Crispy

You can find some info on a number of different 16" tyres fitted to an IS250 here. http://clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314841

It is interesting that the average speed always manages to come up with a reasonably accurate speed. I also tried resetting it while the cruise was engaged and found that it was close to the GS reading. Now the speedo has been fixed they all agree.

I also checked my speedo against my GPS and found the speedo error to be at least 10%. So 110 kmph indicated was required to cruise at 100 kmph (or get run over by trucks on the freeway). I complained at the 30,000km service and was told "they all do it". I decided to leave that battle for another day but as luck would have it, the tacho started playing up soon after. This required a whole new instrument cluster. Lexus advised that a fix for the speedo error had been done and they will kill two birds with one stone. After the fix I compared the new speedo with my GPS and found it is now within a couple of kmph of actual speed. All I have to do now is remember not to travel at 10kmph above the posted speed anymore.

I have recently fitted Yokohama Aspec db tyres to my IS250. They are advertised as A500 Australia, but the tyres themselves only have Aspec db written on them. They don't come in 205 55 R 16 so had to go for 225 50 R16 , which has the same diameter. I figured the wider footprint couldn't hurt handling either. I decided to get rid of my Goodyear Excellence tyres I had initially bought to reduce noise, due to their poor ride and grip. 28 psi was required to give a reasonable ride and I was not happy with using the low pressure required, from a safety point of view. They also had poor grip and would often squeal in corners (even at normal pressures) with only moderate throttle openings. The Yokohamas, at 34psi, ride just as well as the Goodyears at 28psi. The Yokohamas also seem to reduce road surface vibration as well. Having recently had a week in a loan IS250 with Bridgestones on, I can confirm the Goodyears are marginally quieter than the standard Bridgestones and the Yokohamas are SIGNIFICANTLY QUIETER than either tyre. The Yokohamas certainly live up to the claims made on their website where they are promoted as "ultimate silence". The only other explanation for the dramatic reduction in road noise could be that all the roads had been resurfaced in the hour it took to have the tyres fitted. Unlikely! :D Road noise is now muted (or non existent) on all but coarse ship roads. The most road noise still comes from the driver's side front tyre (which only seems to afflict IS250s and was noticeable on all IS250 loan cars I have had) but it is much reduced on the Yokohamas. I am not sure what sort of black magic Yokohama use on these tyres, but the noise reduction is quite simply amazing. I hardly notice road texture changes now. They also claim to maintain this over the life of the tyre. Time will tell. The only downside is that you are now more likely to notice any cabin trim noises and rattles. http://www.yokohama.com.au/ourtyres/tyre.aspx?tyreid=65

I bought a Mio 310. $399 AUD after cash back. Great little unit, only weighs 150gms. Only downside is the white case, like an ipod, which makes it stand out inside the car. So you need to take it with you when you park the car. But is small and light so fits in your shirt pocket, so is no big problem. Very easy to use, easy to follow instructions, plenty of warning for turns etc. Auto zoom on LCD screen for corners and roundabouts compensates for 3.5" screen. http://www.mio-tech.com.au/products/gps/C310/default.asp

Got a refund from Lexus and was told it could be put towards any future service costs. "How much" I asked "is the 30,000 service?". After some tapping of computer keys they advised $583. So your service charge appears to be within the standard (but not cheap) service fee. Don't forget the 15,000 service was free and other manufacturers have already charged for the 10,000 and 20,000 services by the time they get around to a 30,000 service. So if you compared the service costs over 30,000kms with something like a Mazda 6 the Lexus costs are not that bad. Up to 60,000 and I think the Lexus costs will be much more expensive though.

In the 12 months I have owned my IS250, it has managed to have 4 different sets of tyres. I only paid for the last set though. Set 1 - OEM Bridgestone RE050A - nothing special about these tyres, were too noisy. Set 2 - Pirelli P7 - fitted by Lexus after road noise complaint - Awful tyres, rough ride and whine like a 4wd. Set 3 - Falken ST115 - claimed to be a very quiet tyre which is why I got them. Unfortunately while they were noticeably quieter than the Pirelli tyres, they did whine as you slowed below 60kmph, almost right down to a full stop. Was really starting to get on my nerves. This whine was also evident on the Bridgestones but not the Pirellis. However, if you are looking for a performance tyre then this one is for you. Sticks like glue. Once Lexus reimbursed me for the Falkens I gave them the Pirellis back. Was talking to the service guys yesterday and they said they put the Pirellis on the car of another IS250 customer who had complained about road noise. I asked if he was happy with the Pirellis, they said they thought not. No surprises there. Set 4 - Did more research and found that the newly released Goodyear Excellence was making claims about road noise suppression. Had considered the Bridgestone ER50 but the Goodyear was a much newer tyre so thought it should have better technology. Also being a much newer tyre that was claimed to meet new EUC noise regulations so I thought I would bite the bullet and give it a go. :) What a difference! If you want to reduce road noise then this is the tyre for you. Noticeably quieter on medium texture and smooth roads. Only noisy on coarse chip bitumen, but even then still quieter than the other 3 brands. They have a firm ride, but no more so than the other 3 brands, and seem to absorb road imperfections better. To top it all off they were the least expensive.

Did a little research and found of various Forums that the Falken Azensis tyres had a reputation for being a quieter performance tyre. Fitted a new set of Falkens and sent Lexus the bill (anything to get rid of those awful Pirellis). Interestingly Lexus paid up without quibble and threw in a set of reversing sensors as an apology. They also promised to retrofit any noise reduction solution if/when it becomes available from Lexus Japan. No word so far but I have their promise in writing (for what that is worth). The service staff told me that they have had a lot of customer complaints about road noise. The Falkens are much quieter than the Pirellis and marginally better than the original Bridgestones. They have got a little noisier on smooth surfaces with wear. However, the noise problem is still the car, not the tyres. I noticed the doors have virtually no noise insulation inside so am going to give that a go soon. The only problem with the Falkens is the have a very stiff sidewall. Great for corners but give a firm ride. You need to run then at lower pressures than the bridgestones. Doesn't seem to affect handling, fuel consumption but probably accelerates wear a little. Fair trade as far as I am concerned. A check of the sidewalls confirmed the lower pressures are not causing the tyre to lean over in corners (not even a little). Have had a couple of ES300s as loan cars when mine was in for rattle fixes (so many visits I lost count). They have much better road noise suppression but were noisier at highway speed due to increased wind noise. At 100kmph (62.5mph) the IS has virtually nil wind noise in still conditions. As a result any noise induced by a road surface change is more noticeable. Lexus really need to do some serious work in the noise suppression area. Get to drive a friend's Mazda 6 every couple of months. Here is a car that has a comfortable ride and still handles like it is on rails. Lexus take note. However on the noise front it is a marginally noisier on smooth surfaces but gives the impression as being quieter overall as it has better noise suppression on course road surfaces. Road noise suppression is something most manufacturers have made dramatic increases in lately and Lexus has been caught napping on their laurels.

The IS250 in Australia come with a pollution sensor as standard. This will set the A/C airflow on recirc if it detects any exhaust fumes. It is very sensitive and seemed to spend a lot of time on recirc and not much time of fresh. When using this feature I found the AC started to get smelly when the car was started each time. I manually set the AC to fresh, which disables the pollution sensor, and the smell went away. I later adjusted the sensitivity of the pollution sensor down and when used, it now uses fresh more often, also keeping the AC smell at bay. The IS250 aircon is strong enough to operate on fresh most of the time anyway even on a really hot day. Even when set on fresh, it will briefly select recirc when you start the car on a hot day, just to speed up the cool down. It automatically switches back to fresh once the car has cooled a little. Fresh is best. :D

Still have dash creaks in my IS250. The creaks come from the centre stack and seems to be temperature related as it appears to be an expansion noise. Can be quite loud sometimes and generally not activated by bumps (only sometimes). The dealer have had one go already with no improvement, but will get them to try again when the seatbelts get replaced. Problem also reported by a US owner on the club lexus site. Also have an occassion buzz from above the tacho. Used to occur all the time until Lexus had a go at it. Only comes back infrequently (usually at night) so haven't bothered to get Lexus to look at it again. Got a lift home in a friend's Hyundai Sonata the other day. Not a rattle or creak from the dashboard of what he calls his "throwaway car". Road noise also appeared more subdued as well! Problems I have had with rattles etc means that the IS250 is off his shopping list as a replacement for his family car. Front runner is a X class Jag. Yuk.

Jamboo - - the question of "reasonableness" - I would suggest it is unreasonable not to let the dealer try to fix the problem.

Hi RAP03 I believe that you should always take the reasonable approach. I think it is reasonable to follow the recommendation of the dealer and have the upholsterer give it a go. You have nothing to lose and it might fix the problem. If it doesn't, then you are only back where you started. A new new seat might introduce new problems. What if the colour isn't an exact match with the rest of the interior? Lexus are already up to visit 2 to fix some dash creaks with my IS (incidentially the creaks started after they fixed a dash rattle). They'll keep getting it back until they fix the problem. However, it is reasonable to allow them the opportunity to try and fix the problem. Also being reasonable can have its payoff if something else goes wrong where you really need their co-operation and goodwill. It isn't always the person who screams loudest who gets the most attention (just most of the time). C ya Crispy

Since delivery on 22/12. . 8 visits to Lexus service . 1 visit to Lexus showroom . 14 days at Lexus service (including one 7 day marathon which included a weekend) . Rattle in dash - solved . Rattle in driver's door - solved after 3 visits . Rattle in rear parcel shelf - solved . Road noise (Lexus replaced tyres but created another 2 tyre related problems) - unresolved and also left black marks over cream leather (brake dust), required extra visit to get cleaned. . Passenger's airbag fault - solved . Creak from both passenger side vents (appeared only after passenger side airbag part was replaced) - currently unsolved after 1 visit. . Original dash rattle came back (also only after passenger side airbag part was replaced) - solved.

Just press then release the black door button on the drivers door pillar (which is normally pressed in when the door shuts). This will stop the chime and you can leave the door open. Resets after you shut the door though.

I don't mean to be rude as well, that is what I used to think and had told many many people before. I have the latest model of IS200, probable the last on the production line but still built with plenty of rattles, noise and some little niggle that couple of them are not fixed yet after a few visits to the dealer ;) Guess you have been unlucky as I have had 3 or 4 IS200s as loan cars and all have been rattle free although a little noisy. Was surprised what a great little car the IS200 is. Instantly felt comfortable and was easy to drive, with great handling. Although it has only 4 gears always seems to be able to pick the right one while my IS250 is often in a gear too high.