Linas.P

I think it is important to separate wheels when the pain bubble and peal by itself, from the cases where wheels has been kerbed and then starts bubbling/peeling around the damaged area. The pre-facelift wheels paint would just fail "almost" by itself and that is why they have very poor name for themselves. That said I had a set of wheels which were from face-lifted "advance" model and they were badly kerbed for over a year and did not peel at all, same for any powder coated wheels.. If you actually start picking around the damaged area after few month you can usually chip the coating away as it still get's loose, but because it is much thicker and harder is doesn't peel by itself like original factory paint.

And they say IS-F V8 won't fit in IS220d...... 😄

M4 vs 300h.... is like comparing M4 and 420d or RC-F and 300h... M4 Competition could be compared with new RC-F Track edition perhaps, but not 300h.

The issue only affected early pre-facelift cars with 17-18inch wheels (not sure even 16 inch were affected that much) and bonnets. From what I have heard it was an issue with aluminium primer they used. Face-lifted models didn't this have issue, so it was fixed long before 3rd gen came out. Obviously, with wheels changes under service dealers probably were doing the same thing - just sending them to be refurbished and swapping wheels from various clients.

Actually I haven't tried anything else from Chemical guys, except of polishing pads (hex and quantum) - might give a try for shampoo.

Thank, Car is new to me... otherwise 3 years and 56k miles. The garage is the problem for me as well as it is kind of communal shared garage and working on my car there is not very comfortable, but I have done it in the past so probably my neighbors are coming into terms with it already. Problem is that it is not heated and ceramic coatings takes forever to cure. I have used Tac Systems silica wax and it basically failed to cure even overnight (or it was not good...) Yes you right, my plan is to fully decontaminate the car. So it will be be at very least going through several washes, clay and perhaps even some wet-sanding to level touch-up done by dealer. Then I will do at least 3 stage correction - I have whole range of Menzerna and Koch Chemie, so not looking into getting more polishing products. Probably will skip KC P3.01 and use sonax perfect finish as it has no fillers in it. Or would it be too fine for ceramic? I tend to find even KC M3.02 does well with finishing, not as good as sonax or P3.01, but it that is sufficient before applying ceramic coating it would just save me time going over the car again with final finishing pass. In terms of actual products I am not necessary looking for 1 stage application or "lite" product, but there is a point to consider about curing as it could be a bit difficult in unheated garage. Therefore, I have actually considered Moonlight as easily curing product, just wanted to check if there any other "full ceramic" products which would be recommended. I guess the other option I have is to do just quick maintenance detail now to last during the winter (with like Moonlight) and then do proper detail in like May when temperatures gets warm enough for proper ceramic coat. What would you recommend as proper long lasting ceramic base coat?

Hello All, Just wanted to check what are the current trends for ceramic sealants? Secondly, what would be recommended premium wax or ceramic top-coat for black paint. Reason for asking - I will take delivery of the car soon and looking forward for fully detailing it.Therefore, after detailing kind of want to keep the car that way for as long as possible. I have previously used Gtechniq and CQuartz products, back in the days when ceramic was just coming-out. They were "ok" in a sense that straight after application they would bead like crazy, but they would last 6 month at best and water beeding would be reduced significantly after few months. Further, they were not as slick as some less durable waxes. I know that nowadays there are a lot of new products and we have base coats and top coats and so on. So what would be the best combo for long lasting protection and "ultimate" slickness. Could be product combo or single product, say ~ up-to £130. Any opinions woudl be much appreciated.

This is not concern - it is guaranteed, mine was written-off for much less damage: This is damage before and after some polish: The only other thing was that I kerbed one wheel when trying to avoid the incident: So if you have damaged doors I cannot imagine how they would agree to repair it and not scrap it. On the positive side, they definitely do not want to be dealing with old Lexus car so won't bother if you want to keep it. My advise - use fraudsters against fraudsters, that is do not go to your insurance, instead got for FCA registered claims management companies. Much less hassle and they will sort everything very quickly as long as it is non-fault accident (I can share some contact in PM if interested). If you go for insurance company you will be in deep puddle for at least half a year, paying deposits, driving nissan micras and getting substandard services.

It is not first time I said that, so don't act surprised. As a matter of fact I always said I liked the looks of RC and I don't think that face-lift (i.e. cosmetic changes) were really necessary. I am still not sure about the lights and I hope that most would agree wheels leaves something to be desired. BUT as a packaged in real life it looks overall more premium and more impressive than pre-FL. + there is little secret coming up soon, which will add more sense in my statement. Just don't call me hypocrite yet...

Indeed and it comes up with massive yellow triangle ... at least twice as big as check engine light. In other hand you can get 3 points and £100 if your headlight/screen wash does not work or tank is empty - certainly more than you would get for blasting your engine into pieced in the middle of motorway causing 50 queues and delays for half of the country (so I guess there is some "logic" in it?). As for warning to close the windows in the rain - I think that is good idea, the problem is the reminder. Same can be said about everything - washer fluid level, check engine lights, seat belts warning sound... sound-it/flash-it once and then let me do what I was doing - in the end of the day I am adult and if my car get's wet or if I fly through the window after picking up steering wheel with my chest it is going to be my decision! I blame current culture of pampered adults who cannot flick the switch themselves and could not make rational decision or simply look around. I mean c'mon I see it is **** turn in the road - I don't need 4 signs to say "slow down now!!!". When it comes to Lexus I blame amuricans - they are much more retarded and brand is aimed at them hence annoying never ending bells and warnings and literally 1000 labels with yellow triangles (remember unintended acceleration "issue"), but this is becoming worldwide issue now and I am sure we will be seeing more of this.

Must say I was wrong, test drove white FL RC300h today and and in person in looks much better, I though it is LC at first. Something they did with two-colour mirrors to make it look more premium, like the rear as well, looks much sportier although still not sure about front headlights - I guess personal thing, but I would stick with pre-FL as far as front design goes. .... ohhh and omg those wheels - clearly LC inspired gore-tronic design. Could not feel any difference between the driving thought I guess Potenza RE050 are better for grip or ride than Sportmaxx S001...

Ok, thanks for replies - seems to be dealer type of service then. Perhaps I can asks them just to plug-it during next service as a freebee and see what they say. I am under impression that if any of the sensors have gone bad it would be rather expensive job requiring power steering motor and gear to come off - not exactly economical considering mileage and age. I guess this will the main the mystery and luckily it is back to normal now..

I will try to avoid making much noise here, but it seems what you have pointed out is exactly in line what I have experienced with Lexus hybrids and sat navs... and in my limited spin in ES. Not exactly owners experience (luckily): Mirrors are smaller on all new Lexus IS/RC/ES compared to mk2 is, but they come with blind spot and cross traffic alerts as standard, so I would not see that as an issue. I used to use usb stick on my old mk2 IS, but in new cars I tend to use bluetooth, cannot think of any benefit using stick - port is probably more useful for charging phone or something. Although ES have wireless charger if I am not mistaken.

Standard OBD2 scanner shows no errors. Currently, I don't have access to Techstream. Looking through repair manual it seems there are all the sensors I guessed there are: Speed sensor Angle sensor Skid control ECU Power steering ECU Combination meter Torque sensor (Built into steering gear assembly) The manual only mentions issues of heavy steering, but nothing regarding light. I guess following issue description would be closest to what I have: "While driving, steering effort does not change in accordance with vehicle speed or the steering wheel does not return properly." Repair manual gives procedure for re-calibration, but it doesn't seems to be very straightforward: GSIC - Global Service Information Center.pdf I wonder if by "intelligent tester" and "DLC3" - they mean "Techstream" and "OBD2"

It has been a while, but I have come up with interesting fault (from boredom with otherwise reliable car)... This "issue" has been propagating itself since I have bough a car. I would say generally IS250 steering is quite light, which I don't exactly like but it is nothing wrong with that. On my particular car I had period where steering would become heavier which I generally prefer. To some extent it sometimes reflects tyres and tyre pressure e.g. higher pressure would make steering feel "lighter", but in my car there was certainly something else - even on the same tyres/pressures it would be just heavier for a period of time e.g. like 6 weeks and then again it would be normal for couple of months... never really bothered me so never looked to fixing it. However, yesterday on my way to work steering become so light that for a moment I thought steering wheels has detached (scared me)! The feeling was literally like of cheap gaming wheel - just a plastic wheel on shaft - no feedback. Parked the car at work during the day and on the way home steering was nearly back to normal... and today totally normal. No error codes, lights on dash, sounds, smells etc.... I assume that if electric power steering would be on it's way out, it would simply become stiffer and stiffer until it would die. Now it goes from light to stiffer for prolonged period of times... and as of yesterday it apparently goes "super-light" as well. I am just wondering what could be causing such issue?! Is there something like angle/speed sensor which controls power steering which could be in some way faulty to give such sporadic behaviour? Really struggling to think of anything..

At very least your should not be using either if you overtaking on A-Roads - that is when PCS with scare hell out of you. ACC is basically only good for middle lane hogging on motorway in my experience. In outside lane it makes no sense if you overtaking - usually you should keep "Audi" distance otherwise people will cut you off from middle lane and on Lexus there is only "Lexus" distance setting which is enough for a truck to fit in ("safe distance"), in A roads it gets confused with turns and other obstacles so not recommended and it is really only good if you religiously keeping to speed limits set it to 70 and stay in middle lane whatever happens - in such case you can pretty much sleep behind the wheel and ACC will do the job. I only ever successfully used Dynamic Cruise Control once on loaner Mercedes on trip to Scotland on A9 between Inverness and Perth - it was all the way 60MPH average speed, so no point overtaking, but stupid people could not keep consistent speed, so uphill they go 53 and downhill star going 61 or whatever and then realise they are speeding (probably indicates ~65) and sharply brake to 55 before the average speed camera (as if that helps... when do they learn how the average speed work?!). So standard cruise control did not work in that situation and it was kind of annoying to keep an eye in unpredictable brake checks. Did the same trip few years later in my IS250 and really understood where ACC would be well placed. Question is how often I do A9 in Scotland and the answer is that I did it twice in my life so far... no exactly common route! I think the biggest benefit is glass badge which look way cooler than standard one... and I guess occasionally you can use it when motorway is moderately busy and there is literally no point to be sitting in outside lane.... except in UK motorway traffic is mostly on and off, there is no middle setting for congestion and IS250 ACC is not "full speed" system, so really there isn't much opportunities to utilise it much. More often you can find suitable conditions in Continental Europe, like for example on autobahn you can set-it to 120MPH and it will do it when there is free gap, until you reach bit of traffic and it automatically slows down.. kind of relaxing, but you won't find such conditions in UK.

Sunroof is rare option, but not unicorn - ACC is unicorn... and ACC + sunroof is as you can imagine more than unicorn... so far I have seen 2 cars like that. Probably not more than 10 exist in UK.

This popped-up on RC-F latest listings today... https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201908141122952?make=LEXUS&sort=price-asc&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&postcode=ba11rj&model=RC F&advertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&page=1 I mean listing RC F-Sport is one thing, but VAN. Maybe somebody can give them glasses?

It has 2005-2006 "Sport/SR" bodykit and period correct 18" wheels, which must have been refurbished, otherwise they should be peeling a lot. Basically - all possible options + more. Sadly, Silver is not my favourite colour... or more precisely literally worst colour bar baby poo brown.

The amp is ML branded - that does not mean it is made by ML, but amps are certainly different. ML was dropped from late 2011 car and 2012. Regarding WAV I am not sure, Standard unit plays MP3 and WMA and ML adds DVD Audio (which is never really stuck). ML system considered to be calibrated from factory, hence the excuse not to have much settings. I almost prefer it this way if it works - less fooling around. This is 3rd ever IS250 (non-convertible) I have seen with ACC/PCS - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201905157981029?make=LEXUS&aggregatedTrim=SE-L&transmission=Automatic&sort=price-asc&radius=1500&postcode=ba11rj&model=IS 250&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1 So they do exist.

If you looking to negotiate the price then look for wear and tear items like tyres, brakes pads, disks, service history in general. In terms of "big ticket items" IS250 AT is bullet proof. Even if something goes wrong is mostly common sense things like water pump, which needs replacing based on 80k miles service intervals. Spark Plugs needs changing every 60k. So if the car reached the threshold and they have not been done it means you will have to do it after buying. At the price under £5k you looking at cars which will be around 10 years old now, so expect some rusk on exhaust. Now when it comes to Mark Levinson system... I think it is over-hyped and really depends on what type of musing you listening. If you listening some sort of classic music or very vocal/instrumental music directly from original high quality CD/DVD it is second to none in terms of clarity at any volume settings. However, it is rather mediocre for bassy or POP music ... if anything I think standard system is much more bassy and ~versatile - it sounds above average for any music style and does not suck regardless what source you use and what type of music you listen. In other hand ML will highlight poor source - for example I am listening to club music and mixes simply does not exist in anything else, but questionable quality mp3, that would be problem for ML, but standard system just glosses over it. Same for radio ML will surfer more from poor signal stations than standard (why would even car about Hi-Fi for radio). Now some stats - standard system is 13 speakers 685W (PMPO) and ML is 14 speakers and 1300W (or 1350w?- PMPO), however each are powered by ~300-350W (RMS) amps - take this with pinch of salt as information is taken from forums - not sure Lexus ever officially claimed these figures.. Obviously, ML amp has higher quality components thus more clarity overall. However, ML amps are known to fail and speakers are known to just stop working as well - something you should consider looking for ~10 old car. Standard system is more reliable and I have not heard it going bad. Don't get me wrong, if I could choose between the car with and without ML, I would go with ML... but it would not be my red tape. I had both IS250 with and without ML and the difference is minimal.

Owner probably didn't know he had ACC...

You can find some info here:

Mines is 188k miles and insurance is looking to write it off (again), if anyone believes (not many does) it is in perfect condition as much has 13 years old cars gets and certainly not where one would expect car with nearly 200k miles to be. Insurance is looking into £2800-3300 on Glass valuation. I am arguing on "like for like replacement basis" saying I cannot get SE-L for less that £3200 and even then they are in appalling condition (totally true). If my valuation is anything to consider and insurance will always try to skimp by at least 30%.... your car should be in value range of £5500 - £6500... one the mileage alone (that is where low miles cars are listed on AT as well). For some reason black cars seems to have premium - the cheapest I could find is £5500, whereas silver/grey (blue.. they say) could be had for less. However, you have mileage and option on your side - I have neither sunroof, nor ML. If I were you I woudl just put it on autotrader at the price I woudl be happy with... caring not what "people may think". Car is always worth what somebody is willing to pay, or how long somebody is willing to wait for the buyer. If you not going to receive any call in 3 months consider that too high - it doesn't like you in big rush to sell. Listing car doesn't cost much at all either. Finally, if you fancy SC, put it description public perception of them is awful and many people are willing to "downsize" and you might be able to agree trade for £7500 worth of SC.. for the reason IS is more popular, desirable, universal and less unusual.

ACC/PCS is radar cruise, don't worry about it - you won't find one for sale. There are no difference between 2005 and 2008, available trims SE (most basic), Sport (Se +18" wheels no leather option), SR (SE + body-kit, no leather option) and SE-L - all bells and whistles. Very early cars had solid versus vented rear brakes. 2009-2011 is transition into new range, kind of constant face-lifting, so it is hard to track whats comes when. I would need to refer to my previous posts, but from memory in 2009 you get new trim level SE-I, adds nothing on top of existing SE-L, then in late 2009 you start getting F-Sport - again style, upgrades nothing essential changing. 2009 as well starts getting new style real lights and indicators in the mirrors. 2011 gets DLRs and Advance trim, Advance is like SE + leather without ventilation and few other style bits. At some point in time they all got HDD sat-nav, but there are 2009 with and without it, so anyone guess. 2012 is final face-lift, you get latest sat-nav with full post-code (potentially DAB), still sat-nav in Lexus was useless and remains useless to this day. I never understood why would anyone want DAB or radio, but I guess that is personal choice. When it comes to retrofitting anything to Lexus - forget it. Best bet is to get one of those full replacement chinese android head-units. I still maintain the opinion that the best car to buy is early SE-L - that is 2005-2008. Later face-lifts didn't add much if anything at all, but you will be paying premium for having later year car. I guess the only bonus getting 2009+ is that you can still get extended warranty on them (max 10 years old), but apart from that there are nothing major in the cars. Personally, owned 2012 F-sport, 2010 AWD premium (sort of US equivalent to ~SE-I) and current one is 2006 SE-L.