SW17LS

That’s his own fault…

An example of a car you didn’t like the ride of that I just totally don’t get is the latest Lexus ES. You always tout the 4ES, which I own and have owned for 20 years which rides no better.

mmarshall

Ha. No kidding. But, I'm a nice enough guy that I don't like to hurt people's feelings, even when they make mistakes. I myself have made buying mistakes, and I learned from them....other people , IMO, get the same privilege. Besides, one has to live with one's neighbors, and a vehicle-purchase is not worth making a big deal over.

There are a lot of things I don't like about the latest ES.....not just the 45s. I just think that, overall, it is not as Lexus-like as the 4Gen inside and out. I wasn't at all impressed wit the ride on the 45s,....and I couldn't find an ES in stock with the 55's that I wanted to sample. I DID sample the 55s on a Toyota Avalon a few days later (which used the same platform as the ES) , and the ride was noticeably better.....almost like my Lacrosse.

If your 4Gen is 20 years old, with all that wear on the suspension and underpinnings (particularly if the shocks haven't been replaced), that would explain why it rides no better today. Brand, new, though (and I sampled more than one version of them) they certainly did ride better, at least IMHO.

mmarshall

We're getting well off-topic. Anybody want to talk about the Encore GX.......or how sales of it might be affected by the upcoming Envista?

SW17LS

My 4 Gen is 20 years old but I remember what it was like when it was new…it was a nice car but the current ES is a nice car too. I also had a 2010 5ES and thought it was overall a much more enjoyable car to drive.

Again, I put 165,000 miles on the car. Your need to tell people about things they themselves have and you have never had is maddening. I know how my car rode and rides. The new one rides just as well.

mmarshall

Well, without using any names, I often put up with posts I don't like, don't agree with, or find offensive. That's just part of life. Sometimes I just ignore them, and/or move on.

Not surprising that you got 165,000 miles. It is an excellent car, on an excellent platform......and almost bullet-proof except for some quirks in the engine/transmission control-unit which don't allow good throttle-response at certain low-speed conditions. There was a factory ECU-update, but apparantly of only limited effectiveness. My IS300 had a similar issue. ES300 models could also sludge/gel up the engine if oil was not often kept changed...the ES330 models largely eliminated that problem.

SW17LS

Moderator edit: SW17LS exit this thread. Personal commentary like that is not needed on Club Lexus.

mmarshall

Well, a significant update since my last posts. Had to replace the right rear tire today......picked up a screw head a couple days ago in the outer tread and a very slow leak (not enough of a leak to keep me from driving around locally for awhile, with a couple of top-offs of air). My dealership doesn't do plugs (they are not considered as safe as patches), and the screw was close enough to the edge of the tread that the shop said a patch underneath was unfeasible....you need a fairly flat surface. So, there you go....a couple of hundred $$$$$.

BTW, it was a Hankook Kinergy GT. I lucked out...the dealership had two left in stock in the 55-series I needed.

But, hey, I can't complain. That's the chance I took when I bought it....I turned down the road-hazard protection package. But, given the fact that I have had to replace two tires since then due to punctures, I'm not sure I'll turn it down next time.

I generally blame three things in this area (D.C. / NoVA suburbs) for all these punctures. First, careless and/or lazy construction crews that don't clean up after themselves, and leave a bunch of ****** on the roads behind them. Second, the fact that more ****** lies around on the roads, often at intersections were accidents occur, because debris from those accidents never gets cleaned up properly. Third, the fact that, outside of repair shops, more s*** lies around because they don't keep the area around the shop clean either. In short, if people simply did their jobs, were courteous, and cleaned up properly, many of these punctures would be a thing of the past.

Last, this is why, one the years, in my Car Chat posting, I have strongly-recommended, several times, that, if your vehicle has a digital tire-PSI-display function, you keep it handy in front of you, in constant view, at all times...I keep it right between the speedometer and tach, behind the wheel. It will give you an early-warning sign of a leak right as it happens, instead of coming out the next morning, or a couple of days later, and finding a nasty surprise of a flat tire.

SW17LS

No need to leave the tire pressure monitor up all the time, the car will notify you when pressure is low.

How often do you get nails in your tires? Probably pretty infrequently

Tires also can be patched way closer to the edge than tire shops will let on. I had a shop one time talk me out of replacing tires on the Prius and the bolt was actually in the side of the shoulder tread block, the patch held for tens of thousands of miles until the tires were replaced.

mmarshall

When the on-board system actually notifies you, it is already very low......down to about 10 PSI, in GM's spec.

Virginia also has strict laws about tire-repair.....for instance, in the past, a vehicle with two plugs or patches would not pass a Safety-Inspection. I don't know if plugs are now outlawed in the state or not. The shop said they don't do them any more....but some independent shops may.

You had a Prius? I don't remember that one.

I just can't imagine you in a Prius LOL...you seem to be a fan of big luxury sedans.

More often than I'd like. This is the second time on the GX in three years. Every vehicle I've owned in the past couple of decades has had at least one or two punctures. That is one reason why I don't buy really expensive tires.

I stand by what I said earlier. The main problem is that there is simply too much crap lying on the roads around here....the worst places are construction zones, accident-sites, and careless repair shops.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

not sure that's 'signicant' but glad that's all it was!

mmarshall

Thanks. But if that's not bad enough, I picked up ANOTHER nail in the right front fire.........right after the left rear one was replaced yesterday. This time, though, I think I can get away with a much cheaper patch or plug...the nail is right in the middle of the tread. And I can use discount-service/repair coupons. Plus, I've got CDs and tax-free bonds paying off shortly to replace what I have to spend.

I suspect this second nail came from around the shop itself.....but I can't prove it. Repair shops ae notorious for leaving screws and similar objects on the floor and pavement.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

bummer! on a brighter note i would never replace just 1 tire, so now i would replace the other one.

mmarshall

I agree that on an AWD vehicle, it is usually not a good idea to replace tires one at a time, to save wear and heat build-up in the differentials from uneven tire rotation speeds from tread wear.......but the Encore GX and Trailblazer are not the usual crossover AWD vehicles. They have a console-button to switch the AWD on and off so that, most of the time, only the front wheels do the driving. I only use the AWD a couple of minutes a week, to keep the system lubed and in good operating condition if needed.

That was not the case with my former full-time AWD Subaru Outback. There were specific instructions in the Owners' Manual on how to deal with tire replacement and wear.

SW17LS

You can set the threshold higher so that it earns you sooner, it’s usually 20% low so if they are set to 35 it’s 7 lbs low and the light comes on. In any event even 10 lbs low is plenty of warning.

My wife had a Prius, a 2004 before we got married. It was her first new car she ever bought herself. I hated it with a firey passion lol

Surprising. I don’t have that problem. There is more construction in VA than in MD though.

Neither would I unless the tires are really new.

mmarshall

Lucked out today. On that second puncture (a tappet screw), it did not penetrate the tread, and with the spray-water test, no sign of a leak after they pulled the screw out, so I didn't get "screwed" with a second bill LOL. ,