Car service time My car needed its 30K (major) service about 2K miles ago, so I brought it into the dealership. Service dude was pretty cool, said his car (w/ 300 hp or so), got blown away by an IS w/ a tuner mod. May have to look into that :) TRD upgrade kit or something. Anyways, I got a free muffin and a loaner car, 2002 IS300. Usually I just chill and surf the net there, but this service would take a while.

Some things I noticed about this car compared to my 2001 model.

- outstanding responsiveness, at least compared mine. Hopefully the service will resolve some of those issues.
- now has presets for seat position. Old hat for Lexus sedans but a first for the IS series.
- CD slot now has dust cover - I like. Mine is all dusty :(
- nicer arm rest, but less space in the compartment underneath
- dashboard looks more ricey - no like
- groove in the gas hole cover to put the gas cap - really good (LS has had this for a while)
- little net type thing in the trunk
- spoiler in the back, not too ricey
- when you start the engine, the doors automatically lock. Good if you live in East Palo Alto I guess. What's weird is that even tho the doors are locked from the aside, when you pull the door latch -- it still opens.
- nicer cup holder divider
- NEW CAR SMELL! man, they need to bottle that and sell it, cuz I'd buy like 10 of 'em (so would every used-car dealership in the world).

Overall, nice, but not THAT much nicer. Still eats up gas like nothing. Wonder if there were any under-the-hood changes.

P.S. A curse on whoever messed up my mango smoothie. I had to eat it with a spoon. :p
  ¶ 1:27 PM