N5girl

We are long-term IS300 2004 Sportcross owners. The car is at 140k and there really has been nothing wrong with it at all apart from the usual wear and tear and the odd neighbour reversing their caravanette into the bumper. It does two short journeys a day with a weekly 100 mile return trip. It drives beautifully. Every year we keep saying that we should replace it, we just drove a NX today and it was underwhelming. The RX seems very large. Obvs we could go with a different estate car, but we really wanted to stick to Lexus and the ability to avoid laying out thousands on a new car is attractive. Our view is that even the odd bill of £500 at service time is a small price to pay - is this totally crazy? This might seem a stupid question, but how have other people made the decision not to repair their car any further? TIA.

Just wondering if anyone has had any joy with finding a rear bike carrier that works with the hatch of an IS300 sportcross? I had a look at the Thule specs and they don't recommend fitting anything to the rear door.

Hi I have stupidly managed to smash the rear window next to the parcel shelf (not sure what the technical name is) in our IS300 sportcross Any idea what the cost is to replace? Is this something we can replace ourselves (father-in-law is very handy with DIY etc)? Any advice gratefully received while I spend time wishing I had removed my bike from the roof! Thanks.

Our car has been written off so I am going to investigate the various repair options. Anyone recommend a yard where I could potentially pick up a door? Do they deliver or do I have to collect it to get it to the bodyworkers? Thx

My physio will set up both seats for my back so if it can be stored in the memory that would be better.

Thanks for this - I love a good haggle.

Thanks for the opinions - I will take a look at a RX400 too when we visit the dealer DanD - in terms of the SL - I thought it had ML audio but it appears that some of them do and some don't. Also the DAB module is not standard on SE-L - only certain cars are listed with it. This was confirmed by the dealer at Lexus. I would quite like the memory seat for the passenger but that appears to be quite rare indeed. There are a lot of black interiors out there - not something that I am that bothered about but difficult to avoid if you don't like it.

Ok well it would be now (Sept) because our car is likely to be written off in the next couple of days. In terms of specs - - 2009/2010 is fine - dark colour outside - any colour interior - not bothered about Lexus dealer stamps for service history - mileage c60k or lower We would be bringing in used 20s in a carrier bag ;)

Hi It looks like the majority of the used 450s are at main dealers. What sort of discount is reasonable to expect on a car with an advertised price of c20k? TIA.

I had a chat with Louise at Hatfield Lexus. She was v. helpful. The DAB module was an option on the SE-L so not all of them have it. It can be retro-fitted. There will be a difference of about £1k between SE-I and SE-L so it really comes down to how much we want that side camera and the air suspension as well as availability of models etc.

This is something I will ask a Lexus dealer. The reason I am confused is that some of the cars on the Lexus website that are SE-L do not appear to have the ML stereo and some do. Also one of them refers to having a DAB module whereas some don't. It might be that the dealer has not bothered to enter the info. The SE-L appears to have a more adjustable seat - for me this would be a big selling point as my back surgeon has told me to choose a car based on driving position and seat adjustability. Ironically he drives an R8 which I cannot believe is good for your back at all.

Why not go to your local dealer and ask to drive both models back to back and see for yourself? - The dealer should be happy to oblige and a test drive does not commit you to buying from them... Thanks. I think that this sounds like an excellent idea. The more I read the more I am sold on the Rx450. Also having had a look at various sites there seems to be a lot of stock of the SE-I but not the SE-L. Is it worth holding out for a SE-L - it seems like most of the difference appears to be the audio system? The other half is also desperate for a DAB radio - is it an easy upgrade if it is missing off a model we like? Thanks

Hi Unfortunately it looks like our IS300 SC will be written off by our insurance co. Our driving requirements have changed now and we need something capable of short journeys as well as the long ones. I would also quite like a higher driving position to try to avoid the old lady driver who wrote off our car. Our budget (c15-20k) looks like it will get us a RX400 or RX450. I actually prefer the look of the RX400. Are there particular benefits to choosing one over the other - i.e. does the RX450 drive better or was the upgrade larger cosmetic? Some of the low mileage RX400s seem very expensive (i.e. 2008/9 models more expensive than RX450). Is a higher mileage RX450 likely to hold its value better than a low mileage RX400? Is there any models we should look to avoid? We tend to be buy and hold owners - i.e. we are unlikely to change the car for a good 4/5 years at least. We will be doing 10k miles at most. TIA for any opinions

Thanks I am going to call the insurers in the morning and see what the hike in the premium will be for a Cat D car and maybe do a dummy quote with someone like Admiral. Can anyone recommend a suitable garage that would replace the door with one from a breaker's yard or will then just want to deal with a new door? We live in the Harrow, so NW London.

Thanks I will let you know once the insurance company have come back and said whether it is a write-off or not. So I assume the cheapest way of replacing the door is to find one at a breaker's yard, get someone to fit it and then possibly a respray if the colour doesn't match. Does anyone know if there are any issues with re-insuring a car that has been written off? There is no other damage other than the door.

Hi Someone has just crashed into our rear driver side door (while we were putting our son into the car). The door looks a write-off. Any idea how much it will cost to replace as the insurance company have mentioned the possibility of an uneconomic repair. We would consider keeping the car if it is not ridiculous as it is fab runner and only has 90k on the clock. TIA

Yep you can't add post code search to the satnav. That sounds like a pretty decent set up you'll have there once it's sorted, and I think it's exactly the right way round for the controls to be with the main headunit, and the top screen to just be a screen to display stuff. What are you thinking of going with? My sis has a Kenwood unit in her car which I must admit is brilliant, the only downside for me is I find the Garmin mapping not that great to look at, but functionally it's faultless. Not sure really. I want decent sound above anything else. I hate using Sat Nav and refuse to have it on. I think it makes us dangerous drivers but then again I don't have a problem reading a map or a set of directions unlike my significant other. I plan on listening to the different units before spending the cash however I think to get decent sound I will probably have to replace the speakers and maybe the amp too. Is there a particular make of system that has better sound/vision or does it vary between the different models?

I am flexible on what I do. However I think I will need to replace the old OEM unit as it is now quite out of date and I don't think I can add postcode functionality to it unless I am mistaken. So I think the solution I will be looking at is new head unit with CD/DVD/Sat Nav/Freeview/Reversing camera. Dashboard Sat nav screen driven by the head unit. I think it will be more than adequate to control the sat nav from the head unit, i.e. the screen on top will just be a screen. Also my arms are not that long!

I have done some more research. It looks like it would be best if I have the head unit where the original CD player is and the Sat Nav out is sent to a second slave screen where the original Sat Nav sits. Does anyone know if it is possible to output just the sav nav. All the specs I have read on units such as the Alpine, Kenwood and Pioneer suggest that they can output video (i.e. to the rear screens) but they do not mention sat nav. Many thanks for any help on this.

Hi We have just purchased a 2004 IS300 Crossover which comes with the original Sat Nav and CD player (working at the moment). We would like to update the Sat Nav to make it touchscreen and we would also like a double din unit down below while retaining the original look as much as possible - i.e. factory fitted. I have read lots of threads and seen various different updates but I would like to ask a few questions before I go to my local installation companies to make sure I get what I need. I am new to the world of sat nav as this is my first car in 6 years. Is it safer to have the Sat Nav where it is, i.e. high up on the dash? Or is it perfectly safe to have a unit where the original cd player sits? I only ask this because I am wondering whether I need to replace both units as I would imagine this will have a significant effect on the cost. I doubt very much that I will use the Sat Nav much, it is something that my partner will heavily rely on - therefore I would like to be able have the Sat Nav off while using the unit below. Is it possible to get the unit on the dash to be just a Sat Nav or will it also need to be all singing and dancing multimedia centre? Do I need to replace the speakers/amp? Only the front speakers going forward will be used as the dog doesn't like our taste in music. Any help on this topic is gratefully received as I am a total newbie on this topic. I also realise that this is something that will not be cheap.

Fair enough, apologies for the erroneous post then. Thanks. We drove both the 300 and 400. Decided to go for the 400 because it is congestion charge exempt which is important for us. There wasn't enough of a difference in the driving experience to warrant going for the 300.

Thanks. I think I will just have to see if each car has the reversing camera as the supply of SE seems to be much greater than SE-L. Energyman did you get yours from a dealer or a private seller?

Hi I am hoping to become a Lexus owner in the next few weeks/mths. I would be grateful if someone could help me with a few questions. My budget is probably £22-23k max. I am not too bothered by the mileage because we are unlikely to put more than 5k on the clock each year. So far the service at the dealers has been fantastic - so I am very tempted to buy the car from them. What should I be able to get for my budget and how much discount do I get for a high mileage car (e.g. 70k + for a 2006 model). I am also still a bit baffled by the difference between SE/SE-L. Does the SE have the rear camera? Or does this only come on an SE with a multimedia pack? I am not bothered about having rear DVD screens but would like the parking camera. Does anyone have any recent experience of negotiating with the dealers. Are they likely to discount, and if so, by how much? I am a cash buyer (so no p/x or finance needed). We live in London but I would be happy to travel if the discount is worth it. What should I be looking out for with a 400h - in terms of potential big repair bills or annoying niggles that could be avoided. Many thanks for your help.