Linas.P

Phone just drives circles around sat-nav. I would say Lexus sat-nav is good enough if you just driving 1000 miles from once city to another... they are good enough for general direction and better than maps for sure. However, phone is still better for real time traffic information and especially finding alternative routes quickly in case there is accident or closure. Sometimes when I know I will be driving thousands miles in Europe I set sat-nav to final destination - it is just useful that it reminds you there will be turn in 1 mile on major motorways, in case your phone dies or something like that that is nice back-up option as well. However, I would never use it to accurate door-to-door navigation on small city roads. As for maps, the only time I have used maps to navigate is in the mountains - to my surprise even google maps don't have up-to date paths in more remote areas, whereas if you get ordnance survey map it will be very accurate. The only issue you always have to have latest one.

Indeed, thanks for updating us on outcome... but I agree with you. Lexus GB probably need to set clearer guidelines for dealerships - at the moment it seems like it is bit of lottery. I consider "Lexus Approved" should actually mean something. Remind me of another member who got GS fitted with some no name ditchfinders and was told by dealer they see no issue fitting sub-standard tyres as long as they are road legal. Again seems like buying used car from Lexus is no different than buying from any other dealer, not better and not worse, just need to be careful and don't fall for false sense of security.

Sorry to hear that, but it is not surprising, I remember having issue with insurance and financial ombudsman said the same thing - basically "we agree with you, but it outside of our jurisdiction, take it to court if you want"... and I was like - seriously, you are regulatory body for financial institutions (insurance included) and it is out of your jurisdiction. Same happened with Information commissioner service when I had issue with my person data misuse, they agreed it was misuse, but failed to apply any penalty or compensation. These so called industry regulators are sadly often useless. But on bright side you have yourself cracking car and if the shocks was the only issue, maybe that is not so bad deal overall.

Generally speaking as solid as IS250, but with electric roof. The roofs are relatively reliable when it comes to convertibles in general, but it is still the most likely part of the car to fail (rest of the car being bulletproof). If the roof works on the day of purchasing that is a good start. In IS250 would would generally just under 30 MPG (~26-28 tank average), the best ever on motorway was ~44MPG, achievable with good tyres and staying below 90MPH, worst was on short journeys in winter ~22MPG. IS250c is lightly heavier, but overall will be in same ballpark. Rest of the car is the same and has same issues as IS250 - sticking brake callipers which need maintenance at least annually and which is not included in service - that is greasing slider pins. Rest of the car is solid as long as it was maintained. If car is extremely high mileage (~180k miles+) there may be some other related issues, but they are normal wear an tear on that mileage, not weaknesses per se. Apart of that all normal used car buying tips apply - look at the actually condition of the car, get somebody to inspect it if not sure, keep records of discussion between yourself and seller as the only thing which matters is what you have agreed to purchase and what seller agreed to sell. If it ever comes to point of disagreement it is better to have it in writing (like e-mail) to prove what you have agreed to buy.

edit: just decided... I probably should stop posting as it is inevitable we will go in circles discussing irrelevant and subjective experiences. have a good day... 😄

I have no issues with different opinion, unless somebody have opinion on facts... that is simply not something one can have opinion about. If I ever wrong about facts (i.e. I have opinion which is objectively wrong) then I take it back and acknowledge what is an actual fact. Take for example where I am wrong about IS300h making 181hp, I am just wrong and Colin is right I can't really have differing opinion on it. Same for yourself, I feel various opinions and knowledge you share adds to very informative and beneficial community. I wish you have great weekend as well!

Speeding is police issue to deal with, not yours. Because people feel entitled to police the roads it just causes more chaos and more delays for everyone. By the way exactly 70MPH indicated will actually be ~63-66MPH. As well this should not be an issue if you checked your mirrors before starting to overtake (as required by same highway code) i.e. if you see car coming at speed in outside lane and there is no way you can overtake car in front at leisurely speed without slowing it down, then sensible driver would wait for the "idiot" to pass at whatever speed they are doing and only then start overtaking. Perhaps you want to make a statement and remind them of the speed limits and I kind of appreciate that, but again that is police job and it just causes unnecessary conflict on the road, where is plenty conflict already.

It seems I have to leave you guys to flatter each other and recharge your vitally from my constant reminders about pesky reality, I understand that sometimes being in a dream is just so much more satisfying. I have obviously stated my opinion, so no point in repeating it again - if anyone wanted to hear both sides, then clearly they have enough to go with already. I am often being accused of not hearing the other side and not appreciating other perspective, but it still surprising how many people cannot accept and are even offended by somebody who simply has different needs for performance and driving dynamics. Almost as if it would be a crime to have faster car. As for OP, I said it in the beginning and I will repeat the most important part - don't listen to opinion (including mine), go and test drive few cars and decide for yourself if you satisfied with performance, it is not us who will have to live with that car.

Yeah... I have experienced it few times in few different cars - certainly not very pleasant experience, especially considering that in neither case it was real risk. I guess far better to have few false positive than than smashing into something without it. It works well, when car is equipped with full-speed DCC, but as stand alone feature is really just sort of "last resort" thing, better to not rely on it.

Thanks for advice, but despite obviously not being as wise as yourself I am still experienced enough to know that one can never please everyone. As such I will leave it for the member to decide whenever they like what I am saying or not. I am not posting to get positive reactions, I am just posting to share my opinion and sometimes some facts - if somebody get's offended by that, then I am sorry... don't blame me, blame facts. As for opinions, people just have different opinions - that is normal and I never going to be offended about opinion which is other than mine.

Ok, yes... I was wrong about total peak power. I just remember it was not engine power + electric motor power combined. Yet I still think it is not relevant. I said IS300h is slow car, whenever it has 178bhp or 181hp or whatever other number of power - it does not make car faster. As for those offended that I am "hating" IS300h, I am not hating it. It is great car for what it is - reliable, economical, well build etc. but it isn't fast. I can't argue if it is fast enough, because it is subjective, from my experience and my needs it isn't either. Whenever it is fast "enough" for other people - they will need to try it for themselves and that is what I said in my first reply. It surely will not be as fast as IS200t, nor comparable cars from competition, but neither that makes it overall worse car. Both cars are compromise - IS200t is unnecessary compromise of fuel consumption, by which I mean that car uses far more fuel than it's performance would justify and IS300h is compromise on performance, because it is far slower than the badge and other stats on paper would indicate. If people can't live with the truth about their cars, that is not my problem - I am here not to blindly flatter every owner and every car just to be nice... truth is not always nice.

I am pretty confident with my figures as well, besides I don't live in Northamptonshire so perhaps we simply are doing different driving. I doubt that driving more miles would result in any revelation from what I already know, nor I agree that owners on this forum carry more weight than owners using the page I have provided. In fact several owners here are on that page as well. I have not forgotten to include the electric motor and as well you can't simply just add figures together and claim total number. The number (181hp) quoted are peak power and electric motor does not actually add anything to peak power, where it add something is low down torque. Most importantly it does not matter what electric motor adds, because the actual performance is what is lacking. In short what matters is how car performs, not what figures are on the paper and IS300h is slow regardless of which figure of engine power you will claim.

No... if car is serviced it will be fine. There are people even on this forum who have done close to 200k miles without any issues (maybe even over 200k), there cars are used on the taxis etc. As well 90k miles would be about normal for 2013 car now, so depends on the year you looking after. Not exactly true - BMW 330i weights 1470kg and does 0-60 in 5.8s, IS300h weights 1620k and does 0-60 in 8.2s... sure IS is heavier, but 150kg cannot be the reason for 2.4s difference. Maybe 0.5s at most. What so it is purely underpowered... 181hp vs 258hp and more torque as well.

I have driven IS300h in particular for thousands of miles, I have as well driven RC300h, NX300h and ES300h for extended period of time. Check the link I provided where actual owners tracks their real long term fuel economy, instead of sharing sensational tank figure they get once in a while. As well note that although average consumption for IS300h works out at around 41MPG, this includes all trims. If you filter by F-Sport and Premier (models with 18 inch wheels) then you will see figure around 37-38MPG. Now... I have only ever driven F-Sport IS300h and several of them, because any trim below it does not interest me, but 38MPG per tank was pretty much average what I would get. I would say in total I have driven 5 different cars for over 6000 miles and they all been the same. How many miles one has to do in the car to figure-out fuel economy?

The only reason for that is some idiot in the front (maybe 10 cars ahead) who refuses to move over and 9 other cars which just sits and chills behind that idiot. As well it does not matter that you have car in front of you - what highway code asks you to do is to move over after overtaking. So you finish overtaking and especially if you have car behind you, then you move over. But people just decides to stay in this "idiot train" forever and exacerbates the problem... very british problem by the way. I have as well said is that OP can expect ~10MPG improvement in 300h over 200t in like for like driving conditions, which is true. I have not owned any 300h car, but I have done more miles in them than some cars I have actually owned... anyway enough to know what one could expect. Long term and many owner reviews suggest one can expect closer to 40MPG https://www.fuelly.com/car/lexus/is300h/all and I said it is hard to get the car below 32MPG. As well I said it is possible to get cars up-to 55MPG. And yes it is true - driving the way I do I get 32-38MPG in IS300h F-sport, iIf you want to point out that some owners get's ~2MPG more than I do then it is fine I accept that.

Why didn't try to use your statutory rights? Surely, dealer had to put it right unless they advertised the car being with faulty shocks...

End of life model which is obsolete and was in the market for long time will b cheaper than brand new model which was just announced. At the time of purchase you IS was very end of production model and thus depreciated, but you comparing it with very latest BMW car which was just released. That is just simply irrelevant comparison. Lexus clearly have not checked what "exhilarating" as it is anything but those things. At best I can call it relaxing... And how exactly is that?!. perhaps you should read your post before submitting it, because I have just quoted what you have said. As well despite reading highway code you clearly have not understood the rules. I just can't see how can anyone can push you out of outside lane if you correctly move over after overtaking, or if you correctly check your mirror before starting to overtake to ensure you not cutting anyone off.

I understand that - what I am saying is that you can't compare 2021 Lexus with 2021 BMW, because Lexus IS mk3 has been released in 2013 and it was competitor for BMW F30 (2011-2019). What you comparing it against is new BMW G20 model which came out in 2018. By the time you made your comparison IS was already end-of-life model which was in production for over 7 years, so comparison with brand new BMW platform just doesn't make sense. If you want to compare apples to apples, you would have to compare Lexus mk3.5 which debuted in US last year (sadly we don't get it here). Even then It is just heavy facelift and not technically new car, but the changes are severe enough to consider it comparable to current BMW. I think G20 came at around £3-5k more expensive compared to F30 like for like, so if you would have made your comparison in 2018 the outgoing 320i would have costed probably £34-35k, whereas similarly equipped Lexus would have been £37-38k, same as 330i. Yes BMW slogan is ultimate driving machine and I agree not all BMW are ultimate, but this is not the same thing. Again look at what Lexus UK has to say about specifically IS300h, not Lexus brand in general, not IS as a model, but IS300h in particular... it is absolutely embarrassing to read and it hurts my intelligence: https://www.lexus.co.uk/car-models/is/#hero "Exhilarating performance (where?!) The new IS Hybrid is stunning and delivers an irresistible performance (really?). A more rigid chassis that improves driving precision, and a new adaptive variable suspension that gives greater grip and better handling. Perfected at aerodynamic facility in Japan, Lexus self-charging IS hybrid is an exceptional sports saloon (compared to what?) engineered to deliver an effortless, heart-racing performance (surely not?!)." As for offending me ... not sure how could you have offended me, so surely don't need to apologise for that...

That is good find, but it would be something seller has to sort out, so I consider it to be included with the price as it is not mentioned in the advert, otherwise it could be said you have been miss-sold. Other thing to note - MOT centres sometimes makes all sort of BS notes and it may not be true at all. It literally could be as simple as car going over the puddle and some dirty water splashing onto the shock, or there was penetrating oil sprayed when working on brakes for example and they put it down to blown shock absorber. For example once I failed mot for "Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover excessively deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)". In reality there was a pin-hole in rubber and that linkage would have lasted another 200k miles, but MOT centre just wanted to make a quick buck offering to change drop link for £250. Sure enough I replaced both linkages myself for £180 and never used that MOT centre again. Certainly something to look at if looking to buy it, but not red-flag in itself. Lather is leather - natural material, Alcantara is made of polyester (or as I would like to call it - "seats from recycled plastic bags") - I absolutely hate Alcantara simply because it is synthetic, besides I don't really like feel of it, it is porous (meaning harder to clear, easier to make dirty) and it might absorb dirt, promote bacterial growth... and finally it is very cheap, just don't like idea having expensive luxury car which has very very cheap synthetic materials inside. In my mind Alcantara is as fancy as fake wood trim. Perforated leather especially with cooling is certainly superior to Alcantara in my opinion. But that is just my view and the OP may be ok with it. As for aging. It is kind of strange, but for mk2 black leather was most durable, not only because, light coloured interiors are easier to make it dirty, but because for some reason leather itself failed much more easily.

You are comparing 2013 model car with 2021 model car. Don't you see any issues with that? Yes sure new generation of BMW, Audi or MB will cost more, than old generation EOL Lexus IS. Not sure what marketing you read about Lexus, but everywhere it was advertised as "radical, sporty, dynamic car". Sure I came from IS250 with some expectations and that is what heavily impacts my view, but to say "Lexus never promoted this car as sporty" is just ignoring the obvious facts. That is even before we consider that IS250 I had was previous generation car and already borderline obsolete and slow. Sure IS250 did it better due to having very responsive and good sounding engine, but it wasn't fast car either. In short I came from IS250 expecting more performance, not less and I got less. This obviously, just my personal experience and needs, but that changes nothing about the fact that Lexus marketed IS300h as an "upgrade" to IS250 which it wasn't by any stretch of the imagination.

Liquid hydrogen can be transported same as any other liquified gas, I agree that in UK we don't have great history even with LPG cars, but many other countries don't have this issue. And I am not saying it is not an issue, I am just saying similar issues exists for BEVs as well - just as you said investment and marketing getting over them . And on top of that I agree that BEVs are at all not universal solution. They work fine on isolated cases replacing most polluting ICEs in city centres for example, but as sole solution for all cars there seems to be too many issues.

Yes, sadly I have missed the point of "maintained by local mechanic" as this is certainly not great sign. I personally would want to have car with FSH, it could be Lexus or Toyota, but preferably not generic Halfrauds or other mainstream name. Other generic advise - check invoice what was actually done on car. Having service history means nothing if owner just did standard service for oil etc. but there is list of 10 items which are recommended or critical, but owners chosen not to do. Obviously, this is becoming more of an issue now than when I bought mine.. mine was 6 years old, so expecting service history on 6 years old car is much more feasible than expecting it on 12 years old car. Not sure why first one needs shock replacing (is there something I have missed?). Regarding it being rare on IS250... not necessary for 10 years old car shock failing would not be strange. To my surprise my 192k car was still on original shocks and had no issues, maybe just my luck. As for 2011-2012 SE-Ls yes they are rare, so you much more likely to find F-sport or SE-i after 2010. Just a simple matter of car being rare. Main issue I have with F-sport is that it doesn't have cooled seats and I consider that important, but if you can live without it then it is not an issue for you and choice will be highly expanded.

But isn't that exactly same issues as BEV cars? Production of electricity is not an issue per say, but distribution is an issue and storage is basically impossible. Same comes to "green credentials" of BEV - if electricity is generated in coal power plants it is considered that BEV is worse than ICE. How green is electricity depends on how it is generated and luckily for us in Europe our energy mix makes BEVs about 30% greener than ICE cars - but the challenge itself is the same. Transporting hydrogen is similar to transporting electricity in terms of how big of a challenge it is. However, hydrogen is very easy to store compared to electricity, which is practically impossible to store efficiently and in large quantities. This is particularly favourable for hydrogen, because you can simply keep it in the tank for long periods of time and use it when you need it. You can't do that with electricity - you have to use it when it is generated and you can't save some for later. Yes there are hydro-accumulation plants, but they are massively inefficient. As result as of today we waste about 48% of electricity ever generated. So the only rear issue with hydrogen vehicles over BEVs is lack of actual fuel stations and that is the only part where hydrogen is really behind.

Great post - honest and down to earth experience and I can't disagree. 👍

Because it has no relevance for the topic we are discussing and I am just sensing some hidden agenda i.e. to use my personal car choice and circumstances to justify some point which doesn't have relevance here. As I said if you truly interested of why I am driving then you can always drop me a message. As well, it is not any sort of secret, there are several posts in the past where I have stated what it is (one even in this thread).