cruzinZ
06-21-2015, 11:00 AM
History first. Scroll down if you want to skip the story of how I came to my new car. Last year I went on my first traveling assignment. Was gone for about five months before getting laid off due to my training supervisor taking off for a family medical emergency.
Drove 2,200 miles to get home and landed a job on my second day in town. Third day in town a car ran me off the road in a canyon on my sportbike. I bounced off two boulders and broke 15 bones including my wrist, that now has a plate and seven screws. I started that job 3 days after surgery. The job was a power plant turn-a-round scheduling project. It was supposed to last 2 months. I completed all of my work in 2 weeks and was told thank you for your service. It paid off because their evaluation of me panned out to my current position.
Bad things happen in threes...... 5 months after the motorcycle accident I put new tires on my daily driven Honda Accord. While driving to my parents house for Sunday night dinner a car pulled into a parking lot at the last second and the truck in front of me slammed oh his breaks and went sliding. I slammed on mine and the ABS kicked on for about half a second before it went into a slide. My wife and I had time to look at each other and say we're not going to stop in time. It felt just like being on ice except for the loud screeching sound of tires. If the tires would have been scrubbed in I'm positive we would have been able to out break that truck in the same circumstance. The tires had less than 20 miles on them.
Needless to say that car was a wright off & the F150 in front of me had a basketball size dent on the underside of his bumper. From 6' back you wouldn't have even noticed his bumper.
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NEW CAR
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While my wife was out visiting me 2 weeks ago she emailed me some pictures of new cars she thought I would like. We were planning on replacing the Honda anyways as it was a two door coupe and we need a 4 door vehicle. I was dead set on getting a Toyota Tacoma. My wife's idea for the next car was along the lines of a Mazda 6, Honda Accord or the Toyota Camery. She also picked out a Lexus IS350.
Needless to say I picked the IS350 and called a close friend who is a sales manager at carmax. We had the car shipped to my hometown and my wife picked it up when she got home.
It has some very minor paint dings as you would expect with a used vehicle. Nothing Dr. Paint chip won't take care of.
The only thing that worries me is my wife said the leather seats were starting to show signs of cracking. The car came from Los Vegas so I know it saw plenty of hot weather. Does anyone know where I can find used seats for a 2010 or 2011 IS 350? They are the standard Lexus light tan color with perforations and ventilated and heated seats.
I've searched eBay, Craigslist (searchtempists), message boards, and googled IS350's that were being parted out. With the car only being 5 years old I know that there are some wrecked cars with near perfect interiors. I just need a lead and hoping someone on here might be able to help me. The dealer MSRP is $2,900 per seat, so that's not an option!
Like most people on autogeek I keep my vehicles spotless and cracking leather is not something I'm willing to put up with. Also seat covers are out of the question. I really like the soft leather of the Lexus and do not want to block the ventilation & heating that the stocks seats provide. I typically clean and condition the leather two - three times a year to make sure the leather stays clean and supple.
Drove 2,200 miles to get home and landed a job on my second day in town. Third day in town a car ran me off the road in a canyon on my sportbike. I bounced off two boulders and broke 15 bones including my wrist, that now has a plate and seven screws. I started that job 3 days after surgery. The job was a power plant turn-a-round scheduling project. It was supposed to last 2 months. I completed all of my work in 2 weeks and was told thank you for your service. It paid off because their evaluation of me panned out to my current position.
Bad things happen in threes...... 5 months after the motorcycle accident I put new tires on my daily driven Honda Accord. While driving to my parents house for Sunday night dinner a car pulled into a parking lot at the last second and the truck in front of me slammed oh his breaks and went sliding. I slammed on mine and the ABS kicked on for about half a second before it went into a slide. My wife and I had time to look at each other and say we're not going to stop in time. It felt just like being on ice except for the loud screeching sound of tires. If the tires would have been scrubbed in I'm positive we would have been able to out break that truck in the same circumstance. The tires had less than 20 miles on them.
Needless to say that car was a wright off & the F150 in front of me had a basketball size dent on the underside of his bumper. From 6' back you wouldn't have even noticed his bumper.
_________________________________________________
NEW CAR
_________________________________________________
While my wife was out visiting me 2 weeks ago she emailed me some pictures of new cars she thought I would like. We were planning on replacing the Honda anyways as it was a two door coupe and we need a 4 door vehicle. I was dead set on getting a Toyota Tacoma. My wife's idea for the next car was along the lines of a Mazda 6, Honda Accord or the Toyota Camery. She also picked out a Lexus IS350.
Needless to say I picked the IS350 and called a close friend who is a sales manager at carmax. We had the car shipped to my hometown and my wife picked it up when she got home.
It has some very minor paint dings as you would expect with a used vehicle. Nothing Dr. Paint chip won't take care of.
The only thing that worries me is my wife said the leather seats were starting to show signs of cracking. The car came from Los Vegas so I know it saw plenty of hot weather. Does anyone know where I can find used seats for a 2010 or 2011 IS 350? They are the standard Lexus light tan color with perforations and ventilated and heated seats.
I've searched eBay, Craigslist (searchtempists), message boards, and googled IS350's that were being parted out. With the car only being 5 years old I know that there are some wrecked cars with near perfect interiors. I just need a lead and hoping someone on here might be able to help me. The dealer MSRP is $2,900 per seat, so that's not an option!
Like most people on autogeek I keep my vehicles spotless and cracking leather is not something I'm willing to put up with. Also seat covers are out of the question. I really like the soft leather of the Lexus and do not want to block the ventilation & heating that the stocks seats provide. I typically clean and condition the leather two - three times a year to make sure the leather stays clean and supple.