it (I negotiated this in). I, mean, it's ok but I guess I thought it would be bigger. If you look, you can hardly see it. In my old car (Pontiac Bonneville), the rear spoiler really made the car look better....I am not so sure with the ES. Just one man's opinion!

I can't believe that. I have a black on black 08 ES350 UL (everything but the radar/adaptive cruise control). I thought there was a poll on this forum somewhere asking that but maybe I am mistaken. But my guess is there is more than 50.

I have a 2007 Lexus ES350 and I have recently found out that if I press and hold the unlock button on the remote that the windows roll down. Can the sunroof be set to go back also?? I have the Ultra Luxury with the panoramic sunroof.

The panoramic sunroof on your UL is NOT controlled by the button on your remote. There are NO personality settings that can change how this operates.

Thanks amf...I didn't think so. Even though the book says the sunroof will open....it doesn't say non-panoramic roof only I don't think. The bright side is that my car is working properly then!! Oh well....gotta look at the bright side.

The Lexus hover craft...now there is an idea!!! I am waiting for the Lexus transporter...beam me up Scotty! lol

hey saabkyle, we all hate you now in this forum....17 and an Lexus!!!! are you one of those wiz kids that invented google???? ha ha...just kidding! more power to you! enjoy the lexus (ok...some of us may envy you a little...took us 43 years longer to get our first Lexus).......

Hey dcfish, someone told me that if you have a panoramic roof, the sunroof won't open......mine doesn't so in 2000 miles for my 5000 mile check I am going to ask the dealer to check this. But it definitely doesn't work now.

Whenever I have songs that contain a lot of bass, the rear speakers (I have the Mark Levinson stereo) produce a horrible distortion sound, I had the same problem with my other ES300. It doesn't always have to be loud either, just certain frequencies of bass are enough to make it sound terrible. Is there any way to minimize this without adjusting the audio system settings much?

**Also, has anyone else (that has the rear sunshade) been aggravated by a rattle in the back panels from the stereo's bass? any ideas?

Gee saabkyle, no I have not had that.....gee I hope I don't either! I have the ML and the rear sunshade. And yes, there is a way to minimize the base and where the balance of the sound. Hit your AUDIO button and then in the bottom left of the screen (assuming you have an 08 ES350 here) press the SOUND or button. It should show your the four seats and a cross hair that you can move side to side or front to back (kind of like a balance that most cars have). But with the ML you can move the sound diagonally to I believe. In this same screen, you can adjust the base treble and midrange + or -). I hope this helps! Good luck!

Also, keep asking and people on this forum will respond...they are great! We Lexus owners are great!!!!

detaildoc, I am just glad you live is CA....yes, my wife hates you...but she still doesn't believe that I will do it!

Hey rtj, yep, I am doing my wife's first so I can finally get out of the doghouse! And, yes your car is superior cause it is in your driveway! But mine isn't that bad either! :D

As far as the summer, only have had my car since Dec and here in PA, not hot yet...but hey, that's what the cooled seats are for, right?

Will post pics.....when I get the chance to use this cool stuff!!!!