We bought a 2004 Lexus ES330 new . We looked at Avalon and Camry before we bought. The ES330 is basically the same running gear and engine as the Avalon and the Camry. FWD 3.3 liter 6cyl. It was updated in '04 to 3.3 liters from the previous 3.0 liters (the ES330) The car is a great car, we have the Navigation also and it works reasonably well. Now the bad: while in Las Vegas this last weekend (1-28, 1-29-06) I was driving the car and stopped at a light. The brake pedal then slowly sunk to the floor! Whoa! says I, this ain't right! I pumped the pedal and the brake returned to a normal brake height. At the next light, guess what?... it sunk to the floor again! No brakes! I pumped it again a couple of times and the brake pedal returns to normal height. I does this 2- 3 times again on the way back to our lodging in Las Vegas. When I parked it in the parking space at our apt, I was able to make it go to the floor again with very little pressure on the brake pedal. We called Lexus of Las Vegas on Monday 1-30-06 and had them flatbed the car to the dealer for repairs. They at first told me it was a "bubble in the brake line and they "bled it out"...BS..there was no bubble, there was no loss of fluid, there was no repair. They said because they "couldn't duplicate the problem" they weren't authorized to change the master cyl. That we should just come pick it up and drive it until it looses it brakes again! I said .."NO WAY!!!!" Fix it , it's under warranty and it only has 17,000 miles on it. Well it turns out that Lexus won't let there service mgrs. make a decision on their own, but must be able to "duplicate the problem" in order to authorize a repair. My position was that the brakes had failed not once on Sunday, but several times and that anything over once was one time to many. I asked if the service manager would put his wife in a car that had the brake pedal go to the floor and tell her that he can't do anything unless he actually sees the brake pedal on the floor. ( He'll be sleeping on the couch for a while!) I told him I wasn't willing to see the brake pedal on the floor and my significant other on a stretcher being taken to a hospital because he couldn't "duplicate the failure" in his shop. I asked him if he had heard the term "intermittent failure" . He said yes, but his mantra was : I can't replace the part unless I can "dup......Blah , Blah , Blah" . We live in Los Angeles, the car's in Las Vegas, & so is my S.O. And nothing is fixed, NO loan car for 3 days. I then called the Lexus dealer in Van Nuys where we bought the car new (Keyes Lexus in Van Nuys Ca) and asked if they could intervene. I got the same answer: We can't do anything unless they can "Duplicate the failure" Then I tried to call the Lexus customer service line (1800 25-LEXUS) and there's no answer at 4:15 pm PST. I tried it 4 times , It just rings and rings and finally hangs up on you. ( I guess their cars only break before 4:15 PM ) Bottom line: You may think you're getting the best, but sometimes you don't get what you pay for. Today is Wednesday, 2-1-06 and the car has been at Las Vegas Lexus for 3 days, no repair, NO loan car. Refusal to tow it to our home so we can have it fixed in Los Angeles and ....A very Pi---- off customer. A customer who when we signed the purchase contract also was given a warranty.. and they are not living up to their obligations on the agreement we both entered into. So folks, like the housing market, so is the Vehicle market turning. Customer satisfaction is slowly going out the window. I hope the quality stays above water until Somebody out there cares enough to take care of the customer after the sale. If not, Toyota Motors USA will be joining GM and Ford, et al, in the slippery slide. By the way, I was in the automotive field in the 70's and 80's and saw the dismal products that were made in those two decades, so I left the business. I ran an automotive service center. I still am an automotive enthusiast and work on my own antique and classic vehicles. I am not afraid of the new technology and have a broad understanding of it including the Computerization of the automobile. BUT... I have a warranty.

Maybe its the scheduled maintence item: time to change the oxygen sensor(s). Often, this code is stored in non-volatile memory and will not erase by disconnecting the battery. It requires a special tool to reset the code, and the dealer will not reset this code until he has changed the oxygen sensor(s). I am not familar with Toyotas, but on some of my cars, the light that signaled it was time to change the oxygen senso((s) was a separate lamp and read, "maintence required". So maybe, a trouble code has been set. Who knows? The best way to find out is to read the code, or have the code read by a repair shop with the proper tools. My advice: Quit guesssing and have the code read. Remember, reading the code is only the first step in diagnosing a problem.

We ended up with the Honda Civic EX. We looked again at the Corolla, but they checked and told us there wasn't a white Corolla in a 5 state area with ABS and side airbags. They said they had never seen one at all with stability control. ??? We had an offer of a white Honda LX without side airbags for $15,200 with 1.9% interest. There was no white LX with sidebags anywhere in the state. We almost took the one without the sidebags, but we really want the side airbags. They didn't have a white EX with sidebags, but they found one at a dealer 300 miles away. They wanted $400. over invoice. Too much I though and we left after 3 hours. They called me at home and knocked $100. off. Still too much. They called back and offered invoice. I took it. They are still of course getting a dealers holdback and I am sure there is more. The EX also has ABS brakes, sunroof, and a few extra bell and whistles. We are paying $17,475 with 1.9%. I hope this is fair. What do you think?

One thing to consider is the auto market in general. right now, the lots are jammed and deals are easier to get. Some companies will be raising the price of the 2009 models when these arrive in the show rooms later this year. If economy turns around this winter and is on the road to recovery next year, You'll not see the same deals available right now. However, a 2008 new model will have almost 1 year depreciation as soon as your drive it off the lot because the 2009 models will be comming soon. If the economy contiues to tank next year, its a toss-up which is the better choice for your purposes. The 4 cylinder Camry is reported to give good trip mileage. On the other hand, I've heard (from my friends) that repair costs in a Toyoto dealership is much higher than at GM. Other folks will argue that you'll be returning to the GM garage more often than at Toyoto. You can't win! Buy the one you like. The 4 cylinder Toyoto will return good fuel mileage and reliability while the 6 cy Malibu has more pep. Driven conservatively, I'd expect the Malibu to return decent fuel mileage, but less than the Toyota. Both of these engines should return at least 100,000 miles of life without major repair under reasonable driving conditions. Commuting traffic will shorten the life of the transmission because of more frequent shifts and bursts of acceleration. Since both cars are within $1000 of each other, check with your insurance agent for the cost of like insurance on both models. A significant cost increase of one over the other may signal a differential of body repair, replacement, or theft costs.