Paradroid

I think you might be suffering because of high demand for the new IS. I was in Lexus Manchester today and they had a car in the showroom which was frankly stunning. It was a new IS250 in silver, lovely light grey interior and a serious set of smoked 18" alloys. The sales chap said it would be gone by the weekend and seeing as I was talking to him about a '03 IS200 I had no reason to doubt him. The question that has not been asked to this point is how much discount was applied to your original order Infinity? If it's a lot then I can see what the dealer is saying, the car they have can probably be sold for full whack and it's higher specced than yours, so they're going to do that and make you wait for your order!

If you guys had the choice again what would you go for? A 3-4 year old is200 or a 1-2 year old boggo standard car like a Vectra or Mondeo for similar money (under warranty of course)?

This all sounds good :D So the only real (small) risk is the ball joints on a well looked after car, how much do they cost? Is it a DIY job at all? I do some bits and bobs (wheels off etc) but don't want to start mucking about with spring compressors if it's suspension work. One other thing - what do people thing are the best buys at the moment? To me it seems to be the low mileage 02 platers that are around for about 10k. 2003 or later cars still seem a bit dear for my budget. I guess owning an 02 plate Lexus is not really anything to worry about if it's been looked after? Many thanks

Can I ask at what age you start needing to get things looked at with an is200. A lot on the used market are older cars than I would normally consider, but being a good quality car I might think about one 4-5 years old and hope it's in good shape. I know the common problems like ball joints and tracking, but I guess this doesn't affect every car? How many of you have had to have work done in the first five years (apart from servicing of course)? Thanks :)

The EGR valve on diesels is part of Euro IV and it's true that it makes the engine less efficient which affects economy and performance. The upshot is it should stop all that thick black smoke billowing out the back on hard acceleration. A chap at work has a Euro IV Volvo V50 and he's had to take the car back a few times because of problems with the EGR valve affecting the smooth running of the engine, and he doesn't use special fuels. Obviously it'a different car, but there could just be the odd niggle with these I'd be suprised if one particular type of fuel could do it.

Is it not perhaps worth adding a word of warning about these types of buffers though. Don't get me wrong, used properly they're excellent but I've known some people get them and give them a go and actually make swirl marks worse on a black car. Also, some cars come out of bodyshops after accident repair with obvious swirl and shimmer marks - caused by inexperienced people using buffers. Good advice though about always washing by hand, and don't use a sponge as they hold grit. Use a two-bucket system in conjunction with a lambswool wash mitt or similar. The Meguiars one has a mesh on the back face which is excellent at getting dead insects off the front bumper.

It looks good but the car doesn't need it in my opinion, but then like you say it still looks very similar to a standard car. Mind you, subtle is always good!

Just noticed today that almost the whole of the first page is full of topics that seem to relate to the new IS! Not much good for us IS200/300 owners and fans

I'd recommend running in too, and with a turbodiesel in particular as I thought they benefitted even more than petrol engines from being run in properly.

There is only one way these resistors are of any use at all - for making pots of cash selling them on eBay to people who should know better :D

I don't think it will look any different, but it will definitely be easier to clean off :D I just tend to use whatever wax I'm using for the bodywork to do the alloys, that seems to do the trick. The secret to keeping wheels looking clean seems to be to do them regularly. Done once a week they're quite easy to get clean again, but at times where I've left the car 2-3 weeks without cleaning it I've had a hell of a time getting the wheels pristine again.

Thanks for the tip-off. I've not seen them around but they're certainly spreading, can't believe they're in Manchester I'll have to be careful. Time to update the Tom Tom too.

It seems to have disappeared, wonder if it was a typo on the price? Still doesn't explain why the call couldn't be connected though unless the phone number was wrong too.

Hiya :D I'm in a similar boat really, considering swapping a much newer car for a Lexus 3-4 years old. But it seems the Lexus ages well because the paintwork and finish is so good. I've always liked the IS200 and to me they haven't dated at all, they still look great now and I like the unusual interior it makes you know you're driving something a bit different! I know what you mean about the CTR, have always admired them from a performance point of view but if you do a lot of miles especially commuting or business it's probably not ideal. I did a bit more digging on the LSD question and it seems that all it really gives you is easier power oversteer because the power goes through the back wheels better. But on a public road you prob wouldn't miss it I guess, the sport is still a good buy though they look great!

My Hyundai Coupe (new shape) had them on the right too. Older British cars had them on the right (Vx Chevette and Reliant Scimitar to name two I've drive), it's technically correct for RHD I believe. I think the trend to the left started with european cars where they didn't bother to swap the stalk position over and we all got used to it being on the left!

Thanks Steve. I'm pleased to hear that. :) Still quite surprised though, Lexus really have thought about the European market. On most cars from that part of the world they don't bother to swap them round.

It sure is! Just out of interest, how hard do you corner? On a car I had a few years ago my front tyres looked like someone had shaved the outside edge of the tread with a pen knife - and I was told it's from cornering very hard. How many miles have you had out of them? And are they definitely the right type and profile, because if they're not the sidewall could flex too much - which is what it looks like has been happening.

Any manufacturers breakdown cover is normally very comprehensive so I'd stick with that and then get AA or whatever when it runs out. You get three years with a Lexus and the cover looks spot on: http://www.lexus.co.uk/owning_a_lexus/road..._assistance.asp

I would normally expect on any jap car that the indicator stalk is on the right, but I saw a picture of a UK IS200 interior that make me think it's on the left - is this correct? I think technically on the right is best as you can work the gears at the same time but personally I'm just too used to having them on the left to want to change Out of interest, what's the situation with the new IS (220/250) too?

Is it just the photograph or is the wear quite even across the main part of the tread? If so how can it disintegrate so seriously on the very inner edge? Is that must be down to how the car is sitting when cornering because that's when the very edge of the tyre takes all the load.

I think it's fair to say that all cars have their "known faults" - even Lexus. The thing with a car like a Lexus is they are very well designed and engineered (for the most part) so they aren't full of rattles, plus fit and finish is really good so they drive/look new for longer and hold their value better. It's probably the case here that our friend got into a Lexus too soon. When I was 21 I'd want to be in a hot hatch and I was. I'm 31 now and still in a hot hatch (well sort of). But eventually the boy racer thing will subside (maybe in a year or two) and I'll start wanting something more refined and solid. Which might just be a Lexus!

Actually ST170's can be seriously problematic cars. There were dozens of ECU updates in the early days to try and cure the engines running rough etc. Brake failures have been reported, basically quite a few got rejected in the early days. I know this because the owners club was keeping a list of number plates of rejected cars to help people avoid the problem ones. This 04 plate one should be ok though, it was more 02 plates that had the problems. As for kit being comparable, as far as I know the ST170 doesn't have any of the following: Electric Seats In dash CD changer Auto lights Straight six engine Rear wheel drive Probably a few more things to add to that list...

Good post, it's always going to be cheaper to replace pads and even discs than it is to replace clutches, synchro's and gear linkages and *** knows what else. Unless there's a very good reason to do otherwise just use the brakes, on todays cars they're almost always well up for the job. Engine braking was more for older cars with poor brakes.

Have you driven the Focus yet? I test drove one a few years ago and was a bit underwhelmed to be honest, it didn't really drive like a performance model. I found myself wondering where the 170 horses were, engine seemed a bit gutless. I do like the looks of them though, the Mk1 Focus is a classic shape and the ST170 is my favourite looks-wise. Interior and build quality won't be what you're used to, but of course you're getting a much newer car with a lot less miles on the clock. What else are you considering or what price range are you looking at?

That is awful. The thing is the standard Banham does look a little bit like a TT in some ways but at least it has some identity of it's own. On this one someone has actually took the TT look-alike thing way too far by grafting on badly fitting TT parts!