Fido

My IS 250 is three years old today. MOT and service was done by my local garage. All well except the alloy wheels which have corrosion which is lifting small patches of paint on each wheel. Although effectively one day out of warranty, I have reported the problem to my dealer - Lexus Poole. I have been requested by them to bring the car in for photos to be taken and sent to Lexus seeking a decision on what they are prepared to do. If anyone has had a similar experience of corrosion I'd appreciate any information on what they achieved if they took it up with their dealer. In due course I'll post here the outcome of my experience.

I got a quote from Lexus Poole. This first service will take about an hour. Total including VAT and oil etc will be just under £200. My local garage are still telling me to get it serviced by Lexus for this first year because of the upgrades issue. So that's what I'll do. I still don't understand the significance of the upgrade issue so I will be discussing that with Lexus after the service on the day.

Thanks I am going to make further enquiries about this upgrade issue.

Forgive ignorance. I'm due to have my IS250SR auto with multi media serviced for the first time in January.Mileage will be about 5000. What should I expect to pay for a Lexus Garage first service? South Coast. Can someone also enlighten me about downloads/upgrades or whatever you call it. Is it done free? For my first service I will use the Lexus Garage, but in future I may have it done at my local garage. If I do this, can I still take it to a Lexus Garage to get downloads etc. free? or for what charge?

I use Image Cave to store pics for use on websites like this. I uploaded a pic with a max of 400 pixels. (Not sure of the max for this site) I then copied the EZ code and pasted it here. You could do a blog and post a link here. A lot more effort! http://fidoslexusblog.blogspot.com/

Since it does, I can add more in due course!

Just seeing if this works.

Just spotted this thread before I was about to post. My Lexus is sitting out in the sun alongside my Honda. The latter is clear. Flies are on and around the Lexus. I wondered if it was anything to do with my supaguard. Never noticed it on other cars.

An order will be placed soon.

Golf tested - wow! It may look unexciting but inside the 1.4 SE TSI Auto it felt like a smaller version of my Lexus. I sat in the back while my wife took it out. For me at 6.2 the back had plenty of room even with the armrest down. We quietly made our way to a short stretch of motorway and the car was a pleasure for me as a passenger and was obviously handling well. I took over and from the moment I set off I was hooked. The power of this turbo assisted 1.4 engine was amazing. The car handles beautifully. It is a much heavier car than the Jazz but the steering is light and responsive. There's no way we are looking at anything else. It comes in at around £17000 with no haggling. The What Car target price is around £16100 and it will be interesting to see how close to that my local VW dealer is prepared to go. So sometime this year a VW Golf will join the Lexus. And we may well keep the Jazz in the drive for general duties. I read somewhere recently of a guy who bought an Audi without a test drive. Based on looks alone I would not give the Golf a chance. Having sat in it, been driven in it and then driving it myself I am now a fan. I drove a manual Mark V golf across Ireland last year and was not impressed. The new Golf is a sheer delight and will be a worthy mate.

Thanks for these responses. Funny thing about my situation is that I am encouraging my wife to buy a new car and she really doesn't yet seem too keen! She has a 4 year old Honda Jazz which still looks like new and loves it. She does not like the latest Jazz redesign and has never liked the civic. She's not keen on Mercs or BMW. She had a look at the new minis and hated the interior. Although I was not interested she is considering a new VW Golf and is having a test drive tomorrow. Our nearest Audi dealer is quite a trip but there is not much enthusiasm anyway. I have a feeling that she will stick with her Jazz for a while and keep the money in the bank. Why are some people so sensible? I suppose I should be grateful.

I'm looking to replace my wife's Honda Jazz within a budget of £20,000 with a better quality automatic that will take up about the same width. Not too keen on the VW Golf. Ideas for other options appreciated. Would be happy with 2 doors and no great need for too much boot space.

Many thanks for these comments. I have bought three sets of plates. One is a strictly legal set. The other two have a space between the first two letters and the two year numbers. One of these has the legal font. The other is a bold and clear font called 'impact'. I'll probably use all three from time to time depending on what I'm doing. Since I did my first post I have become more aware of the background to this isssue and the experiences and views on both sides of the divide between eccentrics like me and those that don't understand us. No fair minded person will think I'm trying to deceive anyone. But I will quite understand and will not complain if I do get picked on by the police. They have their job to do. Time will tell.

Just to come clean on my reasons for wishing to pursue this. The first two letters of my new number are my wife's initials, the last three are mine. The number will effectively be it's date of birth so it seems a good one to keep. To display it in the way I wish will make it a bit special for us since we only intend to use the car for special days out and travel. I have no intent to deceive. The number will be clear and unambiguous. It will be a hard hearted bugger who seeks to stop me doing it. So perhaps I will go for it. I may not live until the MOT comes up anyway. And just to complete this - I have ordered two sets of plates. One in the style I want. And one strictly legal. The latter will be kept in the boot as insurance. Will report any problems.

I am obliged to display my number plate thus: HJ58 WCY If I display it as HJ 58 WCY (space between HJ and 58) am I likely to be warned/prosecuted/MOT failed etc? I'm changing the plate and I wondered about how rigidly the new rules are enforced.

I have only had my IS250 SR auto with multi media for a few weeks. I intend to use it only for long journeys on special days out and travelling. I prefer to use my Honda Jazz on our local narrow roads. As with all things it depends on your personal needs and aspirations. Personally I find the Lexus a delight to drive on the open road but would not have got it if I wanted it for a variety of situations.

Had a look in the supaguard godies bag. It includes one synthetic chamois, which is I presume what they intend to be used. I will use it for the glass and use the microfibre cloth for the bodywork.

I ordered the Sonus cloths tonight. Thanks to each of you.

Many thanks!

Worth it or not I had supaguard done by my Lexus dealer. Can anyone recommend a suitable high quality chamois leather which I can buy on line? I assume this is a suitable item to finish off my cleaning of the car when I get round to it.

I am a first time Lexus owner looking ahead to deciding a servicing strategy. My local independent garage owner friend owns and maintains his own Lexus. He has done an excellent job on my Honda cars for many years and I am confident I will get a good job done for good value on the Lexus. I understand that there may be a good reason to have at least the first annual service done by my main Lexus dealer regardless of what I do thereafter. I expect to do no more than 5000 miles in the first year. So are there any solid reasons to stick with the main dealer first time round?

You have 3 yrs warranty anyway on a new Lexus so you have 3 yrs to consider your options. Gap insurance, finance etc are always more expensive from the main dealer. I obtained Return to Invoice Gap cover for 3 yrs up to £10k for £112 from a reputable source. I would imagine that £10k worth of GAP insurance would be adequate for your purchase, although realistically it should not be required for the first year with most insurers offering to replace total loss claims with a new car during that time. You seem to be implying that you won't be having your car serviced by a Lexus garage which IMO seems strange with a new car of this type. A friend owns a Lexus and my local garage. His garage has serviced new Hondas for me during the warranty period at a lower cost than the Honda garage and I have never had a problem. He has advised me to have the first annual service done by Lexus then to bring it to him. I have plenty of time to take further advice. At present I am not convinced of the case for paying the higher costs charged by the specialist dealers.

I have just bought my first Lexus (new) I got an excellent deal on the price. But. I compared the quote from the Lexus insurance with my insurer and got a much better deal. The finance deal of 10.1% apr is easily bettered although I preferred to pay cash. A three year up front payment for servicing will be easily reduced by my local garage. Gap insurance was offered - I was not prepared to pay the price. I have a feeling I will decline the extended warranty offer when it comes. I was very impressed with the standard of customer service that led to my buying the car and the attention to detail on handover. But I was pleased to have resisted the pressure to part with money that would have offset the benefit of a decent purchase price.

Sorry, only just noticed this. I have an Apple 3G iPhone an iMac and two Apple laptops. Will the Lexus tell all of them where I am?

Thanks DJ. I will persist!