Los Angeles is VERY spread out. I wouldn't drive it.
However, check out lacitytours.com. They actually have "layover tours" for people in your situation. They will even pick you up down by the airport.
To see something that is the real touristy LA, I would advise taking a cab to Santa Monica and walking around there in the beachy area and 3rd Street Promenade. Have the cab driver drop you at a hotel lobby where you can make pre-arrangements with the concierge for a return cab ride at 6 p.m., since you need to be back at the airport at 7 p.m., and there is end-of-day traffic. This is all conservative planning, so you can eat dinner at the airport.
It is only a few miles, under 10, as LAX is basically an in-town airport.
If you get bored in Santa Monica, take another cab eastbound on Wilshire Boulevard a few miles to Beverly Hills and walk around there. Don't forget to cancel your 6 pm cab and move your reservation over with you in the same way.
As you see, we are not a town where you can just flag down cabs easily. You can get one at the airport, and you MAY pick one up easily at certain hotels (the concierge will tell you if so), but otherwise, it is necessary to call. We're working on that, so maybe next time you come, we'll have that particular facet of civilized existence licked!
You could take the free shuttle (called the G Shuttle at the Tom Bradly Terminal) which takes you to the Metro Green Line Station, Aviation/LAX Platform (time about 20 minutes). Once there ride the Metro toward Redondo Beach exiting at Douglas Station (time about 5 minutes). Trains arrive every 5-7 minutes.
Go down to street level which is S Douglas Street > toward Rosecrans. Within a quarter mile there are places to eat like Noahs Bagel, Starbucks, and numerous other places right across the street from there. Across the way is a Barns & Noble too...(if you are up to walking, west on Rosecrans there is a Mall about a mile from Starbucks and a theater...there may be a bus not sure though).
The fare for the metro is $1.25 each way. Douglas Station is only three stops away from the Aviation/LAX platform. Total time spent for travel one-way is between 20-30 minutes.
If you have several hours, I suggest you take the Flyaway shuttle to Union Station, which is in downtown LA, the heart of the city. From there, you can walk around downtown, take the subway to Hollywood, etc.
There are several Flyaway shuttles, so make sure you get on the one for Union Station.
some sightseeling companies have tours that
will pick you at Lax
http://www.starstours.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=1776
It depends if your flight is on a weekday or weekend because of traffic. Traffic is worst on Thursday and Friday PM commutes.
It also depends what you want to do since there are a million things to do in LA. In your limited time here, I would suggest you hit two places... Hollywood and any beach. Hollywood may be overhyped, but you can definitely find cheap tourist stands and you can see the Walk of Fame as well as some of the famous theatres there. Since the Metro Red Line opened, the area has really improved. I would suggest walking from Hollywood/Vine to Hollywood/Highland (in either direction). You'll be able to see the Kodak, Chinese, Pantages, and Egyptian Theaters.
There are many other things to do in LA and you can find them just by Googling or looking on Yahoo Answers, but these are the two I would see if I had limited time.
You might want to consider renting a car for the day, as the earlier poster had mentioned you cannot hail a taxi in LA, it is by appointment or taxi stands only. LA is one of the easiest cities to navigate as streets are primarily grid like and there is ample cheap parking (compared with Boston, Chicago, NY, DC, SF, etc)
If you are looking for public transit options, there are many limited stop buses called Metro Rapids (the red ones) and Metro Rail trains will go to certain areas. If you take a FlyAway airport express bus to Westwood or Union Station, you will have access to many transit options from there. The bus is run by the airport agency and runs every 30 minutes on the :30 and :00 (from Terminal 1 and circles through all terminals, then goes express) and costs just $4 for adults, and half price for kids I believe.
From Westwood, just walk a couple blocks to Wilshire/Westwood to board a Metro 720 to Santa Monica, which takes you directly to the SM Pier and Third Street Promenade. There are plenty of places to shop and eat there, as well as walk or rent a bike along the beach. It is biking distance to Venice Beach and back. To go back, you can take it back towards Downtown LA and transfer to the Red Line at Wilshire/Vermont to Hollywood and Universal City (where they have a free 5 minute shuttle to Universal Studios).
From Union Station, you immediately enter Downtown where you can find Olvera Street, Staples Center, Disney Hall, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, and much more. If you are taking transit, I would suggest getting a 1 Day Pass for just $5 which gives you unlimited travel on all Metro buses and trains.
I have attached a Metro Destination Guide, as well as a "12 Minute Map" which shows which routes run every 12 minutes or sooner during the weekdays, and information on the LAX Flyaway airport express bus.
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