Paradroid

That's awesome, great link. Love the LCARS interface.

That is a good point, probably the biggest risk with buying the car!

Quite a large topic! Running costs: - no IS is economical, mine is a manual IS200 and I get about 28mpg which is mostly urban and A-road driving. - they can really eat tyres because the geometry is wrong, so budget to take it to Wheels In Motion and get that fixed - cambelt every 60k/6yrs - on the plus side, they're very reliable so don't need much spending on them usually. For a buying guide, look here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/knowledge...ndex_v1&c=5

Very interesting thread. I looked at the latest LS when I went in my local Lexus dealers the other week, and was surprised to find myself in awe. I'm 33, so the S-Class/7-Series type cars are not normally my thing. I admire them but wouldn't want to own one, however with the new LS I could quite easily see myself owning one. The styling makes it a modern big car rather than an ostentatious big car. I can't believe someone upgrading from a Megane CC to a LS460, that has to be some kind of record in terms of cost, refinement, class. And any move from French to Japanese is a big improvement too

I read that post too but wasn't sure if it was a bit of a sharp excuse on the salesmans part. Even if that car was an auto I can't see an IS200 being worth 9.5k on trade in with the tax situation being what it is at the moment. Was it not just an excuse to drop the trade in value, given that it's probably dropped a load in the last month with things being the way they are.

I've only ever driven manual cars, so went for an IS200 Sport Manual. I love the car but the gearchange can be a bit notchy round town. The main problem is going from 1st to 2nd where it can crunch slightly. I've managed to adjust my gearchanges to get rid of this (basically you need to shift slowly and move the lever gently), but even so it's not perfect. I think in a lot of ways the auto box might suit the IS200 better, but the fuel economy doesn't look great from what I've read on here. Economy on my manual car is not bad for an IS200, and personally I prefer shifting manually, when I get my car on an open road the close ratio box and smooth engine make it great fun to drive quickly :) I think you'll be ok whatever you decide, just down to what your priorities are really - I certainly don't think the manual box will be any worse than a Merc as they're not known for good manual boxes!

Seeing as companies like Warranty Direct don't pay out on an awful lot of claims (a local garage I know said 9/10 come back refused), these figures aren't worth paying much attention to. Funny seeing the TF in there, it must be because the head gaskets let go a lot. There's not much else to go wrong on them really, they're pretty straightforward cars!

Well it was completely unexpected but I saw one in Wigan yesterday. A silver one, very nice indeed :) I thought it looked great in silver. But personally I'd be happy with a IS250 SR

Whereabouts? Can't say I've seen that. Mine has a big Lexus badge on the top. I thought they've done quite a good job of covering up the Toyota badges/lettering under the bonnet. But it is there on the rear lights! It's still a Lexus in my book though! There's more soundproofing and the interior is upgraded over the Altezza. Not meaning to knock the Altezza though, it makes up for it with that beams engine I'm sure.

Thanks dude :) At the weekend I was driving round with the steering column trim off, and the big panel below the steering column removed. But I couldn't find the source of the rattle. Could hear it well though!! Next up would have been the top of the dash, until I found a guide on the web for how to do it. He reckoned nearly 2 hours to remove, and 2 hours to refit. Quite a big job. Probably end up with more rattles. What would happen if I took it to the local Lexus dealers I wonder? I can see them either having a quick look and not sorting it, or ripping me off with a big bill!

Well I'll check that thanks but this noise is almost certainly coming from the drivers side dash.

Price sounds very good to me. Is it the base model or an SE?

??? Acording to Urban Dictionary that's a Spurs supporter. Is that what you meant

It's definitely inside the car mate

Can't say I approve of anyone who parks over two spaces. I've heard of people giving cars a kick for doing that, so you might as well just take your chances in one space. I would avoid parking next to anything that is scruffy, especially if there's paint missing from the door edges! Also avoid parking next to 3dr cars (as the doors are huge), people carriers, 4x4, vans etc. But if you do that you'll probably be driving round forever :)

I have a rattle on my IS200 which I thought was in the steering column, but I took it apart and couldn't find it. I also took the footwell dash panel off and couldn't find anything behind there either, I checked the bonnet release, the throttle cable and loads of other electrical cables. The noise sounds like a loose piece of metal rattling against something, it's quite quiet, but on rough roads it chatters quite a bit and it annoying, especially with the rest of the car being solid. Has anyone got any ideas what else it could be? Sounds like it's coming from drivers footwell but I guess that means it could be anything behind the dash even at the top (behind instruments), as the sound would exit through the footwell (if that makes sense?). It's definitely inside the car. Has anyone on the forum heard of anything like it before?

Crikey, so it does! 214g for the auto, 231g for the manual. Well for me that pretty much rules out ownership of the manual then vs. the auto with the current (ridiculous) road tax system. I prefer manual but wouldn't pay another £120 a year in tax, about to get ripped off already on my 2004 IS200.

I'm trying to look to the future as I've just got my IS200! I really like my car, and thought I'd stick with the badge as I really like the new IS and thought to myself that I would like an IS250 when they come down in price and I can afford it. That was until I read some reviews that said the manual gearbox is awful on them, and the auto is the only way to go. Obviously I'd get a test drive and make my own mind up, but if the manual IS250 isn't very good then I would probably have to look elsewhere. And unless we start getting some nice Infiniti and Acura cars I'd probably be looking at BMW.

Starting to think that way myself actually :) Anyone got one they want to sell!?!?!?! Preferably platinum silver!

Welcome to the club. I just changed from a MG ZS180 (2.5 V6) which I think has about the same performance as your VR6 (Golf?), and got an IS200. I've been really pleased with the Lexus, it's nowhere near as quick as the MG but I was finding it so rare that I could actually use that level of performance anyway, with the roads being so busy and full of dawdlers even on the fast sections. So I thought well why not have some refinement, but a car that still handles well and can shift if you keep the engine on the boil. Great thing about the engine in the IS200 is that it's so smooth I never feel like I'm thrashing it when I do go up through the revs. The other great thing about my IS200 is that the engine sounds great even at low revs, it still sounds sporty round town. My MG sounded a bit flat at low revs, it sounded great at 5k-7k revs but then I needed a good stretch of road to be able to open the taps and actually do that.

That does look very nice, think that's my favourite so far actually :) I like a set up that keeps the sports grill because it's slightly bigger than the built in grill of the TTE bumper. Thanks for warning about the quality of that bumper on the black car, I was just pricing it up to see if I could buy it! One other problem though is that it might not look as good in silver to be honest. Does suit black though.

Congratulations on the new motor, it sounds very nice. By the way Keith thanks for the keyring(s) that arrived today, well pleased with that :) Diesel reminder!!! :D

I thought that at first but it's not. Look at the areas to the side of the foglights (towards the middle of the bumper). I can't see how that's a stock bumper. Dan, any chance of some piccies of your car?

I've just discovered how much choice there is: http://my.is/forums/f68/is300-aero-kits-56...ictures-340739/ (hope I'm ok posting to another forum, sorry if not)

What setup is this? I do like this!