morphh

Is there a differential fluid to change in a 94 es300 or is it just oil and transmission?

canucklehe

pretty sure I've read on these forums these is a diff oil drain plug. But the fill is done through ATF dipstick, with ATF fluid. I read a good post, I think in the FAQ/how to section on tranny flush. guy talked about disconnecting hoses and cranking or starting engine to flush out extra oil. OR...just change tranny fluid every oil change and after a handful of changes, it should be close to a complete flush.

morphh

I have saved some money now and i have been looking for a car, also have 1988 formula firebird, and volvo s40 t5, i like lexus is250 but gutless, i tested mercedes c300, acura tl, mazada6, volvo s60r, and on, so many more nissian altima, G35. legacy 2.5 GT, i will not buy brand new, 2 to 3 years old.

canucklehe

stay away from pre '05 TL (maybe model years 2000-2004??), as they had tranny time bombs. otherwise, nice car. For ANY of the cars you listed, maybe go to forums and ask Qs.

I had a 1994 Maxima and loved driving the car. maxima.org is a good site. We just bought our second Camry last week ; a 2001 with 39,000 KMs. We had a 2000 camry V6 before that. Both great cars, peppy, reliable.

I had narrowed down my search to: Lexus, Camry (hard to find luxury camry...lots of very plain Camry models), Maxima, Infinity, Accord or Acura TL. TLs seemed priced too high, same as Accord. Too many Accords to sift through, and they also have some basic plain models.

Just not a big fan of how the Germans or Euros put things together and don't like working on their stuff. Probably don't understand it aswell as the Japanese stuff. Whether it's my son's KTM bike (austrian), my brother's Mini (BMW), my Jettas I've owned...every time I go to fix or wrench one, I'm cussing and swearing, tossing tools at how they do it compared to the Japanese stuff.

MrShim78

acura's and accords have a bit more 'zing' to them than my lexus es300 i have noticed on the low end. top speeds are similar. but i have not yet met someone/ friend who owned an acura tl OR accord v6 without a rebuilt transmission. so my two cents, new or old if you buy an acura make sure the transmission has been rebuilt or dealt with if its a v6..most likely it will fail. same goes for an acura mdx just fyi. terrible trannys.

canucklehe

wow...scarey...and good info. I thought the '05 up TLs had improved, but they are still new enough that there's not a lot of history on them.

morphh

thanks guys, i m leaning to the is 3502007, or the volvo s60r 2006.

MrShim78

I would say not enough history yeah, but they are better for sure.. . they arent that old yet and i have seen some with issues too.
I bought by lexus es300 97 a year ago ... shifted through many camrys , accords, lexus, acura,etc.
so just my experience if it helps:
1. 2 friends with 98 and 00 accord v6's - trannys rebuilt, a/c failed on one.
2. friend with accord 2003 - started burning oil after arounds 120-140k km.

my experience was that camrys are just too bland, and the 4 cylinder has no power with an automatic tranny on it.

with the lexus es300 you have to make sure the timing belt is solid. thats a expensive maintenance job, i probably have to do mine in 6-8 months.
however if you are still int he market, look for a 2003+ es300 and compare it to a TL. in my mind the lexus hands down beats everything else in that price range/class for that year

MrShim78

I have heard lots of great things about maximas too..but have also heard they can rust.
any advice ? i am not buying one but would like to learn more about those cars too.
do they rust alot? what years if you know are not good ones ? personally i like the 2001 shape of that car.

canucklehe

maxima.org is the best site I've found for good info. Funny, some of the folks there seemed to think the 3rd gen Maxima (89-94) were the best. I had a 94 and went through 2 auto trannies in 200km. The wreckers all had trannies so I know they weren't chronic problems, I just got a bad one and after 1st rebuild it probably wasn't right. I also had the fuel filler neck rust o ut twice (bad design; covered with a plastic shroud that traps in all dirt & moisture). There was a recall and it still rusted out. When I replaced it, I kept shroud off and covered it with undercoating.

Rust? not sure what to say. In your climate does anything fare better or worse if roads are salted, etc...? I am in Vancouver area, so snow is about twice per year and a good idea to avoid driving those 2 days as our winter drivers are horrible.

the 2001 I believe had a 3.5 V6 and while reliable, they consumed oil.

agree on most Camrys (seem plain)...we had a super plain 2000 CE model with factory steel wheels and hubcaps, rotary style climate controls, cloth interior...very plain. BUT...we just got a 2001 V6 XLE model and it is nicer inside, leather, sunroof, woodgrain...and ONLY 39,000 km (24500 miles). The Camry Solara models are also nicer and worth looking at.