fjs138

What is an optimal maintenance schedule you guys could recommend to me for this car? This is my first car, so telling me what to do for it in general as well as specific for this model is appreciated. I don't really know **** about the mechanics of cars. I know I can google this stuff but i figured you guys could waste 30 seconds of your time and give me a nice concise briefing for this particular vehicle.

thanks.

also problems i have:
-squeaky and knocking noise when turning steering wheel
tweeter(? the round small one in front doors) sounds blown out on right side

-i mildly dented and scraped side of my car; i want to paint my car black. could doing both at once place save me money over fixing the scrape/dent now and waiting a year or so to paint the car?

thanks again im a little under the influence sorry for the rambling.

mick_foley

Register your car here.

https://auth.owners.lexus.com/lexuso...sl/OwnersLogin

The recommended maintenance schedule as well as other information will be available to you. You can view pages from the factory service manual and even order a factory owner's manual and have it mailed to you free of charge if you don't have one already.

03 ES

the knocking noise is a failed steering intermediate shaft, a common issue on camry/highlander/solara/es300/rx300 etc.
take it to your dealer and ask to have it looked at...its an easy replacement if youre mechanically inclined, but you said youre not so take it to the dealer
as for the body damage, just get it fixed...dont get it painted unless youre going to do it right and get a nice paintjob

mick_foley

Yes, if you want it fixed correctly you cannot skimp on cost because you are basically skimping on quality. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'd imagine that you can expect to pay >$3k for a quality paint job.

Also my ES has the knocking sound but I'm now very used to it. My wife's ES doesn't have the knocking sound and it's weird driving it without the noise. lol.

fjs138

yeah its the squeaking thats obnoxious. every single person who sits in my car hears it and is like what is that?

funny when i test drove it i didnt hear it, but it developed days after getting the car.

shouldnt the lexus dealership stand behind this?

they said its cosmetic.

mick_foley

Where's the squeak coming from? My wife had a squeak that developed in her steering wheel as well. It can be described as a low pitch whine. We ultimately ended up taking it to the dealership to let them look at it and they lubed up a bunch of stuff. Squeak went away. They didn't charge a penny.

As far as the Lexus dealership, since your car appears to be out of warranty I'm not sure if they will fix it for free or not. If you bought the car at the Lexus dealership though, I'd definitely try to pressure them to fix it for free. It's only fair.

fjs138

i called and they said to bring it in to Wednesday. they said its a bushing in the steering wheel that causes the squeak and they'll lube it up.

i cannot download the pdfs in those links at lexus' site.

my car has 79k miles. what should i do at 80 (assuming thats my next maintenance time)

also any good link to sites explaining how to check your oil, tire pressure, etc, basic car knowledge (that i sorely lack).

thanks all

mick_foley

You checked your glove box to make sure you didn't have the maintenance schedule in there? They are sometimes included with Lexus cars. My wife's ES has one but mine doesn't. I'm not sure why you can't download the maintenance schedule. Maybe try back again later on.

EDIT: I just tried to log in and look up the maintenance schedule for my car and could not retrieve it either. I doubt it will be down forever. The next maintenance scheduled for your car is at 80k as you suspected. But until you are able to find everything recommended by Lexus, you should be OK just making sure your oil is changed, tires are rotated (if needed), and maybe change your cabin air filter cause that is supposed to be changed once a year. But you MUST research the 90k service when that time comes, that is a very important service interval.

Parker Gen

Buying used from dealerships isn't the smartest way of buying used in the first place...

mick_foley

Why shouldn't you if you get a great deal and as is often the case get offered a short warranty? Individuals don't warrant anything.

fjs138

i paid like $12k for an 03 ES 300 with 79k miles. i figured that was pretty damn nice.

not worried about high miles. even if it dies at 180k...thats 100k more miles...

which is like 15 years of driving for me at least. ill never have this car that long.......

dario

I bought mine Lexus ES300 2002 with 26K miles for $12500 from original owner with all maintenance records one owner grandpa owned. Bought it last year.

Parker Gen

Haha, this just proves my point
It's pretty simple really, anything you see in a dealership can be bought waaay cheaper privately. And those so called warranties will cover **** all when it comes to it.

mick_foley

Well I speak from personal experience and say that the warranties do cover things unless you buy from a shady dealership. I've had things fixed before after buying a car. Maybe you had a bad experience or you speak from what you've been told.

beanz744

any idea how much this fix will cost and does it causing any further problem if one doesnt fix it? THX