In Europe we only know the Lexus ES since 2018, but in the US the first generation debuted.
Exchange without crying
In Europe we have only known the Lexus ES since 2018, but in the US the first generation made its debut in 1989. Peter van der Linde brings a copy of the second class to Soesterberg, a car that has been driving in the Netherlands since 2000, has been in Peter’s eye for almost ten years and that was exchanged for the car of a good car shortly after registration for this category.
It started with a Toyota MKII Grande
Lexus is Toyota’s superlative. Not even necessarily in terms of quality, but especially in terms of luxury and driving comfort. It’s no secret that the ES shares a lot with the Camry, although the model we see here is based on the Windom. What led Peter to this Lexus? “Together with a good friend I did an internship in Suriname for six months. There we bought an old Toyota MKII Grande, a six-cylinder with rear-wheel drive, for 3,500 Surinamese dollars, which was about a thousand euros, through an advertisement in a newspaper. Years later, in 2014, the same friend in the Netherlands bought this Lexus. I drove Toyota. It had 128,000 miles on it and it was in pretty bad shape. We did all the maintenance together in the years that followed.”
The biggest problem was always finding the parts, remembers Peter. “If you ordered something, it was almost always the wrong part. Until we discovered the parts.lexus.com website. There you will find all detailed drawings and part numbers. What a relief! Usually the stuff comes from the US, like the engine mounts. The real Achilles heel is the windshield. It can really only be ordered in the US or Japan and costs €2,500. Or take the flexible part of the exhaust. I could actually order that from the Toyota dealer, but when I heard the price, I was shocked: €1,900 excluding VAT. That is more than what I paid for the whole car in 2018.”
Hydraulic fan motor
That the ES is basically an extremely solid car is evident from the fact that it still functions flawlessly after 27 years and more than 300,000 kilometers. Even our judge Joep is impressed by the quality after his test drive. And when he looks at the engine compartment from below a little later, he notices a very special detail: the radiator fan is not driven by an electric motor, but by hydraulics. “I suspect that Lexus chose this solution to make the car even quieter and such a fan is more powerful than an electric one,” he says. As a technician, what does not make him happy is the way in which the gas installation is built in, in particular the part under the hood. It indeed looks very messy and makes tinkering with the engine quite disastrous. Fortunately, that is not often necessary, although the valve cover gaskets now need to be replaced. That is a difficult job with such a transversely mounted V6. “Yes, I know all about that,” says Peter. “Replacing the rear three spark plugs is a drama. With the help of a mirror and a lot of patience we succeeded. Now it’s the turn of the valve cover gasket, which will be a challenge. Even though the car is no longer mine, I will still be involved and help if I can. In fact, it has been an ongoing hobby for almost a decade.”
ES exchanged for a Corsa
Is there really nothing wrong with this Lexus? Apart from regular maintenance, these are mainly age-related ailments, such as a TDC sensor after the engine no longer exceeded four thousand rpm or a leaking vacuum hose from the EGR system. “In the interior everything still works as it should. Only the climate control display broke and I ordered a used one in the US. That turned out to no longer work properly, but I managed to make one well-functioning display from the two again. In 2015 I was stupid enough to install a non-original timing belt. It soon started making noise. I had previously replaced the water pump and it started to leak because there was no original gasket in between. In short, everything had to be removed and now it has an original belt and an original water pump from Aisin. I had the leather upholstery of the front seats repaired by a local tailor and now it’s the back seat’s turn. There are still some things to fix, but that is up to the new owner, Fiere van der Wier, a good friend. He was looking for a bigger car because he will be doing more miles, hence the gas tank. I just wanted something smaller and that’s how I exchanged the Lexus for his Corsa. He is happy, I am happy, because I can always take him with me for a day and I will continue to help with maintenance.”
Owner Lexus ES300
Name: Peter van der Linde
Year of manufacture: 1979
Place of residence: Groningen
Occupation: technical account manager ICT
First car: Toyota Corolla E9 1.6 XLI
Previous car: Toyota Corolla E10 1.6 GXI
What would you like to change about your car? “A nice list.”
What is your longest journey with this car? “To Stockholm.”
Signaling
Make and model: Lexus ES300
Bought in/before/odometer reading: 2018/€1,000/176,000 miles
Powertrain: petrol/LPG
Combustion engine: V6
Cylinder capacity: 2,995 cc
max. power: 140 kW/188 hp at 5,200 rpm
max. torque: 275 Nm at 4,400 rpm
Drive: front
Number of gears: 4, automatic
Front/rear brakes: compound discs/discs
Luggage space: 465-1,510 litres
Weight (lpg): 1,601 kg
Avg. consumption: 10.2 l/100 km (1:9.8)
Practical consumption LPG: 12.5 l/100 km (1:8.0)
0-100 km/h: 9.4 sec
Top speed: 224 km/h
Maintenance history
In recent years, Peter has tackled the following issues:
• Engine mount
• Flexible part exhaust
• Front seat upholstery repaired
• Display air conditioner
• Water pump
• Timing belt
• Spark plugs
• TDC sensor
• Brake discs turned
• EGR vacuum hose
What’s wrong with it?
• The engine transmits too much vibration to the interior
• The steering wheel is quite worn
• The front left wheel bearing has play
• The front left outer drive shaft boot has been sealed
• The outer left rear brake pad jams
The to-do list
• Replace bonnet gas springs
• Update old repair work on door and rear wheel arch (is now somewhat matte in color)
• Rear shock absorber dust covers (no longer available)
• Have the rear seat upholstery, which has torn at the seams over the years, repaired by the tailor, as was done with the front seats
• Top up air conditioning. The system still works well except for some noise from the pump, it was last refilled in 2018
• Find suitable cover plates for the place where seat heating buttons are now located
• Alignment due to the new tires and rims
• Interior lighting sometimes does not come on because the buttons near the doors are at their ends
• Finding an auxiliary spring solution due to the recent installation of a gas installation
• The connection between the mid pipe and the muffler is not ideal
The opinion of Carrec Technocenter
“Two thumbs up for the Lexus. Very impressive in what good condition this car still is after 27 years and more than 300,000 kilometers. The car simply drives well.”