The 3ES seems to typical 90's JDM style to me. Very little bright trim on the outside, and none on the inside, all monochrome.




There was some talk of the chrome interior door handles in an earlier thread, on the 3ES only the 2001 Coach edition models had them. No special edition 3ES models have ever had the sage interior like my car, they were always black or tan so there isn't a direct part for this swap or is there...

Some of the 00-01 Camrys had the chrome door handles with sage interior. The part numbers match right up except for color code so I figured I'd give them a try.

69206‑22080‑G1 - Left side
69205‑22080‑G1 - Right side

Now IMO just the chrome door handles, seems a bit out of place, not one drop of bright trim anywhere else. I figured it needed a little more to bring it together. I noticed the Avalon uses the same shifter as us but has a chrome button and cover. I got those parts as well to try out. I also installed a new shift **** I picked up some time ago.



I think it is a nice improvement, seems funny but a little chrome seems more modern ha.







Now for the nitty gritty...this was a much bigger job than I thought it was. Nothing major but I wasn't expecting it. Removing the shift **** in order to replace it and the cover was a PITA. The O/D button wires run all the way down the shaft and neither the switch or the plug on the other end fit through. The connector below has to be de-pinned in the car to take the **** out.

The door handles were another surprise. No idea if the chrome handle models have different bezels or what, but the replacement parts have a different handle shape



The handle won't fit with the stock bezel. I wasn't about to give up so I added some clearance to the bezel. You can hardly see my hack when installed so it worked out fine.



I initially ordered one of the EBay type chrome handles to try. I would say don't do this, the quality of the handle is not as good as OEM, it makes noise when you pull the door handle and has more friction. I tried to swap the lock button from the stock handle to get the stock look, but the tolerances aren't the same, it was not a good fit.

My advice if you did want to do this. The lock button is the only color coded piece, so just surf EBay for used chrome Camry/ES300/Sienna/Avalon handles, doesn't matter what color as the lock button snaps on and off easily, you can swap the ones from your stock handles.

 

Thanks for posting this, good stuff. It is a great improvement to the interior, which IMO although very classy and easy on the eyes, is too plain. BTW I prefer the Sage interior to mine.

But I'm a bit confused here. You originally had the aftermarket handles but they were poor quality so you got some Toyota handles instead. But you found the bezel does not fit because the chrome handle is a different shape so you cut your bezels, correct?

Now this is where it gets confusing to me, you are saying go out and find some used handles on Ebay or where ever. This is just an alternative to buying new? I assume you still would have to cut the bezel. Also do you have the part numbers for the chrome shifter stuff? That to me is essential to tie things together, also what car is the replacement shift *** from?

 

WOW! I knew you were going to be a quality member! I got some parts to source now

Thanks for this, seriously... Just as I was beginning to lose hope in this subforum altogether with more frequent complaint/generic 'mod' type threads over and over....

 

Seeing my car has an ivory interior, will this work? (left hand shown)

Door handle: 69206-22080-A0 COACH EDITION, IVORY, TRIM03
Bezel: 69278‑47010‑A0 COACH EDITION, IVORY, TRIM03

 

That really did freshen up the look of the car without making it tacky. I probably would have avoided the chrome shifter shaft, but that's personal preference. I'm interested in the shifter grip, the leather looks much better than stock. What are your thoughts on it? Does it match the rest of the trim?

 

Thanks for the compliments all!

Correct. The aftermarket handles fit the stock bezel fine, they are just low quality. The stock Toyota chrome handle required me to add some clearance to the bezel. I can't fully explain why that is, you would assume the chrome handles would fit the same, other than color code it is the same part Lexus specs for the Coach. Perhaps the chrome handle Coach has a different bezel? I didn't look into that since I have a sage interior it is a part Lexus wouldn't have anyways.

Yes if I did it again I would pick up some used handles regardless of color and simply swap the lock rocker. I didn't check the going rate though, maybe the ~$30/ea of the new ones is not bad. It leaves your stock handles intact to resell on EBay for a few bucks.

35976-07040 COVER, SLIDE, NO.2 - Chrome Avalon shaft cover
33623-07050 BUTTON, SHIFT LEVER - Chrome Avalon shift button

Shift **** is a new stock one, I picked up on EBay some time ago, I guess someone had it but never used it. My stock **** wasn't in too bad shape, I was surprised though the amount of grain in a new one, that had all been worn smooth on the original ****.

That is the correct handle number. You might be on to something with the bezel, it seems there is a specific coach edition number, it might have the right clearance for the chrome handle. It doesn't appear there is a sage version of that part anywhere so that is only an option for the black/ivory peeps. It would be great if you do order those, and could confirm that bezel is the right part for the chrome handle.

 

Thanks for all the great info!

I would order the Coach parts in a second but because I'm in Canada, I have to order the parts from the U.S. otherwise I get raped on price. So if the parts didn't fit, I'm in for some more hassle. Although I can't see why the parts would not fit, I'm sure they would the only issue might be the colour match. I am going to assume the Coach Edition ivory is the same as my car, but I'd need to confirm that.

What would be really helpful is to have the interior trim code for a Coach Edition, also a VIN would be really helpful.

 

^^Pretty sure the Coach editions have the same interior colors, black and ivory. The last two characters like "-A0" in the part number are for color, you will notice only parts that have multiple colors will have the last two characters like that. Those color codes match the normal models, not likely Coach used exclusive interior colors.

Usually if I need a VIN to order a part I find the right car on EBay and use that VIN.

Are Lexus parts prices much higher at Canada dealers? If you wanted some parts I could put together a package for you we could get across the border reasonably priced...

 

Take the retail price in the U.S. and double it at least, that's what we pay here. There is a Toyota dealer in Washington State that I get parts from they should be able to order the Lexus stuff for me. I'll email or give them a call to make sure they can get the Lexus specific parts, although I have ordered Lexus parts from them before.

That's another way dealers here differ, you can't get Lexus parts at a Toyota dealer unless that part happens to be shared with a Toyota. For example I can't buy a cabin filter at a Toyota dealer for my car, have to go to Lexus. Thanks for the offer BTW, appreciated.

On the part numbers,

Bezel
69277‑33030‑A0 (my car)
69278‑47010‑A0 - Coach Edition Ivory

So yes the bezel is most certainly different.

 

2001 RX300 and up had the chrome door handles as well, I wonder if those would fit better in the ES.

 

What I learned in looking for the door handles, is that they look the same at first glance, all these cars using the same handle from Corolla to LS400, but look closely and each one is different. The colored handle and lock rocker are probably shared across many of them, but each mechanism/mounting looks a bit different. For example the ES300/Camry uses rods to actuate the latch and lock, so the handle unit does not have cable stays where most of the other handles are cable units.

Of course you could probably salvage just the chrome handle piece off another door handle, though not sure if the cable vs. rod type is the same there.

I did find this auction for a chrome RX300 door handle, it shows what is probably the clearance built into the bezel for the chrome handles. This is probably similar to the bezel for the Coach model ES300.

 

ah nice touch ups..i remember i had done some "chrome" to my interior. I have removed that extra 2 chrome pieces next to the radio controls
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...-interior.html

 

I guess if your cheap like me, you could vinyl wrap the parts in chrome:

 

lol it looks like you wrapped it in tin foil

 

Yep, I ripped it off soon after.

The shifter shaft and surrounding bezel came out decent enough to keep though.