T600

Perhaps someone has a very unusual story - such as a set of Lexus alloys that haven't corroded inside 12 months? ;)

@ Doog> :) @ Paradroid> There was a query similar to that on the Honest John column in the Telegraph the other day and the advice was that the owner should be able to prove the date of first registration and have the tax reduced.

Even Gordon wouldn't devise a scheme where the tax varied according to when you bought the vehicle. Or would he?

I don't post here that often, but .... Yay! a little bit of common sense at last. That might well be enough to see me keep the IS for another couple of years; I know the difference is only a couple of hundred quid a year, but retrospectively applying this tax band to vehicles from 2001 was crazy. Direct.Gov.Uk suggest the date is 23rd March 2006 not 24th, but either way this is not such good news for anyone with a car registered from that date onwards.

Just thought I'd say hi again because it's so long since I posted. I do drop in from time to time to find out stuff, but as there's so much information on here I usually find out the answer without needing to post a question. Today's visit was to find out what I can do about the LH headlight washer not retracting and I've found several posts recommending WD40 as the solution so I'll give that a go later on. Still have the IS200 and not had any significant issues with it apart from the Alloys rotting year in year out. This year I only had to have two replaced so that's a big step forward, though Lexus would only pay for one of the two, and I had to stump up £50 + VAT for the other one. I've previously managed to persuade them that they should foot the entire bill, but the car's getting a bit old for that to go on for ever I guess. :( Spending most of my forum time on TOC these days where I'm a mod, but will look out for you guys at the shows. Although my IS is completely standard, I may think about some mods now that it's out of warranty (by a couple of years) so keen to have a closer look at the the milder suspension and performance upgrades that people have tried. All the best, Tony

I use Caunce O'Hara Shopped around a year a so ago and they were the best price for me. Mine covers Contract IT Development work; don't think I'm allowed anywhere near a soldering iron which is probably just as well. Regards, Tony PS - good luck with your new venture. I sometimes get asked by my customers to provide PC assistance and prefer not to if I can help it. If I get any leads in your area I'll pass them on. PPS - just seen you are in Leeds; I definitely have a customer in Cookridge who could use your help. I'll PM you more info.

Their what. Why didn't I get an invite to that! Phone call to dealer in order. Good luck with getting the washers installed Lexxy 703. Cheers, Tony

Thanks for the info guys - Aibo - I will come and have a look at the car when you get it back; I'm not yet sure if I'll go for the Supercharger, but I'm very tempted and would like to see how much difference it makes. Cheers, Tony

Stereo mute certainly works fine on my car; I would imagine that it works with the bluetooth kit too, but can't confirm that. The sound though is via the phone kit's speaker, not through the stereo's speakers, but that doesn't matter to me - sound quality is fine. The car was at the dealers when the install was done, so don't know what they had to remove to wire it up to mute the stereo. Whatever they did remove, they put back properly, as I can't see any damage and there are no squeaks or rattles whatsoever. Oh, and they fitted the cradle on a 'Dashmounts' bracket that slips into the centre console by the side of the stereo - so they didn't need to drill the console, and then fitted the speaker out of sight in the passenger footwell. :) Hope that helps, Tony

Aido, this is probably a stupid question given that the blower costs £3K, but do you know what effect it had on your fuel consumption - I imagine it's higher than before, but no so much that it's a major cost compared to the £3000 up front for the intstall. Also, did you have any issues with insurance after fitting it? I'd imagine it would put it up a few points and hence a few quid? Or did you forget to mention it to them ;) And I imagine it also blows the warranty if you get one before the car is 3 years old? Basically, I wanted an IS300, but with a proper gearbox - the blower sounds like the ideal solution appart from the above issues. T

Paul, If you were in the East Midlands I'd definitely recommend Auto Image. They were recommended by the dealer and did a perfect job at a good price. I've had mobiles fitted to several cars and this was definitely the best job and best price. Are you sure you want a bluetooth install though? Costs a bit more and you have to pay extra for a cradle if you want one. And without one you don't get an external aerial and need to make alternative provisions for charging your phone. imho, even if your phone has bluetooth, you're better off with the old fashioned cradle mount - though of course it makes it more difficult for you to upgrade phones. Official Nokia Cradle mount cost me about £100 +VAT fully fitted and including a screen mounted Tbar arial which is almost invisible. As I recall, the bluetooth would have cost another £20 or so without the cradle or arial. This included muting of the radio which is a standard IS200 fit. If you need to contact Auto Image, their number is 0115 938 4451. T

I'm certain that the circular swirls are caused by automatic car washes. Most of them recycle water and although it's filtered I'd imagine the process recycles some of the grit that was removed from the last few cars that they washed. Of my last 5 cars two were company motors and I put them through car washes (who wouldn't); both ended up with the swirls. The other three were my own and never once went in a car wash - result - no swirls. Maybe the paint work's getting better, and the company motors were Vauxhall and Volkswagen whereas my own cars were Toyota, Porsche and Lexus. But I'd put money on the swirls being down to the car washes that I inflicted on the company cars. OMG - shocking to think that I've had five cars in recent history - and that doesn't count the bangers that I had before that; I didn't wash those, on account that they probably would have fallen apart at the first sign of a sponge or chamois. Never used a hand car wash, so can't vouch for them. Seems plenty of people who wouldn't go near an automatic car wash are happy with them though. T

Welcome to the club Jiberjaber and Uncle Rob. Incident with the GS sounds nasty Rob; by un-approved mods you mean fitting the wrong tyres I assume? Or something else? Either way, that's scary! Tony

Aido - yes - I agree. Squarehead - yes - we do. Are we still on a leather theme here? Re leather Suite for house - definitely can recommend it. After reluctantly getting leather in the Celica (it was the only choice on the 190) I was converted, and decided that when it came to buying a new suite we had to have leather, though g/f wasn't convinced. After 2 years the suite looks absolutely as good as new and g/f admits it was a good buy. It cost a bit more than the alternatives we looked at in fabric but it's worth every penny. You're probably going to change your wheels every few years, but imho a decent leather suite will last almost for ever. Thinking about it, that's the only decision I got to make on the furnishing of our whole house, but it was definitely a good one.

Great link squarehead. I was told that Ecsaine was "similar to" alcantara - so didn't realise it was actually the same stuff. I had leather seats in my last two cars and didn't think I'd ever have man made seats again, but I actually really like the Ecsaine - better than leather in some respects - though yet to see if it lasts so so well - we'll see. Lexus obviously believe that it's not what the market wants given that the new IS200s all seem to have leather like the 300s. Tony