jweiss

Check that you didn't accidentally depress the Childproof Option button.

You are starting to remind me of akewlguy and his 10 posts a month how he loves the "LS". LOL

What part of Brooklyn is that , i have never seen such a pleasant looking "hood" ?

The photos were taken in Middle Island, Long Island, NY

Alan, Where is Middle island? I thought you were from Bklyn.

BTW, great looking car.

Congrats from one Brooklyn boy to another.

Glad to hear that lexus seems to have solved the tranny problem. What did they do: revamp the drive by wire mechanism?

Any word that the 2007 would have a hybrid version, like the Camry? Any rumblings that down the line, they'll do an AWD version?

Toysrme,

There are several ways for you to communicate the important information you impart, but insulting others in a condescending manner is not what we've come to expect on this site.

I'd like to hear something from those good people who monitor our site.

Lexusfreak,

I'm bringing it to Don Valley on Monday. Andy Lam is the mechanic who used to work at Downtown Toyota and came highly recommended. When he called me back, I read him the diagnosos, and when I came to L/F shock noise over bump, he said that's probably the tower(not sure of his English, or my hearing) which is not warrantable. So, I'll have them do all warranty activity but to give an estimate for non-warrantable work.

I may get back to you for the name of your mechanic for this work.

I'm still surprised at how much has gone wrong with a car with so few miles. I would like to hear from others, especially SK, AMF, whether I'm being too severe with my expectations.

Thanks

My '2000 has 72,000 kms (approximately 43,000 miles) and 6 year warranty is over on Oct 22, '05. (The car was bought as previously used with 23,000 kilometers at same dealer who sold and serviced it.) This week I took it to local Toyota dealer to have 55 point checkup deliberately to determine problems and warrantable items. This is what came back:

Transmission oil pan gasket leak

Engine rocker gasket leak in front

Both rear sway bar bushings

Steering wheel shaft boot and seal noisy

L/F shock noise over bump

Car pulling to right with some differential tire wear (just had wheels checked last month with no problem)

Some concern as to whether water pump should be replaced.

This is an honest mechanic and the dealer can't do Lexus warranty work, so they weren't looking for work.

I believe most of these are covered by Extra care Protection plan. I guess it will be up to whichever Lexus mechanic who does the job to exercise his judgmebnt about the last 2 items (front end and water pump).

I'm curious to hear from others about whether this is more than expected from a car that's been regularly serviced. I know that it's only a machine and that there's always going to be wear and tear even on one as well made as lexus. However, i wonder if I should keep the car after warranty is over. It also suggests that perhaps, reliability reputation notwithstanding, that next car should have extended warranty coverage.

Thoughts?

Thanks

Since dealerships now make most of their profits from service, there's no surprise that a Lexus dealer would tell you not to go to Toyota dealer.

There's nothing wrong with going to Toyota except they may not be able to be reimbursed by Lexus for warranty work. Perhaps if there's no Lexus dealer in the area, Lexus may relax their rules.

I go to Toyota for everything but warranty work. There are several mechanics there who know how to work on them. Enjoy this line: the service manager has a 300ES and they work on his car.... :D

SW03ES,

Do have any reason to believe that the "06 ES will rectify the drive by wire problem that seems to cause such grief?

If so, and they have a solution, it's too bad they didn't have possibilities for making adaptations to earlier models.

It's not just a question about where the car is manufactured. Lexus is now making the RX330 in Cambridge, Ontario and the training and rigour that goes into it to produce the quality (refinement) is far greater than what they do for producing Toyota's in the same plant.

It's a question of refinement. If they don't understand that concept, let them stay with the Camry.

I lust after the RX330 and even more so, the RXH400. However, it's difficult to respnd to the survey because I don't know if it happens on the Canadian models. Previously, I had posted a question about why none of the problems with trannies doesn't seem to occur with Canadian members of our group. Somebody responded because of the different emissions requirements. A Toyota mechanic said he's seen it in his shop- he says it's the drive by wire change that brought this about.

Anybody else have any ideas if in fact there's a difference between Canadian and other cars, and if so, why?

Thanks.

$1500, $600 for aftermarket? I'm ignorant of how that translates to U.S. prices.

collegeguy,

It depends on Cdn exchange rate, but figure at least one third more for Cdn. Example is US$1000. equals Cdn$1500. But you never know if it's just the exchange rate that's operating.

oddly enough, one of the least expensive countries in the world to buy a car is Canada.

I had similar problems with my used 2000. I disconnected the battery for a short while so that the computer setting for transmission reverted to factoty setting. If you have the intelligent tranny, it may have morphed to driving habits of previous driver(s). It worked wonders for me.

I have a 2000 with the same problem- the passenger side cupholder had the spring break and I can't get it back on. I posted on this site some time ago without any response except that Lexus' cupholders suck. So I hope you have better luck. Still haven't replaced it although it's probably still under the Lexus Gold card 6 year warranty. I inquired and apparently that flimsy part is expensive.I never have the car serviced at Lexus unless it's warranty work and I'm saving some things for a trip to expensive Lexus dealer. I use a closer Toyota dealer for service.

I made sure I added to warranty up to October 2005.

Army,

Thanks for suggestion. I only have 36K miles now and it was about 25K miles when I first detected the noise. Seema a little early for power steering pump, BUT, stuff happens with technology.

I have similar problem with my 2000, especially when I'm backing out from parking in morning and when I straighten the wheel it sounds like a whiney groan. Don't seem to hear it when I'm turning the wheel at other speeds. Last year took I took it to Lexus dealer and he said it was a bushing and they supposedly fixed it, but it's back. It's time for me to gather all my warranty complaints and head for Lexus dealer. Otherwise, I'm quite happy with service from local Toyota dealer.

My tire dealer, Lexus dealer and Toyota dealer all suggest 32 psi for both my Nokea snows and Michelin factory equipment all seasons

I've been using Downtown Toyota and quite pleased. They can't do warranty work on a Lexus, but I have them doing everything else. They have specials for oil changes, etc, and they even gave me a discount on rear brake pads. They're located on Queen St., just West of Broadview.

Many thanks for an excellent analysis.Notwithstanding its size, which might be too large for my laneway parking spot, I was going to look at the Avalon as a possible replacement for my 2000ES sometime next year.

Both my brother and sister live in the States and drive recent model Avalons. The new one might be somewhat different from their model, but it looks as if not enough. The few times I was in their cars, I did get a sense of more American than Japanese or European. So I'll have to consider more than size, especially since the price is about the same.

It's interesting that Toyota doesn't market the Avalon at all in Toronto. Perhaps that'll change with the new model which got a positive review in Toronto Star.

Lexusfreak,

And the LS470!

Lexusfreak,

I'm in Riverdale, or Greektown. I do regular maintenance at Downtown Toyota on Queen St. There's no Lexus dealer downtown yet, but I hear there are plans for one soon.

Bought my 2000 in March '03 with 23,000 kilometres(13,800 miles) with a lexus goldcard warranty through October'05. It now has 57K kilometres and I thought that when warranty runs out we'd go for a few year old ES330 or RX330. Didn't want to have a car that's expensive to repair with no full warranty- too many memories of earlier cars kept too long and repairs generally not worth the expense. The idea was that this car would still have low mileage at that time and we could maximize value. Trouble will be what it will cost to flip cars, and whether keeping this great ES without warranty will be a better idea. Got another 10 months to go and who knows...?

Imrans,

I bought my car at Scarborough Lexus as a used vehicle from one of the Toyota salesmen. The fellow there from lexus who has an excellent reputation is Alistair. Did you work with him?