For the love of cars.... I just can’t give this one up

Blueone

Well-Known Member
SILVER Sponsor
Jan 24, 2007
13,688
Lake Erie, Ohio
Boat Info
2004 420 Sundancer
Engines
Cummins 6CTA 450's
It’s a 2013 Lexus ES350... the last three years it’s been my mule car... I use it to run back and forth to work and to the boat... both trips are 500 miles round trip. It now has 186k miles on it... it’s never had a mechanical/electronic repair.... nothing but brakes and tires...not even a battery.... I just can’t justify getting rid or it and putting miles on my other cars.
I looked at it today and thought the headlights looked foggy... it’s in the garage so it better look like it belongs there... so I got out my boat tools and wet sanded the lenses with 600, 1,200, wool pad and compound ..then wool pad and polish. This took 20 minutes and the result was huge.... now owning a blue 45’ hull I have some practice.:).. but a cheap quick way to make the thing look new and really easy to do with these plastic lenses.

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Nice job. I have owned two RX350's and like you I love Lexus. Never had a problem except tires and brakes. Dealership is top notch. Will buy a Lexus again.
 
I need to do that to my 2012 BMW 750i
It was my wife’s car and I took it over when we got her the Maserati. I use it as my daily driver to keep from putting miles on the Ram 2500. Funny, with the cost of diesel and the fact that I drive 8 miles through town every day they literally cost the same to operate!
The lights came out great!BTW.
 
I commend you for taking the time. I would have just replaced them with new ones :D

I helped my old man do the headlights on his 360 because they fog up on the inside and good used ones are $3000 each if you can find them :eek:
 
We had a Lexus for 7 years and it was rock-solid. I just wish they'd move away from their signature grill because I just can't bring myself to love them. Kind of like BMW's for about 10 years of Bangle.
 
I’ve got the 3m kit in the garage to use on my wife’s RX. I just sold my ES330 with 185k still like new virtually no problems. We have had several RX’s and my FIL had LS’s all went way past 100k miles with no problems. I plan to get another / newer ES, but last year my FIL passed away and since I had sold my ES I started driving his LS430 - again 135k and looks and runs like new. Just can’t beat a Lexus in my opinion.
 
We had a Lexus for 7 years and it was rock-solid. I just wish they'd move away from their signature grill because I just can't bring myself to love them. Kind of like BMW's for about 10 years of Bangle.
I agree with you on the Bangle butt cars. I am a die hard BMW guy and I skipped owning those era of cars. Too bad I think they are trying to catch up with Lexus on those grills. I agree you can’t beat Lexus reliability. I wish BMW were as reliable.

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It’s a 2013 Lexus ES350... the last three years it’s been my mule car... I use it to run back and forth to work and to the boat... both trips are 500 miles round trip. It now has 186k miles on it... it’s never had a mechanical/electronic repair.... nothing but brakes and tires...not even a battery.... I just can’t justify getting rid or it and putting miles on my other cars.
I looked at it today and thought the headlights looked foggy... it’s in the garage so it better look like it belongs there... so I got out my boat tools and wet sanded the lenses with 600, 1,200, wool pad and compound ..then wool pad and polish. This took 20 minutes and the result was huge.... now owning a blue 45’ hull I have some practice.:).. but a cheap quick way to make the thing look new and really easy to do with these plastic lenses.

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Nice! I’m the same way as I travel for work. The car is my mobile office. Can’t justify buying a new car every few years when I put 25k a year on it. I drove an 05 Saturn Vue until 2 years ago. It was the Admirals 1st new vehicle we bought her when our 1st mate was born. The thing finally rattled apart.

Not a Lexus, but I did purchase a 2018 Toyota RAV4 for work. Expecting many miles and years on her.
 
I like the treatment of the headlight covers. I have a 2005 BMW 330ci that could use that. Now I just need to get my butt in gear and git 'er done.

When you wet sanded, what type paper or cloth did you use?
 
When you wet sanded, what type paper or cloth did you use?
Brand name is Gatorgrit... it’s black paper. I got it at one of the big box stores don’t remember which, probably Menards
 
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We just took delivery of our 4th RX350, previous ones were 08/13/15....the new one has lots of features which can be disabled...lane tracing assist, adaptive cruise control which take some getting used to. It is interesting how the build quality is changing...metal used is lighter weight ie doors and hood areas, carpets are lighter weight material. Still a great vehicle and amazingly quiet, but I’d take the trim and finish of the 13/15 model year.
And fwiw...the 2013 had 128k miles on it and it still ran like new...as others have said oil changes, brakes and tires was the only reason for shop visits.
 
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Anything Honda/Acura or Toyota/Lexus are uber reliable. Simply amazing from that standpoint. In my opinion, their "driver experiences" are nothing to write home about compared to a similar BMW/Audi, etc. I'm on my second M3 and my wife has an X5. Amazing rides, however, I've had my fill wrenching on both and I think the next one will be an Acura MDX/RDX.
 
Anything Honda/Acura or Toyota/Lexus are uber reliable. Simply amazing from that standpoint. In my opinion, their "driver experiences" are nothing to write home about compared to a similar BMW/Audi, etc. I'm on my second M3 and my wife has an X5. Amazing rides, however, I've had my fill wrenching on both and I think the next one will be an Acura MDX/RDX.
I agree with you on the Bangle butt cars. I am a die hard BMW guy and I skipped owning those era of cars. Too bad I think they are trying to catch up with Lexus on those grills. I agree you can’t beat Lexus reliability. I wish BMW were as reliable.

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I picked up a new X5 2 weeks ago defecting from Audi. It is an amazing driving suv. (Way better than the Q8 IMO) and I don’t mind the new grills at all. I actually like them and they’re still smaller than Audi’s. :)

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2001 Dodge Ram 2500, bought new, now 298,700 miles
replaced headlights for $40 for the pair

just sayin...
:rolleyes:
 
I picked up a new X5 2 weeks ago defecting from Audi. It is an amazing driving suv. (Way better than the Q8 IMO) and I don’t mind the new grills at all. I actually like them and they’re still smaller than Audi’s. :)

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Congrats. You will love the X5. Not many other cars drive as well but things will go wrong. I have had good luck with all my BMWs but I also maintain them well. For me they are worth the added head ache and expense but I really appreciate the lack of issues that Japanese cars have. My wife drove MDXs for years which were completely bulletproof but they got too small for us so she moved on to a Yukon Denali. That was fine for what it is but not fun to drive at all. I finally talked her into an X7 and she loves it.
I have a M5 Competition that I will never sell. It is rare a color and standard shift which is all but extinct in the modern car world.
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Congrats. You will love the X5. Not many other cars drive as well but things will go wrong. I have had good luck with all my BMWs but I also maintain them well. For me they are worth the added head ache and expense but I really appreciate the lack of issues that Japanese cars have. My wife drove MDXs for years which were completely bulletproof but they got too small for us so she moved on to a Yukon Denali. That was fine for what it is but not fun to drive at all. I finally talked her into an X7 and she loves it.
I have a M5 Competition that I will never sell. It is rare a color and standard shift which is all but extinct in the modern car world.
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That color is pretty slick. What do they call that? I've also got the blue M brake calipers on my X5 and really love that little touch. I really like the X7 too, but we are just a family of 3 and can't really justify the extra room. The X5 is just right. I drove an Acura TL back in the day and was very fond of that car. Never a single issue in 7 years of ownership. My Q7 had a few issues but nothing too major ..also owned for 7 years. Wife is a Merc gal and so far no problems, and I also drove a CLS 550 awhile back and never had an issue with it ...so maybe we've just been lucky with Merc. I don't have any qualms about added maintenance or potential issues with this X5 ...I'm not sure I've ever enjoyed driving a car as much. Definitely no other SUV I've ever driven even comes close.

PS Blue-Really nice job on the headlights./ Sorry to hijack. :)
 
That color is pretty slick. What do they call that? :)
It is Sakhir Orange. Sorry again for the hijack. I get caught up talking about cars.
 

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