michaelH

I have a problem with an occasional tapping noise (a bit like a fingernail tapping gently on the metal casing of a pc) which is coming from the rear of the car (250 SE-L mm). I did previously have a major rattle problem from there. Lexus Leicester fitted a new rear sun blind under warranty, and padded out various other things at the back, but I would say the tap-tap noise is the same problem - reduced rather than cured.

I have read of others who have had rear end creaks or rattles in IS or GS models but does anyone have any idea as to what this tapping noise might be? Must be two surfaces touching (it is a rattle or tapping, not a creaking noise) and I don't think it is sun or heat related (but will monitor that possibility).

It seems to me there is too much play in the upper boot lining where the boot light is. Pushing on that I can easily create a tapping noise.

If it is indeed the sun blind and a new one still makes some noise, might removal and storage of the blind be a solution? Or de-activate it and pack it so that it cannot move at all?

Has anyone had rattle problems with the rear speakers? That is one area I have not explored so far

I recently traded my IS200 sport for a two 1/2 year old IS250 SEL auto mm, but today have a new GS450h on loan while Lexus Leicester fix some minor faults I found on the IS. The cheapest GS 450h was well above my budget and I decided against buying or even testing a GS 300 for a couple of reasons. The first was its size. I really did not fancy threading anything that size through a narrow multi-storey car park of the kind that it is sometimes hard to avoid using. Of course others put even bigger cars in such car parks, so I am just a wuss.

Having said that, the GS450h is so long that I can barely get it into my double garage. Well, I can get it in easily enough but cannot then walk around it unless I open the garage door first. Coming out I have to do a three point turn where the IS just backs straight around.

My other fear was depreciation. A big gas guzzler (300 or 430) will probably depreciate faster than a smaller less guzzly one. Also cheaper to tax and insure the smaller car. Yes, so on that reasoning I ought to have bought a Fiat 500 diesel, but anyway.... When I looked at used Merc CLKs before settling on the Lexus I noticed that the 200, 280 and diesel models were selling reasonably well, even if not that well equipped, but a fully loaded CLK 500 was languishing unsold even at a price below all the others. And like many others, no doubt, I wasn't going to burn my fingers with a group 19/20 gas guzzler.

Cost aside I think the IS250 is a better looking car. It is very comfortable and modern and has been much admired by family, colleagues etc. The auto gear box is stunningly good and I get about 36 mpg (actual measured consumption, not just the dash readout) from a mixed motorway / country road journey. I thought the ride a bit fussy at first, but quickly concluded that it is a very good ride as long as the tyre pressures are right.

The GS is about the same for front seat comfort, but the ride is even better (like a magic carpet). I think the IS250 is plenty quick enough for me, but in 450h form the GS has stunning overtaking ability, and that is without engaging the power boost button. Great car if you have the space for it and the money to buy it.

Is that a 38 mpg measured from the car's own digital readout? If so, it might be a little flattering, but perhaps reasonably close to the actual figure. I have just checked my 56 reg 250 auto's fuel consumption after a longish trip to Wales and back(mostly motorway and A-road, but including some Leicester city roads, welsh hills and a 1 in 4 climb) followed by a few shorter journeys, including a few miles of town driving. The tank was brim-filled before and after.

The displayed figure on arrival at Wales (top of the 1 in 4) was 40.2 mpg, helped by about 100 miles of fog, which kept speed down to 50 (and in places 40) even though the roads were very quiet.

The return journey was done with passenger, luggage and normal speeds, at the end of which the figure was down to 37.8. After a few more town and country miles, including several short journeys and rush hour traffic, it had fallen to a displayed 36.

I then refilled after 435 miles with the display warning me that my remaining range was 2 miles. In fact it took just 59 litres, which I think is 13 gallons give or take a pint. That suggests a true figure of nearer 33.5 mpg, which is respectable from a 204 hp petrol automatic.

So when the display says range now 0 there may in fact be about a gallon (or 5 litres) left in the tank, but that might vary a bit.

From lots of short journeys in and around town I have been getting more like 25 mpg, which is fair enough.

I once (but only once) managed 498 miles from my old IS 200 sport, but that had a bigger 70 litre tank, and my initial impression is that the 250 auto is slightly more economical, as the published figures suggest.

I have reduced the tyre pressures on my IS250 SEL from the recommended 35 front /38 rear to 34 front 35 rear, and I feel it gives a much better ride on typical poor quality surfaces, especially around town. I reduced the rear pressures by more than the front because I hardly ever carry rear seat passengers.

I would not expect this degree of change to impact significantly on tyre wear, fuel use or safety. But does anyone know why Lexus do not recommend different pressures for laden /unladen use? Is it because in practice few owners would bother to make the adjustment?

telling fibs about who was driving may seem like a little white lie but the courts treat it as perverting the course of justice and get very upset indeed. They send people to jail for it and it looks simply awful on your CV. If Dad has no insurance, then yes of course they will find out and then it will really hit the fan

Do they really put the camera vans on empty motorways? Or was it a dual carriageway?

Photos as promised (old faithful and new car on trade-in day). Pity it had to rain.

All sorted now:doing the part-exchange on Wednesday. Thanks to the snow and the creaky dashboard it has been a long wait.

I will take some pictures on Wednesday, before it gets any dirt on it.

Had a test drive today and looked over it carefully. All seems good except for a creaking noise from the dashboard when driving over uneven country roads. Lexus Leicester insist that they can and will fix this by inserting a foam layer behind it. Yes, I know it is a familiar problem, but I hope that means they will at least know what to do with it. I have said that I will buy the car if and when it is fixed. Not exactly a great result, and I do wonder whether I should just have walked away, but in most respects it seems like a pretty good buy: very quiet, very well specced and well looked after.

Well, the new IS250 is languishing at Sytner Bristol until the weather clears a little, so my old IS200 will have to soldier on for a few more days at least.

No. An ASBO (and even an interim ASBO) is a court order and involves a court hearing.

Interesting issues here. One thing is clear: the case will not be resolved by a decision of the Crown Court. That court's ruling (whatever it is) will almost certainly be challenged by way of an appeal to the High Court. It is possible that the High Court's ruling would then be the subject of a further appeal to the House of Lords, but only if either the High Court or the House of Lords gives leave for such an appeal to be heard. So this could drag on for months.

There are too many loophole defences out there, but this may be something more than that.

With luck (and weather permitting) I will be joining the ranks of IS250 owners later this week. I've had five and a half years of near-perfect service from my IS200 sport, but I did test drive a pair of Merc CLK 200 coupes as well as an IS250SE auto +mm. I have now provisionally bought a red 250SE-L auto +mm /sunroof that they are bringing over from Bristol for me to approve. Picture attached (hopefully). No doubt I will have some questions for you all later.

Time to move on after five and half years and just under 50,000 miles. All being well I will say goodbye to my blue 02 sport (which I have had from Sept 2003 and now has 83,000 on the odo) on Thursday and take delivery of a 56 reg IS250 SE-L mm auto in Mesa Red. All subject to final approval of the new car when it is brought up to Leicester from Bristol on Wednesday.

I haven't posted much for a few years now, mostly because there hasn't been much to report. Nothing really has ever gone wrong with it, except when I scuffed the front bumper (a little). A bit of inside edge tyre wear, but not much. Great car. Test drove a Merc CLK200k (08 plate) that sounded quite rough in comparison.

For what its worth I think that superguarding was a good investment and will have it done to the new one.

GX02 ROC in case you see it for sale or at auction.

I paid to have my (used) Lexus supaguarded inside and out when I bought it 28 months and 26,000 miles ago. Since then I have occasionally added non-abrasive wax to bring up the shine, but have need to do little more than vacuum the inside.

Was it worth it? I think so. The outside finish seems quite resistant to minor chips (next to nothing on the bonnet) and looks really shiny from a distance even when not all that clean. But I could not say for sure that the supaguard has made the difference to the outside. What I can say is that a few months ago I was looking under the passenger seat for a key that had slid down between the seat and the centre console, and failed to notice that I had cut my hand until I saw blood stains everywhere. A few dabs with a clean cloth and there was nothing to be seen. So does it work on the inside? It must have done. I can't think why else the stains would have come off so easily.

more evil news from the BBC, spider phobics:

A chef bitten by a deadly spider in his pub kitchen was saved after experts were able to identify the creature from a picture on his mobile phone.

Matthew Stevens was attacked by the Brazilian Wandering Spider which was hidden in a box of bananas delivered to the Quantock Gateway pub in Bridgwater.

Thinking quickly despite the shock, he managed to snap a picture, which he later showed to doctors.

Experts at Bristol Zoo were able to identify it and suggest an antidote.

Mr Stevens, 23, from Bridgwater, Somerset, took nearly a week to recover from the bite following treatment at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.

He said: "I was never scared of spiders before but I certainly am now. I do feel very lucky, it was extremely painful.

"I didn't know what it was when I was bitten. It felt like a rose thorn, I just felt shocked when I saw the spider scuttling away."

The Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria fera) is one of the most venomous and deadly spiders in the world, and is known for its speed and aggression.

(more evil laughter)

actually I am a spider phobic too (but when they are big and scary)

Your spider isn't one of these 'wandering spiders' I hope:

Quote from BBC:

The Wandering Spider is one of the world's most deadly spiders

A woman from Cornwall used the internet to identify a poisonous spider after she was bitten by one hidden in bananas bought from a local supermarket.

Kim Boxwell, 24, of St Columb Minor, near Newquay, was bitten by a Brazilian Wandering Spider which was in a bunch of bananas from a Co-op store.

She was taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital and given antihistamines.

The spider, which is known for its speed and aggression, is usually found in banana plantations.

'Rare occurrence'

Ms Boxwell developed a rash from the bite after buying the bananas on 11 August.

As her symptoms got worse, she called NHS Direct and was taken by ambulance to the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

However, the spider could not be formally identified because it was not captured.

A Co-op spokeswoman said: "Our customer relations manager did speak to the customer to check she was OK.

"We have apologised and she will receive a gift to compensate for any concern or unpleasantness this may have caused.

"This is a very, very rare occurrence. There are a number of stringent checks in place and our supplier hasn't known of any spiders to be harmful."

ps -

This report doesn't mention that the spider was a baby. Ms Boxwell now fears that the said baby is now growing into a full size killer spider somewhere under her floorboards.

Sweet dreams all of you

(evil laughter)

Professor of criminal justice at a midlands university: also write and contribute to books and articles on criminal law and evidence (eg Blackstone's Criminal Practice). Perhaps some of the police officers here know it? I don't do all that much much on road traffic law though - sorry.

I hope it really is in confidence, because people are being invited here to offer a legally admissible confession to a common law offence of perverting the course of justice (for which they could potentially go to jail for several months). Doing it for money would surely be seen as a grave aggravating feature. Don't do it (obviously!) but if you have already done it don't fess up.

ad77: my £300 acorne voucher gave me 4 or 5 mins in a ferrari 355, 4 or 5 mins in a lotus and one short lap in a 4 x 4 (plus a 3-minute passenger ride a fireblade kit car). Other people paying £300 by other means got pretty much the same at this venue. They were also selling a £129 'solo Ferrari experience' but that will buy you just the 4-5 minute supercar drive and a short passenger ride (allow 2 hours at the venue, however!). If time permits (depends on how busy they are) you may be able to buy a second drive for (I think) £40, which makes it better value than my £300 package, but still not good value if you ask me. Oh yes, we all had a 'familiarisation session' - but as a passenger in an fully loaded minibus (I kid you not).

very shiny. I think you have to use a less abrasive polish on the numberplates though.

As it happens we are both lawyers, although we specialise in crime. She thinks it might be worth a punt in the small claims court on the basis of misrepresentation, but I am not so sure. The booklet does (in the small print) mention allocation to 'teams', and although that arrived after the contract was made there was a right of full refund within 14 days.

As to trading standards, it might be worth a complaint on the basis of a false trade description as to the provision of services (Trade Descriptions Act 1968, s 14) where 'false' can effectively include ' technically not untrue, but still misleading'. Is it misleading to call a five minute bash in a supercar (involving standing around waiting for half a day) a 'half day supercar experience'?

Another problem is that the voucher came from virgin/acorne but the driving experience was provided by another company. Hmn, have to look that up somewhere... or (when the wife calms down) just put it down to experience. But I do at least have a questionnaire to complete and returne to virgin/acorne. Was I pleased? Was I ****!

And of course I can at least warn Lexus owners of the 5 minute experience.

My wife bought me a virgin/acorne supercar experience voucher for my 50th birthday in October. I got around to using it last saturday. First problem was that I had to travel some distance, because my local motorsport venue, Mallory Park (although listed in the voucher booklet) apparently did not regard such vouchers as valid for driving any kind of supercar (only rally cars or something like that). Oh well, drove up to an old airfield in staffs, looking forward to my 4 hours or so of excitement. I thought there might be some waiting around, but smelled a rat when I realied that there were dozens of customers but just ONE Ferrari. In the end I probably had about 4-5 minutes driving the aforesaid Ferrari, a similar time in a lotus and three or four minutes in a jeep. If I had been faster around the 'circuit' (such as it was) I would have been in the cars for an even shorter time. The instructors were good (and very generous in their assessments: 'nice drive' = 'slow but didn't crash it' and 'superb drive' = not as slow as the first time...) but the facilities were very cramped and poor, given that we all had to spend 95% of the time standing around and waiting (thank *** it wasn't raining!)

Bah. You think I'm grumpy? My wife was beside herself with rage when she found out how it worked (even though I didn't moan to her but told her I had enjoyed it). It was only then that I found out how much she had paid for the voucher.

My point is this - shouldn't the advert or brochure make it clear that your £300 'half day supercar experience' buys you only 5 minutes or less in a supercar? why not call it a 'five minute supercar experience' instead? Then at least you know what you are paying for...

i thought that even then they cant keep what is not theres,  they would have to take you to the small claims to pursue money,, not hold your car to ransom..

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If you don't pay for expressly or implicitly authorised repairs, the garage may have a 'repairer's lien' under which they have the legal right to retain the car until paid. There was a case once (R v Turner) in which the owner sneakily repossessed his car and was successfully prosecuted for stealing it.

That could not happen if the owner rightly or wrongly believed that he had the legal right to drive it away (because he is not then 'dishonest')

If however you fill your fuel tank before realising you have forgotten your wallet, and admit to this, they have no right to detain you or your car. The fuel is now yours - you just owe them for it. Making off without payment (with intent to avoid payment) is an offence, of course.

A lex as a first car is astonishing. My first car was an ancient k reg mini clubman estate (it was ancient even in 1978!) I was always afraid to look underneath because the rust was so scary, and the wheels were never balanced properly so they always vibrated badly at 70. Then I moved on to something much newer (a T reg chrysler Sunbeam 1.3 which had a fierce clutch and a very dodgy fuel gauge (ran out of petrol twice, but once it was almost on the forecourt of a filling station). Then an A reg Mazda 323 1.3, which was soo much better and even had five gears, then an F reg 1.5 323 estate which was the dogs bollocks because it had power steering and was a doddle to park with aid of a little reversing mirror on the back window, err... then a M reg 323F 1.5 which was quite a looker but not so comfortable inside, then an N reg Toyota Celica, which I loved and pampered (unlike the poor old Mazdas which were workhorses and dog carriers) and was almost faultless over three years, despite its age, and finally my Lex, which of course is easily the best of the lot.

None of those cars was less than 18 months old when acquired and some (including the Celica) were much older.

Is JC good at what he does? If I wanted a journalist or presenter who is merely amusing and outrageous then JC would do quite nicely. If I want a motorising correspondent who provides fair, balanced and informative reviews or coverage of current issues, then he is not really up to it (or does not try hard enough).

As for the GS review, I have seen him slag off a recent Merc and the BMW 1 series even more, but that isn't the point. If I were his editor, I would have rejected the piece (or demanded revisions) on the basis that it was illogical and irrational. He is entitled not to like the car's appearance, or to describe the driving experience as bland or unsatisfying. We know what kind of car he does like (Ariel Atom for example or Ford GT) and I don't doubt that the big Lexus is not the right car for him. But in what sense is the car an 'imposter' or a 'Mercedes clone'? Clearly not in the sense that the soviet Concordski was a Concord clone. They are very different in lots and and lots of ways. Because like an E-class it is a large luxurious car? That is just nonsense. Is Mercedes the only company that should be allowed to build such things, or what? You do not clone a car merely by trying to build something better to rival it. Or is it that the Japanese are funny little people who are just not up to it? Words fail me on that point....

In the end, JC lets blind prejudice take over from proper journalism, so he is at heart a tabloid journalist, and perhaps he should write for tabloid papers instead (or does he write for both?).