[ted tcb]

Ahh, you're lucky you can keep it under 65mph.

My last STS was smooth as silk until about 68-75mph, then smoothed out again at 80mph. What a bitch when you're driving 4 hours to a wedding with a car full of family, and traffic is moving at 70mph.
My two choices were to drive in the RH lane slower than traffic, or keep it at 80 plus.
Thank God for the outside weights ... it made the car much more enjoyable, almost like a new ride.

Re your Camry, it sure looked nice in your photos.
My coworker bought a new Solara in 04, and it soon developed a few nasty rattles, which drove him nuts. He switched to a used ES300, and has driven it for 5 years on our frost heaved, pot hole'd, crappy Orillia streets. Not a rattle. Same platform, but if anyone thinks the Toyota is built to the same standards as the Lexus, then they haven't driven both vehicles through a Canadian winter.

I considered buying a used STS last week ... I must be a masochist, but I miss diagnosing and trying to fix little issues. My body guy had a customer selling his 98 STS ... it had a $4k paint job in 2006, fixing the sun damage caused by Arizona winters.
The car looked brand new, and the blue on blue colour scheme was quite dramatic. New Michelins, perfect chrome rims. I forgot how hefty everything feels in the STS ... a nice, muscular feel.

I passed because my next one pretty much has to be crimson pearl, with a solid service history. This one had 80k, avg service history, and they wanted too much at $5k. Right now, you can get into a 2002 with HID and Nav for under $7k ... I just have to be patient.

Maybe I was just lucky, but my 4 STS' all had between 80k-110k, and I never had an engine or transmission issue. Every other issue I read about occured ... you name it, I experienced it. Still, it gave the cars a personality. I might feel differently had I gone through a $3k repair, but for me, the motors were rock solid. I changed every fluid, belt, plug, fpr, etc. and never had a hiccup.
Still the best used car value on the market. Up here, we have 2004 STS' for sale. There are currently 4 for sale on Autotrader, and you can get a decent one for around $11-12 Cdn. What a bargain for a car that has worked out many of its issues.