hypervish

Hey, guy's I finally pulled a trigger on an 2001 ES300. It's in immaculate condition, I was waiting for one in fantastic condition, and this is it for sure! It has 145k miles on it, which doesn't worry me, as it's a Toyota. lol.

I'll probably pick it up either Sunday or Monday, as I am going out of state tomorrow and Saturday. But, for the mean time, here are some of the pictures the seller sent me. I'll post more pictures after I wash it and polish it sometime next week.

From my test drive, I concluded it needs front rotors (the pads are new), because there is some pulsation. I'll order some rotors next week, and install them the week after. It also needs four lug nuts, one on each tire, because he removed the "security lug nut". It also has a squeak in the steering wheel, which is an easy fix, as I had the same squeak in my RX. Basically, all I have to do is spray some silicone spray where the steering column meets the firewall.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Coach/platinum edition?

I'm jelly, it has the chrome handles... Perforated leather too?

imherenow

ya its def edition..which has the emblem on side. The only thing you need/install are HID. I always find it weird with the edition models some dont come with OEM HID. i hope the previous owner did not removed them

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

She's a beauty. What's the name of the exterior color? It's not white, is it? I can't tell from the pictures.

How much did you pay for it, if you don't mind me asking?

LeX2K

Beautiful car, congrats. 2000-2001 is the best year of the ES IMO, although I have not seen the latest model. The HIDs seem to have been an option on every model if I'm not mistaken, yea it is a bit weird that the limited edition versions didn't always have them.

Same interior as mine except the chrome door handles which I think are WAY better than the plastic ones. Just for kicks I looked up the price they run about $32/side I'm going to order them. Listing says it was only on the blue/grey and sage colour set, so I take it no black interior had them?

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Good to know. Don't forget that there are four of them

LeX2K

I can live with that, I just really despise the plastic handles they bring down the interior.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

On other hand, they don't get as hot as chrome. I see your point though, I like chrome handles as well. Once my car is complete, I'll throw them in as a finishing touch.

hypervish

Yup, it's the Platinum edition. It doesn't have perforated leather though, unfortunately. That would have been nice.

Yeah, I will definitely eventually install HID's. For now, I'm going to just clean the headlights up a bit. They have a bit of fog.

Thanks! It's Oyster Pearl.

He had the car listed for $6500, then he changed the price to $5900. I tried really hard to negotiate further, but he wouldn't budge. I finally got him down to $5800. Normally, I would just walk away if the other person didn't work with me on the price, but this car is a gem compared to the others selling around here. I didn't want to let it go. But, either way $5800 is a great price, so I'm satisfied. And, it doesn't need a lot of work, just front rotors, which I can do myself. The car was serviced at Lexus up until 2009, according to the service history on Lexus.com.

Thanks! Yeah, I was going to look at a 98' but it didn't have heated seats. Which I feel necessary on cold winter days, especially cause the ES has leather seats. The 98' also doesn't have VVT-I, plus the 01' has 10 more horsepower. LOL, I'll take all the horsepower I can get! hahah

hypervish

Actually, you know what, I'm not sure if it's the Platinum or Coach. Because the 01' ES spec sheet doesn't list an option for platinum.

Maybe it is a Coach, but I don't think the seats were perforated. I went to see it at night, and wasn't paying much attention to the seats, because they looked clean and no wrinkles. But, I don't see how I would have missed the fact that they are perforated. lol

imherenow

what about the main maintenance like timing belt et al. change. Was that done @ regular period?

hypervish

Timing Belt, Water Pump was changed at 89k miles by Lexus, on 10/11/2007. At that time they also did the spark plugs. Then they had the 95k service done, and 105k mile service. It was regularly serviced by Lexus up until 2009, there is a ton of stuff in the history. All maintenance items, expect for one oxygen sensor, which I consider normal. I've had to replace two 02 sensors on my RX.

Last month he had the rear brake pads replaced, rotors resurfaced, and new rear calipers. Before that he had the front pads replaced, he says' he had the front rotors replaced too, but I don't believe that part. Because there is a slight pulsation when braking from a higher speed. He did have the tires replaced after that though, so maybe the tire place didn't use a torque wrench and they warped the rotors by using an impact gun.

brucelee1

iTrader: (2)

Pretty car. Best of luck!

hypervish

Thanks! <filler>

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

Very nice, i know you've been mentioning getting one. I'm sure you know this, but these really are great cars (i say this even though im about to put a good amount of money into fixing mine) I can afford a new car, but i ask myself why i would if the one i have is still good.