Northern Boys Luv Gravy

Wot he said... I just organised all my favourite artists into playlists containing all their albums. I flick through the displayed playlist names before going through the named tracks to get the one I want.

It might be worth hanging on for the 2009 models - as well as a number of minor detail changes they are going to be offering it with the dark grey birds eye maple wood trim, IMO far nicer than the current wood trim, and more in keeping with the IS's sporty feel.

The 250 Auto is really quite economical on the motorway. I can stick around 75 - 80mph and by the end of the journey the average mpg is reading 40mpg.

Generally I get 360 miles to the tankful, averaging 31mpg.

To be honest that's so subtle as to be unnoticable. I think I'll stick with the built in one. :)

Nooooo......don't do it! (It looks terribly 80s).

The A4 saloon can be had with or without a split folding rear seat.

Spoken like a true scot :winky: an very true too Blimey - is this the longest goodbye ever??? Scarlet/Jamboo - you've had more comebacks than Frank Sinatra! LOL - only kidding, mate - glad to see you're still around and enjoying your Beemer - hope it continues to delight. I got a letter from my dealer inviting me to a special open day with great deals on Lexus GB supplied cars and inbeatable offers. I think I'll pass though, I still love my 250 Auto and can see me keeping it for a good while yet - unless my circumstances change.. (Doris! stick the lottery on will you luv?). Mrs Luvs Gravy has a rather nice 2.0T A3 (petrol) at the moment so if I want some gear knob fiddling action I take that for a blast.

The auto box is very good at picking the higher gears at the earliest opportunities (unless you overide it using the paddles or kickdown). This means that it is more fuel efficient than the manual and ducks under the 225g/km limit for Band F. The manual is over the 225g/km limit and falls into the punitive Band G. And yes, it is a pretty impressive auto box. :)

The Newcastle dealership are pretty good - you would have no problem with them I'm sure. I know 3 people with IS220ds as company cars and they are all very happy with them, including the fuel consumption. There are some people who post on here who are less happy. I don't know personally because I have a 250 auto. Performancewise the IS220d will blow both the petrol Audi and BMW into the weeds - both those 1.6 litre petrol engines are pretty weedy. I have heard that the 1.4 Turbo and supercharged engine is going into the A3 so that would be a better option IMO if you went for the Audi. Unfortunately, the rear seat does not fold in any way, though there is a ski hatch load through in the centre.

Or, alternatively, take the wife...

My general opinion is that 3 year old Lexus generally don't go wrong in a major way so you are probably better off not bothering. I'm not sure how much an extended warranty is but generally they are not cheap. If you are disciplined I'd put the money you were going to spend on a warranty in a high interest account and leave it. Then if anything does go wrong you have a good wedge to put towards repair. If nothing goes wrong, which I suspect will be the case, you have a nice bit of cash to spend at the end - or keep as a buffer against repair on future cars.

I think the fact that the changes are so subtle shows how right the original design was. Put an IS next to a 3-series, a new A4 and and new C-class and despite it being the oldest it still looks the most modern and eye-catching. I understand that the auburn maple is being dropped and replaced with the grey maple as seen on the GS350 Special Edition - if this is the case then I think the inside will look superb and move it up to a whole new level. I like the indicators in the mirror housing and if I was being picky I'd like to see a slightly different grille - other than that I don't see the need for major metalwork changes.

I think Jamboo did the right thing - for him. He hasn't been happy with his Lexus for a long time and once you get to the stage where you are out driving being distracted by the things that annoy you and you can't enjoy all the Lexus' positive points, then you might as well bite the bullet and change. Of course the cost to change will outweigh any savings in fuel, but if he's happier then it's worth it. Having driven the IS220d I'm sure that if that had been my only choice of Lexus I'd have opted for something else, the gearchange and clutch set up were just not to my liking. However, I drove the IS250 auto first and was smitten by it straight away, and I can honestly say I have never regretted my decision and it still brings a smile to my face when driving it. The BMW 5 series is a car that has grown on me since it was launched and while it doesn't make sense as a new buy, getting a nearly new one as a private buyer, is a good option. I still struggle with liking the 3 series though.

You should get a bloody good offer! - S80s are notoriously hard to shift off the dealership pitches due to depreciation fears. I made the mistake of not doing my homework and bought a Volvo a few years back, paid too much, and was hammered come resale time.

It's perfectly normal, the calipers are not painted so will get light rust coating sometimes/

I got a price from Newcastle of £240 for a 10k service, so I cancelled my service booking and went to Teesside for £170. When I informed Newcastle of my cancellation they offered to price match Teesside. It's worth a go.

You have a point there - our A3s and A4s were only getting 37mpg as well. We've got a 2.0T A3 at the moment and the slight increase in fuel economy is more than compensated by the smoother petrol engine.

It's really weird how the 220d polarises opinions. I've got 2 colleagues who have got 220ds and are so delighted with them that they have re-ordered exactly the same car (different colours) for their next lease.

I'm surprised that Toyota keep using this wheel supplier. The same company also supplies all Nissan's, Mazda and Audi's wheels, not to mention some others, so they must be a big company - shame they can't solve this problem.

I think those figures are based on the auto - which is more economical than the manual (which is what I'm guessing you have based on your figures, please forgive me if I'm wrong) Whenver I've had 250 auto loan cars in the past, I've averaged around 27-28mpg with mainly around town driving........while 39mpg might be achievable, I also think it's a little optimistic with 35-36mpg probably more likely on a longer run. Yeah those figures are based on an auto which will average 29mpg in city driving. However 39-40mpg is easily achievable on a run, even while habiting the outside lane.

Pretty much identical figures to the ones I get in my IS250 Auto. I am still quite surprised at how easy it is to get 40mpg on a run, even at 75mph plus. I think the high cruising gear in the auto and the aerodynamics help a lot. Obviously, the mpg suffers around town as you are constantly having to accellerate 1600 kg from rest over and over and this brings it down to the 29mpg you recorded.

We have an oil maintenance light????

I found the standard SE headlights good, certainly no worse than any other car I've driven. Without being insulting - have you had your eyes checked recently? The first thing to go is your night vision. I had a Cavalier and I kept on about how crap the headlights were, then I had my eyes checked and it turned out I needed glasses for long sight. Once I was fitted with contact lenses I found the headlights in my Cavalier were more than up to the job.

Have you taken VAT into account? You have to take 17.5% off the UK prices and compare to SA prices before any sales tax there.