Lexus ES 300/ES 330

rparis · January 2003

Thank you for your thoughts. I will be driving one, but test driving and driving a car for a few thousand miles may result in different conclusions.

Any idea what a good price over invoice is?

Thanks

jparsons52 · January 2003

I've had a 92 ES, 94 GS, 01 RX and now the 02 ES. The change in the 02 ES was really the first overall redesign since the 02 model. The 97 remake was mainly cosmetic. The main differences:
1. The interior is larger and seats more comfortable.
2. The car is significantly quieter.
3. Safety equipment is much enhanced.
4. It now acts like more of a cruising sedan than a sports car - since the IS fills the sporty bill.
Overall, it is as comfortable a car as I have owned. The only thing I would improve is to add some HP under the hood, which I understand the 04's will have. The power it has is more than adequate - but a little more zip would just enhance the overall car.

pulak · January 2003

I have 2002 ES300. I noticed that my car lurches forward if my AC is on and while stopping in 'drive' mode. I took it to dealer. Upon investigation they told me that this symptom is common in all 2002 and 2003 ES300 but they did open a case with Lexus Factory finally.

Is that true, is this symptom common to all ES300. Why has Lexus not provided any fix to this yet. Have other people noticed this ? Is n't this a serious problem which should be addressed. It could be personal style also but I am especially concerned when parking my car inside my garage since I have to be dead slow to avoid hitting the walls due to lurching.

Has anyone else opened a case with Lexus ?

londine · January 2003

M.J., thanks for the great photo. Nice car! And it's very helpful to see what the Alabaster looks like CLEAN. I've been browsing dealer lots, but in the middle of Winter...well, it shows me what the different colors look like when they're grime covered. :-)

My current cars are white; easy to take care of, good visibility, but this time, want something different.

My wife likes the Alabaster, which may make it unanimous. It's kind of a stealth color. I wasn't sure I cared for it at first, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. Something subtle about it.

I also like the silver, and to a lesser extent, the gold. (Decisions, decisions!) And I think the darker colors are very rich looking. But I wonder whether they'd be a bear to keep clean, and scratch free.

And I'm guessing (since I haven't seen the color) that the Starlite Pearl might be somewhat darker than the alabaster or silver, and a bit lighter than the Mystic Sea. I wonder where the Starlite falls in the "easy to keep clean" spectrum.

Cheers,
Bill

jiamin · January 2003

I don't have ES300, but my previous Maxima, Altima and current QX4 all more or less have lurching "problem". In "drive" mode, If I hold the brake firmly I don't feel it. If I hold the brake just enough to stop the car, and turn on the A/C, I can feel the car moves a bit forward.

It's not a real problem to me.

idrvball · January 2003

I just bought the ES300 about a week ago and so far I love this car. My decision was between the ES with the Nav and the BMW 525, but the ride of the Lexus is much more comfortable.

I have been reading about the service and oil changes on this forum and had a question. I have always used Jiffy Lube or some type of quick-change location. It's fast and about $30.00. They also provide a lot of the services that are required on the 30K service. Would there be a reason that I would not want use these types of places? Thanks a lot.

kreativ · February 2003

Lurching - I experience this too in my '02 ES when stopped and the A/C is on. It feels like my car is being nudged from behind by another car. A service writer at the Lexus dealer guessed it was from the A/C compressor being turned on and off in Auto mode. I should probably go into manual mode and turn the A/C on and off manually to see if this is it. I haven't experienced this in other cars with auto climate control.

Car color - Colors that are close to silver or gray are the easiest to maintain, as dust accumulation seems to blend in the best with these colors. It's hard to tell unless you're close up or you wash the car...then you think, wow, that was a lot of dust on the car. I used to think white was the easiest to keep looking clean, but silver tops it easily.

Service - I can think of a lot of reasons not to take your new ES to Jiffy Lube, or "these type of places". For starters, you're guaranteed to get an 'el cheapo' oil filter, and who knows if they change your oil with the right type of oil. Secondly, who knows what fluids they're using for the other services...it's certainly not Toyota's. For oil changes, Jiffy Lube and the other chains seem a safer bet than a lot of the gas stations and independent shops out there though. I know a local gas station which uses recycled oil (without telling the customer) and has a complete disregard for the oil weight requirements for a car.

Want the best for your car without paying the Lexus dealer markup? Pick up a bunch of 90915-20004 Toyota oil filters (Made in Japan by Denso, the best and largest OEM filter you can get for your ES) for ~$8/each from your Toyota dealer. And pick up a case or more of quality brand motor oil (Castrol, Pennzoil, any of the name-brands like Chevron), whatever is on sale. They go for as low as 59 cents/qt ($3 for the 5qts you need). Go to an oil change place that isn't busy and where you can watch them do the oil change. Labor shouldn't be more than $10-12. An oil change is a really simple thing as long as you have a lift so you don't have to crawl under the car. Total cost isn't more than $25, and not only are you giving your car the highest quality parts, but you know that it's being done right. And it usually takes less than half the time that the Lexus dealer would take. Not to mention you're getting a much higher quality filter than the Lexus dealer is going to give you, at half the price.

If this sounds like too much of a bother and you don't even want to think about the parts or how the service should be done, I would recommend going to the Lexus dealer for service. Lexus dealers aren't perfect either though. You'd think paying $50 for a tire rotation means they'll do it right. I know 3 instances when the service was paid for and they never even rotated the tires! (determined by marks placed on the tires). That's why I don't like it when i can't see my car being worked on. if it doesn't involving replacing parts and fluids that you can see have been changed, you never know whether it's done or not.

alexs95 · February 2003

I don't use the quickie oil change places for one simple reason, the oil pan drain plug. They don't install a new oil pan drain plug when they change the oil and they don't use a torque wrench when they tighten it. One quickie place left the drain plug loose and it cost me $900 for a repair job I didn't need to fix an oil leak which I later determined was the oil pan drain plug that was not torqued. Dealers usually install new drain plugs when they change the oil.
Good Luck.

kreativ · February 2003

Dealers do not usually install a new drain plug when they change the oil. All that gets changed is the 50 cent gasket, which is all that needs to get changed. And it's highly doubtful any oil change place (including the dealer) uses a torque wrench and tightens the drain plug to the proper spec.
Tire rotation is a service in which you do want your tires to be hand-tightened with a torque wrench to the proper 76 ft-lb (103N-m)spec. Once again, going to the dealer is no guarantee that this will be done.

djsass · February 2003

kreativ - you wrote 'Not to mention you're getting a much higher quality filter than the Lexus dealer is going to give you, at half the price'.
Do you really mean that filter is better than the one the Lexus dealer will install? What filter would that be?

Also, my experience is that my Silver car is wonderful at hiding dust - of course, my last car was black, so anything is an upgrade in that department.

Who has pictures of their ES with custom 16" rims? I want to look at some...

nfjnr · February 2003

The fog lights on my 2003 ES appear to cast their light at almost right angles,and not straight ahead. Is this the correct way they are supposed to function?I had them on my previous ES and dont recall it being that way.

Thanks Nick

tk_det · February 2003

Nick,

I have a 2002 ES300 with high density headlights and of course the fogs. I have found that the headlights are so bright (and wonderful I might add) that when I turn on the fogs, I only see their incandescent impact to the sides and below the area lit by the HID's. In addition, fogs should be aimed down and to the outside. I have driven in pea soup fog in the country on a two lane road. You want the fogs to show you the center lane markers and the white shoulder markers. To have them pointing straight ahead and down is useless. You already know where the ground is, and anything you shine into the soup just comes back in your face. Hope that helps.

nfjnr · February 2003

Thanks for the response and info. I guess the light direction is correct. Always left the fogs on in the old ES and never noticed it.

Nick

kennynmd · February 2003

actually I changed the fog light bulbs on my 2003. It takes an H3 bulb and I bought the aftermarket H3 Piaa Ion yellow color bulb. While the HID's still overpower the fog lights, it helps a little more. It also looks cool because it makes the car stand out from the normal ES 300's. I also got the wheels chromed at a local wheel shop where I did an exchange.

rparis · February 2003

For a 2002 or 2003 what octane gas are other drivers using. Has anyone used 87 and compared miles per gallon with premium?

memoff1 · February 2003

I have a rattle near the front drivers-side tire. Anyone have a suggestion on what it could be. The car has about 90,000 miles.

gekko2 · February 2003

could be your cv boot is cracked.

kingken89 · February 2003

I hear that same rattle in my '92 ES300 but my car has almost 310,000 miles. I know its not my CV because I changed that right after I bought it about 6,000 miles ago. People I've talked to that has ridden with me said it could be the strut is not tight or it could be the brake caliper. The noise on mine seems to be worse when its cold in the morning than after I've been driving for awhile. But I haven't bothered to check in to it like I probably should sometime soon.

texas83 · February 2003

Hello all it's been a while. I've been battling with Lexus over the transmission issue, and have finally decided to go the Lemon Law route. To recap, like many of you there is a failure in communication between the engine and the transmission. This caused me to be in several very dangerous situations when I committed the car to lane changes, changing lights and entering traffic whereby the power failed. I hit the gas and the car wouldn't go because RPM's just spin until the transmission finally kicks in after a short wait. Lexus was indifferent to the problem and said a fix will be made when a fix is available. That was last April and each month they've said a final solution is coming. Frankly, I've never seen such irresponsible service which must be limited to this one dealer on the west side of Houston. I've heard too much about good service to believe this is common. I believe they feel no responsibility to provide service sent I bought the car out of town.

Anyway, last August I accidentally left the dome light on at an airport while going out of town. After getting a jump, I noticed while driving the car that the transmission shifted better. Apparently, the power failure caused the computer software to re-set and made things a lot better, but there still was a problem. At least I didn't feel like I was in danger any longer. In November Lexus installed a computer up grade which again helped, but I still occasionally have problems and this has been going on for eleven months. This is my first Lexus and I can say I've been shocked at the poor quality of service. They don't return phone calls and say they will look into things and blow me off. They even blew off the Quality Service Rep which she found shocking.

My hearing is February 19th. My only problem is that the Lemon Law won't apply to a manufacturers defects. I have to represent this as an individual problem. If the Lexus Rep calls it a manufacturers defect then I may not prevail. A friend told me a software fix is forthcoming in May, but I've heard that before, plus that is over a year since I bought the car. I do feel there may be liability under the Texas Deceptive Trades Practices Act, since Lexus new very well that many transmissions were suffering this problem when they sold me the car.

richm4 · February 2003

I hope you are successful in your hearing. The way the tranny problem has been handled is disgusting. I was considering buying a Lexus for the first time, but this problem has really turned me off.

Perhaps if it gets fixed in May and I haven't purchased a different car by then, I'll reconsider.

rparis · February 2003

I had an Es 300 that was 2-3 years old with about 40,000 miles on it. A problem developed which required me to bring it back to the dealer numerous times for the same repair. The dealer was great and ended up buying the car back from at a great rates so that I woulkd continue to be happy . The above postings are very unusual based on my experience. Lexus wants customers happy.

For drivers 0f 2002-3 what octane gas are most using?

roblim · February 2003

texas83,
have you hired an attorney to represent you in the lemon law hearing? it might be worth the cost. BTW, there are two types of product defects- manufacturing defects and design defects. a manufacturing defect is a one-off defect (one bad car) and a design defect is a problem that effects every single car in the production line. I have not studied lemon laws but it seems a manufacturing defect is the type prescisely covered by lemon laws, whereas design defects may not be? You should talk to an attorney before entering that room.

texas83 · February 2003

Thanks Roblim,

I have talked with an attorney and the State Rep. for the Motor Vehicle Division and both said that a manufacturers defect is not covered by the Lemon Law. I have to present it as an individual problem. This may differ in other states. A friend of mine that is currently a factory rep. for Hyundai will be joining me as a witness. He's also worked for Toyota and Chrysler. One thing in my favor, it's certainly been more than long enough for Lexus to have fixed this. I think we are seeing a very arrogant company using it's former credibility to avoid dealing with a real problem.

roblim · February 2003

Oh, well if you do not have to prove a defect then it must be a type of warranty claim. Best of luck and please let us know what results.

dbhatia · February 2003

Hello I was also battling with Lexus over the transmission issue, since I bought my car last year, at 1000 mile check up I had complained regarding Transmission Problem, they told me by August Lexus will have software to fix problem, I waited and in august they told me now it's delayed I should hear from them in October..same thing, I visted dealership 4 times ..and finally early Jan '03 they bought my car back with 6000+ miles on it, got all my money back except my tax ...for which I am going behind state(NC)..here most of all who have complained have been taken care of ...we have only 1 dealership here but I should say they have really acted very professionally in buying back my car.

envoydrives · February 2003

I am seriously considering the ES300 but am discouraged by hearing of Transmission problems. I am selling a car and loosing a lot of money after only a year of ownership and the very last thing i want are problems again. Is the transmission a huge issue? How many of you experience it and is it standard among all es's or just certain ones are plagued with it? I've had plenty of cars that were junk and finally want something reliable! The Infiniti G35 is my alternative and dosent seem to have this major problem of transmission trouble, should i continue to consider the es or should i mark Lexus off my list permanently? Thanks

richm4 · February 2003

Although not an ES300 owner (yet), upon reading this board for months while trying to make up my mind on which car to buy, there seems to be too much smoke for there not to be some fire.

hooray · February 2003

I bought a 2002 ES 300 in 5/02. I do not have the tranny problem, but I have learned to have more responsive acceleration I need to manually downshift to third.
But I have had an assortment of other problems with the car and poor service from the Lexus dealership. I sold an Infiniti to buy the Lexus. The Infiniti dealership in Richmond, VA offers far better service than Lexus.
I drove the G35 and came close to buying it, but I didn't care for the interior.
I still own a 1991 Acura Legend (original owner, 93,000 miles) that is close to bullet proof. And the Acura dealership has a better service department than Lexus.
Obviously, I would not buy the ES 300 if I had it to do over again.
You might want to consider waiting for the new Acura TL coming out soon as an early 04 model. I may be trading the Lexus for that. If you can live with rear wheel drive and like the interior, you will not be disappointed by the customer service at Infiniti.

lenscap · February 2003

At the Chicago Auto Show yesterday, Lexus execs said AWD will be available soon on several Toyota and Lexus models, including the Camry.

That would lead me to think it will be offered at some point on the ES as well. It's fairly well known, although not confirmed, that the LS 430 and next GS 300/430 will offer AWD.

atoews · February 2003

I'd like to reiterate that despite the complaints about the transmission, there have been fewer than five owners on this board who are so disgusted with the transmission that they would consider selling their vehicles.

Most of us feel a slight hesitation, and many don't feel any symptom at all.

fredvh · February 2003

Thanks for your last post. The ES300 is currently one of the new vehicles that I am strongly considering. The transmission issue is one that I have been following for quite some time. It is always hard to figure out if a "problem" is really a problem on these sites or just a conceived problem. The other vehicle that I am also considering is the Acura TL which also has the transmission issue. I sure would hate to pay that amount of money and have the transmission become an issue. I will keep following the posts and other news on these issues.

vcheng · February 2003

Try this simple test: Take the car gently up in speed till it shifts to fifth gear and locks up the torque converter. This usually happens at about 37-43 mph with a warm engine on level terrain. If you are fine with it, buy the car. If you feel a shudder in the drivetrain, with low frequenct booming, you will not be a happy camper later on.

I was able to repeat this on several new ES300s, and thus ended up with a different car.

If you are fine with this unfortunate "characteristic" of this drivetrain, or can't feel it, you have a high likelihood of liking the car.

texas83 · February 2003

Monday the dealership called and said they still don't have a fix for the transmission, and didn't know when one would be available. I told him it was no longer material because I was going the Lemon Law route. Actually, I was surprised he called because service has been so bad in general. Like I say, I think I'm just working with a bad dealership. As to the transmission.... I've driven two loaners. For one car I didn't notice the shifting problem, the other had it but definitely not as bad as mine. If one has the money and time to deal with the possibility of the problem, then feel free to buy it. There are many things to like about the car, but when interacting in traffic, your transmission is very important.

richm4 · February 2003

I can't wait to hear the flood of complaints once the RX330 gets on the road the new 5-speed trans. People will be wishing Lexus left well enough alone with the old 4-speed.

rd330i · February 2003

Why don't you put worries to rest, maybe you should consider a 3 series or C class with the manual transmission.

Can't go wrong with the rear drive and the stigma of camry twin.

gekko2 · February 2003

J.D. Power and Associates Reports:
Lexus Continues to Set the Industry Benchmark
In Long-Term Vehicle Dependability

Problems Reported at Four to Five Years of Ownership
Drops 7 Percent for the Industry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 21, 2002

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.—Lexus ranks highest in long-term dependability for the eighth consecutive year, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2002 Vehicle Dependability Index (VDI) StudySM released today. All of the top five ranking nameplates in the study are Japanese brands, with Infiniti, Acura, Honda and Toyota following Lexus, respectively.

http://www.jdpa.com/studies_jdpower/pressrelease.asp?StudyID=692&- amp;CatID=1

atoews · February 2003

Although I said that there are few on the board who report complete dissatisfaction with the transmission, I never in any way implied that there is not a problem, or that the problem is in somone's mind. There IS definitly a hesitation problem, which I have been able to repeat in every 2002 ES300 I have driven. You can, too, on a road test, as recommended by vcheng above.

I bought my car with reliability the number 1 issue. I love BMWs, and owned a 320i, but I live far from a BMW dealer, and BMWs simply need more expensive repair/maintenance than Lexus.

I will be the first to say that anyone who purchases an ES300 for its handling is bound to be sorely disappointed. And none of us likes the idea of a "luxury" car with a hesitating transmission. If you want great handling, you'd better go for a different vehicle.

All in all, despite the fact that I experience the hestiation problem, I am satisfied with the car I bought, love my car, am comfortable in my car, and would purchase the vehicle again if I had the decision to make over again. That said, I really wish Lexus would issue an ECU fix for the ES300 transmission.

fredvh · February 2003

Thanks for your post.

kennyg5 · February 2003

While I agree wth JD Powers that these Japanese nameplates are at top of the reliability scale, indiviudal cars within a particularly nameplate may not deserve the top ranking.

Also, athough I do not own an ES 300 or for that matter an Acura TL, I had seriously considered buying either one of these cars. However, after reading the postings on the respective boards, I decided not to risk owning a car with reliability problem, which is the most important factor in my car buying decision process.

gekko2 · February 2003

kennyg- click the link again http://www.jdpa.com/studies_jdpower/pressrelease.asp?StudyID=692&- amp;CatID=1 and look at the bottom of the page where they list the individual cars. you'll see the ES300 is listed as best entry-lux car.

kennyg5 · February 2003

Thanks for pointing that out. Honestly, I did not read the chart when I made my earlier comment. However, that chart seems to indicate that the rating is based upon 1998 cars, which means (to me) that the VDI index is based upon 4 to 5 year old cars. While I do not doubt that the earlier ES 300s were probably at the top of the reliability chart, the new ones produced in 2002 (and thereafter) with the 5-speed auto transmission appear to be quite problematic. The current owners of 2002/2003 models can express their honest opinion as to whether the newer models deserve the high rating.

gekko2 · February 2003

The ES300 (phantom) transmission issue (whether it exists or not) is not a reliability/dependability issue. A reliability/dependability issue exists when your NEW Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Volvo fails to start when you turn the key. I test drove a 2002 ES300 extensively and noticed no issue. I think we have a few loud ES300 owners out of many, many thousands who have a differing expectation of how the car *should* shift vs. how it was engineered to shift. It is not a sports car.

richm4 · February 2003

I don't think the fact that the ES300 is not a sports car means that hesitant shifting is acceptable. I owned a LeSabre a few years ago, which is by no means a sports car, and the 3800 engine with the 4 speed transmission puts the ES300 drive train to shame.

kennyg5 · February 2003

IMO, tranmission shifting is part of the reliability-dependability equation. I like my car to shift when needed and as needed, without fearing that it would put me in danger due to hesitant transmission problem, particularly if the problem is as severe as described by some of the board members.

I also agree that a car does not have to be a sports car to have a responsive transmission. You just want to make sure you can rely on your car, knowing what it can and cannot do, and that your car behaves in a predictable manner.

vcheng · February 2003

Like I said above, drive the car. If you are happy with the transmission, and other things, buy the ES. I wasn't, and to the point that I traded it in with 500 miles on the odometer. Sure, I lost money, but now I am happier with my replacement. (Oh well nothing is perfect, the new car (not an ES) goes back to get looked at for dashboard rattles.

fredvh · February 2003

You might have told us before but I do not recall. What new vehicle did you buy to replace the ES300? It must make you upset though that new cars have faults. You would think that as much money as they cost, most would be perfect.

vcheng · February 2003

.."upset" is one (understated) way to describe it! I agree with you that as much as they cost, cars should be much better than they are, even for Lexus.

I now have an LS430, and that makes for another good story: All OEM Dunlops replaced due to uncurable vibration with a set of Michelins (now smooth). Steering wheel off to the left (now fixed). Rattles from driver's door and central dashboard (hopefully to be fixed).

Lesson: There are no perfect cars, just less expensive piles of sh**, and more expensive piles of sh**, no matter what make you buy.

One thing I will say: Lexus and the deal have been very responsive, and that has been a somewhat saving grace.

One of my previous posts (I don't remember the number) describes a simple road test one can do with an ES. Any prospective buyer should consider what I have said at least, since I speak from personal experience with the current ES300.

texas83 · February 2003

Well... I had the Lemon hearing and kicked Lexus' butt pretty bad. Lexus wants to settle, and provide me with a new car. To my grand surprise the judge was able to duplicate the power failure twice. As I mentioned it's intermittent, and I was afraid it wouldn't fail. I made sure he knew the failure isn't half as bad as it used to be. Lexus had to own up that the transmission is defective, and their only argument against me was that most people don't complain about it. The judge didn't actually rule, allowing Lexus to come up with a negotiated settlement. It was plainly obvious to everyone in the room, that if Lexus doesn't come up with a satisfactory deal for a replacement vehicle, the judge will be ruling in my favor. Lexus wanted to delay getting back with me for 30 days, just more crap from this company, but I gave them one week which Lexus agreed. My friend, there as my witness, is a manufacturers rep for a major car company. He said it's fairly common for a person to buy at one dealership,like I did on the internet from a place out of town, and fail to get good service at a nearby dealership. He said financially it doesn't make any since, clearly goes against what you're told, and not all dealerships do it, but for some dealerships it's their sly way of slapping you. Lexus never made an attempt to settle with me, and the state was quite surprised at that. Just a note of warning if you think you can get a great deal somewhere else, and bring it to another dealer for service.

Now the down side. It sounds like I forfeit all my previous payments and interests no matter whether I go with the Lexus solution, or the state solution, and will have to pony up about $2-3,000 for use of the car. Then I have to buy the new car, which will be granted at a great discount. I'm not sure how much money I will be out in total yet. So this still isn't a cheap solution. I was thinking I would get a replacement car and simply maintain payments like I never changed cars. I'm considering, not settling, getting a ruling from the judge, and then taking this up in a suit under the Texas Deceptive Trades Practices Act. You can see I'm really upset. I bought the car for service as much as for quality, and all I've received from Lexus is a slap in the face. Any way I've had to put in a good deal of time and endure some pretty strong anxiety over this thing, and I'm not sure how much longer I want to keep pushing it.

A word to the wise when going to a dealer. They really know how to manipulate their records. When I went several times for the ceiling rattle as well as the transmission, they noted the ceiling rattle in the service ticket, but because they didn't have the software upgrade they purposely exclude that from the ticket. When I used some of my service tickets as evidence that I was there, I had nothing other than verbal testimony about the transmission software issue. Also, I went in once and they told me there was nothing they could do for my transmission or my rattle and sent me on my way in about 15 minutes. Lexus provided their service log, because I didn't request a service ticket, there was no record I came in that day even though they scheduled me with an appointment. In Texas you have to have four attempts with the dealer to qualify under the law. However, my testimony was pretty obvious that I wasn't telling a lie. The other thing that I learned was that it's in the dealers best interest to string you along as much as they can. You get dinged for the use of the vehicle and it's based on mileage exclusively of any reason for the delay. I pointed out this is a detriment to the customer for trying to work with the dealer. The judge said that's the law. Be sure you document things well, and remember it's in your best interest not to work with the dealer any more than possible.

In closing, Lexus still doesn't know when a final software upgrade is coming.

richm4 · February 2003

God, you would think they're programming for the space shuttle... I work in IT, and there is no way a software update should take 18 months to be rolled out.

kreativ · February 2003

Do those who experience the hesitation in a passing situation have the VSC (Vehicle Skid Control) option? Some LS owners have similar complaints for their transmissions, and one was told by the dealer that the hesitation was a VSC issue, and that "they all do it".

I'm curious whether there is a relation between the VSC option and the delay when flooring the gas pedal in the '02/'03 ES.

And was it ever determined whether the '03 ES experienced the same symptoms as the '02 ES?

texas83 - Glad to hear your court date went relatively well. Good luck in settling the situation! Car manufacturers tend to be more willing to make things right if news about problems with their cars hits the newspapers or other public sources. Toyota sure did when a vocal minority got the oil sludge issue into the media spotlight.

richm4 - Sounds more and more like it'd be more complicated to fix than just a software update.

Lexus ES 300/ES 330

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