Hello,
I currently own a 2003 E320. After 2 years of ownership I have finally got all of the bugs worked out of THAT car. My wife has a 2003 325i and it has some problems that I could not live with if I drove that car.

I'm thing of selling my E320 and ordered ( no money has changed hands yet) a 2005 SC, as the dealer did not have any on the lot.

There are some features that the SC has on it that my E320 does not have like, heated seats, searching the "pre-sets" of radio stations through the steering wheel controls, DVD NAV.

There are several features that I'm finding the SC does not have like, power (memory) headrests, lack of "ONSTAR" or equivalent, rain sensing windshield for the intermittent wipers, doors do not re-lock if unlocked from the remote key and you do not enter the car, free maintenance during the warranty period.

I know ....I know....I can't get all the features I want all together on one car.

Just looking for input....and was searching this forum for "problem areas" before I purchased it.

Any other Lexus forums that are frequented?

 

I'm pretty sure the door does re-lock in 30 seconds if you don't enter the car after pressing the unlock button.

 

I've been driving my SC430 for over four years now, and your list of features lacking on the Lexis is hardly compelling.

Power (memory) headrests -- who needs that? I didn't know anybody even provided such a thing. I hardly think this should be a deal breaker.

Lack of "ONSTAR" or equivalent -- Most of us have cell phones already, and Onstar adds litle more. I recall that GM has found that something like 70% or more of the owners do not renew their onstar service after the initial year or two that is provided free with the car. If you have NAV and a cell phone, you have a system that you control that is superior in many ways to "onstar."

Rain sensing windshield for the intermittent wipers -- Give me a break! My eyes sense the rain and I turn on the wipers as needed. A lot of car "features" are nice luxuries, but this moves into the area of parody.

Doors do not re-lock if unlocked from the remote key and you do not enter the car. I think you are wrong on this. If the doors are unlocked by the remote and not opened for some period (15 or 30 seconds), they relock. This is insurance in case a stray signal unlocks them while the car is parked.

Free maintenance during the warranty period. If you think that maintenance is "free" and not included in the purchase price, you don't understand pricing. Lexus could provide it, but the base price would have to go up. It's more equitable to have owners pay for whateever service they need.

I think an E320 is a Mercedes. Whatever it is, you say it took you two years to get the bugs out. I've had several Lexus cars, and they came with the bugs pre-removed. Rather than focusing on motorized head rests, you should be looking at the long-term reliability of the car, and the level of customer satisfaction. In these areas MB is declining and Lexus is now and has been at the top of the list for several years.

 

This the best & most informative Lexus forum, & possibly car forum you can find on the net.

 

Thanks for you honest reply......but...

The power (memory) headrests are a convenience because when the second driver wants to adjust their seat, wheel, mirror position prior to driving, the headrest does not have to be adjusted separately.

I have renewed my “Tele-Aid" once so far. While I agree that this subscription might not be worth the price of my lowered insurance cost, it has an advantage over you caring you cell phone. If you are involved in a serious collision that would inhibit you from answering you cell phone, the care automatically calls Tele-Aid and sends the "SOS" signal that you have been in an accident. I also have a portable GPS that I use in my Mercedes, of course I have found that very useful and something hard to do without, however, that GPS is not going to help me if I cannot see it or it is disable do to the car lying down in a canyon after slipping off the road.

The raining sensing windshield is a great feature to have. I find it very annoying to have to manually start and stop the wipers by hand while driving in light rain or mist. And when the light rain or mist stops for a while, my wipers stop. If the rain increases, the wipers speed in creases. I believe the SC 's continue to whip at a speed of the last selected position.

Re-guarding the door re-lock. If you not completely sure on this one, I will find out on the test drive.

The way the salesperson explained the lack of free maintenance makes sense. I understand that is built in to the price of the car and if I wanted free maintenance then I should probably go buy an SL Mercedes at about 30K more. The SC is compared to a Mercedes SL correct?

The lack of space in the trunk with the top stowed is one of the biggest concerns for me. Do I really want to through my overnight bags in the leathered back seats?

The ride flat tires are not an attractive feature, especially at $450.00 a pop every 15K-20K miles.

I have to compare this SC to what I'm going to give up...and that is a long list of features that I did not post here.

I have not had a car yet that did not have bugs in it and I’m sure that this car will not be any different.

 

MB has dropped their free maintainence right ?

It's not official yet, but there's going to be a very strong possiblilty that the SC430 is going to get a facelift this fall with upgrades in transmission & other features as well that may address some of the stuff you think you'll be missing, plus some you' ve never had on other cars, although it may not include memory headrest adjustments, but I think rain-sensing wipers is highly likely. You may want to take that into consideration, because the 2006 models will come in just a few months, but I think you can get a much better discount with the current one than a facelifted model this fall . . .

If you look at lexus.jp, the SC is in there as one of the models that'll be officially introduced in Japan as a Lexus this July, but the SC icon is not clickable yet unlike the IS & GS, so that looks like a strong hint that something new is up. It won't be a totally redesigned model or they would've introduced it in Autoshows by now, but a facelift with upgrades has been reported by unofficial sources . . .

 

[QUOTE=AmethySC]MB has dropped their free maintainence right ?

The Flexible Service System and included Mercedes-Benz Maintenance Commitment have been discontinued as of model year 2005.

Thanks for the heads up on this.

 

captmike,

All the additional features you listed are valid. However, I think by far the most important part of buying a car (at least to me) is the reliability and service. Maybe I am bias when it comes to Lexus (since I have owned 3 of them so far dated back in 1997). But I had a chance to compare Lexus to MB when my sister bought her 97' E320 and my wife's (then girlfriend) 2001 C320. Both cars have/had tons of issues. One thing that drove me to the edge and wrote a nasty letter to the MB headquarter was the incident when wife and I drove to car to vegas and in the middle of the trip the car loss power and the engine and everything else just shut down COMPLETED. We almost got rear-ended by a semi truck that was going about 75 MPH. (P.S. this took place when the car had only 20k miles and it also happen to my three other friends who also owns or OWNED C320.)

Anyways, my point is all these nice additional features might be nice to have. But when it comes to the safety issue (even though I admit MB might have one of the strongest body frame, however, problem like that can be serious) I found Lexus is a source I can put my money on. Not to mention when I spent all these money on a luxury car, I want to be able to drive it instead of constantly visit the service department. (Worst thing is HOUSE OF IMPORT don't even provide loaner unless it is a major service)

Bottomline, we sold the C320 and bought the SC430. So far so good.....

 

Thanks for the great reply, '

Although I have not had quite the alarming experience as you experienced in the MB, I have been annoyed at various things in my MB especially the audio system which I have had problems with for the past 2 years and finally got correct with the assistance of the MB (USA) regional manager. I did get a free wood steering wheel out of all the hassle and length of time it took to correct.

It would be a breath of fresh air not to visit the shop after purchasing (leasing) as car at this pricing.

 

to me, free maintenance is not needed for any lexus coz' their cars are way too strongly built. with other brands you need that coz' you bring your car in all the time, but with lexus, maintenance cost is pretty low, and then the warranty will cover almost everything else to make it right if there are problems

for the on star, i never like it, especially that i have to pay for it. stupid. for the rain sensor, i think it's nice to have, and just a gut feeling, i wonder if they will add it in the 06 that's coming out?

for the head rest i thin it's a good gadges to have though i don't really need it though. and i am sure about the locking thing. if you unlock the door and don't touch anything, after 30 secs it will lock again. if you unlock and then open one of the door and such and close it, it will not lock again anymore.

 

Hi, Captmike.

I do understand your concerns, relative as they might be. We're all lucky to be driving and/or contemplating cars in this price range, so it's a wonderful problem to have when you can list the lack of rain-sensing wipers as an issue. But, I admit it, I miss having those damn things every time it rains. I'm spoiled rotten.

I'm not sure what you mean about the door locking, but the doors DO automatically lock when you put the car in gear and go (or they can at least be set that way). I believe they re-lock after opening a door, once you go again too, but now you have me wondering.

The maintenance was an issue for me to get used to as well. I came from the BMW camp (still reside there too, actually) where everything is covered, so paying for an oil change was a bit of a shock. And as much as I love my Lexus dealership (and I do - fabulous people), you pay for that espresso machine and flat screen television in the waiting room with your service bills. But yes, they treat you like royalty and always have a loaner vehicle. (To be fair, the same can be said about my BMW dealership, although I think that's far more uncommon with them. And there's not a flat screen in sight.)

As for the trunk of the SC, I will tell you this. One of my biggest surprises with the car has been the amount of space back there when the top is UP. Many times, my wife and I have remarked how much we've been able to haul back there from a weekend adventure (unfortunately for me). Yes, when the top is stowed, space is at a premium. But you're going to find that with the SL too, I believe. The back seat IS nice for throwing a bag or a briefcase or a sack or two of groceries. Lord knows it's not good for a human.

Life is a series of trade-offs, they say. The SC is a great car, no question. I'll be honest with you, sometimes I miss the things I gave up. I'm kicking around the idea of trading mine on an '06 650Ci. But, I know I'll be giving up some things if I do that as well. I'm going to see what Lexus does with the '06 SC and go from there.

In the end, we're all pretty lucky.

 

I want to say the 2006 SC 430 may have rain sensing wipers. It should gain the 6 speed tranny as well.

 

......


Thanks for the great reply,

How do you feel about the run flat tires?

 

The RF issue has been debated on this board more than most others, I think. Do a simple search and you'll find more information than should be allowed by law.

The Reader's Digest version is that nearly everyone complains about them and I imagine, rightly so. There are some SC owners (you'd think thousands from reading this board, but if I were a betting man...) who have replaced the RFs with standard all-season tires and talk about how their lives have been changed for the better. I believe them, but I'm holding out for reasons I can't explain. I know a few have mentioned buying patch kits and carrying around with their A/S tires or there is the option or putting a spare in the trunk (and losing the little space you have), but I just like the theory of RFs even if the reality of them is a bit... well... harsh.

I did try Blizzak RFs on the SC this winter and will NEVER do that again. They were absolutely horrible. I will walk through the snow first. Barefoot.

So, to answer your question without answering your question.... necessary evil?

 

runflats are tires to avoid at all cost imho.... if you are not getting after market wheels, change out the tires right the way.