You dont have to have a Car to see the sights of LA but it helps....its very hard to get about in public Transport,but if you stop at a central hotel,there are plenty of companys who provides tours of LA and universal etc....we use viator last time we went....pick you up at hotel and drop you back...but there are plenty of companys who provide the service..

http://www.viator.com/Los-Angeles/d645-ttd?activities=all

have a great trip we did the star's homes and orange country trip

My wife and I were in LA for 1st time last May for 4 nights and never used a car.

We stayed near Hollywood Boulevard at this hotel

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g32655-d77270-Reviews-Hollywood_Orchid_Suites-Los_Angeles_California.html

Its basic but a good hotel and the location cannot be better. It's very easy to get to Universal Studios, which is 1 stop away on the underground which is 2 mins from the hotel.

We used local buses a lot which are frequent and seen all the sights we wanted to see.

All the tour buses leave from near the tube station and you have the Chinese Theatre on your doorstep, I would reccomend it.

Thanks guys