Ok I have just purchased a Crystal White 2000 GS300 with 30k miles. I paid $24k at the dealer auction for this car. I really cannot believe how nice this car is. I do have a couple questions. I have a tan interior and there are some marks from shoes and seems to be pens on the dash and door panels. What should I use to remove these marks? Secondly, I am defenitely buying some wheels for my new car but don't want to lower it. My max was lowered and I really wanna keep this car pretty much stock besides a few minor mods. What size should I get for wheels and where can I find mods for this car's lighting. Thanks in advance and I will post some pics soon.

 

Congrats. Read lighting forum for tips on lighting. I put Polarg M6's in the parking wedge lights and really like the difference there. I also put clear sidemarkers with Polarg M4's in them and they look great too.

As far as rims, IMHO, if you're not going to lower it, I'd say that 20's look best.

 

I had a 4th-gen (95) Maxima SE 5-speed and used to hang out over at Maxima.org

Guys over there are a bunch of pr!cks for the most part IMO.

I sold it... it wasn't NEARLY as reliable as everyone I talked to would have had me to believe. The chassis was horribly loose\sloppy feeling... every time I went over the bump you could just feel the whole car flex and shake, and there were some pretty serious quality issues with the paint and some interior pieces.

I disowned it about a year ago and now have a 99 GS400 w/ 30k miles and couldn't be happier.

I loved the comment I got from my friend who drives a 6 month old '02 Altima V6 with 5k miles... "Dude, I didn't realize how nice your car was until after I got driving it and got back in mine. Now mine feels like a 10 year old matchbox car."

The only thing I don't like about this car is that you can't get it with a manual tranny... and the manumatic shifting is a ****-poor alternative to the real thing. If lexus insists on keeping GS owners from using a manual tranny they need to at least look long and hard at BMW's SMG tranny. That thing is wicked.

Oh, and to get the stains off your interior plastics, Armor All makes a great product that is strictly for cleaning. I hate their "protectant" stuff- you know, the stuff that everyone is referring to when they say "Armor All", that makes all your plastic shiney... it contains silicone disolates which really screw up your dash over the long run... it's like crack for your car. But their cleaning product (comes in a purple or green\blue container, I forget) works pretty good.

If it's a tougher stain use Simple Green... but if you do, make sure that you rinse the area off with water afterwards or you may discolor the plastics.

 

Ya this car absolutely blows away my old max. I am pretty excited every time I drive now. I am going to replace these orange side marker/turn signal and get some 19's but I think that is it for mods. I say that now but who knows what will happen. Ya I hope this club is more friendly than the org cuz those guys for the most part are ******.

 

Hey! I used to own a Maxima myself. 91 model. I was totally in love with the car and nothing really compared to it during the early to mid 90s in its class. She finally died with 250K miles. RIP

Anyways, I really think you should look into the L-Tuned suspension parts - springs, shocks, ECU - as a minimum upgrade to your GS3. If you haven't already noticed our car's stock suspension is pretty soft and is quite dangerous during high speed manuevering (well at least the way I drive ). For roughly $1K installed you can really tighten up the handling and steering and provide a better aesthetic look once you do get some rims on that ride. The ride itself of course gets a little harsher but not too much IMO that takes away from the Lexus ride.

If you want to get lower and yet still retain much of your ride you can also look into the coilover systems alot of the other members have installed.

Peace and welcome to the board,

Mark Mac

 

Ya I put Ground Control Coilovers in the Max but really hate the roads where I live so I am not convinced to lower this one yet. I am prolly just gonna be stock for a while but still a lot nicer than my Max.