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akiraxtc

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Everything posted by akiraxtc

  1. If you mean this thread... my question is the exact opposite of that question. His is aftermarket HU/stock speakers.
  2. 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
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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! :)
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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 :)
  16. Sweet Lex, looks like it's well maintained. Make sure you take extra care of those chrome wheels :) By the way, how much did you get that for and how much milage on it?
  17. LOL Porzac, of course you would smoke a stock civic, try smoking an Eclipse GT :P Hell, i'm not going to use my Lex to smoke anyone, i just want a calm drive and enjoy myself on crowded city streets . By the way, i've emptied half tank and see that i have 150 miles so far, don't know if i will reach 20mpg when my tank emptied or not. I rarely floor my car, so i'm not sure what causes this. Contacted my local toyota dealer and they quoted me $140 for Full power tranmission flush (nothing to do with this fuel thing) and $175 for Tune-up. All price already includes materials and labor. Is that a good price for those service?
  18. I just brought my car for an oil change in a shell oil change center. I told them to check my fuel filter, pcv valve and stuff that might cause my car to have such low mpg. Since my car engine is basically cleaned until it shines (it was a pretty tough job for me) the mechanic can easily tell that my car is not leaking anything, although he found that my throttle body has carbon buildup and he cleaned it along with the fuel injector flush/cleaning that i asked him to do. PCV valve is checked and fine so no problem there. I have not checked or change the plugs though because i'm not comfortable enough with non Toyota/Lexus technician to touch my lexus engine and start taking things apart :P I also dropped a new air filter today since it is obviously dirty when i opened it. So far i only consumed less than 1/4 tank since i last filled it. Will keep you updated on my fuel consumption problem, prozac. If i still have this problem... then most likely spark plug change/tune up would be in order, and i'd hate to think how much toyota will charge for this :(
  19. Hey ProZac, I am also having the same fuel consumption problem! I averaged about 16mpg, 285 miles for 15 gallons. I am going to change my Air Filter soon and do my oil change, but seeing how the low mpg persists made me think about PCV Valve. Probably i will try do an injector flush (cleaning), then pcv and if all else fails do the Plugs. I did not know when did the previous owner change the plug so i thought that this must me done. Would you all think i should go to Toyota/Lexus for spark plug and pcv valve change instead of an independent mechanic?
  20. I believe i'm going with either Bridgestone Turanza LS-V or LS-H. People say that the original oem Michelin MX4V Plus cannot hold the road really well especially in the wet, even though they soak bumps really well. I felt that too when i exit a highway ramp (more like an 180 degree turn) at 45, my tires start squealing! My Mazda Mx6 with firestone tires didn't even squeal making that turn at 60mph! People were saying that the turanza is still comfy and not noisy but it handles much better than the stock michelins.. anyone here have any experience with these tires on their es300?? If all else fails i can still probably get the oem michelins again :P it's not exactly a performance tires but it sure was quiet. I usually stick with oem tires whenever possible but when i hear people complaining about it being prone to hydroplaning, time to change :) Hey i wish i had a black car! I was looking at a 1996 es300 Black color before i see this one that i bought. Sure it needs more meticulous cleaning than other colors but hey it looks cool as long as you're not too lazy to clean it :) By the way, i need to get my car checked out just in case, because i need to know everything about this car as far as if thing needs to be replaced soon or whatnot. Right now i did not feel anything wrong with my car except for the brake pulsing, but other than that no weird sounds, but hey something can go wrong without making any noise or you noticing it. Have you ever have your car checked out? where did you go? toyota?
  21. So as promised, i already take photos and here they are :) Front Back Interior So tell me what you think ;) I will be changing my tires soon and do some brake job since i felt my pedal pulsing when i step on my brakes, big deal it's probably just the rotor :)
  22. ProZac, i probably won't do any mods to my lexus. I used to have an MX-6 and never done any mods to it. I guess i was never interested in modding cars :) Nabeel, thanks for clearing up the manufacturer information on the lexus sound system. Good to hear that at least it's made by Pioneer? However, do you know if es300 has any amplifier anywhere installed in the car?
  23. Thanks ProZac. I checked carfax report and there were no accidents on report. Also did that magnet-on-body test and looks good, body is straight no signs of touch up or paint job anywhere. Unfortunately it only have a maintenance record up to 43k from the 78k, and as i said before it might have been maintained at an independent dealer. I bargained on it for about 30mins and brought the price down from 15k to 11k. The person i talked to is the one who supposed to own the independent broker and do not have any sales pitch at all. I'm still thinking of what the real salesman would say when he get back (on vacation, the owner says) since i brought it down so much so easily :D I'll try to post pics when i get it next week
  24. I took the plunge and bought it :) I checked kbb and edmunds TMV; for that with options installed, kbb estimates 15,240 and edmunds TMV estimated 17,160. VIN check reveals that the car was company vehicle, then leased, then sold to the dealer. The dealer is doing all the fluid changes. However, the maintenance record included only shows maintenance up to 43k, and the rest i speculated that it was maintained at an independent mechanic since it looked like it's maintained but no clear records. I'm not exactly mechanically inclined... computers: yes, cars: NO :P The only think i would dare to change is probably just the air filter. I could probably buy a service manual for it and try it out. However i will go with your suggestion and have Plugs, PCV valve, air con filter checked out at a mechanic.
  25. Hi, 1st time poster here :) i am buying a Lexus ES300, particularly 1997 ES300, with 78k miles on it. The car looks pampered by the previous owner because interior is practically in new condition and exterior is flawless even without reconditioning involved. Tires about 50% worn. Car has heated seats, cd changer and traction control along with the moonroof/sunroof, keyless entry and alarm also included. I don't know if these are standard or optional installation by dealer. I would say it's almost perfect if not for the worn tires. Is $11,000 drive out price a good deal? What do i need to do 1st on my car once i get it? Timing belt or something else? Also, does anyone know what kind of speakers does 1997 es300 have for their premium sound? Thanks
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