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Comments
Use it in good health,
Scott
Good luck
Stevestein - The waiver is standard in the lease so if you have some minor damage Chase will waive it up to $1500. There's no cost.
wbwynn - I'll give you all the particulars tommorrow or Saturday when I get the papers. I did all this on the phone yesterday. Given that I got out of my last lease payment I got the car for a bit more than $4k off MSRP. If I was doing a 12k mile lease this deal would be about $150 cheaper than 2001 for more car. But I need the 15k miles as I need it for business. Still - with Chase that is only $17 more a month than 12k miles.
Just kidding, of course.
Like everyone else, enjoy the car in good health, and when the new car smell wears off, maybe you'd give us a comparo between your 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004 models. That should make interesting reading.
No joke - just a last minute thing because someone's lease didn't go through. Wouldn't have done the deal if they didn't take me out of my final lease payment. Also they had to locate the car still and I didn't want to take the chance that they wouldn't find one. Except for the silver I didn't like any of the custom lux colors they are still making and I didn't want silver again. So it may not have been easy to get the black. As well they had four black custim lux cars due in this month (April) and they were pre-sold. In fact every LS430 they are getting in April is already sold. I saw their sales board. Between business and this last minute thing I've got so much going on that I forgot it was April fools day.
Smart access is great. I just have to get used to having the key in my pocket while I'm driving. Camera is a nice add on and very useful.
I remember those wood choices on the ultra in 2001. I think I know the purplish one you had. Reminded me more of granite than wood. ButI found those odd choices rather classy and different but nothing is like real rich wood on a car interior.
The deal we had that the GX was hers and the LS was mine is not so solid anymore. Thank God I got the black interior as she prefers a lighter ecru like color. I feel like I'm on a rain/snow line right now. If I had gotten black with ecru or flint mica with ash on a mod lux pckge I would probably be a GX driver now.
cyclone4 - thanks. How do you like the car?
By the way - no tire pressure monitor issues for me.
As far as the TPM issue is concerned, it is not a big deal & I am sure that Lexus will come up with a good solution soon.
Everyone loves the flint mica and rich black interior. I noticed the front grill is bordered in chrome, but the slats are more of a satin nickel finish. It all flows beautifully with the dark grey. The other think I like about the color is it looks great in all lighting. Cloud, sunny, even flouresent.
I can't figure out a way to manually enter a phone number into the car's phone directory. It seems like I can only do a blue tooth send from my phone. And that isn't too great as it only takes the first phone for each contact.
The nav system is much improved. It has a lot of convenient features. I think I'll read up on them.
I tried the adapative head lights. It works so well you don't realize what's going on.
I love smart key, but learned that when you want to wash the car, put your key aside. While washing the car, the LS lights up. When water hits the door handle, it unlocks. 30 seconds later it would auto lock and then the cycle repeats.
On a side note, I was at my Lexus dealer over the weekend. My salesman said they received confirmation on Friday that the next GS would be launched March 1, 2005 (probably as a 2006). Also, there is apparently an owner's meeting later this week in which updates will be provided on the progress of future models. Note this meeting is not for salespeople or GMs, just owners.
A BT phone can be paired with the NAV system. When paired, incoming calls are announced and can be taken without touching the BT phone. You can also dial a phone number when not moving. Basically the car is a "handset" adaptor. It acts as a dialpad, speaker and mic.
Speed dials and directories are a different beast. You can't enter a phone number into the dialing directory using the Nav screen. Instead depending on your phone, you can "push" entries from your phone to the Nav. If your phone has a SIM (all GSM do), you can push the whole directory at once. Otherwise, you have to send each entry one by one.
There's more. If your phone is like most, you store a home, work, cell, etc under each contact. The Nav directory can't handle that so you'll only end up with one phone number.
The Nav only seems to hold 9 letters for the contact name, so it will be truncated.
I decided that since the NAV won't let you even use a speed dial when the car is moving, there is no reason to worry about populating it's directory. I just speed dial on my phone, but talk using the Nav.
I haven't looked at voice rec options. That might change things.
/direct/view/.ee9e745
But recently it has been taking me to the Townhall Welcome page.
Thanks for any help.
But I'm only speculating. I need Pat/Host.
Looks like you are really enjoying your new LS, and giving me something to look forward to already. If only my '99 will just develop a leak or break something real nasty that will make me wanna give it up right away ??? That will make the decision a no-brainer for the 2004.
BTW, the dealership (Longo Lexus, #2 Lexus shop in the US) told me they have a 6-week backlog of pre-sold RX400h. I didn't even know Lexus had released pricing for this car already ! Looks like another Lexus hit with their hybrid vehicles. I suppose this may make the 2007 GS and LS hybrid versions even hotter to purchase !!!
You will love the RX - it's a much better vehicle than the prior one. It's a high-end lux vehicle now. The old one was more ES like. This one is more LS like.
By the way I'm down in Williamsburg VA, saw an old buddy and drove his S-class yesterday. He's happy with it so far but when I told him about the upcoming 2007 he said he will be an immediate buyer. He has an LX but has actually never driven an LS. He's coming my way in June and I told him he can lease the car for a day.
I just drove the GX470 325 miles and now realize how great an SUV it is. As much as I was enjoying it before - I appreciate it all the more now. wbwynn - you will love it when/if you get it.
Jeez, you wouldn't believe what it took to get that information posted instead of interpreted!!! You have to put all of that together, removing the three spaces.
Or you can right click on this: sysop Apr 9, 2004 12:01pm (which is what I'm trying to show you, but it's interpreted here) and save the link (Copy Shortcut in IE), then paste that into a Favorite. But you must delete the information that will show up between the first and the second @s.
I am sorry this is so hard - I'll be happy to email the link to anyone who wants it. Please put Town Hall or something like that in the subject to help me find it amongst all the spam I get.
On another note, I'm actually surprised your URL has worked as long as it has - that cgi-bin stuff went away a while ago.
I can wait a few years. This 04 is just so fantastic, and I thought the 01 was as good as it gets.
An unfortunate incident with the 92 LS (AGAIN!!) A contractor doing some repair work dropped a moulding on the car. The damage was limited to the RF quarter panel, chipping the paint in two (small) places to primer.
This part of the car was repainted about 7 mos ago due to an accident. It seemed like the panel didn't have as many coats of paint on it as the rest of the factory original finish. It sure doesn't seem nearly as durable.
The LS is supposed to have a Total of 4 coats of paint. Do the body shops repaint it in the same fashion? The shop that did the work, does all of the body issues for the local Lexus dealer. The bumper that they also painted seems to chip easily as well. Anyone have any experience with these body shop issues?
Thanks,
SV
Barrier Motors in Bellevue had my deposit (may of 98) on a year 2000 911 C4 allocated at the factory for me specifically and ordered under my name. Barrier sold it to a higher bidder the day it arrived.
They even denied having my money and said, "so sue me". The deposit refund arrived in the mail a few days later.
I got to work and parked in the garage and popped the trunk just like every morning. This time, when I got out, I remembered that my briefcase was in the backseat and not the trunk. So I grabbed it and walked in the building.
Later, when I came out, my battery was completely dead because when the trunk is cracked, it kept my headlights and interior lights on all day. The car would not even turn over, and then, Lexus link kept coming on asking what is the emergency. Finally, after telling them I am fine, the cars system locked me out of putting the car in Neutral. I needed to back the car up to get the jumper cables in reach of the car. I tried to dis-arm the alarm with the keyfob, but them the battery was totally dead. After an hour, lexus link called again (battery must have found a bit of juice) and they "released" the lockout. Then I was able to get the car in neutral so I could back it out. It was a crazy day. That system should shut down if the battery is draining for more than 20 min. like on other cars.
By the way, what model year is your car? I am wondering if there is any trend of Lexus fixing these problems that have been commented on, here and elsewhere.
It they say no, I would call Lexus and ask the same question ...Just to be sure...
That does seem dumb...I never lock my windows so I never noticed.
Edspider1 - We seem to be enjoying the new cars about equally. Really phenomenal car I must say. Today I had the steering wheel lock on me and had to jiggle it to be able to turn on the smart key switch to start the motor. It has happened to me before on just about every car I owned but when it happens the first time with smartkey it makes you think something is wrong with the smartkey control. You'll get a message that "the ST switch is locked" if this happens. It simply means the steering wheel didn't find its proper lock position when you shut the engine the last time you drove thus jiggle it into position while turning the smartkey switch.
Everyone comments on the color. Flint Mica is a winner.
smartkey - you'll only see that message if you try to turn the smartkey switch to the far right and keep it in the turned position. If it is unable to move to the start position because the steering wheel is in a locked position then the message shows up. It may have said "unlock ST switch" instead of what I wrote earlier. I forget exactly what it said but the term "ST" is key.
I have also gotten a number of compliments on the black color and on the cars overall looks. People definitely notice the taller tires and the sharpened headlights as the distinguishing features from the prior edition. The flint mica is unique in that it is the first year for the color on the car and hence it is not often seen. When I picked my car there was a mod lux flint mica with ash parked right next to it. Buyer was picking it up the nexr day. The LS was a knockout in both the black and the flint mica to my eyes.
I know its a pain to do but I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd love to see your new babies firsthand in full digital glory!
If you'd like to post a link to the article, that would be welcome - folks can register to read it if they'd like.
Sometimes you just need to leave things well enough alone - I guess. There's gotta be a way of poisoning that woman's voice though. It's nice that the 2004 non-ultra models don't have it anymore.
I agree with you on the memory switch. If you change to a better position while driving you have to remember to set it before your spouse or someone drives the car and changes your setting. It's kind of stupid to shift the car to park at a traffic stop to store a the new setting or reset your old one but I've done so. What is really irritating is to pull out of a parking garage after a valet parks your car and changes everything but your seat position. Your tricked into thinking everything is fine until you need the outside mirror when you are in motion. I doubt this is bad software and somehow I see the lawyers at work behind the scenes.