michaelH

The difference between full beam and dipped beam is less obvious with the single pair of bi-xenons on the mark 3 than it was on the xenons plus halogen full beams on my old mark 2 SE-L; but in my experience driving on full beam is never a problem - what matters is whether you can still see well enough when forced to use dipped beams, and the dipped beams on the mark 3 seem very good. I do a lot of night time driving on unlit single carriageway roads. Try driving a little smart car on dipped beams instead. Ugh.

I went from a 13 plate luxury premium nav to a 64premier with a lot fewer miles on the clock. I was never aware of any startling differences, beyond the fact that the newer one is much better equipped with a useful blind spot and rear monitoring system and better seats with more adjustment. The pioneer audio (?) on the old one seemed little inferior to the mark Levinson I have now. I wouldn’t call either hi-fi, but hey, it’s only a car, and real hi-fi would cost serious extra money. I do however think the ride is marginally better, which is important because my wife has spinal injuries and travels badly. And it rides that little bit better despite having larger 18” wheels. But the difference is very subtle. Motoring journalists often seem to denounce the “noisy droning cvt box” while praising the clever device that provides synthetic engine sounds. I find that turning off the synthetic sound solves the synthetic droning problem.

I moved from a luxury on 17" wheels to a premier on 18s, and was initially concerned as to whether this would Impact on ride quality, which is important to me because my wife has spinal injuries and travels badly. But we have noticed no deterioration at all. We both feel that, for whatever reason, the ride is marginally better and the noise levels are no different. When the time comes to replace them, the tyres will however be more expensive. MPG seems slightly worse, but the difference is so slight (1 mpg or so) as to be insignificant.

The camera is very useful indeed and the Tahara trim is as good as fake leather could be. But Electric leather seats (with a wider range of adjustments and heating or cooling) can for some users be a big improvement over manual tahara/cloth seats. I find them more comfortable all round.

I agree with almost all of this. The journalists don't seem to know much about Lexus cars in general. A few years back they were saying that the only mark 2 IS they could recommend was the IS220d, just because it was a diesel, whereas experienced owners on this website would always warn prospective buyers to go for a 250 petrol auto every time. in my experience, you CAN slip away silently in EV mode, as long as you press the ev button before the engine fires up, and as long as you have enough charge in the battery. Eco Mode works fine when your speed is limited by slow traffic ahead, 30 or 40 speed limits, etc. No point in using sport mode then. As for the lag when flooring it to pass a slow tractor or lorry, the problem seems to arise when you have been dawdling after it at low revs, so I flick the gear lever into sport before making my move. This mimics dropping a couple of gears (also useful when descending a steep and/or winding road) and It seems to avoid the lag problem pretty well. Alas, I find that the Sat nav does all too often suggest unnecessary diversions, but that is I suspect must be common to all such devices that use the same FM or DAB traffic updates.

Lexus Leicester had about four of them for sale when I was there about two weeks ago. I was surprised to see them asking over £20k for one of them.

I have traded in my old lux model (with premium nav) for a premier. After having previously driven a mark2 is250 SE-L, I had missed the luxurious electric leather seats, but otherwise had been very pleased with the Lux, which didn't miss a beat in three years. Am I right in thinking that the seat backs and armrests /door trim in my new premier are made from the same synthetic tahara material as in the lux? it doesn't matter really because that material always looked good and proved very tough, but the soft leather in the seats seems much nicer to the touch. The new car has covered only a fifth of the miles of the old one and drives and rides beautifully, despite the bigger 18" wheels. The ride quality seems if anything better - and my wife, who has spinal injuries and is very sensitive to such things, agrees. Overall the new car feels more luxurious and special. But I am not yet quite convinced by the Mark Levinson sound system. Some seem to praise it to the skies, but I would only say that it is okay for a car system, like the one in my old is250.

A few weeks of this keyless entry and you will never want to go back to a conventional key. Wot, do I have stick this in somewhere? How old fashioned!

If you can't creep in silence how can you startle pedestrians in the road? That's why I bought the is300h in the first place.

I have never heard this squeaky screech sound when creeping. It cannot be normal. You should be able to creep in silence. It may perhaps be a common problem, but that is not the same thing at all. I once had an is250 with a squeaky stopping issue, but that was quickly fixed. You should insist that this is fixed.

Is this actual mpg or just the reading from the display? I regularly get around 49 according to the display on my is300h, but it translates to about 45/46 at the pumps. 33 displayed is roughly what i got on my mk 2 is250, but that was nearer 30 at the pumps. Of course the difference is slight when measured against the total cost of ownership.

Yes, that seems about right, in my experience. Similarly, speedos always seem to read high, and Lexus speedos are no different. So when I see someone claim that they get 50 mpg cruising the motorway at 75 mph, I wonder whether they are relying on the displays, in which case they are more likely getting 46 mpg at 70 mph. A rough but easy calculation of mpg can be made from tank range. If you refill when the indicated range is about zero, the tank will probably need about 60 litres/13 gallons to brim fill. At 40 mpg that should mean you have covered about 520 miles on that tank; at 46 mpg, 600 miles, and so on.

Rayaans: it follows that after two years of waterless cleaning my Lexus must be covered in scratches. Except that is isn't.

Rayaans, is your concern specific to the Meguiars product, or does it apply to all waterless washes and detailing sprays? I have been using them (various brands) for years on my cars and on those of friends and family (some cars with clear coat finish and some without, in silver, yellow, blue and black) and have been very happy with the results. If I spent hours applying an expensive hard wax twice a year (and I can see the merits of that), then I might want to reconsider my approach to waterless washes, but I don't wax like that, so it isn't such an issue. As it is, a little wax goes on each time I clean the car. it may not last, but it is regularly topped up. The only visible imperfections on my current IS300h (34 months / 40,000 miles) are of the front bumper / stone chip variety. Too many of those, to be honest. if there are other defects visible only under a powerful light with a magnifying glass then I can live with that. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that. The only parts I wash with water myself are the wheels, although in winter I often take it to a hand wash place to get the worst of the road dirt off. With filthy roads and dodgy weather, there isn't much point in exerting one's own time and effort in a search for shot-lived winter perfection. On the subject of wheels, can someone recommend a good product for removing traces of the black adhesive that they use to attach balancing weights? These traces look unsightly once the tyres have been changed and the weights repositioned.

As I suggested in my original post, if the car is covered in gritty roadsalt, or is utterly filthsome for some other reason, thenwash it first, or get someone to do it for you. But with ordinary levels of dirt just spray the waterless cleaner on, leave it a minute while the dirt emulsifies, and then wipe it off with a microfibre cloth. Repeat if necessary, then use another microfibre cloth to polish it to a shine. I live in Leicester, where we have really hard water and washing with that is a pain. If you have access to soft water then the advantages of waterless cleaning are not quite so obvious, but it still works out quicker, and the detailer I use softens and lifts the kind of clingy contamination that water trends to leave behind. I have not used the greased lightening product, but some of the cheaper ones contain too much wax and not enough cleanser. To play safe you could clean the car with a detailing spray from a respected brand and then use a wax afterwards. Yes, that takes a bit longer, but is still a lot quicker than conventional washing and waxing. Do it reasonably carefully and you will not get any swirls.