lexulator

I managed to do mine without removing bumpers or lights, but it is fiddly and time-consuming. Some cars are far worse though - I think there was a feature on Top Gear a couple of years ago about changing a headlight bulb on a Renault Megane - it took an AA mechanic about 45 minutes... My son owns a Renault Clio and I replaced a headlight bulb on that - in the end the only way to get it clipped in was to removed the bumper and the headlight.

Those scratches are often not really scratches at all, just marks in the normal grime that builds up on the outside of the glass. A good quality glass polish (e.g. Autoglym) will often remove these marks.

Had this problem a couple of times in the last 2 weeks - both times in very hot weather: Got in the car, drove off with the radio turned on and playing normally. Suddenly, the radio goes off on it own (the MM display shows 'Audio Off'). Then all 6 CDs in the CD changer eject themselves, one after another. Any ideas? And why would it only happen in hot weather or is that a coincidence?

I understand that, but will the shipment just be UK or stop off at other countries on its way here, 2 months seems a long time if shipment is UK only With less cars being sold generally it will take longer to get a ships-worth of cars assembled, so the delivery times could get longer. Your car is probably sitting in a compound in Japan and will be there until July when it gets on the ship. It'll also need some time in the UK to get PDI'd etc.

I hear what you're saying, but the point is that it's not a 'manual' mode on the Lexus 250, it's a 'sports' mode. I understand that it might have some use to assist with braking, but is that really necessary? Personally, I'd rather let the brake pads take the strain than the gearbox. However, I know people who'd disagree with me. I use it to assist with downhill braking, e.g. in a 40 mph zone if you start going downhill the car will speed up and unless you brake, will exceed the limit (watch out for those speed cameras!). So i'll often switch into S and immediately downshift into 3rd. I don't like braking all the way down a gentle hill, it wears out the brake pads, gets load of brake dust on your alloys, and annoys people behind who are in the 'correct' gear. It won't wear out the gearbox doing this, the braking effect comes from the engine. What i would really like would be the ability to down/up shift manually without having to move the lever into S - i believe you can do this in some BMWs. The gearbox would have to be pretty smart though, otherwise it'll just shift back up or down again immediately! Oh, and for extra sports 'shove, i switch the sports mode button on - you know the one that's completely hidden by the steering wheel and which you have to feel for...... :duh:

I always tend to fill up when i get down to a quarter full anyway so i don't worry about how accurate the last bit of the fuel gauge is. I know exactly what fuel consumption I'm getting because I always brim it and record the amount of fuel going in, and then zero the trip meter. I expect most manufacturers make the gauge pessimistic so you don't run out unexpectedly through not paying attention to the gauge. Even if you did know that when the OBC says the range left is 0, that there's still a couple of gallons left, would you really drive 30 or 40 miles happily?

thanks, they have a good offer si get free sidelights with those too....might just get them unless anyone can recommend any better ones? Or blue-ish ones? I bought some Osram Nightbreakers for mine and i was a bit disappointed to be honest. I think the light is brighter, but the beam spread and reach is still pretty poor on dip beam (no problems on main beam). My previous car had HIDs which of course were much brighter and more effective. There's only so much that can be done with bulbs but even so i expected to notice a much bigger difference from the standard ones.

I don't know about the Tocco Ultra, but i have an original Tocco and it auto-connects fine (you need to set a Bluetooth configuration setting on the phone to do this) in my IS250. And it's been very reliable.

Paid £173 all-in for the first year/10k service at Lexus Bracknell, about 3 weeks ago.

Some other manufacturers do have this problem. I previously had a Mazda RX-8 and had the wheels replaced at 12 months old due to corrosion - it's a very common problem on those cars. I believe the wheel manufacturers are the ones losing out rather than Lexus/Mazda etc by having to provide FOC replacements.

OK I can't vouch for the whole process, however I do know that I was able to change one of the settings so that it would automatically unlock all the doors when I shift into Park. It's fairly critical to get the timing right, i.e. you need to count to 5 accurately etc..... If you still can't do it, the dealer can change all these settings anyway.

I don't think it's in the manual. IIRC I saw a post on the US Lexus forum explaining how to do it. It wasn't as comprehensive as the proecedure listed above but was good enough to guide me through the process. You could try doing a search on www.clublexus.com

Well I know that you can change the settings yourself on an SE as that's what I've got and I managed it OK. To be honest I didn't use the whole procedure listed above, but I can confirm the settings can be changed on the SE without going to a dealer.

1. If it's says it's a solid colour, then it won't be metallic. 2. All SEL models come with wood trim AFAIK - that's what put me off the SEL and made me go for the SE. Don't see why you can't change the panels to the non-wood ones but imagine they are expensive from Lexus. Maybe someone would swap? 3. Think it's only the SEL that comes with wood as standard although you may be able to sepcify it as an option on other models. Sorry not sure about the other answers.

You say the tyre pressues are fine, but what are they actually set to? If they're too high the handling will be skittish. Check the front pressures too.

I must admit I didn't realise there was an anti-roll-back feature in the first place, but I'll give it a try at the next opportunity.

It's no problem, always assuming of course you have two working legs and feet. Just apply the brake with the left foot and when you need to start off again press and hold as you would pull up a handbrake and hold. On slight inclines the car will not roll back. Foot brake turns are initially challenging until you get used to double dabbing your left foot Ah, that's a good tip - I was wondering about this myself! Up to now I have held the foot brake with my right foot, disengaged the parking brake with my left, and then jumped my right foot from brake to accelerator - but your method is much better. Don't think I'll be trying the footbrake turns just yet though. ;)

My previous Mazda had corroded alloys within a year - it's a common and well known problem. Many car makes have problems with corroding and pitting alloys. The good thing is though, it means you can get new wheels under warranty even after you've kerbed them!

I found it to be much better and more useful than I expected. Although it's not perfectly up-to-date, I have found it to be really accurate on a couple of occasions. It warned me of stationary traffic on the motorway and I chose to ignore, later it said there was staionary traffic coming up in half a mile and I thought 'well I can't see any it must be out of date' then I went round a gentle bend on the motorway and sure enough, half a mile ahead was stationary traffic. I think it's pretty good. Some of the diversions it takes you on are a bit surprising though - you have to keep the faith once you're committed!

You can try one of the rear doors to see if the car has locked. Touching a rear door handle doesn't unlock the car. This is obviously only true if you have it setup to unlock all doors when you switch off.....

My car has the cream coloured carpet mats which look great but are too susceptible to dirt in the winter, so I bought a set of black rubber mats from Lexus (actually from the Toyota dealer next door). These are tailored to fit the IS and have the fixing holes for the drivers side to stop it slipping forward. Pricey though - about £62 for the set of 4. I'll put the cream coloured mats back in when Spring finally arrives. :)

My pre-facelift SE has the ski-hatch

Oops, sorry ! Not sure of the procedure for a manual.

Agreed - congratulations Welshman! Good choice. :D

My experience is similar (see overall figure below) but at the risk of boring, I have to say that it's necessary to check consumption manually over a significant mileage to get accurate figures. The dashboard display in my car is always very optimistic (32.9 indicated versus 30.6 real). The data on the Spiritmonitor site shows real data for a range of drivers and makes interesting reading. Yep I check mine independently - always brim the tank, check and then zero the trip meter. That way you can be certain you're measuring accurately.