dazed

Have you not got the heated windscreen feature? Button behind and down below the right hand side of the steering wheel. This heats a narrow strip along the bottom of the windscreen to free up the wipers.

Could be a dodgy HT lead. It happened to me once - the car (not my Lexus) idled roughly and lacked power.

Thanks for the responses. I suspected that I should drop the pressure. Just for the record, I spend most of my time cruising at 70mph with no luggage or passengers. I'll drop the pressure to 35psi and keep an eye on things. Hopefully I'll get a little more life out of them by doing so.

I've noticed that the rear tyres (Pirelli) on my IS250 are wearing unevenly. They're only about a year old and have covered about 15K miles, but are down to only 3mm in the centre whilst towards the edge I've got about 5mm+. Have I got my pressure wrong (38psi) or is this just a sign that I shouldn't buy Pirellis again? 38psi is at the lower end of the recommended range (and supposedly suitable for driving below 100mph). I'm worried that if I increase the pressure the tyre will become more 'rounded' and cause the centre to wear even faster than it currently is. The Toyos that I had previously wore very evenly and lasted 30K miles and were inflated to 38psi too. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks.

Well, they sorted my 250 out just fine when it went in for a couple of new front tyres. I think I'd knocked my alignment out last winter when I hit a hidden kerb (buried by snow). I noticed that the steering wheel was slightly off dead centre. After Kwikfit had done their work the steering wheel was dead centre and the car tends to tramline less noticably, although I wasn't sure if that was due to the new tyres or the alignment. Perhaps I just got lucky.

Relax. There's nothing wrong with your car, it's working exactly as it should. The button on the door handle is for locking the doors only. The first press locks the doors, the second press (if done within a couple of seconds) throws the deadlocks. To unlock the car, grab the handle. Alternatively you can use the lock and unlock buttons on the remote.

The 'unusual' case you describe is perfectly normal for automatic transmissions, with the degree of rollback being determined by the gradient of the hill and the tickover speed of the engine. However, I do have some recollection of reading about an 'auto hold' feature that would hold the car in the manner you describe in your 'normal' case. Having said that, my IS250 SE auto has never done it, so I assumed it was either an SE-L feature or was only added to later cars. I'd be interested to hear any other peoples' comments.

Hey, we're not trying to make you change your mind. We're just giving you our 'expert opinions'! I'm sure you'll love whatever you buy. Just go for it. You're right though, after the Clio you'll be in heaven whatever you settle for.

Fair enough. All I would say is do your own research, which you clearly are, and make sure you drive both types of engine (preferably back to back) so you can be totally sure that you've made the right choice for yourself.

Better than the 250 yes, but still poor by comparison with other diesels. Bear in mind that the auto is actually more efficient than the manual (unusual, but true) and sneaks into a lower road tax group.

Are you sure you're looking at the right car. Your budget is quite limited (for a Lexus, if you get my drift) yet you'd be looking at an annual fuel bill of around £6K, and that's before all the other ownership costs are considered. Wouldn't you really be better off looking at a Golf/Focus diesel type car? I appreciate your enthusiasm for an IS, but I'd hate you to buy it and then realise after 6 months that it's crippling you financially.

That's a little on the high side, but a fairly typical opening gambit from most dealers. I've just paid £327 (inclusive of VAT) for a major service (40K) on my IS250 SE auto. Phone around to get some lower quotes and then go back to your local dealer and persuade them to lower their price.

Don't be afraid to haggle with your local Lexus dealer. I've just had my IS250 SE serviced at Lexus Cambridge for £327 (inc. of VAT). That was a 40K service which I believe is the same as an 80K service. Their initial quote was nearer the £400 mark, but it didn't take much effort on my part to talk them down.

The side trims are a right royal pain. I've yet to work out how to get them off without breaking the clips. It's a stupid design that means shelling out an extra £40 x 2 each time the windscreen's replaced. Unless anyone knows 'the trick' and cares to share it?

I had an elusive rattle coming from somewhere in the front passenger door of my IS250. In order to track it down in a systematic (and safe) manner, I burned an audio CD containing a selection of sine waves at different frequencies (one frequency per track). I then just played the CD in the car and found which track made the door rattle and used that track to allow me to poke around until I found the offending section of the door panel. For my problem, 60Hz made the door rattle like mad. You can generate sine waves with free software like Audacity and then use the resulting WAV files to create an Audio CD using MediaPlayer. I'd suggest a range of frequencies from say 30 to 120Hz in 10Hz steps.

I had a couple of Michelin Pilot Primacy tyres fitted to my 250's front wheels at the weekend, replacing the original Toyo Proxes that had given good service for 40K miles. I paid £250 for the pair, fitted and with wheel alignment. Initial impressions are good with no noticeable change in handling or road noise. Hopefully they'll last me for another 40K miles. They're not quite so good looking as the Toyos though. Disclaimer: I'm a fairly conservative driver so I haven't a clue how they might compare to the Toyos if pushed to the absolute limit.

So you can swap a slightly bulky fob on your key-ring for a slightly less bulky key on your key-ring PLUS an extra-thick bulky card to cram into your wallet for only £292.74 - what a bargain! This technology has been about for quite a while now, and I wonder why it hasn't caught on. You took the words right out of mouth. Different doesn't always mean better.

Hang on. There's conflicting information on this thread. Two questions: 1. Does it have the butttons? 2. Does it have the emergency key? Unless the answer to both of the above are "Yes" (which I personally doubt) then it has to be a backward step.

But surely you'd sacrifice the buttons and emergency key with such a card. It sounds like a backward step to me. Or maybe I'm missing something.

If it went in sideways within the tread I'd be surprised if it could result in any air loss. Just check the tyre regularly for a few days. If there's a problem you'll soon find out.

If in doubt just walk away. There will numerous other cars to choose from. The repair might be perfectly sound and look fine today. However, evidence of the work might start to appear a few years down the line. If you do go ahead, factor the vehicle's history into the price you pay and remember that one day you'll be the one trying to sell it,.

I'm sorry, but I simply cannot agree with that statement. If running the aircon made a significant difference to the economy of my car I wouldn't even dare switch it on. That isn't the case with my IS250. Perhaps diesels like it cooler. Last week I covered 421 miles and averaged 38.2MPG (according to the dash board). That is the best figure so far this year for me. It also coincided with the hotest week of the year where I live (average daily high of 27deg c).

I don't think - I just know from my experience of doing the same kind of driving all year round. My average winter monthly MPG is around 33MPG, but this rises to 36MPG in the summer months. Obviously the car reaches optimum operating temperature more quickly in the summer, but this alone cannot explain what I experience as I do a lot of very long runs. I suspect that even once optimum temperature is reached, it's maintained more efficiently in the summer. Obviously things like lights, heated seats etc. will reduce the winter efficiency slightly, but I would have thought the extra aircon in the summer would cancel this out.

That economy doesn't sound right and probably warrants some investigation. On my most recent long run (Devon to Cambridge - 290 miles) with a full boot and one passenger, averaging a steady 70 MPH, I managed 42 MPG (computer said 45 MPG, but I prefer the more accurate fill it to the brim and measure technique). And that was using my IS250. Surely a 220 should be capable of 50 MPG on such a long steady run, especially in the current hot weather?

All that happens is the cold air gets forced out through the parts of the seat that you're not actually pressing down on. In my case, this tends to be the bit between my legs (I'm actually quite slim really!). The result? Frozen meat and two veg.