BoaR

lol Lexi, but the GX is a gorgeous machine. you win automatically ;) and SW yeah you are right. unless i find a super bargain. on the flip side though, buying the farthest ahead you can in the curve is almost always the best way to go. getting the current gen will hold it's values vast period of time... and pretty much give the cost savings spread over the years. long run. always long run lol. Thanks for the different way of thinking though bud, you brought up some points i should look more into. :)

lol smasood - he photoshopped the pic into his car as a 'demo" look. not actually isntalled it yet... ( i admit it looks amazing! ) godfather - ive done a lot of wiring work on the es in general. it would all depend on the rear connectors on the nav unit. ive never touched an OEM nav before, im not sure if the antenna is hard wired to the "shark fin" normally or not for connection/reception. if it is... you already know the es doesnt have one. might be a problem. i'de need to find a spec sheet + pinout of the nav unit in question to know for sure. got a link as to where you saw the 97 with this mod installed? im very curious. this is pretty bad !Removed!, might have to do it to my car too while helping you out haha.

I have an older es, but regardless - I inspect my brakes here and there to get a feel for how they are wearing. generally speaking i find this is the best way because it all really depends on how much you drive. Ive put 25k on the car already and only had it for a bit over half a year.... obviously my pads/discs are under much more use than the buying bread and milk corner store driver. When i check, if i dont like how low the pads are getting. i just change them. it's a very easy job anyways and do-it-yourself way costs next to nothing. while the pads are being done, then ill check the discs for wear/warping/gouges and the works. if those are sketchy for some reason, off they come and a new set gets installed. again doing this yourself is a joke of a job, and costs parts only. which again are cheap. when i bought the car the previous owner had done the brakes about a month before. I re-did them about 2 months ago, and im gonna guess that when i put the winter tires on sometime in november, while the wheels are off im going to do a complete pad/disc change also. quebec winters are retarded and i like the security knowing that im fresh and good to go. hope that helps a bit ! edit: just realised that i didnt even mention cost or answer your rotating question. all depends on your budget for rotating. i never rotate. even though i could/should. it's just as easy for me to put new discs on as to rotate... so i just dont bother and slap new ones in when it's time. i dont do this until i see wearing or something. as for oem pads/discs - the oem are generally better than the jobber parts you can get. i think it was dc or sw that was telling me in some other thread of this very fact. i dont bother going oem because i like to keep new(er) parts and change them often enough. I know people will say that putting oem will last longer, thus be more cost effective etc... yes you are right. But i rather have new parts on the car being swapped for more new parts. where i live and the routes i drive are ever changing. from incredibly stupid torn up roads under constant construction that abuse the hell out of cars to instantly changing weather conditions that end up forcing you to work the car harder than necessary under regular driving. to me having brand new parts on by brakes, is total piece of mind. where as if i had 5 month old oem pads and 1 year old discs... i might not be as confident as the sudden flash rain storm hits when im dodging chunks of cement and broken cones from construction dotting the @#$% terrible torn up roads. not that it will matter if i make a mistake and die. new brakes or not, but at least then i know it was my fault at the last second, and not worn brakes. heh. ;)

lol ive driven a 03 yes. Im not wishing to get a magical huge number off a massive heavy long sedan... im a realist hehe. i can see that this isnt a yaris or something. but if im looking overall as i described in my last post, if it's inking out 1mpg more only.. meh... im gonna save a few more pennies and just get a this gen instead. I know that the upgrade would be good, but the newest gen would be even better ;)

Eh i guess SW, bunch of deciding factors. Thing is, although im very happy with the 98 now, and es generally - i can see why i would want to upgrade to the next gen. bells and whistles, better interiour blah blah... but at the same time that mpg has to go up too. and not by a point or two. Look, i can admit that when i lead foot as with any car the mpg suffers drastically. worst on older cars like the 98. and flip side when i take it easy and drive eco like my life depends on it, i can squeek vastly better numbers out of the old car. If the real world tests show that it tosses a point above what im getting currently... value wise it's really not worth the upgrade. to what end? getting more wood trim ya know? lol coming full circle to the original topic though, with all this being discussed... you all are generally confirming that upper 30's is readily obtainable with the more current gens... well that is the kinda music im wanting to hear. i get better overall car in the shape of trim, config, quality and the major bonus of huge mpg ratings. I appreciate all the cool info you all posted so far. as it actually is guiding my next purchase decision hehe. As for the LS, it's a beast in all of it's own. pound for pound what it's packing it's a shining example of just how much car you can get ans still attain more than decent numbers. I actually saw a guy driving the premium '10 600h today. I waved to him as I merged but he kinda snobbed me to be truthfull bleh lol. it's pretty ghetto of him tbh, but i guess if you are dropping over 130k on a car you can do whatever you want meh. and it wasnt even a company/rental, standard owner plate on it sigh. While im dreaming i might as well wish for my 98 to get 50mpg eh lol

lol Paul... what a mistake eh? (although if you promise not to tell anyone, there are certain stretches of the road in the quebec/ontario border part that are slightly downhill, straight as an arrow and weed-trimmed. meaning you can see for miles with 0 obstructions.... or cops... ive taken the '98 to speeds over 130(mph) and it still felt like smooth butter, hehe what a cruiser! but shhh eh! ) and SW... ermm im not sure what to say... my 98 right now does on average 17.... you're telling me that in 5 years the mpg stayed the same "real world" numbers? urk..thats terrible. then we see as the OP posted... 5 years later the milage literally doubles and then some? holy crap.....im gonna avoid anything under those years for sure if the mpg literally was staying the same. not even worth upgrading to next gen bleh. might as well go current gen instead.

100k standard timing belt belt/water pump etc... (the LS is the only model that has a slightly different standard belt standard and you can let it go until 120-30k easily. - LS only tho ;) ) I have the haynes. it's perfect. just get that. 10 bucks used off kijiji or something.

Doh! lol it's KM up here. Imma guess you use mph down there? I feel like a tard :P

Popping back in here (thanks for the added info btw pete) I had another question... I dont drive in the states... im seeing dotted around the forum people posting that the highway limits are 75 or something?? why is everyone setting the cruise at 75? seems kinda low lol. up here in the north all our highways are 100, and ermm usually they dont even give you a second look for setting the cruise at anything below 120. I'm wondering if thats why you are blowing these numbers outta the water. heh. would make a huge difference we are not all crusing at the same numbers hmm.

Noooo DC !! going against the grain i'de say yoko from experience. has some (before some clown stole them when they were in storage) on my old ES and i loved them. I was using summer only though. I detest all season tires. This, i think makes a massive difference. (also in quebec here... need pure winters, so it's kinda dumb buying all seasons and not pure summers) But considering i love the oem look and dont go putting 18 anything.. on anything... i guess you really cant use my comment as a springboard for advice lol. I was running 16"s on stock lexus rims from another model. That probably is why i loved the yoko's in the end. i felt they were cushy at 16 and i also enjoyed the sticky grip they offered, yeah I will say that. i found them to be a lot stickier than a few other brands. i like sticky EDIT: true though, the Michelin Primacy tires are very good. not gonna knock them. but if someone was giving me a choice, in my fav classic size and can only pick one.. i would still choose the yoko's haha.

ground loop fault. do a search.

ya.. me last night :P hehe

Here they are all on 1 zip file. http://www.mediafire.com/?wsg94g87tdldcrs

To be honest I took it to the local mechanic (who i later found out was ripping everyone off. nice to know nobody can be trusted sigh) the top ones you can easily do yourself it's 2 bolts. the bottom one in front it's iffy. the way he did it without ripping out or lifting the entire engine... ready for this? used a 2x4 after unbolting to jimmy the engine about 1" upwards and slid it out. notably my top was busted so it allowed this. also the car was on a lift to put the 2x4 underneath in a wedge position. the force required as per my recollection, would be scary if the car was only on jacks and you underneath. scary enough to have me not try it for fear of something slipping and me being folded in in half under the crashing down car lol. At a local mechanic in all honesty it shouldnt be costly to jack up and fix. i got ripped off royally, but now knowing more about lexus in general - brand new the mounts at most will run you (cdn) about 20 bucks. 28 for the larger round bottom one. this includes the rubber err.. springy thingy for lack of a better word lol. it comes as a complete assembly. It only took about half an hour to do once the car was up. I'de guess not being scammed around 100 total. bring your parts and use his time type thing. (vs me not having smarts and getting ripped for 300... sheesh)

already posted how. and "rough" on the road has nothing really to do with a busted mount. you will hear the loud clunk of the engine bucking upwards for sure, when shifting or under very heavy acceleration. unless all 3 are broken you can "get by" for a small while. If they are all broken and you let it go, basicially worst case your engine will fall right through the bottom of the car into the road lol. The car wandering around or feeling bad on the road due to a strut is a completely different problem.