jweiss

Steve, Just read a long term review review of the Prius, which featured a number of reviewers' comments. One guy had taken it on a long trip and found that there wasn't enough lateral support in driver's seat and found his back hurting. Were you in it enough to determine a reaction to the seat?

Agree with SW03ES about Infiniti. The other model they don't advertise (at least not in Canada) is the I series (although that's due for a change along the lines of the new Maxima, which is another stunner). In general, Nissan has been leading the pack in design over the last few years, witness the Altima, Maxima, Murano, as well as FX and G series.

I have the factory installed 16"all- season michelins on my 2000 Es. I transferred my 15" Finnish snow tires(never remember the long name)from my Infiniti I30. Although the snows are noisy, they make quite a difference with toronto weather. They're better than the all-seasons in the rain, but that's not surprising given the characteristics of the micheloins in rain. Only once, did we skid and VSC was activated. We especially need snows since we have a very tight parking space in a laneway that city no longer plows.

I think you have to look at the Big 3's progress against the Europeans, more than the Japanese. While they are great driving cars, take a look at the realibility and problem areas for MB, BMW, and even VW and Audi. Not as many red dots as there should be.

Amen to SW03ES! Badmouthing to a bunch of people who have had decent experiences with the car and car company is not the way to add legitimate complaints to our discussions. Let's all of us remember that as the human machine ages, it ain't what it used to be. Same for car machines. Just got my Auto issue of Consumers and Toyota and Lexus are most of the time ahead of the pack in reliability.

I had a set of Toyo Proxes on my Infiniti and they were great. When i have to repace my Michelin MXV4's, I'm hoping that there are appropriate toyos available.

I also ordered one by phone, and because postage is half price for Canada, they only added on US$7.13. Given the rise of the loonie, this is a bargain.

AMEN! Congrats to those responsible for the new format.

Sharad, thanks for taking the time to contact them. perhaps we should go into business distributing their products!!!

Alan, Sounds like a great product. I called the 1-877 number and apparently it doesn't go through from Canada. I haven't tried to purchase it directly over Internet, but chances are they won't ship it to Toronto. Does anyone know how to get this product in Canada? Thanks

Since you have an 02, it should be under full warranty. Take it to lexus dealer and have them explain it to you and have them fix the problem. Let us know what they said and whether Steviej's posted explanation was correct.

Followed the advice and changed the battery. PERFECT! Thanks

The 2 remote keys on my 2000ES weren't working when pressing either door or trunk buttons. Checked batteries- were perfect, and cleaned inside with rubbing alcohol. When I put them together, they work sometimes, and at other times not. Partly depends on what part of button I push. Is there a trick to putting the parts together that might make a difference? There doesn't seem to be much flexibility because the 2 screws for battery case and the outer screw can only be fixed in a certain way.

Followup- no warning lights have gone and its been over a week, so that's good news. However, anyone got a clue as to why both VSC lights trigger off the cel, especially when it's an Evaporation code, PO440? Owners manual gives no hint of this.

sk, Let me see if I've got the picture right about what's happened here. Someone, presumably travis.vique, tried to post a solicitation and you as Moderator acted on LOC's behalf by eliminating his message and posting the club's rules instead. You then followed up with a message about the fact that the original post, which we didn't see, is a no no. If that's the story, then I have no problem with it. I think people were confused because they never saw the original post and didn't realize that the message at the end of that post included the fact that you had edited it, by deleting the original message and adding the club rules. Have I got it right, or am I still to be seen as jweiss? Btw, I know enough about bulletin boards to know that the moderator's job ain't easy.

This seems like a strange posting from a new member for whom this is the first post. Perhaps some context for the origins should be given, since it looks as if knuckles are being rapped here, especially when it's been monitored by sk. Without this info, people will become very conservative in what they think they can post, without knowing what triggered this post. What's the !Removed!?

sk, Just spoke with scarborough lexus. The code is PO440, an evaporation code, that might mean that the air flow sensor was a little clogged, suggesting dirt in gas, or an oxygen sensor, which could have been responding to regular gas. Since it hasn't come back in over 48 hours, it probably is ok.

sk, He didn't have time to get the paperwork from technician, so he said he'd send it. I asked him to fax it, but didn't hear from him. Unfortunately I have to drive to NYC this weekend for funeral, so hopefully it won't reappear. Downtown Toyota is very close to my house- I don't like their salespeople (my daughter bought a car from them), but would that be an option if they're good with service and lexus would honour the warranty?

It would help if you had given a heads-up as to why you made this post. At least you should identify where you're from, and whether you have personal knowledge regarding this dealer. Thanks

sk, Went to Scarborough Lexus yesterday, and they cleared the code. Service rep said it was an emissions function, and if it comes on again, they'll do further investigation. A couple of points. I made this appointment 2 days ago, and when i arrived the guy was gruff and said that he'd have to make an appointment for me since they were too busy. I reminded him that this WAS an appointment time. He took the car with some misgivings (my wife was also surprised about his behaviour, since this was my first dealings with them). He told me it would take awhile because they were so busy, and I said that was fine since I wanted to get it right. So we settled in the wait room with our yellow lab, and he got me in 15 minutes to give me the news. I inquired about the inconvenience of having to come back again, if they really didn't know what caused it. He was a little better now, softened by having Montana there since he has a dog of his own. My question to you is, could this be a function of having used regular gas in the last 2 tankfulls? (First because it was only grade available on Thruway near Buffalo since they were running out of gas, and the second time was because of the outrageous price at the pump, 82.9/litre for regular at Loblaws No-Frills). I should say that the warning lights didn't come on this AM, and I put mid-grade fuel in the car. Thanks.

steviej, on my car, I have traction control that comes with VSC. So why is there a switch to shut off VSC?

University professor- took early retirement last year. I still have obligations with 6 doctoral students, and I'm concentrating on my writing. One of the projects: a Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments, is appropriate for what we are participating in . Happy to be away from administration, full time teaching and proposal writing, let alone the politics of academia. Can now concentrate on important things, such as participating on this bulletin board Purchased a 2000 ES several months ago with 13K miles (23K kilometers, and got full warranty until October 2005)- sort of a present for retirement.

Today, the VSC(Vehicle Stability Control, VSC OFF, and Check Engine warning messages came on simultaneously. Checked for usual suspects (low fuel, gas cap loose) and called Lexus. They can't see me for two days, and the customer service rep didn't seem too concerned about driving it till then. He's a nice guy, but I think being on this bulletin board makes me more knowlegeable about the car than he is. Can anyone give me a heads up as to what codes they'll likely find? Since it's on warranty I'm not concerned about what it will cost (but come to think of it, they'll probably find something that they'll claim is wear and tear). BTW, I suggested to the sales guy who sold me the car (who's really quite decent and very much unlike the image of car salesman) that if he really wants to understand the car and his customers, he should check out this site.

Corky, Enjoy! What's the story on the RX330 transmission. First that I've heard of the problem with that model. I've spoke to a few who say that it's so much better that the previous model, especially in stability and cornering. Does the same hold for the '04 ES?

There's so much action on this Board that I keep forgetting to provide updates on issues I've raised. Replace a bulb in front and one in rear and everything worked out. BTW, I've got the Lexus Gold warranty for another 2+ years. Since i didn't go to a Lexus dealer for the bulbs, I wonder if that would have been covered by the warranty? I was getting oil and filter changed and didn't want to pay the robber barons for that. Anybody up on whether bulbs are a wear and tear item or one that's covered? Thanks.