steviej

last time I was at my Lexus dealer for service the labor rate was $92 USD/hr. Toyota dealers are much more plentiful in the area so they tend to be more competative in their labor rates. The best one around me is about $80 USD/hr. steviej

I personally feel the 02-04 and even more so now with the 05's that there is a particular sportiness that is very appealing to the ES. but I love my 02 way too much, so I may be biased. steviej

sk, I am in total agreement with you. Discussions like these are informative and healthy....if they are kept factful and peaceful. I do find exception with one little point: one of vtech's post was a tad rude. I have censored it. I don't want to allow any "raising of the bar" as to how rude member can be before it goes un-noticed. Should vtech continue on that path of rude and insulting comments then I shall have no choice but to invoke the warning system on him. steviej

usually you don't have to. once the new or cleaned O2 sensor starts sending the correct signals to the ECU, the ECU should deactivate the CEL. Pulling the engine fuse or disconnecting the battery is just treating the symptom. Replacing the O2 sensor was treating the cause. Many people revert to pulling the code as soon as they see the CEL. If the original problem still exists, the CEL is only going to come on again. It is best, like you did, to get the code read and try to resolve what caused the CEL in the first place. steviej

just make sure it says "safe for O2 sensors" on the side of the can. steviej

Avon and Metzler are the top two. steviej

What makes them different from regular fram air Filters or stock filters? What did it cost and what is the recommended change interval? Are they an oiled filter? steviej

can you provide more infor for any interested party. price, color, part #, your first name, a way to contact you since PMing is not available to you yet? Read This Once you read it, supply the proper information, then I will see about moving it to the proper forum. Thanks for your help. steviej

Contagious first off, please don't type in ALL CAPS, it is considered yelling and somewhat rude. second, Your Lexus dealership can give you a printout of what has been done at Lexus dealerships. Unless you have the records from the previous owner, then you are pretty much out of luck unless you can find out where it was maint. each time. Then it would be an individual quest through each shop. Not all independents shops keep records based on VIN or owners. Carfax.com will not give you maint. history, but may yield information as to damage and body shop work if done. steviej

manuals: go to www.lexus.com, register as a new owner, and then you can request a free owners manual and supplemental owners manual. Suggested maint. schedule is in the supplemental manual. as for the homelink: press and hold the button you want to program until it flashes slow. Holding the garage door opener about 2-5 inches away and in front (next to the windshield) of the homelink buttons, press the door opener button until the light for the homelink button flashes fast. you should be GTG at that point. steviej

I wouldn't go lacquer thinner yet! You may lose your clear coat. Bug and tar remover didn't work....would have thought that would. I recently heard that an old trick is to use mayonnaise. I have not tired it, but someone posted that. Have you tried soap and hot hot water? I would start weak....goo gone or isopropyl alcohol first before bringing out the big guns. steviej

alot of the programming has to do with keeping the cars ULEV and ULEV-II compliant. This is not the case with the Canadian versions (no ULEV compliancy needed.). Way back in the beginning, an option that came up on the Edmonds Town Meeting board and supposedly was successful was a Canadian ECU transplant. My Lexus dealer could get this ECU but it would cost me $1750 USD. Lexus by no means was going to pay for it. Plus if it were transplanted, they would not stand behind the car any longer with warranty and emissions in the US sector. I opted not to spend the 1750 ducats 18 months ago. steviej

Suggested maintanence schedules are in the supplemental owners manual. When you order the manual(s), make sure YES is selected when asked if you want supplemental owners manual. steviej

go with the paint detailing for the $400. splurge for a set of toyos and get a proper balance and alignement. Make sure the tire dealer uses a Hunter RoadForce balancing machine. If a rim were bent, it will help balance that tire rpoperly without having to replace the rim. (assuming the rim, if bent, isn't too far out of whack). Deal with Bay Ridge for your services. If anything, the letter Ispoke about, will alert the GM of that dealership to the kinds of customer service his service manager is providing. again, safe motoring and I hope to see you at the next NE/NY/NJ Lexus meet. I'll hook you up with some cool window stickers at the meet. steviej

the software "burn" will not solve or resolve the hesitation problem. This burn will only change the shift points so that a certain joggle is not felt at around 40 mph. The hesitation when "stomping" on it is inherent in the electornic throttle/auto 5 speed design. Toyota will continue to cover their eyes and say "it is performing as it was designed to". Unfortunately, the engineers are not the people who have to deal with the public. steviej

I still say a correctly worded letter to the GM will bring you more positive results. (cc: a copy to Lexus Corporate). But as long as you are happy. (Nick, for a small fee, I will give you assertiveness lessons) steviej

here you go: Avon Tyres steviej

I met him once. Mr. Carlin is hysterical. steviej

jragosta and joe ml, are you both leasing. I purchased and have gotten no such swap option letter. I filed with NTHSA and Lexus a long while ago. I have just come accustomed to driving without the hesitation, but that has been covered before. steviej

Correct me if I am wrong, but you should have gotten a CPO checklist of the car. As well as a formed signed by you salesrep that he went over everything about the car and the dealership with you. Now this next part is very important. 1. While fresh in your memory make a list of all the things that they said they would do. 2. Make a list of what they did do and what still needs to be done to meet your customer satisfaction. That is #1 with Lexus, so they imply. 3. Call and ask to speak with the General Manager of the Dealership. Request a meeting and have your sales rep present. Also request that the Lexus Customer Service Rep for the dealership be present. Leave Sharky out of the meeting for now. Discuss your dissapointment with the dealeship with those people and discuss the treatment you got from Sharky. Bring up the comment you salesrep made and most of all present them with the lists. Leave emotion at the door, and stick to the facts. Try to come to a mutually agreed upon compromise. If you cannot reach an agreement, let them know that you will take your business elsewhere for service and you will also dissuade others from going there. Most people would have walked away disgruntled at this point . The customer that shows that they will not go away easily or give up, may get better results. If after the meeting (if granted) you do not get any further results, then count you losses and move on. Spend some time finding another dealaeship that you are comfortable with to handle the CPO warranty issues. Learn to do the simple stuff by yourself. In the long run the savings will make up for some of your inital financial loss. Save your pennies, the bodywork can be done by dedicated shops later. Rome wasn't built in a day and your Lexus will not be picture perfect by Monday. But this is to become you wad of clay that you can mold and mod. Follow me? Nail the original dealership on the customer service questionaire that you will get. These seem to be important to Lexus Corporate. Learn from you experience. Next time get everything in writing and signed. steviej

If I were to race my Lexus at Indy then I will give you this one. Since I only commute in my Lexus, drive around town in my Lex, go on vacation in my Lex, and drive the highways of this continent in my Lex, then I want to remain as comfortable and smooth as possible in the quietest cabin adorned with the best taste and not have to worry about the tranny crapping out within a year and not have to listen to plastic noises. I'm sticking with my Lex. Besides, being top dog is not about who has the most horsepower. steviej

then I wish you luck and happy motoring. B) steviej

just read the rules and guidelines posted in the Buy & Sell forum. steviej

Avon is/has been one of the most reputable motorcycle tire companies. I believe they are just recently branching into the automotive market. If the auto tires are anything like the cycle tire, they will offer a quality product. steviej

Try a different dealership. On another note, don't buy into that "only Genuine Toyota 5w-30" motor oil should be used. Go to Auotzone, Walmart, etc, get Castrol, ExxonMobil, get whatever is on sale. Please don't start this "what oil should I use" nonsense, as it has been beaten to death. Use the search function, as there are a multitude of threads discussing this exact subject. As for filters and parts, I don't know why your Toyota dealership can't cross reference the parts. All the Toyo dealers here are able to. Some reputable on line Lexus parts dealers are: www.irontoad.com www.lexus-parts.com www.carsontoyota.com steviej