1997 Lexus ES300 ES review from North America

Withing 1 month of ownership I had to replace 4 exterior light bulbs.

Rear sway arm bushings had to be replaced because of funky annoying noises.

Now it is time to replace the front bushings too, because of a nasty bumpy noise.

Steering wheel start produce chirping noise when moved left or right.

I had to replace the Y pipe on the exhaust because of the leak.

The worse thing is that now I have to replace the cam seals because they have started to leak. (1400) dollars.

There is a common problem with idle air control valve, which will shut the engine down at stop lights unless you clean it.

Wind noise above 60 mile per hour.

The gas mileage is just average.

Previously I owned three American cars and none of them "EVER" gave me this much trouble. I have spent more money on this vehicle than all my three previous cars combined. This is the worst car I have ever owned. And believe me all the problems I have described above are not some rare problems, but they are extremely common in all ES vehicles (97-2001). So please don't think I am coming from the moon with a bad mouth about Lexus.

If you have money to fix cars, by all means buy ES300. The best thing about the car is the acceleration, it drives beautifully and handles extremely well. I love the way it drives and looks, but I hate to funnel money to fix it too often.