MartinH

...a decent looking GS-F here. Good-looking example, but is £40K rather strong money?

35.9 mpg this tank, 37.8 mpg previous, mostly on cruise on the M1 in low 70s mph, sometimes a little more. E5 fuel.

Wow, what an torrent of responses — plenty of ideas to choose from here! Thanks guys!

New clear headlamp covers are available from PRC: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175364725815 Does anyone have experience in fitting these? Presumably the old cover has to be pried off and the new one bonded on. Does not sound mad difficult. But a fiddle faddle no doubt.

Ah yes, it was a Turtle Wax product I used, employing all grades of abrasive pad that came in the box, finishing with the included sachet of 'clarifying' liquid. Is the Meguiar's better?

Yes, the polishing product was supplied with a sachet of clear finish that I assume is intended to do this, and was applied as instructed. Your point on compliance and insurance is one that had not occurred to me, and is a further reason to avoid third-party headlamps. Does anyone know where I might find headlamps at a more reasonable price?

On a trip down the A1 in north Notts recently, in dark and rain, I found the headlamps of my '07 IS250 worryingly poor. They have yellowed, of course, and I have polished them several times with a recommended product (Turtle Wax I think). But they dull again quickly. Lighting has improved a lot since that car was built, and I had wondered about replacing them with modern units. I looked at a couple of third-party products (VLAND etc), without much enthusiasm because the car has always had OEM replacement parts. Fitting new OEM headlights is very costly at Lexus main-agent price, but better lighting is one thing this car really needs to restore its all-round likeability. What does the Owners Club hive-mind think?

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As pleasing as it is in use, the sunroof proved an unexpected Achilles' heel. The gutter surrounding the roof has narrow drainpipes voiding... somewhere. But they can block. (Rodding them through is not ofc a service item.) The spill worked its way down through the A-pillar and into the electronics, causing the car to have a fit — trailered away to Lexus Edgware Road, for the second time in a year. (Previous occasion was to have all the electronics fixed.) It took the techs a little while to figure it out but was all done foc under the warranty for the previous work, thank goodness.

Ha yes that's the colour of my car and I love it! Very seldom seen in the London area or anywhere else I've driven for that matter. Can't get with your beef about the interior, the tan leather seats with heat/vent are really nice and so too the matching carpets, tho not ideal for muddy boots of course. Sunroof and Levinson too, on an SE... the dude who specced this car was mindful of car tax liability I reckon.

My IS250 is same year as yours but has been serviced for its lifetime by Lexus agents (Lexus Edgware Road for the 11 years I've owned it). Regardless, I have had to pay some big repair bills. Things do just wear out! It remains a pleasure to own and use, and I concur with @LenT above that, on balance, it's worth it. (The cost of a new Corolla is not trivial.)

That, together with an annual service, landed me with an £800 bill with Lexus Edgware Road. But the harsh front-end jolts have gone away, and this dealer now offers a zero-cost plan to spread these unplanned interventions. This is a lot less horrible than the prospect of crossing the road to buy a new Toyota Corolla which is, let's face it, all the car most of us really need.

The answer is in your own post — keep your old car

24-hour racing in Gran Canaria? Please tell us more. (I have only limited experience of riding there.)

Now there is a meta-topic

As a former owner of two generations of Camry V6, I can say they were then by far the best cars I'd owned or driven, and led me on to Lexus ownership, which has proved an even greater pleasure but — alas! — not so reliable or cost-effective an experience.

As an aside, I routinely set the cruise on the IS250 — a crude control by today's standards. When I borrowed a UX with ACC, it was apparent how much greater the programmed stand-off distance from the vehicle in front was than my own habitual visual assessment — the car would back off long before I would do. Driver can vary that distance using the ACC settings, but it was an interesting lesson in how one's own habits may fall short of best practice.

Brooks saddle on an Orbea, wow that is pretty niche

@vectron was selling his last year, and it sounded quite perfect. But that's 15 months ago

Can I trouble you to put up a picture please?

An interesting swap that I too (as a former Toyota owner) have contemplated. Keep us up to date please

Looks good in green

Yerbut IS250 for a quarter that money

Tax regime wd not have been kind to this car had it been offered in the UK. Still, a pity we missed out on it!

Ah yes, an interesting post — subscribed