John Morris

My 220d MM is badly affected by the crackle it seems to come from the dash centre speaker as if I press down hard on it its stops. On cold mornings its dreadful for a good 10 mins until things warm up. I can't understand why Lexus did not spot this when they tested the car. I noticed that if you switch on the wiper de-icer heater thingy button it seems to warm the area up and stops the noise a bit quicker. Friends who have been in the car are astonished that such an obvious fault has not been sorted before the car went on sale, this plus other bits like the lack of lighting for the mirror adjustment switches, instrucment stalks and interior light buttons really bugs me and makes me wonder how much attention to detail Lexus really put into the car - no way would this happen with Audi, BMW, Honda even.

Well I'm 3 weeks and just shy of 3K miles into my new IS220d MM. Economy 38.6mpg so says the trip computer, better than I feared and might get better after 10K Rattles - I'm paranoid about getting a rattle !! I do have the B pillar rattle but the MM system drowns it out and I'll get it fixed on first service. Build quality is good but nowhere near my previous Audi A4 which was hewn from stone and I remain to be convinced that 12 months on it will be rattle free. Mine is ok at 65mph in 6th but floor the accelerator and the MM suround, dash speaker and something deep in the dash vibrate yes I can drop to 5th but I was hoping for more solidity, again the Audi would be vibration free. I really must stop reading this forum as I find myself switching off the audio to listen for the slightest rattle! Annoyances - the interior light switch buttons and control stalks (indicators,wipers, cruise control etc.) are not illuminated and hence I struggle finding them or using them in the dark, all that effort to create LED lighting in footwells etc. and yet Lexus miss some basics. Should I (or you potential buyer) have gone German? NO - The IS is still special The new A4 due soon hmm.. might be worth waiting for

Thanks Buzz, what a bummer you can get a lot of mp3's on a 6.5gig DVD Cheers for the update

I'm looking to burn my mp3 collection to 1 or more DVD's to stick in the MM multi-changer, does anyone know which DVD disk types to use ie. DVD-RW, DVD+RW etc. I've struggled finding it in the destruction manual and so far tried a 'data DVD' ie. .mp3's written in a folder structure which should be ok but had no joy with DVD-RW. If anyone has it sussed I would greatly apreciate the answer John

Just got my IS220d last week wonderful. I was in 2 minds on the MM kit but it is so much more than just a sat nav. The bluetooth phone is great and works fine at 90mph, the reversing camera is proving useful and very impressive as is watching dvd's in stationery traffic. It is so well integrated with the rest of the car, audio, climate control etc. all controled via touch screen it should be standard. So far (7 days) the sat nav has proved pretty accurate. The best bit for me is that after you enter your destination, it advises constantly of jams or delays on route even telling you how long the que's are or for how long there is slow traffic, road works, lane closures etc. something I think you pay extra for on protable sat navs. plus there is no hassle charging batteries, wires and the dam thing stuck in your line of site. I came on the site tonight to find out how to burn my mp3 collection to a single DVD, something not possible without MM. Great choice of car you'll love it especially with MM

Just taken delivery today of my IS 220D ! Had a quick look through the manuals but can't see any reference to running in Is there any guidance on keeping below certain revs. etc. for 1st 1,000 miles or so?? Any advice ?

You mention your car just got here on a boat from Japan, I'm waiting on an IS220d from a leasing company (company car) and they insist it will be mid Jan, a wait from my ordering of 16 weeks! Do you think it might be here now and they'r waiting to register it as a 2007 car? Does anyone know how often the cars come in and when the next shipment is due? Come on Lexus dealers cheer me up and tell me there's a boat due soon

It may be because of your age, being the paranoid type, I always read the small print on the insurance waiver I'm asked to sign when getting a courtesey car and it often reads age over 25.

Thanks for the update on delivery times, my IS was due today but has been put back to mid Jan 07 I spotted a transporter full of brand new IS's heading north towards Scotland today, sat behind it for a few miles drooling and weeping!

My work pays £470 for 220d SE manual and £469 for 220d base with multimedia. This is 30K per annum full maintenance ie. just put fuel in all else inclusive. The leasing firm divides the list price of options eg. auto by 36 and adds to the monthly charge. I assume the numbers include VAT, from memory the petrol was very similar.

Colin great choice, I frequent the M8, Glasgow/Edinburgh most days and have spotted 3 IS's on my normal run in to work, 1*black, 1*silver,1 green. I'm gutted as my new IS was due for delivery 24th October but a mess up at work/leasing company has delayed it until mid Jan 07 total bummer! I'm glad to hear the consumption and 6th gear problems seem to be fixed. Would appreciate knowing who is best for service Lex Glasgow or Lex Edinburgh From 1 very bored A4 driver enjoy

The leasing company is charging my firm £410 for base Is20d and £469 with the MM, the SE is £470 however metalic paint is list price/36 which means I end up buying the paint !! I ordered Astral Black which is solid hence no extra charge but the leasing company can only get me Velvet Black which is metalic and suposed to be pretty dam cool looking I'm told, you might get away with metalic foc. The Alfa I tried had leather and was very sexy. I know what you mean regards the MM it is very expensive but I've had enought of driving around with TomTom, mobile phones and ipods plugged into my fag lighter and a mass of wires running everywhere. With the Lex, you walk up leaving keys in pocket (keyless entry), immiediately my bluetooth mobile connects again leaving it in my top pocket, I can voice dial most numbers and easily hold a handsfree conversation at high motorway speeds because there is little if any noise. Regards the vibrating mirror and 6th gear, I can only go off my 4 day test drive. I tend to drive around 85-90 and I found 6th wonderful cruising along in the low 2000'ish rpms. 5th felt like top in my A4 or 6th in a 3 series so I would look on it as an overdrive. I found the rear view mirror vibration to be neausious especially if you are trying to suss out if the car appoaching at speed from behind is a copper! I can't understand why Lexus did not spot this and sort it out before launch, I wonder if they played with the final drive ratios until the emissions and mpg fitted their needs and did'nt bother to check if it affected the car !!! I have read posts saying it can be fixed with carful adjustment.

RedDom, you are in the position I was 2 months back, which company car to go for. I ended up with 3 on the list, Alfa 159, A4 Tdi (new 170bhp) and IS220D. I tried the Alfa for an hour, its a fantastic looking car, which felt more spacious than the IS. The engine felt slightly more responsive (less turbo lag) but not really any quicker than the IS. The main issues I had with the 159 were road / wind noise and a plain interior. If I had not tried the IS (see my earlier post comparing IS220d with a 320d), these issues would probably not have entered my mind and the drop dead looks of the 159 would have won. Its also a lot cheaper on car tax. So I had decided on an IS220d for £40 a month I could upgrade to an SE with leather and 17' alloys but for £30 a month i could get base with Multimedia which has to be experienced to be appreciated. IMHO the MM is far nicer to have than leather, it has the best sat nav. in any car including the ability to actively plot traffic jams on the map. The thing plays DVD's in 5.1 surround sound has bluetooth phone which because the Lexus is so quiet can be used no prob. at 90mph, there is voice activated control for most functions (AC,audio,phone,sat nav. etc.) and the reversing camera is so so sexy and impressive. The leather does little for me but the larger wheels are a big turn on, I know every time I look at the base IS I'll think why did I not get the SE but when I get in and see that glorious MM kit I hope I'll have made the right decision.

I found the following link useful http://www.lexus.com/models/bluetooth/index.html?model=LX some of the phones have UK equivalents. I understand the transfer number 1 by 1 is a security feature of some manufacturers to stop people downloading all your contacts and that Sony Erricson does not enable this feature hence should be ok. I've also read that sometimes having +44 international prefix can cause problems and not sure if multiple numbers for the same contact always transfer I've gone for a Sony 510i and can try it out on 24th Oct when my IS arrives !!! can't wait

I wonder if the IS demonstrators given to journalists to test and write up reports on had the dodgy injectors? Virtually all of them gave the 220D a slagging for poor performance and the inability to use 6th on the motorway