parkman

Hi, thanks for your information. It is a bit difficult to see the differences in the bumper edge, from the brochure pictures.

Apparently, the stainless item is an abs fitting with a thin S Steel surface plate bonded on. Interestingly enough, the same item is listed in a Canadian Lexus brochure, but for the RC again.

So Inchcape Lexus must have a very similar brochure to the Canadian one, except the Inchcape one is separately by model, whereas the Canadian one is for all the models in one brochure.

I have e-mailed a company in Japan who advertise a polished S Steel item, with the "Lexus" name inscribed into it. The only thing is that on their website it is only listed for the NX and the CT. But maybe they do do a version for the IS and it just isn't shown.

Failing that, as a last resort, I may just order the clear protector, which I have seen, again, with the "Lexus" name inscribed into it. I have seen this item advertised by Lexus dealers both in Canada and the US. I'm not sure whether it is available in the UK, though.

It's a pity that Lexus don't have a S Steel protector for the IS, in the UK, as I think that it looks very smart.

The other thing that I am looking into is finding cream or ivory carpets for my IS. It seems that at one time Lexus did have an accessory of ivory mats but that option is now dis-continued, why I don't know. I had a very nice set from Jaguar in my XJR, and they looked very nice with the Jaguar cream leather interior.

My car has ivory leather and black carpets, but to be honest I would prefer cream or ivory over-mats, but at the moment it looks like I will have buy a third party supplier set. Pity.

Parkman.

Hi, I am looking for some advice or information regarding a stainless steel bumper protection panel.

I did see that there was a thread a while ago regarding a couple of bumper protection items, a clear item, and a black abs item. There was a silver abs item from RGM [I think it is called] but none of them are stainless steel. There are a few items listed, mainly in the States, for cars such as the NX or the RX, but nothing in stainless for the IS.

The only possibility that I have seen is in a brochure from Inchcape Lexus for a stainless steel protector for RC coupe. Looking at the picture of the RC I wonder whether this stainless steel item will fit the IS 300h. From the picture the rear of the two cars look the same, but perhaps some-one with more knowledge of these cars may be able to advise on this ?

Parkman.

Having read through all the replies I thought that it might be the blind spot monitor. I am probably wrong, but I thought that BSM beeped when it recognised someone behind you. If so it can be turned off by using the button on the right hand side of the steering wheel. Just my two cents worth but I bow to superior knowledge.

Parkman.

14 hours ago, Ala Larj said:

"As far as I'm aware I have seven 'electronically' selectable gears. My wife's Jazz has the same".

Actually I checked this morning and I only have 6. The Jazz has seven though!

I have only 6 gears in the 2013 IS 300h, or at least there are only 6 which show on the  display when I use the paddles to change gear.

Parkman.

I looked long and hard about the choice between a Merc 300h, a Jaguar XE Adblue diesel, and an IS 300h, and eventually I bought the IS.

There were numerous reason for buying the IS and rejecting the Merc and the Jag, even though I have owned two XJR'S and an XJ8, and then I own two classic Mercs, a 1983 W126 500se and a 1991 W124 260E and a 2004 W211 E220cdi Avantgarde.

I will be keeping the '83 500se, but the other two Mercs have to go. The W124 260E is not used any more, and then the W211 E220 has become a millstone around my neck.

i quite agree about the Merc W211 and later gearbox being quite bad. I have found that if you are driving in traffic, in town, and using only first, second and third, and the box is just going through its' job with no major pressure then it is a very adequate gearbox. But driving quickly along a country, bendy, road when the box has to change up and down rapidly then you get some very harsh thumps as the box tries to find the correct gear. Very disconcerting.

But probably the biggest, by far, reason for buying the IS Hybrid is the f****** [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] dpf nonsense. I do a lot of short journeys and the stupid dpf unit will suddenly cause the car to go into limp home mode without warning. If I have been able to get a bit of a fast run, maybe a short stretch of motorway or dual carriageway, and I come to a fairly quick stop at a set of traffic lights the car will suddenly go flat when I try to take off again ---- limp home mode. That then means pulling over and switching off the engine for five minutes before continuing.

After that you have to take the car onto the motorway and drive it at about 50 / 60 mph for half an hour or so to try to clear the dpf. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I, personally, would never, ever, buy another diesel car in my life.

The other problem with the E-class is that it develops silly problems for no apparent reason. Recently I left the car parked for three weeks and when I did go out to take it for a run there were four [!!!!!!] error messages on the display. So, a trip out to my indie garage, £50 to connect to MB Star diagnostic, clear the error messages, and go back driving again. There is usually nothing wrong with the car, it's just a dumb-***** ECU, I guess.

So the Merc is being sold off very cheaply, just to get rid of it, and I will be very happy driving my 2013 IS 300h in its place. The IS is a one owner car with full Lexus service history, in fact it is actually ahead on services because the previous elderly owner was paranoid about keeping it serviced, and it is a Premium with 30,000 miles. It is a really nice motor and I think that I was very lucky to come across it in a Lexus dealership.

So goodbye, and good riddance to the E220, and welcome to the IS 300h.

Parkman.

I have no problem changing front brake pads, but is it as easy to replace the rear pads ?

I am usually able to change front pads on most "normal" cars in about an hour, and when I say "normal" I don't include my Mercedes E220 !! You need a Star diagnostic computer to get the brake pads to release. apparently, so I never bothered doing them, I just got my local indie to do them.

One question that I would like to ask is on the 2013 Gen 3 IS 300h [AVE30] - do I need the brake shoes with a wear sensor, or is the wear sensor part of the caliper ?

I ask because I saw two sets of American Hawk brand ceramic performance pads, front and rear, and one had what appears to be a wear indicator cable.

Parkman.

Thanks everyone, for all the replies.

I will ring Lexus Dublin on Monday first, and check to see if they did actually fit low dust pads at the last service in May.

Depending on their answer I will think about what to do.

Parkman.

Thanks for the replies.

I am past the fast road stuff nowadays. I have sold all my performance stuff, the Jag XJR being the last car to go, last January. I am happy with the performance of the IS 300h and all I want to do is try to ensure that the front wheels don't end up black. I have a 2004 E220 cdi and that is using standard MB brake pads. I have to wash the front wheels on a regular basis, about every two weeks, to try to keep them clean.

I have seen Gtechniq products, in fact I think I even have a bottle of something by them in my garage. However, I have no idea what the reference to Williams Ceramic coating refers to. Perhaps I could get a bit more info ?

Parkman.

Thanks for all the responses, some interesting comments.

I often wonder whether the warranty is void if using 3rd party items such as brake pads. I have a suspicion that if there was a problem with the discs, for whatever reason, then local dealer could well argue that fitting non original spec pads caused the problem and therefore you would have no claim on the warranty.

I will have to give it some thought - unless Lexus themselves have a low dust brake disc themselves that they can fit.

Parkman.

Hi, seen some previous posts before about this subject from yourself. I had a Jag two years ago with brembo brakes.

In this case are you referring to brake pads, or brake pads and discs ?

Parkman.

I am looking for some advice on replacing the front brake pads on my 2013 IS 300h. I am in the Liverpool area so I was looking for some-one who sells ceramic brake pads, but the only items that I could find in the UK are EBC items and these are coming with poor reports by users.

It seems that we in the UK are way behind the States, where there appear to be a number of different manufacturers. I don't understand the reluctance of British manufacturers to produce good quality ceramic brake pads, and I find it really annoying that I have to shop online to find a set of ceramic brake pads to fit the car.

I would like to ask whether anyone can recommend somewhere online, whether UK or in the States, who will supply a set of front, ceramic brake pads that will work well on the car.

I have read that items like Akebono or Centric are well suited to the IS 300h, have good wear properties, quiet operation, and are "dust free" [ if any brake pads can be described as dust free]. The only problem is, is that neither of these makes are available in the UK.

I see that Mintex don't make ceramic pads, and EBC are rather too often criticized to make them an option.

So I would be grateful if some-one has actual experience of using ceramic brake pads, what make they used, where they bought them, and finally, a part number if possible.

Many thanks in advance,

Parkman.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I have Navigation system Generation I.

I went back to dealer and he suggested just turn off the display in the settings menu. What I decided was to leave the display on "Car" showing the hybrid graphics.

I used to have a 2009 very last model Jag XJR and that had a multiple use display, but it would stay on whatever screen that you had selected, so you could leave it showing audio, or climate, or whatever, without it switching itself to the sat-nav map display.

I will just have to put up with it, I guess.

parkman.

Hi, I have recently taken ownership of a 2013 IS 300h. I like everything about the car, but I have one annoying issue. The sat nav map keeps taking over the centre display.

I have looked through the owners manual and I have not been able to find out how to turn of the sat nav. If I go to the audio "button" or the climare "button", on the display, and select one of them after about 3 or 4 minutes the display changes back to the sat nav map.

I don't want the map on the display unless I am using it, but I want to be able to switch to Audio or Climate and have those displays shown. But I can't.

The Navigation system is Generation I.

I have deleted all the previous data saved by the previous owner, but to no avail.

Perhaps someone might have a solution.

parkman.