bluenose1940

Hello folks, taking another step towards getting me an IS300h, I'm putting my 250 up for sale. Looking for a little help/guidance from the more experienced members on here. Most of us, if not all of us, are thinking about the chubby man in the red suit at the moment and so I am wondering if this is really the right time to be placing my ad or, should I wait until the festive season is over and out of the way. I know that after Christmas we can and do run into some pretty grotty weather and this too can deter many from changing their car. I have always, throughout my life, tended to change my car in the Spring or Summer with the odd purchase in the early Autumn but never, never in the winter. Any thoughts will be much appreciated.

Excuse my ignorance Rabbers but do your figures equate to something like 42mpg in English, or have I got my sums wrong, many many moons since I left school!!!!

When (you notice I say when now, rather than if) I get my 300h it will be an absolute 'MUST' that I buy a spacesaver. No way on this earth will I be without one. Hopefully I will get a good deal on one at the time.

Yes it looks as though my budget is going to be £25K to £26K, I might just find a little more by the time I'm ready to buy. I mentioned in #62 above that I was hoping that there might be some good used offers available just prior to the new registration in March, does this tend to be the case or is it wishful thinking on my part?

I will be looking for a car with the lighter coloured leather interior. I'm not a fan of black leather at all I'm afraid.

As this car/model has only been around for some 18 months or so, there hasn't been the time for the 'used' market to see a substantial drop in forecourt prices. I really would have liked to have got myself a 'Premier' version so that I could get most of the bells and whistles. I'm a big fan of the dipping wing mirrors when engaging reverse, plus the reversing camera of course. I can do without the electrically adjusted seats as it is only me who will drive the car (my wife might have the occasional go) but, I do like the heated and cooled versions though. The car must have SatNav and a decent sound system, mainly for when my wife is in the car with me as generally I listen mainly to 'talk radio'. My finances will probably dictate that I go for the 'Executive' version. Am I correct in thinking that the model range is SE - Luxury - Executive - Premier? It will probably be February before I can actually be in a position to buy, and so I am thinking that with the new registration being due on March 1st there might just be some good offers on the table at that point. This will give me more of a chance to sell my 250 but, if it doesn't go I will do a P/X at that time. In the meantime I will trawl the internet and keep abreast of what's about. Thanks to all for the great input to this thread, it's been a great read, even though it veered off line a bit at one stage!

This is an interesting thread, particularly in regard to fitting a dash-cam and wiring it to the internal mirror. This is something that I would like to do myself. I posted a thread back in July but never got a response from anyone so the idea mentioned above will probably be just the job. Here is the link to my 'earlier in the year' thread ........ http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/91789-fitting-a-dash-cam/

Hi again David, yes I did get to give the 'Sport' mode a bit of a go and I was suitable pleased with the experience. I did notice quite a distinct 'throaty' sound whilst accelerating, at least it was different to the sound whilst driving 'normally'/ Although it was a relatively short period 'test drive' I have to say that it is definitely the car that I want to aim for. Having looked at the interiors of quite a number of other makes, I do find the Lexus is far more appealing to me. Funny thing this morning, I walked into a shop and tripped up a step as I didn't notice the 'MIND THE STEP' notice as I was looking at the chap who was holding the door open for me. We exchanged pleasantries and each went about our business. Fifteen minutes later I was walking back to my car and there was the same chap sitting in a beautiful red IS300h Premier and so I tapped the window and got chatting to him again. he has had the car for 12 months and he is part exchanging it at the end of December as he is getting an NX300h as it will be easier to get into and out of. The car has only got 4000miles on the clock. Lucky chappie eh! The only thing that will stop me getting the IS will be the finance side of things. It seems that I can get a top spec CT for the price of an entry level IS and I'm a bit of a fan of all the 'extras' I'm having a go at selling my 250 myself at the moment and so I'll see how that goes.

Thank you for the welcome back David (DJP) Well, for starters then, absolute and utter disappointment............no no no, not with the car but with the fact that the test drive did not work out as planned i'm afraid. Circumstances dictated that I was unable to make use of the car for the day but, I did manage to drive it for 12 miles or so and I absolutely loved it. The car, an Executive model, white with black leather, was a total dream to even just sit in let alone drive it. A couple of things that I found when driving, firstly, I found it a little strange the way that the indicators worked, where in mine you just lift or push down the lever which clicks into place and stays there whilst the flashers are going and then they cancel having made the turn, with the 300h it was a case of just flicking the lever up or down and it returned to its original position even though the flashers were flashing. I got used to that quite quickly. The stereo sounded extremely good. I managed to get on a stretch of road where I was able to toe it for a while and I must admit that there was plenty there as far as my needs go, in fact I was quite impressed really. I'm getting on a bit now and don't drive everywhere like a madman but I do like to know that I can get a move on when necessary. The other thing that I found that I'm sure that I will get used to was the sort of whining sound from the car when slowing down, it is obviously something to do with the electric motor but, it did sound a little odd at first. Anyway, I have to go out urgently now but I will be back.

Hello ganzoom, I have just got back to this thread (it was me who started it and so I am the OP) I think that if you re-read the thread you will find that it has gone off-track at some point because at no time have I ever tried to compare the IS300h with a 135i (I've never even come across a 135i). In fact I have not tried to compare the car to anything else, I was merely seeking members/owners thoughts on a comment that I had spotted in a review.

No I'm afraid your motor doesn't have the 'folding option' when you lock the doors. they only fold by pressing the button on the panel on the drivers door but, because you have this button you are able to fit the Po-40 modification which really is very easy and, is well worth doing.

That's a brilliant bit of information Dean, thank you. I didn't know such a site existed. The private sale price came up as being very close to the figure I got from What car. Thanks again for the info.

I won't be using them then!!!!

Did you try any of the others that I mentioned? When I sold my 220d I didn't have any joy using AutoTrader, I sold it via the classifieds on ebay in the end. Quite cheap that was.

Just got a free valuation for mine via 'What car' Go and have a look there yourself Also some interesting figures from 'We Buy Any car.com' and also 'We Want Any car.com' be interesting to see what they come up with. Let us know.

No I rarely use mine but I do find it a bit of fun when I do.

As many of you know, I am leaning heavily towards buying an IS300h and have one lined up as a courtesy car this coming Wednesday when my 250 goes in for service, (looking forward to it!) I am reading and taking in all the information that I can about this car and, I came across a review by Carbuyer UK this morning and am wondering if any of you current owners have any thoughts on the snippet that I have shown below. "The new car handles better than the previous model thanks to new suspension and better steering, too. What's more, the Lexus brand offers terrific reliability and dealer service, so the Lexus IS will be a popular car for company car buyers. However, the lack of performance and the noisy automatic gearbox mean it's hard to recommend the IS over its rivals" Read more: Lexus IS saloon review | Carbuyer http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/reviews/lexus/is/saloon/review#ixzz3J8boW9lP Follow us: @CarbuyerUK on Twitter | CarbuyerUK on Facebook

I telephoned Lexus a few weeks ago and they told me that the offer of £495 was only applicable to the CT and NOT the IS. It would be worth a phone call if you are thinking of taking out a warranty. Perhaps they may have changed the offer to include the IS but I would have thought it unlikely.

Thank you for that ColinBarber, that's bit of a relief, not too keen on buying a car that hasn't got it. I've looked in the brochure again today and as I've mentioned, the CT is shown as having it but there is absolutely no mention of it in the IS brochure.

I have just found my brochure, wifey thought that she had inadvertently thrown it away! It says "Active Brake Lights- Standard Equipment for all Grades" Having looked at the brochure quite carefully, I haven't yet seen an explanation of "Active Brake Lights" if I come across it, I will let you know. P.S. I have just been going through the brochure and no, I can't find any explanation for the brake lights but HORROR of HORRORS, I can see no mention of cruise control. Surely they are fitted with cruise control, please tell me that they are!! I've just read the CT200h brochure and that mentions the brake lights AND cruise control. Anyone got a 300h with cruise control?

Hiya royoftherovers. No I haven't found the answer I'm afraid but, if I get onto the site using Firefox I don't have the problem and I can 'Quote' and 'Cut and paste' just fine. Give Firefox a go and see if it solves it for you.

Try eating less Heinz beans!!!!! lol Sorry I couldn't resist that!

Just been looking on Autotrader at some 300h's and they are referring to 'Active Brake Lights' can someone tell me what this means please. My thoughts are that if they are 'inactive' they just aint werkin, they aint!

Welcome Antony, both cars look very nice. I'm sure that you will be very pleased with your Lexus. Lots of good folk on here to give any help and guidance you might need.

"It does have ASC" (by DJP) I thought that ASC meant something like Automatic Stability Control, what does it mean in your instance please? Sorry to appear dim! P.S. I seem to be having trouble with using the 'quote' sections of posting, also I cannot seem to 'copy and paste' within this forum. I don't have same problems on any other forum. Anyone else find this?