Jules PF

52 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Irrelevant, based on same logic - you have driven IS250 in the past, I have driven IS300h in the past and as you don't have IS250 right now, so how can you compare? Sport only changes throttle and makes judder off the line more pronounced and harsher. 

That is not the point, I can get myself Bugatti............

Not irrelevant and I did explain why. Time spent to adapt and LEARN.  I have owned 2nd and 3rd gen 250 and 300h. Actually owned and driven for years, not a 24 hour test. All my experiences are based on that. So totally relevant. 

You can't afford a Bugatti....:)

Original poster, I hope you take the plunge and enjoy the 300h, I certainly do. 

Fair enough. But I don't have a problem, save for people who denigrate other people and think the road belongs to them and their particular peccadillos.

However I can't help but note you don't actually own a 300h. People who own them, in the main, adapt to the capabilities of the car (like the use of the sport mode) it is like having 2 different cars. Just having one for 24 hours is not the same.  Hit the sport button and throttle is more sensitive and drives very different. Never have problems with acceleration out of junctions, hills etc. Some people (like you) don't like them. It is a free country, many more cars available.

I really don't want to get into a ****** contest here, but Linas, the road conditions include traffic! Even on the autobahn doing xxx speed, if other people are driving slower, wrong lane etc, that is the road condition. Not just the infrastructure or weather,  and you drive accordingly to those conditions. Green traffic light also doesn't mean go!

@Linas quote 'but I want to be the one who decides when and how I drive. '

That is the problem. The road conditions should dictate this, not your personal whims.

But you are right lane discipline in the UK is poor. Worse than other countries? Maybe, Germany and strangely Greece in my experience,  being the best.

39 minutes ago, darrude said:

I do think the IS300h is under powered.  It doesn't to me feel like a 220bhp car, although I have no issue with power delivery and dont feel any change or bump from the electric to ICE.    The Main issue for me is throttle response.  if you plan a sudden change then using the fake gears to pre rev the engine helps, but quickly pulling out on say a roundabout by punching the pedal seems to take an age.  Although not as bad as an Audi A5 CVT... 

I have worked in Germany for many years, and have had warnings from many a German about the responsibilities when travelling too fast on the autobahn.  I believe it to be true, as from multiple sources in various parts of Germany.

I see your point, but learned quickly the 'gears' are pretty useless, as cvt don't have any! The 300h can in theory drive as fast in reverse than forward! I've learned to be a little more predictive and use the sport mode, seems to have sufficient power to get you in or out of trouble.

4 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

You are just different driver or something you have above. You know that outside lanes are for "overtaking" so it doesn't matter what speed you are doing, if you not overtaking you have to move over - I don't understand why British drivers don't get it.

What cars you had makes no difference, what makes the difference is what kind of driver you are and what are your needs, if IS300h is enough for you - fine. But don't claim IS300h is enough for everyone. For me it is slow, for me IS250 is too slow as well, if I would want something more from the car it would be quicker gear changes and few less seconds 0-60.. still better then IS300h.

More condescending tosh. I do in excess of 50k miles a year. I am fully aware of the use of the correct lanes. Driving since 1984, max NCB,  zero fault accident since 1986. Do I drive like a pensioner, no. Do I drive considerately and for the road conditions, yes. Does this ever mean 100+ mph, not on your or anyone else's life, NO.

If the motorway or A road is congested with no space to change lanes, and one is the outer lane, you cannot travel faster than the person in front.of you,  you do know that right?! So no amount of tailgating, flashing lights, indicating etc is necessary. You or drivers like you are not the Police, we do not have to change lanes for YOU on a congested road. Which part of that do you not understand? 

Where did I claim 300h was enough for everyone? Yep nowhere. The fact is people have voted with their respective wallets, and were not buying a 13 year old engined car (nor its replacement the 200T) and preferred the 300h. 

0.6 seconds faster to 60mph wow, big deal!  Certainly insufficient reason not to buy the 300h, as sales testify. 

Try a race track for your thrills and 'hard driving' not the road. 

2 hours ago, Linas.P said:

It doesn't make them redundant and you are wrong to claim that 0-60 times are identical, just factually wrong. Power delivery is vastly inferiour on IS300h from where I stand.. if you cannot notice that then it is different question altogether (about senses). From stand still IS300h power delivery is awful and inconsistent, if you try to push it to the limits you will get initial jump from electric motor torque up-to ~ 10-15MPH (which isn't nice), then power dip and another kick from ~25MPH when ICE comes to power. Feels like broken and sounds even worse in my opinion, the power transfer between EV and ICE is not smooth at all. IS250 hesitates a little bit at first, lack of torque from NA engine, but then accelerates very linearly and consistently, the engine noise as well increases consistently and sounds great from ~3000-4000 RPM.

Now obviously if you accelerate like pensioner none of that is going to be problem for your. Basically if you take 20s to accelerate to 0-60 with IS250, then obviously you not going to feel any difference taking same 20s accelerating in IS300h. However, if you try accelerate in claimed 8.0s and 8.6s respectively for IS250 and IS300h... the IS250 is the car which makes it much more enjoyable. 

If we compare them from "rolling start", then I can start to see where you are coming from. IS300h doesn't have gears so doesn't need to "kick-down" and say accelerating from 40-60 will be smoother in IS300h and would probably take the same time. However, I do prefer "kick down" and "rev-up" on IS250 vs. IS300h - fair enough it is not as fuel efficient, but much more enjoyable and alive.

Going to max speed point - yes UK national speed limit is outdated and obsolete, there is no much point having car which is much faster then 90MPH if you never leave UK, however I do drive in EU and I often do well in excess of 120MPH. Finally, even doing standard UK motorway speeds IS300h starts loosing it's efficiency edge.. that is not negative point as IS300h is obviously designed to be driven mostly in city. MPG of IS300h and IS250 becomes pretty much the same around 65MPH and crosses at ~75MPH from where IS250 actually becomes more fuel efficient. 

Now ... what is my point.. IS300h is great city car, especially saving fuel in traffic and on speeds of up-to 50-60MPH, great replacement for IS200/220d as a city car, quite good if you take it "very easily". However, it doesn't make IS250 obsolete, it is less enjoyable to drive, especially if you drive harder or at higher speeds, it either makes no sound or dreadful sound, in IS250 on the other hand the harder you drive, the better it feels, the more you push the car them more it will give. So in summary - everyone tho their own, but IS300h is not an upgrade for IS250.. it is just completely different car for completely different type of person. 

Ist paragraph. I do not recognise any of that whatsoever.  My 300h has great power delivery and no inconsistency.

2nd paragraph . Condescending arrogant tosh. I have owned well in excess of 50 cars, from a 380bhp 4x4 cosworth to a brand new Peugeot 406, 1.6 (company supplied) !   I have also driven in europe, many time, America too. Never felt the need to travel in excess of 100, except in the cossie (uk) when I was younger and more foolish. Maybe this describes you? Your post has me in mind of a 'hard driver' I encountered on the A3 recently. Cutting in and out, tailgating people who dare to travel at the 50 mph limit and generally being a dangerous jerk. 6 miles later he's 50 metres ahead of me, stuck in traffic. 20 minutes later I choose another route to the same end and there he is stuck at the queue at lights as I cruise past. All that 'hard driving' to end behind me by some margin. Pointless. If you want excess speed and thrills, try a track. Unfortunately I've seen first hand the results of inappropriate speed, most of the time other people pay the price.

Owned both 250 (2nd and 3rd generation)  and 300h , from no stand point is the 15 years old engine of the 250 comparable to 300h in power delivery or refinement.  Done a motorway journey in 300H at steady 70-80 pretty much all the journey, 52 mpg, what loss of efficiency?. Sound is not an issue for me, I have read the journalists reports of the cvt drone and its not something I experience at all.

The 300H has out sold the 250 and 200T many times over, hence the decision by Lexus to drop both from the UK, so the 300H has in effect made them redundant. 

On 5/16/2018 at 2:43 PM, Linas.P said:

I completely agree with "relative" and that is probably why I found the rest to be exactly opposite. That is as well the reason I mentioned IS250 and IS200/220d, so from IS220d perspective IS300h is huge step-up, in performance and refinement. If one was happy with IS220d, then IS300h will be improvement over that... However, whenever I get in one I cannot wait to get back into IS250 or something faster.

I have owned and driven an IS250 and IS300h back to back, both MY2014.  The 300h is just as quick and the power delivery is vastly superior. The 0-60 times are identical. Obviously, mpg is vastly superior in the 300h, even when in sport mode, where there is no discernible difference in performance to the 250. Top speed is much reduced in the 300h, however, 100mph is a driving ban in the UK, further it is simply irresponsible to drive that fast.  Add in the reduced fuel costs, it is no surprise to me Lexus have dropped the 250 and its replacement, the 200T,  due to poor sales. The 300h makes them pretty redundant in the real world.

You do get some extremely unrealistic sellers, £12.8k is way too much, you can get a 'straight' one for that! Think you made the right decision. The seller (in my case) said he was inundated with people offering silly money (£8-9k) and a few scammers so was a bit skeptical and unresponsive to potentially genuine buyers. 

I would look at a minimum of 25% of an undamaged example. If not simply walk away. 

Thanks barnsEire, fingers crossed its a good one. Love it at the moment, 51mpg on a motorway run, very good solid feel. Don't understand the many comments from journalists about the drone of the cvt, not getting that at all.  Bit spooky when it starts on electric motor, 2 people have walked out in front of me so far, due to lack of noise!

Its no longer listed because I bought it.

I have had many cat c and d cars, never had a single problem insuring them, across at least 4/5 insurers. Problem is always selling,  needs to be cheap, but you bought it cheap remember. Key for me is to absolutely avoid anything with multiple owners ( 1 or 2 max) and no service history. HPI check is mandatory, no silly text checks.

If purchased correctly, they provide outstanding value. This one I negotiated to a tad over £10k.  Its 2014 MY IS300H,  69k, full Lexus dealer history to 61k, one previous owner,  F sport spec in that beautiful blue with sat nav, camera. Only fault currently is washer fluid reminder notice when its full. Everything else works perfectly. Needs new boots, already ordered Uniroyal Rainsport 3.  I do intend to keep her for a while, so the saving of 4-5k is fantastic. 

The thing that people forget is many cars have accidents and are not recorded at all, as the insurance company repair them, or they repair them themselves. These cars are not recorded anywhere, and command an 'unblemished' price premium. At least with a cat c or d (now n and s) car you are aware and can judge and price accordingly,  rough guide -25%.

Very happy with it, damage was to the rear and appears to be a flawless repair. Boot floor, rear quarters, batteries, no problems.

I beat you to that one.

Considering the cat c the condition is first class. Full dealer history too.

Yes, but the fact it does means something is not right. I had a bmw 535d which did the same thing, in that case it was a faulty boot strut not damping the spring. Ours will be similar.

I was referring to the boot flying open when released. A few have posted this previously. 

My boot doesn't do that at all. Think it could be the boot strut or spring needs replacement, as its not damping the action sufficiently.

1 hour ago, bobmc said:

This is the problem, they generally don't especially Lexus dealers.

 

Yes agree. I don't know why, I'm only a reasonably competent DIYer and have seen this problem for at least 15 years. How this extremely simple and cheap 'grease and seal' job gets past a Lexus (plus jaguar and others) technicians is beyond me, particularly when its brakes! So somewhat important!

Done this job on 2nd gen is250. I ordered the pins from https://afcparts.co.uk/

Brakes on the is 250 all versions should be pin sharp, if not first port of call is these pins.

Think I've posted on this before, when I had the 2nd gen is 250. The slide pins on the caliper just need to be lubricated regularly ( maybe every 2 years). If they are stuck the braking is very poor, but replacement pins and rubber boots are available, getting them out can be a trial, on mine I had to drill, tap and insert a bolt to remove the broken corroded pin. 

Many cars have this issue,  Jaguar I know of ( having done the same job!) but its a maintenance issue that any competent garage should check and perform at servicing.

If you want to retain the original feel, I wouldn't recommend powerflex or similar polyurethane bushes, I have done in the past and have found them too harsh.  

Or Opie Oils.

Have you tried what I suggested earlier? To me, the way you describe sounds just like a caliper pin or brake pad anti rattle clip is loose. Try putting your foot very slightly on the brake pedal when its noisy. My car sounded like the video you posted, if was just one anti rattle clip on the offside pad. The noise was reverberating on other components and sounded like the entire front end was loose. Only when hot would suggest, obviously, friction heat. The only part subject so affected would be the brakes.

If you have recently had work done start looking there first. Did you do the caliper pin job?

Shock mounts?  Very hard to diagnose.

If the a/r bushes and links have been replaced, have they been torqued correctly with weight of the car on the suspension? I once did a Renault and forgot to do this, it was very noisy and I was a little embarrassed!

I know nothing of the 220d. However hunting is usually an air leak post the afm sensor. Or faulty afm?

Depends on the warranty fine print. My guess would be no, wear and tear would likely be the get out clause, but why not give it a go, got nothing to lose.

It a common problem on many cars. I've had a Jaguar that had the same issues.

Posted before, but pins and rubber protection (no not that kind!!) here http://afcparts.co.uk/home.php

Best price I've seen anywhere for the original  FK20HBR11 is at Opie Oils. I'd stick with original. Doing the change is a bit of a task, intake manifold has to come off, so best stick with original for longevity.