KevM

Hi Kennydalglish, I have since parted company with my IS250 but towed a Bailey Ranger 500/5 with an IS250 Sport (2.5V6 manual) for a couple of years with no problems. To be honest my only other experience of tow cars to date is our Ford Kuga but for what it is worth my feelings are that the IS Sport actually makes a very good tow car. The V6 provides plenty of pull and the suspension & tyre setup, certainly of the Sport model, gives a very firm control of the caravan. The biggest concern I had was remembering that the caravan was connected and to keep the speed within the legal limits, with the caravan balanced you will be well past the legal limits long before you notice the caravan having any real impact other than at initial pull away. We now use the Kuga for its part time 4 wheel drive but other than pulling over grassy surfaces the IS was at least as good and in many ways a fair bit better. However, I feel that I am certainly more concious of the caravan having a bigger impact on the handling of the Kuga than it ever did the on the IS. For reference the Ford Kuga is a previous award winner as a tow car. If you have other specific questions please post and I will try and answer but I doubt unless your caravan is a heavy one that you would have any issues. Our IS was fitted with a Witter detachable bar with twin electrics which seemed to be a VERY close match to the Lexus setup but at less than half the price. Hope this helps, KevM

Hi nicnac, Give Central Tyre Services (Howard Street South in Belfast) a shout on 028 9023 8508. I have been using them for a few years now and have found them to be very good. Just recently purchased 4 new Toyo Proxes T1R tyres for my IS250 Sport from them. So far they seem to be very good and worked out a bit cheaper than straight replacements to the factory fits. To be honest I didn't price with Hurst's this time as I have found them a shade more costly in the past so not sure how things stack up at the moment. Central also do a great job on the alignment... ask for a guy called James. I know the SE takes a different tyre size from the Sport but it may be worth a call... Having said that I use Hursts for everything else and find them excellent. Good luck, KevM

Can't help any on the discount or costs but the quality of the work is normally first class.

Maybe this should be moving towards a new thread, I don't mean to hijack yours Matty but... How many people out there with manual IS250s (Sports in particluar) are experiences this kind of grating noise which goes away when the clutch pedal is depressed? The delearship have told me this is a trait of the engine but if that was the case nearly all, if not all, the cars would have it. It would appear to me to be an unlucky smaller number. I am also finding the gearbox shift anything but smooth a fair bit of the time, especially in the lower gears having to try a second or third time to engage the required gear at times. Initially I put this down to the lack of miles but I am fast approaching 1500miles (not that much I know) and it does not seem to be getting any better. I would have thught things would be working a lot smoother by now. I recall that my IS200 Sport could be a wee bit picky at times but nothing anywhere near the new 'box. Any thoughts folks? KevM

Hi nicnac, The dealership have offered for me to take a run in another car which I am hoping to take them up on as soon as possible (maybe even tomorrow afternoon). They will also send an engineer out for an extended test drive with me if I wish when we can arrange it. Neither my wife nor I remember any such noise from the demonstrator we drove a number of times before placing the order so will try another car (or two) and see what they are like. I was just hoping that someone else had the problem resolved and I could pass on the details to the service department. Cheers, KevM

Hi folks, Been watching these forums for a while now, have now joined in the hope of seeking the advice available... Way back at the start of this thread Matty raised the following problem... "When I depressed the clutch, the noise went away and the cabin becomes quiet. Taking the foot off again, the grating/grinding noise returns" I bought my IS250 Sport a month ago now and it is unfortuneately suffering from the same problem by the sounds of it (no pun intended). While the garage has been helpful they have not been able to resolve this as yet. A friend believes it to be the clutch release bearing... Anyone have the same problem and if so have they been able to get it resolved? Thanks for any help you can give KevM