Hi all,

Just back from a few days on the West Coast of Scotland. Went up to Glencoe, Ballachulish, Glenfinnan, Loch Ness. All stunning areas with some excellent driving roads. Jeremy Clarkson could do worse for his next test drive.....

However I managed just under 36mpg! Which I thought was excellent if you bear in mind the type of twisting roads I was driving on.

Anyway it gave me the chance to have a good look at the car and I have a couple of queries which I hope you can answer.

(1) The speedo dials make a slight whirring noise on start up. I know this is a long standing issue and Lexus will fix under warranty. However this means a new instrument cluster. It also means the odometer will not read the true mileage and will start at '0' again. Who has had this done? Will it affect the resale value do you think?

(2) On start up, that annoying noise from the steering lock disengaging appears to be getting louder. Again has anyone actually asked Lexus to investigate and replace this 'unit'. I don't know why it needs to be so loud!

(3) When I move from Auto to Sequential to use the paddles, the gearbox always moves to 4th, regardless of the speed - is this not slightly odd - should it not adjust to the speed and revs of the engine??

(4) When the engine is cold, the revs sit at about 1500rpm, before sharply rising to 2000rpm for a short burst then moving down to just over 1000rpm - it seems an odd procedure to go through and not very 'smooth' or Lexus-like. Is this the norm?

(5) Lastly, my car is a 55 plate - should the doors not auto-lock above 10-20mph?? Mine doesnt.

Other than that, great car and still the best looking small-exec. around.

Thanks

Ah! the fine roads of the West Coast of Scotland - I've been all over europe and still haven't found any better! Have you tried the pass of cattle over to Applecross - Brilliant and scary!

1 - Mine doesn't do this
2 - Mine seems to be getting louder too, don't know the answer
3 - I actually quite like this because it puts you in a good overtaking gear (the sports part of the box is way better than all but the most recent BMW efforts) - but didn't I read somewhere that the 2009 models will allow you to use the paddles without selecting sport?
4 - Mine does the same - I have been told (?) that it is to make sure the top end of the engine gets oil quickly before you move off
5 - Neither does mine, but I drove one recently that did and wasn't too keen.

Lastly, I agree, a great car!

#alan

my steering lock is also loud and i will be asking the dealer too look at it at next service,auto locking after moving off is not a feature on your model year, but is a feature on newer models.when i had a loan car with this feature i found it annoying when exiting the vehicle and getting the children out.

Does sound like a nice drive indeed!

1. Have they said it will reset the odometer? I would've thought it was a separate unit which they would swap into the new cluster - they only replace the odometer if that's the actual faulty part. Either way, it shouldn't affect residuals if you're honest about it and keep receipts.

3. Have always found that weird as well, it's a bizarre feature, but I'm guessing that the thinking behind it is that if you're shifting into sequential, you might be wanting more power (to overtake or something) so it shifts down to a lower gear

5. I believe the autolock was only introduced in the 07 or 08 cars - either way it was a relatively recent addition so your 55 plate won't have it

You can turn it off anyway

Thanks for replies.

Sorry I did mean to say that the whole instrument cluster would be replaced, not just the needles. It actually isnt that loud a noise, but if I can get it replaced FOC (the unit itself is £1000 from Lexus the dealer told me), then maybe I will get them to have a look at it. The fact the odo will read zero, kinda disturbs me.

I will also get them to have a look at the steering lock noise - its definitely getting a little louder. I just cant see the need for it to make any noise at all.

On another note, I recently used a detailing clay bar on the car followed by 3 coats of wax. The car was stunning and looked out of the showroom. When it looks this good, its a headturner. I think anyway. Plus at 36mpg who can argue!

Cheers.

(3) When I move from Auto to Sequential to use the paddles, the gearbox always moves to 4th, regardless of the speed - is this not slightly odd - should it not adjust to the speed and revs of the engine??


Thanks
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I thought that this is how many gears are available ( i.e the first 4 ) not what gear you are in

Mine's a 55
- it revs on start-up. So did a 600 mile 58 plate SR I borrowed the other day.
- no issues in mine (so far) with ignition/panel noise
- autolock only on later cars. Frankly its a pain as it doesn't unlock when you switch off and park.
- 36 mpg... mine says that on the computer, but if I work it out myself, it comes in at more like 32!
- I suspect it drops into 4th when you move into 's' as most of the time, you change into sequential mode when you want to overtake, or punt it along a bit. 4th is a reasonable starting point for this rather than 6th for example.

Thanks for responses!

Found this on YouTube:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=p9HmlynBuVo&NR=1

As for Jeremy Clarkson, he had this to say about the Lexus IS:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/j...ticle710808.ece

Vids like that Youtube one are brilliant.

The dial one is a bit obvious. Mine never made that noise thankfully - one issue itnever had, but several have had.

I took a vid of the rattles in the car and gave the dealership one last go. It made painful viewing and the dealership kept the DVD...they failed to fix it and the car soon went...

As far as JC's comments are concerned, there are plenty of female drivers of IS's in and around my neighbourhood...my neighbour and his wife for one!!

slightly off but the G1 IS is becoming the rich yob's Pug 106/Cit Saxo where we are - so many now with loud exhausts and big wheels, LED's etc...quite worrying what trend that is setting!!

Why is it worrying you?

image...

my estimation of jc has slipped ater his comment's on sunday's top gear,saying that the fiat 500 was better looking than a mini,should have gone too spec savers.

Reference my comment about the noisy electric steering lock....

Lexus Glasgow had a look at it today and agreed is was noisier than it should be. They will have my car for a few days take the appropriate bits off and investigate (he told me). If it needs replaced they will do it. They stated that they had not had to do this to any 250's before.

And while they are at it they are going to replace my instrument cluster - the needles whizz round and sound like a 'bag o' nails'.

Suits me.

do let us know how you get on with the steering lock.

Hi,

Got the car back after a few days at the garage.

They replaced the odometer and the electric steering lock.

What a difference. The car is as good as silent now on start up.

Sweet.

did replaement of the odometer zero your mileage.which dealer was it.

Yes odometer starts again at 0. Never mind.

I got it fixed at Glasgow Lexus.

No quibbles.

So I guess the odometer isn't a separate part to the rest of the cluster then? I always thought on modern cars that it was separate so they could swap it out if the cluster needed to be replaced.............guess I was wrong!