Kaius88

ok...as murphys law has it, the more you try to take care of the new car, more shiet happens.

Luckily nothing catastrophic, but I'll count this as the devirginizing incident, which (sad to say) all cars will eventually face.

Went to supermarket to get some 7-Up. Put the soda inside a bag into the trunk. Soda leaked bag leaked. Since it rained today, my SGM got dirty quick. Might as well take it to dealer to get it all cleaned up for free. All clean...fresh again. But wait, on my way out of dealership, the street construction blocked an exit, so i took another exit. Hopped a curb by accident. I must say the ES suspection is awesome....didnt feel much at all. Checked out car bottom and no noticeable scratches. So i came to realize cars will eventually get beat up and i shouldnt take things so seriously. This is my 1st new car so i guess i'll just have to get used to things
The point is to enjoy this car.... I'm still getting used to it.

encore888

Well at least there's no permanent stuff, but it can happen...just remember, although it's a Lexus, it's still a car, and don't worry too much. Take precautions though can reduce your stress!

You're absolutely right--enjoy the car.

Lexucan

That's why I always have a large plastic carry-all bin ($5 at Wal-mart) in the trunk to put things like groceries and stuff in. Then if anything leaks, it leaks into the bin and not onto my trunk's carpeting.
So glad to hear your weekend "storm" has subsided and things are getting back on an even keel.
The main fun of having a new car is the part about getting use to it. Everything about it is new to you - how it rides, how it handles, how it smells and feels, and all those cool features ! Enjoy it !

ES350LUV

oohh...good idea, im going to get me one too.

ES350LUV

The one in Glendale, right? I hated that! Right after I got my car and on my first visit, it bugged the heck outta me passing them too.

twister

My bizarro-bro, your life has so much drama!!! In no way am I joking about this, but since you are located close to Hollywood, you need to pitch these stories for some sitcom or soap opera. We all here at CL has been glued to your threads for the last couple of days. That was like a real soap opera!!!

BTW, my ES350 is not my first new car. I bought my Altima SE back in 1998 all brand new (fully loaded, and had to wait 4 weeks as well). Back than, I picked up my new car on Thursday, and on Friday while parking I run my front bumper into the curb of the sidewalk. Scraped the whole bottom of the front bumper. Than, when I bought my wife's 05 Highlander, in the first week some white-trash a*hole in our townhouse development knifed a side of our brand new car from the headlight to tailight. Now, I brought my brand new ES350 into that parking lot again, and I would not be surprised if my car going to get scratched or whatever. I already had a few people making comments to me "didn't you just buy a new car?" (in reference to our Highlander). Oh well, Its just a car and I learned my lesson not to get *attached* to the shiny perfection of it...

Kaius88

yall are awesome. i love sharing my stories here because there is such a wide range of stories in return!

Ya it's just a car indeed, and i'll try my best to keep it in good shape, but im sure shiet happens. I cant believe how fast the SGM gets dirty. I mean damn it gets dusty after 1 day, and the rain made it look like it came out of mud football game (small drizzle thats why). The hard water in california makes hosing the car impractical. I'll just try to dust it with a soft duster whenever possible.

The plastic bin is a great idea! gonna get that right away!

Bizarro-bro, did you ever catch who keyed your highlander? Man, that would make me kill somebody. How much did it cost to repair?

wanderer99

My wife and I visited 3 Lexus dealers at night when the first ES350's were being delivered. They still had the white plastic on the hood, trunk, etc. We could see all the colors available and found that all were very dirty at the time as they hadn't been prep'd at all as yet.

The Black was obviously the worst and you could see all the dirt on it. SGM, Royal Ruby, Amber Pearl and the blue shades weren't so bad, but you could see they were rather dirty. White and were pretty close and they looked fairly clean. The cars that looked like they were clean (despite being really dirty) were Tungsten Pearl and Golden Almond Metallic.

That's one of the driving factors for the Tungsten Pearl for me. I don't have to wash the damn car as often and is still looks fantastic when its dirty!!!

Macklin

This SGM car is so much harder to keep clean than my white one, but still not quite as bad as the black Blazer I had years ago. Yesterday after I washed the car I noticed my first rock chip on the hood. That's in addition to the little door ding I got from the considerate sole at the 7-11.

These cars have some soft paint on them for sure.

Redefined

Hey Kaius, all cars eventually get very dirty after the new car paranoia is over and when the Winter comes. LOL. We washed ours for the very first time last weekend on our driveway; it looks great, no swirls or anything. We invested in all new carwashing tools - microfiber towels, non-abrasive car cleaner, car wax, etc... We don't live close to the dealership; It's a great feeling knowing that we could do it ourselves and be able to do it anytime. And if we can do it, you can do it too. Keeping the car clean isn't that hard after all.

twister

Never did, and it wasn't keyed, it was knifed!!! The cut was very thin and deep, like from a knife or maybe a razor blade. I filed police report, like that changes anything. Also, the damage itself was minor to consider filing with insurance, so I just tried my best with that rubbing fine grain stuff. Since the cut was too deep and narrow, you can still see it. I told my brother-in-law who is a cop to keep visiting us more often in his police car and wearing his uniform to let neighbors know they are messing with a wrong people LOL!!! Again, that never stops anybody, considering how much respect others have for law enforcement. Our townhouse development is upscale, but back in a days when it was built 8 years ago, the area was not as populated and prices were affordable enough for a white-trash to buy it. Than, as area expanded and value went up, a lot of original owners sold their places for a profit to move down south to buy cheaper places. So now, neighborhood is 50/50. For now, I have to deal with it, and accept that its only a car!!!

PaJaHa1

Car-knifings? Gotta love NJ!

Kaius88

damn today i drove by yet another construction area on santa monica blvd., and a small pebble flew up and did a quick rapid rotation and bounced off the windshield. I thought it landed beneath the wiper area, but when i got to the office parking and opened the hood to look at the wiper/vent area, the pebble was not there. damn drives me nuts...I see that the rain vents are completely isolated from the engine cover area... but where is the damn rock? I'd hate for it to roll around in unknown areas and one day get stuck somewhere. Argh. Chances are it probably bounced out or something...

Has anyone had their 5000 mile checkup yet? How thorough are they? Do they check to see if anything is broken or bent or leaking? Im thinking if anything that happens while driving under safe conditions should be their responsibility to fix.

Argh...its the new car paranoia!!!

PsychDoc

***Im thinking if anything that happens while driving under safe conditions should be their responsibility to fix.***

Ever hear of a little thing called "insurance?"

"The full Lexus treatment" doesn't mean that they come over and make you breakfast in bed evey Sunday.