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I've managed to get hold of a single front and rear Alloy Scuff plate for my IS200 (both brand new). I didn't pay much for them as you can see on eBay (item number: 4521476450) I'm therefore looking for the other ones for the other side of the car! Anyone got any spares lying around that want to sell?? Cheers Phil

Worked fine in my IS yesterday, when we used it for the first time (just to test). I used the enclosed suction cup to stick the mounting arm to the windscreen. The Tom Tom unit ending being located just above my normal SatNav screen, and during the 10 mile journey theSatnav signal was always 4-5 bars (max is 5). Cheers Phil

I've just bought a "TomTom Go" for my wife (my IS has SatNav). Very impressed with it so far. Up to date maps (2004), and a simple all-in-one implementation. 5 mins after opening the box we were up and running. Much better than the PDA solution we used to have. Cheers Phil

If you fill in your details on the DVLA Sale-of-Marks site HERE they should email you when 05 plates go on sale. Generally, they start to sell plates a couple of months before the registration is live - you have to be quick to snap up the popular combinations. Avoid placed like NewReg etc - they overcharge. DVLA is the only place where new plates can be purchased. Buying from elsewhere means someone is taking a cut. When I bought my plate a few years ago (old Prefix style) it was £250 fully inclusive from DVLA. However, places like NewReg quoted £400+ The only time other sellers are handy is when they already own the plate you're after, so that's the only place they are available!! EDIT: also worth noting - when you buy a plate, the retention certificate is valid for 12 months. You will have to renew the retention every year or you will loose the plate. I think there is a small-ish fee for this, and there is also a tight window of when you can do it. To revent this, you could always assign the plate to a car, but remember, you don't actually own the plate - it is on the car. If you sell the car you must transfer the plate off before the ownership of the car is transferred. If your car is stolen, you have to sort it out with DVLA before your insurance pay out. Finally (and this happened to a mate), if you have a personal plate on an old car, you must keep it in good working order. To transfer a plate from a vehicle, it MUST be taxed and have a valid MOT. My mate had a plate on a car, but it got into a really bad state of repair. No MOT, no way he could transfer it to another car, so he lost it Cheers Phil

According to the manual for my SatNav, any of the following areas can be selected when inputting destinations: Austria Andorra Belgium Switzerland Germany Denmark Spain France Liechtenstein Great Britain Italy Luxembourg Monaco Netherlands Portugal San Marino Sweden Vatican City The screen size difference isn't obvious until you see the units in operation. If you look at the photos from my car, you'll see that the screen pretty much takes up the whole width of the plastic unit. On a CD version, the screen is more square. (similar to watching a 4:3 program on a widescreen TV). With the split screen mode, mine is set to show the layout of a road junction as I approch, but still give the overview of the map on the other side. When on a Motorway, half the screen is the map, and the other side is a list of upcoming service stations. It is also possible to have half map, half list of instructions. Cheers Phil

My IS200 is a Dec 2001 51 Reg, and the SatNav is DVD Based. You can see photos of the system in my garage HERE Hope this helps. Phil

My 2001 IS200SE has lots of inside wear and the front tyres, which will be replaced shortly. Anyone know of a good place in the Sheffield area for the Wheel Alignment? I will contact Lexus Sheffield to get a price from them, but obviously would like any cheaper or better recommendations. Thanks Phil

Re: W200 LEX Similar 'W' plates are £399 from the DVLA - this price includes VAT and the assignment fee. It would cost £80 to transfer your dad's plate to another car, or £105-ish to transfer the plate to a retention certificate (so you can sell it). You may be able to get a couple of hundred £ on the sale, if someone wants that particular plate, especially is someone wants a _200 LEX plate, as the DVLA don't list any _200 LEX plates to be available. The downside is the time it takes - it isn't an instant process: I recently transferred my plate from my old Avensis to my IS200. You need to go to a local DVLA office and hand in the V5 documents for both cars. You then can't sell the car until you have the new V5 which can take up to 4 weeks. (Alternatively, you can get DVLA to send you the form and I think you can post it back to them). I have seen registration numbers sold on eBay, so you may want to try there. Cheers Phil

In some situations, the GPS signals can bounce off tall buildings before reaching your car - this can confuse the system that works out your position.

Just got back from the motor show. Good day overall. Both me & my dad were dissapointed that there was nothing relating to the new GS range at the lexus stang. This is due to come out early next year so it would be nice to see it. On display were: LS430 RX300 IS200SE Manual/Nav SC430 and the LF-X concept and FX300h Hybrid (but you couldn't get inside them as they were behind a barrier) I only took two photos at the Lexus Stand, and they are available here and here. You'll see that the rest of my photos are pretty much of Aston Martin :D (now, if only my lucky numbers come up tonight.....) Cheers Phil

I looked at the feedback rating of sellers for these bulbs on eBay, and quite a few folks have said they are darker than expected, and not as good as they thought they would be. I decided instead to get some Philips BlueVision bulbs from powerbulbs.com, and they are great (although a lot more expensive than these eBay ones) Cheers Phil

I was on a Lexus Open Road event today - all the cars that I drove that had SatNav had a new version - "2004 - 2005 ver 1"

Get yourself a wireless ADSL router (around £60-£100). This will plug into your BT line, and also connect to your PC via an Ethernet cable (you may need a network card adding to your PC, around £5-£10). Then you will need a wireless card for your laptop. An older, slower one will do (11Mbps) as your internet connection will only be 0.5Mbps (maybe 1Mbps). These can be obtained for around £20. I use this setup and it works a treat. I've also got a HP Jetdirect box that mean either my PC or Laptop can print to the laser printer. (the printer plugs into the JetDirect box, and this plugs into one of the network sockets on the router). I use the D-Link DSL-604+ ADSL Router, which you can buy mail order for about £70. It has just been replaced however with a new one (DSL-G604T) which I saw in PC World for £100. With the router up and running and using WinXP, your PC is connected to the internet as soon as it boots - no need to dial up etc. Also, the router can protect your PC/Laptop from worms/viruses etc. If you need anymore help, give me a shout. Cheers Phil

My 8 week old son gets transported around using the Graco Quatro Tour Travel System Details Here The Auto Base fits in the back of my IS200, and the pushchair part *just* fits in the boot. A fabulous travel system - we picked it after trying many different brands/types. Folds down with one hand, and the baby seat looks really comfy! Cheers Phil

My dad's IS200SE has a large number of marked points in the SatNav that he uses for work. He has now purchased a new IS200 with SatNav, and I now drive the old one. Does anyone know if there is a way to copy the marked point data from one SatNav system to another, or do we need to spend a few hours re-programming them Cheers Phil

I'm in North Anston, Sheffield (S25). It's actually about 6 miles from Worksop. Cheers Phil

Thanks for the welcome! After a day driving around, still loving the car :D Will hope get plenty of 'road time' over the bank holiday weekend, before being back at work on Tuesday.

After many months of waiting and wanting, I've finally got a Lexus to call my own!!!! My IS200 SE So far it's great - no complaints at all. Nice to actually have some power on the fast roads. Cheers Phil