Linas.P

That is very valid point Bilal, although moving from 17s to 18s and having 10mm lower car slightly reduces the comfort, still the tyres could change experience in major way. Having quiet and comfortable tyres makes a huge difference. I mean sure fit the same comfortable tyres on 15 inch wheels and car will be even more comfortable, but that does not mean it is impossible to have F-Sport on 18s and still make it relatively comfortable ride.

It is under water inlet on the engine. Are you doing it yourself or taking it somewhere to be done?

As above + most of cleaning kits designed for modern sealed leather will work too e.g. Dodo Juice Supernatural - it is designed to clean modern leather seats, which are sealed and thus not that much different from synthetic leather when it comes actual surface you are cleaning. As well the sealant is designed as universal sealant and provide UV protection for leather or vinyl.

The above would be my only guess. As well you better off solving it ASAP, because overheating can quickly cause head-gasket failure.

I see no reason to get BWM Supra, when BMW sells their own 4-Series cheaper, with next generation infotainment, more practical and actually faster. I know this will be unpopular opinion, but I don't mind BMW grill and overall just for the looks I would choose BMW 4 series over BMW Supra in fact it would be hypocritical for Lexus owner to criticise BMW when Lexus grill is even bigger. What I don't like is that the rest of BMW bumper is kind of busy - if they just keep 2 massive kidney grills and no other vents it would look better in my opinion, but it actually look okey as it is, especially in person it does not look offensive at all. Finally, just to prove my point - you can have BMW 440i which is bigger more practical car for less than supra, it comes with rear folding seats, so it is as well more practical and it is faster. In this video they are comparing with AWD 440i, but RWD is actually cheaper: Finally, I would certainly choose RC over BMW if Lexus would make one with decent engine, but they don't.

I think it is helped by the fact that the first car you sat in happened to be Premier which is best top-end trim with all bells and whistles.

Actually, it is - because driver seat at least I can adjust myself, but to adjust passenger seat I need to unbuckle, reach over to another side etc. and obviously, if I haven't done that before I set-off then I would have to stop to do it - major inconvenience. It would be acceptable in some classic car or bmw 3 series from 80s (basically classic car) but not in "modern" 2016 Lexus RC which had list price of £42k when new. As well it is unacceptable because RC interior is based on IS, but RC is more expensive - yet IS with memory seats gets memory function on both driver and passenger side and RC only on driver... and RC is coupe, meaning that seats will be moved to access rear seats, so memory function is even more necessary - just makes no sense.

I found this quite useful for passenger seat when I had mk2 IS250, just short of shortcuts - when I have my body 6'2" builder friend he would roll the seat all the way back, so we allocated him position 3, my girlfriend would have position 1 and position 2 would be in the middle where it doesn't block my view to the side. What I found funny is that RC does not have passenger memory seat despite memory seat being standard on driver side, usually that is not a problem unless you turn the engine off with seat folded forwards and then I have to reach over to adjust passenger seat which is quite awkward. But if you could have washing machine with 10 or 14 programmes for the same price - which one would you choose? And to be fair electric seats with memory, or electric steering wheel adjustment isn't even useless option. And even if one is the only driver of the car, then you may still take car for service, or leave it in airport parking with valeting etc. and sure that is no more than a minute wasted to adjust the seat, but I never want to be haunted with the feeling that the seat is somehow not adjusted like before and being unable to find the position or simply not satisfied it is in the exactly same position as before. So memory seats are really just part of "luxury car ownership experience".

I am certain that if comfort and reliability were the main things OP was looking for in the car, then IS300h Exec will be exactly that, but sadly nothing more than that. Lexus experience could certainly be more than that.

Not really the shame, but it is kind of hilarious when you have "luxury car" and you look at the place where button for something suppose to be and it is blank cover remind you chat you cheapen out. Or you open the owners manual and instead of reading about all amazing functions your cars has, you read about all amazing functions your car could have had, but doesn't 😁 This is especially obvious on poverty trims of German cars, where you look from a far and you think - ohh that is beautiful C-Class coupe, then you come closer and it is C180 with absolutely basic and manual everything, not even stop start, nor keyless entry. Like literally on 2020 car you come open it and start it with key like in 90s. I may indeed be specs freak, but as I said - if better spec. comes without extra costs then why not? I checked and interior mirror does, but does exterior mirrors does it as well?

I know you joking, but I don't think it is much of an issue either - as long as one knows that is the case and makes decision based on it. However, Lexus cars are generally well equipped and one could expect that things like electric seats comes as standard. You are correct in saying that if one is going to be the only driver this won't be an issue. As for leather - Lexus has ventilated seats for exactly the same reason, but guess what - Exec does not have ventilated seats. Overall, my whole issue with buying used low trim Lexus is that full package is often available for same price, or maybe for £1000 more. So why have less for the same price?! As such I just would not be able to live with myself knowing I have chosen car without most of equipment. Seats being non-memory, non-electric that isn't much issue for me, seat ventilation is nice to have in summer, but 6-Speaker audio would be a real deal breaker, electrically adjusting steering with memory is nice because it get's out of the way when you turn the engine off (easier to get in and out). But there are million small quality of life details one would expect from Lexus as well, I cannot confirm them all but isn't that the case that Exec does not have auto-dimming mirrors?

https://media.toyota.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Lexus-Full-Price-List-October.pdf That is one of the concerns I raised about Executive trim - it is second worst trim and by default Lexus IS300h all trims except Premier comes with horrible 6 speakers audio as standard. Executive most certainly does not come with Mark Levison - as William said, this is not even available as an option. What I didn't know, but just realised now - Exec does not even have electric seats and as far as audio goes in fact the only system fitted to Exec is the most terrible 6 speaker system in existence. Compared to B-Max I am sure the system won't be downgrade, but it is certainly not the system one expect to find in premium car by default... actually in any car - it is just outright awful. @gtanny It is alright just to listen the radio and audiobooks, but it is certainly not adequate for any sort of music. Well... what can I say, I have warned about it, but I guess Gary was aware of that when making decision to pay deposit and is satisfied with specification and options of the car.

This is just stereotype, there is no statistical correlation between brand and driver being moron. I assume more powerful RWD cars are being driven like powerful RWD cars could be a factor, but certainly not specific car brand.

Yes and many manufacturers takes this lesson quite literally 🙂 German cars are not unreliable because Germans could not make more reliable cars, they in fact can - just look at 90s Audi, BMW and MB... yet they realised that people more and more rely on lease and credit, and replace cars more often. As such if car last longer than the lease they loosing potential profit selling new car. Sad reality is that only Toyota/Lexus and Honda remains committed to building actually reliable cars... there are few occasional (perhaps accidental) models from other manufacturers but not many.

Steering weight is impacted by the tyres a lot, even tyre pressure can make a big difference, so when changing from 17s to 18s and presumably different tyres that certainly could impact how steering feels. That is literally how almost all the new cars are bought, as such manufacturers don't really try to make cars too reliable... Manufacturers care about people who buy new cars, but people who buy new cars don't care about reliability past first 3-5 years. The people who care about reliability usually don't buy new cars often and likewise manufacturers don't care much about them or the reliability. I always remember joke (it may actually be fact, but I just don't feel like fact checking today, so let's just call it joke) about how French design cars... and how one of very first requirement is to make cars easily recyclable. Just one reason not to buy French car I guess - if they start from considering how to recycle the car, then in my opinion they don't have their values right. I understand that cars cannot last forever, but again I feel they should be designed to last as long as reasonably possible.

It is nothing new for service centres to invent faults with cars expecting to profit from replacement. Hard to see in video, but it seems the bushing is split on both sides or at least have some cracking (but it may be just dirt and grime cracking on surface and not rubber itself), sadly video becomes blurry when you point the camera there. In any case does not look like something critical or dangerous, probably the description of "slight movement" is correct thought - as you can see in the previous video they have quite a bit of movement even when bushes on the car are in very good order. Just my opinion here, but I would say replacing it with OE bushings would be pointless, your bushings although seems like little bit cracking are not that bad. The only worthy upgrade would be poly bushings if you can find suitable replacement in UK.

BMW main issue is standard run-flat tyres... they are just horrible, if you fit normal tyres then they are okey, I had 2011 BMW328xi and it was just unbearable until I got puncture on run-flat and it failed to do the sole thing they were designed to do, having no spare I had to wait for recovery truck and after that I just replaced all the tyres with normal tyres and it transformed the car. IS250 is certainly more comfortable than equivalent BMW, Audi or MB, but MB air suspension is more comfortable. I owned 3 IS250s and I consider them to be comfortable cars in general, however everyone have their own definition of "comfort". For example I can't stand too soft cars with loads of body roll (like all SUVs), yet many people consider comfort as simply how soft the suspension is. Overall I would say that IS250 is comfortable and quiet car, if you fit the right tyres in my opinion it is very comfortable on 17s and still very acceptable on 18s. As far as years and trims goes, there is really no difference, you can get any IS250 from 2005-2012 and they are all equally comfortable, the only difference will be rim size and tyre selection. Simply said, the smaller is the rim and the thicker is the tyre, the more comfortable the car will be - you have choice of 16s, 17s and 18s on IS250.

I can report that bonus was ok 🙂 Yes that is right - I meant jump starting the hybrid is ok as long as done correctly, but it is safer to use battery tender rather than take risk (whatever small) jumpstarting it everyday. I agree that trying to jump start another car from hybrid is very bad idea, but in this case it is not even viable as it is the hybrid which has dead battery.

If done correctly jump starting shouldn't really damage anything, but charging the battery via battery tender would be better and safer option. I cannot say how much electricity that would use (I don't think it would be much if noticeable at all), but in either case it will be significantly less than accidentally damaging something when jump starting. Secondly, there is large choice of aftermarket batteries which are both cheaper and better than OE, so I would worry about waiting for stock to be available from dealership - just order compatible battery from any shop.

Sadly, it looks like it can't be downloaded or viewed. Is it below video?

Pretty terrible to watch... imagine how much geometry changes under cornering and braking. And this isn't even worn bushing... Obviously, I guess this is more comfortable and you get less feedback from steering wheel, but for handling this is certainly one of the first things to change. And finally - imagine how it looks when bushings are worn - it must be wobbling all over the place.

I wondering what would be sacrificing "too much comfort" then? Other thing to consider - when you get 19's, the car will need top to be lowered as frankly even with 18's it looks little bit like on stilts (just borderline acceptable), on 19's it would look little bit silly unless lowered. In short - lower profile tyre + lowering would impact ride comfort for sure.

Not very clear then whenever you agree or disagree with me, because that is basically what I have said just in different words. I said it is comfortable and reliable car to cruise around the country - seems like we agree. I as well said it is not sports car, nor very sporty - I can't see you making argument against it - so seems we agree again. Executive trim is factually one of the lowest trims available - not much to say there, it just is. When buying new I understand pros and cons of trims are directly related to money and BIK, but when buying used it does not cost much more just to get better trim, even if it is compromise of having 10k more miles. As such when buying used I would always try to get best trim available within my budget - rather than realising later I am missing 50% of best features car has to offer (especially in Lexus where retrofitting is most often not possible). Again, I cannot see you arguing any different here.

This is quite funny statement... I have owned RC200t and in 1.5 years only drove it for 4000 miles. Yet I had at least 4 different IS300h as courtesy cars, RC300h for entire weekend where I did over 1000 miles in it, I tried ES300h, NX300h and in total I have driven them more than 5000miles. Thinking about it I know more about how 300h drives than 200t. IS300h just isn't sporty car - fact. Lexus marketing is really misleading on it, it does handle well, but in engine department does not exist as far as I am concerned. I wasn't even offended by ES300h, because despite being FWD with such engine there isn't really any difference. As well, what I said quite clearly - if one does not need performance and does not need sporty car, then IS300h is ~OK. Certainly, sufficient to keep-up with traffic in the city and comfortably cruise at legal speeds... still I would not want to find myself in one on A-Road behind the truck because finding overtaking opportunity will be difficult. Now OP has said that performance is not an issue and indeed coming from 1.4 B-Max it may even be improvement. However, it is still correct to warn people that 300 does not mean 3L (that is what Lexus says) and one should not expect sporty driving experience. Finally - again I am quite concerned regarding executive spec which is very poor (compared to B-Max it is good, but compared to Lexus it is poor). Here is were Lexus is slightly unusual - on most german cars you get maybe 2 trims e.g. Luxury and M-Sport and then everything else is optional, in the end of the day Luxury may be equipped just as well )or rather as poorly) as M-sport. On Lexus trim is everything, options are very few, so if you get Exective you get generally very few options on the car, but when you go to F-Sport you suddenly have car which is nearly fully loaded bar ML system, sat-nav and maybe sunroof.

45s would be fine, in terms of scraping or overall fitment. Yes it is not factory, but should not have any noticeable impact. The speedometer would show 3.7% less, but in my experience IS mk2 overstates easily by 10%, so with these tyres it would still overstate speed by at least 6%. As for tyres I would recommend - Dunlop RT2 or Goodyear Asymmetric 5, I found them to be just best balance between price and performance and IS250 not being very powerful car, the performance is more than enough.