Steve44

Streaming is great if you can combine a good app, a great data connection and you have the money to pay for it (or someone else is). Amazon Music, Google Play, Spotify all work well on my HTC Android with EE 4G coverage and an employer who pays for unlimited data. However, it is still a pain as the integration into the car system is poor and you need to do anything more than play/pause/skip on the phone screen. Ipod wise, I use a 160Gb Ipod Classic with my music ripped at 320kps in MP3 and album art. It works but has annoying quirks which I think are down to the hard drive based Ipod rather than a newer flash based one. It does take a while for browse to be available when first connected and it frequently has to show "Getting Ipod Data...." on the screen when the Ipod HDD goes to sleep. It also has a habit of crashing and resetting, though this is better now I'm on latest firmware. I was looking at using an Ipod touch 64Gb instead and I know others using Iphones are OK. Whilst Itunes is not great, all my music is catalogued and up to date in it now and I can't be bothered with trying to move things about and change it using other apps and a USB stick.

AVS stiffens up the dampers on Sport+. Its very noticeable as it makes the car noticeably stiffer, firmer and more fidgety on anything but a smooth piece of tarmac. Cornering is even flatter than normal and you feel every cats eye, stone or ridge. In the other modes (Eco, Normal, Sport) there is no difference between them, but it is working all the time to adapt to road and driving conditions. So it is very smooth and a bit softer (like a normal IS suspension) when travelling on say a motorway, but will tighten up if you enjoy some more spirited driving on a A or B road for instance.

Is the car brand new Peter? Has the dealer taken the transport blocks out during the PDI?? Just a thought........ Suspension isn't adjustable. Ride should be pretty compliant. I've got F-Sport with 18's and its pretty good on all but the worst roads. What pressure are you inflating too - 33-36psi should be the norm.

Rich - according to the manual, USB is limited to 3000 folders max, 9999 files max and 255 files per folder max. Also it can only decode MP3, WMA and AAC(m4a) files up to 320kbps. The files must have either .mp3, .wma or .m4a file suffix. M3u playlist files aren't supported and the max folder depth is 8, although the manual says to prevent issues no more than 2 folders deep is recommended. Previous experience of another car (not lexus) with limits, it depended on which version of windows/mac and which app i used determined which files the car picked up. As it scanned the disk, it loaded the first ### tracks it found, regardless of how they were arranged on the disk. I guess it is to do with how the system creates the master boot record on the disk. The tagging corresponds to the standards set out, so ID3tag V1.0 to V2.3 is compatible. I assume odd characters may prevent them being loaded. See pages 265 onwards in the manual.

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in the good old US of A has done a test of 31 different cars headlamp performance, testing their illumination and performance as they come from the factory, with std dealer setup, as well as the various options available from the manufacturers. The IS passed with "acceptable" performance for the standard HID projector bulbs, with and without high beam assist. The LED Projector option available in USA was only "marginal". The only car ranked as good was a Prius with LED's. BMW 3 series and Merc C class were poor with std halogens and only marginal with LED top of the range options. Makes interesting reading, especially around adjustment. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/first-ever-iihs-headlight-ratings-show-most-need-improvement http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/lexus/is-250-350-4-door-sedan

Interesting discovery last night, Lexus IS cup holders are a perfect fit for a standard bottle of wine!

Which version of Lexus media/nav does the Advance have baxlin? Guessing Lexus Nav, so round Knob to enter addresses? Have you asked the dealer to check the software version and update if needs be? Phone compatibility and performance have improved greatly for me as I've moved software versions. Also, individual phone software versions can cause issues. Is the iPhone on the latest/greatest version of iOS?

I didn't have a choice on the tyres, I would have preferred Dunlop Sportmax RT but as it is a company car, they were free. They are much gripper and square shouldered than the Bridgestone, quieter too I think. Need to wear out the fronts quicker though, considering doing many laps around a roundabout! Rim protection on the Bridgestone I wasnt too impressed with Rabbers, I've kerbed both fronts badly. The Continental being a squarer shoulder look better. I'll post a pic later. I may have hit a few bad potholes lately, as I said car drives square just the wheel is off, I'll get them to square it up. Any thoughts on dash disassembley to fix the heater motor? Concerned it will cause more issues than it will fix?

So the IS turned 48k and needed a service, cue Lexus Newcastle and overall great service from them. Collected and delivered car, washed and valeted, all things done I asked, changed rear tyres and a free tin of sweets on the passenger seat too! Couple of things I probably need to sort though. 1. The heater fan seems to be playing up and has a potential dry bearing causing noise especially when cold. Lexus have said they would need car for 2 days and disassemble dash to replace under warranty. I'm not sure I want to risk more issues with creaking squeaking dash once they've stripped and replaced it. What do people think? 2. The steering wheel is off centre. Car drives straight, but wheel is off by 1 or 2 splines to the right and it's really annoying. Cant rememeber it so bad before the service, but it's really annoying me now so it's got to be fixed. 3. New Continental SportContact5 rear tyres fitted, which are an improvement in virtually every way over the Bridgestones. I just need to wear out the fronts quicker, which given how much understeer I've got now due to increased grip from rear, shouldn't be long.....

Are you sure it's not just a sluggish CVT gearbox? I get this too, but it seems it's more about slow changing of CVT as its cold rather than batteries. I assume it takes a bit for it to warm up the oil. I think the battery pack is temp controlled to cope with the worst of the ambient variance.

Lol, you noticed too! Numbers do go up to 99.9 though.

Enter the postcode, or place name, or company name etc, then hit enter. It should appear in the box below. There should be a small + in a circle, click that to add it to the POI box below. Repeat that process to add more POI's to the trip. Use the arrows in the POI box to order them in the order you prefer. Give the trip a name, then hit save trip. Then on the next screen, you'll see on the extreme right a small car symbol with a + and a USB symbol. Click on the Car symbol and it will send it to the car, USB symbol and you can download it. Red X deletes. Clicking on the small blue + symbol, allows you to edit the trip. When you are back in your car, go to Destination as before, but browse to Memory and I think Stored Routes to download them into the car, the actual route planning is done in the car at the time you set off, which is to begin with counter-intuitive, but actually makes sense as it will depend on where you are and what the road/traffic conditions will be at the time. If you are only going to one place, it's a bit of faff, but if you are planning a multi stop-off trip, then it's easier/quicker to do this than trying to do it in the car, especially if you don't have the postcode's or full addresses for each stop.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery....

For the Lexus portal see here. https://youtu.be/OLiwHg7NpaE To check your version, on the Nav system go to menu/setup/general/software update/update it will tell you the current version there. Current version number is VD12102C and is available to download on the portal, with instructions.

Well played, welcome to the club. Is it the one from Lexus Hatfield or Hedge End on the Lexus approved used cars site....

Are you sure you don't just have the Active Volume Control turned on???? As per others, mine is silent with AVC turned off.

I've not done this myself, but have read and heard of others who have. Just be clear about the T&C's, interest charges/penalties etc paying it off early might incur you, but people have saved overall. Personally, I don't think I would buy a nearly new Lexus outside of a main dealer network, to ensure it had warranty and FSH. The car is so complex and potentially expensive to repair I would want complete peace of mind with my £25k+ outlay. As ganzoom says, list price is a no no, with minimal effort, you can get a new F-Sport in Blue with Prem Nav & Leather for £32k, no haggling - check www.broadspeed.com, or www.coast2coast.co.uk. This should be your starting point for any negotiation at a dealer.

Glad you like the IS300h and the FSport is a good choice. Blue isn't the commonest colour, but most have leather and nav as it usually improves the GfV if bought new on finance. Use dealer finance to get a better price and bigger discount then exercise your right to pay off the finance early, ie in the first week, to get the best of both worlds. Dealer gets a kickback from finance company to sell it to you. Often exceeds the profit in the car, so gives them more to deal with in discount. Good luck.

Dave, the info screen can be set to stay on which screen you wish, it's a setting in the menu system. The phone you have will either make the system work well or cause frustration. IPhone and some android phones work well, others have some issues. My HTC One M9 works perfectly. Software upgrades are free from the dealer or certain ones can be downloaded and done yourself. There are 3 different media/Nav system options available with different features, it will depend on which model you get to test. I would really recommend going on a long mixed road test. Try the car in auto, in Eco/Normal and sport modes, plus remember to right stick for a bit of manual gear action. Also, there is an active sound generator module and a control on the lower right side of the dash. Try it up and down/off especially noticeable in Sport and manual mode. It will change your perception on the different characteristics of the car. Lastly, check the spec of the Lexus, then try spec'ing a BMW to the same level and see the difference in cost. Enjoy.

Guys, if you already have software version vc12102c or later then you can't use it. I have the above version and the update did nothing and wouldn't show. If it is the same, then it's just as bad, as the other day I had 3 routes showing, the quickest route was shorter than the eco route and shortest route, which was quicker than the quickest route!?! On the phone compatibility portal it shows a version vc12102h now.

As I said above it will do it, I've seen it do it, but the list of criteria it must use to determine when must be so specific I've only seen it a couple of times in 18mths of ownership. I usually just press the buttons on the dash and leave it on outside air.

Maybe it's a Premium Nav option only. You need to have the car running to see it.

Not sure which model you have, but if you have premium nav, go to menu/setup/car/Lexus customisations and check the climate settings. Other infotainment versions will be similar menu.

If you have the economy settings set in the menus, then it will turn the ac on or off and the recirculation or external air switch depending on external temp and most eco setting when on auto. You don't need to anything with the lights as they are flat symmetric beams apparently.

There is a setting in the Setup menu/vehicle/Lexus customisations, to use Eco settings for ventilation where it should swap back/forth at what it deems is best to meet eco targets. It's explained in the manual, but to be fair, the list of requirements (car, temp, settings, atmospherics, alignment of moon phase, hormonal levels etc etc... ) it needs to do it seem long and complex as mine hardly ever swaps either......