Mike_B

Well just to follow up my own post, I finally got round to ordering some on Friday, they got delivered today, which is next working day delivery. Excellent service I reckon. Fitted them this afternoon, no probs at all! So well pleased... Mike

They can't win with some people - either they get a slating for delaying models, or they get a slating for rushing them out!! Since I'm not in the market for a brand new car anyway, I'd rather they waited until they'd got it right before releasing it! Mike

The sole purpose of any insurance is to make money for the people selling it. In other words, on average, your car will suffer less than £610 worth of faults during the period they are covering. With some insurances, eg home insurance, the ratio of premium vs risk is so low as to make it an extremely cost effective way of protecting yourself. It's very unlikely that your house will burn down, but if should then the £300 premium will save you the cost of replacing £300,000 worth of house and possessions. But with a car warranty, especially one that's pretty reliable to start with, the benefits start to look somewhat less clear-cut - it's not hundreds of thousands of risk, the cost of a fault is likely to be rather closer to the cost of the premium itself. Sure, you could be unlucky and your engine could throw a con-rod through the block, but how often do you hear of that happening? Put the money for two years worth of insurance into a high-interest savings account - if you need it the money's there, if not enjoy the proceeds! Mike

See where you're coming from, but not entirely fair - luxury cars are about making life easier, its not that I don't know when or how to turn my lights on, its just that I don't want to have to :P Its similar to things like reversing cameras - I know how to park, and parking sensors will do the job perfectly, but it will make life a little bit easier and that's what its all about :) I do see your point, but the fact is they don't really work properly. They come on when you go through a short underpass at midday, but they don't come on at other times when they really should such as heavy spray on a motorway. Darkness is fine, they work well at that but that's not the only time you need lights! Horses for courses I guess, I don't find them valuable but I suppose others love them! My last car, a Toyota Avensis, had an auto-dimming rear view mirror. I didn't like that either, it never went dark enough! And as for the automatic wipers... Give me a simpler spec list and a higher build quality any day... (says he with an IS200 SE with electric everything!! :duh:)

I don't particularly like the auto-lights. They come on when you pass under a couple of trees or go under a bridge, but stay off when it's pouring with rain on the motorway and you can't see 50 yards because of all the spray! Not an especially useful function, if you can't remember to turn the lights on you probably shouldn't have a licence! Just my view... :winky: Mike

What are you looking to change? I need new discs soon and have found some from a few places all under £100. Pads of course are even less. But maybe you want new calipers, hoses etc?

As a biker, I see this subject all the time in bike mags (plus personal experience). The Japanese bikes in particular have astonishing performance and handling, but if you don't religiously wash your bike after every ride in the winter (and no, I'm not exaggerating - I mean EVERY ride in the winter or when roads are still salted) then it'll look like sh*t after one season. Fairing fasteners, any exposed alloy, exhausts, bolts, sprockets etc will be covered in a layer of powdery aluminium oxide. The bike manufacturers use the same excuse 'it's your salted roads, nowhere else has this problem so we're not changing anything' - so they just change bits until the warranty runs out, and then you're on your own... We're not the only country that needs to de-ice the roads - so what gives? Assuming the manufacturers aren't simply lying, what do other countries use to de-ice and why don't we use it? Mike

Hi all, I need some new front discs on my IS200. Having seen the recent thread on shocks where a website called BuyPartsBy was mentioned, I checked them out for brake discs. They seem to want just £61.73 inc VAT and delivery for a set of discs. This seems incredibly cheap (almost suspiciously so) to me... has anyone used them before? I'm not sure what brand they are but they have two logos on the top of that page (Mintex and Delphi) so presumably they'll be one of these and therefore OK. I don't hammer the thing as a rule so I'm not bothered about grooved or anything fancy like that! Cheers, Mike

It's funny - I remember critics moaning about Ferrari's paddle change for not moving with the wheel... you can't please everyone I guess!! I'd rather they moved with the wheel personally, unless I'm on a tight turn and need to move the wheel more than about 3/4 turn, I leave my hands where they are anyway, much easier that way and seems safer to me than 'feeding the wheel' as you always know exactly where the wheels are pointing. Why do they teach you to feed the wheel anyway?

Why only in first gear then?

Hi all, My 2002 IS200 auto makes a whining noise when it pulls away in first gear. The whine increases in pitch in proportion to speed and as soon as it changes to 2nd, stops immediately so it seems like it's probably the autobox. Is this common? I only noticed a few days ago when I happened to have the stereo off, it's not all that loud but you can certainly hear it. But if 'they all do that sir' then I won't worry about it, I've obviously just not happened to notice it before!! It'll be in for it's 40k service in 1500 miles and since it's under it's 'Lexus approved user car' warranty if it's not normal then I'll make sure they look at it. cheers, Mike

I'm 31, bought my first and so far only Lex about 7 weeks ago. IS200SE Auto - I've driven far too many miles now to be bothered about racing about, and if I do feel like a thrash, there's a Yamaha R6 at home waiting... B) 0-60 in 3.3 seconds anyone? First car was Metro 1.1C after uni, had it for about 3 months then got a job with a company car. Since then I'd never owned another car till I bought this Lex!! Had all the usual suspects for company motors - VW Passat TDi (written off after barrel rolling it down a country lane! ), 2x Mondeo TD, Vectra DI (reliable as chocolate fireguard), Fiat Brava auto (utter, utter cr*p), Fiat Brava TD (better), Avensis auto (dull), and finally a new-style Avensis TD (biiiiig improvement). And then the Lex - best of the bunch by a country mile! Until I swap it in a year or two's time for either a late, low mileage IS300 or an early IS250 auto that is!! Mike

Surely an LS would cost a packet to insure though? Even if it does only cost a grand to buy. I can't believe the fuel consumption will endear it to a 19yo either...

Surely 'perfection' is a subjective term? A Lexus is a very long way from perfection - if you're a builder needing to transport some rubble to the tip. I guess we can say both Ferrari and Lexus are close to their own definitions of perfection, Ferrari in terms of looks, performance and exclusivity, Lexus in terms of reliability, comfort and general quality. Mike

specifically for power drift, the one with LSD will be easier. This is logically correct - taken to extreme where the power far exeeds the grip (eg snow, ice), the non-LSD will only spin up one tyre eixiting a corner, thus leaving the loaded tyre still gripping the road and preventing a spin. With the LSD, the power will overwhelm both tyres and the back of the car will skid out...

The ashtray is a bit pointless, all the smokers I know usually open the window to flick ash outside. But the lighter is essentual - phone chargers, standalone sat-navs (eg TomTom) plus a vast array of other accessories all need the power socket. Mike

I've only ever known Mazda and Mercedes-Benz to have them on the right. All the other cars I've ever driven (quite a few over the last 10 years) have been on the left - whether they're from Europe, the Far East or the USA... Mike

Can't say I've noticed any 'box noise at all I'm afraid... And since it's new and I'm still in the 30 day Approved Used take-it-back warranty, I've been looking and listening for problems. Tell me - how many keys did you get? Two black (with boot-release butons) and one grey? Or just one of each? cheers Mike

First up - Hello LOC! Been lurking for a couple of weeks now when I first thought about getting a Lexus, and the general comments and cameraderie/friendliness (and your lexus knowledge) kind of talked me into it... :) I just picked up my first Lexus yesterday, an IS200SE Auto on a 52 plate from Lexus Reading... and loving it! After 10 years of company diesel load-lugger cars I've got a new job and now get an allowance rather than a set of car keys, so I got to choose what I wanted rather than what a company accountant wanted! Well pleased with it so far, sooo smooth, the only car I've personally ridden any distance in that comes close is a mate's Merc which has a 5 litre V8 in it! Obviously, I have a couple of questions for you guys, mostly to do with the dealer rather than the car itself... firstly it only came with the grey valet key and one black master key, which according to the book is required to make new keys. So if I lose that one, am I basically stuffed? Should I try and lean on the dealer to get me a second one cut and programmed? I can't believe it left the factory with only one key which can open the boot and glovebox... Secondly, it's got a lot of documentation with it, which I wasn't able to go through before I got it home. Two recent checks/services etc have written notes that the front brake discs are getting worn, and sure enough there's a lip on the outer and inner edges of the discs where the pads don't contact it. So I think the discs are indeed worn. Should I lean on them about this? It is an approved used car, and the RAC have passed it, and it went into the workshop for some servicing checks before being released to me. I'm used to Ford/Vauxhall levels of (non-)service so I don't know how much I can lean on them for this kind of thing with what is, essentially, a second-hand motor!!! Cheers, Mike