UKPulse

Does that mean that in the States, a "traffic jam" becomes a "traffic jelly" ? ;)

First thing the other half said when she got in the new ('03) car after being in the "old" ('02) IS was.... "The wing mirrors are smaller!" - not the actual wing mirror assembly itself, just the reflective part.....!?

Well whenever I get burned off by some Bee'Em 325i, I wish I had the manual IS300 coz them puppies are supposed to really fly!

Seen THREE IS's locally since last weekend, but didn't spot any club stickers :( There was a very nice new silver 300 with the styling kit, near the Green Jacket pub (Shoreham) a couple of days ago... When I joined Gold, I got what look like a couple of laminated "Team Lexus" bookmarks. I figure they were for leaving under other Lexus owners wipers to advertise the club. So I did just that.... maybe I need to order some more :P

Horses for courses. I used to be an "enthusiastic" driver (Renault 5GT Turbo, 200SX, Skyline GT-R33, etc.) but I guess age and the ever increasing number of gatso's got to me :P Jan 2002 decided I wanted effortless refinement, so opted for a 200SE Auto - loved it, the auto box is easily as good as the rental C Class 200 Kompressor Auto I got my hands on, and light years better than a dreadfull Omega 2.6 V6 Auto I had the misfortune of doing 2,500 miles in. The only reason I changed up to the IS300 5-speed was for the extra shove (even so it's still not hugely fast). So for sheer laziness, I'd go auto, especially as Lexus make such nice auto boxes! For involvement and fun, I'd opt for manual! :)

The 3L with the manual transmission!! Yup, we have a 3L version available over here, but it's e-Shift only so it's pretty tame :(

Wouldn't take much to catch my "lardy" e-Shifting '300 ;) It's only got a 1 second advantage over a bog standard '200 in the 60mph dash, and I'm guessing any tuning work on the 2litre is gonna wipe that difference out pretty quick :P Besides, by the time I've worked out how to actually achieve the quickest 0-60 time (errr... is that ECT PWR + M mode + floor it & hope I time the e-Shift changes right?), most manual drivers will have long gone!

Complete guess here... Are you parking very near to one of those automatic shopping mall doors, or some other sort of motion sensor? I know they can upset radar detectors, so maybe they bother the remote locking too?

From the chart, a 1yr old IS300 looks like a real bargain at just over £18K but I guess the e-Shift puts a lot of people off. Still, the IS200 holds it's price better than many. But wanna see some really scarey figures? Just check out the Values of this Omega Estate... (Sorry, I know it's a bit off topic!) With the money you'd lose on it in 4 years, you could buy an IS200 Sport! :o

Unfortunately, looks about par for the course. :( But just to cheer you up, I've plotted the depreciation figures for the Modeo ST too - now that smarts! Source - WhatCar.com

Yup, definitely red! Can't remember who posted this in the gallery (#733), but looks real cooool...

Whatever happened to those synthesized voices that used to alert you...? My step-mum used to have an ageing Renault 25 V6 that she bought in France (for use on the continent, LHD & all that). Anyway, there was this female version of Stephen Hawking that would pipe up if you drove off with a door not closed properly Hey, would be cool if they could link the sat nav lady in to the audible alerts...

"Chipping"...? That'll be Lexus' cr@ppy paintwork! Sorry, couldn't resist that :P Ok... the guys will be along in a mo to give a proper reply :)

Oooh the blue just looks so classy... that's one hunky motor mate! :) :)

Even a "W" reg IS will drive like new! :D First time I test drove an IS, it was a two year old car with 20K on the clock. The drive was immaculate, and there wasn't a single rattle or squeak. A dealer's gotta have a lot of confidence in a product to stick a 2yr old car on as a demo to woo prospective buyers! :D B)

A new IS...? Ooooh, suits you sir. 17 inch alloys? Ooooh! Like leather do we sir? Oooooh sir! Anyway, well done - the fun has just begun!

How about the Police Complaints Authority? (Strangely, an anagram of "Police Complaints Authority" is "The lousy, impractical option"

I'm gutted for yer mate - not the kind of stuff you want to happen! You're not the only one having bad luck - but you do seem to be havinig more than your fair share. I know it's no consolation, but last week, a mate of mine had a blow-out, left the road and totalled his 6 month old VW Passat. :o But I digress. As for this business about the tw@t in a Renault Clio colliding with you. I would say the police are being very uncooperative. For one thing thing, I'm sure the law states something about it being an offence to not stop and provide your details at the scene of an accident, regardless of whether there are any injuries. That's the other thing, you could always say you got whiplash or something! At the very least, they should send someone round to his house! Chances are he may not have had the damage to his car repaired yet - and that's evidence! Have you contacted Citizens Advice?

I'm 6' .... ok ok, 5' 11¾" and a bit! Same problem. Opened the sunroof blind + got a haircut.... problem solved! :P

A short while back, there was a similar thread on the Civic Type-R vs. IS200 here. Different cars I know, but might give you a few ideas too.

Yup... drive up in a 200bhp 200SX, drive out in a purple Micra, and it was an automatic. Couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding! Reckon the dealership boys were 'avin a larf! What made it worse was that a lady in another purple Micra saw me in town and waved at me!! Q. What's the difference between a sheep and a purple Micra? A. It's slightly less embarrassing to be seen getting out the back of a sheep!! (Ok, so I've adapted that from an old Skoda joke). I have to agree that the purple Lex may be better in the flesh. After all, when I first saw the photos of the current special edition Yellow IS, I nearly barfed! Then I saw it in the flesh a few days later at the local dealer, totally different - looked the poodles plums!

Marmite™....? It's ok. Can't say I love it or hate it Cars with lung-bustin' stereos....? Well they're ok if your hearing is up to it ;) Purple cars....? Now that reminds me of when I took my Nissan 200SX in for it's first service, and they gave me a purple Micra as a courtesy car! Guess that's where my aversion to purple comes from? :P

Even easier... a solution whereby someone else does all the hard work for you. Park your five week old Lex in Tesco's car park and wait for some tw@t to put a new styling crease in your door when they throw open theirs! I was only gone 10 minutes.... mutter mutter!

I was born there, but now I'm living on the south coast among all those softie suthern b**...... :P

Ok, maybe that was a bit harsh & I apologise to all the hairdressers out there :P I just feel that for the aggressive styling, the colour isn't aggressive enough... But as you say, each to their own B)