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New to the forum I've been lurking for a bit working out what I'd need to look out for when it came to purchasing an LS. If you've not seen my new members post I'll be honest as to the reason I wanted an LS. I just wanted a donor to put the engine into a Sierra. But that's not going to happen now. The car was on eBay but luckily for me the seller had put it in the wrong section and the car was listed under "manuals". There was another I was watching that needed stuff doing for an mot which sold for over £500 I went down to Huntingdon to view the car I eventually ended up with, a 96 regency green four owner car that its latest owner had only had a couple of months. Always worrying when a new owner wants rid. The description was pretty sparse so it was a gamble. Turns out he'd bought it as his better half wanted a Lexus, but just not that one as it was about 19 years too old, he'd got the from a friend who'd had it a couple of years so I was starting to feel better. The first thing I noticed was the poor paintwork condition, lacquer peel and badly faded paint. The alloys were in bad shape too, I wasn't feeling too disappointed as I'd planned on scrapping the rest of the car once I'd liberated the running gear. But inside everything was in good order and in fine fettle. The owner didn't know much about the car not graving had it very long. He'd put it through an mot four weeks before and everything on the test drive seemed good. I could hear a slight blow somewhere from the exhaust which I pinned down to the egr pipe starting to crack. All the fluid levels were fine and clean. There was some history and a folder full of paperwork but the owner had never looked through it. All seemed good so we agreed on £600 and I came back for it a few days later. I picked up the car which was really low on fuel so after driving it away and putting £50 of fuel and spent half an hour playing with the seats and cd changer. It was the drive home where I began to like the car more and more, everything worked, it was comfy and went really well! The more I drove it the more I loved it. So now instead of breaking it I shall be improving it and making it suit my taste and driving style. I have some interesting and perhaps controversial things planned for the car ;) Some pics of the car as it stands currently.

They are now replacing the tyre free of charge so hopefully everything will be OK noise wise from the OSR Wheel . As for the Nail in the NSR , they say they can repair it , and as it's repairable , the Tyre Insurance does t cover it . They have offered to put a matching tyre on for the £145 . Fed up with them so told them just do the replacement free tyre and I will pick it up on Monday and get the Tyre with the nail in sorted myself !

It looks good doesn't it, and Porsche is hinting at some interesting tech, 800volt recharging in 15 minutes, a slightly different motor design. Apparently production aimed for 2018. All of a sudden deciding which £50K+ EV to buy in 2017/18 has become much more difficult :) EV battery technology is already good enough for 90% of divers, its just the cost at moment. Nissan can produce a 250 mile range Leaf now, but they wouldn't, because they know no one is going to pay £50K+ for a Nissan, even the GTR is hard sell for many. Interms of value for money, the Tesla actually offers the best £ per kWh!! These costs are on the way down though, so it's good news for us consumers - The Nissan Leaf 30kwh, Spark EV, and Tesla S (90) the three 'best value' EVs have all come out in the last 6 months :) Unfortunately as much as I appreciate what a good job Toyota/Lexus have done with the IS300H, their obsession with chasing hydrogen fuel cell technology means their current range of hybrids are going to be made to look very out-dated once Audi/Porsche/Mercedes start pumping out battery EVs to compete with Tesla at the premium end of the market. Toyota has openly admitted fuel cell technology wouldn't be ready for mass production till 2020 at the earliest, the Mirai at the moment is essentially a hand built car, who knows how far battery technology will have advanced by than :( Now I would buy that - 15 mins charge, perfect! Thats what the Porsche Panamera SHOULD have looked like

Hi. I wouldn't do that. Mercedes are terrible. I only tried one in the showroom and the door handle almost came off in my hand. I have had Mr RX400 two years and never had a flat battery. If you must, get a RX450

Thand for the replies lads. They've put new rear discs and Pads on under the warranty , but are saying that I have to pay for the tyre that had gone out of shape . The tyre was nearly new with the car when we bought it in March and we have done about 2000 miles on it . I have said it must be a manufacturing fault and they should also replace it free , but it is stalemate at the moment with them saying it isn't their fault and I need to pay for it ! Next step please ?

Were you within 6 months? If you mentioned it at the test drive ( and surely it's under a Lexus warranty ) it should be FOC? Did they charge or was it free?

It looks good doesn't it, and Porsche is hinting at some interesting tech, 800volt recharging in 15 minutes, a slightly different motor design. Apparently production aimed for 2018. All of a sudden deciding which £50K+ EV to buy in 2017/18 has become much more difficult :) EV battery technology is already good enough for 90% of divers, its just the cost at moment. Nissan can produce a 250 mile range Leaf now, but they wouldn't, because they know no one is going to pay £50K+ for a Nissan, even the GTR is hard sell for many. Interms of value for money, the Tesla actually offers the best £ per kWh!! These costs are on the way down though, so it's good news for us consumers - The Nissan Leaf 30kwh, Spark EV, and Tesla S (90) the three 'best value' EVs have all come out in the last 6 months :) Unfortunately as much as I appreciate what a good job Toyota/Lexus have done with the IS300H, their obsession with chasing hydrogen fuel cell technology means their current range of hybrids are going to be made to look very out-dated once Audi/Porsche/Mercedes start pumping out battery EVs to compete with Tesla at the premium end of the market. Toyota has openly admitted fuel cell technology wouldn't be ready for mass production till 2020 at the earliest, the Mirai at the moment is essentially a hand built car, who knows how far battery technology will have advanced by than :(

have you seen this electric car http://www.partsgateway.co.uk/pgtimes/porsche-electric-600bhp-car

In cars with torque converter there is no problem in keeping in N , while if you have a hybrid Lexus N has to be avoided all the time you can, as in that setting there is no recharge of hybrid batteries.

My philosophy is look after your car and it will look after you Allan

Ganzoom, exactly the same thoughts as me, we test drive a Mercedes e class coupe, which I have always loved from afar, but after driving the lexus, the Interior felt bland, and the refinement was like a tractor. After a couple of days, I also decided petrol and diesel were history, my next car will be electric, hopefully something like an electric rcf with about a 250 mile range.

I had similiar views to you before my wife got the IS300h and I drove it back on the motorway from Chester. First of all, I think the IS250 is a smooth engine and refined with the 6 speed gearbox, however, there isn't much between the IS250 and IS300h in terms of smoothness. In fact, it is easily arguable that the IS300h is smoother due to the CVT which doesn't shift at all - the IS250 6 speed can get hesitant when asking too much of it. I would also say that refinement of the IS250 is less than the IS300h and that is simply down to the electric drivetrain - completely silent when driving along at low speeds in town unless you brake, but even then, its not obtrusive and it almost sounds like you're going to the future. In terms of repairs, the IS250 actually costs MORE to service due to extra cylinders and some other stuff. Lexus Bradford quoted me £990 for 3 IS250 services and £750 for 3 IS300h services (both were 20,30 and 40k services). Essentially its £240 over 3 years which isn't much but even if you drive 5k miles a year at the claimed MPG figures, it would make a £200 difference in petrol costs and a further £215 cost in tax annually. Therefore over 3 years you lose £1485 and 5k miles a year is very low! Not to mention, the IS300h holds value much better for a few reasons. Firstly, its being replaced by the IS200t and when a new model comes out, a car will always lose value as its no longer desirable. Furthermore, the running costs puts it out of reach for people who drive even 10k miles a year and as a rule, its not as desirable as the IS300h in the current times. I wouldn't worry about reliability, Lexus hybrids are insanely reliable, may even be more so than the IS250 which has carbon build up problems. One odd thing I found was that insurance price is more expensive for the IS250. I was rather concerned as there's hardly any difference in claimed power output and 0-62mph times and phoned the insurance company who stated it was down to the car having a V6 and being "rare". Take that how you will but I thought it was just a way of making money personally. In terms of driving, the IS250 is good but i'd say its the IS300h which wins and that's simply because of the instant torque. The IS250 IMO is weedy, the torque is too low and you have to rev its guts out to get it to shift anywhere (causes it to actually become less refined than the IS300h as it ends up being quite loud ALL of the time when you do that and fuel economy goes to about 18mpg). In contrast, the IS300h has plenty of instant torque to get it moving and mid range power is immense (the quoted 0-62mph times dont show this). It genuinely gob-smacks people with faster cars (Audi A5 3.0l TDI and Merc C250 CDI). I would also say that the IS300h is a better balanced car. Although it has more weight in total, more than the 250 at the rear, it helps offset the nose heavy front too which you only really noticed when pushing the car on B roads.

I think it's the tyres mate. What brand and how old are they? Some budget tyres make really awful noises

!999 won't take an obd reader (not obd2 compliant)loads of past threads on the issue I have a 1999 GS300 sport and have been into it in depth so don't waste your money.