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I always feel tests are a false, manufactured opinion. I had had lots of mercs, bmw and lexus before I bought my late, much lamented ls400, a car I considered dynamically inferior to the marques mentioned. And...this may be the case...you can argue that a bmwis more involving to drive, a jag is prettier, a Merc has more gravitas....but I don't think any of those manufacturers made a car with the blend of attributes the LS has. It's only when you LIVE with a car you appreciate its quality. To make an analogy, for roadtesters it must be like attending a a series of parties and meeting a load of strangers...and judging them on the brief time they spend with each stranger. Obviously the more charismatic, more idiosyncratic, best looking , will stand out...will be remembered.... For me, an ls400 can do everything all its competitors could do...but its blend of attributes are, and remain, unmatched. I have said this before but i don't think a car with such mechanical integrity, such impeccable manners, such tactility and such a resolved, coherent design has been available to the public before or since.....to continue my analogy, the ls400 CAN party, but it gets you home safely too....and then looks after your hangover...day in, day out....

My parking sensor normally sits in the passenger seat, does'nt like working when its raining though.

I've been a member of a number of HiFi related forums for a number of years now. I've been a member here for less than 2 weeks and it is the best laid out forum I've seen. Easy peasy to add photos and I detect a friendly atmosphere. Really enjoying my time here, well done to the organisers !

So have just spent the last 24hrs driving the Lexus IS300H as a replacement for our diesel Civic, I thought I share my views on it. Interestingly I think the hybrid drivetrain is both the best thing and worst thing about the car :) IS300H vs our BMW 335i as a 'sports saloon': There is no contest. The IS300H with the hybrid engine/CVT gear box combination is just not designed for any kind of 'enthusiastic driving', and despite putting out 220bhp feels slow, laggy, and under full acceleration makes awful noise. The 'active noise control' it's worse than even the real noise at full load. The steering paddles are a gimmick, the 6 speed ZF box in our 335i is x10 more responsive. When thrashed the hybrid drive train is also pretty un-economical (17.5 mpg on a 6 mile B road thrash). It's a shame because the actual car handles well, but sorry Lexus to pretend the car has any 'sporty' potential is a joke. Don't get me wrong, the car isn't slow, and will hold it's own in a traffic light GP, but drive something like a 335i/S4/Golf R back to back against the IS and the IS feels like a £5k 1.0 Dacia interms of performance.....But than again a 320d vs my 335i will result in a similar conclusion. But compare the IS300H to our Civic diesel as a 'family run around': The hybrid drive train/cvt box is so smooth and noise free at town traffic it makes the diesel engine in the civic feel like something from the industrial revolution. Over a day of driving covering some 70 miles, including my little bit of 'spirited' driving we averaged 50 mpg. In urban stand still traffic some of the mpg readings it was reporting was frankly astounding (over 60mph), it's the only car I've driven that's returns higher mpg numbers the worse the traffic!!! I know some diesels can achieve that, but not in the same smooth, rattle free style. The full EV mode where you can hit 30mph on battery alone is amazing, and a real head turner. Our car will also be doing mainly a daily 3-4 mile commute so that's a good recipe for DPF issues on any diesel. As a luxury family car it's a pretty compiling package, we were so impressed have ordered a brand new one :) So in summary the hybrid unit in the IS300H makes for a great luxury family car, it's bring a level of refinement I've not experienced before and make the noisy diesels found in equivalent cars feel totally outdated. But it's unlikely I'll be replacing the 335i with any kind of hybrid, however a full EV car like a Tesla is whole different matter, and am 100% sure full EV is the future of motoring. Theres a few small things I would like Lexus to change, the outdated foot brake, the controller to the Nav unit. The CVT transmission is also loud under full acceleration, but once you reach the desired speed it all quietens down nicely :) The crunch point for us was when we went to the Jag show room and another IS300 glided in under EV mode, a few minutes later a £70K diesel XJ pulled up. The first thing I noticed about the Jag was the engine rattling away. At that point both me and my wife pretty much agreed there was no point in us even going to look at the Mer C class in the show room down the road. I half thought about delaying the order to see if Lexus release any MY015 updates but frankly the car is so nice we cannot be bothered to wait 6 months. So soon we'll have a Mercury Grey IS300H in Luxury spec, with electric leather seats and pro Nav on the drive way :)

Does look a very nice example, no apparent wear on the seats,steering wheel or shifter but £12.5K no way. It would appear from the engine bay picture part of the intake is missing? Yes it is on air suspension,you can tell by the extra switches by the shift lever and the strut top covers. It also has the C-F package so rear massaging reclining seats etc. Almighty contrast to the 1994 Celsior C-F one I have that I paid £200.00 for and that includes factory sat nav, Ok it has done 200,000 KMs and still has one or 2 problems yet to sort but now I know I can ask £6K+ for it I'll crack on :) Mine also came with full Japanese Toyota service history and UK service history no mention in this listing. I can see this being around for some time gradually dropping in price or Lexus UK will buy it for promotional reasons.

That's true. However, pussyfooting around isn't necesarily the best policy. One of the problems that car manufacturers have is testing for the real world as their test vehicles inevitably get driven fairly hard during the relatively short test period before release. So problems relating to hard driving are found and fixed - but they often don't find problems which might arise with a car which is driven very softly - eg. two miles in the morning and two miles home in the evening, all at 30mph. For example., diesel cars are best suited to use for long motorway thrashes. Then combustion is pretty much complete for the great majority of the time and DPF regeneration gets plenty of opportunity. A diesel car which is used for short journeys, never gets properly warm or never driven at speed will clog its DPF in no time. I'm sure part of the DPF problem generally is that manufacturers didn't find it during development testing. Similarly with direct injection petrol engines (eg IS250). Reading the copious amount of information on this subject, it is clear that carbon build up on the inlet valves is related not only to fuel and oil, but also to how the car is driven. It is more likely if the car is not driven hard. I'm sure a lot of IS250s never get above 2500rpm, especially autos. Use those paddles, hit the red line every so often (or at least get into the orange) and maybe you will never see carbon build up occur! Won't do much for fuel economy, but might save a lot of money and grief over a car's lifetime!

very nice to see you back,as everyone says,once you have had, one,difficult to be without one.i drive and road test new cars at work,mostly renaults ,nissans vaukhalls,and volvos,and the old ls400 never disapoints on the drive home after driving all those new cars

It all depends on your budget I guess. I like the challenge to buy a cheap car ... and find the solution to its niggles and problems. Whichever car you buy LS400 or LS430 .... it will be a used car and it will have it's challenges. When I had the Mercedes CL500 ... the suspension on these tend to go... had to repair the pump twice while I owned the car. The first time I took it to a specialist and changed the hydralic pump for £1000 parts and labour ... When this new pump went wrong 30.000 miles later :( .... I decided I am not spending a lot of money ,... and I got a used good one from ebay for £180! then went to allparts and got the 3rd party compatible oil and went ahead to replace it with a friend of mine (I was the assistant) replaced it in 3 hours a nice straight forward job. I even booked a £50 diagnostic with a Star machine at a specialist near by to confirm that everything was as it shoud be, While we were replacing the pump we took off the rear valve block and cleared this as well as replacing some o-rings. Had to be done as one corner was dropping slowly over prolonged parked time. All this if I went to a specialist would have cost me parts and labour over £2500.... at Mercedes Benz don't even ask! With some elbow grease and good friends cost me £300 maximum. Just get the car that you like the most. We had a 1997 LS400 for a short time and now the 2001 LS430, I would choose the LS430 purely because the interior looks a bit more modern and feels different on the road, the air suspension is a winner to me in ride terms. Saying that I always liked cars with funky suspension setup lol.

You're certainly right about it being a recurring question, I remember asking it myself before deciding on my 400. My decision was based on perceived reliability, and not being a huge fan of gadgets "for the sake of it". I'm not convinced that the adjustable suspension is worth the high repair price, nor do I like things like rain sensing wipers or auto lights, just pointless and another thing to go wrong in my book. I've never ridden in the back seat, and don't intend to, so the extra rear gizmos in the 430 hold no appeal. Tough choice though, they are both lovely cars, and even tougher I guess if you like your gadgets. Good luck, whatever you decide.

EUROPARTS (http://www.eurocarparts.com) I find that they are a reliable source and price and quality of parts ordered have been very good for my 220D.

the jag is going great Tony, the power and comfort is sublime. I have devoured plenty of bmw's which easily fail to keep up or try to accelerate away from me, it really is a wolf in sheeps clothing. now, the only complaint I have is honestly the IS300 is nicer to drive, not more comfortable wise just sharper, probably because its not 1870kg lol Also The stereo, a so called top of the range alpine with DSP zones and separate sub woofer is not a patch on the lexus's Mark Levinson stereo, the bass in the lexus is so tight compared to the boom sound in the STR, but since I prefer the sound of the V8 and supercharger its not a great loss. I still regularly drive the IS300 and I am glad that I do because the difference between a £50,000 and a £27,000 car I dont think is that much different i.e the IS300 punches above its wait easily But the jag has it really, but the IS300 I will never get rid of because it can tow the STR home when it breaks down haha

this is mine