darkoracle

What did you have on before the change?

Welcome. You did well to get the steering sorted. Were you actually driving the beast when the steering gave up, or was it delivered as faulty? You sound as if you didn't know about the problem until it arrived. Hope that's the worst you'll find and it will give you lots of driving pleasure. What mileage was it? Looking forward to the pics.

Someone might get it towed away to a pound. It will then cost you more to get it out then you could make.

I bought my IS250 from Cardiff and also have issues with this dealership. After my car was delivered a year ago, I noticed a number of inconsistencies with the description of the spec. I had not checked everything myself, but instead relied on asking the salesman to verify the accuracy of certain parts of the car specification. I accept that I should have spent more time checking every detail of the car out myself, but in the end they agreed to provide a new set of car mats (charcoal grey) as some compensation for my disappointment. However they said that they would not post them to me because of the cost. (I live in mid-Wales). Instead they would hold them for me when I next visited Cardiff. Two days ago I booked in my car with them for a service and reminded them about the mats. ‘Oh we sent them back’ was the response. The only person that seems to have any regard for customer service is Natalie, who did her best to rectify things. The original salesman did not reply to my emails. I was interested to hear about Bristol as they are near (or as far) away from me. I may try them for my next service or car change. I’ve lost faith in Lexus Cardiff and Sytner.

I recently drove the 40+ miles to a nearby town to do the weekly shop and visit a well known DIY emporium. We parked in the usual open car park and while my wife went off to buy the ticket I removed my coat from the rear seat to protect me from the vicious cold wind that was blowing. As I closed the door I heard the interior chiming alarm, indicating that I had missed something. I stood back, staring at my lovely IS250, wondering what I had missed. My first thoughts were the lights as it had been a misty morning, but when I checked – all was well. I then remembered that in the past I had occasionally forgot to apply the hand(foot) brake, but on checking, this too was as it should be. I closed the door again and peered into the car observing the warning triangle along with a couple of other lights still showing on the dash. I remembered thinking ‘Bloody alarms, what’s the point if it doesn’t tell you what the problem is?’ It then dawned on me – the engine was still running.

Jay, I'm no expert but I just don't see how new tyres could have that effect. How are you monitoring the mpg/mpl - onboard computer or your own manual method? An outside possibility is that brakes have been disturbed when the wheels were fitted and could be binding. Have you noticed any pulling to one side when brakes are applied? Are the tyres rotation specific - if so have they been fitted correctly? Were they balanced properly? That's about my limit. If it gets no better in the next few miles, I'd contact the fitters and see if they have experienced this before and ask them to check it over.

Plenty of miles left in that exhaust - it just needs another strap! I have to admire you guys that can perform maintenance on these modern cars. When I was a lad, I was like that with A35s and Standard Vanguards. All I had to worry about then was remembering what came from where, and provided you had a basic understanding of the combustion engine, you couldn't go far wrong. I was once called out to a guy who had dismantled his entire engine and couldn't get it back together. Nothing had been numbered and it was pot luck when it came to placing the end shells and pistons. We finally got it going though - but I didn't stay around to find out for how long!

'Had to use a different company for the front as the previous company refused to tint them.' I think that's because if it's too dark on the front you can get pulled over by our lads in blue. They have a light meter and if ithe tinting doesn't let a set percentage of light through, you can be looking at a fine and/or points! Just so you are aware - in case you didn't know already. As far as the spoiler is concerned, I like the subtle version on the black car - but that's just me. Love the car.

Hiss could also be related to a poor earth somewhere - perhaps when the DAB was fitted something was missed. Love the car - especially the alloys. Same colour interior as mine, but I changed the floor mats to charcoal grey. The ivory ones got to look very grubby very quickly and spoiled the look. Once those bits are sorted I'm sure that you'll be a very happy bunny! - bought mine at Cardiff.

Another (remote) possibility is that the water pump is seizing and slipping on the belt. Have you had any problems with over-heating?

I am not a fan of red, but I have to admit to a somewhat unnatural attraction to this car. What is the 'official' name for that colour?

Hi Stuart and welcome. There's a sort of unwritten rule here that you have to post pictures - so that we can all drool over them. :winky:

Just had to logon to make sure that I wasn't the only sad person checking on the site on this day. :hohoho: Merry Christmas.

I think that the current owner is just displaying the super grip that the tyres have. It means that you can get two into a garage that's only built for one.

Did you connect up the fans correctly after the rad installation? Do they cut in at the correct temp? Also check your coolant levels again in case its 'settled'.

You don't say if you changed the tyres for the same brand. Were they fitted by a reputable garage/tyre fitter? Just wondering if you have directional tyres. Are they fitted in the correct orientation?

This is now the most practised rip-off by all the insurance companies. They only have to tap out a few keys on a computer keyboard, but they lash us with silly charges. It's right up there with the rip-off of printer cartridges and razor blades. When I wanted to change over my personalised registration to my Lexus from my Freelander, they quoted me a crazy fee. I managed to negotiate a way around this by purchasing an additional service, like passenger insurance - or something like that. This was just £12 and they just updated my details showing the purchase as the reason for the update. I doubt that this will help you in your particular circumstances, but it might be worth a try.

The indications are that they are sticking with a V6 and that's where my interest will be focussing. The new auto drive train also sounds interesting, but it will be the ratios that make or break it. If the engine is just a modification of the current V6 (250) I’d love to know what’s changed. Fuel consumption will be the give away as many other V6 power units have better fuel efficiency and I’m hoping that this will be one of the major improvements to the new IS. Has anyone heard anything about the metal lump under the bonnet?

Make sure that you are not confusing smoke with steam. A lot of condensation can accumulate overnight and when the car is started, particularly on a cold morning, the water heats and converts to steam. This can also be accompanied by droplets of water being pushed out with the exhaust gases.

I'm a retired programmer and my last consult was with a famous insurance company in Norwich (had a name change recently). I was working on a ‘Pay as you drive’ insurance option, which was mainly targeted at younger drivers. Basically you elect to have a black box fitted into the car (GPS), which monitors every aspect of your driving. Time you drive, where you drive, how you drive. You pay per mile, according to your driving. You can elect NOT to drive at certain times of the night which lowers the mileage rate. I’m not sure if this is still going, but it was a big project about 5 years ago. At £2000-£4000 per year for ‘normal’ insurance, it’s got to be worth a try. I should add that I have no association with any insurance company.

I think they might have something called lookup tables. Oh and what's that other thing called?... Interweb, Internet... something like that anyway.

The only thought that comes into my head is that the starter motor has not retracted fully and may be still engaged. The whine that you might be hearing is the armature being spun by the engine. I'm no engineer, so don't get alarmed by this, I'm probably way off the mark.

That does sound too good to be true. Where did you get this info from? I'm not in the position to have to get this sort of cover yet, but I suppose it depends on what is supposed to be covered. A single standard service on a Lexus would come to more than two years worth of those premiums, so I don't see how that works. No doubt others on this forum will soon enlighten us.

Welcome to the LOC. It could be wheel bearings or a noisy differential. Any good service workshop or dealer would be able to diagnose it. You need to get it checked out.

Welcome to the LOC. Very nice car - I wish that my father had owned one of these to hand over to me. :D Enjoy.