parkman

Hi Rayaans, The button that I needed was the park assist button, as you say beside the ASC button. When this is on the same icon is shown on the speedometer, above the seatbelt icon. I must have knocked it off getting into the car after the snow, without noticing. I will now be aware of it !!! Parkman.

I have just noticed a problem that has only just appeared. The reversing buzzer isn't working for some reason. Does anyone happen to know whether it may have inadvertently been turned off, and if so how do I turn it back on ? I had a look at the handbook and it appears to say that the buzzer can be turned off, but it doesn't explain [a] how to turn it off, or if it is off, how to turn it back on. The handbook shows the buzzer with an "X" through it, under the Lexus parking sensor section, but this is different from the display in my IS 300h. When I put the gear shift into reverse the display shows two small windows at the bottom of the display. On the left is the setting for the area's to be monitored and on the right is the setting for parking distances [I think, as it is not explained very well in the handbook, in fact the display shown is not like the car at all !!]. I looked at the main display under a setting to show that the buzzer volume option is set to "5" [maximum], and the line where you want the buzzer to start, the red line or the green line. These options are all correct, or "on as necessary, so is there another section under the main display settings where the buzzer is actually set to be "on" or "off" ? Parkman.

Thanks to all, I think I will keep the car in a warm place over winter - say, the Bahama's !!! Parkman.

Good advice from everyone. I will look at the red stuff brake pads. I know it isn't the brake shoes as I never really use the handbrake except when stopped for a while in traffic or road works etc. I have always relied on the "Park" position of the gear stick, even with large 4 wheel drives. It might sound strange but I try to protect the hand brake operation so that it works 100% when the car goes for the annual test, and that means using the "Park" option. Just as long as one doesn't stick the vehicle into "Park" while the one is still moving !! That can have a rather strange result !! Parkman.

Thanks for the replies. Is there anything that can be done about, within reasonable financial limits, or is it just the nature of the beast ? Parkman.

Absolutely ! This was about 10 years ago, and the police in Ireland didn't know much about stuff like that at the time. They could tell if you number plate was wrong, or if you had no lights, but they weren't aware about changing headlight bulbs from standard to upgraded. Provided your lights worked was OK !! Parkman.

I know that this topic has come up before, but I can't find more about it. What causes the brake pads to stick, on the IS 300h ? Mine is a 2013 Gen III, possibly the beginning of the Gen IIi's, it was registered July 2013, and it seems to have started having the brakes stick if I leave it for a week or more. This is a very recent development I have to say. When I start to drive, as soon as I move, the rear brakes let go with a very noticeable "bang", and I would really like to get this sorted while the car is still under warranty from the Lexus dealer. Parkman.

Very interesting posts. But I am still not convinced about the argument for Xenon headlights on the IS 300h. As far as I am concerned the quality is in the headlight glass design and the type of incandescent bulb being used, whether an H4 or H1 bulbs. After that you are into the power output of the bulbs, whether 55 w, 75 w, or 100 watts. I still believe that the secret of good lights, and there are plenty of examples in the real world to prove it, is the design of the reflector in the light. You can produce all the light you like from a bulb but it is wasted if not correctly focused, and of course this is done by the reflector. The second part of the focusing is done by the fluting of the headlight glass, and this, as everyone knows, is dependent on the country. As far as I am concerned the old method of focusing is far superior in operation than the new headlights which have little focus. I would not agree about the focus not being towards the curb, it really, really should be on dip beam so as not to blind oncoming drivers. A real example of people ignoring the rules of the road are the drivers of Nissan Micra's, especially the early ones. The owners insist on driving about with the round fog/spotlights on, permanently !! The issue about these are that those factory fitted fog/spotlights are unfocused and they are blinding when coming towards you. When I owned my Isuzu Troopers which were both fitted with four extra KC 100 watt Daylighters I took great pleasure in switching on main beam and lighting up the road like Wembley stadium. You could see the dumb driver of the Micra leaping about trying to turn off the fog/spotlights !!!!!!! Parkman.

Roger, the rules are the same in Ireland, but I used to do a lot of night time driving, up to six hours a day between early mornings and late evenings. I also used to be driving at rather well over speed limits, especially at 03:30, and I just couldn't put up with mediocre lights. I really needed to see where I was going. !! Most of the lights that I used on my Isuzu Troopers came from rally cars that I had, and when the rally cars were "updated" I would fit the older spotlights onto the 4 wheel drives. Improved night vision by about 200% !! Parkman.

I agree with Rayaan, the Premier is a really nice car, I know because I have one !! The fact that the Premier has memory drivers seat was a deal breaker for me, because I nearly bought a Jaguar XF. A very nice car, white with cream leather, 2016 with 6000 miles, but to move the seat you have to get into the car. Not great when my wife is only 5ft 1in, and I am 6ft. Especially if she was the last person to drive the car and the seat is up close to the steering wheel. The other problem with the Jaguar was that the drivers seat didn't lift up far enough for my wife to see clearly over the bonnet. The same issue occurred with the 2012 BMW 520d, the seating position is too low for her. The Lexus has a very good variation on the height of the drivers seat so all is well. Parkman.

I agree with Barry. I was out in a Mercedes W124 this evening, 1991 reg, and the main beam is much, much better than my IS. Again, I would insist that it is because the Merc has dedicated main beam lights, and uses H2 75 watt bulbs. Even the dipped beams are the same as the IS. Rayaan, I don't believe that you can change Xenon bulbs for bulbs of a different wattage. As they use a power pack to drive the lamps I think that they are not inter-changeable with other power output Xenon bulbs. I may well be wrong, but I remember looking at the Xenon dipped beam lights on my 2004 Merc E220 cdi, and they were a specific bulb with a set amount of power output. If using normal incandescent bulbs then yes, no problem changing the bulbs. I had an Isuzu Trooper which was fitted with 100/140 watt headlights, and four KC Daylighters with 100 watt bulbs. The point of the KC Daylighters was that they gave light at almost 1 mile on a black night. This is achieved, like all powerful lights, by the shape of the reflector. On the KC's the reflector is quite deep so that the beam is much more focused, and therefore throws the beam much further than a standard Cibie 100 watt light. The biggest problem with fitting more powerful bulbs is that of heat. It is quite easy for the light to crack the lamp glass, particularly if the lights are left on main beam for 4 or 5 minutes. I had two of the KC Daylighters crack the glass with the heat, and the glass in the KC's is a lot thicker than most. Parkman.

Thanks Tom, I didn't think that it was my imagination. However, I doubt that there is anything that can be done, I think that it is the nature of the beast !!! Parkman.

Vlad, thanks for your comment. I will take a more detailed note of how bright, or not, they are at night. I have to disagree about very bright headlights as I have noticed this problem quite a bit from all makes of car using new style Xenon lights. Examples are new BMW 5 series, new Merc E-class, Audi A4 and A6, and a variation of new Japanese cars. It is not all cars, and it is also obvious when you see an older, tradional lit car approaching at night. The lights are much less blinding, and the actual light isn't just sprayed around as tends to happen with unfocused Xenon headlights. Parkman.

I have a Gen III and dip beam isn't too bad, it would be about the same as any Xenon lit cars, which I find are pretty poor compared to older incandescent bulb lights. The Merc that I owned had Xenon lights and was OK on dip but not great. The big advantage that it had main beam lights that used proper H2 bulbs with proper focusing. I think that the problem with Xenon is that they are not focused by using fluted glass in the light. The lights are just a clear lens with, I assume, the focusing being done by adjusting the angle of the light fitting itself. If you notice cars coming towards you with very bright headlights then the car will almost certainly be using Xenon lights, and the beams are not being focused down to the near side kerb as they should be. When you look at older headlights the focusing is being done by the angle of the flutes in the headlight glass, and it is much, much more effective and user friendly to drivers coming towards your car. I just find Xenon lights fire out a lot of uncontrolled very bright light. Just like the fog lights on Nissan Micra's that the dumbasses keep switched on when they drive them. My real, real, real, pet hate - Nissan Micra's. Parkman.

I had three Jaguars XJ's. I had a 2001 XJ 3.2 which was a lovely car. I then bought a 2004 XJR which was a brilliant car, and so fast. Then I traded the XJR for a 2009, very, very last production XJR which had all the options that were available to the XJ range as my XJR was one of the last 10 cars ever made. It was a rocket ship, but after a couple of years I decided that it was just too difficult to drive. The last XJR's had around 420 bhp which was a real power pack, especially as the car was aluminium. But it was quite difficult to drive slowly, you had to concentrate every second because you barely had to press the throttle and the car rockets forward. I went to France on holiday in it and we called to the Le Mans museum. Having been to the exhibits we headed south, down the Mulsanne Straight and I decided to give the car socks. I took it up to 170 mph before lifting off. The car just kept accelerating, it was exhilarating, a once in a life time opportunity. I eventually sold both Jags and bought a Merc E220 cdi, and although it was comfortable it had no real get-up and go. It was quite nice but the issue with DPF mode drove me mad and I was glad to get rid of it after three years and buy the Lexus IS 300h. The IS is nicely refined when compared to the Merc diesel, but obviously doesn't come close to the XJR. That's only to be expected, the Jag is a 4.2 litre V8 !! But the I is much easier in town, easier to park, and much more economical. But there the comparison ends, the two cars are as different as chalk and cheese. But I would fancy an LC 500 if I had over £70,000 to spend on a car. Parkman.

I am interested to see if anyone has noticed the poor performance of the headlight main beam on the IS 300h. I had a 2004 Merc E220 before the Lexus and main beam was very good because a separate set of lights was used. And the Merc did use Xenon dip beams. I find that the Lexus main beams add very little to the amount of light already provided by dip beam. You can tell that you have switched to main beam on a dark road because you have a bit of extra light at the sides, but in a lit up area, even a poorly lit up area, you can't tell if you are main beam. I just wouldn't fancy driving fast down a country lane and trying to use main beam when you have just passed a car going in the opposite direction. You would end up in the hedge pretty quickly, I reckon. If I was to rate the headlights on main beam I would say that they are like a 1970's Ford Anglia !!! Parkman.

Paul [Muddywheels], I would only do a longish run down the country about twice a year, so I feel that I can take the cost of the PHEV rather than diesel. My main concern, as I am retired, is that in the fairly near future the Irish government are going to penalise drivers of diesel cars. I looked at the emissions of a number of cars before buying an IS 300h, because I was importing the car to Ireland. In this day and age in Ireland running a decent fairly large normally aspirated motor is highway robbery between high road tax and silly insurance quotes. If you have a car that is older than 10 years, so pre-2008, there are only two insurance companies who will quote you. All other insurance companies have an embargo on over 10 year old cars, and there is nothing you can do about it. The big attraction of the IS 300h is the fact that it is a 2.5 litre and therefore fairly lively. The road tax is €190 a year, just about the cheapest road tax in Ireland, and at least you can go to any insurance company because the car is only 4 years old. Any of the other makes that I looked at, such as Merc, BMW, and Jaguar, were much higher in emissions, mainly because they were using diesel and Adblue engines. So emissions were around 140 - 180 grams, and that puts them all in the €350 - 500 a year road tax bracket. Added to that, they are all diesel. Just another question in relation to this, even though we are on a Lexus forum - is there much difference between the Outlander GX4h and the GX5h ? Parkman.

Very, very many thanks for all the excellent replies. My use of the vehicle would be for day to day driving, some longish journeys, around three hundred miles down the country and back in a day. But I don't tow anything, and I occasionally have a couple of passengers, or perhaps two child seats in the back. I also live in Ireland, so I have to be aware of large annual road tax bills. I have just sold my 2004 Merc E220 cdi mainly because it was diesel, which is becoming very bad news in Ireland, and also because the annual road tax is €950. And only likely to go up. So, as I don't earn €100,000 a year the likes of a Rangerover or a BMW X5 are no-go's. If I wanted to pay €3000 road tax then I would probably go back to a 7 seater Isuzu Trooper, which I found to be a wonderful tough, reliable, and solid workhorse of an SUV. I had two and they were both excellent machines, although they were both Japanese imports, with all the extra's. Re: David [Spacewagon52], I agree about the reliability of the Mitsubishi. My Pajero was very good, and very comfortable. I have also read the Auto Express review. It is interesting that when you look at the first "page" both the RX and the Outlander PHEV are marked as 3 stars. I will have a look at the John Cadogan video but I am just concerned that it is an Australian review and I would imagine that conditions in Australia are far different from those in the UK. My father had a new Lexus LS 460 when they were first sold in the UK, but that car did not like the heat in the south of France, or in Spain where he used to spend the winter. He had lots of electrical problems which Lexus said was down to heat causing problems with the ECU's of which I believe there are two. Eventually, he left the car in the UK and when by air and then rented a car in Spain. Very many thanks to Paul [Muddywheels]. A very good post which has given me a lot to consider. I do like the look of the Outlander, although it doesn't seem to have the options that the RX has. But then I need to ask myself do I really need all the "toys". Do I really need the electronics that tell me that there is a car beside me, or on the passenger side, of just behind me ? I appreciate the park assist, and possibly the auto boot opener. But I have lived with cars that don't have all these options, so do I really need them now ? Human nature makes us buy the model with the most options when there is more than one model available. Perhaps Henry Ford was correct when he said that there was only one colour available - black !! So again, many, many thanks for really useful posts from everybody. Parkman.

I know how Phil feels about the C-class. Last year I got an upgrade when I hired a car from Hertz in Edinburgh. They were very pleased that I qualified for an upgrade to a bigger car that the one I hired in the beginning, which was an automatic Ford Focus estate. The reason I had booked a Focus estate was I wanted to help my daughter move some stuff for her house, and then also be able to put a baby seat in the back to do some shopping at IKEA. But when the girl on the desk said that I was due an upgrade I took it to be perhaps a BMW estate or maybe a Merc estate. I got a C200 coupe !!! The weather was a bit grim when I got the car, and I decided that I couldn't be bothered returning to the office and asking for a change back to an estate - of any description. I do appreciate that Hertz were being nice, but I wish that they had asked me before changing my booking, even if I am a gold customer. I disliked the car from about 20 minutes after getting in, and I hadn't got out of Edinburgh airport at that point ! I found that the car was far too cramped for a tall person like myself, and it is very low, which doesn't help when you have a rather stiff back and bending down is a chore. The worst thing about it, though, and it was really bad, was that the seat belt is really far back behind you, because of the very long doors. I found that it was really painful to have to twist right around with my left arm stretching back behind me to reach the seat belt. In the end, I found it necessary to pull out the seat belt and hold it out, before getting into the car. I would open the door, then pull the seat belt out and hold it out, and then get into the drivers seat. I couldn't live with that hassle, and I wouldn't keep the car even if you gave it to me for free !! I collected the car on a Friday lunchtime, and I took it back to Hertz, in the city centre, on the Saturday morning and took out a Kia Ceed estate instead !! The guy on the desk was really amused, but unfortunately I wasn't. The C200 Coupe is probably OK for someone in their twenties or thirties, but for me - absolutely no thank you. A horrible car. Parkman.

Hi, I am probably about to put the cat among the pigeons, but I really would like to hear some views on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. I know that the Outlander is only 2 litre and around 200 bhp, but I would like to find out how it compares against the RX. Is the RX much bigger in size ? How does the RX compare inside, against the Outlander ? Is there any benefit to the fact that the Outlander is a plug-in hybrid ? I had a long wheel base Mitsubishi Pajero for a couple of years, in 2010 to 2013, and I found it to be pretty good. But not as good as the two long wheel base Isuzu Troopers that I had before the Pajero. The first Trooper was an old donkey 2.1 litre, basic but bullet-proof, diesel, with a top speed of around 95 mph. The second one was a 2.2 DOHC and was much quicker. The Pajero was, I think, 2.4, and was quicker in top speed and acceleration. I like the RX, but I don't mind admitting that I have seen a few very nice Outlanders, but I have not had a close look at one. So I would appreciate if anyone has driven one, or even owned one. Parkman.

I believe that there is a cut-off point where optional extra's are deemed "worthless" as far as the VRT is concerned, but I don't know how many years old the cars have to be. I imported a Merc E220 cdi, with a lot of extra's included, it was an ex-Daimler staff car. It was about 10 years old when I imported it, and the guy doing the paperwork, in the Revenue office, said that the extra's, metallic paint, panoramic sunroof, 17 inch star alloys, drop-down rear seat option, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, would make no difference to the VRT as after a certain age there is no loading because of extra's. Parkman.

To some degree I can understand Lexus's decision to build only a certain number of optioned cars, as this means it is easier for the dealer, not having to have to go through an options book, like Mercedes do.At least when you decide on a Luxury or a Premier, or whatever, you know that when you see a model that you like then it will nearly always be exactly the same as a previous, or a different one that you saw somewhere else. Only the upholstery may be different, and of course the colour of the car ! Another interesting point is that if you export the car, to Ireland for instance, because, in this example, Ireland charge a vehicle registration tax [ import duty under another name ] if you buy something like a Merc then you have to declare all the options that the car has, and then you have to pay import tax on all those options. So you very rarely find an original registered Merc with both aircon, and a sunroof, as it adds a couple of hundred euro's to the new car price. I think, but I may be wrong, I think that metallic paint on a new e-class is around €1200 extra, and a sunroof around €900 extra, then different MB alloys are around €800 extra. So if you import a two or three year old E-class the VRT tax [or import duty] is horrendous. At least with Lexus you only have to consider the model itself to determine the VRT tax, and you know exactly what that import duty will be. No messing, no arguing about what type of alloy wheels are fitted, whether the car has electric memory seats or not, you just present the paperwork and the Irish Revenue tell you how much you owe based on the Lexus factory spec. One other comment. My brother-in-law has a GS 300f F-Sport, and he was disgusted when he found out that my IS has rear drop-down seats but his GS doesn't !!!! Now I think that he wants to swap. Parkman.

Thanks to Edwardo, for the clarification, and confirmation. Parkman.

My point was that standard lead acid batteries do not perform particularly well in cold conditions, as they lose the necessary motive power to turn a motor of any description. A warm lead acid battery performs much, much better in warm conditions. That's all. Parkman.

There is a very good point to be made here. As Colin rightly points out, cold weather is a killer for a standard lead acid battery. I used to drive artics on the continent, refrigerated trailers, and the biggest problem that we faced in the winter was not being able to start the fridges. A big part of the problem was down to cold batteries as they wouldn't have the "ooomph" to keep turning over the diesel engine that ran the refrigeration system. Also, leaving the battery with a very low level of charge generally means that you might as well just buy a new one, as the battery will very rarely return to a good, steady charge. If anyone has ever done it, you will find that even taking the battery out of the car and storing it in the garage for a couple of months, the battery will discharge and will not start the car. If I am correct you will find that a lot of motor factors won't keep fully charged batteries on the shelf all the time. I have a recollection of buying a battery for an old Jag, and the motor factor guy asked me to return the following day as the battery had to be charge. Interestingly, Mercedes use gel filled batteries rather than lead acid, but the charge storage doesn't seem to much different. I had one in an E220 cdi and even though it was new, about three years ago, after 18 months it would still go flat after about 10 days. Parkman.