tim817

here is how u do it : https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...t=disable+vdim

shaolin

iTrader: (2)

are you foreal with the free car wash?? i know the benz dealer give free car wash but never head of lexus doing the same...

i wonder how they wash the car...

4CYLNDR

I think that is some horrible reasoning.

By the same logic, you could say that a company that provides a basic warranty for their cars (e.g. Lexus) is indicative of the fact that the cars will break down more than a car made by a company that offers NO WARRANTY AT ALL.

4CYLNDR

probably the exact same way they wash their brand new cars?

tim817

U may wanna call ur Lexus dealer tommorow and ask. They might be difference there but i'm pretty sure they'll wash them for u for life as long as u still own the car if u buy or service from them..

chiawei

Will post my 2 cent here.

We went with 330i to replace my wife's CLK lemon.

VDIM is not the main culprit. But that steering response and the weight of the car being shifted during the turns left us utterly dissappointed with IS dynamics.

As far as problem goes, lexus will always have less problems. BMW although not rock solid as lexus is not as bad as people in this forum made it out to be. Electrical problem is blown out of proportion. Out of my 4 BMW thus far, the only electrical problem that i had was with constant crashing of the old CD-ROM based navigation on the 01 530i.

Mechanically BMW are quite durable and can take abuse quiet well.

530i problems- crashing of navi. fan resistor. Recall- one on the auxilary fan. Engine was quiet durable even with 8.5 PSI boost. Trouble free before it was dumped.

m3 problems- none mechanically. Problems- broken moonroof cover, and rattling pax seat. Dumped it at 25k miles. No mechanical or electrical issue.

03 M5- oil ring was bad and was drinking a little bit oil. Nothing else.

06 M5- damaged right front control arm due to assembly mistake. Recall to come- Vanos oil line rupture. So far no electrical problem to speak of.

I actually had electrical problem on my 01 RX300. (memory seat would not work all the time). Couple rattles from interior trims.

As far as dealership goes. BMW does have very bad dealership service. Unless you are driving a M5 where the SA would literally kiss your feet, you will not get good service.

chiawei

Depends on which dealer.

I can get decent BMW loaners as well. BMW of Fremont gave me a brand new 325i with navi as loaner when my M5 went in for suspension work. Other times if they ran out of loaners, it would be POS enterpise rental car.

Fletcher jones mercedes only use POS enterpise rental. But service is actually quiet nice.

Lexus in fremont always give lexus as loaners.

All three will give you car wash. But i always avoid it as its machine wash and simply scratch your paint.

diablo1

I love it when German car owners list off 3-4 pretty major problems they've had with their car, and then say, "But hey, other than that, I've had absolutely no problems at all!" hehe.

tzu911

///BMW although not rock solid as lexus is not as bad as people in this forum made it out to be.///


As a bmw owner myself, I had a momentary urge of copy and pasting this 100x.

bobbo1978

The is350 is much faster than the 330i. I had two cars sitting next to each other and drove it back to back. However the 330i's handling is definately more balanced than the is350. In the is350 you can feel the weight shift between corners while the 330i just cut through corners. BMW feels like a smaller car similar to a s2k or rx7 while is350 feels more grown up like a luxury car. If BMW has 300+ hp I would buy it in an instant (Good thing 335i and M3 are out soon) but I would not keep it for more than 4 years. You know what they say about candle that burns twice as bright.

chiawei

What major problem?

Navi crashing? A clip that breaks off from the moonroof panel?

The only major problem that i had was o-ring issue on the E39 M5.

The assembly mistake on the E60 M5 was minor and being the 1st US spec car out of production line, this is expected. Same with Vanos oil line. This is not like sludge build up in the engine on the toyota V6.

If you want to seriously looking into lexus problem on the oil sludge problem, then you can say that lexus is not that bullet proof either.

My RX has problems with it electrical system (most due to memory seat) and loose body panels. So if problem with loose trims and panels is considered as major problem by you, then i had two major problem with my lexus. BTW, i did not keep the car long enough for the sludge problem to surface. We can talk about that too.

chiawei

335i is coming in march 06 build.

05RollaXRS

"A 9 year old Lexus LS400 in general has less problems in it's record book than a 6 month old BMW 7 series"

- Consumer Guide Most Reliable Vehicles

NINEZeRO

damn, you have the new M5? what do you do for a living, you still own all those cars? how much do you make a year? wand to invest in my hedge fund?

j/k no fund yet

jrudley

Speaking of the Lexus loaner, every loaner I drove was a brand new car. My last loaner was the 06 IS 250! When I visited the Porsche dealership, they were very rude to me when I was looking at their 911s. You'd think they would be nice when you’re about to dish out over 70k. Came to Lexus and was treated like a king. I will always buy Lexus unless I move up to the Ferrari category (I will win the power ball!), but I don't see that happening soon!