alank22181

I think you are getting excited, and so I'm not really interested in continuing this discussion.

Whatever you think, you win.

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

The Avalon isn't nearly as nice a car as the ES. Bigger, but not as nice.

As for the LS being twice as expensive but not twice as good, that depends. If you never drive an LS, you will always be thrilled with the ES. I am a die hard LS guy, the LS is the car that got me into Lexus as a brand. Even I forget how special the LS is now that I go so long without driving one. However, the instant I drive one I realize how much truly better it is than the ES on every level. Don't get me wrong, getting back into the ES is not a let down and it is a teriffic car, but its no LS.

The LS just does everything a little bit better. Not one shard of expense saving plastic, soft touch leather everywhere your hand touces, the open of every door and compartment so precisely timed, no harshness anywhere in anything it does, every movement and every sound is so perfectly fluid and hushed. There is literally nothing the car does that hasn't been engineered, tested, retested, and retested again. It truly is one of the finest, if not the finest, built car under $150,000 on the road today. They get better as they get older too, like a pair of really high quality shoes.

The ES is a great car, but its not a replacement for an LS in any category but thriftiness. As soon as I can get into an LS without feeling guilty about not using the capital to do things that are more important I will, without hesitation. As a matter of fact, I'd go buy one today without ever driving the competition because I know the competition can't come close for the money.

I think the best way to put it is, I could buy a new ES every 3-4 years and be happy for the most part. I could however buy one LS, and drive it for 10 years and still be happy...if that makes any sense? A 10 year old LS is still an LS, but a 10 year old ES is just an old car. So, in that mindset who'se to say the LS isn't more cost effective than the ES? Discuss ;)

I look at it like I look at suits (if you don't wear suits then this won't make any sense).

The ES is the Hart Shaffner & Marx of suits. Its stylish, looks expensive, its well made and it will do everything you want it to do and more, for $600. The value is unmistakable. The LS is more like a Hickey Freeman or Zegna suit. It looks similar, but all you have to do to tell the difference, and to understand why its $1500, is to put it on.

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.

I have a 04 es with 27000 miles, trans seems to shift better now with more miles. Car is only driven a couple times a week, for now, seems to have some jerking at until warmed up. Great car.

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

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

We had similar difficulties with the rear window wiper in snow and road slush until we added RAIN-X to the glass - seems to have made the glass more slippery and the blades now seem adequate to squeegy the entire wipe area. $5 for Rain and 15 minutes to rub it into the glass.

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)

Hello, I want to know the people opinion about this 2 cars (Lexus rx400h or BMW X3). I want to buy it one of them but I don't know how is better.

Wich are your opinion about?

- AWD vs xDrive

- Transmission

- the acceleration

- stabiliy

- ....

Thanks at all!

p.d. Sorry about my English

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

My wife's 04 ES330 obviously has discrepancies in its mapping details. I've been waiting for the new update, that was supposed to be out this fall. Has anyone done the update, and what results did you notice? Do you mind sharing what the cost was, and whether you did the update yourself, or had the dealer do it for you?

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

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?

Dec 29, 2005

Update from alank22181

Thanks everyone for your reply's. The odor is definitely like burning insulation and/or overheated wire. As a chemist I know the odor of ozone, etc, and this does not fit. The car was serviced at 15,000 miles and they did replace the filter, BUT since this all happened during the fall, it is entirely possible that leaves have gotten into a place they should not have and thus are "burning" when the electric heater comes on.

Also recent is the trunk switch failure- the button/switch in the cabin no longer will NOT open the latch to the trunk. I can always use the key fob to open the trunk. Are these related electrical problems? Is the wiring harness breaking down somewhere?

I will take the advice of several here and bring it in, and let the service tech inspect the radiator and interior filter, as well as resolve the trunk switch problem.

Thanks

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

: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!

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

That may be a different issue. The Lexus transmission shifts differently when its cold, it holds shifts to generate heat to bring it up to operating temp more quickly.

←

: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. :)

tc004.pdf

I bought a 2004 ES 330, and I am having the exact same problems as you all are with my transmission. I Take it to lexus and they tell me nothing is wrong with it but obvisouly there is a problem. Is there any way i can get this fix? I called lexus and they are aware of the problem but are not willing to do anything about it? what should i do if anything?

←

"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.

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

←

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.

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

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

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

I just bought the new 05 es330 for my wife replacing her 03 gs430. since her gs had 79k miles and since it wasn't in such good shape, i didn't get much resale for it. I would like to keep this es330 a little longer and in better shape, so what should i do to keep it in perfect condition? What should i look out for; like problems with it etc.

I don't know if the es330 will perform as well as the gs430 in the long run considering the diffrence in price. I spent $50,000 for the gs430 and $39,980 for the es330. what makes the price so different? what do i gain and loose besides engine size to make the price so different? The 05 es330 has every option available, pretty much the same as the gs except quality in my opinion. It's the same blue (they said it was a special order, except i never pre-ordered anything LOL) as her old gs with the ivory interior w/wood steering wheel etc.. The navigation screen seems small to me, but they said it was just a hint smaller than the gs screen. I like the gs climate control/radio button positions better but they all work correctly (all she cares about). It is much smaller than the gs, but still comfortable as i would expect from a Lexus. The ride is smooth and the gas mileage! wow the gas mileage amazes me! That's the best thing about going from a 4.3 liter v8 to a 3.3 liter v6. I can tell the acceleration is less but it is fair for the gas mileage.

I asked the dealer about waxing it, and they said NOT to wax it for a while. does anyone know why they said not to wax it this early? I didn't wax the gs at all, and it is evident in the paint finish; i hope not to make the same mistake with the es330. My wife drives about 40k miles a year so i don't know if this changes how soon i should fix/add certain things etc. Anyone know of any ideas on what i should do first at this time?

do you think the es330 will perform and last as long as the gs430? Did i make a mistake getting the 05 es330 rather than the new gs430? My daughter has a 2004 es330 but it's different in looks; the interior seems much to plain to me, and the exterior lights are much to boring compaired to the 2005's sleek projectors headlamps. I love the new steering wheels (except for wood color); similar to the rx330. The radio+ navi controls on the wheel is a great feature; the gs430 had them as well.

I hope i made the right choice. does anyone have any input?

←

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

I have read about the following complaints regarding the ES330...can anyone attest to these?

1) "clunking noise" when reversing the direction of the steering wheel

2) problems with the 5-speed transmission - downshift delay, hesitation when you press on the accelerator, transmission shifts erratically, transmission does not respond when put into passing gear, slushy 1st gear, etc.

3) car does not respond to the gas pedal - takes long time for car to accelerate after you press the gas pedel and it's unpredictable

4) driver seat is uncomfortable

5) car does not corner well

6) poor gas mileage

7) instrument panel gauges not as "snazzy" as those of Camry

Any others common ones which you've experienced that I should be aware of?

After hearing about these issues, I'm wondering if it's better to just go with the Camry instead, for a lot less money and potential hassle.  I always thought that the ES330 was a great car, so I was surprised to hear these things.  Any advice???

←

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.

I have a 2004 ES 330 with the NAV system. I will soon have a Lexus XM receiver installed and I was wondering where the GPS Antenna for the NAV system is located. I would like to have the XM receiver antenna positioned in the upper center of the trunk lid but I was told that location will interfer with the NAV GPS reception. Is that true??? Is the GPS antenna at the Bottom of the rear back glass or?? Thanks in advance for your help.

I posted this in the Audio/Video/Electronics section yesterday, however no one responded.  I was thinking that if I post it here, it will get more visibility... Thanks...

←

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

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

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

Hi, sometimes forget to look over at peoples profile. So thought that after we had done the "what does everyone do" forum. I thought I would do this... Ok, I will start..

I am an Australian, currently living in Fukuoka, western Japan. I lived in Atlanta until 2000.. After a short stay back in Aus, I moved here to Japan with my homesick Japanese wife... After 3 years here, next April, we are planning to pack up again, and move back to Atlanta GA!  But dont what I will do with my ES.. Not sure if I will be able to bring it to the states with me.. (Right hand drive).. I do however still have my JEEP waiting for me. So I may have to become a snobby nosed JEEP driver again?.....

Chris

←

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.

Can anyone comment on his/her experience with the 2005 ES330 voice activated navigation system?

Referring to the GPS Navigation unit:

Does this unit support WAAS ?

My 2204 ES 330 Nav system does support WAAS. My experience has been vry positive no matter if I am going through tunnels, bridges, etc, weher the signal may be lost.

Does it have a parallel 12 channel receiver ?

The ES 330 2004 Nav system does support up to 12- but the 2005 may be higher.

Is it capable of 'Dead Reckoning'?

It was very strange seeing the system track the car as we crossed section of the Atlantic Ocean on a Ferry ride from Lewes Deleware to Cape May, New Jersey.

If you are referiing to it;s ability to "know" where it is on a map without much detail, the answer is yes. I use my Nav system all the time in rural areas of New England and the mid-atlantic states.

How update is the map?

I have found about 80% accuracy. There are some glitches, but nothing major. The problems are wih little used local roads, not with highways and interstates.

Thanks.

←

Hope this helps!

Alan K- enthusiastic new Lexus owner

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!