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alank22181

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Everything posted by alank22181

  1. As the folks from Vermont DMV can attest to, the largest selling car in the state of Vermont (my home) is the AWD Subaru. My point, was, that if cars are to be compared, they should at least be comparable in all major respects, including if they are RWD and FWD, thus the Avalon/ES/Camry vis a vis all other cars in Lexus line up. Cars are very personal spaces and people make judgements about them based upon personal preferences. We should take heart in the tremendous variety of choices available to us and go on with life. About being a conservative driver.. YES I am; and I will do what I can to save $$$$ at the gas pump, even while driving a luxury car. However I drive at the same speed as anyone else around me. On recent trip of 800 miles using Interstates through VA NC, PA, NY and Massachusetts, I averaged 31 MPG. My top was 32mpg and the bot was 27. I also choose to keep very meticulous and accurate records. My top speed was 80 my avg speed was 68. I enjoy driving the ES330 and my best friends love driving their Avalon. The choices we made when we bought them were personal and I would never think of questioning why they made their choices- its none of my business. We should exercise good judgement, and restraint as we reply to another person's posting. In peace, harmony and good cheer... alank22181 (now living in NC) :D
  2. The ES is the ONLY FWD lexus sedan. The Avalon and Camry BOTH are FWD. Huge differences in cold, snowy weather performance compared to old, ancient RWD. (My opinion since I lioved in VT for 30 years) If you liver in a sunny clime you may not ever appreciate the FWD advantages. Not to mention gas mileage! I get 22 city 30+ mpg on the road. LS is a gas hog by comparison. Alank22181, 2004 ES330, ruby red, with Nav premioum pkg.
  3. My 2004 ES 330, has lots of hesitation shifting out of 3rd, until warmed up. Ive got about 25,000 miles on it, runs smooth except for feeling "stuck" in gear. Its been behaving better since having the re-write done to the car software, but still is annoying for a car in this price range. DEaler has been excellent (Pohanka Lexus in Chantilly, VA). I also have improved gas mileage, squeeking by 30mpg a few times while on trips. Alan in Vienna
  4. In the new edition of Lexus Mag, photos of 2007 ES 350, Pg 57. Describes the new features and a "Ultra Luxury Package" what ever that means. Its always a wonder to me why someone would complain about a car built for quiet, stability, and comfort for passengers and driver. You want sporty - get a sports car and feel every bump, and crash into guard rails at high speeds, and spin out of control because the car is unable to handle the chaotic nuero responses of the human behind the wheel. As for me- I love my 2004 ES 330, its handling, its comfort and stability. I like it's rock solid stability in torrential downpours, nor does it ever drift off course when pummeled by 50 mph crosswinds on the Delaware Mem Bridge. I especially appreciate the 26-30 mpg, which translates to fewer trips to the gas pump! BUT I would like to see what Lexus would do with a hybrid ES. My dealer is solid gold, straight as an arrow, clean and capable. At 20,000 miles My Lexus behaves like new. (Pohanka Lexus, Chantilly, VA) Alan in NoVa
  5. This is design flaw and should be fixed immediately. No reason at all for rear wipers to contact surface with enough pressue accross the entire window. At over $40,000, no one should be having these types of complaints! The 400h with AWD us supposed to work well in all weather conditions... snow, ice among them. Your life is in jeapordy if/when the rear wipers fail to give you a clear window. I'd bring it in and tell them to fix the problem- don't let the dealer off the hook. While Rain-X is a quick fix, you will be refreshing it often as it tends to wear off uder daily use for ice.snow/rain clearing. The wiper blade pressure might be agjustable. alank in Vienna, Va (formerly in VT)
  6. I cannot vouch for the X drive, however my Subaru Leagcy AWD works like a dream in any weather. I lived in VT for 30 years, in the mountains, with 130 in snow average, Oct- May, and temps hovering at -30F (thats 30 below zero) and Subaru knows how to build cars that work in those conditions. Whether climbing up hills or going down, or on tight curves, the AWD system is flawless. Our Vermont roads are littered with BMW's and Mercedes Rear Wheel drive cars smashing into guard rails and mountainsides, because they are not suited for the terrain and conditions. I assume the 400h AWD would be similar. Take the 400h out for a test drive in terrible weather conditions. Get the feel of what the treaction and driving are like- then you will be in better position to decide one car or another. For my $$$ the 400h beats BMW in every handling aspect, especially in snow and when coming DOWN a hill; the grip is awesome. BMW tends to wander and I needed to compensate to keep the car on the road. Here in Metro/NoVA, we don't get enough snow/ice to warrant my switching to AWD, and my 2004 ES 330 does a great job of handling as a FWD. I hope that Toyota/Lexus will have a ES 330h in the near future. Have fun deciding what to get! alan k in Vienna VA
  7. My dealer told me about the update and it was installed when the car was in for it's regular service. There was no cost to me, I have a 2004 ES 330. The service manager did say that it was likely that future updates would have a charge, unless there was a major fault discovered. I enjoy a wonderful dealership located in Chantilly, VA (Pohanka) and they have an outstanding staff of service managers. I must admit that with only 18,000 miles on the ES 330, I am not a hi-maintenance driver. Most of my miles are long trips of 300-500 mile length. You may OR may not find any change, since the map itself was only changed slightly and if your area was not in the changed portion, you won't notice any change. I did notice an improved response time and an improvement in the way exists were identified on I-95 and the New Jersey Turnpike. alank22181, in Virginia
  8. Please Help.... My car, with 17,000 miles on it has now begun to fill the cabin with an odor resembling an electrical smell just after the heater comes on. In a few minutes the odor goes away. At no time have I received a signal that something is wrong, and I have the car cleaned on a regular basis to keep it free for debris. I live in Metro DC, and the car is outside in a parking lot. The only time this ever happens is after the car has chilled for a few hours and I start it up. Last year, the car was garaged every day and I never had the odor. The type of odor concerns me, but it's intermittent nature makes it hard to bring in to my dealer and ask them to fix-it. Any ideas or solutions? PLease email to akousen@yahoo.com Thanks
  9. :whistles: I have a 2004 ES 330, (Black Garnet, Levinson Audio, + Nav) and was recently driving from Wash DC to NJ coast; I noticed several times where the Nav system provided incorrent or poor routing advice, several times the voice instruction was 180 degrees from map display. At other times, the exit ramp information was wrong and/or the original chosen route changed. Several times I noted incorrect road identification assigned, especially on state and county roads. The results may add hours to the trip. I have several questions: Is there a software upgrade to correct these errors? Is there a website to list the errors and map location? Is there a hardware fix needed? Is there a way to upgrade the nav to accept realtime road closure info? PS I avg 28mpg on the trip of 200+/- miles. Advice Please!
  10. Mpg is not as simple as it seems. The mpg display is giving you a time based average of the MPG. If you wait at a stop light it averages in the time in with the actual consumption when the car is moving. Around town I average a driving speed of 21 mph... pretty slow. This figure has a significant influence on the displayed mpg. I accurately recorded a vast array of data at each fill up. It took me about 5 min to record everything in my little book. If I want an accurate mpg- I zero the trip meter, fill the tank and at the next fill up get the gallons figure. Simple division does the rest. If I really get anal I will record this in my book, and record the driving conditions when I used the car. My 2004 ES 2004, is 15 months old, has 13,000 miles. I use 87 octane, in town and 89 highway. I typically avg 21 around town and 28 highway. I have a very light foot. So far, here in DC Metro area I have NOT noticed any difference between summer mileage and winter mileage. Happy Motoring
  11. :whistles: One Month Later.... Low speed shifting lag continues, however now I am mindful of the conditions related to transmission fluid temperature. Everything now makes sense since this problem NEVER happens when the car sits in the roasting sun this summer. <_< Here is a new question: If I move to a cold climate, is a transmission heater needed? I have a reply to members who want to find another brand of car... sit in the back seat! BMW squishes you except for the series 6, and if you have big feet like me, Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes can't even come close to the comfort in the Lexus. I need to consider passenger comfort as well as driver. For me- Lexus goes to the top of the list. :)
  12. tc004.pdf "The same problems you are having",: Is that before or after the TSB reprogramming? steviej ← If you go back to post 337 or 338, there is the information for the reflash. I am attaching here the PDF file originally provided by steviej. I printed it out, took it to my dealer's repair shop and said I wanted it done. They complied and in an hour I was done. Your post did not say if you had this work done- so I am assuming that it was not and therefore this is a continuing problem which you are dealing with. Please keep us informed- it is always good to know what the results are from something like this which has spawned so much controversy.
  13. The ECM is programmed to delay the shifting until the engine & transmission is up to the proper operating temperature, so I suggest trying to let it warm up enough so the temperature gauge reads above the cold mark(not necessarily up to the full temp reading), and then retry this test when coming out of your driveway. You should find that it will now upshift to the next higher gear more quickly. This new reflash gives you better control of this upshifting. If while accelerating from a slow speed, you take your foot off the accelerator pedal slightly it will give you this upshift immediately. Before this new ECM update the transmission did not give you the desired response. Please keep us informed. :) ← Alan in Vienna- Update Thanks for the explanation about tempertaures! However, letting up on the accelerator has NEVER worked at speeds lower than 35, when this sticky trans occurs. The higher speed problem has vanished. The low speed ONLY happens when the car has sat in our garage (cool) overnight and I am taking it out through our neighborhood- all under 25 MPH. Sticky trans between 2nd and 3rd - never gets to 4rth. When car is "warmed up" problem goes away completely. What can I ask the dealer's shop to do to help? Thanks all very much for your help thusfar.
  14. This dealership has never filled my gas tank anytime I take my car in for service. In fact, frequently the loaners will only have a half a tank of gas. When I first got my car almost 2 years ago they used to vacuum everytime, but they have since stopped doing that as well. They do wash the cars still, but I always ask for them not to do that because their automatic wash scratches the heck out of my paint. Two times before they forgot to not wash it, but they did pay $150 each time for my detailer to clean up their mess. Now I put a large sign on the dash saying "No Wash" everytime I bring it in for service. I'm going to give another dealer a try, it may be worth the longer drive. ← Alank in Vienna replies. My dealer has often filled my tank as well as wash / vaccum the car. When I pick it up, the person from the front office comes out to the car and reviews any issues and the fix. If I noticed scratches from thier wash- I show them to him and the next time I come for service the dealership makes good restoring the finish to mint condition. Mine is the BlackGarnet color which scratches easily. Tranny problems on highway have been eliminated since I had the flash done early June. (2004 ES 330; 1 year old, 12,000 miles) BUT I still experience the lag at slow speeds, between 3rd and 4rth, at 20-30 mph. It feels as if I am travelling through molasses. Once I get the car above 35, the problem goes away, shifting is normal- either at high or low speeds. My mpg on the road is 28-30... in town is 20-23mpg I should mention that I selected the DEALER to buy my car from almost as carefully as I selected the car. Pohanka Lexus in Chantilly, VA is an excellent dealership. AlanK
  15. Thanks to members of this list I assembled the reflash info, took it to my dealer and had the work done. The higher speed lagging has gone. The outstanding lagging now occurs at low speeds of 20-30mph, when the transmission appears to be locked in 3rd. Often happens after the car has been sitting for several days, (I am in a low-speed neighborhood street). I take the car out of the driveway, to my local street, (25mph zone), The transmission sticks in 2nd gear and the RPM's zoom up, the MPG plunges. If I take the car above 40, the shift occurs normally and does not reappear until the car rests for a significant time. Any ideas? Alan in Vienna, VA
  16. I have read many of the comments on this thread hoping that someone would have run into my problem- but nothing has surfaced- therefore I'll chime in with another "tranny" problem. I call it a Dragging at acceleration I have a 2004 330 and have about 10,000 miles on it after 1 year of driving. The last few months I have been alarmed by a dragging feeling occuring and the transmission appears to be stuck in 3rd gear. The RPM's are 1000 over what they should be for the speed I am driving. This situation can happen on city driving 20-40 mph or on open highway, at 50-60 mph. Its always evident when I am accelerating. It also occasionaly happens when it downshifts. When ever i experience this problem, the only way I know to get it to behave normally is pull over and stop, then start driving again. In normal driving, even at speeds around 50 mph, the RPM's rarely go over 2000. When this "sticking" occurs, the RPM's shoot up to 3000 and higher. My gas mileage is equally impacted. Normal is get 21-24 mpg, when the trans get's stuck, the MPG plunges to 14-16mpg. What is going on? I called the dealer's repair facility and the gentleman I talked to did not know of ANY tranny problems happening on EX 330's. I explained that I was aware of hundreds of complaints and I'd send them this web URL to enlighten their staff. Alan in Vienna
  17. Your Lexus salsperson should be taken to the woodshed and thrashed! I bought my ES 330 here in Virginia for $28,000 including a end to end warranty, taxes, etc. It is completely loaded with every option imaginable. The dealer is fantastic and provides me a free carwash/cleaning every time I take it in for ANY reason. This is the best car I have ever driven and my Passengers love it because this is a well designed PASSENGER car. The best way to make sure the car lasts is to treat it well. With you warranty and service contract take it to your service at each 2500 mile intervals. They will clean it, wash it, perform warranty and reg mantenance at no cost to you. When I lived in VT, I drove 35,000 miles without blinking an eyelash. In NE the car needs to be cleaned more often because of salt, corrosion and below zero weather. Let the dealer keep up the vehicle; if anytrhing goes wrong THEY give you a FREE loaner. What could be any easier? If you ever visit DC, come to Pohanka Lexus in Chantilly and drop in and get set for an experience in people first. ACK
  18. I have had my ES 330 since May (2004) and to date and never had any problems like these mentioned. My gas mileage is 22 city/local and on recent 500 mile trip to NC on I-66 and 81 I averaged 29mpg. Comfort during this 6hr trip was fabulous for driver and passenger. Excellent support etc. I did find my driving comfort was improved when I adjusted the steering wheel to match my seat height. This is the quietest car I have ever owned. The auto wipers are heavenly; in fact every option has worked beyond expectations. My only design complaint is that my right arm is constantly bumping into a cup resting in cup holder. I Can't use anything taller than a regular cup. Several times my jacket sleeves have caught onto the lids of containers and ripped them off. Hope this answers your questions.
  19. Ive got the same car, and would call the service department at the lexus dealer for location of the nav antenna. I chose to delay purchase of the satellite system, wanting to wait for prices to come down and if the programming would improve. Best of luck on the installation and please let us know what you found out. Alan K in NoVa :D
  20. My ES 330, new in May, has 5000 miles on odometer. Monitoring MPG is easy since it is part of the automated functions. My Avg city is 22, my avg highway is 27. I am currently using 89 octane, even though hi grade is recommended. I keep a book recording each fill, the price/gal, the supplier, the miles travelled and the MPG. I also record each service, the cost and the place where the service is done. My record keeping may be a bit odd to some, but It's easier for me to see trends when accurate records are kept. :P alan in NoVa
  21. Really sorry to hear about your Lexus Dealer experience. If you were closer to Virginia I'd have sent you to Pohanka Lexus in Chantilly. They know what service and honesty are. I purchased my 2004 ES330 in late May, its a wonderful car. My passengers say it's the best ride they have had in a long time. My service has been excellent and without any problems. I recently had a tire problem, they asked me to leave it overnight while they got a replacement, gave me a loaner NO QUESTIONS ASKED. They called when the car was done, they called again a day later to see if i was satisfied with the service. My first goal was to select the car, my second was to select a dealer. IN DC Metro area we have many Lexus dealers- I checked almost all of them out by personal visit. Pohanka was at the top of the list. I am pleased with the car, and am certainly pleased with the dealer. Everyone suffers when a bad experience such as yours comes along. However, the car is well worth the wait; I hope the dealer comes through for you. Alan K in NoVa
  22. I'm in Fairfax Virginia, its west of DC by about ten miles. I came here from Vermont about 9 years ago. The traffic here is awful- BUT I rarely ever use my car for daily travel- DC has a wonderful light rail system. The 2004 ES 330 I bought in May is my first Lexus; having only owned Subaru wagons for years and years and years. Can't beat the AWD for negotiating through snow storms, slick roads, steep inclines and tight winding roads. None of tht is here in DC! We are thinking of relocating to Pittsfield Mass when I retire, but first have to find a Lexus dealer somewhere.
  23. Hope this helps! Alan K- enthusiastic new Lexus owner
  24. Since someone else started the discussion thread about engine oils, I thought I might gain some insight from the group on a related question. I have just reached my 5000 mile mark with my ES 330 and am delighted with the performance of the car- my average highway mileage is now over 27mpg, and city/highway combined is 22 mpg. :) Is there any additional improvement in MPG if I was to change to any of the synthetics? If so, what could I expect? Some Background Info: When I owned Subaru Legacy wagons throughout the 1990's, and lived in Vermont, I found a large difference when I switched to Mobil One. Not only did I find a big jump in MPG but the engine performance increased as well. This is my FIRST Lexus and I don't have much experience yet- having owned the car for just 5 months. Its use is limited to weekend family outings, and rarely ever used in stop and go city traffic. I do experience my share of Interstate gridlock and about 35% of my driving involves this type of slow- and-go typical of the Washington Metro region. Any advice would be welcome!
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