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Possible Is300H, Current Bmw Owner...


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Hi everyone,

I currently own a BMW M135i in Alpine White. The car is fantastic but looking for something a bit more economical and less attention seeking. A couple of weeks ago three guys tried to steal the car when my wife and 3 year old daughter were in the car!

Had a 24 hour test drive in a IS30h Luxury in Mercury Grey with a few extras. I didn't know if I would like it but I loved it. Obviously it's a very different car and it did take me a while to get used to the automatic box and driving style.

This is my small review on the IS300h Luxury;

1. the ride is very refined, smooth and quiet

2. the interior quality is fantastic, much better than the BMW 1 series

3. standard sound system is very good, makes the standard BMW system sound even worse

4. I didn't notice the CVT whine that critics talk about

5. seats are VERY comfortable

6. the paint quality is one of the best I have seen and I detail cars as a hobby

I am debating on the IS300h Executive in Mesa Red but my wife is not that keen on the Lexus :(

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Hi Iain and welcome to the forum. That must have been very scary for your wife and daughter. What doesn't your wife like about the Lexus?

If I am being honest my wife thinks Lexus is for older people and those who want a company car, which I think is rubbish. I went on to tell her how some BMW owners are portrayed.... We got into a massive argument, lol.

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Oh dear. As is often the case with wives, she is wrong. Have you looked at the F Sport? That's definitely not aimed at old men. I mean, I'm only 51 so that proves it!

Keep working on her, she'll see the light eventually.

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

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Rowan, I pretty much agree with your observations. Well, you DO get some whine if you drive it like a Clarkson (or have to floor it to do a tight overtake) and there is sometimes a kind of milk float whine as you slow to a stop, but most of the time, no, you can't hear it. The reason some petrol heads don't like it is that it is different to what they are used to. But put it into EV mode when starting up and the silent take off is a real party trick: even when the petrol engine cuts in you still barely notice it. Drive it sensibly and you can get excellent mpg, especially if you avoid those with 18 inch wheels. My ideal version would be premier on 17s.

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I have the F-sport and the ride is fine, if anything, its the tyres that add a degree of firmness, and that can be changed with better tyres, as I have always found bridgestones to be firmer than most.

Performance is more than adequate for me, its not a car for petrol heads because it wasn’t designed for them, as Michael said, so I don’t know what they expect from it, its for economy really, and it does it in a calm, sophisticated and refined way, and better than a diesel, thats for sure.

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Hi mate - the paint looks great, especially in Mesa red, but is very soft; you'll see what I mean when a grain of sand lands on the bonnet and leaves a crater behind....lol

Seriously good cars though

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Is the paint really that soft?

My wife made the milk float comment, lol.

I have been offered the Executive with a 7% discount, not as good as the 15% discount I got off the 1 Series ;)

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Is the paint really that soft?

My wife made the milk float comment, lol.

I have been offered the Executive with a 7% discount, not as good as the 15% discount I got off the 1 Series ;)

Sounds good considering the executive is relatively new trim! Lexus is no longer for older people either. Hmm i wonder if youre the guy from detailing world. story seems familiar :P. btw paint quality is awesome, its literally what youd expect on a car 3 times more expensive

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The car is perfect in every aspect, can't drive another car without hybrid now.

I agree with this. I'm going to struggle justifying anything other than a hybrid.in the future. As for the wife, she's a lot safer in the understated luxury of the Lexus rather than the in your face BMW. Not to mention all the extra handbags from the fuel and road tax savings :msn-oh:

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Hi Iain. Not sure that I can add too much more except that I did the leap from a BMW 320i to a Lexus 300h Luxury in June this year and have absolutely no regrets. My Lexus is Satin Silver and gets lots of positive comments on its "sexy and sinuous" appearance so maybe your wife could learn to love that point. :shifty:

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As a rule, older drivers have more spending power. I don't see many youngsters driving Jags either. I couldn't afford my first Lexus until I was middle aged. when I was 22 my car was a 7th hand mini clubman estate in 'Aqua' and rust. Lots of rust...

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The paint is self healing In warm sunshine I believe. My ex demonstrator has a few small stone chips on the front (it can't heal those) but there are no swirls or blemishes elsewhere or none that I can see and the overall finish is still very good.

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Well I don't know about the new IS, but the current GS is definitely not self healing in anyway shape or form.

The front of my car looks like it's covered 100,000 miles, and it's only done 16000...it was the same story with my 2006 Mesa Red IS220d, but at least with the GS it doesn't show unless you get close - I specifically went for Silver having been through this once before with the Red IS.

There are Zero swirls on the car as I use the "2 bucket" cleaning method and detail it myself. It's always clean and garaged. No joke, but it could do with a front end respray already.

The (e60) 5 series BMW registered in 2008 had 10% of the front end chips on it after 50,000 miles....

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I believe paint generally is softer than in the past due to the lead being removed.

The self healing is something to do with microscopic globules of paint contained within the finish. When the surface is marked the globules are split open and the paint spreads out. I read that on here somewhere.

I guess it depends on what type of driving you do as to whether the chips become a problem. If done 12k mainly around town driving and barely a mark.

I do remember driving past a salt spreader going in the opposite direction. I was doing about 60 so impact speed must have been 100 mph plus. I was mortified at what I expected to see. Very pleasantly surprised, not a mark.

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

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I believe paint generally is softer than in the past due to the lead being removed.

The self healing is something to do with microscopic globules of paint contained within the finish. When the surface is marked the globules are split open and the paint spreads out. I read that on here somewhere.

I guess it depends on what type of driving you do as to whether the chips become a problem. If done 12k mainly around town driving and barely a mark.

I do remember driving past a salt spreader going in the opposite direction. I was doing about 60 so impact speed must have been 100 mph plus. I was mortified at what I expected to see. Very pleasantly surprised, not a mark.

Sent from my iPhone using Lexus OC

I found with my black RX300 that tailgating and staying close to trucks are a main problem. Trucks seem to throw up a lot of small stones which lead to more stonechips. I barely drive on the motorway anymore and had my car 2 years and covered 22k miles. I only have 3-4 stone chips!

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I'm not sure about the lead thing - my 5 series was newer than my IS220d and had rock solid paint. Granted it wasn't as shiny and had the infamous dreaded German car orange peel, but it scratched and pitted so much less over many many more miles, and I never worried about taking it to the local hand wash.

The Lexus NEVER goes near the local hand-job....

I definitely think it's something more unique to Lexus, though I agree that water based solvents and lead free paint is what they are all using now.

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I'm not sure about the lead thing - my 5 series was newer than my IS220d and had rock solid paint. Granted it wasn't as shiny and had the infamous dreaded German car orange peel, but it scratched and pitted so much less over many many more miles, and I never worried about taking it to the local hand wash.

The Lexus NEVER goes near the local hand-job....

I definitely think it's something more unique to Lexus, though I agree that water based solvents and lead free paint is what they are all using now.

Atleast you dont have to worry about hitting the GS with a heavy polishing compound. All I needed on the RX was a quick pass of Meguiars 205 and 99% of the swirls disappeared

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