bobmc

might also have an influence on resale value down the road?

Ooh that's nice! Welcome John

Very comprehensive guide!

chuffed for ya! thread is dead without pics

IME, Lexus dealers are not really interested once they go below 10K.

I feel for you. I spent the best part of 3 months seriously looking (several months window shopping before that) but then I did have a pretty specific list of features I wanted and a restricted budget. I also found that the vast majority of IS250's for sale seemed to be in the SouthEast, not suprising really. The one you linked to seems about right on price. I spent slightly more for an 07 plate with a shade under 80K from a dealer in Kent. In retrospect, I feel that I paid a little over the odds - partly because the dealer knew I had traveled hundreds of miles and that weakened my bargaining power. So do your homework fully. This caught my eye though "£92 Admin Fee Applies" WTF!

Pretty much as Keith has said. The only thing I would emphasize is to check exhaust condition as this can be expensive to replace. Other than that, you just need to check service and MOT history and get a feel for how well the car has been looked after. Good luck with finding a good 'un :)

Last week I used 52.8 ltrs over 368.5 miles, mostly on a trip to manchester and back and I used cruise for a lot of the motorway sections at just under 70mph That works out to an average of 31.72 MPG which is pretty much in line with what the car was displaying. The highest I saw over the whole journey was 37 MPG

Posh looking website http://www.lex-tekautos.com/

It might be more acceptable if posting a recommendation/review is restricted to established (say >50 posts) or gold members?

maybe we should have a sticky - recommended indy garages

Well Lexus have quoted £166 which sounds reasonable to me, an Indy quoted slightly more. I think I might also ask about the Lexus extended warranty as it does seem to have a good reputation on here.

You're right it was marked "yellow" but that doesn't mean it can be ignored. If the grease is leaking out then a) there's less grease to provide lubrication and b) dirt can get in to increase wear. Time to get some quotes I think

Well, as it came with a 3 month dealer 'warranty' which runs out next week, I thought I'd see what their response was. Pretty much as expected - in that they would not classify it as a mechanical failure but I was saddened by their attitude. I quote " I suspect that in actual fact the ball joint is in perfect working order and were the car to go through an MOT test this item probably wouldn’t be mentioned and the car could continue to be used without risk for many more miles " In other words, as long as it's not an MOT failure - carry on until it fails - potentially catastrophically - and don't worry about it. I wonder dealers can sleep at night

I haven't had any quotes yet, just considering my options atm It's on an 07 plate with just over 80K. here is what it looks like

the ball joint seems to be a replaceable sub-assembly, why would the whole control arm need to be replaced?

Following the safety recall and a complimentary health check, Lexus advised that my NSF Bottom Ball Joint is leaking grease. Should I be considering replacing the ball joints on both sides or not? Also, is a wheel alignment needed after replacement? What sort of cost would I be looking at? probably via an indy rather than Lexus

I find the gearchange in normal driving almost unnoticable, mostly through changes in the engine note. When accelerating hard, the (delayed) kick-down is noticable. This is my first AT car, so my sensitivity may not be typical.

I understand what you mean about the sat nav, most mobiles these days do as good a job but I do feel that the sat nav improves the appearance of the dash, otherwise it looks a bit like a BMW . The sound system is a personal choice, but it's one of the brands unique features and will help a resale in future.

Depends what you consider overpriced. Auto's have the best reputation, and dealers know this and price accordingly. Again, the 100K mileage is a psychological barrier for a lot of buyers and this also affects dealer prices.

You might want to try wiping them over with either wheel cleaner or white-spirit first, (thanks to Rayaan for the tip) that should remove most of the grime and deposits. Then you can try using metal polish if needed. On my IS I think they're welded on so not easy to replace anyway.

Mine was done on Friday at Lexus Teesside, was given an IS300H as a loan for the day. I took half a day of work so I could take it for a proper spin :) Also got the complimentary fuel as per other's here and was told that it was to compensate for the inconvenience, so it's clearly Lexus policy on the recall. I asked if both the washer and sensor had been replaced and was told that both were changed. They took all day and in fact I had to chase them to find out if my car was ready to collect. They offered to let me keep the loan car overnight but I had an early start the next morning so I declined. As expected, I also got a Vehicle Health Check report (but no video...) All green, apart from tyres (all of which have 4mm or more tread so I'm not worried just yet) and brakes (front disks lipped, rear pads on 4mm/3mm) but there was a comment of 'NSF Bottom Ball joint leaking grease' so I will have to get that looked at.

Try here http://www.freemake.com/how_to/how_to_rip_dvd_movie there's also a link on the page to a youtube video guide.

Good to hear that no-one was injured. It's a pity insurance companies are so ready to write off accident damaged cars. Good luck with getting something to replace it.

There is an LS400 for sale on the forum at the moment....