ZGadson

I'm still shopping around for another ES, but this time I'm being picky.

Are the tail lights from 97-99 interchangeable with the newer 2000-2001 tails? I hate the amber color in the older ones, but the lights that have the solid clear bar look cleaner. If they're not interchangeable I'll limit my search to the newer models from this generation. I'm 99% sure if I got an older Es with the amber in the tails I could swap them out, but I want to be sure.

These are the ones I like:


Not these:



Also, are there any other options that are different between these models? Anything desireable that everyone wishes their's had? (I really want to do this the right way and buy a car with everything, not have to mod the **** out of it to give it the options I want.)

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Differences:

97-99 - non-vvti motors [10hp less if i recall]
amber tails, 15" stock wheels, radio is plastic and not wood faced, no wood steering wheels, no oem hid avail., the rear headrests are these little stumps that stick out of the bench, option: heated seats

00-01 - vvti motor
clear tails, 16" stock wheels, radio is wood faced, rear headrests are nicely integrated into the bench and are adjustable, heated seats

OEM options included; woodgrain steering wheel, oem HID's.
*generally these options were either or on cars sold, unless both options ordered at initial purchase.

My 01 has the wood grain wheel but i didn't have the oem hid's. I've seen the cars with oem hid's generally come with a normal leather steering wheel.

ZGadson

Thanks for the info! I have an HID kit I saved from my old car that I'm planning to install anyway - 8000K HIDs. I also plan to install the OEM navigation unit for my stereo, so woodgrain stereo isn't that important although the wood steering wheel sounds nice. As for the wheels, I like the trispoke rims or the SC430 rims, so I may swap those out eventually, too. Sounds like everything I'd want is pretty much easily added to the older model if that's what I end up with.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^^ pretty much, unless the VVTI motor is a 'must'.

BUt those red/clear tails are very hard to come by... don't say i didn't warn you!

There was members on here that waited for over a year to find a set on eBay - otherwise these sellers list them part by part from written off cars at a HUGE premium like 300$ for ONE corner piece.

JTS06Z06

Limit yourself to the 2000-2001 model year. If your contemplating it now and you know there is stuff on the 00 and 01's then your gonna be kicking yourself everyday if you buy a pre-00 model. Trust me!
If your like me and like all options and the higher end packages you can search for a Platinum or Coach Edition. They have nicer leather, nicer bird's eye maple wood interior, black chrome exterior badges (which look great IMO), different wheels etc etc.

Here is the options for 00-01 cars. Hopefully I have it right.

-In 2000 the only way to get the wood steering wheel was with the Platinum or Coach packages. All ES300's in 2001 have the wood steering wheel.
-Heated seats are available
-Available Nakamichi sound system
-Auto leveling HID headlamps

I know you can probably get a better deal on a older ES300, but your already talking about changing stuff to the 00-01 style if you were to buy an older one. Save yourself the hassle and limit yourself to a nice 00-01. Basically all ES300's are under $10,000 right now so its not like their expensive.
Also, I noticed you said you have an old plug and play HID kit. Well those pretty much suck especially 8000K your just gonna look like a smurf driving down the road not to mention HID kits in a halogen housing blind the crap out of other drivers and put very little useful light on the road. I mean you do what you wanna do im just saying thats kind of the rigged way to do it. The best way would either be a HID projector retrofit which takes a lot of time, money, and work, or finding a set of OEM HID headlights but thats also very expensive and hard to find. Oh your right a plug and play kit sounds better and better now :-)

Here is my 2000 Platinum Series ES300 all options. Its been a great car I bought it from the original owners with 99,000 miles like new. Its been a great car!



Here is the interior prior to nav install.




Here is a good picture showing the Platinum black chrome badges along with the sweet 00-01 taillights :-)




Hope this helps you out in your decisions.

James

ZGadson

Very nice! There is a Coach Edition available on Craigslist, but its in pretty crappy condition - obviously wasn't taken care of.

Also, my budget for an ES is $4k so I can pay cash. Judging from your info above, I'm likely going to end up with a pre '00 model that I'll have to upgrade, which is fine. At least the cars look the same.

JTS06Z06

Sounds good. One last thing I want to mention that since you have $4K to spend consider maybe a real small loan there are some really low interest rates available and you can get the car you want. The payments would be super cheap either way and you can have it paid off in no time. With that said though, I do want to say that is very smart of you to just pay cash for the car. A lot of people out there finance the crap out of cars and just like the housing market get themselves into bad situations where they cant pay it. Either way though I just wanted to mention that as another option. However if thats not an option and you will only be paying cash then yeah I dont think its gonna be possible to get a relatively clean 2000 or 2001. For something with reasonable miles, great condition without accidents and minimal owners your looking more around $6,500+

P.S. I will likely be selling mine in the spring time if you want to hold off :-) They dont get any cleaner!

James

ZGadson

Would be nice, but at the moment I don't have a car, so I can't wait that long. My Infiniti had nasty sex with a phone post and is now resting in pieces in a junk yard. I'm waiting for my insurance to send me a check and then I can pick out a Lex.

angmedic91

iTrader: (5)

To answer your question regarding the tail lights of an 00-01, they will fit on a 97-99 ES300. But as 01LEXPL mentioned they are hard to find. I have a 98 ES300 and swapped out my tails for the 00-01 and they fit perfectly. They are hard to find on ebay, I got my from a specialty junk yard for Toyota and Lexus cars here in Los Angeles and paid about $325.00 for all four. I would follow the same suggestions everyone else has given you and get a 00-01 ES300. I have done a lot of upgrading, but if I had to get another ES300, I would get the 00-01 ES300. Other differences that werent mentioned is the 97 and 98 did not come with day time headlights, where as the 99-01 has day time headlights. The front bumper I think is nicer on the 00-01 than the 97-99. If you click on my link below my signature banner, you will see all the stuff I've done to my 98 ES300. The last thing I did to her was put in a wood and leather shift ****, something you wont find in any 97-01 ES300. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do bro.

lexluva

Just curious to know why you plan on selling your es since you just got it recently? Sorry for going off topic.

QuachmanES

iTrader: (4)

Actually, the '99 also had the VVT-i engine. And I'm not quite sure what you mean by the rear headrests, as the one in my 99 are pretty nice and are adjustable.

I personally like the leather-wrapped steering wheel and the black radio/climate control better than the wood grain, but that's just my opinion. I do love the clear tail lights/foglights, and the optional OEM HID's on the 00-01 ES though.

JTS06Z06

Yeah I know it sounds kinda goofy but I just already have the itch for a new car. Thats kinda how I am I go through cars way too quickly and with this one its ashame because this thing is sooo clean. In the time I have owned it I did so much to it to get it even better than it was when I bought it such as the timing belt, brand new Michelin tires, added a indash Pioneer navigation, brand new OEM front strut mounts, lots of detailing etc etc. The car literally looks and drives like it has 10,000 miles and my dumbass already wants to get something else.
We will see maybe I will change my mind and want to keep it you just never know with me.

James

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

The headrests in the pre 2000 are the little stump as i call it - it sits on top of the rear bench and they only go up/down

THe 00+ had this:


the headrest was bigger, integrated into the bench and move up/down forward & back.

ZGadson

Yea. I like the new ones better. They don't look like an afterthought.

QuachmanES

iTrader: (4)

I see, I just didn't understand what you meant by stump haha. I agree, that design looks much cleaner.