Northern Boys Luv Gravy

I haven't got my handbook in front of me but I do recall one of the selling points of the new IS250 that Lexus were plugging was the fact that as it still adheres to fairly frequent 10k oil change intervals it only needed the cheaper mineral oil, not the expensive full synthetic of the competition - thus reducing ownership costs. I don't know if this applies to the diesel though. Having said which I don't think you can go wrong with Mobil 1.

Just keep heading downhill. It literally is downhill all the way from Newcastle to London. In every sense of the word!

It's quite normal for a munufacturer to have more than one component supplier for things like seatbelts etc. - it prevents them having to stop production if one supplier has problems at their end. Having said which I would have though they would be able to track the seatbelt supplier from the VIN number.

For that amount of money I hope they are throwing in the caravan as well!

My *** - the front ends seems to have totally buckled...if not split in 2! That off side front wing and wheel are pointing at 2.00 o'clock!! I reckon there was something more wrong than just uneven wear for that car to have been destroyed like that at 35mph... At least you and yours are all more or less OK...thank the heavens!! The car has gone side on into a tree - the most dangerous type of impact a vehicle can have. While manufacturers now carry out the "pole test" to see how a car stands up to this type of impact - most end up looking like that. FWIW I think a lot of drivers come a cropper when they move onto RWD cars like BMWs or Lexus after years of driving generally forgiving understeering FWD cars. They learn on FWD superminis and move up, getting used to a bit of understeer and putting on the power early coming out of corners, feeling the front wheels scrabbling for grip and then pulling the car round. As we all know trying this in a RWD car leads to sudden oversteer and if you are not expecting it you spin. There's a lot to be said for a few sessions on a skid pan.

And then this morning I'm driving down the A19 and realise there are 3 of us in a line - another silver one and that metallic Kermit green (can't say I'm impressed with that). Are we stalking each other?

The button isn't actually connected to anything - it works purely on the placebo effect. You press the button and you think the car goes faster. You can prove my theory by adding a second ECT Power button in a blank switch space. If you have 2 buttons to press the car goes even quicker.

Is this true? How much of the £2700 would one get back in 3 years time? What are the predicted residuals of a 250 SE with MM and without?

Porche Boxters are built in Finland, Audi TTs in Hungary, BMW X3s in Austria by a third party contractor, Mercedes MLs and BMW Z4s in the USA, many right hand drive BMW 3 series in South Africa....

Toyota already have plants in China building cars largely for that market. These plants are not the highly automated plants they have in Japan but very labour intensive with workers pushing handcarts and moving vehicles on dollies by hand. The labour is so cheap it's not worth investing in robots and if there is a downturn in demand it can be laid off easily. However the aim is to match quality levels set in Japan.

The anti perforation warranty on Lexus covers rust coming through from the inside to the outside. If your car hasn't suffered any damage and it has rusted from inside the wheel arch you may have a good case. I'm assuming the wheel arch liners are in place as well. I'd drop into your dealer and ask for his opinion.

I have seen the crash test results they did in the States somewhere. The IS250/350 came out top, outperforming the new 3 series BMW, especially in the side impact tests.

I've got the IS250 without MM and I bought the Garmin Streetpilot for £140 from Asda. It works like a dream with a good colour screen and clear spoken instructions. For that price you can't go wrong.

Having also owned a Mini and an Audi and frequented their forums, one of the main causes of complaints there is also stone chips, and the fact that the MINI/Audi seems more prone than other cars. Maybe I'm just unlucky with my choice of cars. I picked up a chip on the A pillar within 300 miles and a few weeks ago picked up a large one on the leading edge of the bonnet. I touched it up as best I can and there's no point in worrying about it. Maybe we travel faster/closer these days, maybe it's the new water based paints or the fact that there seems to be more debris on the road. Nissan has developed a new self healing paint that recovers from chips and scratches with the heat of the sun/warm water and they should start using it soon. Other manufacturers will no doubt follow suit.

Just to be difficult I would put mine at somewhere between 2 and 3 for the wind noise. It's there if you listen for it at speeds over 70mph. I'm not really sure if the rest of the car is just so quiet that that happens to be the first thing you notice as speed increases. If you look at the seal at the top of the door where it meets the B pillar it seems to be harder and a slightly different profile for some reason. That , to me, is the cause of the noise. As for the vents, well everytime I look at the display it seems to be directing air at my feet and I often wonder when it is going to direct it at my face. Best bet would be to combine our systems and divide by two...

He may not be far from the truth. In the US it is generally considered to be the kiss of death to a luxury car if the boot (or trunk!) won't hold 2 sets of golf clubs. So Lexus probably did make sure they fitted.

I phoned Adrian Flux Insurance and found them very helpful. They didn't have the 250SE on their system back in December but good as their word they checked it out and phoned me back within a few minutes.

...............! ScarFace Edit : Non Gold ! LMAO - it was a joke about having a load of valve caps for sale.... Then again I could start mugging the kids round here and pinching them off their BMXs. Then I'd have to go Gold.

I got mine from Newcastle Lexus too. 6k miles and no rattles - of course I have now cursed it and I bet next time I go out it rattles like a bag of spanners!

Loving it so far. Definitely the most comfortable car I've ever driven; the leather seats are like a comfortable pair of trainers that are wonderful to slip into after a hard day at work. Quality seems very good, at least on a par with my Audi that I had before. I did have certain misgivings about the "metallic effect" paint finish on the centre dash and the door handles, but it seems to be wearing fine (I have 6k miles now). I can only think of minor niggles: 1. Lack of rear legroom - not a major problem as I rarely carry rear passengers. 2. The boot release and filler release are right next to each other and not illuminated so at night it is difficult to get the right one. 3. Would have liked the headrests to be able to tilt forward slightly. 4. Tyre roar could be a bit less. 5. I have a bit of wind noise from where the driver's door meets the B-pillar at sppeds in excess of 75mph. It's not a bother - I'll get them to look at it when it goes in for its first service. Dealer service so far was great, but then I got good service at Audi (wife works for Audi dealer so I would expect to!)

The problem is there are enough prats driving around using a hand held mobile phone, oblivious to what's going on around them. There would bound to be some idiot who would think it was ok to drive around while watching the DVD at the same time. To be honest anyone that stupid should just have their license taken off them for good.

I always quite liked the styling of the old IS200 but the low rent interior clearly marked it out as a Toyota and that, togther with the poor fuel economy and lack of power, put me off. Then I saw the IS250 and from that moment I was a Lexus convert.

As I understand it, Lexus dealers are allocated cars but must sell them within a fixed period or Lexus reserves the right to offer them to other dealerships. If a dealer has a particular spec that does not appear to be shifting and that period end is drawing near they may well offer some incentives. That said the only nearly new IS that I have seen for sale in dealerships were 55 Reg demonstrators that were being replaced by 06 ones. The other point is that comparing the price of the new IS to the old IS is pointless as the new one competes against the BMW 3 series, Audi A4s etc and any price comparisons must be made with them. The big jump in price between old IS and new IS can only help the residuals of the older car as it fills that sub £20k price bracket.

If the Lexus system was just pure Sat Nav then it would be very hard to justify the increased cost when you could buy a Tom Tom or similar for much less. But you are paying for a MultiMedia System. That means a DVD changer and the ability to watch DVDs (and yes I do use this feature!), a fantasic Sat Nav system, an amazing stereo, Voice activation, Reversing Camera, bluetooth connection for phone. And I think that this is great value for money. Like Parthiban I too am a big fan of integration - a much more elegant solution. You're right in what your saying, of course, but look at it from my point of view: DVD Player - watch movies stationary in my car? Why? I have friends. Sat Nav - yes it is very good but I often lend my Garmin to my wife to help her find places on her travels. It's never failed to bring her back yet. Whether this is a plus or a minus is debatable I grant you. Amazing stereo - the existing 13 speaker is fine for me thanks. Voice activation - my phone has this anyway. Reversing camera - I know how to park. (Famous last words I know).

I nearly went for the MM option on my new IS250 but decided against it. Then I was walking through ASDA and spotted the little Garmin i3 StreetPilots for £140. It's small but with a great colour 3D screen and gives clear spoken instructions. You can remove it and put it in your pocket or transfer it to another car. So far it has been 100% accurate all over the country. I can't see how more expensive systems justify their cost when compared to this.