xanderES

iTrader: (8)

For quite some time now there has been a slew of threads from new members about problems with the car.

This paints a misconstrued picture and does not include an accurate painting of the majority of happy owners. I would like to think most of our cars have held up quite well.

I'd like to ask members the year/mileage of their ES350's and what problems/repairs the car has needed apart from regular routine maintenance.

Ill start - 07 with ~88k purchased in `06 and was the first black sapphire I saw around my area
Almost all of the 1st model year problems: shift flare, nav would always say right turn instead of left, squeak behind the center console, that clicking plastic piece behind the steering wheel controls etc. As a matter of fact, I was at the dealership so often early on with the car (before they came out with a shift flare fix) that I got to personally know some of the techs! Most of these small problems I would have never of known or really cared about if it wasn't for this forum. Either way, it seems the shift flare issue is more of an odd inconvenience than a ticking time bomb. I'm sure there are members in the 200k+ range here that are still going strong.

Apart from the design issues there were no mechanical issues at all. I never had to worry about repairs as I had the 7yr/100k warranty but nothing ever went wrong, or broke, up to the day I traded it in.

Overall I would never buy a 1st model year car ever again as id rather let them work the kinks out first but I by no means regret owning the car.

ThumperPup

knock on wood that nothing happens after wrighting this lol.
but so far my 07 es350 is holding up really good
i did buy it when it was still under factory warranty
with 44k on it so it still had the powertrian warranty
a few days after i bought it i found out it needed a pront passanger side drive axle issue repair the boot was cracked and the lexus factory warranty took care of that and fixed it .
I purchased a second party warranty form a company called Simplicity auto protection
for 5 years 50k from when when i bought the car
the next issue did not happen until 80k
at about 80k i found out the struts where leaking 3 where leaking 1 was ok tie rods 1 was bend stab links where cracking or going bad.
I didn't even think that that would be stuff that the warranty would cover i had gone in thinking ok so ill end up paying a 1000 or so to repair it the price came up at 1600 so i decided i would call the service contract company up and they said they would cover it all.
when the car had 87k on it i went in just to have the water pump belt replaced for the drive belt and i was told the w.p was leaking warranty covered that.
Iknow these are big repairs the W/P when it has to be replaced at under 100k might be thought to not be holding up properly but i think it is holding up good for the year and miles

I paid 2300 for the warranty when i bought the car
and so far it's paid 2800 for repairs

it is next month and i don't want to have a laps in it its expiring because of miles im almost at 50k
so i bought a new contract from the same company i only when with the Power train choice the top powertrain coverage out of the 3 they have i got it 60 months 100k and paid 2500

but anyways i think its holding up good
you can't forget that you must do maintenance to keep it to hold up good

LexBob2

I bought a new 2007 ES350 right out of the box in late-April/early-May of 2006. I followed the early problems with the new model, but fortunately, my car was problem free with no warranty or service bulletin work during the nearly 4 years that I owned it.

Then I bought a 2010 with the mid-cycle refresh and really enjoyed the interior and exterior changes and updates it received. No warranty or service bulletin work with this one either in the three years I had it.

Neither car was high mileage but the reliability and satisfaction was impressive.

jagtoes

2010 bought new and now has 29,500 miles on it. Been to the dealer once for it's first oil change . I service the car myself and am still on the OEM Brightstone's . No problems

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

^ that seems to be a highly irregular instance. Ever in an accident, drive where there are huge potholes like in LA, or hit a curb? I can see the bent tie rod creating a chain reaction of blown struts.

LexBob2 its good to see you still checking up in these forums even after trading it in long ago. Your post count blows my mind compared to mines lol <- just realized my account isnt the original I started in 06

I really thought we'd get more contributions to this thread though... cant really get a baseline of reliability with such a small sample size!

jkayca

I have an 08, bought it new in Aug 2008. The only maintenance done was the normal wear-and-tear stuff like fluid changes, brake pads etc. At appoximately 86,000 kms I'm happy with the car. The paint could be better though. So far no rust but the hood is chipped rather more than I would expect for a car this age and mileage.

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

Unfortunately this is the trend for cars as the paint moves more towards EPA and environmentally friendlier materials. I been told by my very knowledgeable detailer that Lexus paint is just softer than most. For this very reason I would never drive behind anything like a van/truck/semi because they would kick up gravel or pebbles.

At least we don't have clearcoat failure like I see in civics all the time in so-cal.

christcorp

I have an 07 ES350 with 77,500 miles on it. Only 3 issues.

1. Shift Flare: BUT, if you understand what it is, (And what it isn't), then you realize that it's not a problem. On cold mornings, starting about this time of year, if after letting it warm up for 30 seconds or whatever your normal warmup is; if you take the gear shift and run it through all the gears one time: Park to Reverse to Neutral to Drive to manual 4 to 5 to 6 to 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 back to Drive...... then normal...... then it will not flare. This procedure takes a total of about 5-6 seconds. If it's a cool morning or first drive of the day and I don't run the gears so the computer can adapt, then it will flare THE FIRST TIME at 4th gear. Again; not a problem. Definitely nothing I would risk more trouble to my car because I chose to have them work on the transmission. (I have a CPO vehicle with 100,000 mile warranty but won't even think of letting them mess with the transmission.

2. Soft paint: As mentioned, the paint is soft. Good news is that it helps really hold up to Hail. Bad news is it easily can get rock chip if not careful.

3. Mental Screw up: My car was in MINT condition when I bought it. It has a clear bra on it. I learned the hard way NOT TO TAKE A CAR WITH A CLEAR BRA ON IT THROUGH AN AUTOMATIC CAR WASH THAT TOUCHES THE CAR. It scratched and scuffed parts of the clear bra. I spray wash my car from now on.

Other than that, my car is doing great. I still average 31 miles per gallon on the interstate, (Doing 80-85 mph Wyoming highways); and 26 mpg in town. Everything works great. No issues with the car at all. Any issue; other than the flare (Which is NOT AN ISSUE), has been self inflicted.

Robert_J

I have an 07 ES350 with 152,000 miles. Like christcorp above, I have both 1 and 2. Every spring I'll touch up the chips on the front of the hood.

I had the oil line blow up before getting the recall notice. I'm on my 3rd set of tires. I had to have the radiator replaced after my wife ran over a piece of steel on the interstate. The 2nd set of struts has hit the mileage to be replaced but they are holding up better than OEM. I've had new brake pads and rotors. Earlier this year I had the upper control arms replaced and last weekend I had the ball joints replaced. I'm on my 3rd front bumper (lost one to a truck with a trailer hitch and another to a very large dog not on a leash)

Other than the oil line all repairs are either accidents or items that wear out.

jagiovana

I have a 2007 ES 350 that I bought new, March of 2007 - 120,000 miles. The car runs great - and I don't baby it. Only issue I've had was a blown hydraulic line, but Lexus came and got the car, fixed it, and did their best to clean up the mess. Now, if I can just get my wife to stop backing into it...twice in 4 months...ARG!

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

You should look into buying a rear view mirror/license plate bracket back up camera system. Cost was about 4-500 when I last saw it at my audio shop and that included labor.
If you do end up going this route find one with a plate bracket where they hide the bolts so people cant steal it with just a phillips screwdriver.

Robert_J what mileage did you need to change all the struts? Was it a preemptive or did some/all start leaking like Thumperpup?

Universe93

The 2007-2012 ES also has a sealed transmission, but I am not so sure of this concept and reliability. Have any of you guys changed your transmission fluid and at what interval?

BMW and GM tried the "lifetime" ATF mantra in a couple models of vehicles. They proved it doesn't work in the long run. There is an entire mechanical wear spectrum that the ATF is responsible for in terms of debris generated by clutch pack frictions, clutch pack steels, rolling bearing surfaces (***** and races), thrust load surfaces, toothed gear engagement surfaces, etc. Over time the ATF will have to keep all of that garbage in fluidic suspension, and eventually it won't be able to do it...that's how you get soft and hard deposits, a.k.a. sludge.

Also, there's the issue of fluid thermal degradation. No matter how good the tranny design, and no matter how cool you keep the ATF, it always undergoes a huge thermal load at the driven gearset gear engagement points (gearing on main and countershaft(s) and the differential). In terms of fluid volume and affected surface area, it's absolutely puny, but eventually over time and miles the entire ATF load is exposed to that environment.

christcorp

Lexus/Toyota say to do it at around 120.000 miles. Pretty much, unless you plan on keeping the car for more than 240,000 miles, it's a once in a lifetime maintenance. But I do know some who have toyotas/lexus that has more than 240,000 on them. Either way, if you plan for a tranny service every 120,000 (7-10 years), it's not such a big deal. Of course, if you bought a used lexus and it had 110,000 miles on it and you need to prepare for a tranny fluid change sooner, it could feel a bit more painful. It's only a couple hundred dollars to have it done. Some old schoolers will say you need to do it every 50,000 miles. Others say it's good until the 120.000 miles. My ES350 doesn't do a lot of hard work. It doesn't tow. It's not in a harsh climate. I have every plan on doing it at 100,000. That's only because it's a round number that I plan on having a lot of things done. Even if there's more miles to go. Then, other than normal oil/lube jobs, I'll do the same again at 200,000.

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

To add to what Christcorp said, when lexus says "lifetime" it is conveniently meant to last the life of the power train warranty of the vehicle. Which is 100k. Obviously this is great for them as it lasts the amount of time that they have liability to fix it. Obviously if it is out of warranty they could care less.

jagiovana

Xander, she has rearview camera, and parking assist... Yup...