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for all the advice received from SC430 owners ... your kindness has led to a very happy "classic" car owner. i drove an "SC" around Japan in 2006 - unforgettable! It's lovely to be driving this lovely car again ... regards, Varun

Hi ..I got the tensioners and coolant change but the car had only done 30.000 since last water pump so no new waterpump .but i am a new lexus owner and really thought it would be a lot more expensive .i wanted to use main dealer as the previous owner bought it there years ago .it was on record and they did a full check over and only pointed out the number plate was cracked.so that was good for a 16 year old lexus .

Never been flashed is not really reliable way of knowing if you dazzling others, some crazy people (like me) flashes every car, but most don't bother. The funniest thing - I flash somebody with clearly fake HIDs which are too bright and dazzles and they try to flash me back, but their main beam usually is not as strong as fake HIDs in dipped beam. MOT is as well hit and miss, some cars I see on the roads are not road worthy never-mind MOT "passing" - yet they have MOTs. Difference of scrutiny from centre to centre is literally anywhere between black and white and all shades of grey. Fake HID is just bad idea, antisocial, dazzles other, looks silly blue and doesn't give that much extra visibility anyway. The only way as suggested to get good quality high kelvin halogens like Osram Nightbreakers

Hi Roger, I was up against the clock as I needed tax and couldn't get that with an MOT, so took it to my local independent... they replaced both bushes - all in £703. It might be placebo but it does feel a little surefooted at the front. Thanks for recommendation, - will bear him in mind in the future :)

+1 for the Dodo juice kit. I have cream coloured leather too. A stiffish nail brush bets the best results as it gets right in and removes the dirt. You can also use the wool detergent method as that works well too. As has been said the final finish should look matt and not feel slippery (as shiny tends to) Do it on a nice warm day in the summer. Pull the seat belts right out and anchor/tie it back somewhere and give them a right good scrub too. They can come up a treat. Do them first and they'll be virtually dry by the time you've done the seats.

Was getting a bit heavy to lift the boot lid and it wasn't staying up. Took a chance on some ebay struts from china, they came within a week and fitted perfectly for around £12 !! Lets see how long they last 🙂

Hi all, My IS300H is due it's 100k service later this year and I am wondering there is a definitive list which covers the checks and fluids etc that should be completed? I downloaded the lexus list but there are a lot of "model dependant" items on it which has confused me somewhat. Just wondering there is anything major I need to keep in mind? Needless to say I'm not going to Lexus for the service. Cheers.

Hi everyone ,I have just purchased a 2003 sportcross .an amazing car .the cambelt was due for a change and I was going to do it myself .but after contacted lexus they could supply and fit for £400.67 .£148 parts .£185 labour £66.79 vat .so i know vat is rubbish but for the totall price it pretty good that included coolant change .they washed the car as well and checked it out fully and for 2003 car they could only find that the front number plate cracked a bit .i used a courtesy lexus 200h ..lovely car ..but my 16 year old is200 drove exactly the same .I could not say the new lexus drove any better at all in any way ..exactly the same amazing drive .so don't hesitate to take your old lexus to a lexus main dealer.

9000 is gone. Bought the Aero. What the **** hell is wrong with me?

Yes, it could be done at the same time, I did mine with service - you need to book it thought, because they will need to order part etc. You cannot assume they simply going to do it themselves as part of the service. Although, last time when I booked service the lady checked if I don't have any outstanding re-calls before booking me in.

Practice... I do mixed driving, but often I work in Paris or Geneva... which means Monday morning 5AM Romford to Gatwick and Friday 9PM back again on fairly empty M25/M23. Autopilot is set to undisclosed speed all the way without single touch of the brakes (with exception of Dartford) and I know that I get better MPG in IS250 than IS/RC300h. Done it 100s of times in IS250, once in RC300h and 4 times in IS300h. Now obviously in light of low MPG thread that is probably not true anymore, but here I am saying what the car can do. @wharfhouse - again that is true, for mixed driving hybrid is better than diesel or petrol. It depends how much of that mixed driving one is doing and what kind of mix you are getting. The point I was making - the real benefits of hybrids are in the city (or be that electric car), that is why urban and extra urban fuel consumtion is nearly the same. As I mentioned people who do 300 miles day on motorway, there are ones (and I know few) who drive car 3 times per week in central London for 5-10 miles. I would not suggest to buy the diesel for them... heck I would have Ferrari if that would be the case... because if you do 30 miles a week fuel consumtion is not a concern. There are taxi drivers in the city as well... hybrids are game changers (hence all drives Prius now).

No problem it's nice to see a project like this taking shape, Definitely the right choice wouldn't mind a shade like that on my calipers.

As much as hybrid owners will start crying now... hybrid on motorway is just a petrol with a heavy battery. Depends on speed somewhat, but over 65mph the scales starts to tip over. Specifically comparing say IS250 (mk2) and IS300h in the city and up to 65mph the hybrid would rule, at 80mph the consumtion would be the same and at 90mph the petrol woudl me more efficient then the hybrid. Hybrids are for cities - that is all, if you do a lot of driving on motorways you still best of with diesel and you won't find much differences between hybrid and petrol.

The title is a bit rubbish because Ive not moved - but my son has just gone from a VW Golf to a Mercedes C180 Coupe. I cleaned the Golf and put it up for sale at a fair price and the first person to view came to see it and took it after a whole 5 minutes of negotiation! So out with the old: And in with the new: So now we have all white cars in the household! Anyway, the problem is, im quite fond of the C180 after driving it. The engine is smooth and refinement is on par with the IS300h despite it being a 1.6l engine. Performance is undoubtedly less urgent but definately adequate for a 23 year old! Having said that, he's gone and had it remapped to 180hp and 310nm of torque (+24hp and +70nm of torque) and apparently it pulls pretty well now! Seems to be doing about 40mpg at a steady 70mph too so no real complains. Whats quite eerie is the car feels very very similiar to the IS300h to drive. The handling is about the same, the ride is EXACTLY the same, the quietness is the same and oddly, front and rear tyre sizes are the same too. Hmmm, lets see if its as reliable shall we?

Has a lead foot not going to lie. And some of the journeys are very very short - i.e. 1 mile down to the father in laws, 3 miles to the shops then car turned off so becomes cold again and then back home. School run etc. Now when Lexus release that UX300e, it would be perfect for her driving.

It might be to do with the snow on the actual road. If it cant see the lines it won't work. I honestly wouldn't bother with using EV. The car will go into EV on its own if the conditions are right so there's no point forcing it to stay in EV

I would just echo what John has said. The Spanish ITV is very thorough on headlights and if it is that you need left hand drive lamps , that is what you will need. There are companies on the web who supply, but they are expensive. Maybe Spanish breakers could have them ?

You guys are all awesome! I am having my blue with cream interior SC looked at by Lexus Exeter in the morning! Just a good once over .. then ... happy driving with top down! YAY! regards, Varun

Thanks for the reply guys - really looking forward to buying one - never had a hybrid before.

The only other thing I can think of is the gearbox oil. It's not mandatory at this mileage but some say this is when it should be changed. Having said that, this exact subject has generated lots of discussion and debate for the IS300H - and other Lexus/Toyota hybrids - but I have yet to hear of anyone, ever, getting this changed on the IS300H. You could be the first in the world!

My apologies. Yes, the Auxillary battery. L28800-YZZQX. It's not the hybrid system battery, but it's low voltage is cause the hybrid system warning message.

No cambelt so you can cross that off the list! Just checked on mine snd the big one looks to have been the 60+ at 120K - that included plugs, but cant see much else beyond the normal full service

Does the noise lessen if you sway the car in a particular direction? If so it usually indicates the alternate side is bad. Eg swing right, if the noise lessens then the left one is probably bad. Failing that being conclusive I guess your options are either take a gamble, bite the bullet and do both, or take the car to a garage that has better diagnostic tools like remote microphones in order to accurately diagnose the problem.

I hope you mean the 12V battery? The 'main' battery in a hybrid is the 288V traction battery that is at the heart of the hybrid system and it would be very unusual for it to fail in such a short time.

@Neil E i used a normal detergent and soaked belts in a basin (in situ) for a hour then scrubbed with nail brush and came up okayish and passable but seen a trick on a you tube site so then got a piece of plastic piping about 8’’ long and cut it from the side end about 3-4’’ And placed belt thru it and clamped it tight with hand and dragged it down belt, oh my god the gunk thats in the belt you dont see is horrific, so repeated the soaking and used piping again a couple of times and belt came out bright and looking damned near new, then month later ripped them out and got red ones installed lol

Would this be the Bank Holiday weekend? if so I’d have to try and book it off as it’s a normal working day for me, also about 3-1/2 hours away.....but a possibility 🤔

Worth a try for £12. I've read mixed reports for UK strut suppliers.

Thanks man, i was debating for sometime on a colour then decided on that.....took me a while to find a place that would do the exact colour i wanted though!

The glass cleaner products with rain repellent tend to be difficult to wipe off as you've observed, and their rain repellency fades quickly. Rain-X rain repellent is ok, but nothing more - I've moved onto Gtechniq G5, which is FAR better than Rain-X. Water beads even better, and it lasts many times longer (side windows and mirrors - I don't use on windscreen due to smearing).

I have used the repellent for years I use it on all but front windscreen as it's smeary particularly when the temperature is low. The product you have Phil is great for the shower cubicle.and house windows but surprisingly not so good for the car. Make sure you follow the repellent instructions exactly.

That's ridiculously cheap! It seems to be pot luck with cheap Chinese parts, they may well be fine, no reason to think they wouldn't be. I don't mind risking it if its not a part I rely on for safety.

similar to this - they can be stiff and only move about 1mm as you push against the clip. Try forwards and backwards, it could have been put in the wrong way.

Just had email about this it's confirmed for the 5th may there's also a couple of other shows throughout the rest of the year I've added the ISF to the list if you have a different model such as an RCF you have to request them to add it on the list. I'll wait untill next week to see who's interested before I buy a ticket as it'd be nice to park in a group.

Having just driven home down the M4 I find the post above astonishing, but @Physiogirl as I said earlier in the thread, the problem with asking a question such as this is that you'll get various opinions (and some opinions presented as facts) based on perceptions. As we know, perception is reality at least in the mind of the individual with that perception. My perception is no more right or wrong than others represented on this thread. The only way to know for sure is to go and take an extended test drive yourself and make your own mind up. Interestingly, when I took my extended test drive I remarked to the dealer how quiet and relaxing I felt the NX to be. The reply? 'Everybody says that, Sir.' A good salesman won't disagree with a customer where he feels he cannot reverse the opinion - there is no point. In agreeing, whether it is 'truthful' or not, he builds rapport and hopes to sell something else instead.

Regarding the SatNav issues, there is an update to the software which helps with this. I had the same issue with the (identical) system in my LC. Now, instead of tracking the car in the wrong place, it seems to adjust the car position over a few seconds until it is correct. Better but not perfect. I have to say that I think Lexus will be in a bit of difficulty with sales of the NX and UX as the new Toyota Rav 4 has just been released. All new hybrid technology, AWD as standard and loaded with kit. It also has a 5 year warranty and 2 years zero % finance at present.

First of all, leather isn't meant to be shiny. Just look at any Youtube video on car detailing and they'll all show a matt finish after cleaning. I use Dodo Juice Supernatural leather cleaner and also the sealant:

The camera is located just on the windscreen behind rear view mirror. I believe it's needed to see the lines on the road. Issue being that if there's heavy snowfall and of can't see anything then it'll disable the system

The UX300e has been trademarked so I suspect it'll be the first Lexus EV coming next year

Fitting Hid lamps into halogen light units is an MoT fail and potentially dazzling to other drivers. You could try fitting upgraded halogen lamps from the likes of Phillips or Osram i.e. Nightbreaker +

I have always found Daniel at lexuspartsdirect.co.uk to be quick and efficiant. Prices are ususally pretty good too!

It might be worth giving Paul Frost a call. I am not in any way expert , but I do know that he refurbs the various control arms, using proper original parts. I think he does it on an exchange basis. He trades on eBay as Lexussparesdirect, I have no connection with him other than myself and others use him and find him totally fair and with integrity. He tends to specialise in LS 430’s

i've experienced central locking operating slowly on my last IS when there wasnt enough power to operate all the car systems on unlocking ,my comment is regarding warning signs yes i agree with a flat battery you can have illuminations like blackpool with lights flickering on & off randomly and error messages being displayed.

Did you follow the procedure as detailed in the handbook? Time to stop guessing and get the car on Techstream and read off any error codes

Update. Lexus Bristol have diagnosed the problem as a bad cell in the conventional 12V battery. New battery being ordered and fitted tomorrow morning. Apparently the battery was outputting about 9.9V which was barely enough to start it? I also noticed some strange behaviour on the screen on the way to Lexus. It wasn't linking to my phone via bluetooth and when I tried to link it manually some options became unresponsive on screen. All linked apparently to the battery issue. So there you go. Hopefully this thread might help someone in the future. Cheers.

I wonder if it could be the battery issue that some cars had where the terminals were loose? Worth checking anyway, If the sensor was faulty indicating the car was in park, surely the hybrid system would start regardless?