ptplujo

iTrader: (1)

Hello all,

Have a 95 sc300, and now an 08 gs350 too. Love both cars to death. What are a couple things as a new owner should know? I've read a lot of the threads already and my question is really not about maintenance/mechanical because I've made myself aware of most of them; more about functionality and features. Believe me when I say this that I've went through all 40+ pages of the master tip/trick thread and every thread in the faq sticky that pertained to me. I didn't found what I was looking for so thought I'd ask this excellent community whats up.

For example, is there a way to turn off the single dome light at the top? Theres 3 lights total in a triangle fashion and the middle one will not turn off at all. How exactly do the ventilated/cool seats work? I don't notice a difference. At one point during the day I noticed my side mirrors were blue almost like it was tinted; then it became clear again. etc..

What are some cool or need to know stuff a new owner should know? I wasn't lucky enough to have the owners manual when I got the car and I'm sure a lot of them are in there.

ptplujo

iTrader: (1)

Man, that sucks no one knows. I found out the single dome light can not be turned off unless unplugged. That sucks. I've been trying to find a link to the personalized option threads which I assume lets you know how to program all doors, unlock, delay lights, etc.. anyone else have another link or the file?

I've noticed recently that first, second, and third gear shifts really fast at like 2-3k rpm. Is that normal? Even when putting a little more of a lead foot on it, it still changes as soon as its possible.

Lastly, is it possible to swap out the cd unit for the dvd version (ML)?

Sodium

Congrats on the new GS!

Changing the personalized settings can only be done with Toyota's Techstream software – the official software is something like $3000, but you can download it for free if you know where to look (you'll need to buy a mini VCI cable to connect the car to the computer, I think they're $30-50). If you don't have Techstream, you can get them changed at the dealership.

Ventilated (not cooled) seats have fans inside the seat bottom and back rest that blow air through the perforations. The ventilation isn't extremely noticeable when it's on, but on a hot day you'll definitely notice its absence after it's been off for a few minutes. I've read that replacing the seat cushion can improve the ventilation (the foam will deform and constrict the air passages after thousands of hours of being compressed by the driver's ***), and turning up the speed on the HVAC fan with air coming out of the footwell vents will make more air available to the seat ventilation.

Sounds like your car is shifting normally – the shift points are set to maximize comfort and fuel economy, and shifting at 2-3K serves both goals well. If you really want to get into the power band (4000+ RPM), you either have to really put your foot down or use the sport shift mode. If you want it to be a bit more responsive, you can unhook the negative battery terminal and leave it off for an hour or so – this will reset the ECU so it will learn your driving style. You may want to consider getting the transmission fluid changed depending on your mileage (Lexus USA says the ATF is lifetime fluid, but Lexus Canada says it should be replaced every 60,000 miles – I'll leave it up to you as to which sounds more reasonable). Also, the water pump should be replaced every 80,000 miles.

As for other cool stuff:

• The rearview mirrors are electrochromatic, so they become darker when there's a bright light behind the car (mostly to reduce glare from headlights at night)
• The instrument cluster glass is also electrochromatic, though it only becomes dark when there's bright sunlight behind the car (presumably to reduce glare off the metallic dials)
• There's a lot of other cool stuff, but it'll take too long to list

As for your question about swapping the CD unit, I have no idea. You should post up a new thread with this question

Also, I attached PDFs of the service schedule and owner's manual (the manual is in two parts because uploads are limited to 5MB per file)

ptplujo

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the excellent reply Sodium.

All the little other cool stuff that will take you too long to list, that's exactly what I'm looking for. All the little quirks in ones car that most people unless they do a full on autopsy investigation on the car will never know. Such as last night I found out there were grocery bag hooks in the trunk!!!

The oil/transmission/filter(s) and tires were the first things I replaced when I got the car. I had an inspection done on it by Lexus before it was bought and myself has not noticed any leaking, high pitch whine, or signs of early overheating yet so I haven't looked at replacing the water pump yet. I really appreciate the help and those links to the manual.

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

the GS350 when they reach 80-100k miles its best to replace the water pump as many do weep out of the pulleys, eventually draining all the fluid and over heating the engine. Some people have destroyed their engines from this.

Aisan sells "OEM rebrand" on ebay for $100.00 and only take 2 hrs to install. May aswell change the idler pulley, thermostat, and serpentine belt while your in it.

knipknup

Well, I just typed up a really cool list but this damn thing logged me off and after I re-entered my username/pswd, I lost all that I typed. So here's the short list (grumble, grumble, grumble).
I had comments and details about each one of these, but not retyping. Ain't nobody got time for that!

auto reverse mirror tilt/rear window shade
sport/speed button
heated/cooled seats
SAT receiver (actually the service really sucks and I won't continue once trial is complete)
steering wheel buttons
bluetooth phone

ptplujo

iTrader: (1)

The comments and details would be awesome if you have time in the future.

The mirrors are awesome. The sport mode is great. The seats, uh the ventilation is not so great on mines; but livable. Steering wheel and bluetooth is awesome too and standard on most cars now. The SAT, are you referring to siruis/xm?

Here's a couple more quirks I've found:
1. Your plastic engine cover plastic clips pop up when you press down on the outer ring. No thin-wall flathead needed. (probably applies to other cars with similar plastic clips)
2. Compass can be recalibrated if you are equipped with it in your rearview mirror. (useful if you bought your car from a different area or have moved)
3. I know a lot of people don't know this, but if ever accessing your spare; the plastic hook you pull up to get the luggage mat up hooks to the top of the trunk opening on the weather strip.

speedkar9

You need Toyota Techstream for most of those options. Its a $20 cable off eBay/ Amazon, and well worth it with the amount of information you can collect and settings you can change.
Here's a quick demo video on my old ES:


I actually hate the electro chromatic side rear view mirrors at night because it makes lane changes very difficult! Even more so after getting my windows tinted. I think I'm going to unplug them, and just have the center mounted rear view mirror dim.