Linas.P

Hi and welcome, I would not worry about surface rust like in first picture, after all it is 13 years old car. The second picture is little bit difficult to workout what it is, but I assume it is place where anti-roll bar is held by the bushing? Again what is important to check is if anti-roll bar is actually compromised or if it is just surface rust. I would expect most of suspension components to have good layer of mud and grime stuck on them over 13 years and everything metal (some suspension components are aluminium) to have surface rust, exhaust will have load of surface rust as well. I haven't noticed rust on my old car anti-roll bar, but there were some surface rust on shock-tower covers and under the battery tray. What I would not expect is to have any rust on the body panels or any structure parts of the car. So I guess your next step would be having car lifted to the air, check underneath and take good quality pictures of that. In short, I would not want to see that on my car (second picture), but not something which I think is very concerning.

I assume you have "standard" Lexus system, because if you had Premium or Mark Levinson I doubt you would make the query. If it is standard system then I am afraid there is not much you can do, it is worst system currently fitted to any premium car, even something like ford fiesta has better audio (it isn't even good comparison as fiesta has rather good standard system with 10 speakers). I was warning people here for long time how terrible Lexus standard system is. Sadly, I forgotten to warn you that this is something to check - quite unbelievable that Lexus still have these systems available. Some people thinks I am Lexus hater, but my goal was always just to raise awareness that standard system in Lexus IS mk3 and RC are subpar and just not acceptable to be in any car at all. The Lexus standard system only has 6 terrible quality speakers, 4 in front doors (woofer+tweeter) and 2 (woofers) in rear doors, nothing on rear deck and no subwoofer at all. It sounds horrendous as well, like somebody fitted cheap radio speakers into cardboard box. I guess system is ok if you just listening to radio, but it is not suitable for any music at all. There isn't much you can do, certainly not in settings. My advice would be getting something like ~800w amp + ~2x300w coaxial (to rear deck) and 600w sub in the boot (alternatively active sub and 400w amp). Very simple to wire and convenient to fit - you will already have empty place on the side of the book where amp "meant to go" and holes for the speakers in rear deck (it is possible to fit coaxials of exactly same size without modification), simply place sub in the boot and it should be only 2 wires coming from the front - power and sound. Now I know that this sounds like a lot of watts, but on car speakers 300w isn't really comparable to 300w RMS, more like ~75 maybe. So above set-up would give balanced sound for the car. There is not much point ripping the existing speakers as there is no amp in the car and head unit amp would not be able to run any better speakers anyway.. Unless you want to fit second amp and replace existing speakers as well. The reason I would not advise it is as wiring all the door speakers and amps would be wiring nightmare.

When you were connecting the phone, it should have prompted to allow contacts to be imported and you should have allowed that on the phone (if I not mistaken it prompts on both phone and navigation screen). If you skipped or said no, then my advise would be to remove phone and link it again. There must be a way to do it without removing the phone, but I found that to be easier to follow and quicker to do (removing and adding it back in).

Other question - what sorts of driving are you doing? If you ever go over 70MPH then MPG is quite poor (or rather in line of this being petrol car with heavy battery in the boot). Is this your first car? Because I never had car where manufacturers claimed fuel consumption would translate into real consumption. That said your consumption seems to be fine in comparison with other IS300h... Expecting 4.4l/100km from heavy luxury car isn't very realistic, but in other hand I agree that manufacturers should provide more realistic estimates. It seems WLTP addressed that.

This just getting more ridiculous... have they even proof-read it or is it auto generated? Clearly they monitor the links, so they know who clicked on the previous e-mail which is rather ingenious, but how is the configurator tool (which is not available for IS anymore) could be useful? As I said what surprises me is that the description implies this is current model you can go, configure and buy, not some last remaining stock of old cars - just bizarre.

That makes sense, but I assume all non-sports were 2019 cars sold in 2020. Because if you wanted "truly new" car then you could only order F-sport... well at least I believe so based on that in Lexus website you could only select F-Sport. Maybe in dealership it was possible to order different trims. But that said... how many people actually customise the cars and pay full price, rather than taking car from the floor with some discount.

And sending e-mail doesn't cost much... although when it takes you to the page where it say IS was discontinued, that doesn't feel "very professional".

That was not what this thread was about.... it just got side tracked...

Yes that makes sense now. As well for the record, Lexus price list for 2021 still contains IS: https://media.lexus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/201201M-Lexus-Range-Price-List.pdf Now this could be used to argue either way, on one hand @ColinBarber is right - base price for IS is £33,265. However, that is little bit pointless as it is not possible to order IS300h in 2021. All non-F-sport cars are actually MY2019 unsold old stock. Any cars made in 2020 are F-Sport, because one could still order brand new F-Sport in early 2020 and F-sport costs as I mentioned £36,965. The advert advertises particularly F-sport, so that is why I quoted £37k for comparison. And that is fine, I can agree on that, if you noted I said it is ridiculous that they state it is "irresistible performance" and because we both agree it is not performance car, I guess it is indeed ridiculous to state it considering is simply false. As for keeping-up, I guess that depends on your definition - if you mean just normally driving in traffic, sure power is sufficient for commuting etc. But if you ever at the lights and you have BMW, Audi, MB on your side, there is 99% chance they will be faster than you. Not that I encourage racing from the lights, but just stating the fact IS would be slower, often considerably.

vs I can agree to disagree with you, but you need to agree with yourself first. What I said was that - IS300h is not performance car... and it seems we both agree with that?! So where do we disagree? What we established is that Audi A4 35, is slightly slower, but it is much cheaper as well - any car which costs the same (list price) will be faster. And I can see how Audi, BMW or MB can use "driving experience and performance" in their marketing - they don't advertise particular model, they advertise the range and they give you options, you can get BMW 330i or 340i, or Audi S4 or MB C300 or 43AMG... if you come and choose slowest and worst car (because you don't need speed or sportiness) then it is on you... but when it comes to Lexus it is on them, because they cannot use the same excuse as other makers do when they range consist of single car, they simply do not offer sporty performance version in UK (maybe they forgotten they don't have IS350 here?). So my question is simple - why they advertise it this way. And my main questions is - why they advertise the car they no longer make?! I guess it makes sense if they have a lot of stock of new-old cars still around, but from advert I copied there is no way of understanding that this isn't current model, but rather sale of last remaining stock.

The point of this topic was not to complain about how slow IS300h is (which it is), but to discuss why Lexus are marketing model they no longer have? I knew that me having dig at IS300h performance will attract opinions, but just to be clear - I don't think IS300h is bad car... what I hate is completely stupid and made-up marketing material! And it is not like "I believe in marketing", I just don't understand why advertised the car in a way which detracts from it's strength and focuses on what is arguably it's weakness.

Sorry, I made mistake regarding the 0-62 times, yes indeed it is 8.4s (8.2s 0-60). I don't know why in my head I thought it is 9.2s... That is besides the point. Lexus states it is "irresistibly performance", they are the ones who are claiming you can expect super car experience, not me. I know car is slow and the only point I am trying to make - it is many things, but it isn't fast! Base model was not available in 2020, you can only order F-sport and ~£37k was the price and that is as well what is advertised in the advert I copied. It is irrelevant what the price was at launch in 2013, because at the time all cars were cheaper. 1. Simply does not exist! 2. No it doesn't! It is many things, but fast it isn't. 3. I am not hater, but I am not brainwashed fan who would accept any s*** they make. This is not "fan site", it is owners club - I just trying to have informed opinion about good and bad things about the car. When Lexus does something right I will say it is right, when they do something bad, I will say it is bad. That I quoted wrong acceleration time, that is another matter - my mistake. 4. And that was my point. Except it does not have "grunt to keep with competitors", it could barely keep-up with entry level cheapest cars on the list, which are like-for-like cheaper. If you first reply would have been as above - I am 100% agree with you! But now you just really confusing yourself - you just argued it is "has grunt and keeps-up if not faster than competition" and studently, you say - it is not sports car! Just decide for once! So is it fast or isn't it?!

No it is not slower - 35TFSI does 0-60 in 8.6s... so it is still faster than 300h... and it costs (from) £29k , IS300h when it was available started from £37k, so you comparing 2 different things. For £37k comparable A4 would be much faster. Whenever it feels faster, that is another matter, I cannot compare as I have not tried Audi, but I tried BMW 320d (and it was noticeably faster and better handling) and MB C200, which was faster and more comfortable, although more floaty. I was told you really need to get upgraded suspension on Merc for it to handle properly. One funny thing thought - in my experience MB C200 (and even E300) are more economical than 300h, despite not being hybrid. Sure in pure city traffic 300h has slight edge, but on mixed use mercs are amazingly efficient and E300 in particular doesn't even feel sluggish and has good response (despite still being just 2l turbo with 9-speed box). Just to save time, slowest BMW 318i does it in 8.4s, slowest MB C200 does it in 7.7s and they are significantly cheaper. I would not say Lexus is the slowest car in it's class just to annoy somebody, sadly it is true. I mean 9.2s is truly unbelievably slow, especially considering that is the sole engine option and car suppose to be "sporty". IS handling is "okey", it is not amazing but it isn't bad either. I certainly cannot complain, but there are better handling cars. And... yes I agree - Audi would suck as it is FWD and FWD (or AWD for that matter) always kills car handling and steering feel.

...and as I said before - IS300h does not need to be fast to be good car, there are plenty reasons to like it and to buy it. What it has is sufficient for just cruising on motorway or driving around town. Overtaking on A road... I would think twice, but strangely it does actually have good response and torque from electric engines, so depending on situation it may be alright. But "irresitable performance", that would be something fitting for maybe Ferrari, or Nissan GTR... not only that they are fast cars, but as well because performance is kind of their thing, not confort, not luxury, but performance... so it just makes sense that car which does 0-60 in 2.9s claims "irresitable performance" in marketing material, not so much when numbers are the other way around. You know... it is like reading something along the lines "amazing fuel economy" in V12 Aston Martin marketing material... like... really?! That is what you thought was defining feature of the car?! But in that case, maybe Lexus should focus little bit more on performance, so that they would not need to lie in their marketing material. And as for short term user and finance, sadly that is true - manufacturers makes most money from new car sales and honestly they could not care less what second hand car buyers (like us) thinks about them. We do not make money for them, new car sales does. And for new car buyer the reliability isn't really an issue as long as car lasts 3, 4 maximum 5 years and 60k miles, which are warranted anyway. And most of those cars do... sure enough they all fall apart shortly after 60k miles, but that may even be by design... they don't really want you keep driving it, they want you to buy new again... and what poor sucker does with second hand money pit isn't really important.

No I have not driven Jag, but it is cheaper... significantly... and important thing to consider is - you don't need to buy D180, you have a choice of other engines. With IS... you can have any engine as long as it is 300h. And... if you think that D180 is slow, then... it seems we agree that 300h is sluggish. Slow D180 does 0-60 in 7.8s where 300h does it in 9.2s. Yes I know 0-60 is not everything, but as far as I am concerned D180 is factually faster than 300h. Let's just be clear - in any comparable way, 300h is slow car... it could be many things, but fast it isn't... not that being fast would make it sporty either, but it is slow as well... and it isn't sporty. I am not saying it is bad car, what I am saying is just that what it isn't... Bow back to the point - why would they actively advertise the car which is no longer sold? At least you cannot find it on their page and you cannot order one new to your spec.

Please name me one car in it's class (that is - comparable in price) which is slower. Why "everyone" slate it - is exactly for a reason I mentioned... Lexus advertises it as sporty car... which it isn't not even by long shot. Look - IS300h acceleration is "acceptable" for economical car, but fast it isn't and sporty it isn't. And call it "irresitable performance" - is just crazy!

Pistons are not forged, only rods. But what I mean by substantial mods, that would be forged crank, rods and pistons, skimmed head, different valve geometry, raised rpm, ported heads, headers with good flow etc. I reckon with fully built engine you could even get like 280 maybe, but that is at least £10k for this works as it would be all custom and completely pointless as more powerful engine could be fitted for less.

New member actually pays disproportionately higher "members fee" and accept that most of their educated talent leaves the country, so fair trade. Main roads are nowadays good in that area - Poland, Hungary and even Romania... Last time I was "euro-tripping" my average speed was higher in Poland then it was in Germany, roads at least to Warsaw were actually better than Autobahn. let me help you with that - no there is no proof, because that is impossible... unless substantial modifications are done to engine internals as well.

yes, but the point that when it comes to MOT, the standards used are Bulgarian not British. You could not pass mot without cat in UK. And generally that is not great idea... not much different from throwing used tyres or oil into the forest. It is basically just polluting environment for no good reason (and I doubt it even adds power).

Kind of weird that they still advertise the model which isn't even available to order. I guess still have a lot of new/old stock in UK? Car is not even on their page and find out more takes to LSS+ page Although when it comes to "irresitable performance"... I don't even want to go to that topic 😄 more like "non-existent performance". Why can't they just focus on actual strong point of the car - like quiet and comfortable ride, built quality? Why pretend it is sporty car. Just sets wrong expectations in my oppinion.

There are plenty of snake oil seller who claim IS250 can be remapped with power gain - never seen any evidence of that, don't believe it exists.

"pre-delivery inspection" is a joke. I was just wondering if you have considered that window has to roll down slightly before you open the door. It is not 5s, but there is like 1s delay compared to IS. I have noticed it on mine, but that is exactly the reason, you unlock the car and there is slight delay before you can open the door (all cars with frameless windows have it). Probably, not the problem either you or cal has, but just a shout-out as I cannot see that mentioned anywhere above.

IS250 has 4 cats, 2 on each bank. I think it is possible to remove either primary or secondary cats and still pass mot. As far as sound is concerned, on idle car just doesn't sound healthy - doesn't idle evenly (unless he somehow fitted uneven length headers). As for how it sound when revved is hard to say, maybe it is good? But video doesn't show that. As for 240hp - stop dreaming! Not in Bulgaria, not in a dream land... to begin with the bottle-neck of IS250 exhaust isn't the cats, but rather Y section which goes under axle, besides some backpressure is needed for optimal scavenging of gasses. IS250 is obviously NA engine, so any such changes would have minimal difference and only at top end. So let's say in best case scenario +2-4hp at peak power, but maybe -20-40Nm from low-end (which is where you want your Nm) - and that is on properly engineered exhaust system, not just "cats-off". And the engine would be anyway limited by the air it could get in, so I have no idea where that power is coming from. I think overall, just removing cats will most likely make less power, but even if it miraculously makes more it will be few hp, certainly not 240hp. Finally, on NA engine the only way to significantly increase power is either more volume, or more RPM - even if we assume the car is properly modified with cold air intake, equal length-headers and nice SS high-flow exhaust... it still won't make 240hp. The only way it could make 240hp to to lift the limiter to maybe 8000RPM, but that that point you will need to do full rebuild every 5k miles.

Had similar issue, but in my case I can hear seat motor trying to move, but it felt like it simply had no power to do so. As well in my case seat would move backwards and forwards, but seat back would not come-up without encouragement. Turned out to be faulty motor and £4200 (of warranty money) later all the motors were replaced and now it works fine.

I didn't say it will be somehow bad, I am sure it being Lexus it will be absolutely fine, I am just not convinced that JMD cars are in better condition than UK cars... and the only way I can understand this claim is being the lower mileage. And to that extent I am just saying mileage is not everything. The car looks nice... I mean it is IS-F, little but dirty, but after detailing it will look superb! Sorry, I didn't meant to sour your purchase and I am sure it will be amazing car to own. I was just surprised with claim JMD cars are much better condition than UK ones. Would be interesting to know why you think that, perhaps you have some research to share which would benefit everyone.