eddiea1

Actually I would be interested in a hard top convertible... I'm at a loss to understand this fascination with power and speed. I mean realistically on a day to day basis, how fast can you actually go bearing in mind traffic lights, schools, speed cameras, traffic humps etc? (please don't flame me - it's just a question!) how fast? its more about power and acceleration - you dont need to go that fast, but being able to go from say 40-70 in about a second or to storm up to 70 on entering a motorway is very valuable in a car.....as for speed cameras speed bumps schools etc, you dont get many of those out on the motorway or on the country lanes round my way, they tend to be in the town centres. I dont use my car for work and I dont have children so Im not really stuck in town that much in it unless im in London but I usually come into London at night with the car if Im driving. as for the hard top convertible, Id like one if it had a 3.5 litre engine in it LOL To be fair I think that even the IS300 is underpowered. I wonder what an IS430 would be like, maybe in the spirit of the BMW M3? That would be a nice motor. There is demand for power in cars, Audi do extremely well with their RS cars and BMW Ms fly out of teh showroom. Its really a case of "Build It and they will come" in this category of car. Look at the R32 Golf. On paper its crazy to spend 30k on a golf but they sell. And the birds like a flash motor as well auto only on the IS300 was a disaster imo. That idea must have come from some muppet with a degree in marketing armed with the results of some spurious focus group involving middle aged chartered accountants from Wiltshire or something

I was told by my Lexus dealer that we can forget the 350 but there will most likely be in the not to distant future a Coupe and a hard top cabriolet version. looks like im getting an Audi Quattro next ;) only joking!

are you implying that car dealers dont always tell the truth 100% of the time? surely not. I always thought they were the most honest straightforward people in the whole world.

Is that the one I see parked near Long Island sometimes? bit of a ricky collection going on here! now, can any of you read chinese? Very very random............

yeah and those blue illuminated sills as well. and burberry caps

i think im off the hook now! or should i say out of the hook

Parkers.co.uk is a good place to look for comparisions http://www.parkers.co.uk/pricing/used_car/...e&buyorsell=buy

But, how often do you honestly use it ? also ......... using the manual e-shift, with the sport button pressed, makes no difference, you know this right ? The power, or the ect pwr button ........... only has an effect when using Full Auto mode ! :) How often do I use it? Quite often on country roads, not so much in town or motorway. I didnt know the power button had no effect using the e-shift (in fact I didnt know it was called e-shift either) ;)

the perfect situation would have been a manual IS300 but Lexus decided not to sell it in Europe (that one again) but it was sold in the US......and in the US it cost less than the IS200 did in England :duh: however it has the shifter buttons on the steering wheel which make for a sporty drive with the power button selected

blatantly the best colour!

thats a lot of miles from a tank! Oh yeah I forgot The button gearshift is fun in hard driving Its got the "IS300" badge on the back to show IS200 drivers as you leave them behind Its a lot rarer than the IS200

Sold!!!

IS300 has so many advantages over the IS200 1) it isnt grossly underpowered 2) acceleration from 50-70 is such that you dont look like an idiot on the motorway as you struggle to speed up 3) it goes uphill without having to change down to second gear ;) 4) The engine sounds a hell of a lot nicer 5) cruise on the motorway at much lower revs than IS200 6) much more refined engine

From what I have been told here in Ireland it was a Europe wide decision not to bring in the 350 and so it has not been put through the standard tests that allow it to be sold in Europe. So if you wanted to import a RHD one it would have to be from Japan (or from Auz when it is released later in the year). Problem though is as you said you would have to pay for all the testing. However. From what I can tell you would not have to go through the tests if it is a second hand car. (Many models of cars have come in from Japan over the years without any testing. Just window replacing). So you could probably bring in a display model from japan or something. Try contacting some of the specialist importers and they will be able to tell you for sure what needs to be done. Ok thanks for the info. Which specialist importers should I contact?

maybe if theyd spent some money marketing their sales would have been better. You would think that the mighty Toyota would have some money available for that considering their revenues.... I personally never saw Lexus ads for it and it was only when mate recommended going to a Lexus garage did I even go there to take a look at the cars - he was looking at the IS200s himself and I was looking at BMW at the time about to buy a 330. Im not convinced that the IS350 wouldnt sell here - they could easily shift 900 or 1000 of them a year. Or isnt that enough to justify importing it? How many of the IS250 / IS220d are they expecting to sell?

yeah what is it with Lexus UK? they supposedly have done all this market research and do all these focus groups and then decide there wont be demand for the bigger engined cars. Well BMW seem to sell quite a few 330s and 535s and even 540s. How much extra effort would it take to make 350s for our market? Why is the AWD one US market only? Audi seems to do all kinds of engine sizes with or without Quattro..... maybe Lexus should take a leaf out of their book. (actually I dont know the answer to that but would be interested to hear if anyone does have answers) all i heard from Lexus UK is that they thought the demand would be so small as not to be worth bringing it in. im not so sure....

good idea!

Im thinking about changing the IS300 but I am not really interested in the 220d or the 250. Havent driven either yet, but I am thinking that the 350 would be more the one for me. As you all know, Lexus UK in all their wisdom have decided not to sell this car here. Neither are they importing the IS250AWD. Very confusing decisions imho. Two questions then: 1) Has anyone heard whether or not Lexus will be importing the IS350? 2) Is it possible to get one through a car imported in RHD and put it through STVA?

watched the shows - actually brings back memories of how crap the 80s were! how godawful are the cars they are testing, both in appearance and apparent performance. and as for that beardy loser Chris Goffey, he really should have a word with himself about those trousers he was wearing! Jeremy Clarkson was funny there, he seems to be a lot more laid back, he looks like some kind of dope smoking student in these early programmes LOL thanks for putting these up, I enjoyed watching them again!

lap

As donuts are not refined enough for cars of the calibre of Lexus and what with most owners being in the A, B1 income bracket and higher social class I think it is more appropriate that we should do some nice French Pastry Skids, perhaps in the shape of some nice cakes from Patisserie Valerie, taken with a nice cup of tea served in Royal Doulton China? N'est pas? :winky:

Max Bygraves. What was that song about toothbrushes he did? I was given a copy of that when I was 4 or 5 I loved it.

Max Power? Who is he, a Vaudeville singer from the 1950s? and lets face it, that is my car in the avatar. Do you honestly believe I would really try to do donuts with her? pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase

well im happy that I made a few people laugh anyway, or are they laughing at me thinking that bloke is a muppet well whatever. I would like to confirm that what I had written was tongue in cheek and I didnt mean to offend anyone even though I probably did offend a couple of people. Well that is basically the story of my life and is probably why I sit on my own in front of a computer writing this codswallop

OK let me ask you a question. How many people showed up to the Krays funeral? thousands, you know they were more than villains they were characters. Its like Ronnie Biggs, he captivated the nation. Now Im not saying that among yesterdays robbers lurked a new Ronnie Biggs but even though Ive now (supposedly) gone up in the world there is still that bit of me that lives on a houseing estate with my parents on the dole with no hope and the people we looked up to was the Krays or the Great Train Robbers. You may not like that, but I tell you there are a LOT of working class people who think the same. You know what thebiggest funeral in recent times in New York was? Do you think it was an ex-Mayor? An ex-president? No. John Gotti. He put a lot of food on a lot of peoples plates and they are grateful for that. Im sure that yesterdays robbers respect their mums and they would make her a cuppa. Just because they done a blag doesnt make them bad people. Well it does but lets not split hairs here. Bet they are a right bunch of regular Robin Hoods' they will be dashing round handing out wedges of cash to the poor and under privelidged right now NOT. More like convert it it into a currency with a lot more value and sell it as "wraps" to the poor and under priveledged to add to their misery. Hey you never know might be doing them a favour they could get some dosh by being in the next series of "Cold Turkey". Come on get real they are a bunch of plain villians no fancy hero stuff. I tell you what the Krays wouldnt have stood for all this drugs malarkey, They were honest villains strictly into racketeering and extortion.