akiraxtc

If you mean this thread... my question is the exact opposite of that question. His is aftermarket HU/stock speakers.

How can i do this? I wanted to improve my system a bit and was wondering what kind of replacement speakers can i drop in my front and rear speakers and subs? I'm wondering about the sizes itself and the power ratings since i don't want to replace the amp and HU. Any speaker/Sub recommendation? Edit: My car is a 1997 ES300

Woohoo got my car back from the repair shop. Original estimate was 5/21.. they're 8 days early :) Looks like they did an excellent job on my car, my roommate couln't even see which part is being repaired or not. If any of you in need of a good body shop in Atlanta area, now i can recommend World Toyota collision (recommended by Henessy Lexus actually) at Peachtree Ind. Blvd. Since they replaced my right headlight now one of my headlights are brand spnkin' new and the other one is rather fogged.... how can i clean it up? :) I guess this weekend i'll be cleaning my engine bay since there seems to be a lot of powdery stuff covering my engine probably from painting and their body shop's environment.

So i was driving along a main street getting ready to stop for a traffic light. Suddenly a truck just goes out of a restaurant parking lot trying to cross the street going opposite my lane. I brake hard and honk at the truck. Apparently he is too focused on the lane that he going to get into and not noticing my lane and me in front of him. So he rammed me on my passenger side fender. So we traded insurance info and the police came later... too late actually... 1 hour after the accident so the guy left the scene (apparently he is getting a hit & run ticket for that). At least his insurance company assumed liability and there's no denying by police report that he failed to yield. Now my car is in a body shop and it won't be done until May 21st. Estimated about $3400 to replace my fender, fix my door, replace my bumper and blend the paint. Just hope the body work would be good enough so that i won't even notice the repainted panels... it just make me sick to think i'll have discoloration between the panels. Do you know how much these car depreciates after such fender bender? Oh and the accident happens exactly 1 year after i bought this car! :cries: I've been keeping this baby in pristine condition all these while... now this *BLEEP* happens. In case you're wondering, my car is a 97 ES300, bought last year $11k/76k miles.

I've gone to Sandy Springs toyota before and although their price for a tune-up and trans flush is quite low, they quoted me about $800 for timing belt and pump (is that high??). So i moved recently and now i sevice my car at World toyota (peachtree ind. blvd). So far so good, they solved my creaking front end (replaced strut mounts) but they did not solve my stinking ac (they did evaporator service). Good thing about them is that they have rental fleet and if your car is in their shop for > 2 hrs they will rent a car to you for free :) I guess i will ask for timing belt and pump quote from them soon, my car is supposedly due for those in 2k miles. Hopefully they have good prices on those.

Wow thanks for the replies. I always hear some creak when turning at slow speed (mostly sharp turns) and clunking sometimes when i hit bumps. So i guess i can go to toyota and ask them what's going on. At least from your posts it can be either: Worn shocks, CV Joint, or the bushings so i won't be ripped off. I can't believe it would be normal on 97-99 toyotas/lexus, i mean my roommate has a 97 camry and his car does not do that.

Good gosh! Is it expensive to replace those? I'm going to check it once i get home. Wubbman, i did get the noise either left or right turn but it can only be heard on low speeds like when backing out of parking lot. I gotta find a reputable indep. tech in Atlanta area first but it looks like the dealer review system is down.

Hi guys (and girls), i had a bit of a problem with my ES300. Somehow my A/C stinks, not sure how to describe it but it just stinks. It only smells about the first 2-3 mins i run the car, after that the smell is gone completely. Even when the car is still warm enough (i.e turn the engine off for 10 mins or so) when i start it again the smell came back for the next 2-3 mins and it's gone. Have anyone ever experience this before or know anything i can do about it? Also, i noticed that my left front wheel area has a *creaking*, not really creaking but more like a *clunk* if i turn my wheel mostly to the left. Is this something serious? And my last question is: I have about 85k miles on my car, is it time to change the shocks and struts? How much money are we talking about if i do need one? Thanks y'all! :)

LOL i never thought this thread would revive after such a long time :D Anyways, thanks for the compliments. I had fun all this while with my car and i'm glad to say it still looked like what's in the photo even now even though i've driven like 5k miles so far :) I'm looking for a wheel cover though since the way i use my steering wheel caused a part of the wheel leather to peel. I tend to make a turn with the bottom palm of my right hand. Guess just a habit of mine that's hard to let go :D Oh yeah and SW03ES i'm thinking of changing my tires to that too. I thought about replacing it to Turanzas like i mentioned earlier in the post but it seems like the ContiExtremeContacts has better reviews and my friends recommended it to me. These stock michelins last longer than i expected. I thought i'd be buying new tires very soon after i bought it but i think i'll hold out for another month. My brake problems were corrected. It was a warped rotor. I had all 4 rotors resurfaced and brake pads replaced and all is fine now.

Dunno why would you want the tire pressure so high, prozac. I keep all my tires to 32 psi. You might not want to do tune up at those brake and lube places. Basically when you do tune ups, they replace your Spark plugs, wires, amongst other things. The toyota technician i spoke to when i did tune up told me all the ES300 came with Platinum spark plugs from the factory. I guess they would be checking your distributor and other stuff too. It wasn't awfully expensive though, it was a $175 job, material and labor included.

Good lord! I finally emptied my tank and i ended up with 295 miles for 14.2 Gallons of gas, and that was for full city driving, stop and go. That means i have 20.7mpg, hurray! :) Prozac, it looks like an engine tune up DOES help with my fuel consumption.

I'd vote for Gen 2! I'm biased though :P Seriously, If you can put gen 1 headlamps with gen 2.5 grille and bumpers, and gen 2.5 tails, it would rock :) Somehow i like the headlamps on the Gen 1. On gen3, if it's not because of the higher headlights, if i glanced at it from the front, it would look a lot like 2003 camry, rear side is totally different though.

Well in that case LexusY, no wonder you're getting good milage :) I'm driving like the 1st 2miles are small backroads with stop signs, then next 8miles highway, and the next 4 miles another backroad all the way to my office so it's pretty much all stop and go.

Whoa LexusY, you're getting 250mpg half tank amidst all the stop and go traffic? i got that milage if i go on highways. I don't ask for much, just the spec'd 19/20mpg city driving :) By the way, ProZac, it's $1.519 for 93 octane chevron gas here in atlanta i believe.

ProZac, I went to a Toyota Dealer this weekend and have a Tune-Up done, including replacement of the plugs which they say are oem platinum plugs. Anyways, it cost me $175 including parts, labor and tax. I noticed a difference in my gas milage. Well i noticed the highway milage for that matter. I took my car with me this weekend on a trip, fill it to full tank and got about 249miles when the fuel needle reaches 1/2 tank. I haven't really used my car fully in the city since i did that tune up so i will keep you updated later on how a full tank fares in a city-only driving. So far, fuel consumption on highway seems to be right, i'll just cross my fingers and hope my city fuel consumption improved :)