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Lexus In Australia


Crispy
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Looks like Lexus quality is not all its cracked up to be.

After 4 days:-

1. Passenger rear window doesn't work

2. Driver's door rattles when it is shut

3. Driver's door creaks as its opened

4. The dash rattle (mentioned in another thread) appears to have reared its ugly head. Noticed on rough roads after car had been parked in the sun all day after Christmas lunch. Seems to be coming from behind the stereo/climate stack. Obviously this problem is not just limited to the sat nav equiped vehicles.

As the door trims have to be removed to fit the tinted windows it appears that 1 and 2 may be a result of sloppy work by the Lexus dealer.

Guess I'll have to pay the Lexus service centre a visit when they re-open.

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Great pics, great car - well done. I hope seeing an IS in tropical Queensland doesn't make our English friends feel too cold in chilly England. Happy Xmas. I am sure it will be with such a great looking and driving car.

Yep it does :P

tis a good looking car :D

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Crispy thats not good news at all, im sure Lexus will sort it out.

And as for the Aussie site, you mean the LOC or Altezza Club? We are not active on LOC anymore, due to "long story" so we have made an Aussie/nz site, but most users have The first Generation cars.

Very nice in Gold Crispy.

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Sorry to hear about that Crispy, sounds like the window tinting job mighta messed with some of the electronics. I haven't had any squeaks or rattles or problems so far.

Things are still going ace here. Will get some pics up tomorrow (been raining on and off every damn day here atm... it's hell trying to keep the thing clean :( )

One thing I have noticed though is that the brake pads are very similar to my experiences in Mercs and BMWs (ie they're quite soft, particularly up front). They work great, but they produce a lot of dust which dirties the wheels quite quickly. It's not really a complaint, but just something I noticed, when compared to my old Japanese cars.

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Yep noticed the brake dust as well. As mine has only done about 500k I was hoping that they might just be bedding in and would settle down with more kms.

Visited the Luxus service centre today. Very odd, the door marked Lexus Service just took me into someone's office. Backed out and wandered in to the Toyota service centre next door and they directed me back to the office. I guess with free pickup and delivery no-one comes into the service centre any more.

They fixed the rear power window on the spot. Apparently just needed to be reintialised.

They had a look at the driver's door rattle but when I got home found it was still present when you shut to door.

Creak in driver's door gone.

The service guy came for a ride and was able to clearly hear the dash rattle. Seems to be coming from somewhere near the passanger airbag. Have it booked in tomorrow to have this looked at.

2 out of 4 fixed - not bad for a short unannouced visit.

They seemed to know about the Lexus owners website. Asked had anyone advised the solution for the dash rattle here.

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The 16" alloys are available on the "Prestige" model in Australia. The tire size is the same front and rear. The next two models up have staggered front and rear tires.

Here are the specs from the Lexus Australia website: http://www.lexus.com.au/models/specificati...cid=2&variant=1

TYRES & RIMS IS250 Prestige

Front Tyre size 205/55 R16

Rear Tyre size 205/55 R16

Front Rim size 16 x 7JJ

Rear Rim size 16 x 7JJ

Rim type Alloy

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I picked up my new IS250 Sport Luxury from Lexus of Chatswood here in Sydney on Christmas Eve. I've been having good fun breaking it in so far and tomorrow I'll crack 1000km. I've driven from Sydney to Jindabyne, over to Thredbo and tomorrow will head back with a stopover in Canberra. The car is holding up exceptionally well and it is amazing fun to drive. I was driving along the Alpine Way here in the mountains today and was going a bit too quick around a corner and the car handled itself beautifully. It would have been a bugger to run it down a ravine a few days after getting it.

As someone used to driving "lesser" cars for the past few years (a Vectra and most recently the VZ Commodore) I decided to move up in car class. My wife was very supportive as she likes the toys as much as I do and having a two year old, the new sound system rules. Nothing like turning on a kids CD and then just setting it to play out of the rear left speakers so we don't hear it at all. I also tested out the radar cruise control on the M7 on the way down here. It was a bit disturbing, but good fun - I locked the car in at 103kph, jumped in the left hand lane and after about two minutes I came up on this old X-type Jag doing about 95kph. As we got within distance, my foot started hovering over the break and before I could press, the car noticed the slower Ford Mondeo, errrr, I mean Jaguar and matched his speed to keep a safe distance.

I'm taking it in next week when I'm back in Sydney for a "second handover" so they can go through some other stuff with me. Not really sure what we'll talk about, I already have my phone and my iPod hooked up and have programmed my key to reconfigured the seats and mirrors for me when I jump in. I will be raising an issue about SatNav. For those of us from Sydney, the M7 opened up on December 16th and obviously the car is not THAT up to date yet. On my way down to the mountains, I entered the street I wanted to come to and it plotted the guidance. Unfortunately while it knows OF the Western Sydney Orbital, it can't give guidance information for it - completely understandable. However, taking the M7 from my house instead of the path chosen by the Nav System cuts about 30 minutes off a six hour trip, which is significant. I know the new WhereIs DVD contains the M7 information, but I'm not sure how I upgrade it or if Lexus will do that for me for free or if they'll do it for me if I buy the upgrade DVD. Hopefully they'll fill me in.

Anyway, great site, it helped alot in my decision making.

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Good News

Took my car to Lexus service centre at Kedron and they were finally able to fix the dash rattle. Turned out to be a bracket in the engine bay. It is hidden between the Battery and the cabin, near the firewall, under a cover. Apparently the bracket was touching the firewall causing the noise to be heard inside the cabin. They bent it slightly, stopping contact with the fiewall and the noise disappeared.

Bad News

Unfortunatley on the drive home another noise has developed in the rear parcel shelf. The noise is just like someone rubbing two bits of polystyrene together, loudly. So back to Lexus at Kedron today. No Lexus staff present. Then over the the larger Lexus service centre at Indooropilly. A quick test drive confirmed the problem but they are unable to look at it until next week.

As the noise really sets your teeth on edge, driving it is not much fun, so looks like I'll be without a car this long weekend. After shelling out $60,000 it is a bit tough to have to have 4 service visits in the first week and a half of ownership. This is something you might expect with a Daewoo (except they wouldn't fix the problem).

Is it a co-incidence that Lexus and lemon both start with an L?

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Here are a few quick pics (apologies about the poor quality, but with the weather being INTENSE here atm - 42 degrees celcius atm - trying to avoid going outdoors) I took the other day.

car1a4fe.jpg

car2a9wh.jpg

car3a5ej.jpg

Btw, the Sport model uses 225/40 tyres up front and 255/40 tyres at the back. They're fitted with Dunlop Sport SP Maxx which aren't too bad. The climate control has coped with the temps pretty well too, which is a good sign. Btw, what do ppl think of the interior blue LED lighting (roof + footwells). It's a small thing, but I think it's a really neat touch.

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What colour did you choose? I am still trying to decide :question:.

I went with Graphite which has the light grey leather interior. There is too much pollen and dust where I live in Sydney for black to be a realistic option, so I felt the slightly more lightened colour would allow a bit of dust without being too noticeable.

On my drive today from Jindabyne to Canberra, I got it up to 160kph at one point. It was an absolutely silky experience. I needed to pass two cars and as I was just passing the first I noticed some oncoming traffic, I just gave it a bit more gas and it gracefully went from 120 to 160 in a flash. I reckon I could have hit 200 in the same space if I had put my foot down.

Yesterday I asked about upgrading the mapping DVD, well it turns out the instructions are in the Navigation System manual right at the back. It suggests you let Lexus do it for you which I think I will.

I still can't figure out the voice activation stuff. Am I missing something or does it only seem to apply to the Bluetooth hands free phone? I read some of the reviews talking about setting the temperature of the car and all that stuff, but every time I press the "Talk" icon it tells me I can't do it from that screen. If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong please let me know.

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I still can't figure out the voice activation stuff.  Am I missing something or does it only seem to apply to the Bluetooth hands free phone?  I read some of the reviews talking about setting the temperature of the car and all that stuff, but every time I press the "Talk" icon it tells me I can't do it from that screen.  If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong please let me know.

I'll keep my fingesr crossed that you sort out the voice activation via this topic. I take delivery of a Sport Luxury in March and will no doubt run into problems with the voice stuff and will need to watch this topic for assistance. I never could get my phone to work properly so am not too hopeful about a car. Although in my case everyone ignores me, especially my wife and kids :blush: so perhaps it is just me :excl:

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Here are a few quick pics (apologies about the poor quality, but with the weather being INTENSE here atm - 42 degrees celcius atm - trying to avoid going outdoors) I took the other day.

Car looks great. I will be driving from Melbourne to Sydney in April to visit my daughter in Bondi for a few days, so may see you on the road around Sydney.

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So there are some more Australians lurking around here now. Welcome aboard! And let us know if you want to be in on the next Lexus IS cruise (the 4th Brisbane and ?th Sydney cruises will be happening in January).

It sounds interesting, please post the information here :D

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G'day all,

This is my first post since coming into contact with an IS250 :D

I went for my first test drive of a Lexus Sports Luxury on Thursday last and fell immediately in love with the car. I took the car home and got comments of approval from my wife. I really like the look of the 18" alloys and the alloy pedals, but once you've specced the car to include the Option Pack (DVD Satellite Navigation with DVD player, Bluetooth capability, reversing monitor camera, premium Mark Levinson 14 speaker audio unit) the price is only $1,900 less than a sports luxury (which gains active cruise control and the pre-collision system).

Once I've figured it out, I'll place an order for one.

Other things I've noticed and I'm hoping someone (from Oz) can answer is that the Radio doesn't appear to support RDS (Radio Data System). Most of the commercial networks and the ABC transmit RDS info and I think it's a strange ommission.

As mentioned in this UK and US forum, is voice control of the functions available in Australian specced cars?

Cheers,

George

Oh, yes, I nearly forgot, Happy New Year everyone! :P

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G'day all,

Once I've figured it out, I'll place an order for one.

Have you decided on a Melbourne dealer yet? I plan to order an IS250 Sport Luxury within the next two weeks for delivery in March and would be happy to compare notes. Let me know via this forum or email me at tony@autoapps.com.

Also have you chosen a colour. I favour Crystal Mist, but my wife likes Silver. What cost marital peace :tomato:

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Have you decided on a Melbourne dealer yet? I plan to order an IS250 Sport Luxury within the next two weeks for delivery in March and would be happy to compare notes. Let me know via this forum or email me at tony@autoapps.com

I live around the corner from Brighton Lexus, but I have an appointment with Melbourne City Lexus this week. A trainee salesman called Mike dealt with me at Brighton Lexus. He was not completely knowledgable about the car (he'd been away on leave during the training) and I found him a little pushy with trying to get a sale, despite my clear indication that I was there purely to test drive a car and talk about pricing and options.

I'll let you know via the forums how I fare with Melbourne City Lexus.

Also have you chosen a colour. I favour Crystal Mist, but my wife likes Silver. What cost marital peace

Not wanting to appear boring, but Black/Black although Black with the Ivory interior was considered, but that's what I have now, and the light coloured leather seats show up the die from new trousers and particularly Denim jeans! :blink: My wife likes the black/black combo

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AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Where the flibbity gibbet have all these ruddy aussies come from????!!!!!

Not only do we have to see them all sporting lovely new is250s, cooking themselves in 42 degree heat, and generally ruddy well enjoying life but now they`ve invaded UKLOC!!!!

After seeing the "visit western australia" quantas tv advert, it raining and gray outside and both my kids have that delightful Xmas bug, and my sister and her fiance spending 3 months there in march as part of a year trip around the world the absolutely last thing i need to see to remind me of the fact that i can`t emigrate yet is some cheery aussies........................

thank heavens for rugby and the ashes..........!!

seriously though, and pretend whinging pom put aside, its nice to see how we can talk to our fellow enthusiasts clear across the other side of the world via this marvelous internetty thing!! :D

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AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Where the flibbity gibbet have all these ruddy aussies come from????!!!!!

Not only do we have to see them all sporting lovely new is250s, cooking themselves in 42 degree heat, and generally ruddy well enjoying life but now they`ve invaded UKLOC!!!!

After seeing the "visit western australia" quantas tv advert, it raining and gray outside and both my kids have that delightful Xmas bug, and my sister and her fiance spending 3 months there in march as part of a year trip around the world the absolutely last thing i need to see to remind me of the fact that i can`t emigrate yet is some cheery aussies........................

thank heavens for rugby and the ashes..........!!

seriously though, and pretend whinging pom put aside, its nice to see how we can talk to our fellow enthusiasts clear across the other side of the world via this marvelous internetty thing!! :D

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