dallison

well i bought my 99 es300 in nov.

i truly enjoy the car, except for the check engine light that comes on every 2 days, just replaced the tires and the rear ones are starting to cup only after a few thousand miles(prob worn struts)
seatbelts that don't seem to want to retract,

pretty big lag in acceleration, seems like trans, but is prob fuel related. i just replaced the plugs and fule filter just to see.
it has 74k on the clock


i bought the car for cheaper transportation over the rl. it did make my ins $200 cheaper per year and better gas mileage.


so i looked at the acura dealer back home and they have an 03 tlp for 18k with 26,000 miles.

it would be about $90 more a month for the payment and under warranty. i like driving my car, BUT being the end of the month i don't know if they would give me what i want for my trade, maybe so, i was able to get it from my rl



:help:

Sarlacc

how much do you owe?

trading in will most likely have you buried at this point...and they will add the difference into the "new" car you would get.

I'm sorry you are having a bad experience with your Lexus...its like you found the needle in the haystack. sucks.

dallison

i only owe 12500.
it just seems like i found all the problems after i bought it

dallison

the check engine light may be the MAF sensor. i used a k&n and had to clean the sensor. so i think it fried. i could prob just leave it alone, it's not affecting the mileage

SakiGT

Meh. Take it to the stealership. See how much they would rape you for all those problems, then do the math.

Me thinks if you're unhappy now putting any additional money into it will only be wasted if you don't keep the car for much longer anyways.

CL Platano

You are out of equity already according to KBB and then the dealer would offer even less than KBB, they use galves or something like that. I say fix it and ride it out or atleast be prepared to get raped at the dealer..

http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.u...;;uct;&8;LE;A6

dallison

i think trade in on my rl was 12500 and i got 15500, so i may be able to do it

Minch00

Don't do it Dally!



There, I said it.

zeroday

on the tlp. get a new fj landcruiser for a bit more.

MJMeucci

Unfortunately you will never find a fix for the seatbelt retraction, it is stupid, I own 2 lexuses and the seatbelt retraction sucks on both. I have gotten in the habit of taking a few seconds to make sure that the seatbelt retracts (guiding it etc.) but the wife doesn't care and consequently the door sills in her GX look like they have been through a war. As for the accel lag, as a previous es300 owner (I had a '97) it is again something that I always experienced. I think that in efforts to make the cars have softer more luxurious rides the Lexus engineers sacrifice a lot in their transmissions, even in our Lexuses now I feel like the tranny's are the weak point.

On the other hand, I don't know how comfortable I would be driving a Lexus w/o a warranty, to me it seems that when they do break, they go big and the repair costs can really bite you in the ass. If you are really dissatisfied with the Lexus I would definitely look at the tlp for $90/month I think that the piece of mind that a warranty gives is worth it.

Good luck with your decision man.

dallison

thought about it, but way more than i want to spend. i won't buy new anymore either

dallison

thanks for the info. i am scared of taking it to the dealer, since i know they will run a ton of tests and the diagnosis will be tremendously expensive.

i love the lexus smoothness,but acura has always treated me well

dallison

the one thing i find odd is, the 03 accords are the same price as an 03 tlp. what gives??

Crazy Bimmer

Get a newer ES300 for 18k.... ?

dallison

that would get me a 2001, where i could get a 2003 tlp for the same price

zeroday

tlp is boring as hell...why you want an old man's car? at least get a type s.

Crazy Bimmer

Werd. I rather get a Maxima/I35 over the TLP

Sarlacc

fairly solid...yet somewhat boring ES300....vs tlp which could also have unknown problems...and possible tranny issues in the future.

take your pic. Six of one, Half dozen of the other.

Sarlacc

Is the real problem that after owning the car...you are finding it a little boring, and want get a little more "sport" back into your life

CL Platano

You can easily find an Type S for the same amount , I found mine for 17.5k with 34K will all the warranties.

M TYPE X

Owned by the used Lexus!

Get something less complicated. Like a Camry.

Sarlacc

That generation ES300....is pretty much a Camry....

M TYPE X

Yes, but why are the ES models so much more expensive to repair?

dallison

i may ride it out, the wife wasnt happy with my looking

CL Platano

This place has good prices on a whole bunch of different cars

http://www.carvision.com/index.htm?bhcp=1

FiftyFive

if you sure its only going to be $90 a month id go for it, being under warranty it will save you money in the long run

Sarlacc

Because they say Lexus on the hood.

And you get more customer care with their service dept.

M TYPE X

Also: It's been claimed that the ES uses some proprietary parts that cost more than Camry parts.

DownUnder

Damn that sucks, shoulda kept old reliable. I’m thinking of getting rid of my ’98 Lexus LX470 also, it’s been a POS lately.

Sarlacc

Probably in the suspension. And electronics.

dallison

meh, decided to wait til i get a j-o-b. but i will see what happens in a few months, but i am gonna replace the maf sensor just in case i sell private party

Mr Hyde

Why not take the car to Autozone, or a local mechanic, and have the code read. It will probably be more cost effective than just changing random parts. You never know, it may just be a simple fix. After taking care of it, the car will probably be trouble free for years to come.

dallison

i bought an obd-II and have the code, i am trying to start at the cheapest solutions and work my way up. no real success so far

Minch00

Yeah, jobs are good, I've got two of them

SSMTL01

what did the code read? Are you sure it's nothing to do with the EGR system?

dallison

p0171

i had to clean the MAF sensor and i used throttle body cleaner on the throttle body, changed the plugs, air and fuel filter just to be safe

gdcwatt

I see you cleaned the throttle body, but what about the O2 (oxygen) sensor? They can be cleaned (or replaced) by either removing them from the exhaust manifold (assuming you can get to it/them) or using a combustion chamber spray cleaner. There may be other deposits in the cylinders/on the valves that need to be removed, too.

I needed to clean the insides of a high-mileage Civic every 6 months, but the original 02 sensor lasted 290,000 km. Start to finnish, it took 10 minutes to disconnect the intake at the throttle body, spray with the engine running and working the throttle by hand, and then reconnecting the intake.

dallison

interesting, i dint know you could clean the o2 sensors, i never tried

gdcwatt

In addition to the engine running rough, later in it's life I'd get a "check engine light". I'd use the spray cleaner as indicated, turn the car off, then on - and no more CEL for 6 months, and the car would run great.

I never bothered to check for an engine code, for this problem.

dallison

well, i think it may be time to trade depending on the deal, i was doing about 35-45 and i put my foot to the floor to pass, and it lurched a bit after the lag. it may be terminal, fucking A