Dummy post re: ES300

I have a '98 ES and my wife has an'02 ES.

My 98 is virtually the same as the '01 you're getting. I've had the 98 now for almost 8 years. It is an excellent car. You will love it. There are no major concerns that I'm aware of. (Some may mention the oil-gelling, but that was a lack-of-maintenance issue - not the model, itself). I hate the '02 (trans shifting thing) but love the 98.

I might mention here that my 98 was broken into two weeks ago. It is EXTREMELY easy to break into the car, and disable the alarm. (I won't publish that here.) It was clear that the perps were looking for my valet key. They wanted to drive it away. They didn't even touch $$, radar detector, etc.

I know many people who leave valet keys in their glove box or console. DO NOT leave your valet key in a 97-01 ES !!

njbok How many miles on your ES?

105 K Henry.........

Not to knock the '02 and later models but looks-wise I think I prefer the '97-'01 anyhow. Thanks for the info on your experience and thanks for the info on the theft. I guess an auto starter won't be too wise since they usually put the valet key near the ignition.

Well, I finally got my 2001 ES300. It took long enough but we picked it up on Wednesday. What a smooth ride but it will take some getting used to after over ten years in Ford Explorers. Other than size it's only shortcomings are power and braking. I expected it to be slower than my V8 Explorer (maybe not this much) so no big deal but the brakes on this thing are so vague and require much more effort. We love it so far and with only

7,500 miles on the clock we'll have a long time to get used to it. my question is this, has anyone else felt the brakes on these cars are a weakness? Am I expecting too much from them or could the fact that the car simply hasn't been driven much in the past four years contributing to the vagueness? Thanks in advance for any opinions.