VamboMan

The rear tyres were close to the limit so definitely a negotiating point. Never really paid much attention to the gaps between the bonnet and wings, been that way since I picked it up 3 years ago.

Yes, both recalls done. A very sound car however it has disappeared from sale for the moment.

I was replying to the initial post which was for my old Lexus in Nottingham with 45000 miles on it. Looks like this post got hijacked half-way through by a different Black IS-F. Mine has now disappeared from Lexus Nottingham and Autotrader.

The car had two new front tyres about 200 miles ago and new front brake pads and discs about 4000 miles ago. Alloys need tidying so plenty of room for price negotiation with Lexus. The rear tyres and brakes will need replacing soon, so a few hundred more pounds off the price. Make sure you're friendly with your neighbours because when the car starts up from cold there's an almighty roar before it settles down after a few seconds. Keeps the cats away though. Definitely recommend the car to any potential owners.

James, That's my old one and yes it does have a cat back exhaust, a H & S one fact. It also has an updated 2014 Sat Nav DVD, Tracker and a darker than normal set of tints all round. None of which are mentioned I think. Sorry to say goodbye to it but I needed to downsize and get a 4 x 4 hatchback for my rural living. Rear wheel drive V8's not good during the winter and wet months but an absolute scream when it's dry.

Looking to swap mine in the next few weeks for a 4wd hatchback. Love the IS-F however I tend to keep my cars for three years and the time has come plus another winter season of rear-wheel drive down untreated country lanes is not something to look forward to Looked at Audi S3, Mercedes A45 and Golf R and I think the Golf will win as it has an excellent write up from almost all car reviews VW are also dead keen for business at the moment so why not take advantage of the current poor condition ?

Currently run mine on Shell Nitro as fuel prices are very low compared with what they were a year or so ago. Not certain whether it makes any difference to the MPG but it should keep the engine cleaner so maybe it does improve MPG. Done 31,000 miles in mine and always in Sport mode and have averaged 28.8 during this time. Rural living and a very early commute to work helps as there's very little need for constant braking and accelerating.

Had mine done over a year ago and at the time I too thought Wow, that's noisy. Driving back from Essex around half of the M25 didn't change my mind. It is EPIC. Does it quieten over time ? Nah, but you do get used to it so it will appear to quieten down.

Cheers for the comments. I'll keep an eye open for the post about the brakes, thanks guys. The exhaust problem was fixed by Lexus Swindon as it was quite minor so no need for a 250 mile round trip however I will keep an eye /ear on it just in case the problem returns. I hear what you say about the Sat Nav upgrade and it really should be as easy as plugging in a new DVD or USB, has anyone actually done this ? I only drove the CT200H F-Sport for 60 miles however I wouldn't describe it as quiet nor comfortable. It was only quiet when the car was powered by the electric motor, which was hardly ever. Based on a combination of both rural and motorway driving it was the petrol engine that was doing most of the work with the electric motor occasionally chipping in to help the car get uphill and to power out of the many bends found in the countryside, hence the below par MPG and engine noise. Comfortable ? Nah. The IS-F may be firm but it plants itself down and grips the road, the seats are also far more comfortable than the CT. My niggles with the CT may be due to the fact that I had a F-Sport which had the uprated shocks and suspension. As a city car it may well work but as a rural mode of transport it doesn't work and neither does the "sportification" of it so drop the F-Sport version. Sorry for the brief CT review in the IS-F forum.

Car went in for its radiator screws recall and MOT. Good news as the recall work was completed and the car passed its MOT however it did have two advisory items. 1) The H and S exhaust was blowing where it joins the Cat, not a good advertisement to the H & S boys who fitted it. This was fixed at no-cost by Lexus. 2) The MOT testers said the noise was noisy. Yup, that's because it's a V8 with the H & S Cat Back. Sat in a Blue RC-F whilst waiting, lovely car and looks far better in the flesh than in pictures. What's the point of the rear seats as no-one over the age of 9 would be able to sit in them ? Lexus could have saved money and weight by not fitting them, a leather covered rear bench for storage would have been better. Now the not so good news. I was given a CT200H F-Sport as a courtesy car for free. What a gutless and completely pointless car. If I wanted a car that could achieve 51 MPG why pick this hybrid, my old MB C350CDI would reach this plus it had over 230 BHP, shed loads of torque and could carry 5 people in comfort. I just don't get why anyone would buy a CT200H or any other hybrid. Oh and I broke its windscreen whilst motorway driving, sorry Lexus. The dealership pointed out that the front discs and pads ( on 35K mileage car ) needed replacing very soon, all for just £852. Pads for £592, 2.5 hours labour for £260. Err, no thanks. Has anyone else had problems with the metal dust caps ? Mine on the front tyres had welded themselves onto the valves so they couldn't be removed. New valves and plastic caps installed. And finally, has anyone had their Sat Nav updated ? I've now made two attempts to get this done and failed on both occasions. At its 30K service at Lexus Poole, everything was booked in with plenty of notice given, Sat Nav not updated because apparently they could't get any access to the new maps on a Saturday. At its MOT yesterday at Lexus Swindon, again everything was booked in with many weeks notice. Sat Nav not updated because they didn't know how to do it. How hard can it be ?

After 2,476 miles on Super U/L my conclusions are that there's no significant difference in MPG compared with standard U/L. Having previously driven 23,000 miles using standard U/L, my trip computer read 27.8 MPG however I've found out that the Tank Average is almost 1 MPG optimistic during my Super tests so let's assume I used to achieve 26.8. My more expensive Super U/L returned 26.94 MPG so the minute increase in MPG is not worth the extra 8p per litre for me. If it increased the responsiveness of the engine or improved the smoothness of acceleration then it wasn't noticeable so I'll be reverting back to standard U/L at the next fill up. Probably not the most scientific of tests but it's good enough for me.

I still have my pair of tips in bubble wrap somewhere in the garage. They're from a March 2012 car. Maybe we could do a deal ?

My exhaust still barks under hard acceleration but quietens off when cruising. It definitely depends on how hard and far you push the loud pedal. Had the H & S for nearly a year now and I don't think it's changed. Maybe my hearing has deteriorated with age ?

Well, I set my view to temperature and watched it carefully yesterday whilst out driving and yes it did alert me when it dropped to 3 degrees. I wouldn't describe it as flashing, more of a slow blinking and if I wasn't staring at it I would have missed it. The central display was showing a map so I don't what this would have done had it been set to Climate. Overall I'd give Lexus a 3/10 for effort on this, I might up this by a couple of points if the main display alerts as well. So why the low scores ? I never keep my central display on Climate as I use either the Map or Audio settings all of the time and as for the small view it's so small and out of the line of vision that it's almost redundant. Having to concentrate on this small view looking for a couple of blinks of the temperature gauge is dangerous and distracting to say the least. I know I'm being hyper-critical but I do think the central information system and the trip computer were after thoughts and very little time was spent in designing their layout and functionality, most other premier brands and certain lesser brands put the Lexus IS-F to shame on this. Let's not forget that the IS-F is an expensive car from a premium manufacturer. But I don't care because it has stonking V8 power, the growl of a H and S exhaust, reliability, comfort and rarity and I'll be keeping it for another few winters at least.

Mine's a 12 and its never warned me in any way. Seems very strange that such a useful feature would be removed.