darkoracle

Yes you can. Not tried it myself as I store all my music on USB stick - easier to manage. Welcome to THE club.

I've seen a single muffler going for £800 plus, and a two piece system for around £1600. Fitting on top of that. Best option is to call around as replacing a back box by a non-Lexus, but competent workshop, shouldn't go against you when you sell on.

If you are a cash buyer, go for it. With a revamped IS250 on the horizon any older models will start to see their resale values drop and the dealers know this. You should be able to get a good deal.

There is a danger here that expectation does not meet the reality. I also have an IS250 and do find it a stiffer ride than my previous cars (E class). I, like many others I'm sure, expected to glide along in total silence during the test drive. Many years ago I’d test driven a used LS400 and was really impressed, I really couldn’t tell if the engine was running or not and during the drive it was like floating on air (which it was). The IS250 is not an LS400, nor does it have air suspension, so when making the comparison, the IS250 is a stiffer ride and not as silent as many would have you believe. Having said that it is a beautifully well made car and has less wind and road noise than many of its rivals, but there is a reason why there is a price difference between the ranges – and it’s not just to do with the engine size.

That looks a good deal. Just had 60k service - what mileage on the clock? Two years warranty seems generous, that should give you a big comfort factor.

Ok I give in. I wanted to upload a picture to appear in a post, which must be a common task and therefore well documented. I typed in a search for ‘Upload Images’ selecting the Help Files as the target. Brilliant – ‘A guide to viewing and adding images to the Gallery’ – that’s what I want. Clicked on the link and the first line looks promising:- ‘The gallery can be used to upload images you wish to share with the community. To access it, click the "Gallery" tab at the top of any page.’ That means ANY page right? Including the one that I’m on. Let’s see ‘Gallery’ … ‘Gallery’… Nope – no ‘Gallery’, in fact no tabs. Probably a typo, perhaps it means drop down link. Click… Click… Nope, no ‘Gallery’. Ah-ha ‘Media Library’, now that looks a likely candidate. Click… Now this looks odd; a badly formed page with parts of words appearing in random areas of the page. Scrolls down… Ah pictures, but alas no option to add or upload. No, this is no good, let’s go back to the Help page. Scrolls down: Ah-ha this is it. ‘Adding your images’ ‘Clicking an upload link or button will take you to the media upload page.’ Great, on my way at last. Now, where is that ‘Upload Link or button’? ‘Upload Link’…, ‘Upload Link’… - Geese Okay, I’m probably going about this the wrong way, lets view a post and start a reply. Here we go ‘ Reply to this topic’ Blah de blah de blah. Now let’s see if I can add an image. Wow, an ‘Image’ icon. This will be it… definitely. Click It’s asking for a URL – What URL? Why doesn’t it ask for my .jpg? Another blind avenue. No, No… wait… A ‘My Media’ icon. Of course! It will be plain sailing from now on. Click ‘Your Media Library’ … for media that you have uploaded. Sigh… Has anyone got a loaded revolver I can borrow?

Nice car. What colour is that? Incidently, not a good idea to display your actual reg plates.

Currently some Lexus dealers are doing a deal on Air Con servicing. Look at this link for a comprehensive list of checks. http://www.sytner.co.uk/lexus/aftersales/aftersales-offers/lexus-air-conditioning-offer.aspx If that doesn't sort it out - nothing will.

I'm sorry to say that I find the new-look grill really naf. So much so it would put me off buying a Lexus that had this look. Lexus need to have a definitive design and stick with it. The German opposition can be spotted instantly by their iconic front end. Yes, you can stylise it a bit to give it a more modern feel, but this looks more like some toothless old guy yawning.

Chris: Do you mean that you have the wheels stripped and powder coated every two years? Do they really only last that long? Nice motor Kev - enjoy.

Check the inside of your wheel to see if a weight has dropped off, usually obvious by a small clean square patch.

Sounds as if they are sorting it - hope it all goes well. Don't lose confidence in the car - it happens. Look on the bright side, while the mechanics have it they will be inclined to check it over for any other issues. If they are a reputable business they won't want you knocking on their door with another problem any time soon.

Was this a Lexus dealership?

Thanks for the pics. Well done that man - superb buy.

Love to hear how you managed to get that bargain. What is its history? 18k on a 98 anything is outstanding - but on a Lexus! Did someone have it stored?

I had a mate to re gas it so I know I wasn't been ripped off... And...?

I've had cars in the past with air-con that drip water just the way you described (melting ice), though of course this won't account for your coolant loss, it often does looks just like you are losing coolant at that point. Did the pooling look like coolant i.e. coloured? Clearly there is an issue with coolant loss, but just be sure that the two are connected.

Yep, The USB is the way to go. Depending on the amount of storage, you can get as much on it as you will ever need. I only hope that the manufacturers will pick up on this point as the CD player is becoming redundant. I put one CD in my 6 CD changer when I first got the car - its still there and I never play it, everything is on my USB stick. What we need now is a better way to navigate around that mass of data. Currently I only have the option to select next/previous folder or next/previous track. (Any different on yours?) What we need is a search/selection facility. I was also told that you can store music on the hard drive (if you have that version of the Navigation). Not yet tried that - still learning how to use the navigation software!

Super car. I'd love to hear about your driving experience in it to date. Love the wheels and the front design really looks the business.

After re-reading your post Leo, I'm puzzled how they (Halfords) managed to test the clutch with the selectors not working. I think that there is a lot more that they are not telling you. I think John's suggestion of getting it to a Lexus dealer might be the way to go, or if you belong to one of the national automobile organisations (like AA or RAC), they might inspect it and give you their report on the problem as well as the work that has been done on it. Halfords won’t be comfortable with that if they are hiding something. If the car can't be moved then you are looking at transport fees to get it to a Lexus dealership, whereas the AA would go to the car and probably ask some very pertinent questions.

@ jamie That was a little harsh. Surely the guy has a right to ask his question and get advice whether it's his first or 1000th post. Isn't that what the LOC is all about? Leo: I think Chris is absolutely correct. On the face of it they messed up and you should get someone who has a better command of the English language to write a letter to the manager which you can sign and post. My motto in all such cases like this is ‘Always get something in writing early on’. I'm not claiming to be an English literary genius, but I would be happy to draft something for you if you know no other.

Seriously impressed - I wish I had your technical and engineering skills.

I am new to the Lexus navigation system and have some difficulty with some of the terminology in the manual. For example, I am trying to find out how to store a current vehicle position as a saved destination. Would this be a memory point or a destination? Is there a quick way to do this? My current Landrover's system more or less gives you the option to store current position and give it a name. Simples! I'm sure there is something like that within the Lexus system, but I can't seem to track it down within the manual. I think the problem, at least for me, is that there is no glossary of terms or even a lead in at the begining of each section. e.g. 'Use this option to store the current postion of your car as a future destination.' Some of it is pretty intuative, but in my current system there are the staging or stop-off points, while destination is the Final destination. Would that translate to memory points and destinations in the Lexus system?

'Removing bulbs will result in a fail...' That's what's known as a joke Dave.

Just been reading that new MOT regs will mean that a warning light on your dash could mean a failure. Introduced in January of this year there has been a transition period of 'grace' due to end this summer (date yet to be released). I'm not saying that it's good to ignore any warning light, but from this year onwards, you will have no option. An example given by one guy was his Ford Focus (sorry about the double F -word) was showing an ESC warning light. On this occasion it passed but was warned that next time it would not, assuming that the light was still showing. The cost of a new unit £1740; value of his 2008 car - £4000. Anyone know how to disconnect a dash bulb in a Ford Focus?!