TonyGoose

Who is this 'Don' geezer anyway ? And does he mind us publicising his 'persuasion' :duh:

Ooh, how about some nice polo shirts ? I reckon they'd be a BIG seller :D L8r TG running for cover

Oh believe me, you'll love that ... Gently but firmly burying the pedal accelerating up from 100 is sweet ... Speedo is nudging 140 + tacho approaching the red in no time And before the 'tut tuts' start, i was in Germany and late for my ferry Ah yes, Germany .... where you can legally drive @ 150mph but be done for speeding at a tenth of that. UK = what a waste of a good car

Look up BOC ... that's where i normally get it. They're bound to have a branch locally. Last time i used them, about 35-40quid i think ...

Welcome aboard you fellow defector you

That's reassuring Rod ... just had S03's put all round my IS. 215/45x17 - 90quid each + vat from a local supplier. Included balance, fit etc though i didn't need that as ... they were kindly plonked on to luverly smooth refurb wheels by my dealer.

Have you never heard of CDWOW ?? £8.99 seems reasonable to me .. or £8.49 if you play bananalotto regularly :D

At that kind of speed, did all the paint fly off the front of the car

Well here's a really radical idea ... Could maybe try .... 'buying' .... some music CD's instead of just ripping off Bizarre concept i know and it may never catch on, but hey, it seems to work for me ...

One of the biggest rip offs in all this is VAT. Take the value of goods, add shipping and insurance and clearance charges... This is called CIF value. Then add x% duty depending on what the goods are. Only after all this is VAT added .... So, you have to pay VAT on the DUTY ... Still, i spose it's no different from paying VAT on petrol duty etc. Stunning isn't it that even if petrol companies gave away petrol free of charge ... the duty and vat alone would mean it still cost about 60p a litre What's that new agency in the news today recovering ill gotten gains from crime. Maybe they should investigate this - it damn well sounds criminal doesn't it !

I've seen the 'diagnostic' menus on the IS satnav. There's nothing there to stop the 'greying out' ... I guess there may be other menus too but my guess is it's in software / firmware.

If there's a represesntative from Lexus, be sure to mention the crap paint !! They seem to have taken the wheel problem well on board ... Ask if they are likely to help people get a proper paint job !

I hope you get everything sorted today mate. Know what you mean about the valet though - Ipswich had my car the week i was on hols. Bit of a state when i collected it... like a chalk bag exploded on the inside Going back for a steering wheel + alignment - I'm told will be cleaned then - let's hope so ... Though i think i'll probably do it myself this weekend anyway The new Ipswich setup does seem a bit odd to me ... Bristos was a Lexus + Toyota centre which seems sensible enough ... I thought they lost the franchise partly coz Lexus want seperate Lexus dealerships. Now we have a Lexus + Jeep + Chrysler centre AND now it's Mitsubishi too !! I questioned whether this was progress once before in these forums ... and a representative from Lexus GB got in touch to assure me it was Said he was giving Hadleigh the chance to expand their good reputation to Ipswich. Hmmm, we'll see ... Lexus 'showroom' is seperated off but service + parts is combined with the other marques. There is a dedicated Lexus tech though - helpful chap, pretty switched on ... Very nice people but i think swamped with the additional franchises .. and this IS adversely affecting the service. I'm not complaining though .... Paul sorted refurb wheels for me and more importantly .... Repaint of my flakey front bumper - Bristos arrogantly declined to under warranty. This turned into a bit of an essay - best sever my fingers to prevent it going any further :D Update of 'dealer review' section to follow once my service etc is all finished.

Zee ... You saw the Sporty HID vs Morph Super Plazma thing @ jae didn't you. Can you remember well enough to compare the piaa with morphs lamps ? Pretty similar i spose ... And Gordy, what did you use before piaa ? L8rz

A very technical critisism TonyGoose, do you have a technical background. Oh yes - i have many years experience of spouting technical sounding bullsh1t :D In this case though, i'm just passing on info from a body repair shop. I spoke to a couple and both agreed there's something not quite right with the IS200 paintwork. The finish is too hard and brittle and the above was offered as a possible explanation. Not sure if anyone else notices this but .... Nobody associated with Lexus ever posts in threads about dodgy IS paint. Almost like some sort of conspiracy of silence Maybe they're under pain of death to reveal the truth :arrrggg-matey: C'mon Lexus, get a grip on this problem - JD Power approaching

Mine's a 2001 SE in Royal Sapphire. In answer to your questions ... 1) The finish looks good to begin with but quality and durability are very poor. 2) Absolutely NOT. 3) Very badly. Without doubt the worst of any car i've owned. I suspect the problem may be inappropriate use of drying additives in the paint mix .. possibly combined with fast baking resulting in the weak brittle finish .. which we all know and are frustrated about. I wonder if some direct action might wake lexus up ? We could park 100 IS's with bad chips outside Lexus HQ ... invite auto express, top gear, JD power etc along too !

Mmmm, slightly misleading advertising i'd agree ... Along the lower sides of your IS, the paint has a sort of orange peel finish. The sills certainly.. and lower doors i think from memory. It's just 'stonechip' treatment under the top coat. Nothing new or 'magic', been around for donkeys years. So, it could be true in part ... Doesn't get away from the fact the IS has about the WORST paint EVER. And now i've got a chip on pass side A pillar rusting nicely ... I seriously wonder how Lexus have such a good rep. The IS has more design flaws and faults than pretty much any car i've owned. I'd take some serious persuading to have another ...

Must have ordered a job lot ... they did mine Friday. Contacted me in France to sort and advise i needed new tyres ... My supplier kindly dropped 4 x B/stone S03 Pole Positions to the dealer .. who has obviously plopped them on refurbed wheels. Dealer said he couldn't buy tyres for the price i did, let alone sell them :) So now i just wait to see if i get charged for the refurbed wheels. Hopefully not but mine were pretty scuffed in places.

Don't forget to check the likes of Trade-Sales and Motorpoint. They often have IS200 stock around the 18-19k mark. At the end of the day, if you're after a good deal .... you're looking in the wrong country for starters !!

I reckon it was Steve pimping again

What ?? You mean they're using IS200 paint ...

I spoke to Paul at Ipswich about mine too. He's gonna see what he can do ... they're quite scuffed unfortunately. He mentioned something about if damaged more than 25% of circumference, they may be rejected or a 'betterment' payment required. I'm dropping my car off tomorrow and they're having it all next week. 20k service + a whole bunch of warranty jobs. That's free storage while i'm on holiday :)

Packed extra HKS air filters for the Challengers ? I doubt it ... Apparently that's what they used last time ! That's how all the rocks, gravel, camels, palm trees etc got into the engines :duh:

As a drivers car, the Teg will blow your IS into the weeds ... Those engines are just Soooooo sweet !! You'll be tearing round at 9k rpm all over the place B) Might be a bit thin on creature comforts, lightened windscreen, less sound deadening etc etc .. But then it's target market are more concerned with performance than trinkets :P

Moi ?? B)