baseballma

I found a 2003 ES 300 with 23,000 miles on it -- a retired guy is selling it and asking $12,500.

My son is 16 but has not gotten his license yet. Would it be silly to pass up such a low-mileage Lexus? Would this be a good car for a teen?

GoodRevs

Sounds like a great car. Your son would be very lucky to have it as his first auto. The '03 is a great year for the ES, we love ours going on 110k. I suspect you'll get many more years and miles out of it.

88Legend

You can't find a more reliable car. They are safe, comfortable, very nice on the outside and inside, and have class unlike most cars kids drive as their first cars these days. (Civics, CRXs, Integra)

I drove my dad's 2000 ES300 last year until I got my Acura Legend. And like he said^, your son would be lucky to have a car like that. I would say go for it.

baseballma

What about the potential transmission problems? I just read that this could be an issue along with "surging"?

What potential things would need to be replaced on this car either immediately or in the next few years?

My husband is an Emergency physician and is highly concerned with safety. He has seen many horrible teen accidents and is not in a hurry for our son to get his license. I share his concern as well but I don't know how many low mileage cars we would find with the quality of Lexus (although that may be questionable according to all the recent Toyota problems). We both drive SUVs so this would be a good car for my son to get used to and continue logging his driving hours before he gets his license.

My husband and I initially were thinking of a small SUV such as a Honda CR-V. How would the ES 300 compare safety-wise?

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

The transmission quirks is more of an annoyance than a problem. Your transmission will not die or break down. It will shift funny from time to time, but depending on how you drive, it might not be as bad.

When we bought an 05 ES330, the transmission would 'jerk' a few times throughout the day. As the car got used to our driving habits, the shifts became less abrupt and we maybe get one jerk here and there. The software that Toyota implemented is rather weird. The transmission gets confused sometimes. Other than that, no worries about reliability!

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^ I'm sure there's a fix for that though...

I called about my old man's RX330, and the trans. has a reflash avail. for 100$ to fix the shift points.
---
Safety wise the ES300 will be great! If not better than the CRV.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Many of the ES guys here has had their car reflashed. Some became worse while others were somewhat better. Our ES330 had all the up to date reflashes and sometimes it still shifts funny, but it's a rare occurrence now.

As of now, there is no other real fix. Toyota has deemed the behavior 'normal'.

Megafast13

Hey,

I am 17 and love my 02 ES. It is honestly the best car you could ask for. It is extremely comfortable and roomy. It has pristine quality throughout. And most importantly, it is Safe. Featuring side air bags, ABS, etc.

This is also my first car. Definitely do not pass up that price it's a steal. And there is nothing wrong with the trans. Just the original computer's shifting settings are the smoothest, but that can be fixed if you want. I haven't though, it's just fine!

Specter

I hate this kid and I have not even met him...

He should get a ****ty little old econobox like most of us did for our first cars... We had to be smooth talkers to get the ladies to ride with us and contortionists to get lucky.

These young kids have it too easy.

Timothyj

I think its a good price for a great car. I have a 04 ES, great car. Take care of it and it will last a long time. Not that many out there with low miles.

Tim