Ian M

Unfortunately, I am not going to be there since I'll be abroad with work. Hope you all have a good day. Sorry to hear that, but work comes first...Hope your working somewhere sunny.. Will be organising something else for the summer, maybe next time? Johannesburg, where autumn is just arriving, so it's only low 20s, but wall to wall sunshine. I'm sure I'll survive 3 weeks of hotel living with good food and a rooftop pool to relax.......... if I get any relaxation time, I'm fully expecting it to be hard work!

Unfortunately, I am not going to be there since I'll be abroad with work. Hope you all have a good day.

That's exactly why I love my IS300 too!

It's years since we had an LOC gathering at the Plank & Leggitt! Put me donw as a "maybe".

Yup, so cheap I can't afford to sell mine - good job I love it and don't want to sell it!

Flop? FLOP? Exclusive, more like! OK, I agree, it didn't sell well, but the new shape IS is crying out for that rear door, it really is.

Good review. I've had my IS300 for over 5.5 years and taken it from 2,400 miles to 69,000 miles and I'd echo eveything you've said. This is one great car. And, mine being the SportCross, it could probably have managed the fridge and washing machine too!

True, but it still keeps popping up again, shame it can't be killled off completely.

I've got a 300 Sportcross, and I really like the hatch arrangement, which is obviously not a feature of the new IS. The new car is also generally bigger than the old one, which i don't need, so I'm staying with the old model. Of course, the new CT is a hatch, but I'm not sure of the Hybrid system's long term relaibility/running costs.

The 300 Sportcross is undoubtedly a great car, I've had mine 5.5 years and done over 60,000 miles and it still puts a smile on my face (except at petrol stations!). Happy hunting.

As others have said, it varies massively depending what I am doing. Short town journies can be as poor as 18-19mpg, and a bit worse in the winter. My best ever was 29.8mpg on the run from Derby to Inverness, but 23-24 is my usual tank average in everyday driving.

I'm an IS300 owner too, 2004 Sportcross. Lovely car.

8 years old, 64,500 miles: MOT completed this morning with one advisory for oil mist on a rear damper, as there has been for the last 3 MOTs, but still not enough to cause a fail. Impressive build quality these first generations ISs.

MK isn't that far down the M1! Tony doesn't use the standard Lexus settings, as they have been proven to lead to uneven tyre wear. The WIM set up is therefore unique, and has been applied to many hundreds of cars with good results.

That sounds like an awful lot of money, but somehow not a surprise! Note to self: take good care of the cover whenever I remove it from my own SportCross.

I've seen very few white ISs, and none a SportCross - generally this model IS pre-dates the current trend for white cars. I confess that when I bought it, I was not keen and expecting it to be a right bugegr to keep clean, but in actualy fact it looks great and is an awful lot less hassle to keep looking OK than the black MG Metro I once owmed.

Nothing so sordid!

Apologies, my memory was wrong. £80.75 + VAT = £96.90 to be precise.

You're right, and the re-check (which mine was, having been before) is only £90.

I've just bought new tyres for my IS300 and the inside edges of the fronts were a little more worn that the outside edges - especially the off side. That set me wondering how long it is since I last saw Tony to have the magic done and it seems it's 3 years and almost 30,000 miles. Time flies! So, I phoned and booked in at WIM's new Milton Keynes site, which is closer to home for me and just a hop and a skip off the M1 at junction 14, very convenient indeed. It's a new set up for Tony and they've only been there a few months so everything is clean and new but the service and knowledge is the same old Tony, as you'd expect. After doing all the checks, Tony diagnosed that my car has had some "road trauma" on the off side and the tracking at both front and rear on that side was a little out, along with the front camber. So, 45 minutes later, all was sorted and hopefully these new tyres will wear true and even. As with so many other IS owners, I thoroughly recommend WIM’s services and the new place is so conveniently located that I won’t leave it another 3 years to be re-checked! www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk

The 300 SportCross really is a superb car, you’ve made a good choice! I’ve had mine 5 years and done about 45,000 trouble free miles. As you say, it’s got sufficient performance for most situations and it cruises brilliantly when you’ve got to put in the motorway miles. Here’s the link to WIM: http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/contact-blackboots.php It really is worth getting Tony to check your car over and sort the geometry because the standard Lexus settings aren’t as well optimised as Tony can do for you. Tyre wear isn’t great, but you wouldn’t expect it to be with a 3 litre engine. I’m on Pirelli P Zeros and get about 12-13,000 miles out of the rears and a bit more out of the front. Fuel consumption varies massively depending how and where I drive: the winter commute can be as bad as 18mpg, but a long motorway run gets 29ish without being too careful.

Sorry, I didn't realsie they'd gone.

I’d be surprised if I could find the paperwork, but the job was done by ABBEY TRAILERS LTD, 199 Abbey Street, Derby. DE22 3ST. Phone: 01332 348630 Hope that helps. Whereabouts are you? I don’t see many SportCrosses in Derby, but your location says you can’t be far away.

Yes, I got the bar fitted soon after I bought my 300 SportCross in 2007. It's a detachable, so you can't really see it when the swan neck and ball is removed. The brand is Brink, who I think are the supplier to Toyota/Lexus, although mine was supplied and fitted by a local guy. I mostly use it for the bike carrier becasue it's far more stable than the strap on variety.

Yes, lovely car, but seriously short of luggage space. It wouldn't look good with a roof box, but you'd need one for a family holiday!