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Hey, I just drove my 2004 ES 330 home from the Dealer's Lot, and I can't believe there's only ONE Power Port.
It's in the AshTray compartment; and It doesn't even look like the little Cigarette Lighter can be replaced with a Power Outlet
(even just for Phone Charger), without keeping the AshTray Compartment Door Open...
Really my biggest gripe about the car is the useless cup holders. Coming from a 2010 Honda Fit as a daily driver, which has 8 usable cup holders up front, the ES330's flimsy two is pretty underwhelming. Even my 2002 Camaro SS has more useful cup holders than the ES330. For long trips, we end up using the rear cup holders in the ES330 a majority of the time.
It's been awhile since I've owned an automatic transmission but the shifts aren't as smooth as I'd like. It seems especially harsh when the car hasn't warmed up, and downshifts when accelerating feel a bit jerky and delayed for my liking. Or maybe I'm just too used to driving a manual.
I have an intermittent issue with the windows not rolling down when it's really hot and humid outside. Mostly happens to the front drivers side window, but when we first got the car, the rear driver side window didn't roll down. The door slam method eventually unstuck the window and it works most of the time.
Another issue has more to do with the age and condition of our car but the suspension is a bit noisy. When we got the car from my in-laws last year, the tires were bald, brakes were worn (with a seized caliper), and the AVS was completely shot. I replaced the tires, rotors/pads/caliper, the springs/struts with Moog assemblies, along with new end links, and greased the sway bar bushings. The car doesn't handle like a boat on choppy water around corners anymore but there's a bit of road noise and vibration on bumpy roads. Even the firm, lowered sport suspensions in my Honda Fit and Camaro SS have less road noise than the ES330. My current to do list includes replacing the control arms, ball joints, motor/trans mounts, and rebuilding the steering. I'm just dreading the work. The car was initially purchased in Canada and spent some winters up there before being moved to the Florida coast. The suspension and brakes were a pain to work on due to the amount of rust. End links needed to be cut off in order to remove them from the sway bars.
The stock satnav system was pretty dated but we solved that problem by upgrading to a new Kenwood head unit with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay.
My very last gripe is the car is from Canada and everything is in metric! I'm used to the conversions for the speedo and hvac now, but I really wish my odometer was in miles and not KM.
Other than those gripes, it's a pretty good car for my wife. It was a free car for us, and totally worth the money and effort I'm putting into fixing it up. It should last us long time unless we need to upgrade to something bigger for the kiddo(s).
Had same initial complaint, but have found that "GapFill Coffee Cup Holders" have come quite a long way in the last five years..
I purchased two types, but now have settled on these, which have two USB ports each:
Important to Note: "The cup holder only can fit bottles/cups within 2.7 inches in diameter"
(A 12-oz. Soda Can is 2.5" dia.) There are bigger ones available, but these work well for me !!!
These supplement and support the existing CupHolders quite decently. I put a triple CigLighterSocket in the center console which provides power to them, and to my main PhoneChargingCord:
Last edited by Willybee; 10-29-20 at 11:21 AM.
Reason: Grammar
Unremarkable ride quality ('04). New struts all around helped a bit but not much. Plenty of road noise.
Features that are inexcusably missing on a so-called luxury car: No steering wheel mounted radio controls. No quick swipe (mist) wiper function. No heated seats.
As mentioned, useless cup holders.
I also have an '04 but I do have seat warmers and if you pull the wiper stick quick towards you, it will do a quick swipe without squirting fluid.
I also long for steering wheel mounted radio controls. And an AUX plug hole. If only - then I wouldn't have to completely yank the sound system and replace. I'm getting by with a FM transmitter for my phone but it is what it is.
No, it just squirts washer fluid no matter how quickly I flick it towards me. You must have some kind of option package especially considering you have heated seats.
Had same initial complaint, but have found that "GapFill Coffee Cup Holders" have come quite a long way in the last five years..
Oh yeah, we do have the non-USB ones in our ES330, they're marginally better for cans/small water bottles but also have an issue that they slide around. With a sudden stop, they go flying!! Also their quality isn't that great. The glue holding on the trim came loose around the cup holder after a couple of months. I just haven't gotten around to pulling it off and gluing down again.
Since we replaced the stock satnav with an Kenwood Android Auto/Apple Carplay unit, I replaced the center console power outlet with
connected to the head-unit. Even though we have a wireless Android Auto/Apple Carplay head-unit, it's waaaay less finicky if we plug our phones to it. I'm pretty happy with the result. If we need the 12v power, we can always use the one in the ashtray.
The GapFill CupHolders that I purchased came with DoubleSided Mounting Tape Strips to glue the long "Tongue" to the side of the Console.
This can keep them from sliding, but I like them movable a bit; once SeatBelt is buckled, slide the unit back into buckle.
3M makes these Mounting Strips; basically 3mm foam with decent contact adhesive on each side.
09-19-20, 04:30 PM
Only ONE Power Port ???
