wharfhouse

By CC do you mean climate control - if so for all the years I've had mine I've just pressed Auto and set the temperature between 18/20 in summer and around 22 in winter and the car has kept me comfortable.

For the 10 year plus extended warranty to remain valid the car must be serviced by a Lexus dealer according to the service schedule (annually or 10k miles whichever comes first). If a service is skipped then the warranty will become invalid. Also the service includes the hybrid health check and this only lasts one year or 10k miles whichever comes first, although this could be renewed annually by having it done separately to the service for around £70 - but the invalidiy of the extended warranty would still be an issue.

I've had two new windscreens fitted to my IS 300h over the years - neither Lexus branded - both have performed the same as the original OEM screen in both the sensors and noise. TBH the bigger issue is how good the fitters are...!

ODB2 socket (if that's what you are looking for) is under the dash on the drivers side below the steering wheel - easiest to kneel down out of the door and look under the dash to locate it. The TPMS reset button is also in the same vicinity if you ever need that - again hard to find unless you get your head right under the dash.

I use a phone holder that goes into the CD slot (since I don't listen to CDs) and it makes quite a neat installation as I don't really like the phone up on the windscreen. It does mean looking down slightly to see Google Maps on the phone, not as ideal as the dash display, but not too bad. Search for something like "cd slot phone mount" on the likes of Amazon. Also, if you haven't found it already, the 12V aux socket is in the armrest cubby at the front. I plug a USB charger into that and then the USB cable can be led out of the front under the armrest lid in a special slot under the left hand side of the lid and up to the phone. There are two USB ports (and an aux one) down there too - but the USB ports are very low charging ones (I use one for my music on a USB stick, but you need one of the small thumbnail sticks ideally otherwise it fouls the lid). If you run Google Maps on the phone plugged into one of the two USB ports however the phone battery will still drain but slower. If you plug the phone into the 12V accessory socket then the phone will charge even whilst running Google Maps (assuming you have a reasonable USB charger in there).

I often wonder what would happen if when the council say to take a photo of a pothole I called the police and said I've been instructed by the council to take a photo of the pothole so could they please stop the traffic for a few moments so I can do that safely...!

TBF taxes in France are higher than the UK - however they certainly have better public services with that money and a much better state pension (though are struggling to afford that now).

I try and report then online aroubd where I live - if they aren't fixed and I or anyone I know subsequently damages their car in one then a claim should be successful as they knew of the pothole. If they aren't aware of the pothole they get out of paying.

If you do have HID then they can be changed without removal of too much depending on how small and dextrous your hands are. However, if you have a face-lift car you might have LED so check what you have before planning any upgrade. For improving HID others have recommended Osram Night Breaker as providing better light than OEM.

It's the same down here too (Berkshire) - potholes that used to be fixed a few years ago are now left - I've logged complaints with our local council and they just say the road has been inspected and deemed ok - they now have images of potholes that they won't fix that a few years ago would have been deemed dangerous - I've even raised the issue that drivers are swerving into oncoming traffic to avoid the potholes which is very dangerous - do they care - no - they just point me to the images that say they are within tolerance - obviously most drivers disagree and value their cars more than the council do!

Excellent - good to get one with a new battery. If you're doing that sort of mileage you shouldn't have any 12V battery issues - I'm doing 15k miles a year.

Sounds like you made the right choice of the three - I would certainly want full Lexus service history on a reasonably recent car - are you buying from a Lexus dealer - if so you should get a comprehensive one year used car warranty from the dealer too for more peace of mind. Keeping it serviced with Lexus will also maintain the 10 years / 100K Relax Extended Warranty for another 4 or so years. 25K miles for a 6 year old car is only about 4K miles per annum. Low mileage cars (although they seem desirable at first) can also have their own issues as they may have stood unused for long periods or have only done short journeys running cold much of the time rather than longer motorway miles which gets everything properly warmed up and working. It's therefore even more important IMHO that the services have been done to schedule (so each year regardless of the low mileage - some people are prone to skipping years thinking it doesn't matter...). The one thing to look out for on low mileage cars is the 12V battery - hybrid cars have relatively small 12V batteries that don't seem to like being left unused for long periods of time or doing lots of very short trips, and if they do go flat do not seem come back to full health. My car is regularly used for long journeys and I have had no issues with the 12V battery (which is now over 9 years old) and I have recently left the car 10 days while away and it still started OK. This is in comparison to stories of low usage cars where 12V batteries seem to fail after a few years and the car can't be left more than a few days before it won't start. Given the low mileage of the car you are looking to buy (as you don't know the history of the battery, it may have been kept charged by an external charger or it may have gone flat a few times) it may be worth trying to get the dealer to replace the 12V battery with an OEM one (OEM are AGM batteries rather than the more common batteries and so retail at the dealers for close to £200 or around £175 online through Lexus Parts Direct, so don't accept a non-OEM one) as part of the sale as the car may have been stood some time unused and so the battery wasn't charged properly, or if not be prepared for a possible 12V battery failure in the first year if the car is left for a length of time by carrying a lithium jump starter pack that fits in the glovebox (easily available from lots of places for under £100 - I carry one for the day when the 12V battery will inevitably fail) and then if you do have problems you are able to start the car quickly and easily and hopefully have a new 12V battery fitted under the one year used car warranty. After that with regular use you won't have any issues though.

Probably similar to your HIDs on the Superb. There is only one HID bulb for full and dipped with a "shutter" that controls the beam pattern. I find full beam is fine but dipped headlights have quite an abrupt cut off which can feel a bit short at speed. The headlights also seem to be quite sensitive to a small build-up of dirt on the outside of the glass, particularly noticeable on dipped beam. Cleaning the glass regularly in winter does make quite a marked difference (the headlight washers don't seem to do much against road grime, particularly salt). Later post-facelift cars have LEDs as standard. Some members have reported upgrading the HID bulbs to other makes has improved the light output a bit.

The self healing paint I do believe has some merit. It's supposed to use sunlight to remove light swirling in the clearcoat that comes over time. Whether other manufacturers also use the same I couldn't say however. I recently posted on here a while ago about my own car and the good condition of it's paintwork despite the fact that due to doing a lot of miles in the car and not having much opportunity to pamper it I do very little to look after it - my Lexus dealer has probably washed it more times than I have...!

@Stever750 Here is the brochure dated January 2016 - it should help you decipher some of the trim levels and standard/optional equipment for pre-FL cars. Lexus IS.pdf

If pre-facelift then I think the choice was leather or cloth - I think Tahara came with the facelift. IIRC by default the SE and Luxury had cloth and the rest leather. However the Luxury had an option to upgrade to leather and many did that and I think that also added electric seats too. Not sure if the Advance had electric seats. The Executive (that I have) came as standard with leather manual seats but no option to upgrade to electric and standard Sat nav (rotary} and again no option to upgrade to Premium. The trim levels on Lexus are a tad confusing - need to check carefully what each car you are looking at actually has.

In the pre-facelift definitely Advance was leather - in the post facelift I think Advance had leather but I know the Executive went to Tahara post facelift.

Is it real leather or Tahara (synthetic leather). My car has black real leather and it's standing up well - over 9 years and 144K miles. The only noticeable creasing is the drivers seat bolster near the door that gets squashed getting in and out - all non F-sport (that have different seats) appear to have this as every photo I've seen of a car a few years old has the same. I've heard it can be improved using something like hot towels to shrink the leather a bit but I've not bothered trying it yet.

That's such a frustration - must admit I've never bought a car on-line as the photos never really seem to show what you see with your own eyes. If you are looking again at the IS 300h (or any other Lexus) and have any more questions I'm sure you'll get plenty of answers from this forum. Good luck with your continued search.

They said after canning HS2 (the part north of Birmingham) that they would use some of that money to give to local councils to repair pot holes. Can't say I've seen any repairs happening around my way. Chances are any money just goes into filling the void in council budgets and nothing will be improved!

The Corolla looks a good car - especially the 2L - I'm sure it will give you many miles of trouble free motoring.

Premier Nav (with the mouse) always came with the 8 speaker system and was an upgrade that was available on some trim levels. The standard nav (with rotary controller) always came with the 6 speaker system.

I understand the steering wheel issue - I've got the same need for it to be straight and on past cars I've gone through multiple places to sort out a car - it's virtually always down to sloppy alignment by the person doing it - find a place that does it correctly with the right equipment and the problem has always been solved for me. We also have a Toyota Yaris hybrid for my wife/local driving. I enjoy the Lexus so much that swayed our decision to get our first Toyota. That was bought new in 2019 but hasn't done so many miles but also nothing at all has gone wrong in that time. I've bought a few odds and ends (for example two damaged door mirrors from passing cars hitting ours while we were parked...!) and it's certainly noticable that spares are quite a bit cheaper than Lexus. The dealer was the same as the one I used for my Lexus (Jemca in Reading, Berkshire) and I've had good service from both the Lexus and Toyota sides. Whatever you decide hope you enjoy the car.

Yes that IS you tested does sound like it's not been well looked after which is a shame given such low mileage. It could probably all be sorted but if you need a car to start and use quickly for high mileages then you probably need to look elsewhere. I have to say that I always look forward to any journey in my IS as I know it will be relaxing and stress free - even accounting for the appalling driving that is around today! I genuinely wouldn't have kept it for the time I have otherwise. Out of all the cars I've owned two have stood out. The first a 1997 E39 BMW 528i that I owned from new and did over 200k miles in across the UK and Europe - absolutely superb car that gave very little trouble (always dealer serviced) and that I always looked forwards to a long road trip in. And the second my current IS 300h that I put in the same category. I've had faster cars, bigger cars and all sorts but those are the two that I will always have a soft spot for. Not sure how many more years the IS 300h will be reliable for but I've seen reports of 250k miles in some and I've decided for the time being to keep it and see where that leads. It genuinely still drives like new at 144K miles.

You haven't left yourself much time to make an informed decision but here's a few thoughts. The Corolla is clearly a lot newer and as a car used for high miles and company business that might be the logical choice, and a good car - but it's not a Lexus. From what you have described your travel needs sound similar to mine. I do 15k miles a year and travel all over the country - business and leisure - much of it motorways. In the past I've had plenty of cars including numerous high end BMWs (the 6 cylinder ones) but at my last change wanted something a little more left field. In November 2016 I purchased a 2014 IS 300h Executive with 40K miles on it. I bought used as I wanted something quickly and had planned to change it for a new one in about 3 years but of course Lexus stopped bringing the IS to the UK/Europe. Roll on today - I still have the car - it's 10 years old in November and has currently done 144K miles (so 100K miles in my ownership). It's IMHO absolutely brilliant. It's never let me down. Very comfortable, relaxing and suited to long motorway treks. I always get out fresh after many hours behind the wheel, often non-stop. Doing a lot of driving I'm not looking to wring it's neck very journey (but don't drive slowly as often I'm running to a deadline) - I want to get to where I'm going unstressed and ready for what I need to do. Living with the IS long term, this is exactly what it does so well. Regards other things that matter. Well fuel consumption on the trip computer (which I reset in 2016 when I bought the car) is 48mpg overall - summer/winter and a complete mix of driving. Other than replacing front wheel bearings at 80K miles (done under extended warranty) at which time I chose to have the front discs and pads changed too, and a bonnet latch that needed a new spring a few months back, that's it - just regular maintenance otherwise. Still original rear discs / pads and just the one set at 80K miles on the front. The 12V battery is still the original. Regular use is good for this - most issues reported about this are due to long periods (weeks) unused. If there is a problem (which there could be as the car you're looking at has low mileage for the age) replace it with OEM and if you then use the car regularly all will be fine. Tyres have always lasted like clockwork 20K miles at the rear and 40K miles at the front. Each change there is slight wear on inside rears and outside on fronts but that's the suspension setup and not an issue unless it's become excessive then it needs a proper 4 wheel alignment. My trim has the 6 speaker audio. There is no speaker under the big grill on the parcel shelf. Again IMHO this setup is fine - but I wasn't looking for a top end setup in my car and most of my listening is radio (DAB) and off a USB stick (mp4). The tone controls can be set per source (rather than just overall) and I found that worth that doing. My car has the standard nav (the rotary wheel) rather than premium (the mouse thing). It works to get you to a destination but traffic updates etc are very limited. I now use Google Maps on my phone in a holder that plugs into the CD drive. Parts/repairs if needed are expensive but if serviced at Lexus you get 10 years/100K miles (whichever comes first) Relax Extended Warranty with each service. You can also purchase after this a further extended warranty up to 15 years/150K miles old (about £500 per year including the Lexus Roadside Assistance) but it must still be serviced by Lexus. The hybrid battery has a 15 year unlimited mileage warranty as long as the car is serviced by Lexus on schedule, or if serviced at an indy a separate hybrid health check is done each 12 months / 10k miles (whichever comes first) for about £70 per annum. That's it from me - whatever choice you make I'm sure you should have trouble free motoring which for long distance regular travel is certainly good for a stress free life.