Steviewevie

You mean like this sort of thing ?

Yeah, they're in sealed small packets like the hand wipes that you get at KFC. Of course they're designed for your car's paintwork rather than cleaning your hands ! :D Advantage is that you can have them with you and don't have to wait till you can get near some warm water etc, so can potentially take the worst of it off sooner.

A front strut brace, I presume you mean ? Prolex have one here and TDI have a whole load of different ones here. I'm sure there are plenty of other places that you can get them too, including eBay, but that should give you an idea about prices. I don't have one myself, but my understanding is that you probably won't notice any difference with one unless you're taking your car around the race track (there are others here who are a lot more qualified to comment on that than me). But they do look nice ! :)

Great news, well done ! :D

Yep, you've summed it up nicely Hodaz. Good luck with getting it sorted and hope to hear of a positive outcome soon.

Ring up Consumer Direct and they'll be able to advise you. Their website has lots of helpful stuff too.

Sorry, that's rubbish too IMHO. It might say that but they can't hold you to it. So when you receive a delivery you're supposed to open it all up and check they're the right items ? Sure, you're accepting the goods and that they haven't been damaged in transit. But that is on the assumption that they've sent you the right things. Because they've sent you the wrong items, they're in breach of contract.

Never knew there was a Facebook group, just joined it ! :D

No, that's rubbish, they're just trying to wriggle out of their responsibilities. It's their fault that they sent the wrong stuff so it's up to them to sort it out at no cost to you. All your neighbour was signing for was that he received some boxes in good condition, he wasn't signing for the contents being what you ordered. It would be different if there was a dispute whether the wheels were damaged during delivery, and your neighbour had signed to say they were ok.

Get yourself a pack of Autoglym's bird dropping wipes for your glovebox, if you haven't already. Then when you get hit you can wipe it up before it starts dissolving the paintwork.

Yeah I've found the IS200 is more tricky to get the nozzle in the right position compared to my last car, so that the pump doesn't keep cutting out. Like Lexus2D said, I find that pulling the nozzle out a bit helps.

It depends what situation you're in. For instance, if your current car isn't worth much anyway, then the current cheaper prices are good news, since it will cost you less to change.

Wow, that's one shiny Lex, great stuff ! :D

There's a handy guide here

Metallic dark grey ? That's Granite Sky, 1C6. Black is 202.

Is your car under a Lexus warranty already ? Because if not, I would doubt that a "pre-existing" fault would be covered. I don't know the details of the Lexus warranty, admittedly.

Paint codes are in this thread, you'll see that it's a three-letter/number thing. Paint codes are normally on a plate under the bonnet, not sure if this is the case on the IS200. There's a plate at the back of the engine compartment but don't know if it's on that one or not. I'm sure that someone who knows better than me will be along soon :) You'll probably find it's pretty obvious from that list what your paint code is without having to find it stamped on the car, there aren't that many to choose from.

Don't buy the uprated bulbs, they're a waste of money. A proper HID kit doesn't cost that much and will be an enormous improvement over standard halogens. I presume there's no problem putting HIDs into an IS250 ?

at some of the comments on their photos

I've been a subscriber to Car for many years, excellent mag.

Very nice ! :D

The LEDs that I got were these ones

Great news all round ! :D

Not sure the credit card company will be able to help you in this case, but give them a try. When you write, make sure you stay polite, if you get agressive or abusive it will undermine your position, and right now you have the cards stacked in your favour.

That's true if you changed your mind, or say you ordered some clothes and they didn't fit so you wanted to send them back for a different size - some companies will pay for the shipping to send the item back, but some won't and you have to pay. BUT if the company has made the mistake (as here with the wrong wheels), then it is *they* who have to pay to recover the wrong items, it doesn't matter if it says that you have to pay for "all" returns, that only applies to cases like the above and not if they've cocked up. As I said, don't get fooled into paying for the return and then claiming your money back, they should be able to arrange for a courier to pick up the items, without you having to pay anything.