DBIZO

The pop-up mechanism with controls alone is probably £2k plus labour, yes. Plus you need a new hood. I narrowly avoided it to activate, but some cable come lose and the ECU reported error. The ECU alone is quoted at over a grand I think, but luckily, it was not an actual ECU incident just no signal. In car over 5 years, in an accident, the pop-up hood activation can easily push the car into write-off territory when added to the repairs. A feature that doesn't benefit you and is a joke when you have 2.5-tonne people mowers roaming the streets.

I'm surprised by the low-speed pressure, never seen such values for a road car. What I understand of the theory, is that at high speeds you can start with somewhat lower because of the heat-up in friction, but you want to maintain maximum contact for grip. Maybe these values are for the OEM tyre only that behaves differently? Also, at 46 psi the ride quality must be much harsher too. That's a long way of just tend to go for 36-38ish, particularly in winter, when heat is not an issue. These cars are limited not by power but gearing and rotation of some components, specifically one of the electric motors is protected from too high 'g' loads, so your car will just take the throttle off once you hit the electronic limiter. Yes, the engine would keep pulling, but the car controls won't let. The 'faster' transaxle Toyota/Lexus has is bigger, heavier, more expensive, and no one really needs to go that fast in a cruising saloon. The G-platforms transaxle is probably not even in production anymore, I don't know. The ES300h or IS300h are not gran turismos. I drive on the Autobahn myself too, maxed out at 125 mph sometimes, but only for fun, and to keep up with my brother-in-law in a 911. I find 100-110 mph on the speedo is plenty even if the traffic is light and allows it. Above that, the cabin noise gets much higher, and fuel economy drops off by quite a lot, and the engine audibly is not enjoying itself that much. It likes a 3.5-4.5k rpm pull, it sound pleasant, above that it's comes across a bit of a struggle for the relatively low torque and the cont. variable gearing not giving the 'lock-in' of gearing but sliding back first before increasing gearing again. Just my experience of an IS300h. I know the feeling of wanting to go faster, but there is a difference between want and need.

It's not the car, it's the market. In '21 and '22 the market was very tight, interest on carrying forecourt inventory was lower, and supply chain inflation was high due to component shortages. Now the supply-demand balance shifted back to oversupply, interest is high which reduces second-hand demand and increases the cost of keeping the cars for dealers means that they are forced to offload more cars by reducing the price. This is what hits you now, but the comparison to your previous is made more difficult by an unusually low depreciation due to market tightness.

I think you got it right. If it's not full, you can be glad it was a cheap and quick way to find out it's better you don't go back.

Thanks, it's good to have options. I don't have a quote from a Toyota-approved bodyshop yet, so in case they are cost-prohibitive, chances are I'll try your recommendation. The car is driveable.

Many thanks, will look into them.

Hi everyone, This is first for me, never had any major damage to a car. I'm looking at an out-of-pocket repair to my IS300h. It's much more substantial than a 'small area repair' job some garage seem to be taking on. The front end of the car had an impact that broke panels, the headlight cover, foglight, and deformed the front left corner, including the wheel arch. I'm told no structural damage, no damage to the suspension, wheels, but it is certainly to be over £5000 I'm told. I'm seeking a reliable bodyshop that people here used with satisfaction or heard good things about. The car is in Portsmouth but it is driveable now, can take it within reason to a bodyshop a few hours away, if I can make it back home on a train. I want original parts of course. There is also Snows in Southampton but I first wanted to ask around. I prefer not to use them if I can help it, and I suspect the quote there would be substantially higher still, probably making the repair cost prohibitive, it's probably not worth £10k now. Thank you for all the help.

Hello Mr - would you be so kind to drop me the name of that garage. I am looking at a substantial repair to the front left of the car, and the last thing I want is a headache from a poor job. Is it Kaizer Motor you mentioned in another thread? Thank you!

Bit late to this party, but in case this reaches you: how much did this treatment cost? Truly impressive results.

I used to wish the car had more torque for high-speed hill climbs or acceleration on European motorways. But more recently I came to the conclusion that I don't need a faster car, but rather I need to first learn to drive properly — after 20+ years on the roads. I prefer the 300h acting domesticated even if you push. I tried a 911 Carrera4S and it was scary, violent. Frankly, modern cars have stupid amounts of performance. It would make sense to demand extra training and license for cars above a certain performance level.

2015 IS300h at 112k miles / 180k km Heating servo unit failed at around 90k, but then the failure disappeared. Would cost £1,000 to repair at mains dealer. It's covered under their warranty plan, but according to them I voided my claim on it as I didn't bring the car in soon enough. At the 100k service, report says AC leakage, cost would be around £900, at this point it's optional, the AC still performs. Nothing else. Original break pads, although I tend to minimize their use, try to take a lot energy out by a combination of regeneration and, at higher speeds, engine breaking.

If anyone is considering using Lexus Motor Insurance, and you are planning on driving to the EU, make sure you either ask for a quote with an extended EU cover or simply just look for one where it is standard to have a 30-day plus third-party cover. I'm in the process or a rude awakening because it never occurred to me after having read government and independent guidance on motor insurance that it is possible to not have EU third-party cover when you take out insurance in the UK, particularly when it's comprehensive. After all the UK was in the EU up until 2021, which means all insurance up to that point had to have compulsory third-party cover valid across the EU as standard. Which must mean they removed it. Lexus Motor Insurance told me today I don't have any cover in the EU, because I spent more than 3 days (three), which makes me liable to damage I caused. I will financially survive, but that's about it. Maybe it's obvious to most of you, but it never to me that a 3-day limitation can possibly apply to third-party cover. In fact, I find it shocking. I genuinely thought, even after having read documents, that there is third-party cover in the EU. Better still, turns out, I was driving illegally. The joke is on me. A quick review of the matter also indicates other insurers offer 30, some even 90-day third-party cover as standard of their policy schedule, at no discernible extra cost against the quote. Admiral offers 90 days as standard except for their "Essential" policy. Looks like Lexus Motor Insurance does not only offer substandard customer service but also a substandard product. This experience, together another one when I got rejected on a heating servo repair that was originally covered under my extended warranty plan because I didn't bring the car in when they wanted, makes me leave Lexus-branded services behind. Even if I get the car repaired (probably £5000 for a car that's worth less than £10k) and keep it, I don't think I will use any Lexus UK services in the future. What they are selling I now realise is a pretence of premium and a false sense of peace of mind that people believe because the cars are impeccably built - in Japan. I don't see legal recourse for me, but filing complaints with both LMI and Lexus UK about these matters. A response will surely not be too big an ask after having spent several thousand pounds on their insurance and service plans.

Is this premium navi? I don't recognize these versions, I've got standard. I think an actual software update for the operating system is a dealer service thing. Unsure how to check what's their latest firmware, carmakers are rubbish at IT and Lexus is no exception. Best first thing you can do is register yourself and see what you can find: In-Car Multimedia and Navigation Systems | Lexus UK With standard navigation, there is sod all you can do here....will never my life understand these backward carmaker policies...

There you go, makes perfect sense, and an example of how making things more complex undermines core reliability / availability. I even turned off keyless entry in part for this reason, but also for the added security against theft, although the car now hitting 8 years, I don't think it's in demand by thieves.

Others will tell you the same: the Achilles heel of hybrid Lexus (and Toyota) cars is the small starter battery. Like many of us, I too learned the hard way. Consider yourself lucky, because it happened to us at Stansted airport, after coming back, cold rainy night, and similar 4-5 hours of wait for AA who almost gave up because couldn't start the car at all then suddenly and miraculously started the computer and the hybrid system. It was clearly just a 12V battery in poor condition the Lexus dealer should have swapped out before selling it after months on the forecourt, but clearly either they don't have that in the protocol or ignored it. Because your car is new and what you described doesn't read like something that would drain the car, something is amiss. Also, from my experience, the car protects itself as much it can from draining the 12V rather than the much bigger traction by shutting itself down. At least my 2015 IS300h switches off from Accessory mode after a while. Also, it switches of internal lights etc after a period of inactivity. So I wonder what load could have that been...what opening the door does to a switched off car? It turns the internal lights on, that's all. That can't be it, can it. There must be a system in the car that was left on... Is there a chance you left the car unused for a couple of weeks before? Deep discharge damages lead-acid batteries, they prefer being kept nearly full at all times. If I were you, at this point I would get a new 12V battery for peace of mind and have it replaced by a garage that knows Toyota/Lexus hybrids. A simple battery swap can upset downstream electronics, many people report issues with the amplifier afterwards. Re Lexus service, mostly good experience, but it's a rich mix on these forums. Personally, I'm leaving the Lexus network behind (including Lexus branded insurance) because I lost my trust that the name guarantees premium service. Sometimes you get the premium services, sometimes it's a headache, sometimes you are just ignored. That's not good enough. I admit I have a very low tolerance for things not going smoothly, particularly when the thing costs me dearly, like a service plan.

After reading this thread, I really am looking forward to my swap to a set of Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6...what could go wrong, right.

Just seconding those before me with some additions. Yes, winter consumption can be fairly higher for a combination of factors. Engine starts cold, takes time to warm up to reach optimal operating temperature. But in a hybrid, also the traction battery takes much longer to warm up which something you really need for fuel economy. The NiMH battery cells need to warm up to 25C or more, ideally, to give you their full benefit of regen and discharge performance. Based on reverse engineering I've seen, there is no active thermal management on the battery pack other than a cooling fan if it gets too hot. The power delivery profile of these hybrids change noticeably once the system is all warmed up, foremost in your low-end electric torque and also the time the engine can spend off in EV mode. With a cold battery, the car feels anaemic which will probably make you apply more throttle, which will be coming from the engine. The other thing other may have not mentioned is air density is greater in winter. This matters if you do 50+ as it increases the drag component of the overall resistance pushing against the car. Some say a naturally breathing engine gets more economical with cold air, but from experience the extra drag outweighs that gain it seems.

I only have experience with one dealership, it's Snows, Hedge End (Southampton). It's a fairly rich mix. I bought the car from their Exeter branch during a lockdown and was happy with how it went. But then it slowly dawned on me, novice in car ownership, that there were say short cuts. Turned out the tyres were largely gone, the starter 12V battery was in poor health and us stranded in Stansted just after 2 weeks in the parking lot. Then I made a complaint and it was dealt with impeccably by Snows Hedge End. So I stuck with them, and entered a service plan with them, for peace of mind. It was great, for a while they had car collection, so whenever the car needed servicing, I booked a time and a guy showed up and took the car, and returned it. This was the mixed but good part. Here comes the bad, from which I hope someone can learn that you need to be on your toes even with Lexus dealers, which to me undermines the whole value proposition. You don't buy a Lexus for a cocktail of excitement and grief, I want dependable boredom in style. Then earlier this year the car developed a heating servo issue, covered under warranty. But they had to order the parts so released the car back to me, and I went abroad for a few weeks and needed the car after that frequently enough so I couldn't really leave it in for service. Turns out, there is a clause that says that if the repair doesn't get done within a certain time because the customer doesn't bring the car in, the warranty is void on that repair. So they claim. Anyway, when I took the car back because I had the next service coming up, I told them I had that issue still and would like to now do the repair. Rejected. Cost would be £1000. I asked for confirmation saying I have never been let know about a time limitation and in any case I only have a single email from the dealership saying the part has arrived and I can book the repair. Go figure. Always courteous, overall pleasant, they had a couple of thousand pounds already off of me and another couple at least within 24 months, because we're doing 20k miles a year, eating through service plan at 2x the rate, buying tyres from them, plus the fixes not covered under warranty. Then when you make essentially a clerical error, according to them, it's "gotcha" time. Still courteous, but it was clear they were indifferent. It's the rules, as it stands. I'm still considering a complaint on the back of how they handled my first one 2 years ago, surely still within statutory rights (it all went down in June I think), but I am really put off. That it is exactly the kind of thing I paid for good money to avoid, and then I still get caught out by bureaucracy. Unfair and unnecessary, and can't fathom how it is in their best interest. Even if I buy another Lexus, would I be buying from them?

We don't need or could plausibly justify a second car. At that point the EV option needs to be so much less costly to run than a hybrid to offset the hiring cost. But if you approach it like that, a plugin hybrid still looks the best combination. If you can charge it at home...the economic case hinges on that.

Another thought for 'life after', given the publicity assault of EVs: if you like long road trips, do consider charging times. We got back from a weekend trip to Germany a fortnight or so ago. The route was roughly driving from Le Havre to Munich with some detours, and back to Calais and then to Hampshire. Out of curiosity, simulated this with an EV route planner assuming a Tesla 3 LR 2022, which is your bestest case of EV for efficiency and range. The optimized case would have needed 10 charging sessions for a total of 5 hours in a 4-day trip. None of our destinations, sleepovers or visits, had charging stations. Now, that's not 5 hours extra because you do stop en route anyway, but we tend to stop for 10-15 minutes, refuel if needed, then get going. There would have been highly uncomfortably timed charging sessions too, like on the way back when you really want to just get home after 700 miles, but you need to stop at 11pm in the middle of nowhere. The 5 hours is also unrealistic as a total because the planner is unable to take into account the monkeying around on the Autobahn, which was part of the programme; that sometimes you just want to push a bit more to get there sooner; and weather such as wind and rain that throw these calculations off by a good margin. It also assumes maximum charging speeds and availability of stations all the time. For less aero efficient EVs with a lesser network the total charging is much longer. An estimate for a BMW i4 is 7 hours of charging, with the same caveats. If you drive it like you mean it with a BMW, it's more like 9-10 hours of charging, likely. Of course, this is a fairly intense programme for a long weekend, and you can much reduce the pain by selecting hotels that have EV charging. But then again, does your car go where you want to go, or do you drive where it can...

On Autotrader, 24 of the near 460,000 on sale are SC430, 1 in 19 thousand. That's about as many as TVR Chimeras.

Hi Eve, Shoes on dash? Why? I suspect it's vinyl or other forms of plastic, for which I use a car interior shampoo and then a vinyl care product. It will immediately improve the looks but for anything that cannot be 'buffed' out, such as dents, imprints, scratches, it will only make it look less obvious. I use Autoglym Interior Shampoo & Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Care. Buy a set of microfibre cloth too. Good luck!

Hi Andy Beware winter. What will likely happen is that due to a servo control failure you won’t be able to effectively demist the windscreen in cold weather. You press the windscreen demist button, very little will happen for a lot of noise. It is covered under warranty, if you have one, for a reason.

In the hope that he does not read this forum: when parked next to my in-law's 3-series BMW, the aesthetics of the IS300h bodywork really stands out, and makes the otherwise handsome BMW look really bare and featureless. It really is a great piece of industrial design for the money. Few cars look more pleasing in any car park.

Depends on many factors what you want out of a car, but taking a natural lineage approach (modern hybrid saloon), in agreement with the missus we converged on Peugeot 508 plug-in. It really is a classy, handsome object with tasteful interior and good economy. The only concern here is reliability...