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Lexus ES 300/ES 330
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Comments
I heard much better reviews on Bridgestone Turanza series but the tires are likely to cost more.
(Two questions for you, I always think Michelin makes top notch tires, how did you like MXV4 and any reason for the change? And how do you determine size of tires, 205/60-16 vs 225/55-16, any possible fitting issues?)
BTW, the vibration after my new tires installed has almost gone now. They put the air way too much (35 psi, max in Avid H4) whereas Lexus recommends 29 psi in front and 32(?) in back.
The air was taken out somewhat in the shop (but the tires were warm then.) Next morning, I could still see that the front tires have more air than they should. But I agree that it is better to have more air than less. Besides cold season is coming now...
Tire rack also has some good info: http://www.tirerack.com/index.jsp
But I always check with a local tire shop I’ve used. They are a bunch of performance and race guys with all the info on how large a tire can fit onto a particular wheel and how much clearance is available with different cars. They advised me that with the ES clearances and the 16" wheeels I've currently got, 225s were the widest tire I should consider. Then we just figured out what aspect ratio was right for 225s vs 205s (which turned out to be 55 instead of 60) in order to keep the outside measurements of the tires the same as stock so the speedometer did not need to be recalibrated.
I've had a couple sets of MXV4-H tires. Overall I think they are pretty good for So Cal driving. But this set on my ES got noisy after about 20K miles and hard to balance.
I recently put a set of Dunlop Sport 8000's on my wifes car older SL. These are definately performance tires. Very soft and fast wearing but very grippy. Quiet too, at least so far. But the deep vertical grooves in the tires makes them kind of "twitchy" as they get stuck on road imperfections. If it weren't for the twitchiness, I'd live with the quick wear-out for the improved handling for the ES too. I guess I'm just trying to find a different balance between comfort and performance than the MXV4's are offering. The reviews of the Turanza LS-H
's on Tire Rack sounded like what I was looking for. But they are so new that there isn't a lot of information on how people liked them mid-way through the tire's life.
Now my ES has over 15K miles, and it is shifting very smoothly, and the problems are not noticeable any more(almost). I think it shifts even smoother than my wife's 00 Acura RL.
I am not sure how good the 03 ES transmission is, but I am happy with what I have now. If Lexus can provide a software upgrade for the 02 transmission, I won't hesitate to do it either. Good luck for all new ES owners.
I, like you, have begun to feel the transmission problem less and less. As I stated in a previous post (3138 - Oct 28), I believe it may be that we are changing our driving habits. I no longer back off the gas prior to accelerating and the car works just fine.
However, this afternoon, I will test whether I can still repeat the transmission symptom at will. If I can, I will conclude that it is my driving style that is changing to adapt to the transmission as opposed to the transmission "mellowing with age".
If it is our driving styles at issue, then there is still a danger that if we revert to the old style in an emergency the car might behave as rtorecca and texas83 describe, in which case there is a real safety issue.
Oh yes, I hate my effin' car.
My guess is that maybe the cut-off mileage for the adaptive algorithm is 15K, the software learned how you drive before 15K and then adapt those data into the regular formula. Since I never drove hard before 15K, the software has learned my driving pattern and can easily fit it into the normal formula. This is just my theory, not sure if it is true.
The service tech at the dealership told me that it "learns" after the first few miles of driving - not the first few thousand miles. This would make more sense since more than one person could be driving the vehicle.
(nothing like the mention of tranny to get this board rolling again eh? )
Just picked up a loaded ES 300 two weeks ago, and though still early, it is PERFECT in every way (traction control, navigation system, Mark Levinson audio system). I just turned in a Mercedes C 240, and there's no comparison, the Lexus is a much better ride. The Mercedes E class is more comparable to the Lexus. I especially love the soft ride; I don't need to "feel" the road beneath me.
Matt
I visited your website: www.protechtransmissions.com, and I see that you make transmission chips for several Lexus vehicles. www.edmunds.com has a Townhall section titled, "Lexus ES300." If you visit the site, you will see that some 2002 ES300 owners appear to have a transmission chip problem. Would you consider making a chip to help them?
I sent the above email today. I will post a response if I receive one.
The info I received concurs with what you said about the transmission "learning". A service tech told me that the learning occurs in a very few miles. Also, I have driven several vehicles on test drives and they all felt the same to me. I could repeat the symptom on my car.
I also believe that you stated a similar experience. That is, when you test drive other vehicles, they feel the same as your car.
I will wait with interest to see if the symptom completely disappears at 15K. It will probably take awhile though, since I don't expect to have 15K miles on my car any time soon. (I estimate that I put will 8000 miles per year on my car max under normal conditions).
If I understand you correctly, you report a problem in the opposite situation that I call out. Specifically, you feel the symptoms when slowing down, or with a lessening of gas through the system.
I only feel the symptom when I expect the car to respond instantaneously to heavy gas application, NOT in situations where I just back off the gas as would happen when slowing for a turn..
If I back off the gas, I don't get a hesitation unless I try and floor it afterwards.
Most 5-speed automatics have their 4th gear as non-overdrive (for a quick kickdown for acceleration) and the 5th would be over-drive (for fuel efficiency). The Acura 3.2TL/TL-s Automatics also have the 4th and 5th gears as over-drive gears, but it is programmed to swiftly kick down into the 3rd gear, when you mash the gas pedal. Lexus needs to re-program the shift characteristic of their 5-speed.
Note:
Over-drive gears = Good for fuel efficiency, bad for acceleration.
Non-overdrive gears = Good for acceleration, bad for fuel efficiency.
Later...AH
The shuddering is probably mechanical and no amount of chip programming could fix it. That is probably why Lexus has not fixed the issue because it will be very expensive to replace trannies of several thousand 02 ES's. I hope I'm wrong.
This is almost like 2 related things that should operate hand-in-hand, trying to operate independently of the other, thus causing a reaction conflict and a lag before the priority is decided. Maybe I am wrong...but it is just a thought.
The gearing of the IS300/GS300 5-speeds etc are completely different, and maybe Lexus thinks that those cars are going to be driven in a more sporty manner (as opposed to sedately), due to which the priority is accorded to the kickdown as opposed to holding onto 5th ?
Later...AH
When the screen is showing the six preset radio stations, the "buttons" show the preset station frequency (i.e. 92.7).
Just the other day I noticed one of the six buttons now has the call letters (i.e. WNEZ) along with the frequency. The letters only show up with one preset, not the other five.
Does anyone know why this happens? Or do you have a similar experience?
For example, on one CD I had, the display showed the name of the CD, the artist, and the title of the track currently playing.
I say it is analogous to the radio issue because the display seems to depend on the data provided by the specific CD. So far, I have only played one CD where the detailed information was displayed.
On the Lexus LS, GS, and Camry boards, transmission problems are reported and it is also reported that Lexus/Toyota has issued ECU/firmware upgrades on some versions of all of these vehicles.
I have no idea how LONG after the release of the transmissions that a fix is issued, but I am still hoping.........
It cost $81. Is this a little too high?
How much did you pay?
Thanks.
Perhaps your dealer checked the fluid levels and/or other stuff and charged you for that.
First of all, the saleslady blew off any talk of the well known transmissions troubles I've been reading about in this forum. She said that people were not accustomed to the way the new 5-speed trans performed in 2002. From what she said, no fix is coming in 2003 because there was really no problem to begin with.
Secondly, she pretty much stated that there is really no negotiation since most people pay sticker because "the Lexus name sells itself". Although I wasn't prepared to buy anything today, she was not going to discuss price.
For test drives, they only had one ES300 car, so you needed to wait for another customer to finish before being able to test drive. During the test drive, the engine response did not seem that good to me, although it has 15 more horses than my current 98 Pontiac GP. Also, I think I could notice the trans problem people have been referring to.
Although the car has an absolutely gorgeous interior and a good reputation, I think I am better buying paying just a few grand more and getting a loaded 2002 Deville DTS (list $52K) that I can get heavily discounted since I'm a GM employee. The Northstar engine, trans and handling puts the ES300 to shame.
I'm wondering if my experience is similar to most people's. Thanks.
As for the transmission, I would not conclude that the salesperson is lying. Most assessments/reviews do not cite the transmission as being a particular irritant. Even on this board, I think you are hearing a lot from a few very squeaky wheels.
richm4, I got the same line when I was trying to buy my 2000 ES two years ago. Checking around, I found that the dealer on the other side of town had negotiated with Costco for a fleet price that was a couple hundred over invoice. I then started negotiating with area dealers using that price as my starting point. When I was done, the dealer that wouldn't budge had come down several thousands of dollars in order to make the sale.
Oil Change - The dealer I bought my car from now charges $160 for a 5K "service interval". Of course you get a wash and a Lexus loaner, and a laundry list of things that they "inspected". .... but .... get real.
Other examples of their approach to pricing were the $300 for a front brake job after my rotors warped. ...$125 at the independent, and the $500+ 30k mile service, $270 at the independent.
I finally gave up on these guys and now use an independent for all my maintanence, unless it is a fully paid for waranty item.
- Jim
My wife has a 2002 ES 300. She has noticed that there is a bad odor coming from the A/C system. We have had the car into the dealer twice now and the problem goes away for a while then slowly returns. They have put some kind of freshner in the system but I don't think its a permanent fix. The smell is present only when the A/C is on. When ventilation is on without A/C there is no smell. My two theories are 1: The A/C drain is clogged so there is some really nasty stuff in the system or 2: a possible problem with the catalytic converter.
Has anyone else had this problem. Any suggestions, etc. My wife says she is going to contact Lexus about this. This is an expensive car so we should not have this problem. Other than that, we love the car.
Thanks everyone.
http://www.airsept.com/eed.html
also I have decided to get car service every 7500 miles instead of every 5000 miles as the dealer stated. any thoughts
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