Ian M

My IS300 SportCross went into Lexus Derby yesterday for a service, cam belt, water pump and discs & pads. The water pump is an interesting point. The 200s seem to be pretty well known for requiring attention but I wasnt expecting the 300 engine to need it. However, it has developed a slight leak over the past 18 months and that is why Ive decided to get the pump and belt done now. The book says 5 years or 100,000 miles for the belt and my cars now done 50,000 in 7 years. Better to be safe than sorry. All that work, however, turned out to be too much for one day, so Lexus Derby rang me mid afternoon to say that they would like to offer me a courtesy car overnight. That in itself was interesting because a work colleague immediately said that he reckoned itd be something like a 10 year old Yaris with a galactic mileage. Wrong!! I came home last night in a 6 month old GS450h. First impressions were that the GS makes my old IS look basic hybrid system, keyless entry and start up, memory seats, reversing camera etc. Second impression is that the GS is a big old thing, but goes like a rocket. I really am impressed with the combination of a big engine and hybrid drive, much more so than I expected. My only nagging doubt is about battery life and whether, in the long term, hybrid drive has too many things which might go very expensively wrong. What I am less than impressed with is the boot. Its got a letterbox sized opening and its tiny, but I guess thats the penalty you pay for the battery pack having to go somewhere. The SportCross isnt huge, but it is flexible and the tailgate means you can get stuff in/out without banging your head. The GS is tiny by comparison. With a new cam belt, discs & pads, I reckon my old IS will be good to go for at least another 5 years. It really is a great little luxury tourer!

Advice, please as I am not sure what’s the best plan. I have an IS300 SportCross on the standard wheels, which the spec sheet describes as 7.0JJx17” at the front and 7.5JJx17” at the back, with tyre sizes 215/45ZR17 and 225/45ZR17 respectively. I’ve got decent Goodyears on at the moment which still have a fair bit of life left in them. Last winter, I wasn’t very surprised to find that the IS was pretty much useless on the hilly untreated roads round where my Dad lives, so this year I am very seriously thinking of some winter tyres. So, the question: is it possible to get hold of a cheap set of steel wheels to put winter tyres on, swapping over as the weather changes and keeping the alloys in the shed for next summer? What size wheel am I after and has anyone got any suggestions for who sells them? Or, should I just bite the bullet and get a set of winter tyres on the alloys and leave them there until next spring when I get them swopped back? Thanks for advice. Ian

As the owner of a 2004 IS 300, I await further news.

I had a ride over to Bassetts Pole tonight for the bike meet. Lurking in teh pub car park was a very smart looking red IS200 with an LOC sticker. Anyone care to own up to needing to get their front bumper painted?

Can I ask why you’re moving from the 3 litre Jag to a 2 litre IS? The IS300 isn’t much less economical and has the power and performance you’re used to (and probably better reliability too!)? I have just got back from a holiday in Scotland. My IS300 SportCross (automatic, as are all 300s) was an absolute joy to drive and in a little over 2 weeks covered about 1,600 miles in comfort. My best tank of fuel was on the way north (M6/M74/A9) and when I fuelled up in Inverness, I was really pleased to see that I’d got 30.4mpg. I wasn’t the fastest thing on the road, but I was typically cruising at 80/82 on the motorway and then on the A9, I never missed the opportunity where an overtake presented itself, so it was hardly an economy drive. For the record, my worst tank of fuel was 22.9mpg, which included a fairly spirited run down the A82 from Fort William, through Glencoe to Glasgow starting out at 5am yesterday, when the road was virtually empty and I enjoyed myself!! Over 1,621 miles my average was 26.4. In everyday use, doing the commute into town etc, the car typically does 23-25mpg.

White is very smart, yes. My IS 300 is Chamonix White, not the pearl colour you're looking for, but very smart nontheless.

The factory setting for the IS geometry aren't all they could be. Tony of WIM (Wheels in Motion) has carfeully developed revised settings which will reduce tyre wear and improve your handling. Lots of us are very satisfied customers. http://www.blackboots.co.uk/tyres-wheels-lexus.php

Good choice! I found mine quite by accident almost 3 years ago, but 28,500 miles later, I certainly don't regret it.

That's a good price for a car with only 48,000 on the clock, well done - the 300 really is a great car (except in the snow!)

My set up is described here. Any towbar mounted system is not cheap, but is very stable compared with the strap on variety.

Yup, that concrete section just out of Stoke is horrible. Here's the link to the Doveridge by-pass site, which is further east than the bit I think you're refering to: www.doveridgea50noise.co.uk

Sounds plausible, and if it’s true, then it is an expensive mistake to have made. No doubt also true!!

SportCross = superb (but don't tell anybody, we don't want the riff-raff buying them).

Hi, welcome. You'll enjoy the 300, I'm certain. :iraqi-info-minister:

I agree, the 300's a great car. As I recall, the water pump issue is specific to the 200, so you probably don't need to worry about that job whilst the belt's being done.

GAP insurance seems to me to be a good idea. Go on line and get some quotes for it and you'll find it's much cheaper than the price your dealer has quoted. Then have a chat with your dealer and you'll either find his prices falls quite dramatically (it did when I bought my car), or you can decline his offer and buy it on line anyway.

I agree! It must have been about 1976, in an ancient Ford Anglia at Tockwith aerodrome. In those days of long hot summers and cheap petrol, they ran a thriving car club for under 17s, which I attended. The cars were old Anglias, Fiat 500s and suchlike. We youngsters got put through our paces both in the classroom and out on the airfield, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Once you’d got a given level of skill, you were then allowed out on the airfield without an instructor and it was a great privilege.By the time I was 17 (in 1980), car control was a given, it was just traffic awareness that I needed on the road. I passed my test a few weeks after my birthday and my first unaccompanied trip out on the road was in my Dad’s Rover P6, the V8 version. Yes, I was nervous, but that was probably good. Nowadays, you couldn’t possibly insure a 17 year old on an equivalent motor

I had a broken screen on my Accord a few years back and that just cost me the windscreen excess, £75. It took Autoglass 2 days to find one, though (the Accord obviously being such a rare car on Britain's roads............).

I've got a Brink detachable towbar on my SportCross, no problem.

This is quite enlightening: http://www.dft.gov.uk/drivingchallenge/ I failed!

You're happy, then? Welcome to the still fairly exclusive ranks of LOC members with SportCrosses.

I guess you've got the SportCross by now, Nick? I hope that the first impressions are all good.

989,215

Having seen this thread the other day, I did a test tonight on my way back down the M1 from Yorkshire. My car’s an old model IS300, but the results might be useful. The auto lights came on at 2044, which was about 20 minutes earlier than I would have switched them on myself. The sat nav screen dimmed into night mode at 2137. (It was a very boring run down the motorway and yes, I did have nothing better to do!).

Fear not, you won't regret being a Lexus owner!