Hello all,

After wanting one since they were new in 2002 a year before i even became a licensed driver, I got my 4es nearly 4 years ago with 100,400 miles in need of some love. I put in the work it needed and it never let me down even with 28,000 mile per year outside sales driving for 2.5 of those years. Covid slowed my day job and it got driven way less in 2020. The car dealership we founded in 2019 took over more and more of my career-efforts, and I ended up loosing (sort of; parting ways i guess) my day job 3 weeks ago. My 4es got driven 6,000 miles in the last 12 months. Most of its time was just sitting at my office (the car dealership one) as a way for me to get home if I sold the unit i was driving as I prepare them at my home shop and then leave them at the dealership when done, often "demoing" something for a few days/weeks. There were literally 6-week periods all she did was sit. I figured that watching it rot into the ground would be dumb practically and financially, so I set out to find a good owner, and I sure did. He took the car 2 or 3 weeks ago and has reached out with questions like "what gas should I use." He LOVES the car and is following my 30+ page maintenance log in hopes to see her to 300k. Only 140,000 to go!


i thank you all SO much for years of help and chat. I will still be around, as this place seems to be the only welcoming home for our 1992 JDM Toyota Crown Majesta and my love of JDM luxury Toyotas. I am working this week to import another one - perhaps another crown or a Cresta/Mark2/Chaser.

I will also be aiming to always have at least one Lexus in stock for our family dealership. I will jump at ANY chance to grab a 4es (we sold one last year! an es330 pre-facelift 04) and aim to have many models, especially 1990s units.

Open to suggestions as to which one to get next. Also, the 4es is legal to import to USA as a JDM 2002 Toyota Windom in 2027 for sure, but I have wondered because its the same as our ES, if it can be done sooner pending Japan's emissions supersede ours (you can bring canadian cars here easily) either way, a cloth-interior right hand drive "4es" is in our future!

Best

Drew

 

Hello,

Can't imagine ever selling my ES300, never in my life I thought I will grow so attached to one before I got it, even hard to believe there was a time when I didn't understand those.. It is a great thing your ES got into good hands, a very rare occasion by modern standards, I can definitely see why he loves that machine. Maybe there is even a chance we will spot your car around here with its new owner..?

Toyota Windom may seem similar, but their trim levels differ quite a bit, Windom was better equipped, a lot of them had TEMS, air ionizer, auto-folding mirrors, etc., a Limited Edition with velour seats really sounds quite tempting.. It could be fun to get one if you can appreciate it, but I am not sure if it would sell around. As for import regulations, Japanese emission and safety standards are vastly different from US ones, so as unfortunate as it is, I doubt it would qualify as ES300 for the import...

As for which car to import, I am not sure, depends on what your goals are. What about a Soarer as some new experience? Those also seem to sell relatively well, as for an imported vehicle that is.. Speaking of new stuff, what are you planning on getting as your next daily driver, is it LS that you were writing about before..?

In any way, wish you best of luck with your dealership!

 

Hey man!

Yea broke my heart to do it. Especially cause the kids even would ask to ride in it, it’s been on family vacations... but it came down to literally never driving it, and looking at $600 insurance for the year.

Selling it and loosing (transitioning out of, I should say) my day job of 7 years at the same time is a bit of psychology to deal with. I mean, in the last 3.5 years I spent 60,000 miles of time in that ES, for that job. Plus countless hours of sitting in it between appointments doing paperwork, building my new business, eating... it’s gone and so is the job, within a week.

I daily drive something that belongs to the business. As of now, it’s a 2005 Avalon and I really do love it. They have their quirks, that’s for sure but it rides like a dream and has A LOT of room in it

it can be seen here https://www.pellacars.com/details/us...valon/72712214


as for my plans for a daily, it MUST be something I like. The day that Avalon sells I’ll tirelessly search for a replacement. Between the 2 auctions I favor, there are 100,000 cars for sale at any given time so it should not be too hard.

as for the JDM scene, I am under contract to bid on one tonight! I feel I’ve made a fair proxy bid and hope to win. I am actively seeking units that are already here, and working with a friend of the buyer of the Gloria we had in a custom order for a skyline sedan or similar, so keeping that side of things moving


I appreciate this place and the ability to chat about these things here



a finial word about the 4es. At 19 years old and 160,000, I had no problem driving my whole family in it, even during inclement/dangerous weather. Never worried about being stranded and was Confident in its crash safety. There will be another 4es - just as inventory this time.