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The thread below shows a brand-new, custom made stainless steel exhaust for an RX300 for £395 with a lifetime warranty. I would imagine yours may well be more expensive than that but wouldn't think too much more. I would never go to the main stealers for items such as exhausts, tyres, brakes etc., their prices are just silly beyond words. http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/109088-rx300-custom-exhaust/#comment-966031

But it has reversing sensors? so do I; called eyes! I nearly had similar incident with my (still pristine) 3 litre Citroen XM 2 days back. Luckily I was standing next to it, as idiot-who-can't-tell-how big-his-car-is was about to keep reversing until he heard the bang! Twice! I had to actually stand in his way to dissuade the 3rd attempt. But......B+M? Should park in distant corners?

All of which in my eyes are just total waste of money, personally i much rather have something which delivers substance before style. But sadly the vast majority of people are happy with all show but no go.

Some good points there. When it comes to car valuation, the hardest thing to prove if it's stolen or damaged is proof of condition. This is where the market value comes into it. Say someone had a car damaged by fire. The car may have been spotless but neither the person making the claim or the insurance assessor can prove/see the spotless condition and the market average of age/mileage/spec applies. To your point about a valuation band. This does happen. Generally (and this is very general) a cars value is in brackets of say for example 20k steps for the insurance underwriters. Say your car is worth 21k when you buy it, it could then also be classed in the same bracket as a 39k car and the policy is priced accordingly. When testing quotes, the price will be based on the individual's risk profile (age, profession, location, history) alongside the cars risk profile (power, safety features, cost of repair). I doubt you will notice much difference running a quote on a 2008 ISF compared to a 2014 ISF for example (sure I can be proven wrong here). In terms of insurance going up each year. This is the insurance market as a whole. Our lovely friends over in the EU passed the gender neutral law which meant that Male drivers couldn't be charged more than a female driver (after all, we are better drivers yeah ;-) ). This drove prices down for a while. But.... several things have happened which have meant that insurance companies have all agreed (and they do converse about this) to incrementally increase their prices year on year. Some reasons for this and in no particular order and in no means a complete list 1) Cars now more expensive to fix. This will only increase while the Pound is struggling against the Euro as most spare parts to fix damaged cars are purchased and imported from Europe. 2) Insurance Fraud. Occurs all too frequently in all insurance industries. 3) Insurance company return on investment. The 1% profit on car/home policies would historically be put into government bonds with an interest rate of 3%. With interest rates being so low, there is no no return on investment from said bonds. This has caused insurance companies to invest elsewhere. Brexit happening has meant that a lot of these investments have had little or no return whatsoever. 4) Weather. Such as flooding (as you are well aware of). With your note regarding they would rather your business goes elsewhere. It's generally down to risk appetite. A company for instance may target over 40's who drive 1.4L Civics. They may have a good few years making money and want to make more so they increase their risk appetites and start to target over 30's who drive M3's and so on. Once they find the correct balance that works for them, they will then sometimes price existing customers out of their company as the customers risk profile no longer matches the risk appetite of the company. On a side note.... Those lovely meerkats that everyone wants. Insurance companies pay them £50 per every policy that is taken out with said insurance companies regardless to whether the policy cost £50 or £1000. Approx. 60% of an insurance companies policies are sold through agg sites such as go compare, confused, meerkat and such like and obviously have nothing to pay out should the policy be sold at a loss. So top tip, start a comparison site to make money. Oh, and all the comparison sites are actually owned by insurance companies.... #justsaying

Insurance is a scam hiding in plain site that is what it has boiled down to now. it's a disgrace. It's as simple as getting as much money in whilst avoiding paying out, maximising profits for share holders. simple. I feel for you, I had a similar situation many years ago with an Astra GTE.

It will make people look twice as they try to work out what make it is. I have seen some debadged Astras and really had to think carefully before fully realising what car they were. Astras are very common so that observation surprised me.

Well as you probably can work out I'm neither pretty or stylish. We all have different priorities in life, for me I've never got the point of fashion/style etc, and probably never will :).

^^ Sorry are those people suppose change my mind about when to wear trainers ...actually I'm not even sure who they are suppose to be, presumably some one famous??

I don't buy trainers for how they look, nor do I wear trainers when I'm not doing something that doesn't involve breaking a sweat. We just have to agree to disagree on this one ;)

Ouch ! They aren't called stealers for nothing. Amazing how a simple call back or return to a main dealer can result in such misery. Keep your pride and joy but get the issues they identified looked at by an Independent garage. Tyres,exhaust, pads and discs are obvious wear and tear but a complete exhaust..really? Has it failed its MOT... My mums 2005 Toyota is still on the original but when they told us 5 years ago it needed a water pump, gear box and complete exhaust they lost our custom. None have actually required replacing although the MOT advisory last month said the exhaust was leaking slightly... Where is the oil leak , thats really unusual...is it slight seepage from a gasket or is it dripping on your drive? You car is 9 years old , discs and pads through an Independent should be no more than £200 - if they need doing that is. The tyre quote sounds reasonable but you can see if they are worn or not and ring around for quotes. Its probably the time that you either move away from lexus for servicing / repairs or do as you are suggesting and keep in the fold and buy a used (presume nearly new) . If you want to keep your current car look elsewhere for repairs / quotes - if it actually needs them that is.

It's the same old story on this site, Lexus branded parts and Lexus technicians are the best, based on what.......they cost more....pffft. There are dozens of world renown brands of filters, oils, brake pads, batteries, but where do the sheep go running to? Lexus and pay over the odds.

You kids make me laugh....

Hi All Bit of an update on this problem. I tried leaving the battery disconnected for a couple of days and no joy at all. Left it disconnected for two weeks and the alarm appears to have reset and now works fine again. Don't trust it, of course, stand next to it, spanner in hand, ready to undo the battery lead, but, at least, it's progress Bob

Uh-oh. As is often the case with some of your comments on this forum, it sounds like someone has a big bee under their bonnet. Let's just make you take a step off your high horse to understand the Lexus IS300h from someone else's perspective. A C250d is most certainly under-powered according to MY preferences. Not everyone is as easily pleased as you are. Just because it has a Lexus badge on the front/back, doesn't necessarily mean that it'll tick all the boxes. As it goes for your comment about buyer's remorse - well let's distance ourselves from your psychoanalysis lesson there, and having owned the car for over a year, I think it's safe to say that the concept of buyer's remorse is well and truly out of the equation. ''Its very clear that you obviously don't research vehicles before buying them'' ****! Very clear? What do you know about me and the way I go about my business and how I research/purchase vehicles? I actually research vehicles all too well prior to buying them, but as I said, it's difficult to gauge what a long-term prospect of living with one will be like during a 30 minute test drive. That W203 C220 you traded in? Comparing that to a modern day IS300h and Mercedes C250d is a pointless comparison - different cars from different eras, with very different purposes. Also, thanks for the ''tell you what, just go sell the IS and buy another car and stop complaining about it. You don't see us on a Merc/Audi/BMW forum slating their products.'' Isn't that one of the purposes of a forum? For owners to express their opinions, ask questions and just have a general chit chat about their particular cars with transparency. I've read far more positive/negative comments on forums relating to more expensive performance vehicles - RS4, M3, C63 AMG just to state a few, and other owners tend not to reply back with the same hostility. That's just how forums work! Plus, as a Lexus owner, I'm pretty much entitled to whatever opinion about the car I desire to express. I paid for the privilege and if I'm not happy with a purchase that I've made with my own money, then I'll state it. If I'm overjoyed with a purchase made with my own money, I'll state that too. Thanks for the unrequested tip though. ''Again hypocritical - the BMW 340i and 335d are just engine choices, both can be had with whatever performance kit and wheels you want to stick on it.'' I've yet to see a BMW 340i with the Performance Kit bolted onto it, I've even asked a few BMW garages about this and both have stated that it's not something they'll be looking to fit to a 340i. Maybe when I do see one, I'll consider the possibility of ownership, but until then, I think I'll stick to my guns. Appears you have a huge reluctance to accept what other Lexus owners have to say about their own cars. You own an RX and an IS, judging by your comments on this forum - you worship the ground those two vehicles are parked on and good for you. I, on the other hand, don't feel the same way about my car, purely on the basis that it's disappointing driving experience, and I'm certain there are other people who fit into my category too. Seriously though, you need to relax a little. People differ, opinions differ and perceptions differ. Nobody is right all the time. Let's just agree to disagree and move on.

.......... I'd be happy to contribute to a list of LOC Members independent mechanics that they would recommend .............. is that allowed Moderators ? Could you start one perhaps ? Thanks Malc

That is even applicable for the best 0-60 times. Leave in Auto + PWR for best acceleration. I have tried several times and it accelerates slower when changing gears with paddles, mostly because up shifts are just limiter and not actual gear change, so when you upshift car still going to rev-up to the limit and only then change the gear and if you late - will hit limiter as well. While in PWR it up shifts straight after sweet spot for torque and hp for best acceleration and is much more precise than any human being. The paddles are really just a toy in IS250 so that you can feel little bit more involved from time to time.