verycherry

Thanks for all th reply and the dimmer switch for the garage - suggestion of the century dude!

I have a black volvo too and honestly it never seems to scratch as easy and yes there are some swirls - Anyway, I washed the 250 again today- with a brand new mitt and guess what, it caught a tiny tarry grit off the car and straight away I got a 30cm scratch on the bumper! I did manage to get most of the scratch out with Meguiars Scratch X.

Perhaps I just have to stop being so fussy and look at it up close but really it is heartbreaking to see it not in perfect condition. It looks so beautiful when I first picked it up.

i own a 1962 beetle showcar and the show and shine comps demand high gloss shines, so i have a pretty regimented car wash regime

just checking, but you do rinse the car before washing yes? i always run the hose over the car before any cleaning happens, just to remove anything that the mit may collect. if i'm not near a hose i use a watering can. and without being to sad i use a mit for above hip height, a seperate one for below hip height and a different rag altogether for the wheels. make sure the water you use stays clean too. all very much hassle for sure, sad maybe, but effective.

i dont go to that extent with my current car, however if it were black i probably would.

have you tried supagard? this the service audi offer your new paint when you buy a car, costs upto £300, but easily bought off of eBay for considerably less and applied yourself

some of the answers are surprising, but the average seems to be you love the look of it but are disappointed by the power, is no one happy with a standard lump?

when i get my lex the 1st mod i want to do is get my 'beloved cant live without' iPod into the car. after a bit of a forum trawl i came across deejaygee posting this thread:

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=29550

to me thats stunning, trick and stealth and simple. hat off to the guy :D and definately the way i wanna go.

who needs cup holders anyway....i'm of the old school where you balanced drinks between your thighs..even through roundabouts!

admittably, cup holders wont make you look as though youve wet yourself after a particularly tricky interchange at swindon.....but wheres the sport in that?

:D

You will find that if you take the wire connected to the parking brake and ground it, then you will not need to apply the handbrake for it too work

genius B)

Rust proof? who are you kiding

I use to work at a landrover dealership and we saw many of them with rust on after just 3 or 4 years.

Maybe thats why you are selling it

nah, nothing so suss. long story short but always used to drive performance cars. had kids then it all changed. the sudden realisation of needing something that could manage kids+luggage+pushchairs+travel cots etc. so went out, traded in the car and bought the 4x4. honestly, the perfect machine for the early stages of parenthood.

my kids are thankfully 8 and 3 years old so we no longer have to think about anything else other than toilet stops and baggage so i can comfortably move back into something more car like than truck like. the loss of space will be a culture shock but you lot keep assuring me i will be smiling all the way in the is200 :D so aint no thang anymore.

saying that though, of the 3 people i know who also had landrovers, all 3 of them bought mechanical nightmares that cost them massively, now they too drive cars ...although not me quite yet.

its on the autotrader website now and goes into the floppycopy next week

just willing the phone to ring, should get about £17k for it giving me lots of choice at the luxus dealership

yay

B)

Are Altezzas included in your survey ?

shames me to say, but i had to work out what an Altezza was....these forums are good for research! :winky:

also meant i got why the others were smirking at you

dive in, the same stuff runs thru its veins

from what i just saw in your post it doesnt really describe a IS200? 4x4? :duh:

or maybe its me

yeh, i do have a 4x4, and selling it to buy my lexus....just joining in s'all :)

verging on the edge of buying myself my is200, and rather than keep asking the same old questions i thought i would hand it over to you

whats the best thing about owning your car?

and whats the worst...or the bad points if you like, if any

modified or standard spec, would just be interesting to see what puts the smile on your face and what wipes it off.

hopefully a list like this will point out the best bits and best mods as well as any bad habits...like this ERR3 thing

..its unrelated but i will do the same for the car thats selling to buy mine, its a landrover discovery

best bits:

i can go anywhere...especially sand dunes

i can fit a small village in the rear

i'm bigger than most cars

i annoy the world by doing the school run in it

its practically indestructable and rustproof

worst bits:

its a school run 4x4 therefore my mates call it a mumtruck

it only has a towbar so i can pull an esso station behind me

is does 0-60mph in 14 days...then needs a land anchor to stop it

i look like i'm driving my dads car

it has more body roll than dawn french

its a non descriptive drive

:D

thankyou very much to everyone who has inputted so far.

i have gone from reasonably clueless to deciding on the correct beast for the hunt.

to my mind i am now hunting a >2003 SE navigator, with sunroof and leather.

result :D cheers guys

now just have to hope my 4x4 sells in its autotrader run, if not it will be eBay then straight up to the pimuff...sorry...plymouth..dealers (after a webhunt of the national stock) to place my hard earned on something shiny!

best case scenario end of next week will see ownership, worst case will be march.

then i can pester you with all the other ownership questions youve answered a million times before :winky:

but any further help, keep it coming

cool ta. the sport grill looks quite nice must say...

another thing bout the satnav, but is relavent to the model choice, is, that having satnav - does this mean its known as a navigator edition? is the navigator something different or just something they label a car with if the satnav is installed? if it is different - in what way

i have tried hunting the forums for some of these answers but i'm still on dialup so the process is slow painful

try not to get stuck on the 11k figure, thats just my preferred price, but for the right car i can go upto 16k without a problem.....just being tight :D

i had a look on the dealer network and they do seem a bit thin on the ground, gunna need to see the plat-ice in the flesh as the mrs has a silver audi and would be nice to have a different colour, sayiing that hers has a pink flip in the paint.

i know i sound lazy but the reason i havent been to a dealership as yet is that the closest one to me will take over 2 hours to get to as i live in a remote part of cornwall and the closest dealership is the other side of plymouth....or pimuff to anyone reading this south of devon :P

so the plan is to arrive with a specific model and colour if possible so all i need to do is climb round one rather than go through all of this at the dealership

i do have some added questions - although if you want to help find me a car thats cool too!

1. the dvd satnav, can this play dvd/tv easily? guessing if so its just a question of adding hardware, if not then i might scratch it off the list making more models available and a wider choice. but if it does then a telly in the car is a telly in the car and will stay on the list

2. when buying is there anything i should be trying to haggle into the deal? different grills, lights, spec etc such as is there something everyone usual adds or something you cant live without? reason i ask is that rather than discount the car they might chuck in a few bits instead and an idea of what i should ask for would be cool

maybe i should have called this thread 'help me buy a car'

appreciating the feedback though

If you're going to upgrade the spoiler and wheels anyway, I'd go for the SE. The only visible differences (from the outside) are the boot lip spoiler and the tinted back windows.

The SE still comes with your 17" 5 spoke alloys. But if you're gonna replace them I'd think about advertising them as well to get a bit of money back.

And the tinted back windows on the Sport is always something you could get done later on the SE.

You still get the half leather in the SE.

But, each to their own. Best of luck with your choice - you can't really go wrong, it's a Lexus. :winky:

thats the kind of answer i was aiming for thanks loads. a fear i had was if i bought the sport i would be into body repairs taking the old spoiler off before a new one can go on, to buy a car with none on is the easier and cheaper option so if the sport comes as standard then the se becomes more attractive.

and if it is just a case of identical outside, then i guess i should be aiming at a well spec'ed SE and not the sport ans sell the wheels.

my metality is the problem, usually with cars theres the L version then an LS then a SE then a GTi etc so in my mind i would be buying the one under the level of a GTi. however this doesnt appear to be the case.

:duh: now i just have to pick a colour! i live by the sea - crave for a black car - but would need washing permanently with the amount of sand dust floating around....hhhmmm maybe blue

I always thought LSD was a drug !! :D

by that thinking then, the ESP on VW cars means they can sense stuff and predict the future!

didnt stop them putting the golf+ into production though!

but they are forgiven with the use of two words..... Bugatti and veron :D

thread hi jack here but could someone explain LSD in dumb person for me.......

ive googled it but its too technical for my simple mind :P

i kinda understand it, as long as its nothing like VW's ESP, switched on the car is dull and ropey, switched off its a normal drive. guessing its a grip or power to the wheels scenario but more than likely wrong - i often am

cheers guys, i was worried i would be asking the same boring questions! budget wise i want to keep under the £11k mark but can go higher if i must.

that link to the spec was very helpful, but the responces have confused me now i've read it.

so, lets say i'm aiming at a 2004/2005 car, with sunroof, satnav and leather - this rules the 'S' out of the picture and leaves me with the SE and SPORT. except for the fact the sport is lower by 15mm its practically identical to the SE?

simpler question i suppose is, rather than choosing between the two should i just get the best spec'ed up version of either? i dont want to get the SE and discover i should of bought the sport or the other way round. like ive mentioned before there are no major mods planned other than rims and a mild styling tweek to individualise it a bit.

or a different question, if the SE and SPORT were sat side by side with identical spec's except for the lower car which is the better buy or the preferable buy? or is there really nothing in it.

after reading the link i would assume that the sport is going to come better spec'd as standard? i would rather get the most for my money rather than spend on upgrades at a later date.

also,whats the LSD martin? is the thing drug fuelled!

i'm not bothered about bum spoilers and wheel sizes as thats gunna be an almost immediate mod i make once i buy one so they would be coming off anyway

Hi, first post here but wont be the last.

I'm in the process of finding and buying myself a shiny is200 but find myself a little lost. i've read the checks on what to look for but have convinced myself i want dealership warranty so less of a concern.

the problem i have is the complete lack of knowledge on the difference between the models.

as i understand it:

there is the S, SE and sport

all 3 are the same car in respect of handling and performance, its the trim and options that differ them with the SE coming with satnav?

am i miles off the mark?

the reason i ask is should i be looking for more luxury or more sport? and which one has it lol!

i assume they all perform and handle the same? the dealership is a little vague to say the least.

basically, i want an is 200, this i know, what to look for when buying i am confident with.........what model is my hurdle

future plans would be bigger rims and a mildly bigger bum spoiler....ooh...and some of those blue tint headlights some of you guys run

so what am i looking for?

brethrin....assist me in joining your fold :winky: