GaryC

Cheers lads. Hope it's a fuse rather than a bulb !

I was driving my W reg GS300 Sport in the dark last night. When I got back in it to drive home the gear numbers were not lit up next to the gear stick so I couldn't see what gear to put it in. Also the heated seat lights (the symbols not the orange "on" lights" were not one. Should the above buttons and gear numbers be lit up ?

Colin, It's the trip computer I mean. Glyn - W reg 2000. The Trip button is greyed out when on the move and lights up again when stopped. I think this is daft as it's only a button press to get back to Trip. Considering you can add Points of Interest on the map whilst moving (and that is far more dangerous) it doesn't make sense.

Here's my answer. They are fecking awesome. Boneshakers on rough ground but so smooth and lively on anything else. Quiet as a mouse(ish) Majestic beast ! I'm in love with her already ! BMW 5 series ??? PANTS :yack: compared to this monster !

GS300 sat nav. "Trip" option greys out when the vehicle is moving. It only comes on again if the vehicle is stopped. I think that is pants. If you want to change to audio or map and then go back to the trip summary you can't. Anyone know if there is "wire snip" that will keep all the buttons active ?

Cheers lads ! Piccies to come tomorrow Steve and I'll be going Gold as well. A good week me thinks !

Picked it up from Lexus Sheffield and drove it home to Manchester. My observations (I was comparing it to my BMW 523i).... Steering much lighter and ride bouncier, feels much quicker. Wind noise around the windows is louder when cruising. I was worried about the mpg and was averaging 24mpg on the run until I realised I was drove the car 3/4 of the way home in 4th gear ! There's an electric hum to the rear which is a bit off-putting but I'll get used to it. Rattles are minimal (a couple here and there) but the car is generally extremely quiet. The sat nav is awesome and all the different screen modes are bewildering. It's like a bloody space shuttle at night ! One thing I'd like to change already is the ability to change from sat nav to trip computer mid drive. It only lets you do it if you are stopped at lights. The Lexus valetting isn't up to my standards so I spent 2 hours on it tonight polishing every single button on the damn thing. The last observation is that the car looks magnificent and already has turned heads ! What a motor ! :winky:

They also knocked a grand off the car so it's £14950 and I sold my BMW private. So at £14,950 for a W reg Sport (mint inside and out) with sat nav sounds good to me. Still nervous about the image those huge 18" alloys will convey.....

I am getting my GS300 Sport Mk2 on Monday from Lexus Sheffield. I am buying it on the Lexus Finance and I compared the rate to some other loan companies before committing to it. It works out at 6.6% APR over 4 years. That's even cheaper than the AA loan. Have Lexus made a mistake ? Not that I'm complaining....

Colin, I know one place in Winsford, Cheshire that does this. It's a place called "Barry and Wilkinson". These places are so rare and the balancing is not recommended on Auto boxes. A proper tyre place will not need to balance on the car anyway.

I cannot understand why tyre shops produce so many different results with wheel balancing. I used to be in a different tyre shop every week..."Please can you cure the vibration in the steering at 75mph. I can drive through it" I said. One shop would say it's the front wheels that need balacncing, some would say the rear. Another would say it's the bushes, another the brakes, another a buckled alloy. Ok this may be the case in some situations but if you can drive through the vibration in the steering it's the wheels that need balancing. However we are in a pathetic situation that no two tyre shops will balance the wheels the same. Every time I had my front wheels balanced I had a different weight on them and the vibration remained. What's so f**** hard about balancing a wheel ? I say to a shop "look mate you can either balance a wheel or not - you are a tyre shop for f*** sake". A number of times I have returned to a shop and said it's not cured the problem to be told "oh the chap who did it has only just started here and didn't do it properly" - then they balance it different again. Why don't the shops just balance all four wheels PROPERLY and be done with it. The tyre place that eventually cured my year long problem was Wilmslow Tyres in Cheshire and they said "Look - we can balance Ferarris so we can balance your car. I'm going to balance all four wheels". He also explained what balancing was and why it made the car wobble. Ten minutes later I was cruising down the motorway with supreme smoothness ! I cannot understand how people can put up with driving a high class car with this vibration. They may as well get a 1995 Ford Escort !!!! Why this wheel balancing is such a black art is beyond me. It's not rocket science.

This is really simple. Go to a decent tyre shop and get ALL FOUR wheels balanced properly. It'll cost about £18 inc vat. It's no good just balancing the front or rear - do all of 'em ! I had the same problem on a BMW 5 series and the vibration was between 75mph and 80 mph but I could drive through the vibration. I went to loads of different shops and they always said it's just a front wheel balance or buckled alloy, flat spot on tyre, bushes, brakes. RUBBISH !!! I almost gave up hope. Balancing the wheels not only cured the vibration at 75mph but it made the car smoother at all speeds. Trust me this will work. If the vibration is at a certain speed and you can drive through it it is definitely a wheel balancing problem. I can explain how balancing works and why you get the vibration when they are not balanced if anyone wants to know......

Happy Birthday Steve. Let's go for a group buy on the candles for your cake :D

Get the GS300 mate. Pure luxury ! Cruises like a hovercraft. Best car I ever drove was a GS300 S (whilst my Mk 1 was in for service). It was gorgeous. Get one in decent nick though. :winky: I get my Mk 2 GS300 Sport a week tomorrow.

When I had my GS300 Mk1 I drove down to Shropshire to see some relatives. As we were leaving their house to drive them about I opened the boot, put my car keys in and shut the boot. About two minutes later the doors locked and I was stumped. I called CLub Lexus and within fifteen minutes the RAC van arrived. He spent over an hour with every tool under the sun to try to get a piece of wire into the window and push the door unlock button. No joy so he called another RAC van to help out. ! After two more hours and several cups of tea later they managed to unlock the doors. Then they spent another hour and half trying to work out how to get the boot open (by disabling the car immobiliser). It took several phone calls to an engineer who specialises in the GS300 immobiliser wiring to disconnect the correct wires to open the boot. After over four hours of muckiing about they gave me my keys back and there was no damage at all to the interior ! They couldn't do enough for me. That day proved two things to me. One that Club Lexus is ace and two that the Mk1 GS300 is bloody secure !

Tar and feather him !!! :duh:

Or you could cover the rest of the mat and the other three mats with used chewing gum. Will work well on Lexus' with Andorra leather interior.

Hey Mr Admin, What are those two cars pictured behind you ? Are they Peugeot 607's ? :D

I'll lend you my 33 Beach Boys CDs. ;)

This BMW sat nav is s****

As we are now talking about annoying driving habits this is my most hated.... The woman BMW driver sat in a side road waiting to turn left onto the main road I'm driving on. As I approach her I see she is wanting to get out so I slow down slightly and flash my lights to let her out. I then realise she's gassing on her mobile phone and completely blanks me (actually doesn't even look at me) - just arrogantly chats away. I always feel like forgetting to use my brakes and whacking right into the back of them. Another observation... Earlier this evening I was driving behind a Peugeot 306 covertible 02 plate (top down) and as we stopped at the lights I could see her huge furrowed brow in her rear-view mirror. The expression was "I'm so important I have to look really serious". Dear dear me.

I asked Lexus Sheffield about this and he says it invalidates the warranty (that's assuming you have the Lexus warranty).

There aren't enough posts on here so I'm giving it my best shot to get some more going ! As soon as I get my new Lexus I'm sure I'll calm down but in the meantime........ What cars/driver types are the most annoying you see on the road and what bad driving habits do they display ? For Lexus snobs only (aren't we all that though ?)... Here's my top few..... 1. VW Passat TDi driver who "whizzes" :P past and then you see him quickly glance in the rear view mirror to see if you are totally awe-struck. Usually wears sunglasses and has bald head. 2. BMW 318Ci driver who drives around thinking his car is extremely rare and exclusive. Usually de-badged though to hide the milk-float engine in it. 3. Mk 1 Renault Laguna with a rear spoiler. No comment required here. 4. Ford Mondeo ST24 or ST200 or even worse a normal Mondeo with a hachett job at the back to put twin exhaust pipes on it 5. BMW 523i SE driver with a T-plate. My old one to-be is an S-plate. "Hark at me ? My car is newer than yours" look on his face as he drives past. Big deal. 6. Audi A6 1.9 TDi - The slugs in my garden are faster than this heap. 7. Any old shape Vauxhall Vectra. 8. Any other BMW 3 series (apart from M3). 9. New Toyota Avensis driver. "I am a company director - I must be because it's in the advert". That is by far the most annoying car advert I've ever seen - yuk. Get real it's a family car. 10. New Mondeo. With a big boot to hold all the double-glazing samples. One more for you. I once phoned an Audi dealer and said I'd like to drive the A6, I have a Mk 1 Lexus as part ex (once again what was I doing ? I should have been shot !). Again I was just curious about all the hyped-up reviews in the car mags. This is absolutely true what he said to me. "I'm sure your Lexus is a nice car but it lacks the heritage of the European rivals". I thought "Hello, he's been reading Parkers Car Guide". What a prat !

Like the comment about the Passat drivers. Wow don't you just hate those cars especially the TDi's. With regards the Mk 1 car (I unfortunately binned my photos of my cherished beast) I got so many "Wow that car is awesome !" Why I sold it to get the BMW I'll never know. I think it was the curiousity really. Here's a good story. I traded my Lexus in to a BMW trader (hiss hiss spit) who is a big BMW fan and breathes them. When I was trying to get a good trade-in he was saying "well it's not a Beemer mate- these Lexus are average blah blah". I traded it in for peanuts and lo and behold the next issue of Autotrader had an advert entitled "Stunning Lexus GS300 Sport !!!" What a p*** taking wa*ker - I nearly went round and clobbered him for that bit of cheek ! Also the comment from seagram made me think when did I last see a GS300 Sport on the road ? Answer : I can't remember ever seeing one and I always keep my eyes out for a Lexus !!!!

I get my W reg GS 300 Sport next week. I was just wondering what other drivers' mentality is like towards this car on the road. When I had my Mk 1 Sport every other driver was trying to race me, cut in front "wow, look at my Vectra 2.5 V6" style. When I got my old fart's BMW 523i (with 15" alloys for ***'s sake !) that all stopped. Is the former practice about to explode into action again. What have other GS 300 Sport drivers (or GS 300 with a spoiler) experienced ?