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So, basically, I bought a set of tyres off OPONEO and needed them fitting! My local Kwik Fit has just got some top notch tyre machines in, it also helps that the manager of that particular branch is a good friend of mine so I thought, ill go there. How wrong I was - it appears that Kwik Fit refuse to fit any tyres bought anywhere apart from Kwik Fit, bunch of monopolizing gorillas! It doesnt help that they charge £202 each for tyres I got on OPONEO for £120 Now at this point I was pretty stressed out - the worst thing about changing tyres is scratches on the rim, especially when there is no touch up paint for the F-Sport wheels and one ding means respraying all 4! I dont like scratching my wheels but I can live with it however I ABSOLUTELY hate other people scratching them! Anyhow - I thought I'd give the local Lexus dealer a ring, see if they'd fit them for me. One ring and the phone was picked up, I was transferred to aftersales immediately and then quoted £50 inc VAT for all 4 wheels fitting. I was pleasantly shocked, I was initially expecting about £100 + VAT. They're going to be fitted on 8th April so ill let you guys know how it goes. It appears that Lexus are not so expensive for little things after all! Total price - £132.50 for each Michelin Latitude Tour HP. Im a happy bunny........ if they dont scratch my rims..........

Yes, including VAT. Like others have said though, try and negotiate, I got £200 off without too much hassle.

Fascinating pictures Chris - I had not seen those. OK, the fallout from the initial belch might have settled (remember we're talking about three full-scale meltdowns here), but the plant is still kicking it out big-time into air and sea. And, as I said, there is the ongoing burning of radioactive debris. So I don't think it would be overreacting to acknowledge some risk associated with JDM imports post-Fuku. Some work was done by one of the leading (and more respected) scientists in this field, where car air filters from Tokyo were taken and exposed to photographic film. The presence of hot particles was clearly seen on the negative. The comparison was made between a car's air filter and a human lung. A pollen filter might catch some of it, but you'd still be faced with disposal [of said filter]. This stuff sticks, and builds up cumulatively. Having a Geiger counter is one thing; understanding and interpreting the results is quite another. This is a subject that deserves a lot more attention, I feel.

I've not experienced any problems at all with paint peeling off my colour-coded plastic LPG filler cap. It was painted 3 years ago to match the dark blue paintwork and looks in the same new condition today as the day the car was converted. Don't know what paint was used but I'm very happy with it. True, my LPG installer was a bit of a perfectionist, which in my book can only be viewed as a good thing.

Its a good feature - closing with the fob has been around since 2004, possibly earlier as my 2004 RX300 allowed the tailgate to be closed with the fob too! Anyways - be sure to get us a review on the car and some pics (theyre mandatory) :P The car arrived on Wednesday and so far we haven't really driven it much, just 20 miles because we were waiting to install the Lexus Dog Guard and modify the Lexus boot liner to fit this weekend. We will start using the car from tomorrow so I will have a full review by next weekend. I am also hoping to get some good weather so that I can give it a good clean and put a couple of layers of wax on it. Anyway, from the limited running so far, we are very happy with the car and so is our Great Dane :). I love how smooth everything is and the Mark Levinson system is brilliant ( although this can not be turned up with the dog in the car!). Visibility is good and there is a nice turn of speed when it is required. I am a big fan of the Head Up Display. I initially thought that it was not level so checked it against a spirit level and it was perfectly horizontal. I then realised it was because the dash curved away towards the edge of the windscreen. I am a bit annoyed that the bluetooth phone system does not recognise numbers with the +44 prefix, same problem on our IS250 and easily resolved by removing this prefix on our phones, but annoying nonetheless. I also have not been able to get the Lexus Connective Service feature working as we are both with EE and I cannot find all of the settings on the internet. I refuse to believe that we are the only people with a Lexus using phones on the EE network! Glad you are enjoying the car - it gets better over time, unlike the german brands! I cant help with the bluetooth phone system im afraid, I dont use it - just use the speaker on my phone as my battery goes really quickly when using bluetooth lol

With regards to the manifold need to be removed for spark plug change, I came across this DIY thread which doesn't require the removal of manifold. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-f/642967-is-f-spark-plug-change-photos-test.html

Updates are a rip off as they are not licences by Lexus. Thay are supplied by third party then Lexus add their cut. I've had one once which was CD based and wanted £130 for updates,10 years ago. Since then I have always been anti built-in systems.

I've said it before on here and I'll say it again. Be extremely wary of importing a used vehicle from Japan. I shouldn't need to point out that Japan is where the world's worst nuclear disaster to-date is still raging out of control, four years on. You don't hear much about it in the news, because the Abe gov't has imposed a media blackout / gagging order - call it what you like. This car could have come right out of the dead zone. (Many evacuees will have sold all their wordly goods just to make ends meet.) And all those hot particles from the (omnipresent) radiation cloud will have got right into the A/C system, for you to inhale every second you drive the car. (Look what happened to the crew of USS Ronald Reagan.) Not that there's anywhere totally safe in Japan - they're still burning radioactive debris from the "cleanup" in huge incinerators all over the island - including Tokyo. So I definitely wouldn't be looking to buy a JDM import post 11/3/11. OK, laugh at me - I don't care!

I've never noticed any difference after a service on any vehicle. A routine service is really all about preventative maintenance, it doesn't fix issues unless you were in desperate need for a new air filter. The IS200 isn't that quick but impossible to tell if yours has a specific problem without driving it. Have you driven another example to make a comparison?