wharfhouse

I looked into getting a tow bar fitted to my IS 300h. The car is able to have one fitted and tow small trailers etc. but there is only one tow bar available that has to be purchased through Lexus - given the rarity of the car there are no 3rd party ones available (at least in the UK). A tow bar fitter could probably fit the Lexus one (or even DIY) but I know if Lexus fit it then incl. the price of the tow bar it was over £1,000 - in the end I decided to do without.

Used to have those sort of bars on a Honda Accord - they were model specific (Honda branded) and a screw mechanism clamped then under the roof where the door closes and down onto the top of the roof. There might also be generic ones from the likes of Thule.

I assume the that was the price for 2x of the bottles? Did they add both to the fuel tank or just one and you have one that you took away?

Engine flush??? What did they do?

Yes you can - look up Customizable features in the manual and you can set the tachometer on the dash display to be always ON, whether the car is in in Eco / Normal / Sport (by default the tachometer only comes on when in Sport mode). Also see in the manual under Instrument Cluster / Settings Display.

To cancel a route you need to look for Suspend route on the screen (as that's Lexus speak for Cancel...)

This is probably what they would add - it's a Toyota branded product - whether it is of any use can take pages if discussion on the forum... (I've posted one thread below about it - there's probably others. https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-petrol-fuel-system-cleaner/

There's always some in reserve even when it says zero miles left - probably enough for another 30 miles or so - they are trying to make sure you never actually get stranded for running out of fuel.

Beyond a visual deterrent to the chancers, wouldn't a determined thief just cut the steering wheel to remove the bar type ones to take the car - that's probably easier to cut through than hardened steel. If they are taking it for parts then it wouldn't matter to them causing that damage and if to resell then getting a new steering wheel I suspect isn't that hard? There was video on on a thread in the forum where the thief used what looked like an angle grinder in the car to remove a steering wheel lock...

The Lexus 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty does include Lexus Roadside Assistance, which is I think £155 standalone - of course if you don't need LRA (or it covers more than you want) you may be paying for this needlessly - as far as I know LRA can't be excluded (but I wanted LRA anyway so haven't enquired further).

In all modes the battery and petrol engine work together but in Sport mode the car is programmed to deliver it's battery energy more readily to improve performance (compared to Eco where the battery is trying to support the engine to be most economical) and in Sport mode the engine tends to come on more often too (rather than running on just battery) so the car feels more lively and responsive - the downside is that the petrol engine then has to run more as well to recharge the battery again to get it ready for the next time it's needed for better acceleration. In all modes however if you press the accelerometer right to the floor then the car will give you the max it can from battery and engine working together. I believe that in Normal mode it also adjusts to your driving style - so drive economically and it will tend towards the Eco program and drive spirited and it will tend to the Sport program.

Sounds a bit on the low mileage side for new front discs and pads but depending on where the car was used previously 60k miles isn't too bad. Whether the report was accurate regards how worn the brake were when you bought the car is another matter though. Hopefully Marshalls might change them foc for you.

How many miles has the car done? On my IS 300h I had front brake discs and pads changed at 80k miles. They would have probably covered another 20k miles but the front wheel bearings were being replaced (under extended warranty) so I chose to have new discs and pads fitted while that work was being done. The rears are still original at 135k miles. I can imagine the NX 300h may be a bit heavier on brakes. Not sure if that helps but may give you some sort of benchmark.

I suspect Lexus don't want to advertise it widely. There were people on the old Extended Warranty who would have been disadvantaged by the Relax Warranty launching (including me) had they not offered some sort of replacement for people who couldn't take advantage of Relax but did have the old Extended Warranty running. The T&Cs of the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty are almost identical to the old Extended Warranty other than it can be taken for a little longer so they certainly didn't put a lot of new thought into it (even includes the Lexus Roadside Assistance like the old one). They probably assume that as most people don't think of taking any warranty after Relax (10 years or 100k miles) nor want their cars serviced at a Lexus dealer (which is of course a condition of the warranty) that the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty will eventually quietly run it's course. In the meantime if you want peace of mind for a relatively small amount of money the cover can't be beaten for the price.

That's my experience under the old Extended Warranty - a diagnostic fee is quoted and if the repair was not valid under the Extended Warranty the fee (and any repair costs) would be charged but if it was a valid warranty claim the diagnostic fee would be waived. I had both front wheel bearings replaced at 80k miles under the old Extended Warranty and was not charged any other fees. I would have thought Relax would work similarly.

That is certainly a strange outcome

Yes, mine stays on the drive but fortunately no trees over it and not too many bird droppings - I've seen the mess that tree sap makes of a car...

Yes, I haven’t personally washed mine a lot. Lexus did wash it at each visit and thankfully seemed to do a good iob. The car did have Supagard applied by the dealer from new (by the previous owner) and although not up to same quality as the ceramic coatings, this might have helped earlier in it's life. A good downpour of rain generally cleaned the car quite well and brought it up looking ok - as it would then end up getting dirty again on the next motorway journey that's why it was largely left unwashed by me.

I don't think it's possible to avoid some road rash at the front end given the stones etc thrown up. I would have thought the amount would be mostly linked to mileage unless there are a lot of particular roads with a lot of loose stones. However as the bumper is plastic and the bonnet aluminium at least no rust worries and can TLC at ones own convenience.

Yes I've read about the soft paint too and so as surprised that mine came up so we'll after not being treated particularly kindly over it's life to date. The bonnet has a number of stone chips but no more than any other car having spent a lot of it's life on the motorways. As I mentioned the great thing is that is aluminium so no rust issues there. I have cleaned and touched in a couple of very small stone chips just above the windscreen and one by the drivers door handle but no more that I could find.

Yes and with nothing much that has gone wrong mechanically very cheap motoring everything considered. My plan when I purchased it was to trade it for the next IS model - but as we know that never came to the UK. There isn't anything else I really desire at the moment so have just kept driving it!

As some of you may know if you have read other threads from me, I bought my IS 300h for both business use and personal use and drive some long distances and don't baby it. It's a 2014 car that I bought when it was 2 years old with 40K miles on it (from Lexus Reading) and it has now done 136K miles - so it's fast approaching 100K miles in my ownership. It's always been serviced by Lexus Reading along with MoTs done there and anything else that was needed. They have probably washed the car more times than I have! Anyway, in a rash moment today I decided to not only wash it but see how well the paintwork was standing up to the last 100k miles. The car did have Supagard done by Lexus Reading when it was new but I haven't done anything since I purchased it. After the wash, on inspection the paintwork looked pretty good - some road rash around the front bumper and bonnet but that's to be expected at the mileage. I then went over it with a mild paint restorer polish to take any left over grime off and polish out a few minor scuffs in the clearcoat. Then a grey coloured polish to try and blend some of the road rash on the bonnet (which is aluminium so no problem with any small chips rusting) followed by another normal wax coat. Have to say I was really surprised at the results. Given that I really haven't taken good care of the bodywork for the past 8 years there are no swirl marks in the paintwork and the metallic was sparkling again in the sun like new. All credit to Lexus - I can genuinely say that their paintwork has stood up to the test of time with very little effort from me. My wheels on the other hand do need refinishing - a couple of them I think were resprayed by the previous owner (before they traded the car in) and are now looking quite sorry. Maybe I'll get those done now the bodywork is looking so good...

You have to be very specific and ask for the Lexus 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty - don't just ask about extended warranty as the old Extended Warranty was stopped with the introduction of Relax. The 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty is ONLY for cars over 10 years old or over 100k miles whichever comes first (any other car less than this is covered by Relax) and can be renewed annually (at about £500 per year but also includes Lexus Roadside Assistance) until the car is 15 years old or 150k miles whichever comes first. The car MUST be serviced on schedule (12 months or 10k miles whichever comes first) by a Lexus dealer for the warranty to be valid. It is a Lexus product and very comprehensive (not a dealer product but is bought through the dealers) and is backed up by Toyota (just administered by a 3rd party). Unfortunately it seems many dealers are not aware of this and Lexus don't advertise it. As Colin said, a number of us on here including myself have this in place (currently on my second year).

The Lexus service schedule says to first change coolant at 10 years or 100k miles (which ever comes first) - my car is nearly 9 years old and with 135K miles. I did ask Lexus to change the coolant at 100K miles (and was happy to pay for it - at that time it was a charged for extra) but they tested it (I assume the pH level) and said no need to change it yet. Once the coolant has been changed it should then be changed on a 5 year (and I think 50K miles if that comes sooner) interval - I assume as not all the old coolant will have been drained out at the 10 year/100k mile change. My plan is to have the coolant changed at 150K miles (the car will be 10 years old based on current annual mileage at that time) along with the inverter coolant (which the service schedule says to be done then too) and then keep to the service schedule of every 5 years going forward from there. I have no leaks from the cooling system to date (keeping fingers crossed)...

Nice to hear a positive dealer story as there have been a few howlers on here of late! Maybe some are starting to take note that one of the advantages they used to have of above the norm customer service does have its rewards when it then comes to ongoing customer loyalty.