matt-c

I wouldn't. It's not strong enough for that, and two little screw points will just rip out. You'll find even that without use, the road vibration will make it wobble and bounce, and eventually it will loosen off

Pretty impressive, but interested to know the age of the tyres. I think tyres have a "use by" date, and aren't advisable to be used for much longer than that, regardless of their tread level

So did you try selecting the input as I laid out in my previous post?

I'm still toying with the idea, and *may* go look at it Monday. My problem is when I go look at things, I generally fall in love with them and have to have it, haha! So long as the headunit has been put in properly, as you say with a bypass cable, then it's not the end of the world, and provided the one in my 200 works in the 300, it could be an easy swap out; taking the stock one from my 200 and fitting it into the 300 (being the same year, it *should* - at least in theory - work, and then fitting the aftermarket one into my 200. And if the cabling isn't too much of an issue, I could also swap the headrests over from both cars too. If I did go ahead and buy the 300, I'd probably remove the armrest from my 200 as I doubt very much it'd add anywhere near it's value to the car sale, and it's worth £100 all day long on it's own. The only other thing I can see what needs swapping is the dash top tray thing - looks like the one on the 300 has one of those discs screwed to it that you use to mount sat nav suction cups to - and seeing as I don't use a standalone satnav in the car anymore, I'd rather have the unmodified one from my car in there. My only other worry is the wheels. This 300 has the 18" aero wheels on it, and I've read a fair bit about them, on here, being made from chocolate and pot holes killing them and putting them out of round, or worse cracking them. So that's a little concern to me. I'm usually pretty good at avoiding potholes, but even this eve I managed to hit one pretty good (will have to go have a look at my wheel and tyre in the daylight tomorrow, just to reassure myself it looks ok. Drove home fine, so hopefully no damage was done) And finally, I say I'm still toying with the idea, because well, I simply don't think I *need* a 3L engined car. And that's the real kicker. The 'box would be lovely, and the few little extra's it provides over the 200 would be welcome, but really aren't deciding factors (full leather is nice, but then I like my half leather, half cloth seats. The chromatic mirrors sound nice, but probably expensive to fix if broken or failed. The extra bhp - well all extra horsies are nice, but I don't thrash cars everywhere, so not my prime concern), it's really all/mostly about the 'box at the end of the day, along with the fact I keep reading that the 300 is smoother, quieter, etc. And I'm one of the ones that's impressed by the smoothness and quietness of my 200 (compared to anything else I've owned, it's sublime! But then, I think I actually got a very good one; the gear selector is so tight and sharp, with virtually no play in it at all, whereas a couple I drove wen't as positive feeling as the one I got - especially with reverse! The suspension and handling is tight and crisp, and road holding is excellent, with rattling/vibration etc very very minimal. One part of me really wants to keep the 200 manual, in a kinda "spirit of driving" thing, but the other part of me say's get shot, and get a lazy-changer! :D

Keep us posted. The old style (30pin) should be fine - for the most part, the new style Lightning connector does work, however I do find now and again it cuts out. Sometimes it does it repeatedly, and sometimes it's absolutely fine. I think this is down to voltage spikes/troughs, and I've noticed it's often when the charge is below a certain point (haven't figured out the exact point/percentage it does it below, or even if the charge status is the actual trigger - for example, the other night on the way home it did it a few time with the phone at about 50-60%. I then opened up the multitask tray and closed all running apps, tried it again and it worked fine. Tonight, with charge at about 35%, it worked for about 10 mins, then started playing up - closed all apps and it still refused to play ball, so I just went back to the radio. This doesn't happen with my iPod Classic, nor with my iPhone 4, so it can only be the 30-pin to Lightning conversion/adapter). As said, with the cheap knock off's on eBay, they do not work for audio - even one I bought that insisted it did work, didn't. The only one I've found that does pass through audio is the genuine article from Apple. Shame it's £25!

My final thought is if the adapter is in so tight you can't pull it out, have you inserted it the right way up? It shouldn't be that tight that you cannot remove it. Are you depressing the tab on the connector fully to release it?

A few things; 1) you shouldn't need to cut anything 2) What iPod/iPhone are you using? 3) When you press the CD button on the stereo, what shows on the display? So, starting with 1 - I would reconnect this wire. Strip it, join it, and insulate it Moving onto 2 - If you are using a late model Touch, or iPhone 5, with the Lightning connector, are you using a genuine Apple Lightning adapter/lead? Because if not, there are many "fakes" on the market (read, third party, non-Apple) versions that only do charge and sync - they do not support audio (reason, the Lightning connector is completely digital, and the adapters and leads had a tiny DAC built into them - without this, and the cheap knock-off's do not have DAC's in them, you won't get audio And 3 - If you don't have a CD in the headunit, pressing the CD button should show CD1 on the display - like this; The audio should start immediately, using the native "iPod/Music" app on the iPhone/iPod. However, you also need to be sure which input on the grom you are using. This is changed by turning on the stereo in two ways; 1. The stereo is already in the CD changer mode (GROM USB is activated). Press FM/AM -> wait 1-2 second -> press CD. 2. The stereo is in any other mode (FM, SAT, etc...): press CD -> wait 1-2 second -> press FM/AM -> wait 1 second -> press CD. You will hear the voice announcing the currently playing mode (USB, AUX or iPod). To switch to the next mode, press Next Track button quickly while the voice prompt is announcing. The next mode will be announced right after. If you need to select another mode, simply press Next Track button again and so on until you select the desired mode. Each time you do this, it changes the input the Grom uses (in my case, either iPod, USB or AUX) and you'll hear it say the input through the speakers (a robotic woman voice with say "iPod", "USB" or "A-U-X")

Jesus give it a rest.... If you want smooth, buy a GS or better yet an LS. I'm only contemplating a 300 for the 'box, this wasn't supposed to be a "mines better than yours thread"

If the IS200 (and 300) falls into tax code K*, then why is the 200 listed as code L and the 300 as code M? Makes no sense.....

Apparenty, the IS200 is tax code L, and has a CO2 rating of 231 g/km, and the IS300 is tax code M, with a CO2 rating of 256 g/km Which would mean, according to this tax code page on this Gov page, tax from April 1st 2013 is £475 and £490 respectively, for 12 months. https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables Now I taxed mine in May, and it was £280 for 12 months? So whats that all about? Am I reading it wrong or something?

They don't. Current Lexus models either have green or "privacy" glass (which looks like dark tinted glass - and only in the rear half of the car). Windscreens and door glasses are different types of glass, so there will be a difference. Plus, the smaller a glass gets, the "greener" it looks too.

Thanks for all the input. I've missed it as a bargain, as the price has gone up by £200, but I may still take a look and test drive, at least to see if all the fuss about it is true. I've never not liked my 200. I know it's not a performance car, and never bought it as one. I'm also not looking for a performance car either; as I've said many times before, the extra bhp the 300 has is simply a byproduct to me - if I wanted a fast car I'd go buy a fast car. One thing I've learned from having the 200, is I'm much more about smoothness, quiet, relaxing drives; no drama, and comfort. What's nice about the IS is that you can cruise everywhere with no drama, but if you do feel a bit spritely on the way home through the country lanes, the suspension and handling feels just as much at home being chucked into bends at higher speeds than you should be doing, than most other cars I've owned (with the exception of S1 Escort Turbo's - those things were built to be abused though bends!) And as much as I love the manual in my 200 Sport, I've come to realise I just want an auto. The 200 manual is a lovely, tight, precise feeling box, excellent gate and changer, and apart from the strange "thud" you get going from 1st to 2nd (still there in other gears, but most noticeably in 1st>2nd) it's by far one of, if not the nicest manuals I've had. However, I want to go ever lazier and get an auto, and I was never that impressed with the autobox in the 200's. So I might as well look at the 300. Will have a gander at it and see whats what. End result, if the car - regardless of the engine or gear box in it - isn't as nice as the one I have; ie, condition, appearance, and most importantly, the handling, then it's not worth me changing mine for it. If it is as nice, or even better, then it's worth considering. I'm not going to buy a car I don't think is as nice as mine *just because* it's got a bigger engine or an autobox. It needs to be the whole package or not at all

Buy second hand. I got my Grom for £40. Even if I buy the BT add-on for £50 brand new, it's still only £90 total

To me the power is just a byproduct. I don't see the IS as a performance car - because, well, it's not! I do give the 200 a kicking now and again, because it does handle fantastically through the twisty country lanes, but otherwise it's poodled around like a cruiser most of the time.

Spotted a 300 for sale locally (52 plate, 83k, with TTE front and rear and 18's) and I'm sorely tempted to switch from my 200 to it, mainly cos as much as I like the 6sp manual in my 200 Sport, I do really fancy an auto (and don't want the 4sp auto in the 200SE) Price wise, it's pretty much the same as I paid for my 200 (£2.5k) for the same year/reg and roughly the same mileage (mine now has 90k on it, bought it at 87ish, roughly 11 months ago) The only things that put me off are little things - it's got a stupid aftermarket touchscreen head unit (I'd much prefer the standard one, using my Grom), and it looks like it's got screens in the head rests (not a major issue, but I'd prefer to swap them with regular head rests). With the IS having an odd sound system, it means I don't know to what extent it's been modified/adapted. In a perfect world, it simply has the bypass cable or whatever to hook into the standard amp - worst case the wiring has been cut and messed around with. Naturally, I'd prefer it if it's just had plug and play harness' so I can swap it out with the stock HU in my 200 and vice versa. Tax is a little annoying, as I just taxed mine for a year last year (£250!) and the 300 tax expires end of July. MOT wise, mine expires next month, 300 in Sept, so nothing in it really. I suppose it really comes down to the cars condition - if it's not as good as mine, in terms of being looked after, handling/how it feels, then it's not worth it. Yes the few extra ponies from the 300 would be a bonus, but not my priority for changing the car. Really it's down to the gearbox - I should have bought an auto from the start (this week especially I've been laid up with trapped tendons in my left ankle, which means I can barely walk and can't drive as clutch changing hurts like hell!) No idea of the insurance difference, nor the MPG difference (surely it can't be WORSE than the 200's already pathetic MPG?!) Will have to ponder it a little bit I suppose....

Wanna sell me the 'charger? :D

Mine was exactly the same. It was just lacking, like a derv turbo that had it's boost turned right down! Like yours, it ran fine, with no misfires, no warning lights etc. Then all of a sudden, it came back all by itself. I took it to Tesco, was slow. Then onto the hand carwash, was slow. Then upon leaving the carwash it was like a different car! Much more repsonsive, and much much quicker (well, quicker at least in relevance to the IS200 engine, haha) The only thing I noticed with mine, was the throttle pedal felt stiff when it was running slow. When it went back t performing as it should, the pedal felt much lighter.

Had her in for a little service this morning, and a check over before MOT next month. Fluids and filters, check over the suspension, brakes, etc and put on the computer to see if the ECU is saying anything untoward - all came back fine and dandy! £130 all in, which isn't bad considering Lexus wanted £550 to do the same (although to be fair, they would've done the diff fluid as well, which I don't think I had done today) Next month, cam belt, water pump and MOT!

I did a job at Autolube in Letchworth yesterday, who are a Terraclean dealer/service/whatever, and meant to ask them about it, but forgot. Useless story, but there you go. At least it was topical

^ And paint it white.....

No management lights, and I didn't reset the ECU (never got round to it)

Well interestingly, today my performance came back! Took it out to the shops, drove as it has been doing so recently. Decided to get it washed in the way home, and upon driving off, It instantly felt much more responsive and much quicker. The throttle peddle itself felt much lighter and much more responsive. The car felt like it had gained probably about 40 or 50 hp! So don't know if it was a sticky throttle or something like that? Either way, it feels so much better than before and much more like it was when I first got it last year.

Everything on the standard stereo still works as it did; radio and cd. And with a grom, you can still plug in an extern changer too, since the grom harness has a pass through connector for it

Sorry, can't stand black wheels - except maybe on Knight Rider....

Nope, sorry. Black rims just do not do it for me. Or the "tattoo" either...!