harrisbaig

my son thought his 99 es with 190K was now getting too old, tried selling it but found no takers.
I asked him to leave it with me until someone buys it.
it looked a bit neglected and I decided to give it some love. and boy did it respond to that.
first step was a trip to a local mechanic to fix a steering oil leak, (needed a new pump). also got lower control arms replaced at the mechanics recommendation. boy was that a good decision. the ride improved immediately.
next trip was to get 2 new tires, (the other 2 were still new) got all four balanced and 4 wheel alignment.
it was a new car from that point on.
I am now using it every day to drive 40 miles to work each way on 75. I am in love with it. it is such a pleasure to drive.
I now wanted to give it more love. so I got its transmission oil drained and refilled.
transmission got even more smoother!
next I added a $3 fuel injector cleaner with the next full tank and followed that by switching to premium fuel.
it is now purring like a happy cat and I am enjoying it so much that I am wondering why did I even buy my new Altima.
I have now started bringing its leather interior back to life. found a guy who can redo the tints for $99 and another mobile body shop who can get rid of numerous rockchip, scratches and scruffs for $300.
we bought it 6 years ago when it had 120K. now it is about to turn 200K. I might keep it and with my daily hwy miles I wont be surprised if soon, one day it turns 300!
I would like to thank all you members for all the encouragement and support.

daredeil95

Good story and good luck, pics? I love my ES and hope to have for a long awhile and it sure beats saving for years then giving that money to a dealer for a new car.

harrisbaig

I was planning on posting before and after pictures after I get the cosmetic work done!
totally agree with your assessment on new vs used.
how many miles on your lexus? where are the 05's valued at?

daredeil95

I look forward to the pics. My 05 has almost 68K on it and I paid $7700. IDK if I paid to to much? I bought it from a dealer in Long Island that I found on FB market place, He wanted $8900 originally and settled on $7700, there are a few dings on it but, i could live with that. I feel the car was probably worth around $6000 but, I liked it and the mileage was good with a rock solid history and a one owner car that the guy bought new with cash, the original title had no lien on it. So, saying that, I'm super happy with the car and when I first registered it, I changed trans fluid, I put ceramic brakes all the way around, cermaic doesn't dirty the rims (when they were silver), tinted the windows and installed a GTA iphone kit. Love it so far and I'm happy I bought it plus, it beats making payments or dropping a ton of cash.... here's a vid.....

harrisbaig

i don't think you paid more.
miles and one owner is the key here.
nothing wring with paying a little extra for it.
nice long video, ill watch it when I get home.
thx

funcrusher

daredeil95

LOL, yep, I did a job transfer back in the early 2000's to the Dallas/FT worth area and Conn is not even maybe close to hot compared to Texas but, this summer in CT was like southeast asia humid, drenched with sweat instantly upon stepping outdoors. lol. Can't wait until fall starts or I should say the weather is fall like....

daredeil95

I noticed lexus prices vary, hard for me to determine value. I test drove a SC430 vert and i loved that car but, they're a little pricey right now. a decent one is about 15K so, I gotta save up and wait a few years for the prices to come down and I'm gonna get one. Looks like I'm a lexus person for life.....

ilkinandr

Love what you done with your Lexus, If you wanna greatly improve your handling and reduce that crazy body roll install TRD Rear Sway Bar. I put that on my 05 and god what a difference. Also installed Android head unit to replace the 6disk cd changer.

daredeil95

Thanks, I like the rear sway bar idea, I'm having a hard time finding that TRD part, after some google research, I think the P/N is TRD RSB PTR06-06990-10 but, i can't find it for sale, any links for this part? Yes, I also plan on installing a stereo, I want a alpine head unit and as soon as I have a extra grand or so, I'll definitely upgrade. The next item on my list is to install a dual exhaust (tips) on the back of the car. I've been looking for a rear bumper cover that has the dual tips cut outs but, I had no luck finding anything. I like the ES350 rear bumper cover but, it's different and fitment will take some serious modifying so, I'll have to figure something out. The dual exhaust tips would look great. A little at a time....

ilkinandr

I believe this is the part number PTR02-06041-01, Just call up any Toyota dealer and you can get it from them, cant call Lexus as this is Toyota performance part. Cool thing about our 05 Es330 is that many parts are compatible with Camry and Solara. What i usually do is find any performance parts that fit those cars and just compare the part numbers from toyota and lexus and see if they match for original part. If they do than performance part will fit as well. Why you wanna go with Alpine? can get full android HU for 200-300 with google maps or waze for GPS. Thats what ive done and love it. Installed hotspot in my car too, so it has full internet access.

https://toyotaparts.mcgeorgetoyota.c...r-ptr020604101

daredeil95

Great, thanks for the sway bar link and it's not pricey so, I'll be doing this soon. If it makes the car a little tighter then it's well worth teh money. As far as Alpine goes, I always prefered Apline, I could get a decent one for $700 or around there, I'm not crazy about the chinese owned company stereos, although they have gotten much better in the past 5 years and actually a good deal for the money if they last but, it's not for me....(political reasons) and I'm not knockin anyone else's opinions. Anyways, I always like the sound of a alpine, I've been buying them since the early 1990's and I'm gonna stick with them although, I would consider a pioneer or sony with apple car play. No matter what, it's gonna cost closer to grand for me. I'll ask Santa for a stereo...lol Hope i was good boy this year! Thanks for the sway bar link and I look forward to installing it.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500ILX...e-iLX-207.html

ilkinandr

Trust me that sway bar gonna be a lot tighter than a little. It has three adjustments, Normal, Sport and track. I set my to sport which is middle hole and i can take turns 80mph with no roll and a lot better grip as the car no longer starts losing tracking from tilting to one side. Once you install it let me know what you think. Alpine isnt back neither is Pioneer or Kenwood. I just dont see a reason to spend 600-1k on something that i can get way cheaper. I bought Xtron android HU and bypassed the stock amps as they are weak, had all my speakers replaced with pioneer and new JL audio 8in free air sub sounds amazing. But i totally get it if your against giving business to China, yet everything else is made in china too

Btw i think your from long island, I come to north babylon quite a lot, maybe we could meet up. I'd love to see what you done to your car.

daredeil95

How difficult was it to install the sway bar? quick job or a all day job? As far as the stereos goes, it's personal preference, I have had a lot of good luck with alpine and the stereo will last pretty much forever, i never had a glitch with a Alpine. As far as China goes, Alpine is a Japanese owned company, while the stereos could be manufactured in Mexico, Brazil, China or Europe the money goes back to the western banks and not into the commie banks...lol Those inexpensive chinese stereos make the commies wealthier so, not for me! I'm in my 40's so, I guess I'm still old school....and aintz changin! Like I said it's all personal perspective and a few hundred bucks won't make or break me and I do notice a difference in sound. It's kinda like this; I could record a Spotify album with my Wondershare audio recorder or buy a itunes album and there is a difference in sound quality with Itunes sound quality being better while being played through a quality system. So, for my favorite groups/albums, I always buy the CD or Itunes album. i see your from CT, I'm also in CT down in Milford(shoreline).

ilkinandr