Shahpor

Doesn't everyone do that?

Welcome Rare cars to see at main dealers Rebecca is right, it is very nice looking.

Where did that come from? My toys come out of the pram? Perhaps we are biased in different directions? After all, I seem to recall you posting your dislike of it on more than one 220d thread? And how many arguments have I started about it? I do what everyone else does, and that is state my opinion. It is very hard to get things across on a forum sometimes. I have very specific objections to certain things about the 220d on here, so it is not just anything that I dislike. If you are wondering what they are, I have handily mentioned them all 10 months ago here: Are we going to see eye to eye on this subject? Unlikely, since we have had different experiences, but I do think that you are overstating the issue a bit.

@bagpusWhile I appreciate what you say, I am not sure it warranted bumping a 7 month old thread.

Thanks Phil. I am afraid it is one of those that looks good from afar, but gradually gets worse the nearer you get. Don't get me wrong it is not terrible, but there are little marks all over, part of the rear bumper has been coloured with a paint pen, and all the motorway miles have firmly peppered the front with stone chips. Well, hopefully, after Friday I will not have to mention cement marks again.

Hehe, it would certainly be a novel, if potentially expensive, form of advertising.

Well, the builder called me about an hour after he got the message, and to be honest, he was so nice and apologetic, that I am only going to get him to pay for the damaged areas. He hasn't even seen the car - or the pictures - but he happily agreed to pay for the repair, and even apologised for the hassle of getting the quote. Is it strange that next time I need some building work done, I want him to come and do it? Anyway, the valet guy is coming to me on Friday afternoon, so hopefully it will all be sorted then. Although, I am tempted to ask him how much to fix a couple of other marks on the car while he is here. The only thing stopping me is I am not sure how long I will have this car, and at this age I can't imagine it will matter that much if it has the odd scratch here and there.

Well, it is raining and gloomy here, but I tried to get some snaps of the worst of the damage: These are the best I could do of the scratches on the passengers door. Above the door: I spoke to a valet company and they have quoted me £72 to just repair these two. The car has many marks on the rest of it, but since I am going to try and get the builders to pay for the repairs, I can't ask them to cover the cost of the whole car.

Thanks chaps. Well, I have just had a word with the neighbour. Very nice and said she will pass on my number to the builder when he appears. Perhaps he might agree to pay for a mop to try and get the scratches out. We will see I suppose.

I did think about it, but the problem is that I have cleaned it off now, so apart from a few marks and scratches, there is very little evidence of what caused it. The pictures do make it obvious, but unfortunately pictures aren't the same as physical evidence.

Yeah, I can appreciate it is easily done and they can't see my car over the wall, but they must have seen some splatter on their side. It has left a few scratches after it was removed. Like I said, hopefully they aren't too deep and can be polished out. Yep, there seem to be one or two that have left a mark in the clear coat, but it isn't immediately obvious. To be honest, I was very annoyed when I saw it, but as I was going around the car checking, I saw how many other marks there are on it and it reminded me that it is a 9 year old car with over 130k miles on it, so a few marks are to be expected. Still no excuse for being careless though.

So, this greeted me this morning: Wasn't quite sure what to make of it other than the fact it was only on one side. I then get home and see this: Yep, that space is where my car was parked and it was indeed cement stuck to my car. Took it to the local jet wash place and managed to get most of it off, but there are some scratches that I hope will polish out. I wish people would take more care. I am going to go have a word when they are about to ask them to be more careful from now on. Also, I am going to try and avoid parking there while they are cementing. Anyway, rant over and hopefully it is the end of it.

I know this is probably not going to be a popular option but could you borrow a little to up your budget a bit? I do think that it is sometimes a false economy to buy a cheaper car since you end up spending more in the long run on repairs than you would if you had just bought the more expensive car in the first place. It is a good idea to keep adding to your budget and not be hasty, but I am just thinking of a situation where a nice one is potentially available before you have enough cash saved.

Excellent work as always John. One thing though; You are no doubt more than capable, and it could be a bad picture, but the positioning of those ramps doesn't look particularly safe? Wouldn't want anything to happen to you.

Well, at least you can clearly make out his number plate. The real crime here though is your taste in music.

Robb, while I certainly appreciate and agree on what you are saying regarding proper repairs, in the case of a small prang, wouldn't second hand parts still be up to the job? For example, if a car needed a new front wing, headlight and bumper, wouldn't fitting good condition second hand parts from the same model work equally as well from a performance point of view? Now I know insurance companies can't get involved with used parts, but it would make it economically viable to buy a write off and repair it yourself.

Not a problem. The website that Lee has linked has all the answers for you. Yep, the wood trim was only available on the SE-L, and the Xenon's were standard. For reference, the console on SE-L's looks like this: Also, the Xenon lights have washer jets, which you can see from the covers on the bumpers: Although at your price point, you would be very lucky to get a SE-L. An SE is most likely.

I would avoid this one based on its MOT history. It looks like it is going to need some work done on it soon. It is also not an SE-L as advertised since it doesn't have the Xenon lights or wooden centre console. I do find it funny he also states that it is very good on fuel because it goes 50 miles on £10.

What about this one? http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201706216647707?make=LEXUS&model=IS 250&price-to=3000&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&sort=sponsored&transmission=Automatic&radius=1500&postcode=nw90ar&page=1 By no means perfect, but it depends on how picky you want to be? You could ask for some better pictures of the scuffs, and perhaps you could knock a few hundred off the asking price? It also doesn't have a terrible MOT history and a full dealer service history would be a nice bonus. The only real issue is 1 key, but as has already been mentioned, some flexibility is required.

Well, speaking from personal experience, mine had 109k miles on it when I bought it. It now has 131k and has been generally reliable these last 2 years. As Andrew has pointed out though, you might have to accept a higher mileage car for your budget.

Hi, It seems to have suffered all the usual faults already, so hopefully they won't be a problem again for some time to come. Are you also getting the brake pipe looked at?

I have had 3 new calipers fitted by Lexus in the last year, so it is definitely worth the time to get the greased up regularly. I would do, but since I have an extended warranty, they keep replacing them before I get a chance.

7 years is a long time to have one car, so I don't blame you. Although, whether it be 7 years or 7 months, as much as I love my car I would swap it in a heartbeat for a GS450H F Sport. I sat in a new GS300H Premier yesterday and was very impressed.

Good point

That is very interesting, nice one. You have done a lot of miles in it, and apart from the odd niggle, it seems to have done alright. Perhaps this will be a good reminder to other to clean their EGR Valves more regularly. Do you plan to keep it much longer? Edit: Having thought about it, I am also the 2nd owner of mine and I have what I think it all the paperwork, so perhaps I should do something similar. I would have to become much less lazy though.