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.
Sorry to hear about your disappointment. I think it depends how well the prior owner--if applicable--took care of the car. I have had the opposite experience. I purchased a 1999 SC300 several days ago (92,000 miles on it), and had it inspected by both the Lexus dealership and my local mechanic. Both said the car is in superb condition, with no leaks anywhere, everything still is original, and the original screws have never been touched, indicating nothing has been done to the car. The timing belt was changed as part of routine maintenance at 74,000.
It's a silken drive, no doubt, with good acceleration, and handles quite well. I've been impressed with it to this point, and have no fear--because of the endorsements received by trained professionals--driving it on extended trips. Now, I have only put on about 700 miles since I purchased it (it was 250 miles away), but I cannot foresee anything going wrong with it by the time it reaches 1000 miles.
Wish I could offer you something to make your frustration disappear. Hope you're done with the pocket-drain!
-Dan.
Wow I hear from many people who own these things that they have between 200-300,000 miles on them and have no problems. You cannot just buy any car or (Honda or Toyota for that matter) and expect them to be superb. People do the oddest things to their cars and I think you got the one that was beaten up.
As read your complaint list you basically had to replace:
1. Some light bulbs
2. Some rubber bushings in front and rear suspension
3. A part in the exhaust system
4. Replace the cam seals (this should not cost $1400, please check with another dealer). You probably do not even have to change these immediately just check you oil level on a monthly basis.
5. You had to clean the idle air control valve.
And this is the complete list on a ten years almost 100,000 mile car. And you are complaining about these issues?
Anyhow the worn bushings, the leaking cam seals and probably the (rusted) exhaust part should be easy to spot before you bought this car. Its plain fantastic to read reviews like this where people buy old cars with a lot of mileage on them and expect these cars to act as if they were new. Please, do a reality check.
I fully agree with the last comment left here. Any vehicle over a certain mileage, especially over 50/60k will start to drop rubber seals and suspension parts.
As for the cam seal well worth getting fixed ASAP. On certain vehicles it can destroy either the distributor or the timing belt through oil saturation. Of course, I should imagine that the Lexus is chain driven, but on a 1997 I should not be surprised if it did not have a distributor.
At the end of the day, some owners would be better off in a brand new cheap marque if they do not understand the hands on maintenance level required in keeping an elderly bargain executive barge alive. It seems a tad unfair to blame Lexus for general routine maintenance parts failures.
People don't understand cars need to be maintained and if they are not things will go wrong. I always buy used private party cars with around 30-60K miles. My last 4 cars have all been Lexus. I make sure when I buy the car that the previous owner has all records. Also try and buy from the original or 2nd owner. When you get into 5 and 6 owners that usually means the car has problems. My current 2002 LS430 is by the the most reliable car. It has close to 180,000 with no problems because proper care.
You guys should give him a break. He bought the car with the assumption that it has outstanding Toyota relyability and didn't think he had to fix anything on it even with high mileage. It's a little bad to think that way, but you gotta see it that he just based it on the fact that everyone says these cars last forever with no problems. So he does have reason to complain somewhat.
I am the one who wrote the original review. I am a student and I have yet to buy one single car yet that had less than 100K on it. My first car was Olds Achieva (105K when I bought it). then I bought Pontiac Transport (102K).My Achieva lasted me 147K and I got rid of because I didn't drive it for a long time and it developed mold. I am still driving my Pontiac van that got rear ended and I bought it back from insurance for $300 (it runs "PERFECT") Neither of these two cars ever gave me this much trouble as this Lexus. I only bought this lexus because it is a Lexus, name says it all, the best of japanese you can drive (in my opinion). It just unbelievable how bad this car is, what maintanence do you do to make sure cam seals don't leak, or steering pump getting messed up or even bushings get bad or exhaust start leaking. I never had to do these kind of maintainence on any of my previous cars which for most of Lexus owners are totally unreliable. I thought that since it's a Lexus, atleast it will last for another 100K with regular maintainence. All these problems that I mentioned are quite "COMMON" for this car (check clublexus or lexus ownersclub and search for these problems). Car was never in flood and was dealer maintained.
Well its good to hear that you are having good experience with your Lexus. For me it is a total junk.
For you Sir
"At the end of the day, some owners would be better off in a brand new cheap marque if they do not understand the hands on maintenance level required in keeping an elderly bargain executive barge alive. It seems a tad unfair to blame Lexus for general routine maintenance parts failures."
I take great care of my cars. And this stuff is just not normal wear and tear (other than the bulb may be)
Answers for your comments in " "
1. Some light bulbs.
"OK, I am okay with it, it is normal wear and tear"
2. Some rubber bushings in front and rear suspension.
"Never has to change these on any of my previous car, but okay I take it as normal wear and tear"
3. A part in the exhaust system.
" Apparently you have no clue about exhaust on cars, and The toyota dealer"s" won't just replace the y-pipe, but they will replace the whole section including cats which cost a lot of money, I welded a new flex pipe with help of a friend, but this never happened on my old American cars"
4. Replace the cam seals (this should not cost $1400, please check with another dealer). You probably do not even have to change these immediately just check you oil level on a monthly basis.
" Cams seal leak will eat up the rubber on the timing belt and make it more flexible to slip"
5. You had to clean the idle air control valve.
"Again you don't know jack about IAC valve on ES300. New valve cost around 200, it never happened on any of my old cars"
And this is the complete list on a ten years almost 100,000 mile car. And you are complaining about these issues?"
My previous cars have driven much better and way over 100k with a way smaller list.
My Lexus simply sucks!!! and yes "L" stands for Loser or Lemon.
Hello all!! I have a 1997 ES300 and it has 160,000 on it. This car is still running strong, and my only complaint is the cup holder in the front; I found out real quick when my iced tea was all over the passenger seat; it was sitting there like a lake.
I bought it at 100,000 and this is the best car I have owned hands down. I have also a 04 Honda Accord and prefer the 97 ES over the Honda.
Only thing I replaced were the brakes and rotors.
When I purchased this ES300, I kept in mind the mileage and the future possible maintenance issues that could come up, but I have been fortunate this was a 1 owner, and if something ever happens I would like to get the 2000-2001 model with the newer lights.
We just bought a ES300 Lexus. Everyone told us Lexus is the best. We will put in a bit of money because the front and rear seals are going, so they will at the same time change the timing belt. At first I was upset, but we found out that the timing belt is part of the general maintenance needed. Our new used Lexus has 174,000 miles. It was a one owner car, I would if I didn't have the money, be very upset, but fortunately, we are able to get it fixed. We also have had two warning lights come on. Emission control, and traction. These have been repaired and even with these repairs needed, I figure once done, it should be good for a long time. We have had the car for 2 months. Very nice informational site.
To the original poster:
What is a (I'm assuming poor) student doing buying a Lexus? You need a V6 to run around town when a simple Corolla or Ford Escort will do?
You want to drive a reliable car with low cost/no cost maintenance? Then you would know that parts in Lexus are more expensive than your American cars. Nobody will argue otherwise. You should have stayed away.
On the other hand, if you are a rich student (rich daddy/mommy/uncle or got a good paying job) then, stop complaining for these little stuffs. Everything you have done couldn't have cost than a grand, which is not much.
Next time, buy only what you can afford, and spend/invest what you must to keep the car running till graduation.
I also have a 1997 ES300 with 190,000 miles and she drives like a brand new car, no smoking on start-up, and she idles so smooth you forget she is on... but there are some problems that are common on ES's like the rear bushings, I had to replace mine because they were so loud... you cannot feel that if a person has a complaint with their Lexus that they are prejudice against Lexus, becuase after all there is no such thing as a perfect car... i truly love my car, but Lexus is not a car that is 100% problem free, sometimes they do have problems like any other car... i know a guy who has a Honda Accord 1989 with 500,000 miles (honestly) and it still has the original engine... just shows you if you fix things and take care of your car you can get many many many miles out of it... no matter what kind of automobile you drive...
Guys guys... I have a Lexus ES300 1997; seriously it's just great!! Don't forget the car is 11 years old with 140000 miles on it, and it just runs smooth.. I took care of it though!!
It's quieter and smoother in riding than some cars release after 2004... so that says a lot...
No problems at all, except my trunk is not opening anymore from inside... Who cares; I use my key:)
Lexus Lexus Lexus guys!!! Reliable!! Just take care of the baby.
I bought a new ES300 in 1999 for my wife. She uses it around town and has only 85K miles on it. This past year I tried to get rid of this annoying rattling in the suspension by replacing everything from the tires, shocks, bushings and having the front end aligned. Much to my dismay this rattling, which sounds like ball joints being loose, is still present. Anybody out there got a remedy? Thank you all in advance...SAM.