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Many people have problem with the consumption, so I decided I write couple of lines, how to reach higher MPG. Please note: everything written here is applicable to standard (non-sport) model IS220d. I have covered almost 50.000 miles with consumption in my signature. First of all, what consumption can you reach? Urban traffic: 37 – 28 MPG (7,5-10 l/100km) Extra urban at 65 mph (100km/h) – 5th gear: 51 MPG (5.5 l/100km) Motorway at 75 mph (120km/h) – 5th gear: 47 MPG (6.0 l/100km) Motorway at 81 mph (130km/h) – 5th gear: 43 MPG (6.5 l/100km) Motorway at 90 mph (145km/h) – 6th gear: 37 MPG (7.5 l/100km) In winter times (temperature below 3 degrees) the consumption rises (mpg decreases) by 5-10 MPG (0,5-2 l/100km) – depends on frequency of cold starts. Similar in very hot days (over 30) and short drives, where A/C goes on full power to cool down the interior. So – what to do? 1. servicing – have the EGR cleaned; maintain correct tire pressure;change the air filter every large service (every 20.000 miles / 30.000km) not every second as writes the manual 2. refuelling – you do not need to buy premium diesel, but avoid buying cheap supermarket diesel 3. before changing your driving style (point 4) do following – deconnect the car battery (minus pole is enough) for whole night*. This will reset some values in ECU and for next couple of miles it will be in learning mode, so it will accommodate quickly to new driving style. Do not to accelerate hard for next 30-40 miles. 4. everyday driving: keep rather higher revs then low, e.g. on 4th, 5th and 6th gear never accelerate under 2.000rpm. Lowest revs for maintaining speed are: on 3rd at 1.600rpm, 4th 1.800rpm, 5th 1.900rpm, 6th 2.100rpm. With full load increase by ~200rpm. The worse driving style is requiring high power out of low revs – e.g. on 4th at 1.600rpm – lot of fuel goes in the engine without effect, MPG is terrible and the car sluggish. Also, with under revved engine you can not feel your foot movement, because slight change of pedal doesn’t reflect in acceleration, but it does in consumption… If you need to accelerate quickly, go over 2.500rpm. 2.500-3.500 is ideal for overtaking etc… 5. for reasonable MPG in urban driving, you do not need to be slow, just think. This car has excellently small wind drag and it is very heavy – use it where possible. Between the lights you can go 300-500 meters on neutral gear and the speed will decrease from 38 mph to 33 mph (60-52 km/h) And this is all. When monitoring your actual MPG, reset AVG manually. (TANK AVG resets automatically after every fill-up, but AVG never resets automatically - only manually) When you reset the ECU and make ~50 miles, try small test – warm engine, ~15 degrees, no wind, plain road, set 3rd, go 38mph (60km/h), set cruise, reset AVG and you should be able to reach 67 – 74 MPG (3.8-4.2 l/100km). If not, there might be problem elsewhere. Good luck. * you won’t be able to lock the car with the remote, only with the key, so be careful. Actually, it is not needed to have it deconnect all night, but 5 minutes is not enough. How much is enough – I don’t know, but whole night works.

Hi Rudy Yours is a very philosophical way of buying a car, risky indeed, but probably you won't regret it. I bought my first LS 400 at my local after driving it less than half a mile and paying £750 for it on the spot. The 222,000 miles on the clock did not deter me. What the hell, I thought . . .and guess what? I fell in love with the car and decided to bring it up to showroom condition. I think the money I've spent on it has been worth every penny. No regrets whatsover. I do hope you have a similar experience and wish you many happy miles in your 'new' LS 400 Mk 4. Pepe

Hope it works out for you Rudy, I bought my first IS200 the same way....risky ....but if you don't take live dangerously every now and again you don't get the bargains...LOL

Yes it will, most of the time. People in 4x4's can normally get away from a standing start pretty OK, but they can never steer or stop them any better than a conventional car with summer tyres - especially the big 2 ton's jobbies like Q7's, RR's, Cayennes and even the RX etc due to weight and centre of gravity, and live in a false sense of security in icy conditions just because they can normally "get going". Some 4X4's do have all terrain tyres and these are of course better than summer tyres - but probably still not as good as winters

My car was a stock SE Navigator model Once I put on the 18" wheels and unfortunatelly they had run on flat Dunlop tyres... the ride compromised a lot, the stock suspension sunddenly felt hard and choppy! Installing the springs involves to remove all 4 shocks and change the spring like any other car. The front shocks were easy to remove a couple of bolts and nuts and drop it down... The rear however requiered most of the suspension arms to be unbolted to give the drop of the lower arm so it can be dropped out. (the top end is accessible if you just remove the carpet of the boot interior (quite easy)). Once the GMax was next to the original spring ... could see the difference, original has like 6 spirals ... where the GMax has 10 spirals for example ...(these are not the exact numbers). Also the Gmax was about 20mm shorter before even putting it on the car. Once on the car the car lowered about 20-30mm and the ride is way more progressive and softer. It improved the ride by 80% over the stock, The car now just glides over speed bumps and pot holes without any dramas what so ever. I did not replace the shocks as I do want to do it in stages and maintain a comfortable car. The stock shocks have some life in the still.

my sponge is called BOB,