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A bit off topic here and a bit of a rant too. I think you might be a tad optimistic. Future Governments may well continue to unfairly target owners of cars with high emissions because they can. After all, they do now regardless of whether it is properly justified or not, backed by apparent, although completely spurious "Green" credentials. Even if the extra carbon footprint of manufacturing a new car compared with putting up with higher emissions on an existing one is disregarded; current graduated VED does not even remotely reflect a car's actual carbon output. As just one (maybe extreme) instance, my ISF pollutes at a mighty 270gm/km - but I bought it knowing I was going to do low mileage, a result of which is very much less carbon actually deposited in a year than for the averagely-used zero VED rated car - with £405 VED for the privilege. I am fully resigned to this and for it to keep disproportionately increasing "to protect our planet". The top end VED is really based purely on the idea that if you can still afford to buy or run a big-engined car; then you can afford higher VED - and if you buy new, you can afford the extra punitive new-sale tax imposed from 2008 on "polluting" cars. This doesn't "protect our planet"; it just makes it more expensive to live on it. Can you see any Government giving up a source of extra income whether it is justly extracted or not? A fairer, simpler and cheaper to collect tax on fuel won't happen either - last time Government proposed this in the '70s; they cunningly suggested a rate that turned out to recover nearly three times as much as the Tax Disk, so the idea fizzled out when this was spotted, with an official excuse that the Tax Disk was needed to demonstrate an MOT (or lack of it). Most people could think of a way! We have to remember though, that if unfair taxes were sorted out, fair taxes would increase to maintain the take

Under each speaker grille there are at least two speaker units, some coaxial. It is either a SE or a LE. Both together doesn't exist. The LE came out late 2003 and exists in only one unique metallic dark silver colour (I can't remember if it was Kodiak Sky or Granite Sky), unique grille, sun-roof, full leather, HIDs, Climate-control aircon, Arm-rest, self-dimming central and door mirrors, head-lamp washers, slightly upgraded Radio/CD/Tape player - it had everything available for the IS200 except Satnav as standard (it had the compartment for that with opening lid on the dash top rather than an empty space). Numbers were limited to 850 worldwide and were clearly to get rid of all the toys and extras ready for introduction of the new IS250/IS220D. Later 2004 IS200s had grey-tinted lights and dark alloys. All IS200 variants (manual differs from auto) have totally identical performance, fuel consumption etc, with slightly different trims/goodies etc. The Sport is lowered a few mm and has a LSD, a different grille, "sports" pedals (alloy with perforations) and different sills.

AS Parthiban suggests, probably HID ballasts. But if you can do this, try switching to high beam. If they are out too, it is something different because they are conventional filaments and not HID and the information would help Lexus when you take it in.

Hope you enjoy it - and agree about the snow keeping off because it is far from the right car for that. I would have preferred the black but knew I would not have the dedication needed to keep it looking at its best - so went for Silver because it just looks grubby when it is absolutely filthy. One warning - Parking overhanging kerbs in car parks unless they are very low: At the back will push the silencers up and bend the perforated inserts on the bumper-mounted extensions. At the front will try to rip off the front spoiler assembly when you back off. If it is anything like mine, the suspension initially seemed very harsh but gradually became more supple - either that or I have got used to it. Sport mode is a lot more fun, but manual/paddle driving seems a slight waste of time on public roads - it only seems to give you the option of drinking a lot more fuel and making a nice noise. The loud pedal is always fun and the car is also superbly controllable in traffic. I wonder if the LSD gives any advantage in day-to-day driving over the electronic version. I assume so or they wouldn't have bothered. Please let us know. Please also let us know how you get on with DAB Radio in the car and does it also have normal FM? Most manufacturers have been reluctant to fit it for technical reasons as follows: (1) Audio quality significantly worse than FM because of the codecs used. (2) Relatively poor coverage. (3) DAB was designed for fixed installation & in theory is unsuitable on the move because of total drop-out with low signals when FM just gets a bit noisy.

Could have done with an old sit-up-and-beg Ford Popular with tall spindly wheels and no power - but there again, would never have been able to get it started! Realistically, wide tyres, all the weight at the front, loads of power/torque and low ground clearance means the ISF is rubbish in any real amount of snow even in "snow mode". In the UK, it just isn't worth fitting snow tyres, and the new version with LSD isn't going to fare much better. However, even if you had the traction, it would just increase the likelyhood of expensive damage by scraping off the plastic spoiler and side bits because of the low clearance. rubbish! why do people insist on caling winter tyres snow tyres? they are winter tyres designed to handle cold weather and the associated snow. using the term snow tyres gives the impression they are only for snow which is false. There are many large porsche's, ferrari's and i even saw a lambo the other day with winter tyres over here and they are managing to drive around in winter conditions, it was snowing so hard yesterday you couldnt see more than 20metres in front of you - they were still driving. What exactly do you expect snow mode to do?? it wont make the care into a sudden go anywhere vehicle - it just dampens the throttle response and if an auto starts off in a higher gear. if the car doesnt have the tyres to handle cold weather and snow then how can you expect snow mode to do anything? I think we are at cross purposes - I should have said winter tyres and I agree they would make a huge difference in cold, icy, slippery conditions. And yes, snow mode can only help prevent you from doing something stupid with 417 BHP when grip is poor and no, it doesn't magically give the car normal traction. The tyres specified for ISFs and supplied on them are not winter tyres. In the UK - particularly in the South - by your standards we don't even get winters and thick snow is very rare. So to fit tyres just for these conditions would not be worthwhile at about 50000 Euros a set plus suitable rims for a week-long once-in-a-decade event. A dispensible old banger would be a cheaper and better solution - probably more fun, maybe useful afterwoods and easier to store than a great big pile of wheels. Recently, the snow here was about 30cm thick and this means the nose of the ISF just digs in and even with super-traction winter tyres would prevent reaching treated or busy roads with snow flattened by usage from my completely untreated road. Even if I had been able to reach the nearest "busy" road, the enormous ridge of snow & ice in the middle would have simply destroyed the plastic spoiler/front assembly; so I stand by by remark that the ISF is rubbish in any real amount of snow - but should have qualified it with "here" and "as it is supplied".

Problem mainly with lights in auto:- If the headlights sometimes come on or stay on, when they do, open each front door in turn and jiggle the plunger switch on the pillar. If the lights go out, the switch you are jiggling is faulty and needs to be replaced or removed and thoroughly sprayed with a proprietry switch cleaner (RS is fine) so as to penetrate as far as the contacts. Be warned, the wires to the switch are very short, so tie something to them or they wil disappear into the pillar. This is a common fault and is due to the contacts in the switches oxidising and making unreliable connection when the door is opened to get out of the car which seriously upsets the auto headlight function/alarm and can also trigger the lights to come on or stay on in manual lights mode. It is not the only cause of headlight faults but is worth investigating because it is easy.

The IS300 is a really nice car and drives better than the IS200 Auto; but not so sure about holding its value. It is rare because frankly few wanted them in the first place because on paper, it didn't have that much over the IS200 - a slightly better performance, no extra toys, luxury or spec than the later IS200s, much worse economy and a very much higher new price. It also looks the same except for the small 300 on the back. It just didn't strike buyers as value for money. These days, most of those factors are even more significant and make a huge dent in the trade-in value. There just isn't a massive market for very thirsty smallish cars with a high VED unless they are cheap. So enjoy and forget about the resale price.

Could have done with an old sit-up-and-beg Ford Popular with tall spindly wheels and no power - but there again, would never have been able to get it started! Realistically, wide tyres, all the weight at the front, loads of power/torque and low ground clearance means the ISF is rubbish in any real amount of snow even in "snow mode". In the UK, it just isn't worth fitting snow tyres, and the new version with LSD isn't going to fare much better. However, even if you had the traction, it would just increase the likelyhood of expensive damage by scraping off the plastic spoiler and side bits because of the low clearance.

There have been comments about this here and in the USA. The big enemies of the bolsters are jeans where the fabric is coarse and abrasive - wearing away at the surface treatment of the leather while getting in & out . Unfortunately, the more supportive the seats; the worse it is because you have to slither over tall side bolsters. A really good example of this was the Peugot 306 where there was a big problem of wearing completely through the covering on the bolsters of fabric seats within a only couple of years. It was and is a problem with other cars too. You would think though, that Lexus should have been aware and reinforced the bolster surfaces taking into account that 2/3 of the world wear jeans or other abrasive garments - even if it meant the bolsters weren't quite as pretty.

I don't think this effect is any worse on mine than any other leather seat - they all seem to bag to some extent and the bigger the area separated by stitching the worse it is. I also think that using the seat heater makes things worse. I can remember thinking of buying a VW Corrado VR6 a number of years ago which had a virtually plain flat base to its leather seats, and at under a year old you could gather a double handful of the loose leather on the drivers seat. I looked at others and they were all like that. It is only really ancient cars where the leather was lots of sown strips that didn't seem to suffer from this. It just seems to be a characteristic of leather and affects furniture in the same way. Regular cleaning with a damp sponge with a little actual soap plus conditioning of the leather helps a bit - but not much. Also, the stuffing now has to be made of safe materials that won't catch fire or kill you with fumes if everything else does. Unfortunately the safe materials are hugely less resiliant and sag much more easily which makes the bagging seem even worse.

The total price including tensioner & idler which should be changed too for real peace of mind, seems normal enough - but you should also think about a new water-pump while you are at it because they are inclined to start to dribble at the age of your car and will probably need to be replaced soon. It will of course add to the cost, but will be cheaper to change at the same time as the cambelt than separately later. Aside from servicing, tyres etc, and with a little bit of luck, that will probably be all you ever need to spend on the car.

As with all purchases, after you have weighed up all the main issues, you have to decide if the IS220D is what you would choose as a private purchase for personal use of the same sort as you presently need regardless of whether it is effectively a company item or not. If you are unfortunate enough to have to regularly drive long distances, comfort is paramount so that you arrive after the minimum stress, fresh and ready to do what is needed at your destination, and not dreading the discomfort of the return journey. As to the reversing camera, the need these days is to park very accurately in spaces scarcely big enough for the car, so every bit of help is worth it just to make it easy - particularly with cars where the rear window is useless in that respect.

Why dont you use a 10MM spanner to tighten them ? stops the kids nicking them, surley thats why thet are nut shaped. They were!!!

You are confusing TRC with the rev limiter which is there to stop you melting the bearings and generally wrecking the engine if you plant your foot when there is little or no load. TRC in snow mode dulls the throttle response and applies different programming to the ECU to reduce torque and power output - it just makes the engine a bit more docile and the brakes less aggressive to make the car react less to knee-jerk violent foot movements when you s**t yourself as the car starts to slide or go the wrong way. It is up to you if you think you can do better without it - but you are probably wrong. I am most definately not confusing TRC with the rev limiter, you don't even know the difference between the traction control and snow mode FFS. Neither of them have got any thing to do with the brakes either. And finally I am not wrong I HAVE BEEN THERE, FOR ABOUT THE THIRD TIME OF SAYING IN THIS THREAD. The traction control kills the engine stone dead if you keep it cut in, end of. If you know better go out and try it for yourself and learn what you are talking about before you post up. Oh and the quote you have above is not from me. Sorry I messed up the source of the original quote. Firstly, Snow Mode is an instance of overall traction control which involves both the ABS/TRC processor and the ECU processor which are partially integrated, and in that mode provide a lower engine power/torque profile, duller throttle response and changes the ABS characteristics. It is fairly unsophisticated as you would expect from a design over 10 years old and not as effective as more recent systems - but better than nothing. Secondly, I don't doubt at all that you have had your traction control kill the engine stone dead; but it won't do that once it is fixed.

Tried to get a test drive when they first appeared. The only one at the franchise belonged to the General Manager who I knew, but couldn't have a test drive because it had gone back for a major problem. Tried again two months later, and it had broken down, Same again another month later. 4th time lucky I thought - but he had got shot of it: "Lovely car when it worked but it usually didn't". Maybe they are sorted now and this was just a lemon or had early teething problems; but I have got used to Lexus who generally sell their cars after the teething problems are sorted. The Jag certainly looks very good, but for an IS300 owner, the ISF has to be a serious contender with better performance and much the same fuel consumption as the IS300.

You are confusing TRC with the rev limiter which is there to stop you melting the bearings and generally wrecking the engine if you plant your foot when there is little or no load. TRC in snow mode dulls the throttle response and applies different programming to the ECU to reduce torque and power output - it just makes the engine a bit more docile and the brakes less aggressive to make the car react less to knee-jerk violent foot movements when you s**t yourself as the car starts to slide or go the wrong way. It is up to you if you think you can do better without it - but you are probably wrong.

i have a slight incline on my drive and struggled to get up it with SNOW on / TRC on To both: Common sense - stick some sand/salt down and the problem will melt away.

Well said. Take the present conditions as an opportunity to learn to drive properly like people used to have to when all cars were rear wheel drive on tyres that had no grip at all plus rotten brakes that pulled any which way. Just start out earlier, use any aids the maker provides and don't drive any faster than you are completely confident that you are in full control - leave that to those who don't realise that cars don't always want to go where you point them on ice & snow and just dont stop when none of the wheels are turning until all the momentum has gone or you hit something. So you might arrive a bit late and be accused of driving like an old lady; but driving with your brain and not your bo***cks can stop you bending your car or hurting someone.

still nursing my wallet from 4 new summer tyres so seems a bit extreme for 1 day per year now if they would make a 4wd version, but i guess that's a whole different thread 4wd or 2wd you still need winter tyres Even with winter tyres you wont be able to use any of the ISF's performance in snow/ice conditions, so for the few times per year that it affects most of the UK, simply hire another car that is OK in snow - a quicker, cheaper solution and a lot less effort than sourcing and fitting winter tyres. Also, it is easy to total cars when conditions are really slippery and few would be as hard to replace.

I agree. Looking good - really good. One of the only mods I've seen to IS200 that give it individuality without having a Primark touch and making it look worse. If the hub centres come off, try filing/grinding away the Merc Logo, sanding/smoothing and then coating with oven-cleaner and warming in the oven (it smells a bit) to etch finish it. If that turns it black, just stick it in the dishwasher. Follow with a spray lacquer. If you have a spare one, experiment first.

Nothing against the Sports Grill except when you see one you have a 99.9% guarantee that the car it is on isn't a sport!

Diesel engines started as clattering, rough power sources that only functioned over a narrow rev range - but in cars and vans, driven appropriately delivered good fuel economy. They also used up an otherwise useless (and thus cheap) by-product of the oil industry. Good economy particularly appealed to those with badly organised lifestyles and/or having employers that questionably require personal attendance for meetings or business in general all over the country, consequently driving enormous mileages entailing many hours behind the wheel. This has demanded increasing diesel refinement; but each step ate into economy. Manufacturers also pandered to a requirement for pretend quality vehicles which were perceived as able to be run on the cheap. Unfortunately, Governments have upped the price of the fuel because they could, and green legislation has split development towards advanced, clean diesels with very little advantage in economy or equally complex, rougher thrifty types. Choices have to be made where to site the compromises. Lexus's position in this is not the best for everyone; but I am sure they are mindful that the diesel is an obvious evolutionary dead-end - given that to convert a stationary engine into something that works for vehicles required enormous mechanical and electronic sophistication, compared to petrol engines which were suitable in the first place and especially newer and hybrid technologies on which they are now concentrating together with everybody else. I think diesels were a mistake for Lexus and all that can expected from them is "sticking-plaster" until the problem just goes away - hopefully soon. The real solution is to try much harder find a way to do a lot fewer miles in a vastly superior petrol car - like the IS250 Auto in this class - until technologies mature to provide something reasonably priced, thrifty and actually compatible with quality and driveability.

Its only a small thing, but my 4th set in 18 months stolen this week while my car on my own drive/parking space. What is so attractive about them - they don't even have Lexus on them?

Don't think they'll be selling many. It was pretty difficult selling the 150 that came in initially. Hardly an exciting car compared to what else you can get for the money, it'll be spanked by an M3 or RS4 and a BMW 330D M Sport is only a second or so slower to 62 mph and that returns 44 mpg. Perhaps the ISF isn't hugely exciting, but it is no slouch. Maybe it does its thing with too little fuss. It is a touch nimbler than the latest M3 up to speeds you meet on A roads and motorways and eats the earlier tired 6 cyl version. The 330D is magnificent for a diesel, but easily lost by the ISF. Both the RS8 & C63 have the edge in speed - but to live with them would be a genuine nuisance. The RS8 is wider than any known parking bay and the C63 needs your own personal osteopath to keep you mobile after driving it. In terms of appeal, maybe the ISF is a bit rare & subtle compared with the "in your face" RS8. The C63 looks to hold an overweight businessman, and the ubiquitous M3 is as ever a triumph of potent engineering and flamboyant bad taste - sadly appealing to those who misuse one and revel in the other. It's horses for courses - they are all great cars in a tiny market and you wonder where the buyers are still coming from with ever-increasing prices. I have never seen another ISF on the road. Are they gone too fast to register?

This is going to sound strange. Get a tin of Duraglit brass polish - its in wadding in a tin. Work in smallish circles and clean off with a soft dry cloth after taking excess off with a tissue. The reason it is good is that you can see through it as you work so as not to cut too deep. It is also not too harsh and leaves a shine like a mirror. If you want to use something even less harsh - the silver polish from the same makers. If the scratches have gone through the lacquer layer though, the only solution is to treat the paint with large amounts of money. Someone squeezed by my IS 200LE in a car park when it was just 3 days out of the show-room. I think their belt did the damage that £570 repaired!