bernieeccles

I would have thought that the drive home from the dealers of 125 miles would have charges the Battery sufficiently  but as has been said, maybe it's getting on a bit. i will wait a while and see. Would the Battery and the sill light come under the warranty?

Got my new to me IS 250 SE-l MM Auto yesterday and very impressed with the car. Spent an hour or so last night playing around with the multi media system, playing a DVD etc, came this morning to start it and just get a buzzing of the starter solenoid. Obviously I must have flattened the Battery. So the question is, if I'm parked up how long can one play around with the DVD without the engine running before I get to the flat Battery stage ?

Also, the drivers side illuminated sill doesn't light. The passenger side does though. Is this just possibly a bulb or something and how does the actual plate come off ?

Apart from these issues, really chuffed with the car, pre facelift on an 09 plate with Lexus approved warranty,57000 miles.

Spoke to dealer today and yes it had a cherished plate on it previously and asked about the recalls and both have been done which is good.

That could explain it then. Any reason why the reg number doesn't seem to show up in various places ? I actually like those wheels and apparently they have been refurbished last year or so and hopefully being 17 inch will add to the comfort.

Put a deposit down over the phone today on a 2009 IS 250 se-l  multi media from a Lexus dealer. The personal video sent to me clearly shows that it is a pre upgrade car because it does not have indicators in the wing mirrors and the reversing lights are the square ones.

What puzzles me is that the car has the 10 spoke 17inch wheels and also whenever I put the registration number into the My Lexus  or the Gov, mot history, nothing is found. It does come up on the basic MOT check though.

If I look at 2008 or 2009 brochures on the Lexus site, those cars have the mirror indicators and tick shaped reversing lights and the 18inch wheels.

I just wonder how this car which is registered March 2009 can not have these features.

Does anyone know the year when the upgrade happened  and should it have 18 inch wheels as standard ?

I was thinking about the price and I thought at the time,  it was well worth paying the full amount to secure such a nice car. One thought did cross my mind though, and this applies to any IS250 and that is to have a real good look at the exhaust system especially a car that old because we all know how expensive they can me.

Enjoy your prize !

Don't tell me, you got a grand knocked off the price as well !

I take it that this is the light silvery blue with a sunroof ?

I rang about that one early this morning only to be told someone had left a deposit on it. The sales guy told me it was the MDs  car.

Got a good one there !

Mr Vlad, just to clear things up, the picture is just an example of an extreme collapse of the bolster. In my search for a car, I have seen quite a few lesser examples of this and when the right car pops up, a worn bolster would be a negotiating point. I have no doubt a good car trimmer could sort it out with ease.

A good example of a collapsed bolster here.

I have noticed when browsing the Lexus Approved Used site (IS 300H models) that quite a few have drivers side seat bolsters that have for want of a better word, collapsed. I did wonder if this was because the previous drivers were a bit corpulent.

Maybe a good car trimmer could do something about it !

I had an old but still going strong Toyota HiAce  van insured with Admiral and just before renewal time they rang me up to confirm that I had received the renewal quote. A conversation ensued in which I was asked if the van had any modifications. Jokingly I said, yes I have put some carpet down on the rear floor. He said he would have to check with someone and came back after a few minutes and told me they would have to increase the premium by just under £18.

He seemed a bit shocked when I then said that I decline their quote and that I was going elsewhere.

Scumbags.

The 300h Premier that I referred to in another thread was also up for sale at Lexus Stoke and then vanished from the Lexus approved site only to reappear for sale at. Lexus Gatwick.

According to a sales guy, because it's a new franchise Lexus GB and other dealers have transferred various cars to them to help get them underway.

I would have liked to have gone to see this particular car but it's a long way from Yorkshire.

This car was previously advertised for sale by Lexus Stoke but has now appeared up for sale by Lexus Gatwick. Are these two dealers owned by the same company I wonder. Quite a rare car in that it is a Premier spec with a sunroof in my preferred colour Sonic Titanium.

Still looking !

I should have said that it was a car on sale at a Lexus dealer but it is now academic as the car has presumably been sold as it no longer appears on the Lexus approved site.

Looking at a few IS300h and one that has caught my attention has a heating console that looks a bit rough. The dealer has said they will "try" to make it look better but it won't be perfect.

Is it past the stage of ever being made to look good ?

1 hour ago, matt8 said:

Torque Vectoring Differential

Thanks.

TVD ?

I thought that the SE-L model designation was for the IS Mk 2 and not the IS300H. 

SE, Executive, Advance and Premier are the Mk3 models with the Premier being the top trim level.

Someone more with more knowledge than me will put you right.

39 minutes ago, Fsport said:

So decided to try the 24 hour offer that keeps popping up on this site.  Registered my details and then got a call from my local Lexus dealer. Receptionist who called me asked me to come in on the Sunday and to do a normal test drive before taking the car for the 24hr test drive (Lexus NX).  I wanted the 24 hour test drive so that my wife could check it out with me without the pressure of the saleman.  She would never do a test drive at a dealer.

Sunday came and it was ****** down with rain. I was also a bit tired from the night out before and didnt really feel in the mood to go to the test drive that morning.  However decided to force myself out of bed and honour the pre arranged meeting with the salesman.

Drove there by myself and was asked to wait 5 mins for the saleman to come out.  He sits me down, asks me a few questions before telling me that there are no NXs available for a 24 hour test drive.  Also the fact that a new NX was due soon meant that doing a normal test drive wasn't going to be worth it.  I was taken aback by the reluctance of the salesman to allow me to drive any car so decided to walk pretty annoyed.  Should have just stayed in bed.  He further annoyed by asking me silly questions about my supercar I arrived in.

It looks like the 24 hour test drive thing Lexus currently do is a lie but rather an exercise to obtain more contact information to bombard you with spam later on.

Maybe I should try another dealer but the next one is 90mins away. 

I also registered my details and waited for some sort of confirmation from first one then another dealer. Heard nothing despite a couple of polite emails, then sent an email to Lexus GB who responded by saying they had forwarded my email to them on to the dealers in question. Again, heard nothing until a few days ago, I received an email from Lexus GB saying that I had to call in to the dealers to arrange insurance as per the dealers email to me.

Suffice to say, I didn't receive an email from the dealer asking me to do this.

Poor communication somewhere methinks, but I will go to the dealers, when my wife and my work timetables coincide with a free day.

Find a local branch of Autopaint and call in. They have hundreds on paint chips to try and match and can mix up small amounts to use with a touch up brush or make up an aerosol can. My local guy is very helpful and mixed up some paint for the wheels on my BMW R1200GS which has silver grey wheels which also does not have a paint code.

I have found in the past, touching up a door handle on my VW which is called magic black and is a pearlescent  base coat and laquer, that the only way to get a good finish on small areas is to use an air brush which gives out a very small fine spray.

The trouble with using a touch up brush is that the metallic particles are not evenly distributed.

All depends on how OCD about these things you are.

Yes, I agree. Too many motoring writers don't seem to live in the real world with real on the road driving conditions, when testing cars. After all, why should a car built for the road be a track tool, smoking tyres as they drift around corners.

I must admit, that when I first became interested in the 300h, I too thought that the CVT gearbox had some sort of belt system instead of the very clever planetary system with the electric motor.

Still haven't managed to get a 24hr test drive yet though, through the offer on this site.

7 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

I felt that was the best review of a Lexus sedan that I have ever seen.

The driver could not be accused of not researching the vehicle and to criticise him for 3 seconds of failing to identify the strengths of the CVT box was I felt a little unfair.

But the E CVT does not use rubber bands ! or did you not know that either ?

The guy in this video review is a prime example of a journalist getting his facts wrong but comes across with authority so some would believe him without question.

Video here.

Jump to 2 minutes 50 seconds to here his description on the E CVT gearbox. Lack of research at worst.

33 minutes ago, PaulWhitt20 said:

Sounds like you have already bought it in your head as you are still persisting in having a test drive.

The IS is not a sports car. If you want something to race around in and enjoy the performance the the eCVT is not for you. If you want to waft around in comfort then you will soon get used to the eCVT and enjoy its sublime smoothness.
 

Nope ! I don't want a sports car with the associated noise and firm crashy suspension. I have a 1200 cc motorbike for speedy "kicks"

I do want a relaxing quiet drive with reasonable fuel consumption and road tax. It has to look nice to me as well. I don't want a diesel any more. I have had a VW Bora TDI for 12 years now and done nigh on 100k miles in it but that has none of the expensive emissions crap on it which a modern diesel has and  a new diesel will not be the sort of thing that would suit my driving profile. I also don't want a small capacity "revbomb" either.

Hence my interest in the IS. It would seem to fit the bill.

However, I would never just stroll into a dealer and buy one without a good road test. There are some things about a car, especially for long term ownership, that a half hour test drive is just not going to reveal.

Maybe, later on in the year, when the tumbleweeds are blowing through the car showrooms, I might get a bit more attention.

You would think that given this 24hr test drive initiative is being promoted by Lexus GB, it would be a bit better organised.