2003 Lexus ES300 from North America - Comments

Tires completely wore out at 14,000 miles and needed replacing.

This car is great for both city and highway driving, with a very smooth ride. Brakes are very responsive and handle well on slick roads.

The seats could be made a little more comfortable, which you especially notice after driving great distances.

Buyers should pay close attention to the tires that come with the new car. The dealers use a tire on the new cars that are very soft, so the car drives very smooth at the beginning. However, the tires start wearing out about 5-10,000 miles and you start to hear loud roaring sounds as you are driving. In my case, the dealer was only willing to pay for two new tires, even though all tires were bad. After having all four tires replaced with top quality tires, I found out from several other Lexus owners that they experienced the same problem.

The dealer is not responsible for the tires that are put on any vehicle that come from the factory. The manufacture is.

Did you read the owners manual and have your tires rotated when the manufacture states? Did you make sure the air pressure was kept where it is recommended?

If you follow these recommendations the tires will generally last longer than 14000 miles.

My es330 got approximately 25K out of the original tires and a close friend of mine who manages a national tire store said that was better than many people have experienced with the Michelin's. They are a very soft rubber and riding tire to make all us old farts happy with the ride, but they get poor wear. He recommended I put on a set of Yokohama's at less than half the Michelin price and they are warranted for 60K. They do ride slightly harder, but I actually like the handling better.

I have a 2003 es-300 as well. The tires were gone at 20k miles. Expensive car with crappy tires.

The transmission also shifts rough and at the wrong time on frequent occasions. Anybody else having this problem?

Hi all.

I am having problems with the tires on my 2003 LEXUS ES300 loaded with 25,000 miles. I bought the car brand new from dealer in 2003. I have driven it very gently, however, three out of 4 tires on my car have been wearing out unevenly on the tires surface - only the inner side of the tires wearing out, but not the outer side of the tires. The only tire wearing out evenly is the front tire on the driver side.

I suspected the car had an alignment problem so I took my car to LEXUS dealer about 4 weeks ago. They charged me $56 for the inspection ONLY (not fix) since they said the alignment warranty for only 12 months after purchased. I agreed to pay. After 4 hours waiting, they said that "nothing's wrong with the car's alignment", when I asked why there are 3 tires wearing out unevenly and only 1 tire is wearing good. They said that "due to the specific, particular vehicle so the tires are wearing that way. ROTATE the tires every 5000 miles will fix the problem"

I am not sure if the problem will go away later, but I admit that for long time I have not rotated my tires. However, my other driving cars like TOYOTA CAMRY, HONDA ACCORD, BMW 325, Mercedes BENZ C230, C280 did not have this kind of problem at all even though I did not rotate any of them.

If anybody has any suggestion how to fix the tire problem on my LEXUS, please, send me an email at Friendlyguy95055@yahoo.com. Thanks.

That doesn't sound correct, you might be skeptical about this, but I suggest taking your car to a mechanic, as in, not a certified Lexus mechanic. Find someone who has a Hunter 6000 alignment machine, it is the best alignment machine to date. Bring them your car and tell them your car, I bet they will find problems that the Lexus mechanics did not.

This comment is to the person that has the tires that are wearing unevenly. Take your car to a place like discount tire and have them check your rims to make sure that they are still in good shape. If the rims have been damaged in such a way that are say (out of round) (warped) in any way that would certainly cause what is happening to your tires. Most mechanics do not think to look for this. it just happens, you hit something (or someone did) in or on the road that damaged your rims.

Careful when getting your tires checked, replaced, etc.. i had new tires put on my lexus es300, 2 blocks after driving away from the dealer I heard a loud grinding noise. I stopped in a fast food parking lot and checked the wheels, all looked fine. I grabbed each tire and moved it back an fourth and my rear driver side wheel was loose. I jacked it up and tightened the lugnuts myself. will never go to that place again, but goes to show you even the best reccomended places might have some idiot working for them that wasnt paying attention when changing your tires or anything else for that matter. be careful where you get your service done.

2003 ES 300-My tires started making noise at 14k also. I Made it to 20K, but the tires make horrible noise. The car was never misaligned or had any other mechanical problems and I did frequent tire rotation. Just junky tires. Replaced original tires with Goodyear Comfort Treads and they still look like new with 19k miles on them.

I just bought a 2005 ES330 from my mother with 24K miles. The tires are worn and the car was driven by my father (no hot rodding and meticulously maintained). The dealership said the factory tires had a very soft compound resulting in the wear.

I was going to purchase the Michelin tires at Costco, but the reviews aren't so good.

I just put my fourth set of tires on my 2000 Lexus ES 300. The tires are only averaging 25,000 miles. Two sets have been Michelin and one set Bridgestone. The Michelin dealer advised my tire shop that they cannot get a Michelin of any kind to last longer than 25,000 miles on a Lexus ES 300 for cars that were made for a couple of years. All of my sets of tires were worn evenly across, as I had made sure car stayed aligned and tires rotated.

My stock Toyota tires wore out very rapidly as well, but I didn't rotate them or anything. Still, with consumables like this I don't really blame the car manufacturer, especially since tire manufacturers are the ones who make the darn tires =P.

Not something that really affects what car I choose though, since there's compromises with tires for just about everything. Rolling resistance, acceleration traction, wear, bad weather handling, whatever it is there's a compromise somewhere = (

The Bridgestone Turanzas on our ES300 were also good for right about 25K miles. Excellent ride characteristics, but the trade-off is in treadlife. That said, I'd buy another set just like them. Putting sporty tires on an ES is like wearing track shoes with your suit.

The dealer installed new tires on my wife's ES300 at about 12,000 miles (Lexus paid for two of them) and then aligned the tires. I pointed out that the front tires were slanting out at the bottom but the dealer said it was within specs. Of course, the new tires wore out on the inside and when you took off normally in the rain, the tires would spin because not all of the tread was on the ground. So there is a lot of slop in the Lexas tire alignment specs. So now at 35,000 miles it is time for a new set of tires. I also have the transmission shifting problem. It never downshifts when it should under light and medium throttle, and if you press further it downshifts two gears and you look like a hot rodder. The car is a 1992 with 35,000 miles and is driven by a grandmother and stays in the garage, yet it is falling apart. It sounds like a tractor when driven out of the garage in the morning; I think it is an exhaust leak the dealer can't duplicate. Also, it reeks of gasoline fumes when she backs it out of the garage in the morning. Something is in the air conditioner, because if you drive for an hour, your eyes tear up and your nostrils burn. The power lumbar support doesn't work any more either. Oh well.