javadude

My IS220d Sport is awesome. I love it. Sitting on the motorway from Reading to Swindon with the cruise control set to 70mph it used to do 40mpg. When I take a friend to Hull uni from Reading I get about 45mpg. Driving carefully I'd probably get close to that with the petrol but the torque and the close ratio gear box that the Sport has means it feels faster than the petrol once its moving. It's so responsive and if you drive it hard its a lot of fun. (The Sport gets lower/stiffer suspension and VDIM too.) I tried an early base model and didn't like the standard gear ratios at all. The obvious downside is that the diesel is noisier. Cruising on the motorway you'd never know it was a diesel but roaring away from the lights on a cold morning I hanker for the smoother sound of my old lS200. (OK so that had induction kit and fat exhaust so it wasn't quiet but it was smooth sounding.) For "normal" expenses I think I've only had servicing and new tyres. On the last service it had new brake pads but I don't remember how much they were. Under warranty I've had 5th injector, drivers floor mat, and alloy wheels replaced (common), a sensor in the exhuast replaced (very unusual apparently) and also steering rack and rear brake calipers (recent recall). For the servicing and warranty work Lexus service was first class. Two warranty trips included a gift of £40 diesel and the alloy wheel replacement was their suggestion as they spotted the bubbling. I'll probably buy the new hybrid due next year or the year after so I won't get another diesel. If I was replacing it through insurance now then I'd be tempted by a smooth auto petrol simply for a change but I'd miss that torque so I could well end up with another diesel.

I ask them not to if I've washed mine recently as their quick wash is not up to my usual wash and wax.

Waxing often is good - it gives a protective coating. Polishing often is bad - it removes fine scratches etc but it removes paint. I polish mine once a year (well actually clay bar, paint cleaner, polish then wax), and wax every few weeks. I should wax it more often than I do but don't get much time (family, own company and help to lead a church).

The 18" alloys on my IS220d Sport were replaced under warranty due to corrosion. This was in June this year just before the original 3 year warranty ran out.

As I drive mostly around town these days I've set the orange ring on my speedo to light up if I go over 30 and drive with the cruise control on if the road is clear so that I don't creep over the limit. It's annoying that there is so much bad driving going on which is not detected by cameras and is probably more dangerous than going slightly over the limit. There are so many muppets that don't indicate etc.

Very nice.

220 sport slow?!

If you were thinking about spending 44k you might as well get an ISF instead.

I've one of the top mounting ones for the IS250/220. It was good although I'm not using it at the moment. I had it with a ball joint and Palm Lifedrive holder and it worked well. It deforms the soft plastic dash a bit over time but once removed the dash returns to its orig shape.

Lexus Reading just replaced the rear brake calipers and a steering part on my car due to a recall. A rear shock was replaced under warranty and so were the alloy wheels as they were corroding around the centre. The car had its first MOT, I think they washed and hoovered it although it was fairly clean anyway and they collected and returned it to my home. All I paid for was the MOT. Oh and they put £20 diesel in the tank because of the inconvenience of the recall items. Awesome. And now I have such shiny wheels!!

Cheers.

Anyone any idea how long it's going to take to drive up the A43 from the M40 for the F1 qualifying and race at Silverstone? I'm just trying to work out how early we need to leave to get parked by 10am sat and sun.

The dealer mentioned this to me last week too. I guess a letter will follow soon. My dealer's waiting for the parts. If they're all waiting for a batch of parts from Japan or something then that could explain waiting to send the letter.

My IS220d Sport is awesome. The different gear ratios to the other trim levels make it a joy to drive. The torque is amazing and when it runs out I just change up and it keeps on going like a train.

Praying for you.

:o sounds good to me. Two years ago I paid 24k for mine at 3 months old and I've still got 14k to pay...

You mean slower? :D

Mine's staying. I did start thinking of a change as I'm doing about 10-20 miles a week at the moment and just had £745 of vandalism damage to the bonnet. But I love my IS220d Sport. The torque makes it awesome to drive and I get reasonable fuel consumption considering the speed and weight of toys.

Wow I thought I'd done a lot of miles - 45k in two years with 24k of those in the last year. My battery seems to be going strong still despite the car now sitting outside the house monday to friday.

lol. that was so funny. I got stopped by a Vauxhall Omega in Reading and quite rightly so - I was doing about 40-45 in a 30 limit. They should use something like this...

Hmmm silver with blue I think IMHO

I'm not old enough to drive a Volvo :)

I decided to keep the car for now. If it happens again then its going though. I can't afford £250 excess too often Here's the reason for my ownership doubts. £745 worth of damage to the bonnet... (Actually it doesn't look so bad in the photo. Its worse in real life plus there are other scratches out of photo.)

Cheap enough that I won't care when someone carves a series of deep gouges in the bonnet, or manages to put scratches in the entire width of the rear bumper. I'm getting a bit fed up with people complete lack of respect for other peoples property. I'm also only doing about 10 miles a week at the moment as my current contract is in London. The car sits outside our house all week while I take the train and yet I'm spending nearly £400 per month HP and the same again for train fares. Perhaps its time I spent < £2k on an old Jap car. I guess it would need to be carina/primera size for those odd times when it needs to be loaded up for hols etc although I don't like the look of either. I once drove an Avensis and it was so boring and boomy from road noise. Not sure I can bring myself to do this... I love my IS220 but it just seems like an expensive target for idiots at the moment. I do like the look of the recent A3s although perhaps they're not attractive enough to get the wrong sort of attention. Probably too small for holidays etc though.

What old car should I buy if I was going to get something cheap, reliable, economic and family sized?