gabzor

Bought a 2001 es300 coach edition fully loaded minus the bun warmers for with 185k $2900 today, (2 days earlier than what it was supposed to be)
still have to pay for for smog, and transfer, but still its under my name.. (well gonna be my mom's since I bought the car to replace her 95 es300)

The owner was an awesome guy, 30 years active military, and after military retirement, he went ahead and got another job at the VA for the military after retiring.. and he was the type of guy who took care of things before they got too big

Coming from a 1995 es300 with about 210k, the first thing I noticed is the nice cluster needles! and a better cupholder.. another thing I noticed is the coach edition has perforated seats, so no more swamp butt, but too bad it doesn't have bun warmers like my 95, they were pretty nice in the winter (even in CA) , the sound system was pretty damned good, the 6 cd changer actually worked (on my 95 it never worked) and I noticed it has a subwoofer..

So the pros : its a 2001 coach edition, fairly clean exterior, fairly decent interior (I've seen worse), factory hids (wow the warm up time on the OEM ballasts are amazing) maintenance records since 2006, and a rebuilt transmission (he only put 3000 miles on the rebuilt transmission since february), new iacv, new plugs both front and rear, new valve covers, new alternator, came with 3 remote keys, cruised highway all its life.. No leaks (not even the power steering :O) remote keys are awesome! (the 95 es300 only had a valet key)

Cons: Car has been sitting outside, so it's clear coat is starting to fade a little, but a good detail should improve it much better, some chips here and there (its an old car though) no bun warmers, that would have completed the package, although it has receipts, not all quality parts, lots of oil changes at pep boys and such, and various different oils, sometimes 10w30, sometimes 10w40, sometimes 5w30, etc.. Car was ran on 87 (shell or chevron only) but not sure if thats really a bad thing


Future plans/ramblings:


Car has synthetic right now, but I might change it back to synblend or something, since my mom will drive it, and she drives 0 highway.. and speedkar suggested changing the oil more frequently is better than it sludging..

Going to give it a detail somewhat, my mom will basically park it outside all day, and garage at home, so 70% outside, 30% inside..

All the throttle body hoses/vacuum lines/etc are pretty hard and brittle, I want to replace those ASAP for safety of mind (where can I get these?) I went to toyota and lexus, and they said they don't really manufacture those hoses anymore, and autozone didn't have too many sizes, same with napa..

Last timing belt receipt I found was 2 years ago, but he said he changed it again cause the water pump was leaking (So I kind of want to do it for peace of mind, but last time I did a timing belt on the 95 es300, things didn't go well, found a bunch of sealant holding the water pump cause the studs were broken or something)

Torque mount is worn, but thats an easy fix (I also did notice its a different part # from the 95 es300 even though they look the same)
A trans mount receipt was found, but it was like a 20$ transmount from autozone or something

Usually with toyota mounts, I've learned OEM is best for quality and longevity, although there is little to no vibration, so I think just fixing the torque mount with an aftermarket will be good enough

Engine hood dampers are worn (what brand do you guys suggest?) in my old 95 es300, I put strongarm's on, they were fine, but whatever installs the easiest should be best for me

The shocks and steering do make some noise, the shocks were last done 2008, at about 100k, so they might need servicing soon, the steering, something kind of clunks when turning all the way in a small parking spot, i'm just hoping its some tie rods or something (hopefully not a steering rack bushing) god no..

I also plan to change all the fluids, because some things like the brake fluid looked a bit overdue, and for the transmission, I want to make sure its done good (because i probably won't be able to afford a rebuild) so I want to use amsoil or redline, I have a gallon of redline, but it's already been opened last year, but barely just to top off the 95 es300 (can I still use it?)


Funny thing is, my mom wants to keep her 95 es300, because she works in a bad area, and they are always messing with the car, the 95 es300, the paint is beat though, so she doesn't really care.. but they broke off her antenna, and stole the es300 badge.. and sometimes you'll find random people sitting on her trunk and just hanging out, and they don't even bother moving even when shes right there opening her door.. like WTH? She also wants to keep the mileage off the coach edition, since we did put some money into the 95 es300.. she told me I should sell my turbo pos and just drive the coach edition lol

The story on the 95 es300, long story short, the car was an NY original went down to FL for a few years, then ended up in NV for a few years, and was used as a commuter between Los Angeles to Vegas for a few years, and it ended up in my hands for cheap.. the wiring was all screwed up cause so many different climates I'm guessing, and it has some rust, and the paint is destroyed..

It had an issue where only cylinder #5 would misfire constantly (changed lots of things to try and fix it), I recently fixed it, it turned out to be the wiring, somewhere inside the harness it went bad, so I went to the junkyard, got a injector harness and clips and soldered it properly and it hasn't misfired since.. The wiring harness itself has alot of mickey mouse fixes from various mechanics, the power steering on that thing leaks everywhere, and it has the hydraulic fan that leaks too, all the vacuum hoses are fubar, and it has a bad exhaust leak, and a CEL won't go away since I bought the car for egr... (pre exhaust leak, came on right after I smogged it).. also has a radiator leak and such..

I actually have alot of parts sitting, that I was going to eventually swap, but eventually found the coach edition.. Funny thing is, the last week, and recently, the car hasn't leaked a single drop of power steering fluid, water, or anything, never even misfired LOL the car is trying to pretend to be good so I don't replace it or something I swear (I'll make a for sale post soon for whatever 2es stuff I'm not using)


Sorry for the long long post, and how messy it is, and maybe things just ramble and doesn't make sense (I've been up for 3 days straight, no sleep)

Sorry for the crap pics too, my phone is a blackberry, and at the time they didn't look so bad

Not a big pic of the wood, look-wise it looks great on a black wheel, but I don't like how the plastic or whatever feels on the wheel, much prefer all leather


The main reason I bought the car



Basically the only worn seat in the interior, its not that bad, and some leatherique would do it nicely.. but yeah sorry for the pic quality, the garage had no lights, and again, 3 days without sleep and a blackberry..


I know it has my plate, but I will probably get new tags.. but please don't do anything bad, its my mom's car, shes a nice lady

Rear bumper damage closeup, not that bad..


Thought it was cool, both generations, the 2001 is so much better looking..


The sad condition of the 95 es300, that she wants to keep driving to work lol.. again I know the plate, maybe I'll edit it out and or edit the post

JetsonES

Nice looking car, hope mom gets plenty of trouble free years out of it,you're a good son.

And regarding the plate, it's really not a big deal, here's a link that explains why:

http://jalopnik.com/why-do-we-always...net-1691298199

PFB

Careful with your transmission fluid. The 2001 uses a totally different fluid than the one you have in your '95. You now need Toyota Type T-IV transmission fluid.

Check your manual.

808mcv20l

I use Vavoline Maxlife ATF Synthetic in my cars, just did a drain and fill over the weekend on the ES300.

Just checked to be sure and it meets Toyota T-IV specs.

I plan to do another drain and fill in a few weeks this time, with a new oem gasket and strainer and Amsoil ATF.

JetsonES

For all your vacuum hoses you can usually buy them by the foot at any auto parts store. Home Depot or Lowe's probably have something that would work as well, just make sure they can take the heat. I zip tie the ends on mine to make sure they stay where they belong, not totally necessary on an n.a. car but a must on boosted ones.

808mcv20l

My local O'reillys has the hose by the foot that JetsonES is referring to. I went there to replace a few rubber hoses for the power steering return lines.

They have other sizes for vacuum lines as well just be sure to bring a sample.

Be sure you get new hoses with the same Inner Diameter, the outer is important but not as much as the inner diameter.

gabzor

Redline d4 meets T-IV and dextron, compatible for both transmissions, Does ATF have a long shelf life? If anything I'll order some amsoil..

Thanks for the info about the hoses guys, I don't want to disassemble the hoses on the red car, cause well, anything I touch seems to break on that thing, and the coach edition, well it runs so i'll just leave it alone and get all the hoses slowly from the junkyard or something

My autozone doesn't have much hoses, and pep boys, well they're kind of a rip off.. NAPA has the best hoses, but we have like maybe 2 in all of southern California.. Guess I'll check O'Reillys

As far as the u140e equipped cars, is the differential sump combined with the trans? in the other lexus i could service both with different plugs

BTW jetson, thats a smart idea about the zipties, try hairspray though, old trick I learned from the guys at the track, I've been using it on my couplers, holds better than some clamps

JetsonES

I heard that a long time ago and completely forgot about it, thanks for the tip! Most of the time the hoses are behind the counter so you have to ask. You could always hit up ebay if you wanted to go with silicone hoses.

gabzor

heh maybe i'll go AN hoses if I can find it, but just trying to keep things cheap and simple
yeah, hairspray works well, but oh man is that stuff sticky when you're trying to take things off

Oro

ATF has an indefinite shelf life if stored properly (this according to SOPUS). A year is nothing if not left open in hot weather.

MaxLife is an awesome full-synthetic T-IV ATF replacement, so when you need more, consider that. It is a real bargain in gallon jugs at Walmart, FYI. From the real data I've found elsewhere, there's no benefit to be gained with much higher-priced boutique ATF fluids.

Sludging happens when you drive abusively long OCI's in stop-go conditions. If you don't plan on that, set that aside in your decision making. Also, a syn-blend or conventional would be MORE prone to sludging, not less. I run Mobil 1 5w-30HM for 7,500 mi OCIs and the engine uses 16ozs in that interval (e.g., no make-up oil ever), and the oil comes out looking only 1/2 used compared to all the other vehicles I own/maintain (four others). If it was mostly short-tripped, I'd still do 5k with the full synthetic. Our car is turning 250,000 miles next month so you will never convince me to go BACK to conventional oil. It is hardly more expensive that conventional when you figure the savings on less frequent changes and that 5qts is $24 or so at Walmart. So I'd not mess with success and keep the synthetic routine. Choose a filter for the longer OCIs - a Gold from Napa is quite good for that, or the standard Wix at O'Reillys (same as Napa Gold) or other places.

O'Reillys sells a wide variety of hoses by the foot so they can set you up. Just make sure you specify if it's an oil/fuel application or just vacuum.

gabzor

Kinda sad my mom doesn't want the car, for the reasons i've stated earlier, Guess I might be driving it a while and getting all the bugs worked out, and getting the paint and interior in better shape

Thanks for the info Oro, Yeah the ATF is actually a year and 3 months old to be exact, redline synthetic, the price wasn't too 40 bucks a gallon tbh but thanks, I will think about it.. I'll check how much my walmart has it for (my walmarts usually sell out quick on car stuff)
And boutique fluids seem to make a big difference compared to some though, My friend's FRS stock gear oil was crap, he switched to royal purple, and I told him not to cause royal purple is crap, put some nice motul fluid in, it was night and day compared to royal purple.. Same with my other car running redline, its great stuff

As far as synthetic, thanks.. The guy I bought it from just got it changed from pepboys, and it seems they use whatever they have, whatever weight.. as far as synthetic, I used to run a lot of mobil 1 on all my cars, tried castrol, it seemed to burn slower actually, right now I'm on penzoil platinum, although expensive, its great stuff, seems to get less dirty than all the other oil's ive used minus eneos.. I'll run some MMO or BG109, don't really feel like seafoaming, last time I did, the fire dept came LOL

as far as power steering, what are you guys using? I ran castrol IMV in the 95 es300, I tried some redline when I ran out, but it seemed to leak faster, so I stopped and stuck with IMV, should I go pick up some Toyota stuff? (I want to flush it)


So I figured out how to work the cd player (was loading cd's the wrong way, read you dummy!) haha.. What a fantastic sound system, all it really needs is more bass, honestly I can probably seal up the factory sub and it will be great.. but the highs and mids are very decent



New update, seems like I need to replace a few HVAC bulbs, and the D light in the gear indicator in the cluster seems dimmer than the others..

Also the domelight seems to dim and go back to normal when left on, even with the motor running, the guy did replace the alternator, so I guess some grounds may need to be upgraded..

And also the Factory xenon adjusting error light or whatever stays on :/

JetsonES

Haha, the last time I did seafoam in the intake I got pulled over! I explained to the officer what I did and acted confused as to why it was smoking so much. She thought something on my car was on fire.

jaredmac11

Ha! I have that same red car and I'm doing the same thing as you. I found a ES300 for a reliable DD, not worrying about the looks, but Ive fallen in love with the ES300 so I want a more clean drive now.

Same failing paint too.. Shame, its a pretty color.

gabzor

Heh on my other car before getting boosted, I ran some seafoam at some shop that screwed me, zipped up and down, and they got pretty damn pissed, called the cops and fire department, I was already gone by than, funny cause I drove around the block and they were 20 mins late, explaining an imaginary car smoking.. and when they saw me their faces were quite hilarious [/QUOTE]

Heh i got some extra parts I never installed on my red car, if you want I'll let em go cheap for you, I've made a post on the toyota board, cause I figured people would fix more camrys than Lexuses/Lexi? but no go either.. funny thing is every lexus i've seen with that nice red/burgundy, the clear coat has gone to hell in on part or another on the cars, I've seen ES's and RX's.. I've seen 1 at a junkyard that was fairly clean actually, but still had some fade..

Maybe the robot or person who laid down clearcoat on the red/burgandy cars hated it

Oro

For PS fluid, I think your year calls for Dex III also? The most common fluid people seem to use is also the synthetic MaxLife ATF. At $17/gallon (that is Walmart price; it is significantly more at most LAP stores) it is a real value for ATF and PS fluid.

If you are having leaks, look at the vane pump and hoses, you might just be able to replace a hose with off-the shelf fuel hose and solve your leak. The high-pressure return line is commonly the culprit; it hardens from heat and pressure over the years.

PS, I think right now Pennzoil has a $2/quart Platinum rebate. So $23/5 quart jug at Walmart become $13 in the end. They generally have PP in stock, but they also have High Mileage PP available if you order online and pick up a few days later in the store (no extra charge).