brucie239

Hi Japthree, do you remember who came first? cos after of 7 years of enjoyable Lexus, I'm thinking of the A4 mainly due to price and the option of having quattro. Having tested the 300h premier wasn't that convince, will try the 300h f sport and the A4 back to back next Thursday. BMW 320D was 1st with 5*, Audi A4 2.0 TDI SE Technik was 2nd with 4* and Lexus IS300h SE was 3rd also with 4*. I'd be interested to hear how you think the A4 and IS300h compare. How much impact does the Quattro option have on weight, performance and fuel economy? Not too sure regarding the weight, but the Lexus is about 8mpg better but with 4 wheel drive, I think thats very resonalable, as we all know, how the IS250 behaves when there is snow. The SE technik (sat-nav) is about 2k cheaper compare to f sport and with the dealer contribution at 3.9k (Lexus 1K) I'm looking at around saving of 3k after I add the extra option on. The audi is a little quicker on 0-60, but I'm not bother regarding that as comfort is more my thing

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Hi Japthree, do you remember who came first? cos after of 7 years of enjoyable Lexus, I'm thinking of the A4 mainly due to price and the option of having quattro. Having tested the 300h premier wasn't that convince, will try the 300h f sport and the A4 back to back next Thursday.

I must say you are one of the minority who thinks this - the interior quality, in general, gets excellent comments. I'm getting the F Sport with Metallic paint and sat nav for around £35k so I assume you test drove the Premier model? Hi David, Yea I test the premier model, was thinking the f sport myself, the white and the red leather really rock my boat, got a good price if they do it for 35k. Coventry didn't have the f sport it was at their other branch so it was the premier I test drive. Don't get me wrong is a very nice car especially the dash and the steering wheel most of the cabin, what put me off most was the plastic they use for the door pocket, it reminded me of my door pocket in my transit van, not good, the old IS you could pull it out and had soft touch material, the swan neck in the boot also look so cheap, such a shame, just seem they didn't want to pay too much attention on the smaller things. My old SEL eveything was top notch from the handles to the pedals and the wood trim around the cabin, you feel you in luxury car. The new 300h apart from the flashy dash there wasn't much that made me feel "WOW", but that's only my humble opinion, maybe I was spoilt with the IS250.

Test drive the is300h yesterday, I must say very disappointing, for 40k there is a lot of cheap plastic after 8 yrs with the is250sel i'm finding myself looking else where I'm sad to say.

Hi, mine is a 06 auto with 70k, my oil warning has never come on in between the 10k service. the last few years I've used my friends garage, someone that I trust, he did mention as long as lexus parts are used all warrenty will still be cover. But i think you should use a lexus dealer, cos I think you have a prob with the oil and they should be able to find the problem better , also you should get a coutersey car, ask if they got the 4x4 nice to drive for the day :) Regards Brucie

Hi, i remeber my brake disc went ( lipped) around 20k, so check if the disc , pad history, ie when change , if changed? otherwise might be a extra cost as soon as you get the car. If buying of dealer, check what warrenty they offering. full service history will be good, as 30k is very low, I've clocked 70k on my 06 auto and is still wonderful to drive. Hope this help. Brucie

Yes can laugh now , £10 wireless bell disabling a 30k motor. Like all owner we most prob did read the manual one time or another but after 4yrs trouble free you tend to take it for granted. Lesson here is : you think you know what to do, until it happens you won't know. Thats why I suggest that people try a drill run. cos with many home using wireless tech, you might just park outside with a faulty one.

Hi All Just like to share my experience with what happen when I couldn't get in to the car with the keyless systerm. After owning my car of 4yrs last night the keyless systerm did not work and the remote button would not open the door either. I parked it at the normal place at work so could not work out why this was happening, It was 11:00pm at night and dark, cos I was at work and in a safe surrounding, I did not panic too much. I got out the metal key and procee to open the door, then I relise there is no key hole, after scatching my head and trying to figure out where the keyhole was, I finaly worked it out. I opened the door only to be greeted with the deafening alarm going off, at this point natural instint kick in.... I shat meself and close the door ( which lock itself automaticaly). So now I've worked out how to get into the car but don't know what to do about the alarm as it was late at night and i didn't want to wake the neighbours,so I gave up and got a lift home to find a solution. After going on here to check how to fix the problem, I narrow down my problem to be a faulty wireless door bell which we use at work. To cut a long story short I was lucky it happened in a surrounding I feel safe and was luckly I could get a lift home to check for a fix. After reading this, how many of you can honestly say you know how to get the plastic cap off to get to the keyhole and you would know what to do after opening the door with the deafening alarm going off, well I didn't,that's after owning the car for 4yrs. So my advise is read some of the fix on this site and have a pratice at removing the keyhole cap so you know what to do when it does happen to you, especially if you are a female as it could be quite distressing if it happen at night and in a not so nice surrounding. If it can happen to me after 4yrs of trouble free parking at the same spot, it can happen to you.... be warned.

Had an accident last year, was done by lister bodyshop in coventry, they were the approve lexus body shop. so that be a good place to have it done then it still be under warrenty

I would go for the auto, If is for the wife she will love it, Mine does. Go test drive both man and auto, then you know if is a good idea

My friend is a mechanic and i started using him after my car was 3yrs old and out of warrenty. He did mention to me my warrenty would still be valid if I used him for the services before as long as lexus parts was used. I think is one of them EU laws that stops a company having the monoply, like the case microsft and window. So as long as you got prove that Lexus parts were used and all correct service and check were done to Lexus standards your warrenty should still be valid. The problem will be if you are using a independent garage, you are trusting him to use lexus parts and to carry out all the checks without cutting corners. So if you got a good garage and use lexus parts then the warrenty should still be valid.

Hi Guys just fitted the new bulbs £40 for the pair, Don't knoew how good they will be, but they work. Thanks for the help. Bruce

Hi all, Had same probs with mine, brought mine of ebay in the end £40 for the pair (6000k) D4S, The problem is the parts company supply the wrong bulb, cos thats what happen to me when I ask a mechanic friend to get mine, After Lexus wants £190+vat for one bulb. The parts company take your registration and get the information of their datebase so I think there is a mistake in their datebase hence whywrong type of bulbs. As for 90 min to change the bulbs is about right cos you have to undo all the plastic engin cover, undo the washer bottle funnel for the nearside and undo the air filter manifold for the offside so you can get your hands in to change the bulb. When you want new bulbs make sure is D4S otherwise it won't work or they come on then go off after a few seconds, the lexus fitted bulb is 4300k I brought the 6000k the beam is a little more white. Just fitted them two days ago, so I don't know how good they are, but they work. A original phillips is about £60 online ( i think) so if you want to be on the safer side I suggest You go for them. Or you can tell your dealer the price online and see if they replace it for cheaper than £190+vat per bulb. Hope this help Brucie

They should do. Ours were replaced when the car went in for a service with out me even mentioning it to them. Hi, Just make sure your car is still under 3yrs old as the lexus warrenty for the wheels are only 3yrs. cos u be sick if they just out of warrenty and you are looking around £300 each new. Unless you've agreed it with dealer, my advise confirm with dealer and have it in writing on your deposit or something. Customer service is better than than most but like all business the dealer is there to make money and they won't pay for mistake unless you can clearly prove is their fault. As for the car, I've had mine at 06 and I still look forward to driving it so I think you will enjoy your new car.

Correct, the D4S bulbs are used on the IS's which have HID Xenon headlights, of which I think it's the SE-L and the Sport. Not sure about the later facelift models. I believe Lexus/Toyota use the Philips 4300 D4S bulbs. Most people recommend you dont go for a cheap alternatives. You an get replacement Philips D4S bulbs from the web much cheaper(ebay is about 55 quid delivered). Some people have suggested replacing in pairs as the light changes slightly as the bulbs get older. Lexus informed me that labour for a bulb change was about 30 quid. Thanks Guys, Just order some from ebay, will let you know how I get on. While on the topic, The nearside bulbs change is quite straight forward, just have to undo the screen wash funnel to get to it. While the offside is a bit more differcult as you have to take the air filter section off to have enough room to change the bulb, so if you not cofident is worth to pay the £30 labour but then again the price that Lexus charge for the bulb comes in to play. Also for information purposes the bulb actually points side ways when fitted. Once again thanks for the info and will let you know.

Hi, Got a quote of £190 +VAT from lexus cov for a headlight bulb. is this right ? wonder what the price is to have it fitted ? £200+ for a light bulb bit harsh. Any comments and suggestion for a cheaper bulb welcome. Thanks Bruce

I saw the channel 4 news and it played the moments of the telephone conversation leading up to the crash that killed this guy and his family in the USA. Apparently his accelerator was stuck. What I can't figure out is if he had time to make a call why could he not ram the car into neutral, stamp on the brakes, switch the ignition off, drive into a field. I know he must have panicked but the last thing I would do if my accelerator was stuck open is phone the cops! Back on topic. Toyota and Lexus do share common parts. It's a bit worrying but I have never heard of an accelerator pedal sticking open on its own. I've heard of carpets getting stuck under the pedal and this causing problems. On the GS there are carpet hooks though. Interesting topic this. I wonder if Lexus will be involved. From what I've heard All the mention does not work once its jammed the brakes hand brskes only slow it down until its burnt out the engin does not cut off, there was another incident can't remeber what make of car it was, luckily he was on a freeway and he drove until he ran out off fuel, lucky guy

Hi, As everyone will know about the Toyota recall, I just saw on the ITV news, a clip about a Lexus in the USA that had the accelerator problem and it crashed killing the occupants. But we haven't heard anything regarding the recall for Lexus in the U.k. Surely Lexus USA and the UK are made from the same factory using same parts ( apart from left and right hand drive). Just like to hear any incident or feedback on this subject. I thought the Toyota recall didn't affect the Lexus range but there are seeds of doults in my mind after watching the news clip.

discs are covered under warranty,mine were replaced by lexus leicester free of charge you should only be charged for the part price of the pads.i think that there maybe some dealers getting paid by lexus for the disc warranty work and then charging the customer as well. thanks, thats what i thought even though done 35k i though it was unreasonable to have to pay as such a low milage for disc's. anyone else had dealing with leeds lexus of this nature. i was going to call lexus customer service and see what they said Hi Ihad the same issue with coventry my was only 30k, but apparently is cos the disc can't be made with asbestose so they don't last as long. tried and tried but they wouldn't do it under warrenty, even getting in touch with lexus gb didn't help, well they wouldn't if they agreed with me it ment they had to foot the bill. But i know other has their replace under warrenty and other haven't, it depends on the dealer.

Hi , Can anyone help, just try to change the low beam bulb on my is250sel 2006, but just find it impossible to even get my hands in the gap, manager to unclip the light cover, that was a struggle. I gave up after 30 min but i couldn't get the cover back on. Looks like a dealer job unless one of you guys got better solutions. Any comment, suggestion welcome, as i can't belive I'm struggling to change a light bulb... .. It sort of remind me of the joke how many people do you need to change a light bulb. :) many thanks bruce

guys, if u r still having probs with the smell, read my post dated 14thfeb

Hi all, I have lost one of my key fob , and one key is not working well with the mrs. Can i only get a replacement key from lexus and would different dealer charge differently or is it just one price. would like to hear any suggestions in these credit crunch times many thanks brucie

Hi All Recently there was this awful smell coming through the vent in to the cabin, took it back to cov lexus, was told there wasa fault with the heat box ( the flaps apparently get stuck and wont open and water gets trap hence the smell ). They need the car for two day to do the work, at first with all the air fresher it smell great but after a couple of weeks and the air fresher wearing off, i have notice the smell coming back. 1) Has anyone had this problem before ? please leave me your comments and advise 2) For people who got this problem or suspect they have this prob and haven't done anything, make sure u sort it out before warranty runs out, as i said they took it in for two days, so u can work out for yourself how much it would cost if done out of warranty. Thanks for reading brucie

I wouldn't touch the 220 D from what i've read here, don't get me wrong the petrol is a beautiful car but unless u r going for the sel, I personaly would buy a top range honda than a low spec lexus. also if u r looking for family car the back of is250 is not that big. still a bit p off about the disc but like i said they r all at it. good luck with your car hunting