cadman2k

Lexus Newcastle share the same unit as Aston Martin (Aston Martin there first so answer the phone with that brand) and have a single reception that directs calls through to each brand. new cars in the showroom are Lexus cars located for viewing on the ground floor and Aston Martins on the first floor. It's quite an experience to see if you haven't visited before. Looking into Lexus Carlisle it appears they are owned by Parks Motor Group. I have no experience of these but if looks like it's privately owned, the same as RMB was prior to merger, so on the face of it sounds great. For me it's just to far away although I do know Amy Lexus dealership throughout the UK would welcome you if you were prepared to travel Park's Motor Group is a private family-owned business which takes great pride in being Scotland's leading independent motor group. I do not like the 'upselling' of services unless it is something that is part of a requirement then I have no issues with recommendations. In relation to courtesy cars, I know when some of these mergers happened the rules changed a bit so an insurance surcharge was introduced. If you were insured with Lexus Insurance and or Toyota Insurance then as part of your policy these surcharges are waived as your policy stipulates that you can drive any vehicle loaned to you by a Toyota/Lexus dealer whilst your car is for for maintenance/repairs (essentially your driving on your own insurance) This does have an added benefit if anything was to happen as courtesy/loan cars can carry much higher excesses than your own policy. From memory excesses likely £500. If your in Newcastle would definitely try Lexus Newcastle if your going to continue dealer servicing etc to get a relationship established between yourself and the dealer.

12v battery just replaced also (at the dealers) the IS300 is not isolated with this within the Lexus range. Mine was essentially losing its charge over a 3 to 5 day period therefore had just turned bad (4.5 year old). Interestingly the IS300 is recognised as top spot in reliable cars Executive cars Another Lexus takes top spot in the executive cars category ‒ The Lexus IS scored an impressive 98.3%. Only 5% of cars developed an issue, each time related to the battery. The repair work always took a day or less, though it’s worth noting that each time that work incurred a bill of up to £200. The least reliable motor is the diesel version BMW 3 Series, which scored 81.2%. Full read here https://www.lovemoney.com/news/70350/reliable-cars-repair-costs-motoring-maserati-bentley-mitsubishi

In the north east Stoneacre have monopolised the Toyota/Lexus dealerships when acquiring from RMB/Jardine Motor Groups. They acquired these at different times As with any merger/acquisition come changes...for better and for worse.... I have experienced some of these changes as own both Toyota and Lexus vehicles using different dealerships for servicing. It's always the case that key individuals leave the business both on the customer service front as well as the shop floor when presented with new terms and conditions and business models upset the apple cart. If you turn the clock back 20 year the Stoneacre group whereas very small concern and no one would have thought that they would be as big as they are today. I did use Lexus Teesside under the RMB brand and found service levels second to none. I did see some staff changes but decided I would try out Lexus Newcastle who I have used the last couple of years for servicing. They are part of the Stoneacre group and for servicing I would thoroughly recommend them. The technicians are fantastic. A lot of dealerships have gone down the central call centre booking system (lexus newcastle included) however you can talk to them directly, you can also simply book in via the lexus link app for simplicity where you don't have to talk to anyone. Would I buy my next Lexus from them? That's a question that remains to be seen given the power of the internet, however at this moment in time I can say my last 3 visits for servicing and maintenance have been excellent (I also have a service plan that can be used at either dealership) Businesses are all about the people who operate them not necessarily the name of the corporate organisation. You can get very different experiences at two dealerships under the same brand name. I have no experience of the 3rd North east location for dealer servicing which is at Carlisle as they are just a bit too far away (1.5hours) I am not sure if I would use an independent given that I am happy with the dealership experience. With your remaining service down to 1 have you had a requote for the next batch of 2/3 services? Perhaps it's worth you considering Lexus Newcastle even if it's a bit further to travel, it's easily accessible now since it moved outside the city centre to silverlink, literally 5 mins away once you get through the tunnel. Any questions feel free to pm

Other than let "A Customer Down" The dealer will know that in the current climate they will shift a car if cancelled with finance based on today's rates. Good luck in getting this sorted. Did you let your old car go 9 months ago or was there a px involved in the deal also

Looking around seems to suggest the following Dynamic Balancing Dot The White Dot (Dynamic Balancing Dot) Regardless of the type of wheel, if there is no red dot, mount the tire with the white dot next to the valve stem. The white dot indicates the overall light dynamic balance point of the tire. In other words, it's as though the white dot represents a bit lighter in the area of tire. A good shout if you or anyone you know is a Costco member, would be to ask their tyre fitters as they must fit more Michelin tyres than most places due to the volumes they sell.

Recommend the Denso hybrids, eurocarparts or carparts4less used to sell them and you'd get a good deal when a discount offer was on (about 90percent of the year) It looks like they may not be supplying them any more? Not sure why not as they have done them for years. Part references from memory are DU-060R (600mm for drivers side) and DU-045R (450mm for passenger side) Do check though.

I have a set of Genuine Lexus IS300h Carpet Car Mats available, front and rear mats, used but overall in decent condition. Free to a forum member if you cover the postage/ shipping. PM If you want them

The term "If it ain't broke don't try to fix it" springs to mind. Sounds like a bean counter/ cost saving exercise that someone who had no previous experiences in decided to change.....

I have owned Lexus cars with both standard and Mark Levinson systems (present car has standard system). Although it doesn't bother me, If I had the choice of 2 both with the right colour and spec I would choose the one with ML providing it didn't come at a silly premium. No denying from what I have experienced sound (and bass) were fantastic. I guess it's down to preference and budget, after all the car is the same general shape with the same powertrain so performance etc is unchanged. Having extra toys can mean less boredom of course if your inclined to suffer from that with cars. On the service front, If you find the right car from the right dealer (with history etc) I wouldn't envisage you would need to be that close to a Lexus dealer and only need the once a year visit for service/Mots. Lexus stated that the facelift version had a number of changes both cosmetic and others not visible, details can be found here. https://mag.lexus.co.uk/what-has-changed-with-2017-lexus-is/ Good luck in your search, the playing field is quite limited which makes the searching more of a challenge compared to some of the German brands. If you don't have an upper budget then of course should be easier. I think facelifts at the moment with sensible miles are around a min. of about 19-20k as the market is still buoyant.

I came across this NX (breaking on eBay) This looks as though it has had a battery fire unless it's something else. It would be interesting to know what the statistics are on hybrid battery fires v general fires in vehicles caused by electrical faults.

There,s a raft of information on the forums and you can spend a lot of £££ around car cosmetics. When I first purchased mine I spent a limited amount of money to start out with on getting the car to a manageable level Read about it here

It's a long way to go but cars are in short supply. The price is probably commensurate with its low mileage for its year. Would be good if you could get anything off it...always helps. For the same money there's this https://usedcars.lexus.co.uk/en/used-lexus/Lexus/Is-Saloon/300h-Sport-4dr-CVT-Auto-n5cxcxn No pics but maybe a facelifted version. If it was it would be a pretty decent price for an approved used. Facelift details here https://mag.lexus.co.uk/what-has-changed-with-2017-lexus-is/?utm_source=LexusOwnersClubUK&utm_medium=ForumLinks Problem with everything when your looking for a car, you want everything on your list and pay the least (colour ,spec etc) Good luck in your search

For VED I believe it is always based on the list price despite being able to achieve a better price than the list. The only model that would qualify for the lower VED is the premium edition. The FSPORT is currently pulled from the Lexus car configurator and was over the 40k limit when last available so if it returns will be way over the 40k list price. Takumi is way over the 50k mark

Crikey... one way to start shifting cars https://www.lexus.co.uk/motability?utm_source=LexusOwnersClubUK&utm_medium=ForumLinks It will also keep Lexus dealers busy on servicing. Interesting to see if it takes off though as the UX has limited boot space so may not end up being the motability car of choice You also need 4k advance payment also that's essentially a write off for the 3 year you have it which again may put people off. Time will tell.

Great guide, wondered if you'd ever thought on cleaning up the diff block? I believe it's common that they start to present a rusty appearance and that its surface corrosion. I guess the cleaning would only improve the aesthetics as any rust on here would take forever if at all to have any adverse effect on the component itself

I'm considering selling mine and upgrading to another Lexus but everytime I'm out and driving it I change my mind..Like IS300FSPORT it's only needed servicing the last 2 years and never misses a beat so reliability second to none

Is the 34k without the 2k contribution...(should be shown on your quote) ,I have recently looked across several dealers and the best price I have achieved was 32600 which included taking into account the contribution. The voluntary termination at 50 percent is not the same as an early settlement.thats about being able to walk away from the contract and handing back the vehicle. Early settlement would probably be able to achieved within 30 days so any interest would be minimal and would be very close to the balance of the amount borrowed (which would have taken into account the 2k contribution) Essentially it would mean you had saved nearly 2k for just taking out the PCP.

Given the current and predicted state of the economy holding on a year or two may actually make no difference. It also depends on how you intend to purchase a car ( your own ready cash) or a bank/ finance houses cash that needs to be paid back. Given that interest rates are rising then borrowing becomes more expensive also. Take the view on what your 12-13k will get you in Lexus terms v what it will get you in other terms ,(from the likes of ford/vauxhall). You may sharp conclude that even if you think that prices are high then what it would by you from another manufacturer just doesn't make the grade. By a car that's been looked after with FSH and you cannot go wrong when you should get another 80,-100k miles out of it if you continue to look after. The market for cars just now is a bit like houses...put off and you just never know which way they will go in terms of value. Good luck in your search

Sounds like you got in at the right time. Averages out about 350 per service. Likely a fiesta service will come in at that at a Ford main dealer. Anyone wanting a service plan or looking to renew then now may be a good time to act and sign on the line.

Having read your national tyre price which looked great, one thing I failed to mention was the Costco price was based on 18 inch wheels so tyre prices generally more expensive. I'm sure 550.00 would be close to the mark for premium tyres at a lexus dealer for these wheel sizes which made the Costco price extremely good I think your price for the Yokohama's is based on 17,s so would assume Costco would be close to this price for 17,s with the premium Goodyear tyres sizes. I've had Yokohama's on a CT I used to own and found them a decent tyre. I selected them as it came from the factory initially with Yokohama's..... The Goodyear eagle F1 asymmetric 6s do come with a good across the board rating for noise,braking,wet and dry performance.... Usual thing when re-tyring, you go with what you are happy with.

I believe at the moment with Costco offers (discount when you buy 4) that you can retyre the car with Goodyear Eagle F1 Aysemetric 6s for just under 400.00 It's an extremely good price that's probably hard to beat and expect the Goodyear's are a very good premium tyre

I would also add, losing pressure in the tyre may not be as the result of a puncture (which tpms is great at detecting) but could be down to a faulty/leaking sensor valve. I had this once on a Toyota and the problem lay with the sensor/valve. A puncture or new tyre would have been much cheaper to sort. It needed a new sensor/valve which I believe then may need coding to the system. I know sometimes in the winter that tpms can activate with temperature change, may be the same with the extreme heat.... Good luck in sorting

It's worth reading this article as it also has changes to suspension and steering https://mag.lexus.co.uk/what-has-changed-with-2017-lexus-is/

Interesting to know the rough £££ cost of repair

I guess another thing to consider may be overall higher maintenance costs as expect the 200T will not have regenerative braking so will go through discs and pads like a conventional car. Not sure of the ratio but it may be that discs and pads on a hybrid can last up to 3 x longer....guess you'd need to do the maths on the full cost of ownership.....also I guess the hybrid will have a stronger residual value / hold its price more than the 200T. I guess overall all this is debatable on what views you have.