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After owning a 400 for 15 years, I got rid of it and bought an RX400. For the year I had it, my wife and I kept saying the same thing........'It's nice, but it's not an LS'. So we gave it back and bought an LS460. Once again, all is well in my motoring world.

My 1995 mk3 with 180,000 at the time of sale was £460 with 6 months MOT.with partial lexus history,and owner serviced for the last 10 years, been fantastic motoring and would not hesitate getting another with higher miles.as the main components just dont go wrong :) Although being in the trade helps a little Just buy um cheap and enjoy Gents

Not sure mine revs that high, more like 1000rpm I think, but I'll try and remember to check tomorrow morning.

Thanks Matthew. I just don't remember my old LS revving that high when cold. Mind you,that was three years ago,I've slept since then!.

normal apparently, mine does this too

I've upped trebble and bass and its a little better. BBC is only 128mbs. The lowest I encode MP3s is 195mbs, 320 prefered.

I have just ordered an IS300H following an extended test. Coming from a series of turbocharged cars - most recently A Saab 95- Aero (250BHP) and a 9-3 TTiD (180BHP) diesel Aero I was concerned about overtaking and hills but it actually drove in quite a similar manner - but with rather less drama - then the Saabs. There is power available whenever you prod the accelerator and if in a hurry you can use the 'Sport' mode. No problem with space - I am 6ft2 and always lower the seat as far as possible in every car I drive. Very comfy and as you can see above I'm used to excellent seats. MPG on my 150-mile test was just shy of 50. I didn't get fully to grips with the satnav graphics, but it all seems endlessly adjustable. Roll on April when my IS arrives!

> overtime the stress has caused the plating to sheer away around the retaining bolts. Just get some great big washers and fix it back in place with the original bolts.

I cover my back seat with plenty of blankets and regularly get two Border Collies one of which is completely blind and profoundly deaf and they love it. Never had a problem. Mike We do the same, but underneath we use a cover that hooks on to the front seat headrests, as well as the rear, so all that lovely cream leather is protected. I love watching Mrs V drive away with our large lab/staffie cross sat in the back, like chauffeur driven royalty, then laying down just before she reaches the first corner.........dogs aren't daft are they.

It's the light wood trim in his ..... I'll ask again what he's doing with it when I see him

Yes - http://tinyurl.com/m4j2md4

Then your tyre pressures will be 35 and 38psi assuming you are doing less than 160Km/h. 3rd line down

Lexus servicing seems to be overpriced, I'm taking our car to my local independent garage. As for warranty, none of my pervious Japanese cars have had extended warranties, and one of the main attraction about the Lexus brand is reliability, we wouldn't be bothering to extend the warranty on ours :) Good luck with your test drive, am sure your love it!!

Simon, did Leicester to London today, 120 miles via Coventry and the M40, wasn't in a hurry so put cruise on and sat at 70mph. Mpg on computer was 47mpg. For a 2.5ltr petrol auto with big fat tyres, that's pretty damn good. Seat all the way to the floor and a 6ft plus person should fit easily. I'm 5'11 and with seat all the way down and back, my feet can't touch the pedals! I came from a diesel, power delivery is different, but it is just as quick, sport mode from a standing start at the traffic lights is rapid, in gear on the motorway is very good too. Plus its so quiet! Get a 24hr test and don't look back.

The magazine are very bias to German cars for some reason. The IS300H shares the drive way with our other car, a BMW 335i, tuned to roughly 380bhp, imported Sports catalytic converters, larger intercooler, Bespoke Bilstein suspension, Quaife LSD, and whole load of other performance parts thrown on. I do like to go on some B road blasts and when given the opportunity make full use of the BMWs power and if I'm really honest it could do with a bit more, and the throttle response could be a bit sharper.....I really wanted a M3 (but wife said no) hence I had to waste stupid £££ turning my 335i into a mini M3. But since the IS300H arrived last week, guess which car has been pretty much sat on the driveway un-moved . Though the IS300H cannot compete with the 335i for out-right pace/fun for 95% of the trips I do the IS300H is in a different league from the BMW. It's unbelievably quite...even at motorway speeds the engine is hardly audible, and the whole interior feels much higher quality and better put together. The IS300H doesn't have a CVT gear box, its a far more complex system of planetary gears which I suspect most car reviewers have no idea about. It is absolutely seamless in terms of 'gear changes' because there aren't any normal 'gears'. It takes you a little while to get use to, but once you've learnt it's nature its amazingly smooth. Interms of power...humm, the IS rated at 220bhp and weighs barely more than a 3 series, so how anyone can find overtaking in it 'dangerous' is beyond me, maybe it says more about their inability to survey the road ahead. Yes there is a small delay between mashing the accelerator and power deliver kicking in, but it's hardly dangerous, and if razor sharp throttle response if what your after than your need to be looking at something that has a NA V8 (like the old M3), because actually even my turbocharged BMW has throttle lag despite all the tuning bits(ie Turbo lag) :(. MPG wise, ours is too new to tell, currently averaging 43mpg for mainly city driving, the demo car we had managed a easy 50mpg over 24hrs of M-way and city routes. It's not better than a turbocharged diesel but the driving experience is leagues more refined than our old Honda diesel that use to drive me mad from it's clattering engine at idle. Don't believe the reviews, the only real criticism for the Lexus is the sat nav interface...The iDrive system in the BMW is much better...BUT all the FUNCTIONALITY is there, infact you get more as standard, it's only the actual user interface which takes getting use to. Again once you use it for a few days it becomes second nature. We had the Jag XF, Jag XE, and the Merc C class on our shopping list....The moment I was won over by the IS300H was when during a 24hr test drive we went to the local Jag dealership, and whilst looking at a XF another IS300H glided in total silence....a few minutes later a £60K XJ pulled up...clattering away like a tractor :eerrrmm:...why spend your hard earned cash on technology that belongs on a farm when you can have something that's pointing the way to the future

I'm almost 6'4 mate and I have no problem with my F-Sport. Only had it a few days so can't really comment on performance as such, but as stated above, the rolling acceleration is the important figure. You do also think the car isn't that quick until you look at the speedo. Refinement compared to any 4-pot diesel is a million times better. It's a comfort cruiser, not a racetrack stormer and that's why journos slate it at times, but then again they rate the cars whose manufacturer gives them the biggest back hander anyway

I am 6ft tall and find my IS F Sport very comfortable and easy to get in and out of. The seat base on my car is electric & does tilt and move every way you would expect it to. You really would have to sit in one and try the adjustment to know for sure if you are comfortable though. My Car has loads of power in standard drive and it is pretty fast in Sport mode. It is not a track racing car, more suited to driving on public roads!! I have not noticed any delay?? The 30 to 70 mph is among the best in class. It is rapid away from line which I like for nipping into gaps. My MPG averages 40 to 45 mixed normal style driving. Nothing wrong with the Sat Nav. The graphics are clear and easy to read. I found the menu a little odd at first as only ever used a TomTom but I am used to it now. I was very close to buying a Jag XF. I like you thought the CVT would feel slow and unresponsive. After a test drive I canceled the XF and bought the Lexus. Delighted with it to. Motoring hacks know nothing other than their opinion. Some said it had delay & some said it was fast!! They seem to be more influenced by how fast it can go round a test track. I didnt buy mine to do that! The refinement and lack of diesel clatter particularly in slow traffic is superb. No DPF to clog up & overall reliability are an added bonus to imho. I also love the look of it. Lexus are or were offering 24 hour test drives. Ed I wanted a White F Sport but glad I went for Mesa Red which now has a lovely deep shine thanks to a polish glaze and a wax.

A thought........do you get "flappy paddles" on the RX450? Its a CVT gearbox, so there are no distinct gears to swap between. I had an IS350 (or something) as a loan car and it had paddles but they were rubbish. I guess the computer tried to simulate gears somehow but it just didn't work - flicking the paddle up or down didn't seeem to actually do anything. I only had it for half a day, so maybe with practice it would have been better...

If someone told me it needed a new shell I wouldn't bother having it repaired either. Just take the insurance money and get another car.