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Lexus ES 300/ES 330
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Comments
My ES300 has the premium package + HID lamps;
Edmunds TMV was $33,674; Countyline gave it to me for $33083 + tax&tags
I was more than happy with the price, and I didn't have to kill myself to get it. The buying experience was really easy, just like buying any other major appliance. (go figure!) Ask for wayne, the Internet Sales manager.
I was told by the folks there that they are getting retail for all the ES300s that come in, except for internet sales. So stress that you are an internet buyer. Good luck!
thanks
Thats my take,
alpha
Kreativ: remember, I only got the VIN because my bank needed it for the loan. I also got the total price (incl. tax/license) through my bank and the dealer's total is slightly higher than my calculations, so we shall see. Got the VIN probably about a week or so ago. My car should arrive tomorrow--at last! Don't get me wrong, pretty much everyone I've spoken with at the dealership has been pretty good. I just don't enjoy the car buying experience. Btw, thanks for the exterior/interior upkeep tips.
I saw the Olympic torch! Or, as the publicity line goes, "I saw the flame!" Just thought I'd share with everyone.
1. Many of their mechanics won't even bother if it takes more than a visual glance.
2. They'd do it for free as long as you asked them to during a routine oil change, as these checks are very simple to do.
Follow the guidelines in your owner's manual, not what the dealer tells you. Lexus says 7500 mile interval unless you drive under one of the listed "severe conditions", in which you should follow the 5000 mile interval. Here is what Honda has to say about oil changes (cut and paste off their web site):
"Following the "severe conditions" guidelines won't help your Honda unless you really do drive under those conditions. Many vehicle owners waste time, money, and oil on unnecessary oil changes, for example. The quality of engine oil and filters has steadily improved to keep pace with the requirements of new engines."
The oil change industry would love for you to come in as often as possible, and they've managed to get most people to ignore what the owner's manual says (75% probably don't even know what the manual says) and follow the "3000 mile" oil change interval religiously.
As for servicing your Lexus, it's best to find a trustworthy local mechanic that charges fairly: you'll actually get the service and attention to your car that you're paying for. Ask around for recommendations. Otherwise, just take it to Lexus and pray you get a mechanic that actually cares, and the high school kid that drives your car to the back doesn't floor it over the speed bump for fun (not representative of all Lexus dealers of course).
As for the warranty, it doesn't matter where you take it for service as long as you make sure quality parts are used and keep all receipts of work done.
If you want to be good to your engine, use Mobil 1 synthetic oil. Far better than the Valvoline conventional oil that Lexus service centers use, and the money you'd save by taking it to a local mechanic and paying "labor only" will easily cover the costs of the synthetic oil and a Mobil 1 oil filter. The hard part is finding a local mechanic you can actually trust.
I was at Universal Studios tonight too. I thought it was funny when they were rehearsing the "torch run" earlier in the day.
INKY
My father's 1994 Corolla experienced a transmission problem around 63,000 miles in 1998. Technically, we were over Toyota's Powertrain warranty by 3,000 miles BUT since we had always had the car serviced at the dealership, Toyota agreed to pay nearly half of the $1200 repair bill.
~alpha
You could see the higher dealer service prices as insurance for possible after-warranty problems. But I'm not sure how long after your warranty expired that they'd still cover you, as there are no set rules.
For an ES, you could take it to a Toyota dealer and get the SAME parts and service as at your Lexus dealer. That is because the ES and Camry share much of the same internal works. My local Toyota dealer charges $21.95 for an oil change and $15.95 for a tire rotation. Compare that to my local Lexus dealer's $50 for an oil change and $50 for a tire rotation. Don't ask me how they justify those kind of prices.
So anyways, you would still be getting Toyota service except at a much more reasonable price. As far as after-warranty coverage by Toyota/Lexus, this would be much better than if you went to a random mechanic.
I am not impressed by CALTY's design excercises of late.
So you saw Arnold! I didn't go to City Walk; saw the torch in downtown. Could've seen it again this am, but didn't get up in time.
I drive a '98 GS300 now and need to down-size due to company auto policy change, another market casualty.
Anyway, to each his own. I love the new ES. I think it looks a million times nicer than my 1995 or my friend's 1997.
As for the ES 300 vs. I35, I personally think the ES is much nicer, but that's just my opinion. If nothing else, the ES is in it's first year, while the I35 is nearing the end of its cycle and will be redone soon (and possibly dropped altogether).
The smaller windows were done on purpose to convey a sense of more privacy. The GS is a great car, but so is the ES so don't worry about "stepping down" (if you can even call it that).
Bottom line, you need to drive both and determine what characteristics of both cars is more important to you. I ended buying an I35, primarily because:
-I liked the firmer ride, awesome acceleration, and more sporty handling. The ES300 felt more floaty. Perhaps with the AVS option (which was not even close to being available on any of the ES300's in my area back in Oct.) it may make more of a difference in the overall handling of the ES300.
-The ES300's were brand new at that time and the dealer in my area was not budging from sticker price. (Their allotments were being sold before they were even hitting the dealer's lot.) Although I did not get a spectacular deal on the I35 since it was a freshened model, I was at least able to get $1500 off MSRP.
-Realistically, to get an ES300 optioned the way I would have ideally wanted it would have raised the price close to $40,000 and it would have had to have been ordered. I did not want to spend that amount of money or wait 3-4 months for it to come in. With every option except the navigation system, the I35 only stickered a little over $35,000.
Am I happy with my decision? Definitely!! 3 months later, no problems, and still enjoying the driving experience. Either way, I don't believe you can go wrong as long as you are choosing the car based on what's most important to you. The ES300 is a great car; maybe with a few tweaks in 2003 it would sway my buying decision, if I had it to do over. However, based on the current offerings, the I35 ended up being the right car for me.
Happy car shopping!
The I35 also is significantly cheaper, even more so than you would conclude by comparing MSRP's, since the I35 seems to go for about $1000-1500 over invoice.
I've had no troubles and love the car, particularly the heated steering wheel!
Either way, you will get a competent vehicle.
--Andy
More tomorrow.
hk2la - Still searching for a good mechanic in the South Bay. You should have your car now! I hope you're really liking it!!
stevieb - Good ES/I35 comparison!
Of the two other dealers near me, both Bredemann Lexus and Lexus of Highland Park charge around $40.
As you'll recall, I first ordered a 2002 back on October 5 (a Millenium Silver, black interior, fairly loaded including AVS). When the owner of the dealer lied about giving me a discount, I worked with some Lexus Corporate folks to have my order transferred to another dealer (one that has won the Elite award eight years in a row I believe).
My "new" order at the new dealer was placed on November 12.
All along the salesman has been saying the car is on order and should arrive late January/early February. To my shock, I was told last week that there was a mixup and somehow my order was never placed. Therefore, I am now not looking at getting my car until May.
Being extremely disappointed in the dealer at this, and losing out on being able to sell my 1995 ES 300 at a good price to a private party, made me upset enough to contact the Corporate folks again.
We'll see what happens. I hoping to get a car sooner than May.
AVS started coming in on ES cars this past November, in southern California. Do you still have to wait on a special order?
Get Lexus to give you an awesome deal on a full spec (w/AVS) for the trouble. Then you won't have to wait until May. The longer you have to wait, the less special that deal you got back in early Cctober will become.
If you go there hope you get the regular financing person (actually, I wouldn't know since I never met that person). Anyway, I got someone who was filling in. Her name is Nina Golub and she is one little chickadee I would prefer never again to encounter. She said regarding the new ES I was about to possess: "That's a nice little car." I had some questions about a discrepancy between their number and mine for the license tax, and that witch was really put out.
With the exception of this Golub person and the internet sales manager, my experience at Santa Monica Lexus was generally decent. But there is way too much snot appeal there. They're really into appearance and show. Maybe I should have worn some of my diamonds. However, I suspect the mechanics are probably pretty good, and I'll probably take my car out there until I couldn't stand driving that distance for tune-ups, etc.
I still need to do a much more detailed, close look at the car. And read that manual!
They say they found an inbound one on a boat and they should be able to get a car in 4-8 weeks, much quicker than if I special order one.
I've pushed the dealer (not corporate) for a better deal, but they won't budge. Here in Chicago the cars are going for list.
We'll see what happens. Thanks for your advice.
year: 2002
gas mileage: 23MPG
mileage: 1,300 miles
% highway driving: 90%
average speed: 43MPH
Gas Mileage 25mpg
Miles Driven 1200
% Highway Driving 50%
Average speed 50
Gas Mileage 20 to 21MPG
Miles Driven 1100
% Highway Driving 50%
Average speed 28MPH
By the way, my car is in the dealership for them to fix the squeeking noise problem around the engine.
The car is a dream-I am impressed that the power seems more than what I thought it would be -definitely the engine breathes better
Got my airbag reacll fixed and they gave me complimentary gas fill up-so that is fixed
only gripe: not impressed with the gas mileage
Year: 2002
Mileage: 20 to 21
Miles driven: 3500
% highway : 50-60%
Avg speed: 31
I alos drove to british columbia-a 300 mile trip and I got 27 then but never 29
mostly in city I get 19.8 or so
Had higher expectations
I use premium but now experimenting with using plus sometimes
Lenscap-your experience is frustating
does it not make sense now for you to get the 2003 potentially with a power bump when you have suffered so much
Other issues-If you notice a small grrring noise in park it is your Nav DVD which tends to make a rotating sound
At 55-60 I briefly notice a gear hesitation as some people mentioned
paints seems very good
leather is very good
air conditioning and heating are terrific
Hey BTW where is the wheel lock key--no one gave it to me specially--where is it located
Last month after hitting a fair size pothole a rattle appeared. Sounded like something in the dash near the windshield. The first trip to the dealer didn't fix it, as all they did was put an insulaton kit in the dash. So I took a service tech on a test drive (of course the rattle decided to be elusive that day!) and once we got it to happen he decided that it was something hitting the windshield. At that point it was so hard to reproduce the rattle I decided I would bring it back on another day when the noise was more blatant.
On my way out, the tech wondered aloud as to whether it was the cowling under the wipers, which mounts against the glass and covers the vent intake that's behind the glove box. That would explain the plastic-against-glass sound and also why it sounded internal (echoing through the vents). His thought was to completely remove the cowling when I brought it back and see if the rattle went away during a test drive. If so, that would be the problem.
So this weekend I decide to futz with it myself. I manage to figure out how to get the cowling off (two plastic snaps for the cowling and two nuts to get the wipers off), and sure enough the problem went away. A combination of electrical tape along the bottom of the windshield and some sections of bicycle inner tube along parts of the cowling seem to have cured it.
So... if you have a plastic-sounding rattle that happens over bumps (especially potholes where one wheel dips---causes torque along the front), have them check the cowling even though it sounds like it's inside the car.
Wheel lock key is in trunk with the rest of the tools.
About the airbag recall, did you actually get a notice from Lexus about it, or did you go by the safety recall notice online?
I don't think Lexus is introducing the ES350 (3.5L engine) until 2005, maybe 2004. I think they're banking on the car selling based on the redesign and refined interior luxury until that time.
Radio: "Type" button--how does it know?
But then two days later lexus sent me a notice regarding one of the two recalls-the air bag module--i obviously then confronted the dealership and they made upa silly excuse that my name now popped up in their recall listand they were going to call me (yeah right! like the check is in the mail kind of deal )
So it got fixed
I did not find the key so I will need to ask the dealer to give me one
same problem with my GS400--it never had it until one day my wife came back with a flat tire and we had a hard time fixing that :-(
So this time I wante dto make sure I knew how to get the key
Other buyers-pl. check your tool kit--key is not always there and it is pretty costly
Yup, that's the wheel lock.
Radio: It knows by the RDS signal sent out by radio stations. 105.1FM will send out an RDS signal that it plays music in the "classical" category.
gambhir -
Thanks for the recall info.
There should be a socket attached to the spare tire insert by a plastic retainer...that's the wheel lock. If it's not there, then definitely get one from the dealer.