ColinBarber

I think it's £1000 overpriced because there is a SE auto with Sat Nav, 19,000 miles within M25 for £16,995 on the Lexus web site. If you don't mind 32,000 miles you can save another £1,500. Remember that Lexus dealers have big price markups so try and beat them down a bit.

If the car was purchased as a Lexus approved used car then the dealer should have sorted the spare keys before it was sold. I would complain to Lexus, unless you agreed to only one key.

What work/cost will be required for the cars to pass the SVA?

If you press and hold the lock button all the windows and sunroof should close. Are you sure the unlock button wasn't stuck in or something?

Are the two dealers part of the same company (e.g. both Inchcape)? If not then I would suggest going direct to the dealer who has the car. I have never found Lexus dealer co-operate very well. When I asked if a dealer could get me a car that was from another dealer he said he would try and then phone me up a day later and say the car was already sold. When I checked myself the orginal dealer still had the car. This happened twice to me! As for the price, I would say £1,000 too much.

Changing the diameter of the wheel+tyre will throw out your speedo/odometer. Don't know if they will fit. You don't see too many GS with wheels bigger than 18" in the UK. Maybe worth asking people at clublexus in the US. There are many people there with 19" and 20" wheels.

You have the expense of the 100,000 mile cam belt change soon. If buying from a dealer get them to do that as part of the deal. Get the ball joints checked as they could be worn. Haven't heard of any engine problems if serviced correctly. Exhaust is stainless steel so that shouldn't be a problem for years

They may look the same but do they have the same len pattern? Not easy to tell unless you look at both together.

HID are a little more complex than just the bulbs. If you were to plug a normal bulb on the HID wiring the 20,000+ ignition voltage would instantly blow it!

That's a good saving. Does it have all the standard equipment a UK one would have? With regards to the HID question I think the lights must be self-leveling to stop you blinding on-coming traffic. There shouldn't be any requirement for washers and as UKPulse mentioned the styling kit for the IS300 removed the washers and all UK 300's have HIDs.

I don't think you can have brake and fog lights on a dual element bulb - it won't pass SVA. There is a minimum distance that is require between the two. Also only the rear tail lights are low power (5W), both the brake lights and the fog lights are 21W. Even if you do the mods after the SVA you may still have problems with the MOT. Also for the SVA you need an indicator on the fog light switch or dashboard to indicate the fog lights are switched on.

Your battery should be changed when you have the car serviced. It's part of the service schedule. Didn't get done on my last service though and the battery died 2 months later! Replaced it myself. There are lots of companies on the web that sell CR1616 for around £2 including postage.

You should be able to purchase workshop manuals from your dealer which will cover the UK models. I have purchased ones before for MR2 and Supra which were excellent.

Have you looked on the Lexus web site for used RXs? There are 4 SE-L models currently for sale, dealer demonstrators with up to 2,000 miles on the clock. The prices are all POA but I would guess you would get £2,000+ off list price.

Here's the link for the 4car road test http://www.channel4.com/apps26/4car/jsp/ma...=1&reviewid=801

www.4car.co.uk have a review on the new RX. They recommend the SE. They say the air suspension is better at high speed but worse at low speed and not worth the extra. I guess you would need to test drive both to make your choice. If you get the SE with the sat nav option then the only extras are the uprated stereo, air suspension and the moving highlights - which is not much for £2.5k.

They are going to have to sell the car a £2,000 less than the price of a new vehicle otherwise knowbody would buy it. I wouldn't buy a secondhand car if I could get a new one for the same price. I have a look on jamjar.co.uk and they quote a price around £36,600 of the SE-L so what-car seem correct. Using a quote from jamjar should make your dealer match it.

Are people aware of the Lexus pre-paid servicing? I guess not if people are paying 350+ for services. On an IS200 you can get two services for £460 including parts, labour and VAT. You pay up front, but you can pay 10 month interest-free installments. I contacted my dealer about this and it covers all standard servicing including spark plug changes but not the cam belt http://www.lexus.co.uk/owning.php?page=prepaid

I would never say the GS is noisy. Maybe there is a problem with your tyres, low pressure or worn. The squeaks and rattles though are the norm for the GS unfortunalty. Much better in the MKII over the MKI but still there. Some people don't notice or mind but it drives me up the wall. Every air vent, the centre console, the sunroof, the glovebox, the wood trim on the doors all creak if you push them or when the car goes over a bump. The sunroof has been improved on 2000+ cars but even a new car in the showroom will creak as I demonstrated to my dealer today. I also know of several owners, including myself, who get wind noise around the drivers door. Drive a £14,000 cheaper car, the IS200, and it feels much more solid.

It's being 'coming soon' on the Lexus web site for the last two years but now it really is!

Visited my local dealer today and was told that the GS430 sport will be available in the next couple of weeks. I know there has been an 'almost' sport for the last couple of years but they now have the suspension modifications as well as the cosmetic ones. The dealer showed me the article in an internal Lexus news publication. It also stated that a GS300 will also be available. Prices are £35,000 - £42,000. I guess these prices do not include sat. nav. which will put the price of the 430 to £44,500! Colin