pobrown

It's £210 for this year, but £415 from 1st April 2009 and £430 from 2010.

233g/km means you will be paying £415 from April next year, and £430 from 2010. 201-225g/km is the range for £300 tax next year.

Tyres were still legal. The car was traded in at a Toyota Main Dealer, who checked right round the car and offered a p/x price accordingly.

Yep, I agree with the above. Have just read the official budget documentation. The new 13-tier car tax bands come into force from 1st April 2009 and cover all cars from 1st March 2001. This means, an IS200 would be £210 this year and £415 next April (£430 in 2010) an IS300 would be £210 this year and £440 next April (£455 in 2010) Will obviously also affect every other Lexus model in a similar way. Cheers Phil

Thanks for the offer Tony - it really is very much appreciated. The tyres were not the only reason I got rid of the IS300, just one of many factors including fuel consumption, insurance costs and increasing road tax prices. I had always planned to bring the car to you for the fix, but with my hectic work schedule I never got around to it. Had I not traded it in a couple of weeks ago, I would have put on some new tyres and made the journey having found how fast the IS300 ate the other tyres. Cheers Phil

The £400 tax bracket for cars with over 225g/KM CO2 is only for cars registered on or after 23/03/06. For IS200/300 registered before this date, but after 01/03/2001, then the new cost of Road Tax is £210 from 13/03/2008. Anyone that owns an IS250 Manual registered after 23/03/06 will now be paying £400 per year in Tax, but I think the Auto version manages to sneek into the lower band of £210. It isn't clear whether the tax bands for 2009/10 apply to new cars or exisiting cars when they come into force next year. I hope I've got all that right. I've been following the tax bands closely recently, having just bought a Toyota Prius, with it's tiny £15 per year tax!

I got rid of my IS300 last week, but for info here is what I've found over the last couple of years: May 2004 - got a 51 Reg IS200 SE Auto. Had really bad inner tyre wear. Must have bought 6 tyres in 2 years of ownership (20k miles) May 2006 - changed to Honda for a bit Feb 2007 - got a 53 Reg IS200 Sport. Only had it for 3 months, but this also showed inner wear. May 2007 - got a 04 Reg IS300. Brand new tyres on it when I picked it up from Lexus Cardiff. After 6000 miles both front tyres had bad inner wear. March 2008 - Got rid of the IS300 as I couldn't face anymore tyre wearing. No longer a Lexus Owner and probably won't be again - now driving a Toyota Prius!

Have been thinking of downsizing from my March 2004 IS300 Navigator/Parking Sensors. I've just come back from Toyota in Leeds, which is next door to Lexus Leeds. Despite me thinking that my car was worth good money (about £10.5k) for part exchange, they only offered me £8k and wouldn't give a penny more! They said that's what their sister company (Lexus Leeds next door) would offer for it. I feel really insulted - it's got full Lexus Service History, still under warranty with Lexus until May and is in mint condition. 44k miles on the clock. Might now look at selling privately, but I'm not sure about the inconvenience of being without a car while I source a new one after the IS300 is sold. Anyone else had really silly valuations on their Lexus? Cheers Phil

About £420 fitted from my local Lexus dealer when I had them fitted last. 4 sensor system, perfectly colour coded. Not cheap, but very handy. A similar halfords system was about £220 fitted, but the guy that I spoke to didn't inspire much confidence in me when he said "we'll get the bumper off somehow"

I used to use a seperate DAB tuner on my HiFi, using a roof mounted aerial. Even with a really strong signal I didn't really rate the audio quality. DAB is just about digital, easy to access content and not sound quality. The system uses low bitrates (128kbps on Radio 1 for example) and uses a very old codec (MP2 I think), so it sounds much worse than a good FM signal. Even Virgin Radio at 160kbps didn't sound great. The Medium Wave based stations are even worse as they mostly transmit in 64kbps mono. I think a DAB system in a Mark Levinson audio system would not show off the system in it's best light. I do agree however, that it is a waste of space putting a tape deck in a 2007 car! Cheers Phil

I took my car into a Lexus Dealer today to have some parts fitted. I was very surprised when they gave me a 6 year old IS200 as the courtesy car. Now, I'm grateful for any car that means I don't have to sit at the dealership all day, but I was told by the dealer a couple of years ago (when the new IS first came out) that all their courtesy cars had to be either IS250 or IS220d as a minimum on the instruction of Lexus GB. The IS200 they gave me was okay to drive, but the brakes were not great and it just appeared a bit 'shabby'. Not quite what I expected from a Lexus Dealer when paying over £400 for the work on my car. Anyone had any similar experiences? Cheers Phil

I've had an IS300 for a couple of months now. Truely the best car I've ever owned. This is my 3rd Lexus, after owning IS200 Auto, IS200 Sport and now this. Performance is really good. MPG is poor, but not that much worse than both 200s I've had. My IS300 went into a Lexus dealer today and they gave me a 51 reg IS200 Auto as a courtesy car. Now I loved the IS200 Auto when I owned it, but to drive one after having an IS300 for a while the difference really shows. Cheers Phil

IS300's are quite rare anyway. IS300's with SatNav are even rarer - it took me ages to find one (I really wanted the SatNav, having had it on both my previous IS200s). I managed to get an 04 IS300 with SatNav, full service history with 39k on clock back in May. I've loved every minute of it. There is no TRD kit, but I wasn't bothered about that anyway. Full Leather is standard on the IS300. Only modification I've made is fitting a Nokia CK-15W Bluetooth Car Kit and buying the latest SatNav DVD. I want to have parking sensors fitted, but I don't really want to pay the £430 that my local Lexus dealer has quoted me. I paid £300 last time, but apparently that was a special offer at the time. I'm getting about 24-26mpg from it, using a mix of A-roads and village (30mph) traffic. I've never used the ECT power mode, but I do use the 'M' mode all the time, and use the E-Shift buttons instead of waiting for the autobox to kick down. Cheers Phil

Was in Carphone Warehouse at the weekend. They were advertising a Parrot Bluetooth system for £90-ish, including Installation. Cheers Phil

WOW! A free car with change!

A registration number is worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it. If you happen to have a combination that is popular and wanted then it could be worth more. For example, I'm sure that L3XUS is probably worth more than £250, but it wouldn't interest me so I wouldn't pay a premium for it. Somebody probably would. My dad will be selling his L3XJB plate soon as he is moving away from a Lexus. Reg Transfers valued the plate at £600, but I don't know what criteria they use to value it. I know that JB are popular initials, but again a plate is only worth what someone else is prepared to pay. When you see listings on the DVLA website of the top prices paid for things like 'P1 LOT' for about £100k you start to wonder. Cheers Phil

Thanks for the link - somehow my forum search didn't pull this one up. However, the first instruction talks about removing the dash tray - since I have SatNav installed this isn't possible, is it? Sorry for being a pain, but I'm really bad at taking cars to bits - nervous about damage! Thanks Phil

I'm getting a 2003 IS 200 Sport in a couple of weeks. It has a Nokia CARK-91 carkit installed and the wire from the cradle goes into the console down the side of the head unit. Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to remove the head unit so I can take the wire out - I'm going to change to a Nokia Bluetooth system - I did this in my old IS200 SE, but in that case the cradle wire didn't run in a hard to reach place. Am I right in thinking that removing the head unit is harder due to the SatNav being installed, or I am dreaming this fact?? :-) All help appreciated - looking forward to getting back into an IS200 - been without my old one for 9 months. Cheers Phil

The part number is decoded as follows: PZ485 is some kind of identifier. L00 - means you have a 2000 generation SatNav system in your car, meaning it is a 2000-2001 reg at a guess. The L indicates that you want the Lexus packaging, not toyota (which would be T) although the discs are interchangable. EU - means a European disc 06 - means a 2006-07 version disc. My IS200 is a 2003 reg, but has a 2001 generation satnav system in it, so the part number is the same except the 00 is changed to 01. There are 4 different DVD satnav generations: 00, 01, 03 & 05. Some discs can be used on both 03 & 05 systems, but generally you need a DVD that is specific to your generation. Cheers Phil

Hi guys, Driving up the M42 this afternoon I was overtaken by an RX400h, reg: VN05OYO. I didn't think they were out unilt the 15th, and I doubt it could have been a test drive as it was 6pm on a Sunday. It's funny that I've seen a 400h on the road before a new GS300 (except the one my dad has just bought). Cheers Phil

Tony, Thanks for the feedback. At least I know that a good job of the alignment has been done. I've fitted two new Bridgestone RE040's to the front yesterday so I will keep an eye on them to see if I start getting inside wear again. The car is a December 2001 IS200 SE Auto, now with 41000 miles. There are no mods to the car that would affect handling. I'm not really into that kind of thing, or if I'm 100% honest, I don't really know what I'm talking about when it comes to modifying cars. I like my IS as it is (and am now just waiting for the IS250 to come out :D ) My driving style can only be described as a normal, average 'go to work every day' kind of style. I don't drive fast or take corners at speed. I drive 5 miles each way to work every day through the local villages. Use the motorway 2-3 times per month to go about 12 miles shopping etc. For those that are interested, the alignment cost £65+VAT. I forgot about asking for an LOC discount until I got home and logged onto the site (and I should be punished for not carrying my LOC card with me). Cheers Phil PS: Maybe I'll have to make a trip to Watford some time - sounds like it would be worth it.

I've just had my wheel alignment done at Lexus Sheffield. A scan of the printout I received is below. However, I not sure about two of the figures in the 'after adjustment' column have a * after them. The car feels much better than it did, and hopefully I won't end up with the insides of my front tyres being bald again. Thanks Phil

Got a quote from Lexus Sheffield of £380inc to change all the locks and provide new keys. Phoned Lexus Customer Care to complain that I wasn't too happy about the warranty only recently expiring - they looked into it and got back to me an hour later to say that they will pay for the parts. I just have to pay Lexus Sheffield for the labour. Cheers Phil

Currently waiting for Lexus Sheffield to get back to me with a price (90 minutes and counting). The guy on the phone said that Lexus have changed the keys slightly to stop this happening, so it must be a known problem. I'm really not happy that this has happened 8 weeks after the warranty has expired - I would expect the keys/barrel to last for many more years than 3 and a bit. Cheers Phil

Strange one today. Drove to work as normal - car working 100%. Got into car at the end of work and the key would only go into the ignition 2/3 of the way. By a strange coincidence I had another key in my pocket and that wouldn't go in properly either. Tried moving the gearstick to check it is in Park and turning the steering wheel but nothing would work. Called out the RAC and the block managed to get the key in after about 15 minutes of trying - he said is was more luck and brute force (and WD40) than skill. He said it looks like I'll need a new barrel on the ignition. Key feels stiffer than before and I don't want to trust it for much longer. It's just a good job I wasn't stranded miles from home and that I only work 5 miles away. Anyone know of a ball-park cost for this repair? I shall be phoning Lexus Sheffield first thing in the morning (even though I'm really annoyed that they never got back to me when I phoned their servicing dept at 5.05pm and they close at 6pm). Car is a Dec 2001 51 Reg IS200 SE Auto/Nav and this is the 2nd thing to go wrong with the car since it's warranty ran out 8 weeks ago - not too happy about that! Cheers Phil