Edoglao

as of last Friday! I have primarily been loyal to the Honda/Acura brand since my teenage years but have always wanted to own a Lexus. Although the wife and I initally had our hearts set on a 09 Audi A4, she totally fell in love with the ES upon her first test drive. And what the wife wants, the wife gets.

With that said, I have to know if we got the best bang for our buck? We paid 24850 before tax/title.

Pebble Beach edition, granite mica in color
23,500 miles
Few cosmetic scratches on outside and in the interior
Brand new tires

Any suprises, both good and bad, we should expect?

Anyhoo, I stumbled upon the site while I was researching a way to eliminate/upgrade the ugly yellow DRL's and found alot of good info. I am not new to message boards as I do frequent a few ND football boards in my spare time and look forward to adding this board to the daily rotation.

rx300mm

Good choice, you will enjoy the car. I have 2007 ES, bought it 2yr used and no issues in 3yrs except for oil leak that was under warrenty and there was a recall for 2007 model. Many would disagree but I have only used regular gas for last 3yrs.
Welcome !

Bronbay

Edoglao, do you notice any vibration when the car is in gear (ie. in drive (D) ) but idling with your foot on the brake?

Maybe, I'm being too picky, but I do notice some vibration in my new 2008 (60K) when the car is in drive and I'm idling with my foot on the brake.

If it put the car in park or neutral, the vibration is pretty much gone. I have a 2005 Accord (4cyl) as well and it has very noticeable vibration when idling in drive. The ES350 is not as bad as the Accord, but it's just enough to notice.

Timothyj

This is a good site for any info on your car. i have 04 ES and check this site every day for info and tips. Take care.

retired

I am not trying to rain on your parade, but the facts...I bought an 07 with 30,000 miles that was two and a half years old for $26,000 before taxes...I now have 70k miles on it..I use a mixture of half regular and half premium 93 octane and average 26.5 miles per gallon (combined city/hwy driving)...The oil hose was replaced under warranty at 40k and the brake pedal was replaced under warranty, due to uncontrollable acceleration (brought on by the Calif lawsuit)..Both were recalls........At 51k, the drivers side window began to make a popping sound...The window then became off track as the plastic retaining clips broke..The clip is built into the glass...Lexus refused to fix it as it was out of warranty..The dealer quoted a price of $660...I had a glass shop do it for $220..Also when the new glass is installed the pinch protector has to be reset..Another nightmare experience as the glass shop could not get it to reset...The window problem is a design defect in the 07 and 08 models.......Also, it is my understanding that when the water pump fails in the 07 and 08 models, it is very expensive to replace..Dealer cost $250 for the pump and $1850 labor as the engine has to be pulled....I also have a 01 lx470 and this 07 es350 is not half the car as the 01...On the positive side, my wife loves her 07 es350....The MSRP on this 07 was $40,000..I bought if from a friend that leases his car every 2 years..I had to pay the Lexus dealer $350 to transfer to my name..What a ripoff, but it is in the lease agreement..Hope this helps....

garsarno

As above story teaches, try and buy the Lexus extended warranty as corporate will not stand by the problems, even though they are the same (door glass, water pump). Many owners have experienced the door glass problem.

retired

I agree that buying the extended warranty will cover the above problems......However, the extended warranty does expire after so many miles or time...I personally chose to roll the dice instead of paying for the extended warranty...........Also. I shop around for the best price for repairs and I have a friend that owns a repair shop.......If I had only known that the water pump replacement requires the engine to be removed, I would not have purchased this car.......On my 01 lx470 at 60k, I was low on suspension fluid...I was told by the Lexus dealer that I needed new rear shocks and acturator valves....$600 parts and $595 labor total cost $1195...I had it inspected at my friends shop and no problems were found...This car now has 134,000 miles and the shocks and valves are the original.....Lesson is that dont always believe what a repairman says...IT JUST MIGHT NOT BE TRUE...

dreyfus

Welcome to Club Lexus. I've a 2007 I bought new which now has 117,000 miles on it and it has been a wonderful car. After some experimenting, I use only regular gas and do all my own oil, filter, and brake maintenance. No problems with the transmission or windows, and I've only had it into the dealer for TSBs and recall work. I really like this car. Enjoy yours!

ckgs

Cool, congrats, I did almost the same thing, coming from an Acura to an ES350. I paid 24k for a 2008 with 32,000 miles, same color. Great car, loving it.

One tip you may want to check out ... create a "my lexus" account at Lexus.com, and register your VIN. Once you do this, you can see the maintenance history for your car if it was serviced by a dealer. I was lucky and mine was always serviced at the dealer, so I have full maintenance records.

As others have said, this site is a great resource. For example, I reviewed the entire TSB thread, and printed off a few that seemed worth checking out. The dealer was very good about looking into them.

Edoglao

Wow....lots of great info guys. Thanks for all the warnings. I will make an effort to closely monitor the issues that were mentioned.

I did not buy the extended warranty and rolling the dice that there won't be too many issues within the first few years of ownership. Luckily, I have a friend/mechanic that I really trust and have a few mechanic contacts that have worked for Lexus.

Thanks

Edoglao

Luckily, I have not noticed any vibration issues at this time.