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She is an extremely close friend, and her gesture to me is out of good will alone, that I am sure. Think of your kindly, older aunt selling you her Cadillac for under blue book.
I'm just curious about first run production models. Any feedback on the reliablity of the first year Lexus vehicles? Or, does anyone have a site that's good to luck at?
Thanks.
Scott
However, you are buying a high-mileage car with costly replacement parts. My air conditioner compressor went at ~100k; it was, as I recall, about 2k to get it fixed. (Other common items -- water and pwr steering pumps, LCD "bleeding" on the radio and climate systems). Even one of (if not the) the most spectacularly reliable car of its type ever made is going to break at this stage of its life. It will break much less often than a MB or a BMW, but it will break. And when it does it will not be cheap to repair. These are complicated cars.
Don't let this dissuade you. You will absolutely love the car, and for a complicated machine with high miles, you will be amazed at how reliable it will be. You can easily get 200k out of it.
The other way I am now looking at it, is for the price she's willing to part with it (around $7k), there's not much else out there worth trusting.
It appears to be more reliable than used BMW's of the same era, at least from what little research I've done.
I do have one more question--in the car I currently drive, I've installed a pretty good stereo system. How is the stock stereo on your 1990 models? Did you replace it, or stick with it?
Thanks again for the replies.
Select a gold exterior, and you will get both the ivory and ecru as interior choices. It's easy to switch between them and see the difference. The ecru is pretty true to the actual color.
Lexus shoulda stuck to cloning MBs and left the Cadillac lokalikes to the bluehairs.
FYI, when I got my 2001 LS a year ago March, the dealer gave me an $8,500 trade on the 90 w/125k miles. I am certain that the dealer did this to sweaten the deal because I was a very good customer and they were unable to justify a larger discount off of the LS sticker price when they had a waiting list (I got about 2200 off of the window sticker). Based on this, if the mileage is in line, a $7k price for this 90 seems quite reasonable.
BEWARE THE ECRU! It looks great, but it gets dirty very very easily and I have not yet found a cleaner that is both safe and effective at taking off grime etc. The spot on the door where my knee rests has discolored, and the Lexor (?) leather cleaner will not take it off. I love the look -- so bright and cheerful -- but I won't get it again.
The financial decision isn't too major--its keep my old pos and put anywhwere from 1-2$K in it (more than the worth of it), or spend close to $7k.
Scary to spend any significant amount though on a 12 year old car with 105K miles on it....
I'm pretty sure she would have the base equipment all around, including stereo, so thus the Pioneer.
If there's enough space, I'd probably replace it with my Sony X-plod CD player along with the speakers I have. But I'll have time to make up my mind on that I suppose.
Thanks again for the kind and helpful responses.
I have to confess -- I can't stand any rattles or noises in the car. That's why I am looking forward to driving a Lexus. I could probably afford only a used one, maybe 1996-1997. All cars I had until now (even brand new ones) literally drove me crazy with rattles, squeaks, and other noises. Lexus LS400 has a vault-quiet reputation. Is it really true?
Also, how was your dealer experience? I had awful experience with Toyota dealers, hope it's not the case with Lexus. If you can recommend a Colorado dealership I would be most grateful. Thank you.
Lexus dealers, single marque all, have to survive with a relatively small installed base that is also VERY reliable. The only way they can survive is through customer gouging, BIGTIME!
wwest is right that Lexus dealers are expensive (and can be ridiculously so) but in my experience (and I think in the experience of others on this Board) they are terrific in every other respect. Don't know what your problems were w/the Toyo dealer and what in particular you are hoping to avoid w/the Lexus but unless it was value, I am sure you won't be disappointed.
As for rattles, I think Nealm1 is right. Most of the noticable rattles are caused by loose objects. However, I do have two annoying rattles in the front doors of my LS, that I can't seem to nail-down.
The car is so quiet, that you will find yourself annoyed by noises like the squeak of your shoe on the brake pedal, or the crinkling of the grocery bag in the back seat.
A co-worker recently bought at Kuni in Denver, and tells me he is very happy. If you're in southern Colorado, Lexus of Albuquerque is ok.
Just got back from London again and couldn't believe how many SC430's I saw over there. I love that car more and more everytime I see it. Saw a black with ecru interior over there and it was a knockout. All the blacks I see here have had black interiors. But the ecru makes the blacl exterior look all the more awesome.
Took my lexus to the dealership yesterday because of suspicious rattle. After one of the salespeople rode with me, we switched to another car and I heard the same minor "noise". One reason I think we Lexus owners pay so much attention to those noise may be because the car is just too quiet. I later found out that those noise was just some materials rubbing sound. Can't beat that. Any other experiences? P.S. Most of that noise comes fromt he passenger's side.
Within the last year or so I have changed out the pollen filters on a 95 LS (20k mile interval), a 00 GS3 (8k miles), and an 01 RX (15k miles). None of the Lexus filters were even close to being clogged.
What gives?
Now I know that Lexus strives mightily to reduce the blower speed to achieve QUIET, and I also know that one of the reasons they can do that is the Lexus products do not allow much atmospheric "leakage", very little "outflow" of stale cabin air.
Using previously "conditioned" airflow, recirculated again and again, allows them to keep the cycling of the A/C compressor fairly low and thus their MPG numbers artificially high.
But the airflow outlet ducts for the 911 are even smaller than any of the Lexus products of which I am familiar. Maybe the difference is that Porsche keeps the blower speed up fairly high, creating a higher level of outlet flow due to air pressure.
Or maybe the actual exhauster airflow for the 911 is into an aerodynamic low pressure area, unlike the Lexus products wherein the "exhauster" outlet is always within an aerodynamically created high pressure area, under the rear quarter panel.
My wife and I have both noticed that we become drowsier on long trips in the Lexus vs the 911, do you suppose the excitement of driving the 911 keeps us wide awake or is it the low oxygen content along with the comfort and quiet in the Lexus? Or maybe some of each?
Has anyone used a CO2 sensor in their Lexus to see just how bad things get on a long drive?
A dealership I highly recommend is Pohanka Lexus in Chantilly Va (NVa). I just bought a Lexus IS 300 2 months back. I know they have incentives on those cars and I did get a good deal. I am sure they will have good deals on all other models as well. This was my first Lexus purchase and by no means is it going to be my last. The dealership sales team is very good. My salesman is Burton Ellis. Very easy to deal with.
The service at Pohanka Lexus is outstanding as well.
HTH
I have just bought one from the internet sales manager at Johnson Lexus in Raleigh. You should definitely call him as he will offer you a great price. He beat all my other offers, even from my local dealer and priceline. He will not monkey around with you either. I emailed him and he immediately called me back and in less than 2 minutes gave me a great price with no haggling. His email address is spalmer@johnsonlexus.com. You will not be disappointed. If you have already talked with someone else there you should still call him back because he will seriously compete for customers outside his market. Scott
I wish tirerack had more info on the Dunlop's ( "N/A" shows for most categories of tire characteristics). Bridgestone and Michelin are fine tires, but they will only get 17,000 to 20,000 miles of wear according to the consumers who bought them and gave feedback on tirerack.com. The main complaint I have about the Dunlops is that they are about $100 per tire more expensive than the Bridgestone's Pole Position or Michelin's Energy Plus MXV4's. But, I like to change tires as infrequently as possible, so I will go with the Dunlops for replacement until an overall better value comes along (in my exact tire size). I was told by my dealer that the great short turning radius on the 430 means that I should probably stick to the exact same size tire for replacement. Good Luck with whatever tire you go with, and let's all of us using this chat room (even if it is only from time to time) share our replacement tire experiences.
Also, what about just having studded tires/ or winter tires on the back? Anyone with experience with winter tires on the ls430 and 16" tires (no euro suspension)
I am sad to report that after 6 mos' absence, my groan is back! This weekend, it groaned at me twice. I am just sick about this and sympathize with sorry1. There is a TSB on the issue, which involved more than lossening a fitting, but its effectiveness is, apparently, temporary. Oy!
The noise doesn't really bother me.
Scott
I pick up a new LS430 UL tomorrow. I've seen several references to default settings for nav system and ??. Does this refer to the dealer's ability to "program" various functions in the car ? On the test drive, I noticed the auto door locks do not unlock (rear) when car is shut down or in Park. Is this programmable ?? What else is ?
Any info would be appreciated.
Thx
You can also have them program the remote entry control to unlock all 4 doors at once. The default is that when you press the Unlock button on the remote entry control once, it unlocks the driver's door only; pressing it twice unlocks all the doors. To me it is more convenient to unlock all four at once, but I realize to some people it may be a security issue; you might feel more secure if it only unlocks your one door, especially at night, in a big city.
An additional tip: When you lock the doors with the remote control, it doesn't turn the headlights off (assuming they are on), but if you press Lock a second time, it does turn them off. Quite neat.
Enjoy!