wharfhouse

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.

Agreed - PCP when the interest rates are high can prove expensive - I've generally done PCP at zero or very low rates only.

PCP is about keeping monthly payments lower than a loan / HP and getting a new car with a very small deposit, which for many is the main priority especially if you like to change a new car every three years. On PCP you are financing the depreciation rather than the whole cost of the car. If you intend to keep the car long term or have a decent deposit to put down then a loan over say 5 or 6 years will probably get close to the monthly PCP payments and you then have some decent equity left in the car to use against the next one when you are ready. I've bought cars on PCP in the past and on a couple of them I paid the final "balloon" to keep the car rather than trade it in. However those were on zero/very low PCP deals. I've also used personal loans and bought for cash. For me it all depends what works at that point in time and what makes the money work best for me.

I have never rotated tyres - I do around 15k miles a year and have 17" wheels. There is slight inner wear at the rears and slight outer wear on the fronts which is as designed setup for rear wheel drive cars (have had the same on many other cars). I generally replace tyres when they are at the tread wear indicator (3mm) around the centre main tread but at that point the rear inner wear and front outer wear still isn't excessive. I have now done 143k miles in the car and the wear patterns have been consistent over all of that time. Also consistent is tyre replacements over that time. I always replace the rears every 20k miles and the fronts every 40k miles.

Yes - on pre-2017 IS 300h it's currently £10 per annum - due to go up to £20 per annum as the hybrid discount is being abolished - but still a nice saving compared to post 2017 models.

Once the car has reached either 10 years old or 100K miles (whichever comes first) then it doesn't qualify anymore for the Relax extended warranty (which is free if the car is serviced at a Lexus dealer). However, there is something called 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty (which is for cars older than 10 years or 100k miles) and this can be bought annually until the car is 15 years old or 150k miles (whichever comes first). The 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty isn't advertised anywhere on the Lexus website and some dealers aren't too clued up on it either unfortunately, but it is available and I and a number of other members on here have taken it out. It offers pretty much the same cover as Relax extended warranty. The cost of mine when I renewed it in November last year for the IS 300h was £474 per annum - and you can spread the payment over 10 months interest free. However, the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty ALSO INCLUDES Lexus Roadside Assistance (https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/roadside-assistance which is £155 is purchased on its own, so if you would have bought the roadside assistance anyway then the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty is only really an additional £319 per annum. The key thing to be aware of is that you must have the car serviced by a Lexus dealer according to the normal service schedule (12 months / 10K miles whichever comes first) for the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty to remain valid - the servicing prices don't reduce after the 10 years / 100k miles though and so you need to factor in the continued servicing costs at a Lexus dealer.

I bought a few metres quite a few years ago - it was either eBay or Amazon I purchased it from. I use it on and off if I find something on a car where there is a rattle - usually occurs at a plastic to plastic interface where the two pieces move against each other - slide a bit of tape between and it stops it. The tape is a felt like material and has a self adhesive backing on one side. If you put something like "car anti rattle / squeak felt tape" into Google (or eBay or Amazon) there's loads of it available - pretty much all the same sort of stuff.

Pleased to hear that the car parking company has dropped the charge - good result. If the car parking companies think there is any chance of a precedent being made that would work against them in the future then they wouldn't want to clarify on what grounds they dropped it (at best it's usually goodwill or something) and would want to keep it out of the appeals or small claims process in case others used the dame against them in the future. They rely almost totally on case law if they take the process forwards as that's there cheapest way of putting together their case and only needs the cheapest legal people...!

And as well as above the cabin is warmed by the engine running - so in winter the engine has to run more when you are st speeds where in summer it could be off just to generate heat so you have warm air into the cabin. When you first start the car in cold weather the engine has to run a longer initial cycle to get to working temperature and of course heat up the cabin first thing from stone cold (so fuel economy takes a proportionally bigger hit again during short trips in winter). To a lesser extent you also use more electrics in winter - so lights, wipers, heated seats, rear window demister etc. - these all require power that has to be replaced and so again the engine will run more to replenish the battery. The optimum external temperature for efficiency is around 20C - at this temperature the cabin is comfortable at ambient temperature so no heat required from the engine to warm the cabin, less power sapping electrics, and the air con isn't working very hard. The hybrid battery is also at the best working temperature for efficiency too. Conversely as outside temperatures rise up from 20C the air con has to work harder and as that is electrically driven in a hybrid is starts using more energy that then has to be replaced. Also the hybrid traction battery can become less efficient as it starts to get hotter. The effect is less on fuel economy in hot weather than cold weather but it's noticeable.

Back in the 1980s they used to nick BMWs that way - punch a hole in the door skin and trip the locks! BMW then started reinforcing the area which stopped it. No matter what the car manufacturers do there is always some lowlife finding another way to get around it and keep the trade in stolen cars/parts going!

Apologies missed your date of purchase on the above - given that was Nov 22 then the car should have had a service in that time (as the schedule is 12 months or 10k miles whichever come soonest). If that was done at a Lexus dealer then you can point Steven Eagell to that as it will be covered by the Relax extended warranty.

Given the jump start and low 12V battery when the Check Hybrid System came on I would start with replacing the 12V battery - once the 12V batteries start to not hold charge properly then it creates all sorts of weird problems with the car. When you say the car kept cutting out do you mean that it actually died totally as of course the internal combustion engine does cut in and out as needed depending on the state of the hybrid battery, cabin temperature etc. How long have you had the car? Do you know it's history such as where and when it last serviced (if at Lexus and within the last 12 months or 10K miles, whichever is soonest, it would have the Relax Extended Warranty automatically in place which would cover major faults (not the 12V battery though). It's hard to fathom why Steven Eagell are unable to diagnose and come up with a full explanation though. If you aren't getting anywhere then Lexus Customer Relations at HQ can be reached on cr@lexus.co.uk but I would have though a meeting with the dealer principal face-to-face would be the next logical step.

Lexus Recovery is all handled by the AA. The Lexus deal is pretty good if you use it all - eg you and spouse driving any car, comprehensive UK cover, and euro breakdown for your Lexus. If you only have minimal requirements however then it might be more expensive than selecting a more appropriately matched policy from one of the breakdown companies.

Yes the hybrid health check being done as per the schedule will keep extending the hybrid battery warranty.

I think that is just for BEVs (maybe PHEVs?) but not the normal hybrids like IS 300h, NX 300h, ES 300h, UX 250h etc.?

I think the hybrid system would raise a fault code if there was a problem - certainly all those on this forum across all cars have either had no issues or a fault code - so long as its had the hybrid health check at the specified interval then it would be a warranty replacement of the battery if a fault code indicates a failure that can't be fixed any other way - to my knowledge Lexus do not have any threshold (at least published) for the hybrid battery capacity and nothing in the warranty about being below any threshold.

IIRC there was a thread on here a few years back along similar lines with the upshot that the techniques you are using cannot check the health of the hybrid battery. TBH best best is to get Lexus to do the hybrid healthcheck every 12 months / 10k miles (whichever comes first) - free with a Lexus service or about £60 if you pay for it separately - and then they will warranty the battery for 15 years with unlimited mileage - which seems like a good deal to me. I have a 2014 IS 300h (so basically same drive train as NX 300h and I've now done 143k miles with no issues whatsoever with the hybrid system to date. There is at least one other member who I think is on around 250k miles in their IS 300h with the original hybrid battery and another member with an IS 300h who did have a hybrid battery fault at 190k or so miles and had been using the hybrid health check and so had the hybrid battery replaced under warranty. Also the tech is basically the same as the Prius of which there are many thousands of cars happily running with no hybrid problems having covered hundred of thousands of miles. IMHO if you are concerned best to get Lexus to do the hybrid health check and if it passes then don't worry about it (but get the check done on schedule to keep the hybrid battery warranty in place).

Not all - they are just naturally low cars - easy to scrape the undertrays.

This website lists all centres using Hunter wheel alignment equipment which is supposed to be the best equipment - though like anything it's still down to the operator to be skilled enough to do the best job. https://alignmycar.co.uk/

I hope that when you get the ES it lives up to your expectations - it's certainly a good car for covering long mileages comfortably and quietly. Although if you are leasing, long-term reliability won't be top of your list, you should encounter very few problems while you have the car that would take it off the road.

I assume you chose the car because it's what you wanted and so meets your needs better than the Merc or you would have stayed with the Merc? There are some issues with Canbus thefts of some Lexus models / years but of course it's not only Lexus that are being targeted - other marques are suffering from significant rises in thefts too, but you will get all the gory details on Lexus thefts here with it being a Lexus forum and an active one, and helpful one. I do agree that Lexus should do more to help owners but that said outside the big cities the theft issues are much lower (I see you live in Renfrewshire). IMHO all you can do with any car is take sensible precautions and not lose sleep over it, especially if it's a car to be used daily and not a pride-and-joy weekend car. The "professional" car thieves that are stealing to order will be able to take virtually any car if they want it regardless of what you try and do to stop them (see posts about steering wheel locks defeated by angle grinders and cutting the steering wheel). What they are stealing today will change and tomorrow it will be something else by a new unknown means that people may have bought thinking it was a "safe" buy. You said it's a leased car and although I haven't had a car on a personal lease AFAIK the lease company will have to handle most of the fall out should the car be stolen. As in a lot of things in life, assume the worst will happen and be pleasantly surprised when it doesn't...!

One thing I've found in my IS 300h is that any dirt on the headlight lenses seems to significantly cut down the brightness of the lights. At this time of year particularly, with road grime thrown onto the headlights, it only takes a few miles to noticeably reduce brightness (presumably due to light scatter). The lenses don't always look dirty but it just seems to take a light layer to make a big difference and giving them a wash off is very noticeable, especially on dipped beam - full beam seems to suffer less.