Will B.

My car creaks when I have it parked on an incline and passengers get in or out. Any ideas? Some coworkers said it was the shocks, but it doesn't make any noise when driving or when on a level surface, so I thought it must be the brakes (I always park with the parking brake set). Car is a 2004 with less than 50k miles.

Agreed, 6mo/5000mi is the recommended schedule.

You negotiate for a living - I'm sure you can haggle them down :) I got my CPO '04 for a little under Carmax prices six months ago. If I found a good one that was non-CPO when I was looking, I definitely would have jumped on it for $1-2k savings, but there wasn't one at the time. My guess was that CPO warranty costs the dealership $700-800 and I haggled accordingly (the Infiniti dealership said they can CPO any car on their lot for $800, Honda told me $650). The non-transferrable part is a bummer though and I didn't find that out until after I had owned the car a couple months. You are right though - you can't really go wrong if the car is well maintained.

You can always go CPO for around $30k on a 2004 or 2005. I've never done CPO before on a vehicle, but Lexus' CPO was good enough to sell me - it's basically the same as a new warranty for the full term, with a few exceptions for interior pieces (i.e. squeaks and rattles). Also, don't write off leasing used vehicles just yet - most dealerships have banks that will do it.

I use a cassette tape adapter for my needs. The Phillips one at Walmart works well enough and only costs about $11.

Agreed, this seems to be about the listing price, although I'm sure you can get a private lot down to the $30k range, CPO around $32-$35k. The car industry is hurting right now and all lots are just trying to move product, although the best deals are in the SUV realm.

This sounds more like fear mongering and urban legend than truth. Think about it, if you are out in a parking lot siphoning gas, and come across a car with a locked cap, are you more likely to a) slide under the car, break out the trusty heavy duty drill you always carry around, and drain the gas that way or B) move on to the next car. I'm not saying it's never happened, but you'd have to be a pretty stupid criminal to choose a.

Damn criminals. Sorry to hear, but be thankful they didn't damage anything - rather get some gas siphoned than have them smash a window looking for something to steal. This is the first I've heard of this, but I can't really say I'm suprised.

I'm satisfied with it, yes, but I've only owned mine for four months so you might want some more feedback before pulling the trigger.

That sounds dangerously close to a personal flame, and not really gemaine to the topic. My apologies, it was not meant that way. I really meant that you if you are posting on a forum about purchasing a car that smokes, you don't have the expertise to deal with it. It's likely a significant problem and the only people who should be looking in to it are those who can diagnose and repair it. It should not have been taken as an insult - I imagine 90% of the people here should not be purchasing that vehicle, including myself.

There were no significant changes made between the two model years. Can't vouch for any minor fixes or enhancements, but they probably aren't worth $4k. I had the same dilemma as you, and chose to get an '04.

My personal opinion, the type of person who should be buying that car would not be posting on a forum asking about it.

Just to chime in here and pile on (hate to resurrect an old thread, but didn't want to start a new one), I purchased a vehicle at Scottsdale Lexus in February and have not been at all impressed by their service. I wish I had found this website before my purchase and would have avoided these guys, but such is life. Despite charging half as much for any service, Five Star Ford across the street always treated me better when I had my Mustangs and always responded if I indicated I wasn't happy for any reason. The difference in dealerships has made me wish I bought a Lincoln Town Car instead of a LS. A guy I spoke to at work has the same feeling about these guys and actually takes his car to Arrowhead Lexus where he says they have good service (and I assume Bell Lexus would be similar since it has the same ownership). As soon as Scottsdale Lexus has your money, you are no longer worth anything to them. AVOID! I am going there one last time to get my free 5000 mile service, and then I'm done.

Just my personal insight, if you have ANY doubts at all, don't buy it. You'll only drive yourself mad thinking about it every time any little thing happens.

In the most recent car & driver magazine, they also reported a decrease in MPG when using regular fuel in an Altima.

If it turns out to be a wash or a couple percentage savings, is it really worth even the potential of problems? And if you do have problems, you are giving your warrany companies and potential out if they determine you were using fuel that is lower grade than specified in the manual.

I'd be wary doing business with your boss, but otherwise if the car is well maintained it should serve you for a good long while.

Anyone know where the seat air filters are for the front seat? I checked where I think the manual was directing me, but could only find the seat storage drawer.

If your car lost all power while you were driving it, I your battery is your only issue. Once the car is running, the alternator is powering everything electrical AND recharging your battery.

I bought the car certified pre-owned about 2,000 miles ago, so it shouldn't be any fluid issues - vehicle has 45,200 mi now. I guess I'll take it back and let them figure it out. I'll respond if/when they do.

I've noticed that when I'm driving on the freeway and begin to coast (i.e. let the foot off the accelerator), I notice a vibration in the car. When accelerating even a little it goes away. I thought it was just a tire balance issue, so I got the tires balanced today (cost $80 - yikes!) and it's still there. Any ideas as to what else it could be? I'm taking it back to the dealer on Tuesday - for $80 I want it fixed - but would like to have a general idea as to other possiblities. Note that I only notice it on the freeway, although it very well could be at any speed 45+mph.

Ah ok, sometimes sarcasm is lost on the interwebs :) Threadjack over, back to the regular discussion about how much better Lexus is than Buick, as if you'd expect any other answer from the Lexus Owners Club heh heh

You are incorrect. They totally bashed (as much as CR does at least) the FJ Cruiser and rated it among the lowest off road SUVs (Xterra was #1). They also dropped the "Recommended" title from the 2007 Camry when the repair issues started coming to light. My biggest gripe with them is that they will assume Toyotas and Hondas are reliable even for new models and redesigns, but give no such benefits to other makes. Perhaps Toyotas and Hondas have earned this right, but I would still prefer they didn't do it. Consumer Reports should be used a a reliability indicator, as well as a comparison against the auto mags out there. Since CR buys their cars off the lot, sometimes you'll see a major difference between their reviews and those for Edmunds or Car & Driver (who are given samples to test). A lot of times the sample cars will get much more expensive tires than you'll get on the lot - something I've learned to watch out for.

Also, remember to check the air pressure of the tires and set it to Lexus' recommendation. The dealer left mine between 45-50psi when I bought it and it was loud as heck, I lowered it to 35psi and it was total difference. Yesterday I went down to the recommended 32psi and it was better still. I really didn't expect going from 35 to 32 would make much of a difference, but it has. I still hate my tires, but I don't hate them $800 worth :)

I've had my 2004 LS430 for about two months now and HATE the tires that came with it - Goodyear Eagle ResponsEdge. They are by far the loudest thing in my car and communicate every little detail of the road to me. I definitely recommend against them. A quick scan through Discount Tires reviews of them show that it's the most common complaint about these tires.