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This is Sarah Williams, John’s daughter although I think you all knew him better as Roy of the Rovers. Thank you for allowing me into the group and for all your messages of condolence which are hugely comforting at this very sad time. This community was an enormous part of Dad’s life and was very very important to him. As his health deteriorated and he couldn’t do much physically he spent longer and longer with his online friends. Being able to contribute to the group and help people out with their cars brought him so much joy - not least because his own children would regularly disregard his advice and buy totally unsuitable cars which he would then have to chastise us about! My husband (his son in law) has a mini. You can just imagine what he thought of that 😂. my mum, sister Liz and brother Andy and I are all keen to hear any stories you might have about him and find out more about the time he spent in this community so please do share your memories. We would be eternally grateful for them and they will help us get to know a different side of the totally wonderful amazing once in a kind human being we called Dad. I thought you might all like to see a photo of him - will try and share some of him with his cars in later days. if anyone would like to know about the funeral let me know and I will share details in here once we know. The staff at his local Lexus dealership have all said they are coming so I think we might need to arrange a Lexus procession to the service!

I saw this earlier and I thought it kind of summarises much of my life and probably yours if you are of a certain age. They call us ”The Elderly” We were born in the 40-50-60’s. We grew up in the 50-60-70's. We studied in the 60-70-80's. We were dating in the 70-80-90's. We got married and discovered the world in the 70-80-90's. We venture into the 80-90’s. We stabilize in the 2000’s. We got wiser in the 2010’s. And we are going firmly through and beyond 2020. Turns out we've lived through EIGHT different decades... TWO different centuries... TWO different millennia... We have gone from the telephone with an operator for long-distance calls to video calls to anywhere in the world. We have gone from slides to YouTube, from vinyl records to online music, from handwritten letters to email and Whats App. From live matches on the radio, to black and white TV, colour TV and then to 3D HD TV. We went to the Video store and now we watch Netflix. We got to know the first computers, punch cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones. We wore shorts throughout our childhood and then long trousers, Oxfords, flares, shell suits & blue jeans. We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19. We rode skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, petrol or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric. Yes, we've been through a lot but what a great life we've had! They could describe us as “exennials”; people who were born in that world of the fifties, who had an analog childhood and a digital adulthood. We've kind of “Seen-It-All”! Our generation has literally lived through and witnessed more than any other in every dimension of life. It is our generation that has literally adapted to “CHANGE”. A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation, which will be UNIQUE. -Author unknown Keep on keeping on!

I Would Like to wish All My Many friends On The L.O.C. A Very Merry Peaceful and Happy Christmas Followed by a Happy and Merry New Year...Happy Lexus Motoring For 2024 And Remember Your Problems are only As BIG as you make Them...God Bless you all..!!!!!!!

Hi guys I was involved in a very serious accident last week. Driving home from Gymnastics with my girls a full fat V8 Mustang driving like an absolute lunatic came barreling towards us head on (in my lane,) it was a head on collision, it's still all a bit of a blur, my car was on fire when I came round, I had my daughters in back, the back doors wouldn't open so I had to drag them both out through the front. it was a mess! All 3 of us were eventually taken to hospital and released a week later. The whole ordeal has been a nightmare, one of the worst thing things I've ever had to experience! Needless to say the Lexus is toast (literally) I'm gutted about losing it and everything in it but more importantly I'm extremely grateful that all 3 of us are still here! The broken bones, emotional trauma we all sustained should heal in time, and we live to fight another day. The Police wont tell me much at the moment but did mention that the Mustang ended up worse off than ours in terms of initial damage and the driver of that car along with his passenger are still hospitalized The Lexus did its job! (in addition to the car seats the girls were sat in) I chose this car because I wanted something reliable, comfortable & safe, it fulfilled all 3 of those requirements effortlessly. Started at every press of the button, got us from A to B in comfort and when it came to it, kept us as safe as it could in a situation many aren't fortunate enough to walk away from. I couldn't have picked a better car for the budget I had, i'm very thankful for that. Just wanted to share this for anyone new here considering buying an IS250 or any Lexus for that matter, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone here sincerely for their help and advice to all the questions I had prior to buying this car and during my ownership period. I wouldn't have chosen it and maintained it correctly if it wasn't for the friendly advice and info I got from you all so again BIG thank you to everyone here from the bottom of my heart!! Not sure what I'm going to replace it with at the moment as well maintained ones are thin on the ground, prices starting to climb and I doubt i'll get much back from my insurer, but I guess i'll cross that bridge when I get to it... Please stay safe everyone, look after yourself and your loved ones, we just never know what's going to happen sometimes!

That's a wonderful tribute to your father Sarah, well said you. He and I had many enjoyable exchanges especially as he knew my overriding affinity with Greece and the Greek people. They have a saying, (one of many) which roughly translated says, "don't walk behind me as I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me as I may not always follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend". This for me sums up your father exactly. Warmest of wishes Philip

Has it been a year already? Time clearly flies when you're enjoying yourself. Betsy and I have covered 8,706 miles since October 20th last year at an average of 45mpg. Did I make the right decision to swap my IS300h for Betsy? Let's start with the few things which I don't like: the cover for the centre console cubby hole could do with being a little more solid. The boot lid could be more rigid/heavier, but I guess this has been done for weight saving. And some of the updates I'd make: How about different warning sounds for front and rear parking sensors? A socket in the roof to plug in a For Hire sign. Only joking. And some of the things I haven't missed from the IS: Rear wheel drive The buttock unfriendly seats. Now onto the things which I like: She is supremely comfortable on long journeys, even as an F Sport with those big tyres Fuel economy is great. I could get more if I was a little less heavy footed and prone to rushing on the A1 Performance is perfectly acceptable. There are none of the worries joining roundabouts which I had in the IS300h (rectified by putting it in Sport of course). She'll easily mix it with the Scheissewagens in lane 4 of the A1 between Huntingdon and Peterborough with no loss of face. Or should that be no loss of grille? The boot is enormous and easily takes my big box of IT gubbins plus any shopping I might acquire on the return leg of an outing. My bass cabs fit with acres of room to spare. Cabin noise is virtually non-existent. It does however help to run some of that Gummi stuff around the door seals every month or so to stop any creaking from the doors. Android Auto - once I'd got the hang of it, and since AAWireless released a certain update, I love it. If you charge the phone on the Qi mat whilst using AA, it does get a bit warm and the power going in pretty much comes out immediately. Servicing - nothing needed doing (apart from an upsell of four wheel alignment!). The brake disks still have 10mm on them so they're practically brand new. Talking of brakes, the absence of brake dust on the wheels is great. Hopefully Betsy's wheels won't go the same way as my IS250's did. Three times. Little things like a warning on the dash that a window is open and would I like to close it by clicking OK Being able to check tyre pressures without using an app. I used the memory seat function for the first time yesterday. The young lady who returned Betsy from the servicing area was quite petite. A quick stab on button 1 allowed me to get my less than svelte figure back behind the wheel. Radar guided cruise control is a wonderful thing, especially on the A1 between Peterborough and Stamford while the invisible workforce does its job. That lane assist/guide thing and going handsfree is fun, but only where conditions allow of course. Adaptive lighting - on backroads this is great, although I did have someone flash me. They were probably thinking "nice car mate" Talking of which, I have posted the tale of the young Asian chap who complimented Betsy at a local filling station. Several colleagues at work always insist on me driving if we go out together. They drive Schiessewagens. I would always spec a car with a heated steering wheel from now on. I thought they were a gimmick. Not so. As many have pointed out on here, automatic folding mirrors should be on all Lexi. It's a great way of checking she's locked as I walk away. The auto hold. A colleague took me on a "short cut" back from Leicester to Bourne (it took twice as long as going the conventional route). We came to a crossroads which was uphill. "Have you got a good handbrake?" he asked, "as you'll need it here". He was right, although I was surprised that he'd not taken on board the lack of a visible handbrake. Betsy just stopped and then went when I pressed the accelerator. No slipping backwards or anything. Tick VG. Fit and finish. You don't have to slam her doors like you do on a Scheissewagen. She doesn't creak like a Mercedes. I'm sure that there are many things I've missed. Am I glad that Betsy and I met on the fateful day when I took my IS300h in for the fuel pump recall? Hell yes.

Well, I ordered my new RX450h, Premium sport edition, and finally collected it last Thursday from Lexus, Birmingham. Wonderful service from start to finish, and happy to be back in the fold after an absence of 10 years, on the dark side with the VAG brands. I am so pleased with RX, mesa red with cream leather, so, so, comfortable, and so quiet. I must confess it’s been a long time since my test drive, and had forgotten what it was really like. It is reported by many motoring journalists as showing its age, and I guess that is true in comparison with more recent models, but I think it has all the tech that I need, and apple carplay works like a dream. It may be considered to be showing its age, but what a wonderful place to be, it exudes comfort and luxury. it has taken me a couple of days to get used to the car, but driven for its intended use, silky smooth, quiet, and so far returning 35mpg, no complaints at that! It really is a pleasure to unlock the door, and do a journey in my new car. So here’s to many many happy miles, and look forward to an upcoming holiday in Europe. Larry

20220426_143621.mp4 Yesterday had my 200,000 mile service at Lexus Birmingham and today clocked over the 200,000 miles mark on my odometer. I have owned my IS300h Premier from new since 2013, it is the best car I have ever owned and I will be sad to see it go later this year when I take delivery of a NX350h Takumi. Thank you Lexus for creating fabulous cars.

Traded my Boxster and picked up this beauty today; TVD, red leather, sunroof and Quicksilver exhaust. Suspect I will spend much of the weekend just listening to the sound!

Just put a deposit down on this beauty at Lexus Teeside EDIT - I asked if this model (it's a 2018 Luxury) was valid for the Android Auto installation and he said that it's capable but they haven't yet got the hardware to retrofit the RX. I forgot to ask him if that was just Lexus Teeside or if he meant that there are no dealers anywhere in the country who can fit it to an RX yet, so does anyone know?

After reluctantly selling my ISF to a fellow member on here 4 years ago due to an overseas move, I’m back in the U.K. so I’m back in the ‘F’ fold. I bought the blue RCF that was up for sale recently with TVD and just 17k miles. It’s absolutely mint and I’m loving it! Great to be back 👍

Well just over two years ago I made the "mistake" of having a look around the showroom of Lexus Teesside while my 2011 RX was in for a service and MOT. I saw a 2017 RX while there .. had a look .. ended up buying it. After retiring at the end of June I thought I would consider when to change again and went to Lexus Teesside again today to enquire about when the list prices of the new models would be out. Mentioned that the thought of the V6 being dropped was putting me off the 2023 ones. Sat in their showroom was a brand new (unregistered) RX450h Premium Sport in Dark Blue with cream seats, HUD, Panoramic Sunroof ... looked gorgeous, especially in that colour. It was tempting ... very tempting ... too tempting ... Yes.. I bought it .. picking it up on Tuesday .. they are going to remove the dashcams from the 2017 and install them in the new one on Tuesday.

My 450h+ arrived at the dealer today! That's 5 months since placing the order which is pretty good in comparison to current schedules.

Well thats me had the UX for 17 days now, I thought I would post my initial thoughts on the car good and bad. Its my first Japanese built car since my Toyota Corolla SR in the 1970’s which I loved. Since then it’s been all German apart from owning a Volvo XC60 D5 for four years, so VW, Audi, Mercedes and latterly BMW finishing with an X2 M Sport 2.0D which was great. So I wanted a change and to downsize a bit since recently retiring, I cover <8k miles a year now (saved 63 quid on my car insurance when I told them to reduce mileage from 12k and I’ve retired!). My shortlist was VW Troc, Volvo XC40, Audi Q3 and Lexus UX, the UX was the last car I looked at. None of the other manufacturers had any stock to show me for my specification requirements, I got a test drive in an XC40 plug in hybrid but thats it. The Lexus dealership had some cars to look at and a demo which they gave me for 24 hours to test. I have to say as a dealership I felt they valued my custom and went the extra mile to allow me to make a decision on whether I wanted to buy. The others just more or less shrugged their shoulders and said it wasn’t their fault, cars are in short supply. So, following the test I decided it was the Lexus for me, it had so much going for it when compared to the opposition. Ordered 1st September, factory build, arrived at dealership and was handed over to me January 10th, hand over was excellent with great explanation of the cars functions and tech and the fuel tank was filled. One of the reasons I went for the Lexus was that it is unrivaled with the others in terms of the tech, F/R parking sensors, electric seats, leather seats, blind spot monitoring, radar cruise, heated steering wheel, keyless entry and the hybrid system the list goes on and on. This spec is available for <40k so VED remains in the low pricing category too. The drive experience is good, I quite like the CVT, it suits the way I drive and its very smooth, the engine and hybrid system is excellent and the transition between battery and petrol power is seamless. The seats are extremely comfy and although the boot is a bit small its adequate for us and our springer spaniel. The steering rake adjustment is a little too low for me even a maximum adjustment. The infotainment system takes a bit of getting used to when compared to the beemer iDrive but that being said it has significantly more functionality, its bigger and incorporates ACP so all in all combined with it having a bigger screen its actually better. Lights are good, reversing camera etc all a bonus and in the spec, but why oh why are there still filament bulbs on the indicators when all the other lamps have more efficient and better looking LED’s!! So I think I made the right choice but time will tell, the warranty is there if needed but Toyota / Lexus are renounced for reliability so hoping no issues there. I fitted a Nextbase 622GX 2 channel dash cam, my first foray into using them but the standard of driving in my opinion has noticeably declined during the past few years and I now feel its a necessary evil. Be interested to hear other peoples first impressions too!

Following previous discussions about Lexus Relax and Extended Warranty I have started this new thread with my current experience with the Extended Warranty. My current Extended Warranty on my Lexus IS 300h is due to expire early November. After the announcement of Relax (and the removal of the Extended Warranty from the Lexus website) I had spoken to Jemca (who I use for all my Lexus requirements) a few months ago and they had confirmed that an Extended Warranty will still exist for cars that fall outside Relax. My car is a 2014 registration IS 300h that has now done just under 108,000 miles and so this week I called Jemca to discuss an Extended Warranty. Here is what is on offer comparing the T&Cs of a new 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty with the old Extended Warranty I currently have in place: The new warranty is called Lexus 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty It is for approved Lexus vehicles up to 15 years old, subject to 150,000 mileage limit - the old Extended Warranty was for approved Lexus vehicles up to 10 years old and 140,000 miles, so the new extended warranty covers vehicles for longer in this respect It is only available for vehicles that are between 10 and 15 years old and/or 100,000 and 150,000 miles – Relax extended warranty automatically applies to all cars under 10 years old and less than 100,000 miles The 2-4-1 offer is not available on the new 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty – only one year at a time - the cost for my IS 300h is £474 for one year (the old one was £795 for two years), it can be paid either up front or in 10 interest free monthly instalments The car must still be serviced to schedule by a franchised Lexus dealer (as per the old extended warranty) It still includes the Lexus Roadside Assistance same as the old one did (note that Relax extended warranty does not include Lexus Roadside Assistance) The company that provides the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty and ultimately pays all valid claims made under it is Toyota (GB) PLC (Lexus Division), and the administrator of the warranty is TWG Services Limited – this is all the same as the old one It doesn’t include the MoT testing fee (though I understand some of the old extended warranty didn’t either, although mine did include two MoT test fees) In Excluded Parts for the new 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty it specifically lists “Multi media components or in car entertainment systems, including but not limited to satellite navigation, CD/DVD systems, audio visual equipment and Bluetooth connectivity. Components will be covered under the Warranty if the failure results in the non-operation of an essential vehicle system, eg, air conditioning controls, heated screen operation and the parking assistance system.” - this is an additional exclusion in the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty and as per previous forum discussion it mirrors the exclusion in the Relax extended warranty - I wonder whether it may be due to owners trying to do map updates themselves (that are the “dealer only” updates according to Lexus) or other modifications and bricking the system? – otherwise seems a strange exclusion and has been specifically added for both Relax and this new Extended Warranty Comparing the T&Cs of the old Extended Warranty and the new 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty clause by clause, then other than a few minor changes in wording (usually to clarify things) this is everything I could deduce. On that basis I have gone ahead and taken out the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty on my IS 300h for the coming year. Although slightly more expensive that the old extended warranty I still think it’s value for money considering the age/mileage of my car and the fact it includes the Lexus Roadside Assistance which would be £125 if purchased separately (and my wife’s car also benefits from the free partner included with this). I have made successful claims on the Extended Warranty previously and so know that Lexus parts / labour can be expensive. I hope this helps others in similar position to myself - first point of contact to discuss further is probably your local franchised dealer. As always, I appreciate whether or not to take an Extended Warranty is a choice based on personal circumstances – it suits me but YMMV.

Well i've had the car nearly a month now and the radiator has been niggling away at me after seeing a few posts on this forum, i ordered the parts mid last month and they all showed up yesterday. Apparently there's been a spike in people ordering them! It's a relatively easy job, just a methodical approach and time is needed, of course tools etc too. A friend has a ramp in his garage which made getting under the car very easy, only needed to get the transmission cooler hoses and bottom rad hose off though, easily done on axle stands. IMG_20200904_170221 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr There was no need to take the wheels off but mine were on the wrong sides so swapped them over whilst in the air! Was interested to see they are labelled up which corner they should be on! IMG_20200904_170640 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr Old one out: IMG_20200904_175420 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr IMG_20200904_175351 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr Waterpump is all good! Replaced in the past under warranty: IMG_20200904_175703 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr Funnily enough we noticed i was missing a few trim clips as we took apart what we needed to, turned out i had 7 of them sat in the airbox pre filter! I can only assume they've been there since the pump was done some 45k ago! Fans swapped over onto the new rad, we had to drill and tap out the rivnuts on this where the transmission cooler lines attach, now attached with stainless m6 bolts which you can just make out in the third picture. IMG_20200904_181746 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr IMG_20200904_181756 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr IMG_20200904_184703 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr Going back together, you get a new expansion tank with the radiator and i fitted a new air filter and gave the throttle body a wipe whilst we were in there: IMG_20200904_192856 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr All done, in a much better state than last time it left Lexus, now with properly secured trim pieces and a surplus of trim clips! : IMG_20200904_194417 by Scott Osborne, on Flickr Radiator was £268 from memory and coolant maybe another £30ish (6L needed), i bought 1L of atf fluid too, only used 50ml or so into the cooler before refitting to make up the small amount that dripped out. Lexus Parts Direct have been great for parts. All in for £310ish and a few hours, happy with that!

What an unhelpful and inappropriate comment. The guy is asking a perfectly reasonable question of members on two specific models, whatever smaller car he may have driven in the past but quite possibly not for a long time. How is this 'pompous' ?

I admit that I haven't had her long, but here are my initial thoughts and musings: Getting into the ES doesn't feel like getting into a fighter jet or racing car like getting into the IS did. The driving position does not feel so "snug". More of an observation than any criticism. Betsy's extra size has not caused any problems yet. Please God don't let me have tempted fate there. There seems to be less things to adjust on the ES. I haven't found a speed warning setting yet, and as there is nothing I can see about one in the manual, I'm guessing there isn't one. There are no "service checks", i.e. no details of the air filter, oil needing a change etc. which were on the 2IS and 3IS. The sliding seat and steering wheel is a nice touch. I've just discovered that the wheel can either tilt, or telescope or both, and that the extent of the seat slide can be adjusted. Just the thing for the gentleman with a fuller figure. I've found it best to put seat belt on first to get closer to the start button. Heated steering wheel? Nice. She is so quiet! She is so smooth! She is so comfortable! I discovered today that in the vehicle settings, Sport was set as the suspension setting. I must take Betsy out again soon to see whether putting her into Normal makes it even more wafty and comfortable. There is no lag when accelerating, she just goes. At roundabouts in the IS, I would often put it into S to make sure power arrived when asked. The indicator stalks are not as solid as on the IS. I love having confirmation of Betsy being locked when her ears, sorry mirrors, fold in. It may be me, but I've found that the Nav screen takes priority. Perhaps more playing around and reading the manual is required. My wife tells me that the navigation screen will take priority, and as she knows everything, that's probably the case. I liked the light on the IS wiper stalk to show that the auto wipers were engaged. FWD Vs RWD? I have not noticed any difference at all yet, and to be honest I'm not what you'd call an enthusiastic driver anymore so it's probably not going to be an issue. People like it. I stopped to let a mother and her young son cross the road and he gave me a thumbs up. A future owner perhaps? Everyone comments upon the colour. Economy looks good at the moment - roundabout an indicated 45mpg with lots of (totally unnecessary) short journeys. I'd get about 40mpg in the IS for similar conditions. The boot is vast. When I discovered that my bass cabinet did not fit in the IS, I had to buy another one (well, didn't have to, but it was a good excuse). The old one would easily have gone into the ES. Android Auto is awesome. It's just a shame that it's not wireless but those very expensive adapters will come down in price soon I'm sure. The Rain free side windows really work! The phone holder is great, I love having a Qi pad and lots of deep cubby holes Tyre pressure display is nice but would like it in psi Betsy feels like my beloved IS250 I prefer the button to unlock filler flap. With the IS, it was too easy to get out at the filling station, lock the car, then have to unlock it again to open the filler flap. Cruise control controls on wheel took some getting used to after having the stalk behind the steering wheel for so many years. OBD port is easier to find Heating controls - having a dial is much easier than the slider on the IS. I'm not sure that the road speed limit recognition is as good on ES as on the IS The auto main beam system in the IS seemed better than on the ES. I'm not sure if I have it on - there's a light on the stalk, so I'm guessing that I have. I have only seen it from inside Betsy, but I do like the way the lights swoop up when they come on. Much like my IS250's did (the 3IS lights just come on?) It is a very, very relaxing drive. Even though she's an F Sport, the seats are much more comfortable than my IS F Sport and I don't creak or ache at the end of a journey. I'm sure that more surprises and observations will crop up in the coming weeks and months so I'll post any updates as and when.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. My NX is three and a half years old. I’m really happy with it, and it’s only done 24k miles. However, the value of my car as a trade in currently was too high to ignore. In the time I’ve owned the car - from new - it has lost only £8k in depreciation. That’s simply amazing, and I couldn't ignore the opportunity it presented. Lexus tried to convince me to pre-order a new NX. That was when the value of my current car as a part-exchange became obvious. However, I stood firm - no need to change, I’ll keep what I have. But then… …I asked about an RX. I’m the first to admit that previously I’ve found the RX too big. I used to live in (very) rural Wiltshire, and to access my village meant miles of very narrow single track lanes. In August I relocated to West Berkshire. Not such an issue here. I’ve also previously noted that, with my disability, the RX wasn’t as good as the NX in terms of the relationship between steering wheel, seat and pedals. However, Lexus loaned me an RX for a week to test it out. I discovered that with plenty of adjustment, I could make it work. With the discount on the RX on offer (very, VERY, large), and the thousands of pounds of equity in my current NX, the opportunity to get a new RX for not very much was staring me in the face. Today I placed the order. In early December I’ll become the first owner of an RX Premium with Tech, Safety and Protection packs. That means it’s almost fully loaded including heads up display, panoramic roof, electric tailgate etc. The quality, the silence and the comfort won me over. I certainly don’t need the space, but then again you only live once. Colour will be Sonic White, with black leather interior. I’ve had the combination before on Hondas and I love it. I’d have preferred the tan or beige leather interior, but that was only available on exterior colours I didn’t want and I didn’t want to wait until April/May for a factory order. I’ve loved my time with the NX. It’s a fabulous car. However, a week with the RX - and crucially at the incredible price available - convinced me to make the change. I’ll be moving forums, but I won’t be going far. My third Lexus. I’m clearly hooked!

Well, it appears that there has been quite a lot of anger and tension on the forum lately ☹️ Perhaps I shouldn't bother adding anything, but I feel that perhaps I should also share my views, even though they aren't specifically related a single topic. First, let me say, despite what it might appear like on this forum, that I like Linas and am glad he is on here. I know this might surprise some of you, but I do think this forum is better off for him being on here. My belief is that if everyone had the same opinions and views on everything then this place would be quite boring and a lot less active. Like with any discussion media, if enough people get together, there will be differing views and perhaps some 'conflict'. The recent 'SVU' thread has highlighted this perfectly and I am guilty of doing what I am suggesting, but the difference is that I never harboured any ill will on anyone and hopefully came across as not being annoyed because I truly wasn't during the thread. Now, the reason I don't have any issues with Linas (and others on here) is because I accept them for who they are and understand that they aren't going to change what they are like just because I want them to. In other words, there is no point continuing to argue a point once it has become obvious that an agreement isn't going to be reached. It is also worth remembering that it takes two sides to have an argument and it is rare that the blame can be placed completely on one side. One thing I can say is that I rarely see Linas be deliberately rude or calling others names, even after a prolonged debate, which can't be said for some other members. Ultimately, what I am trying to get at is that if someone has a differing (negative) opinion on a subject, regardless of whether they are being bias or not, then they can claim such in any open discussion forums just as much as those that have positive comments. Just because the post isn't positive - even thought it is always nice when it is - doesn't make it automatically wrong. As an example from the most recent thread that kicked off, do I think the IS300h is a 'quick' car? No. Do I want more performance out of my cars for whatever reason? Yes, hence me owning a GS450h as opposed to a GS300h. These are simple statements that I could have made, but sometimes I can't be bothered to have to defend a statement that might cause some issues. So, should certain topics appear, I would definitely expect Linas to express his opinions again (at least he is consistent 🙂) and would just read the posts and move on to the next one. Constantly going around in circles serves no purpose, so why even try? Anyway, it is my hope that this forum returns to its friendly, accepting ways soon (It has certainly been tense here lately) even if that means certain members making use of the 'ignore' function. Thanks for reading 🙂

Well... I have had my MRI scan. Feeling very spaced out still from the meds ( 4mg Lorezapam ). ( Having to correct almost every word I type.) Yes, it was better than I thought, but that was no doubt due to... Really good support from here and practical advice. Thank you so much. Doing physical exercise in the morning. Taking sedation ,took away the anxious feeling. Left me very wobbly afterwards, Music to (attempt) to listen to. An eye mask - a must; eyes closed. Excellent and caring staff all the way. Going in feet first. Listening to all the odd MRI sounds and 'engaging' with them. Having a chaperone - my wife. Having a panic button - not used. Took 45 minutes to scan. And yes, told noththing about results as yet...

... I did say I'd put up some photos of our new beastie so here she is:

I don't know why you are complaining! This is actually the latest in Lexus security features. Even if you defeat the CANbus you still can't get in the vehicle!!! Genius indeed. 🙂 Paul

Hello All, I am writing this thread to help fellow future Lexus owners. There is an IS250 new buyers thread, but can't see one for IS220D. I have had the joys(not) of owning a 220D. I thought of writing this thread for new potential buyers of this car. If there was a thread for IS220D before going to test drive my old IS220D, I wouldn't have never got it, and would have just went for IS250 instead LOL! 🙂 PROS : * Very good spec for the year of the car - I have had the Sport model, which came with auto lights + wipers, memory seats, fully electric seats with lumbar support also. It also had a 9 mode sunroof, but I believe that was an added extra option. Very good sound quality (I believe it's the Mark Levinson head unit). Auto dimming rear view mirror + auto dimming side view mirrors which tilt down when reversing. Keyless entry and start + front and rear parking sensors. * Much better drive comfort than it's competitors - Especially for longer journeys, drive is very comfy and the car is very practical. CONS: * High Tax Costs - The tax band for this car is quite high, as it comes around £330 a year. * High Fuel Costs - The reported figures are 35mpg/City and 52mpg/Motorway for the non sport models and 29mpg/City 45mpg/Motorway. However, from my experience and Fuelly average checks, it will be hard to get above 35/mpg on a motorway run, and more than 25mpg in city. If you give the car a good run, you will be seeing around 20mpg in city, and 27mpg on motorways. * Gearbox Is Awful - On the Non Sport models, you will find yourself not being able to shift into 6th gear on motorways, as the RPM's are too low driving at 70-75mpg. On the Sport model, the gears are too short, and the 1st and 6th gears are useless. The gearbox stick is heavy and chunky, and quite uncomfortable to shift gears. There is a quite loud crunch when changing into 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears. * The Engine Generally Feels Underpowered - This is obviously a large car, and made for comfort, not speed. However the engine feels underpowered, when taking off as the turbo starts to kick in at 2k RPM's. In first gear, the acceleration is slow and sluggish. * The Engine Has Lots Of Common Faults - It has the Toyota D4D engine, that is being used in Toyota Avensis. The injectors do go bad quite often, and head gaskets go bad on them very often as well. The EGR valves are also known to get very clogged easily, and need regular cleaning (Easy job, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty). WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR ON THE TEST DRIVE BEFORE TEST DRIVE * Head Gasket Leak - When engine is cold , pop the bonnet and unscrew the oil cap. The oil cap should be nice and clean, with no frothy contents on it and milky like residue. Also, check the coolant level and colour of it, it should be topped to max and it should be nice pink colour. * Fuel Injectors Condition - Take the engine cover off, and start the engine. Inspect the engine near injectors and look out for any leaks. Put your ear close to each injector and listen out for any rattling or knocking sounds. If it has any fuel leaks, or knocking sounds, steer away! It will be very pricey! *Auto Lights/Wipers - Turn the wipers and lights stalk to 'Auto' setting. There is a sensor on the windscreen, in the same position where the rear view mirror sits. Cover it with your hands, and have someone else inspect the lights - they should turn on. Take a bottle of water with you, and throw the water on the windscreen, it should wipe it off. *Seats/Radio/Air Con/Sun Roof - Check that the seat can be moved front/back, back of seat can be moved fron/back, seat height can be adjusted. If the car has memory function, put the car in neutral, start the car, put the hand brake on and hold the 'Set' button and press 1,2 and 3. There should be a beep indicating the position was set. Check that the radio works. Also check that the aircon blows hot/cold air and that the sun roof opens if there is one fitted in the car. *Check MPG - Check the AVG MPG and Tank MPG indicated on the computer. Reset it, by holding the 'Disp' button on the AVG MPG button. Go for an extended test drive, and check the MPG displayed. It usually overstates about 1/2 mpg depending on tyres etc, so bare that in mind. DURING TEST DRIVE/AFTER TEST DRIVE * Brake Callipers - Walk around each side of the car and check for heat coming from brakes. Each pair of wheels should be the same heat, if one is hotter than other, callipers are seized and will require rebuilding/replacing which is quite expensive. Another obvious tell tale sign is the car pulling to a side. * Brakes - Check that the brakes are not spongy, and brake hard enough. * Oil filter cap seized - The cap, where the oil filter screws into may be overtightened and impossible to get out. Make sure to ask, if it has been changed and if you are buying from dealer, ask them to check it before sale. Mine was screwed on solid, and had to get a new oil filter housing, which took a very long time to find second hand, as breakers don't sell them separate, they sell them whole on the engine block. I have scrapped the car before fitting it on, so still got mine if anyone is after one! * Leaking shocks - Check if you can see any leakage coming from shock absorbers, expensive replacements but not a real issue - some owners have reported replacing them and hard to find. * Exhaust Smoke - As any diesel, do a hard acceleration while checking your rear view mirror - there should be no clouds of smoke left behind. If you can, have someone watch you while accelerating past them for any smoke - lots of smoke could mean lots of expensive fixes. * Clutch - Make sure that the clutch is not rattling or vibrating, when depressed. The biting point shouldn't be too low or too high, and there shouldn't be any fishy smells in the cabin. * Exhaust - Check that after test drive, there is no exhaust smell in the cabin or outside the car. This could indicate bad cat, and exhaust replacement is quite expensive for this and the IS250 model. * Rust - Check for general health on wheel arches and underneath the car. It shouldn't be excessively rusty. Hope this helps prospective buyers! My opinion is, that there is a reason on why these are cheaper than the IS250. I have had mine for a while, and there was nothing but issues. Bad MPG, high road tax, rear callipers were seized, front calliper was seized, there was an exhaust issue and more. I have ended up trading mine in for IS250, and the V6 petrol version is better on MPG, than the IS220D sport model :O. No DPF, no EGR systems to be blocked. If you want the Lexus, just go for an IS250, as it is much more better running costs wise to IS220D, and much more reliable. If you really, really want a diesel, switch to an Audi A5, BMW 520D or Mercedes E Class, do not go for IS220D, unless it has had new injectors, head gasket replaced, and DPF is clean. But let's be honest, if someone invested that much money in it, they will not be selling it LOL! 😄 HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE LOOKING TO BUY AN IS220D.

My IS250 is now 13yrs old and the ivory-coloured leather is looking tired. I’d been mulling over different options and settled on doing the work myself with a restoration/recolouring kit. There are a few companies out there that can supply you with the necessary components. Having watched many tutorial videos and accounts of how the job went I settled on getting my gear from Furniture Clinic based in Durham. https://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/ This is the kit I got along with some of my own bits I have in the garage. My additional bits were a funnel, selection of paint brushes, foam backed sanding blocks [ I'm lucky I have many from previous], measuring pot say 5-50ml is damned handy [the type from the top of Tomato feed is spot on] and a selection of Pry tools for getting thing apart without damage. Oh and my spray gun got in on the act too I see! It is the medium colourant kit plus I got the repair add on pack so that I could do some filling with their flexible filler. I also sought out a small leather sample piece from inside a headrest for a colour match to be made. The worst scuffing/wear/cracking and discolouration was on the driver’s seat and the centre armrest as you would expect. These three photos show the condition of the areas needing the most work. So, the plan was to fully refurbish both front seats and the armrest. The seat bolster was really pretty grim. This video from Furniture Clinic [FC] is very good and pretty much encapsulates what I did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFXkraC9B7o I found all the products to be very good apart from the airbrush kit. I have a compressor and spray gun of my own thank heavens! No matter what I tried the airbrush would not play ball. I will return to it and get an adapter for my airlines. They can be very useful tools so I will attempt to get it functioning. But that’s for another day. So, I used my own spray kit and just closed it down to low pressure and low feed and it worked a treat. I should point out everything is water based which makes it all rather pleasant!! FC videos seem to show a lot of work being undertaken in the car but that requires a great deal of masking and you can’t get to every surface properly. So for my needs it was out of the car repairs. This next video is useful for showing how some of the armrest components come apart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXgTBn8MHZ0 You can get the armrest out without taking out the entire centre. You just need to prise up the trim at the front of the cubby box, where it meets the wood section [on mine] enough to release the tabs and then the top U-shaped trim will pop off. The rear of the cubby box just pulls off. Then you have to move both seats forwards as far as poss to clear the beck end of the cubby box to pull out the metal tabs and its off. Two screws underneath will allow the handle to be removed. I then masked up all the underneath and mounted it on a piece of wood for spraying ... a stand if you will. There is a useful write up here that Agent-Dess put up a while back, credit to him for this This will guide you through seat removal if you want to remove the seats. Remember to disconnect battery and wait 10mins before unplugging the seats. I found them not too heavy but you need to be careful when removing as you don’t want to damage anything with the seat prongs [they stick out a wee bit – so be mindful!]. I wrapped masking tape around mine! The Driver’s seat is the more awkward of the two as you have the steering wheel to contend with. The three electrical plugs under the seat are a bit fiddly but not too bad. I also removed the lower plastic trim once the seat was out and up on my workmate bench. There are three screws hidden underneath. Two at the front and one at the back. Pry off the raise/ lower knob and back tilt knob and remove the three screws that are now seen. Then unplug the electrical connector and its out of the way. Next was masking up all the areas you want to protect from spraying. Seat back is a contrasting colour on mine so that need looking at with care. I masked the headrest collars and the stalk and the re-inserted the headrest into the seat as it’s easier for me to spray it all in situ. I then did everything as outlined in the FC repair video. But I used my own spray gun for applying the colour and the clear two pack top finish. I have to say the colour is spot on. The Leather Binder I found to be very good indeed, that I used on the more heavily scuffed areas. The Heavy filler and Flexifill are surprisingly good, much better than I anticipated. In truth I could have put more in but that’s something you learn from experience, and I had none with this! It seems odd using a hair drier to speed up curing but it really works well and at every stage even after spraying the finishes on!! Just remember when you start scrubbing it's going to look worse...much worse on the bad areas. But then it all starts to improve. This is the side bolster after scrub and 6 coats of filler applied with the spatula Same bolster after dab sponging on some colourant just to see how it's looking after filler. Colour coat [x3 with 10 mins between coats]. Colour coat is glossy/satin finish and when dry is still almost tacky to the touch. If you sponge apply any colorant onto the pierced leather ... do not wipe it on [ you'll clog those holes!] ... just dab it gently. If you mess up and block a hole just tease it out with something like a bradawl tip. I sprayed 3 coats of the finish top coat with 10 mins between and used the hair dryer to speed it up. If go careful you can see it drying in front of your eyes. If you get a sag or run just dab it with a sponge. Pleased to report I did not get 1 ... but then I was a furniture restorer and sprayer for over 20 years. Passenger seat and armrest done ... driver's seat untouched Everything back in the car I am very pleased with the results and very pleasantly surprised at the flexibility of the fillers and finishes. I have been poking and prodding after 24 hrs and it’s all very impressive. My only gripe would be that FC don't supply enough crosslinker for the amount of top finish supplied at 8:1 mix!! Which to me is daft, but they claim the pack is based on 250ml ... but I have 500 ml? ... and we go round in circles on the phone getting absolutely nowhere! That's just poor in my book. How long did it take? Firstly, I’m retired so I have plenty of free time [ I was spraying the last coat at 7pm on Thursday evening!!]. The kit arrived early on Wednesday morning and I finished putting everything back in the car at lunchtime on Friday. Oh and there is enough left over to do the whole exercise again. The plan now is to leave it for 3 or 4 days to fully cure and then I'll give it a going over with the FC Protection Cream. I've given it a waxy paper de-nib and it all feels really good. There you go then ... Job done ... chuffed! I hope that will be of use to anyone considering doing this. Take your time and follow the instructions they are very comprehensive. My only reservation is that airbrush.

Like many, I am very sad, to hear of John’s death, I feel a great loss and a sense of shock. My heartfelt condolences to all John’s family. I am sure that here, John will be remembered ( and indeed WILL always be remembered ) for his advice, guidance, interest, kindness and way with words. There is a certainty, than when I’m faced with a car related question, John’s ‘voice’ will pop into my head, “Read the Owner Manual”. And he’ll be right! John, I salute you. Thank you for your help and support, by forum and personal message. Rest in Peace, my friend.

Thank you David, for sharing this very sad news with us. Like many here, I feel I have lost a friend that I never had the pleasure of actually meeting. I joined in June 2020 and it soon became clear that John was one of the stalwarts of the LOC. I appreciated his wit and wisdom - and in exchanging PMs discovered that we were not dissimilar in backgrounds and age. He was what we used to describe affectionately as a ‘Gentleman and Scholar’. In the last PM we exchanged exactly one month ago, he shared with me the news of his deteriorating health. I too extend my sincere condolences to Margaret and his Family and very much hope that they see this Post and thus appreciate how much he was admired by strangers whose only connection was that they owned a Lexus! One thing that amused us both - and that John would gently point out - was that the answers to many of the questions raised could be found in the car’s Manual. But that didn’t stop him from helping a fellow owner. I - and the LOC - shall miss him greatly.

Hi all, Apologies for the lack of Lexus content, but some time ago now I agreed to update you on the progress of my new car. As some of you know, I sold my GS450h in Sept last year in anticipation of its arrival. Somewhat delayed longer than I hoped, I finally picked it up yesterday. So, here it is, my new Kia Stinger: Only driven about 200 miles, and since it is still breaking in the engine I haven't had a chance to go above 3000rpm so far, but it is certainly different to my GS! 🙂 Whether it is 'better' is yet to be seen..

Not the best of photos just quick snaps will post better ones later

I’ve now competed 250 miles in my new RX 450h Premium with Tech, Safety and Protection packs. Those miles have been across A-Roads, B-Roads and mostly motorway on the M4. Previously I’ve owned two NX 300h, the first a Sport from 2017 and the second a Luxury from 2018, competing 30k miles across the two. My initial comparisons are: Comfort - a score draw. Both have exceptionally comfortable seats that suit me very well. The driving environment in the NX felt more compact, with some functions easier to get to - the heated seats and climate controls the most obvious. However, the RX counters with the automatic heating/ventilation for the seats which have meant I’ve simply left it all on ‘auto’ and let it do its thing. All very good. Ride quality - a narrow win for the RX. I always found the NX ride to be good, despite some of the media reviews. Yes, bigger potholes tended to make things a bit ‘crashy’ but generally it was a refined experience. However, the RX copes better and is much smoother over a wider variety of road surfaces. Bigger imperfections have a similar ‘crashy’ quality to the NX, albeit much less obvious. Refinement - a clear win for the RX. Don’t get me wrong, the NX is a very refined cruiser, but only when driven gently. That’s how I drive, but the difference in the RX is marked. At 70mph on the motorway, the RX is almost silent. At the end of a long day, facing a 70 mile drive in the dark and wet, I can’t think of a better car I’ve owned. There’s a sense of serenity that just made me very relaxed. I thought the NX was good - and it was - but the difference is much greater than I expected. Quality - score draw. As you’d expect with Lexus, both are exceptional. I can’t see any difference in material quality, or paint finish or anything really. Superb. Space - narrow win for the NX (but it’s relative!). Bear with me here. The RX is clearly larger, and has more space. However, given the size difference it doesn’t have as much space as you might think, especially in the boot with the seats up. The NX is actually a very practical car and is usefully smaller. Boot space seems to be about the same which has surprised me. I know the numbers say the RX has more capacity but my real world perception is that it isn’t noticeable. Economy - win for the NX. Accepting that my RX hasn’t loosened up yet, but economy - using the onboard computer - mirrors my experience when having RX loan cars. On the journeys I’ve completed in the RX so far, I’d have achieved 40mpg I’m the NX. In the RX I’m getting 32mpg with the same driving style. That’s fine for me, but worth noting. Equipment - not really able to compare, as the RX I have is a higher trim level and much more expensive. The NX had everything I thought I needed, but the RX takes things to a whole new level. The panoramic roof is lovely. The HUD and blind spot monitors are very useful. The heated steering wheel is real luxury! Is it all really necessary - obviously the answer is no. Do I like it? The answer is a definite yes! The only thing I’m unconvinced by is the steering assist, but I may get used to it over time. Overall I loved my time with the NX. It’s a great car. To be fair, every Lexus I’ve driven - IS, GS, UX, NX, and RC - has been fantastic. They all have a feeling of superb quality, and a sense of occasion that I haven’t experienced in any other brand. The RX continues the theme. It’s a lovely thing, and I realise I’m privileged to be able to own it. It takes the strengths of the NX and builds on them, but at a financial cost. If you have an RX and are considering downsizing I personally don’t think an NX would feel like you are dropping down too much. If you have an NX and are considering an RX the differences are enough to notice, but the question is whether the extra expense is worth it. I think it is - after all, if we all simply had what we ‘needed’ then I’d be driving a Fiesta!

Today, I had to take the current Mrs Mincey to the hospital at Stanmore for a checkup. I will freely admit that I was looking forward to it, because it would give the ideal opportunity to compare the trip in Betsy against the same trip in my IS300h. The trip to Stanmore was, incidentally, the furthest I'd driven in the IS300h during our short acquaintance. Anyway, I digress, which I'm sure you will all agree, is not unusual. It was an early start - the appointment was at 9am. This meant an alarm for 5.30, then departure at 7am sharp. I had primed Waze with the route, as I wanted to see how it worked with guidance via Android Auto. All was good. All suddenly stopped being good at around 6.32. Mrs Mincey was watching BBC Breakfast when the local travel reporter announced that the A1 was shut southbound. I checked Waze. Waze now told me that the trip would be 92 miles, not 65, and that it would take two and a half hours. This was not good news. Not at all, in any way, shape or form. We had to leave immediately. Shoes were hastily put on and and coats grabbed. Betsy was roused and we set off in a Northampton-ish direction to pick up the M1 as suggested by Waze. When we reached the junction of the Peterborough Parkway system with the A1, it was congested to say the least. Luckily we were going towards Oundle, so we could dodge the queue. This is where it started to go a bit wrong. I used to use this route to get to Redditch and Coventry in a previous life as it was the quickest way to get to the westbound A14. I recall it being a pain in the derriere on occasions, and boy, it was hard work today. Queues at the Oundle roundabout, queues all the way from the edge of Thrapston to the A14 junction. I was not a happy bunny at all. Mind you, Betsy was being very kind on the mpg front as most of the movement was being done electrically. Nice one my lovely. As we approached the A14 roundabout, I put a question to the current Mrs Mincey. I wanted her to confirm my suspicion that if we headed down the A14 towards the A1, we would miss the part which was closed and be able to continue on our merry way southbound. She concurred. After waiting for what seemed like months in the queue to reach the roundabout, I sped off on the first left into the bright sunsheeeeine (as Liam Gallagher would say) towards Huntingdon. At this point, Waze got the hump badly. It kept trying to route us back home. I was not impressed at all. In fact, it was only when were were 5 minutes away from Stanmore that it finally understood what we were doing and routed us in a sensible direction for the remainder of the journey. Once on the A1, we hit the usual holdups at the Black Cat Roundabout (although the Black Cat was sporting a poppy, which was a nice touch) then Sandy, Biggleswade and Stevenage. To be honest, Stevenage wasn't too bad, unlike the run up to the roundabout near Elstree. This part was made worse by having to endure the awful Zoe Ball talking pretty much non-stop to Sophie Ellis-Bextor about her 24 hour dance marathon thing for Children in Need. At this point, I should point out that I would normally be listening to Planet Rock, but the current Mrs Mincey has gone on record to say that only people who haven't grown up listen to that, hence having to suffer Radio 2. We arrived at 9.30 which given the circumstances wasn't too bad. Just about everyone else who was there was complaining about the traffic, so I didn't feel too bad. They always run late there anyway. The return journey went without any dramas. I followed a white LC500 for a bit around Welwyn - I shall grab some stills off the dashcam at some point and post them here in case it's anyone we know. Now the bit you've all been waiting for. How did the trip in Betsy compare to the trip in the IS300h? I cannot compare how tired I felt after each trip because after an early start preceded by a restless night, I'm knackered anyway. However, I have to say that Betsy is much more comfortable than the IS. Mrs Mincey said she found Betsy's seats didn't squeeze her ample bottom at all, unlike the seats in the IS. Betsy is so smooth and feels so planted on the road - no skittish behaviour or bouncing over bumps. She does have a slightly annoying reflection of the instrument binnacle on the windscreen in direct sun however. Other than that, tick VG all round. Crawling in traffic is much smoother than in the IS as there is no jerk when taking off, and she is very, very quiet at motorway speeds. MPG? This wasn't a true test because I'd done a couple of short trips after filling up, but I did get an indicated 47.4mpg and an Excel-derived 46.4 which isn't bad. I did get 51ish from the IS on the same trip, but I did drive like a girl on the way back. All in all, I'm very happy. I'm happy too because Mrs Mincey has been signed off and I won't have to make that journey anymore. Yay!

Well that was a long three weeks. Thanks to Covid, there was no handover so I'm going to be taking the advice of the very wise@royoftherovers and will be spending this evening reading the manual. No gifts sadly, and only 45 miles worth of petrol in the tank (a bit mean!) but never mind. I had a rear bumper protector fitted while we waited - I was expecting it to be £170 as on the Lexus site but they only charged me £145, which was nice. Had a pleasant drive back along the A47. The first three figure blast has been done. It's nice to get things like that out of the way. I was rather puzzled that the usual way of disarming the keyless entry didn't work. I was about to Google it until I realised that when I tried, I had the spare key in my pocket, so no matter how many times I tried to disarm the key I was holding, the door would obviously still open. I blame excitement.

Some of you may know i've owned my 2006 IS250 for a very long time since approximately 2007 and in that time i've done quite a few facelift changes and mods to it. The most recent facelift was my 3IS custom bumper conversion back in 2015. Back in 2021 the chinese made a 4IS style conversion bumper for the 2IS. And after seeing this I was sold on getting one. Specially considering the 4IS isn't available in Europe/UK so it makes the design a lot more unique. I managed to get hold of a bumper from China and through a contact using their business shipping container. Finally managed to get the installation done and thought i'd share photos of my new facelift. I've also upgraded my OEM LED DRL Headlights to the new 4IS inspired design to compliment the front end design. There are quite a few new headlight designs from china for the IS250. The most popular being the version 1 VLAND headlights. I wasn't too keen on them because of square chrome bezels around the projector LED's. Then came out HC motion version which had an animated check/tick LED on top. I wasn't too keen on them either as the check mark didn't quite flow with anything. Then came the latest version which has the check mark full length running all the way down to the kink of the bumper spindle grille corner. I loved the look of this and had to get a pair. Wasn't very easy to source this particular design of headlight as it's too new and most sellers only have the LHD beam pattern version of these headlights. Eventually I found a factory that sold me a pair of RHD beam patterns. Few other things before the pics and video: I imported an OEM lexus short plate holder that comes as standard on the 2021 IS350 in america to mount onto this new bumper. I modified the OEM parking sensor and drilled hole on the bumper to get a flush parking sensor fitment I installed universal side splitters that fit this bumper perfectly. Purchased them for about £20 from eBay and had them painted even though it came in gloss black. I got fitment pretty much perfect. In my opinion it's sitting better than some OEM bumpers i've worked on for the IS250. It required quite a bit of adjustments to get it fitting perfect. And I had to order a specific headlight mounting bracket from the 2009-2010 IS250. This is the only bracket that works with this bumper. I've got some subtle eyebrows colour coded that I will be installing to give the headlights a slimmer look. The last two photos shows an example of the eyebrows temporarily placed on on headlight. I dont always get time to post on here. If you want to stay up-to-date with my work, you can check out my Instagram page where I have all my mods as story highlights. That's where I usually post most of my updates. My instagram link is at the bottom of my signature. Anyway, enough talking. Video highlight below, followed by some photos: Unfortuantely, even thought the bumper was inside a wooden casing, it still suffered a bit of damage where one corner got deformed. I managed to salvage this by re-forming ti with heat and getting the shape identical to the opposite side. Here a few pics of the universal front splitters: Here is a picture of the imported OEM Lexus 2021 IS350 plate holder from America. And here are the new headlights. Headlight video demo can be seen in my video demo above. Crash bar painted black so that I don't see any silver through the gaps Installed OEM foam strip on the corners

New car day

The front drivers seat on my 2006 IS250 which i've now owned since 2007 is quite worn and i've been considering swapping out for another second hand one. But given the age of the 2IS, the condition of all the second hand ones are far worse than mine (rather keep mine). Got me thinking about retrofitting RCF/GSF front seats as I really like the look of them. But they are extremely rare to find second-hand. And once or twice I came across them they were selling for 3k plus just for front seats. So that was out of the question. I then considered, that a 3IS set of second-hand front seats will probably be in better condition than some of the 2IS ones for sale because of the 3IS being younger car. But I wasn't willing to spend much for second hand seats that didn't make much difference (I would rather get mine re-done). Then, I came across the following pictured RCF breaking and I thought to myself, let me try asking about front seats..... I was quite sure either the'll have blown the airbags or if they are available they would want a fortune for the seats. I was really shocked when I was sent the following photo of the seat in the car and the reply just said £500 (nothing else, just a picture and £500) I thought to myself, is that for 1 or for both. It was actually for both and was collection price. But as I asked if they could do anything better on the price, i was offered free express pallet delivery. So it was an absolute no-brainer for me. I instantly purchased it. Not knowing if I am going to be able to retrofit it or not, I thought it's worth the gamble because even if I didn't want the seats, I could sell them off for much more than I paid. And if I manage to make them work on the 2IS platform then technically it will become a plug & play seat for the 2IS and ISF platform which I could easily sell on later for a profit. So here is the seats delivered: Now, onto the retrofitting... The RCF/GSF seats have the same cooling fan system as the 3IS and 2IS. Except there is ducted air conditioned air that goes to the fan under the seat which then makes the fan blow air-conditioned air through the seat. I've addressed this with the following 3D printed simple solution: Next... Does the rails on the seats fit the 2IS? Answer is Yes. They are the same as the 3IS and 2IS and all line up and therefore no need to make any adjustments to the rails. The main 17-pin connector on the seat itself (Part number 90980-12373) is identical and exactly the same as the 3IS and 2IS and I suspect Lexus and Toyota use this same connector across most of the seats and models. The only thing is that the wiring and pins are different on the connector. After spending hours and hours studying the schematics of both platforms and comparing and tracing wires and testing them. I finally drew up a plan to re-pin the main connector and I had accounted for every pin from the original car. With the exception of the memory seat pin (which uses a single 1pin for MPX1 communication). I'll cover the memory seats later. Here's a picture below of the depinning: The airbag connector is different but this I solved easily by transferring the loom over. As pictured below: The seatbelt buckle is different and the 2IS seatbelt does not buckle into it. So, I transferred the buckle over from the 2IS to the RCF seat. The buckle on the RCF seat sticks up quite a bit as it's quite slim and low on the bottom corners. The RCF buckle has a nice sleeve for the buckle so it doesn't look bad when it sticks out. When I installed the 2IS buckle, I noticed the metal plate was visible and looked ugly. So I decided to transfer the buckle sleeve over too. The buckle work pictured below: I have successfully installed the drivers seat. It's working very well. I have yet to do the passenger seat and will be doing this over the next few days as the wiring is slightly different on that side. I can confirm the following all work: Heated & Cooled working Buckle and seatbelt system working Airbag system working Power seat working The only thing I have yet to finish is the memory profiles for the seat. Unfortunately the RCF/GSF seats use a new type of CAN body communication with dual wire which communicates the memory button presses with two wires from the door card. Whereas, the 2IS uses a single 1 wire MPX communication. There is two ways to solve the memory seat issue. Easiest is to just transfer the position control ecu switch on the seat itself from the 2IS seat over to the RCF seat. or the other option is to create a virtual signal converter. I haven't decided which method I will use for that yet. But as memory seats isn't something I use at all, I decided to install it without that function for now and I will address the memory seat later. Below are a few pics of my drivers seat now installed. They need a good deep clean and conditon. Once i've installed the other side, I will post more pics and videos showing the seats working. So stay tuned. Updates on here might be a bit slow as I tend to prioritise updates and stuff on my instagram, so feel free to follow me on my instagram for more updates (link in my signature)

I've now received Lexus' response to my earlier snot mail. As follows: "Thank you for your further email and comments. I can only apologise that you are disappointed with my response and that it has also led you to question our values. This is most regrettable given our enviable reputation for consistently delivering, since Lexus was introduced some of the I would like to try and reassure you that we are trying to look at ways to support and protect owners from this criminal activity. It is a difficult situation as the fundamental design of this model cannot be changed, partly as it is no longer in production but also due to fact it is a globally manufactured model. There are other issues to overcome, in that this crime is primarily concentrated in London and the South East and indeed, according to DVLA data, vehicle crime increased by 26% between 2021 and 2022 and that seven of the ten most targeted areas were within London and the South East. The methods used to steal these vehicles is varied but equally destructive in terms of the impact on owners and other stakeholders involved. I can advise that we are looking to introduce and provide a protective plating which will act as a deterrent and will cover the areas in which some thieves are trying to access and thus steal your or any other car. As soon as we have more news as to when this will become available, we will contact you of course and we will liaise with your local Lexus Centre. I do not have a timescale as of yet, but we acknowledge the importance of having this deterrent. This blocking plate has been trialled in another market and early statistics show that it has been successful in reducing vehicle thefts. I can confirm that the new generation RX and RZ models are on a different security platform. We are not aware of any thefts by the methods conveyed in our correspondence on the NX model. Both Mr Hayes and our General Manager, Product Quality and Service Support fully endorse and support the fitment of this protective plate when it becomes available. I will be in touch as soon as I have further news. In closing, thank you for your reply and comments and I hope this reply provides you with some reassurance and positive news. Kind regards Stephen Hinshelwood Executive Office Toyota (GB) PLC - Lexus Division" So some glimmer of light then. Was definitely worth asking the question. We'll have to wait to see what they come up with.

A year on from purchase and I must admit I'm very happy with my F Sport IS300H. No issues whatsoever. I've clocked up about 5500 miles in the year and the car hasn't missed a beat . Great on long runs , I get about 45mpg on motorway runs which I think is fantastic. The FSport suspension and wheels can be a bit rough on bad roads but nothing major . I bought this car as I wanted something different and reliable and I wanted to move away from diseal. Overall I'm very happy . Here's to another year or so of trouble free motoring 👍

I have bought many new cars over the years from different manufactures and dealers but my latest purchase the new Lexus ES 300 Takumi from Lexus Preston put a car purchase and handover experience up,to another level completely for customer satisfaction . If I may indulge in my experience….. Since retiring last year I had the 2018 variant of the Lexus ES300 the Premium model dark blue and was quite happy with the car, I learnt that in 2021 a new variant had been introduced with significant improvements so I thought Id just pop into my local Lexus dealer to have a look and see if they had one in the showroom. I was met and welcomed to the showroom by the senior sales executive James who went out of his way to show me the new model features without any pressure of sale, it was a fact finding visit of 2 hours but I left impressed with the possibility that this might be a worth while purchase if the deal was right; and the approval of my dear lady wife. On my next visit along my wife and I were warmly welcomed and greeted by personal name offered refreshments and allowed to take our time and closely inspect the new ES 300. As long I chose dark blue again I had my wife’s approval! So off to the big Display screens of model configuration to choose The Takumi version Color dark blue , cream upholstery grey interior with walnut inlays drop dead gorgeous …….to cut a long story short I had such a significant amount of positive equity in my current car a deal was struck and the car was ordered in November 2021. Lexus link and the dealer kept me fully informed from the ordering stage, to build, to transit, to dealer delivery and we finally collected the car yesterday. ( 22/03/2022) At handover we were welcomed by name by the centre reception and waiting for us in the handover booth was James with all the final paper work ready to sign. After a personalised presentation of the car and it’s features and fuelled by several cups of their superb coffee and biscuits the time had come for the big reveal in the handover bay, and there bathed in soft white light in the middle of the, floor stood our brand new ES 300 car sparkling with its flawless deep blue paint., perfectly prepared waiting for us …….James went through the new features of the car, maps radio media , set up Apple phone and Lexus link so they all talked to each other and we completed a rather longer test of the superb Mark Levenson sound system. I was introduced to all the team members at Preston and was treated not just as customer but as a new family member at the centre. We were genuinely thanked for choosing them to purchase our Lexus. I cannot praise the whole team at Preston high enough for their tireless dedication to a wonderful customer experience and to the personal and friendly welcomes we were given at all our visits. From my experience if you you want a purchase experience par excellance Preston Lexus is definitely the place to visit.

Hi all, thought I’d just put a post up about letting my F go, purchased an immaculate 2 owner 2010 MY11 USB IS-F last year. (I’d owned a grey 2008 IS-F for 5 years previously too) Took it on track at Donington and it was great fun, but I soon realised to get it to a point I could really enjoy it on track I’d have to spend some serious money, also if I’m honest it was just too nice to track. So sold it about 2 months ago to a car dealer in Scotland for what I paid for it a year before. Must admit I didn’t gel with it like I did my 08. Even with the lsd, updates and fitting a H&S exhaust I just didn’t feel the love for it like I did my grey one which is a shame. Anyway I went for a GR Yaris with circuit pack. I didn’t even test drive it, just went with the hope the hype was real. Oh my good the hype was real and then some, what Toyota have created is absolutely phenomenal! You cannot believe it’s a 1.6 3 cylinder turbo, it’s an absolute weapon, the mid range shove and the way it catapults you down a straight to the next bend is mind blowing, the manual 6 speed is a delight too. A roads wet or dry is just ballistic and on the motorway it’s just effortless (I don’t care about mpg but 35-40 when constantly tickling it and 28 when ringing it’s neck) and such an engaging drivers car. It makes you smile like a Cheshire Cat every time you drive it and you are itching to keep driving it which I haven’t felt with a car for such a long time and i’m 48. I cannot wait to track it and also I’ve got a Nurburgring trip booked next year. So as you can see I’m very happy with my purchase and if you think I’m just new car drunk, go and drive one.

A very nice drive down to The Nare hotel in Cornwall. Overall took 5hrs to do the 220 miles, including a 45min lunch stop. Well, what a car, supremely comfortable (not that the RC was uncomfortable) and very quiet, noticeably quieter than the RC. Definitely more punch than the RC and very easy to, erm, make progress! Trip computer was showing a very acceptable 37mpg, dipping to the low 30's when pushing on. My first RC could only just manage that, the second easily reaching the mid 40's. The ride is very compliant, I had it on the Sport setting and we just glided along, the RC would be a little jittery nothing unpleasant and in keeping with it's sportier character. The car was very stable at speed, indeed it seems even more 'relaxed' at motorway speeds (although we used the A303, I don't like the motorways, too boring and no easy diversions should one need to!) wind and road noise very subdued. Even around the narrow Cornish lanes the car was nibble and easy to direct, the suspension handled sudden changes in direction without undue roll. The door mirrors were brushing the hedgerows on more than one occasion! The climate concierge is another notable step up in comfort, with the system automatically switching on the ventilated seats, keeping one's back and derriere cool and sweat free. How does the system know when to switch them on, no idea but works a treat. Not sure if the temperature sensor needs calibrating or I'm getting old but my usual 20c was feeling chilly so I upped a degree and all was well. The system definitely reacts to sun direction, increasing airflow to the side of the car in the sun. The seats themselves are very supportive and comfortable, very similar in design to the RC. The higher seating position is great and it's almost like sitting in one's favourite armchair, with a good view! All-in-all not a bad first outing, quite looking forward to the drive home.

It seems that Edmund King, President of the AA, is pretty annoyed that what is described as ‘wife Deirdre’s £50K Lexus’ was nicked off their Hertfordshire home’s drive one night. Despite the keys being secured in a Faraday pouch (AA brand one presumes) he believes the signal was captured when Deidre arrived home earlier in the day. King states that he has now taken to keeping his keys, in their Faraday pouches, inside a red metal box hidden inside a microwave oven located at the back of the house. So they’re now safe from car thieves. But burglars now know exactly where to find them.

Thanks Eric for taking the trouble to respond to my post. It strikes me, however, that reading my post and then your response below it, that I don’t actually detect any answers to the points I raised. These points, you may recall, were seeking clarification of the various claims you had made regarding the FOI reply you had discovered that referred to the charitable donation made by the Gates’s Foundation to another charitable organisation called BBC Media Action. No doubt this post will irritate those who wonder what it has to do with ‘Fuel Panic’, but I think if you’ve gone to the trouble to comment then I think you deserve the courtesy of a reply. 1. Denying everything is fine, but I prefer to question everything. I think most people do, Eric. But questioning is pointless if you pay no heed to the answers. 2. The mere fact Bill Gates funds the british Government should set alarm bells going off anyway - no matter what his 'noble' cause is But it’s not ‘a mere fact Bill Gates funds the british Government’. As the FOI reply you cited confirmed, it was a donation to an independent charitable organisation (BBC Media Action) which was a BBC initiative with the aim of using media development to support marginalised groups around the World. You asked the question, Eric, but you’ve denied and ignored the answer! To suggest that this ‘funds the British Government’ is, frankly, risible. On that basis, my annual BBC Licence Fee – and possibly yours too – are even more egregious examples! Makes you wonder why elements in the Government want to get rid of it! 3. If your contention is that Gates is ‘buying’ undue influence with the British Government by means of this BBC Media Action funding, then he’s not making a very good job of it. As I pointed out, at least four other comparable organisations outspent him in 2019/20. Even stranger, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donation of £1,569K was handsomely topped by the £7,645K that came from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Or is this an example of the British Government funding itself? 4. The BBC are funded by the British Government in the same way the climate scaremongering articles are funded by Governments I suppose that well-know climate scaremonger Sir David Attenborough is yet another Government lackey? 5. The director of the BBC is a Tory, And this discredits him, does it? Prior to being appointed DG in September 2020, Tim Davie had also been a successful Director of various broadcasting divisions within the BBC for the previous fifteen years. Conceivably this may also have had a bearing on his appointment. If I were to criticise him, it would be over his defence of the salary of the BBC’s highest paid presenter - Gary Lineker. 6. Would you walk backwards if told to do so by the Government? Politicians and Governments all over the world are crooked - how else do you think they have disguised covid so well and have got off scott free, and please dont tell me it was about a virus - otherwise I will have to publish the tens of millions of people dying of various diseases around the world each year, of which no body was told previously about. It may be just me, but I’m not too clear what you’re getting at here. But it seems far removed from the subject of this post - in itself far removed from the subject of the thread! 7. ...millions of people dying of various diseases around the world each year, of which no body was told previously about. Again, not too clear to what you allude. Covid-19 is an example of a potentially fatal virus about which ‘no body was told previously about’ mainly because it hadn’t evolved! Once it had evolved – and escaped from its origin in Wuhan, China – its existence became rather well-known.

Wow, wow, wow! Had a test drive of a 450h+ this afternoon and was hugely impressed. It was a f-sport with Takumi pack. Acceleration was brisk, smooth and almost silent when running in ev mode. My 25 mile test route was a mix of motorway, B roads and town centres and an overall consumption of 99mpg was indicated. The depletion of the ev battery was true to mileage covered and it was pleasing to note that when in Auto mode (ice and ev) there was noticeable replenishing recharge of the ev battery. It felt very sure footed with the suspension coping well on all surfaces. Driving position is excellent, seat was extremely comfortable and all controls within easy reach. Fit and finish feels more luxurious than the old model. The voice activation to enable various adjustments and switch on/off functions was faultless. The HUD is crystal clear and the main instrument panel gives comprehensive information to the driver. The multiple functions of the infotainment screen will need to be mastered however I am fairly certain that the important ones will quickly become second nature whilst others may rarely or never used! I think my current NX is a fantastic vehicle but this new model takes it to a much higher level and driving home after the test drive emphasised this-a 2018 NX was distinctly old school! The NX 450h+ with Premium Plus pack and sunroof which I have a provisional order for remains on schedule for a mid March delivery. The free ev charge point offer is now in progress with a site survey scheduled. Lexus are certainly on to a winner with this car and will no doubt increase market share in this sector of the market particularly if their enviable reputation for reliability can be maintained - and I have no reason to suspect otherwise.

Betsy is a dirty girl (stop sniggering at the back @First_Lexus) and she needs a wash. I can't have my neighbours thinking that she's an ES of ill-repute, can I? All together now "No Mincey, you can't!" I'm not going to take her to The Ford for a bath, so the only alternatives are a) take her to some local illegal immigrant outfit, which is out of the question as they'll scratch her b) get the hosepipe out, which is again out of the question as it's cold, my wellingtons are too tight and I always end up soaked and frozen anyway - it's December after all, or c) try something new and different. Option c) won the day. Someone on this fine forum (I think) suggested a water-free solution type thing from Williams F1. If it's good enough for them, I thought, I'm sure that Betsy would be happy enough. I found this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KCRJXVM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and duly ordered it. It seemed expensive, but Betsy deserves some pampering every now and then. Having never used anything like this, I did some research on YouTube first. It looked simple. Spray it on, wipe it off, then buff to a shiny finish. Armed with my 5L bottle of squirty stuff, sprayer and microfibre cloths, off I bravely went on my mission. As you can see from the photo below, I might have used a bit too much of the stuff. I then adjusted the spray and got on much better. But as Phil from the Human League once pointed out, I'm only human and bound to make mistakes. When it came to wiping it off, I was nervous. Very nervous indeed, as I'm sure all of you are too. Would wiping the foam off along with any mud and other road debris carve canyon-deep scratches into Betsy's tender flesh? Was I going to have to get the hosepipe out after all? Curtains along the street were twitching. My neighbours wanted to know what I was up to. Could they too save themselves discomfort and hassle washing their trusty steeds like this? Or perhaps they were wondering what that idiot across the road was up to again. I need not have worried. After taking a deep breath, I made my first wipe. All the dirt miraculously lifted off. Any that didn't needed the lightest of touches to free it from Betsy's Azure Blue coat. My only issues, and I'm sure this was due to my exuberance in applying the stuff in the first place, was having to go round twice to catch all the drips from doors, mirrors, badges, the boot and around the headlights. I'm sure that next time, I will not go through three microfibre cloths wiping the stuff off. However Betsy was wet when I applied it, which despite being ok in the instructions, I'm sure didn't help matters. All the cloths have now been rinsed in cold water and put in the washing machine. I'm sure I'll get into trouble for this but hey, I'm used to that. Here's the finished result: I'm sure you will all agree that Betsy looks an extremely smart and very shiny girl now. Shinier even than when I brought her home in October. I'm just waiting for it to rain now so I can see whether the water beads up and rolls off as it's alleged to. I've just realised that I haven't buffed up the wheels, so I'll attend to that before any of my eagle-eyed chums here point that out. I'll also put some of the tyre polish which came with my Supagard kit on to complete the job. Verdict: I'm amazed. It's a damn sight easier than struggling with a hose pipe and then drying both the car (and myself) off afterwards. Would I recommend it? Definitely. It does seem like a scary prospect - spraying this stuff onto a filthy car and then just wiping it off. I'm going to be interested to see how it deals with bird poo and flies. An added bonus is that my hands smell really nice now. Of course my current wife will want her car treating in the same way, but she can jolly well buy her own cleaner!

Hey Guys, its comming towards the end of the year and just want to wish everyone on here a merry christmas and a happy new year. hopefully good things will come in 2022.

I am new said owner, and I cant say thankyou enough to steve2006 for the help he provided and also the compensation!!! Talk about a nice guy, completely unnecessary! These things happen i just wanted to use his superior knowledge to make sure I wasn't going to ruin something bodging it up for the final miles home. Thank you again. And thank you to giant cable ties made a bit of a racket but got me home and still didn't break. Parts ordered thanks again to steve2006 for giving me all necessary information.

Hi, new member here and I recently purchased this Lexus GS 450h Premier saloon finished in Sonic Titanium with black leather interior. It has the sunroof/moonroof and 19" diamond cut wheel options. I got it from a Lexus dealer as an Approved Used car, best thing of all just 3647 miles from new and one owner. It's so quiet and smooth, even over rough surfaces, not surprising coming from my previous car which was a Mk.3 Ford Focus RS. The list of gadgets and safety features this GS has is almost endless, I'm still getting my head around the User Manual which is 600 odd pages and the infotainment manual a further 300 pages! One of my favourite features is the Mark Levinson surround sound audio system with 17 speakers and 835 watts - plays music DVD's in 5.1 surround as well Cheers, Dave.

TL;DR very smooth and good value. Hi all Thought I’d share my experience buying a car from cazoo as I got a few questions and this forum really helped me make the decision. I bought this car, A 64 plate premier in white with 34.5K miles for 20 300 https://www.cazoo.co.uk/used-car/f48827b8-0a97-5648-aa6f-0d6bed9958fa/ and it was about 4k cheaper than an equivalent car from a lexus dealer and I spoke to a few trying to get them to get close in price (I really wanted a Premier with Pano roof) The ad had very good pictures and 360 views but it’s very light on the detail but since it’s a premier, I could just read on the forum what the features was. They do list the service history but I had to contact them to get it added as it wasn’t on there at first. The purchase was very smooth you can opt to trade in your existing car which I didn’t (have an import so hard to get good value) hence not sure if it’s a good deal or not. You fill in your details, choose if you want the “Cazoo guard” paint and interior protection treatment for £250 (1/3rd of what lexus quoted me) which came with a ton of cleaning supplies as well. Credit terms were a lot less favourable than your normal bank hence i paid with my debit card. The money wasn’t actually taken until it was delivered though. You then choose a delivery time, my first available slot was 5 days (3 working days) away and that was basically it. I immediately got an email confirmation which outlined what I needed to do, how to activate the 7 day driveway insurance and how to register myself as the owner of the car with DVLA. Gave me everything I needed to request a parking permit from the council in advance. A few days before delivery I got an email reminder and also a call from customer service explaining the process and was able to answer any questions about the car if I had any. They also explained the 7 day return policy and 90 day warranty (extendable for a price). Basically, the 7 days is quibble free, they take it back no questions asked. Only caveat is that “Cazoo Guard” isn’t refunded and trade in cars aren’t returned. It had another service before I got it and from there I could see that Cazoo must have bought it in mid 19 and been with them for 18 months based on the milage in the service records. Since registering it on lexus.co.uk I can see all the service records as well On the day, the delivery man calls 15 mins before delivery. The car arrives in a small lorry and the is just serviced and valeted so it looks new. You get a few extras, like an umbrella, ice scraper etc. My delivery man Errol, was very knowledgable and showed all the features including waiting around for me to take a test drive. He had all the time in the world and was super helpful and friendly, genuinely interested in cars and making sure we had a good experience. The car was exactly like the pictures, it looked brand new except for small scratches on the back of the door handles, which is only visible if you look hard in the right place. I think the car mats had been replaced with new, non-nexus ones as they were pristine. Everything worked as described and I’m very pleased. After the delivery you get a notification that V5C has been digitally transferred and the normal “rate our service” emails. I'm sure service will get worse and prices become less competitive as Cazoo continue to scale and get a more dominant market position (I know startups better than cars!) but at the moment they are trying to get market share by spending their Venture capital funding and as such, a good time to buy as they are more concerned with attracting new customer for future profitability than making a profit now, hence having good value deals. Additionally, the delivery man alluded to the fact that they aren't great at pricing different trim levels and you get a better deal for top specced cars than the mid range, not sure if that is true but it was quite a good deal for my premier compared to the luxury ones they had in stock.

Norman ,you have opened a whole world of discussion. It is important to identify your perspective on motoring, family life and politics! Remember matey, that you started this ! For example 1. I bought my Merc Diesel Estate when it was 6 months old, the last of the W210 series. It was a run out model with all of the items I desired as standard (REAL LEATHER, SAT NAV ETC). It has served me and the family well, trips to Uni, moving into student accommodation and flats, going to the Rubbish trip, family trips, continental travel..you get the picture. It is now 18 years old on 3 Jan and has covered 247,006 miles. Overall it has been brilliant and still gives more than 50mpg on runs. Internally it is still brand new with nothing having worn or faded. Externally it has suffered a few knocks and scrapes consistent with the use and mileage. Were I to buy a new one, it would cost £40K. But do I want to spend such a sum at my time of life? Not a chance. Was I bothered that as the years rolled by that my model was superseded by W211, W212 and W213 ? Not by any stretch. I had bought the Mercedes for the long run. So I cared for it and it owes me nothing. Example 2. Six years ago I bought a 3rd Generation GS Lexus. I bought and still have until 2023 an Extended Warranty. It was and still is a quality motor car. Not quality as perceived in Audi, BMW and now, Mercedes, but quality in my eyes of reliability, economy from bumper to bumper, no rattles or squeaks and build. I bought a 10 year Service Plan and I have not had to spend any money on the car other than normal consumables such as wipers, not covered by the Service Plan. I haven`t even had to buy a bulb and my local Lexus people are such nice people to deal with. My car has been superseded by the Gen4 and lately by the ES. Do I feel the need to change? Not a chance. These are two examples of me keeping my cars and ignoring Mr Smith`s new xx next door, or taking advantage of some supposedly fabulous offer from a motor manufacturer. I was able to keep these cars because I had a long term objective in mind at the outset. I bought quality that could serve me well and I looked after both of them. On the other hand my advice to people is if you really, really, really want it and you can afford it and you will not upset anyone or anything by doing it, then go ahead. I`m sorry for taking so long say what I would do, but you now have my TWO answers. Good luck.