Northern Boys Luv Gravy

The IS200d is still the same 2.2 litre engine that has always been available for the IS - it's simply de-tuned to 150bhp (and has been for years in some European markets where anything over 150bhp attracts extra tax).

Apparently it's also available as an auto:

http://www.jardinemotors.co.uk/Lexus/news-and-offers/is-200d-f-sport-auto-just-359-vat-initial-rental-vat-for-business-users-only/

I was looking on Lexus Newcastle's website and they are doing the following offer on IS200d F-Sport Autos:

http://www.jardinemotors.co.uk/Lexus/news-and-offers/is-200d-f-sport-auto-just-359-vat-initial-rental-vat-for-business-users-only/

Am I out of the loop or something because I've never heard about Lexus bringing out an auto diesel? I can't find anything on the main Lexus site but it doesn't look like a mistake.

If you read the small print it says you need to be an existing Lexus owner and you have to part exchange your existing car with them otherwise it is £750 more and you only get £1750 if you take out a finance agreement with them and who knows what the interest rate is.

11% APR I believe.

Drive the Deal are doing brand new IS200d SEs from £17600 (£6705 saving) and IS250 Auto SE-Is from £20900 (nearly £7k off). In fact pretty much every Lexus model has between £6k and £7k off.

Brilliant price - I'm sorely tempted. :P On the other hand my residuals have just taken a massive hit. :tsktsk:

www.drivethedeal.com

I came down one morning to find a strange large dent in the middle of my bonnet. At first I was at a loss as to how it had happened - then I found the culprit - a large firework rocket lying nearby. As the bonnet is aluminium and the dent was right on a strengthening rib my local bodyshop didn't want to try paintless dent removal and quoted me £250 for a repair.

I then found a dent removal guy who had worked at Nissan and he completely removed it for £40. I've been over and over the bonnet and I cannot now find the dent, it's completely gone.

The manual recommends ordinary mineral oil, changed every 10k miles.

On each of my IS250s I've had two sets of alloys swopped to corrosion and at least two of those were kerbed in some way. So yes, you are being fobbed off, and no, you are not limited to one set of replacement alloys per car.

Yep 95 is fine, does it actually say 98 in the manual though? Find that a bit surprising actually as it's unusual for a car like this.

The US has a slightly different method of rating their fuel, so their 87 or 89 is the equivalent of our 95 - it confused me to begin with as well until someone explained it.

87 or 89 on the American rating is nearer 91 or 92 on our rating and we actually don't sell any fuel with that low a rating. Our lowest is, as you say 95 (Premium in the US).

I've got myself confussed with what petrol to put in my IS 250 SE MM - Automatic! I have had it for a couple of weeks and just put standard unleaded (95 RON) in it. However, have read a coupe of sites (and the manual) it looks like I should put premium unleaded (98 RON) in it. Is it necessary or worthwhile to use premium unleaded?

It's not necessary to use 98 RON, and in a normally aspirated petrol engine you wouldn't notice any difference anyway. Audi recommends 98 RON for it's turbocharged 4 cylinder petrols, but even then the use of normal unleaded only takes a slight edge off performance.

Lexus recommends 95 RON and when you think about it, in the US they happily recommend the use of the ordinary unleaded you get there, which is the equivalent of 89 RON here. The engine adjusts automatically.

Has anyone ever put them on your car?

Went to Lexus earlier and they gave me the following prices for rear tyres (255 40 18):

Dunlop Sport Maxx ~£190 ish

Bridgestone ~£200

Capital ~£68!

The workshop manager said he has sold a lot and had good reports, has them on his car. I on the other hand wanted to find out some independent reports? Anyone?

Never heard of Capital tyres but it may be worth haggling on the price of the Dunlops. I got 4 off 17" Dunlop Sport Maxx for my IS250 supplied and fitted by Lexus Teeside for £500 all in which was pretty good I thought.

Sorry should have said much smaller selection; lots of recommended Winter tyres for SLK but none are available here; would have to buy new wheels to be able to get some.

What size were you looking for? Camskill have 10 different types of winter tyre in 225/45 R17 priced from £86 each to £120 each. Mytyres generally have a good selection too.

I did see an SLK 55 AMG trying to reverse out of a flat car park space in Adsa with no luck though!

LOL quality that is one BRAVE person :)

I have an SLK 350 and even with that I don't even attempt to move it once snow comes around - add a 5.4 litre V8 and I can only just imagine......

TBH 3rd RWD car I've had and none of them have been even the slightest bit capable in snow/ice - the total lack of Winter tires available in the UK (Even though they are made for other countries) just renders them useless. Short of importing tyres or buying another set of wheels with winter tyres that do fit we seem to be out of options.

Manufacturers claim all year tyres but nothing of the sort; I for one would rather have a good tyre that looses a bit of performance for summer but means I can use the car in Winter.

Have been contemplating another Lexus but as this time I really can't bring myself to go for another RWD car.....have been wondering about the upcoming entry level FWD one though....will have to see what that is like once it arrives!

Luckily the RX is superb in the snow :)

I'm a bit puzzled about your comment on the lack of Winter tyres in the UK. Plenty of places sell them - most of the tyre fitting places offer them and they are readily available off mytyres.com, blackcircles.com or camskill.com. I was thinking of buying a set but to be honest with the snow button engaged and a bit of care i've had no real problems this year.

Without going to look under my bonnet I can't figure out what that is. What I can tell from looking at the pic is that it is a cast steel component and you would expect it to get a surface patina of rust over time. It's nothing to worry about - as was said above it's so thick that you and I will be long dead before it became a problem - if ever. Rust isn't always a bad thing - if you don't believe me look at The Angel of the North!

Its look like gone are the days where they were cheeper than the rivals, and better specd.

There's been a long held belief in the industry that Lexus will never be considered the true equal of BMW and Mercedes until they sell at similar price points. Until they do, the theory is that they will always be seen as a "posh Toyota". i.e have the confidence in the quality of your product to compete on everything but price.

http://www.motorcities.com/vehicle/09GJI114403958.html

That's not an IS Hybrid - it's the HS250 hybrid - a bit of a parts bin special using parts of the FWD Euro Avensis, the four cylinder US Camry engine and Prius hybrid technology. It's not coming to the UK.

Talking to a guy from Lexus the other day they are planning to have a full hybrid line up by 2012. The LS460 is being dropped in the UK, leaving the LS600h only, the new RX is hybrid only, the GS will be 450h only, and the next IS will be dropping the diesel and going all hybrid as well.

I wouldn't get too worried about the pads and discs. I've had two IS250 Autos and the first one's pads lasted 25k before they needed replacing and the discs were still fine at 35k when I sold it. The one I have now has 25k on it and there is plenty of meat left on the pads. Neither has burned any oil.

If road tax and fuel costs aren't a great issue I'd go for the GS, not quite as good looking as the IS but more room inside.

Prices are starting to go up on used cars due to demand from buyers not wanting to buy new and looking for good secondhand vehicles. Lots of dealerships are struggling for stock to fill their used car lot. My local Lexus dealer's lot is looking very threadbare at the moment.

My vote is for the Michelins too - not so pricey if you have access to Costco!

I had the Dunlop Sport max on my first IS and my new one has Bridgestones. To be honest it's a toss up on noise - if anything the Bridgestones are quieter.

Just been browsing PH and found this:

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/897359.htm

It's quite a large discount by both value and percentage - it makes me think that Lexus are in more trouble than other car manufacturers at the moment.

Shame banks aren't lending money or I'd have had it away (or a 250 Auto variant I should say :))

I asked about these cars when I called into Lexus Newcastle this morning - apparently they are all sold already. Some dealerships may be struggling but apparently Newcastle is doing ok and hasn't been much affected by the downturn.

I seriously doubt your Fiesta has risen in value. Identical cars may be up for sale for more than you paid but that is before haggling and I bet if you took it into the dealer you bought it from and asked them to buy it from you they'd offer you a very low price. It's just the way the market is now.

Careful where you post those pics - they are property of the photographer and he owns copywright.

Looks like a good day though! :)

got a 220d 56 plate 220d on a 3 year pcp, i am going to terminate early as i have reached the 50% mark, after speaking to lexus financial they suggested trying to sell the car rather than handing it back as i may make a bit of cash that way,i needed to raise 12k as this is the balance owing anything over that amount i could keep.

so i went into my local lexus centre and got offered 9.5K for a two year old 220d 28,000 miles and fsh.

this is my last lexus

What they are basically saying to you is that in the current climate they don't want your car - unless you are prepared to give it away.

It's ok around the rear three quarters but the front styling is a disaster. The interior is ok but still has that horrible yellow backlighting for the instruments. It's not like any Lexus I recognise.

If the car's locked the red light on the dash panel will flash on & off to indicate to all of the miscreants and hobbledehoys who frequent the darker corners of society that the car is secured and the alarms are active.

You definitely deserve an award for using the word "hobbledehoys" on a Lexus forum for what must be the first time ever.

Well done that man! :)

"Lexus - The Pursuit of Perfection - and a greater vocabulary"

I'm surprised at this - the boot in the current IS is already tiny, I wonder where the batteries and motor will go...

Having said that, Tesla have managed to get 6400 laptop batteries and a motor in a small sports car the size of an Elise (admittedly without a combustion engine) so with Li-batteries anything is possible.

Also - why have they tweaked the best looking compact exec and made it look like something made from Plastic, over designed and almost Korean looking In fact it looks almost like the Clarity from the front...

Don't be confused by the 250h badge. It's not based on an IS, doesn't use any IS chassis, bodywork or engines and sizewise is designed to fill the gap between the IS and the GS. It's pretty much the new Prius with a boot that's been Lexified.