Linas.P

That would be real abomination mate. Is the IS250 roof strong enough to support roof bars - yes THE MODEL SPECIFIC ONES that are attached to specifically designed slots. Now yes - plastic trim is removable, although clips which always breaks are like £9 each and there are like 11 on each side (I know you can get them from China in bulk for like £20, but good luck finding exact ones). So that is £200 just for the clips you would need to replace, when entire model specific roof bars can be found for like £100-£150 used. They were like £350 brand new from Lexus. And are you really planning to drill the holes into your car roof to salvage some junk Discovery roof bars?! I am not even talking about the looks as that is subjective, but I can't see utility either. I can only see million ways of how this can go wrong and not a single way it could go right. First of all, unless you use existing slots that are reinforced and meant for such thing (they have little covers you can remove and check), the roof is just thin sheet metal and would bed from slightest force... that is not great unless your goal is "ripple effect" one the roof. Then just waterproofing and leaks, yes I have seen you planning to put rubber gasket, but one thing for sure - the water ingress in your car roof is last thing you want and drilling holes is kind of asking for trouble. Then you need to check the electrical wiring as some of it goes via roof rails, it is minor, mostly for lights and sunroof if you have one, but if you drill trough them and short something then expect problems. Structural integrity is another thing, although I don't believe two holes would weaken it that much, but holes in the roof are generally less desirable than no holes in the roof. In summary - here you going for maximum pain and risk, to fit something that doesn't meant to be fitted on your car and doesn't even look good (in my opinion) instead of looking for some used IS250 specific bars (or even cheaper universal bars for that matter) and planning to do £200+ of damage to your own car to save £100. Just don't!

I doubt that would be the way they would go with nearly new car like yours (although mine was 2.5 years old when I bought it, so not exactly old), but indeed there is that possibility if they wanted to. As far as I understand that option is available for them when there is missing history, not that they would stamp the current service as done without doing it e.g. they would do it if car is at 80k miles but missing 30k and 50k services, or they were simply not performed by authorised dealer, then they can just mark them as done, less likely to give you 20k miles car stating 20k major was done by them, but the car wasn't actually serviced (this would basically be fraud... although previous example is kind of fraud as well). According to small print, them stamping the missing services should be based on current inspection results being that car is in "excellent condition" (like having no brakes left whatsoever in my case). So this just basically opens pandora box - if record from dealer cannot be trusted, then no records whatsoever about car's history can be trusted. Other suspicious thing when I bought the car was that they didn't give me the original service book, they simply stamped all the services to the new book in front of me. That said - I do believe the car was serviced by them, because even before buying it I have checked and services were already on Lexus Link App (well as long as jumble like "Main MAJ 40k DC CH, for PAS F, [LSR], GGG28 - Lexus IS and G, BC BY CC, Di" means anything to anyone). You can actually get details from Lexus Link App even before receiving current V5 - simply run car check (like TotalCheck, although there are many others), they will provide you with "last acquired date" (or similar) and that is your "Date on V5", then the body code ("variant") is the same for all cars of that model, so not difficult to find (e.g. GS300 is GRS190, ES300h will be GSZ10) - and that is it, you now have access to the cryptic car history. Now they state this is because of GDPR (perhaps there is correlation with service information becoming much poorer after 2018 as that is when GDPR came into force) - basically they have all invoices and service books, but they are destroying them because of previous owner details on it. Now GDPR does not say one has to destroy important business records, only that personal detail have to be protected, so just running over them with strong permanent marker would be sufficient. But I guess Lexus takes no risks in this case of accidentally leaving out one line of address or somebody picking-up old owner address by the imprint of the pen under the flashlight, so their policy is basically to destroy everything. Either way you look at this - they do poor job of maintaining car history. I feel like they should keep desensitised (meaning without owner details or private plates) invoices based on car VIN, and should be able to print them on request or make them available via Lexus Link App, I even don't mind if they charge say £50 if 10 years later you suddenly ask for all the history (although with sale of used car that should be free). For me it seems like having records is just basic part of doing car sales/service business.

yes sounds appropriate... Mazda Miata and 5" double exhaust with the snow plow bumper and green glow.

When it comes to washing or more detailed things like interior Lexus is really not amazing. I guess it is kind of understandable as used car sales are no-margin business and exist more to accommodate new car sales and PX then it is really desirable for dealers to do. And good detail nowadays goes for £500 and that sort of money is simply nowhere to be found when they already making very little on used car sale. Well at least it is not like my case where they sold me car without brakes and failed to do pre-sale inspection even when they were asked to do it in writing (came to bite them back in the bottom when 3000 miles later another Lexus dealer diagnosed there are no brakes to be found on the car). As well Lexus Used approved is total joke. First of all, they can stamp the services if they want to (literally says in the T&Cs), so they can totally get 80k miles car with 5 services and stamp the other 3 as done "based on their assessment", as well Lexus Link information on services is horrible - recently got GS300 which I thought is complete junk as it showed only 2 services over 170k miles, but when I got service book it was pretty much fully stamped... 15 Lexus services until 140k miles and none of those details are on the Link App. And even what is available are so cryptic that nobody could work out what was done.

Yes I believe they are 1.5-2.5" ovals. HKS in my opinion is already on larger size (didn't realise they were 4.5" already), sort of "tuner looks", but still not too ridiculous...

And HKS was already like 1.5" bigger than standard - so that is compounding enlargement and as far as I know 2" makes a difference 😄 By the looks of it the car must be making 2000hp, because 1000hp Supras usually have one of them!

Reminds me styling of LS/ES lights of certain years, but overall makes the car look more JDM somehow (last gen Toyota Crown maybe?). Call me old-school but my favourite tail-lights for IS are IS-F ones with white indicator, the only problem is that they are rare and expensive. You didn't mention you planning to strap rocket boosters?! Fistable doesn't even come close to describing it now... going to the moon?

I reckon ES get's better fuel economy than IS in any circumstances, but we talking about small difference. As for being more comfortable - in the back yes, for the driver I would not say so. As well IS in my opinion feels much more premium inside than ES, whereas ES is simply bigger particularly in the back (hence I call them perfect taxis and ES owners hates me for this). But obviously comparing 2013 car with 2019 car isn't quite fair - ES will have a lot more toys inside. ES will actually have more toys even compared with 2019 IS, because ES was simply new platform with all new stuff, whereas IS is fundamentally 2013 car with facelift by 2019. I would personally go for older car with higher spec. mileage isn't really an issue for Lexus as long as it is maintained well, but 140k miles in 4 years is still A LOT. Now if the car has all 14 Lexus services done, then it may be good buy, but in my experience with such high mileage cars that is rarely the case. Remember - annual service is only based on 10k miles service intervals, if one does 40k miles in a year, then car needs 4 services, but this is rarely done. That is before we even consider that 10k miles is already excessive for the service, same cars in Europe gets services every 10k kilometres or 6k miles... and if instead it is done after 12k, 14k, 16k or whatever, then we are talking about cars being driven 2-3 times over the recommended service interval and generally speaking if Lexus ever fails it is because it wasn't serviced properly. And by the way you will find that a lot on very high mileage cars - usually you will see like 2 services per year despite 35k miles driven, and they will say "full Lexus service history with 8 stamps on 4 years car" neglecting to say that they basically have skipped half of required service. In short - service on Lexus matters, if there are missing service record then avoid it. High mileage cars in themselves are not a problem, actually they could be very good value for money, because motorway miles wears out cars much less than city driving. I myself bought 2008 IS250 in 2014 (so 6 years old car back then) with 120k miles and it was exceptional condition and lasted me to 200k miles without any major issues, needless to say it had 10 service stamps and was just due for service (so basically 11). But 140k in 3.5 years is a little bit excessive already. Considering warranties and all that, I think something like 2016-2017 IS300h is sweet sport to buy. If you get one with say 70k miles, then you have probably 3 years of free warranty left until 2026/100k miles. Compare that to getting hypermiled ES and the same cover will cost you £500/year just for warranty. Add saved road tax on top of already much higher purchase price and ES works out significantly more expensive even if it is slightly more economical. That is why I am saying - fuel economy is relatively minor factor considering all other costs, unless you doing a lot of miles yourself. Yes - and I believe that is extra £10 for F-Sport/Premier, so they have £20 already and going up to £30. Still a lot better than £170/180+£380.

Yes - that is next important point. Test drive as many as you can, don't just commit to drive Advance and buy the first one you go to see. I am sure your local Lexus should still have some stock of IS300h so feel free to pop in and drive around in one, in the past they even provided cars for 24h/Weekend test drives, but I am not sure if that is still the case for IS as it is discontinued model. I think that will answer your questions regarding MPG and regarding how hard F-Sport actually is (because it is just relatively hard compared to other models in line-up, still way softer and more comfortable than average BMW on rock hard run-flats).

I have no doubt about it, my figures are brim-to-brim Full Tank MPG measurements when refilling and I always quote GPS speed, which as you say is ~5-10% lower than what is indicated. 36MPG is just what I got in F-Sport, but I was driving it exactly as I would drive my IS250 where I would be getting ~24-28MPG. Having 17" and 225 tyres in the rear would make some difference, so I would say even with my driving style it would add extra 2-3MPG and by that time we arrive to 39MPG which closer to what is generally reported by owners on sites like fuelly. Although that said I have caveated this already - 36MPG is more of my driving style and where I live and less about the car, basically in London I would either be in stand still traffic for city driving, or even on motorways surrounding it I would be in tailbacks all the time. I am sure it is possible to get better MPG than I did and for somebody living in country side it must be possible to stay above 40MPG all the time. Slow but smooth driving benefits all the cars anyway, so on that I agree that helps, but IS300h specifically does not like higher speeds. Although that probably isn't an issue as speeding is becoming more and more impossible. ES300h has newer version of hybrid system, similar engine (not exactly the same) and it is Front Wheel Drive, so yes it is probably 10% more fuel efficient despite being larger car. Although at that time we are talking about ~2019 car I guess, so it will work out significantly more expensive. Second thing, many earlier IS300h (2013-2018) gets ~£20/year road tax (may be £30 now). On ES you will be paying new style tax which will be ~£180 after 5 years. So in isolated comparison between say 2014 IS and 2019 ES - all the economy benefits would be lost to road tax. Although that again depends on the mileage you do.

As well there is optional vs. standard stuff... so yes Luxury may have more options, but Executive may come with more things as standard e.g. leather. Now whenever that is important of not depends on what you value more. Likewise Sport is slotted in at the front, but realistically it was very poor spec. the "sport" seats were not leather and it was missing a lot of basic conveniences by 2013 standards. My understanding is that Advance is kind of best features of Luxury/Executive combined, although it depends on what optional stuff was fitted and as Phil said it is not direct higher-lower spec sometimes and depending on what you looking for. But for example Advance if I remember correctly doesn't even have an option to get Premium audio, so they all going to have standard horrible sounds system. Just to be clear - the standard system is fine if you just listening the radio, but in my opinion unsuitable for any music (perhaps except trash rock - it may even compliment it indeed, by sounding extra trashy) and just absolutely has no place in any car... nevermind Lexus. Further problem - there is no upgrade path for it without replacing whole "head unit" and many other things. Which by the way in itself may be something that you should consider - as Android units that replace standard screen and sat-nav are great addition (Lexus infotainment was not the strong point). The F-Sport/Premier gets worst fuel economy again purely because of tyres/wheels. And yes you can theoretically put any wheels on any car within IS300h range as all other components that matter for wheel fitment are identical e.g. brakes. Sure F-Sport has the adaptive suspension, I would not say it is really that hard, but it will be harder than normal suspension in some circumstances and obviously car with R18/255/35 tyre will not be as comfortable as one with R16/225/55. In my experience I would get average of 30-36MPG in IS300h F-Sport, I assume Premier would be the same and cars with smaller wheels will do marginally better. But it depends on a lot on how you drive and where you drive. For example IS300h just not excel at motorway driving as 65MPH is probably as fast as you would like to drive it economically. So if you stay a lot in outside lane at outside lane speeds it may never get above 30~something. In other hand on quiet B-road where you going to be doing 40-50MPH most of the time, they can be very good and that is where owners are reporting 50MPG and similar. City driving again is alright, but any ICE car will suffer in start/stop traffic, hybrid maybe a little bit less. Sorry for being obvious, but the problem is that MPG itself is horrible measurement of fuel economy... that because it isn't! MPG is measurement of range (or at least it would be if we used gallons), so it gives wrong impression of economy. For example 4MPG difference between 25-29MPG (difference of 1.6L/100km) is actually far greater than it is between 55-59MPG (only difference of 0.4L/100kmh). So I would say by the time Executive Saloon that weights close to 1700kg does 36MPG it is quite decent and savings by getting more MPG are becoming increasingly marginal e.g. if the car would do 42MPG and you do average British 6800 miles per year, then the saving over the year would work out at ~£165. Sure I would take extra £165, but it isn't such a fundamental difference that would impact my decision making over which trim I want. Or as well you may choose just to drive 5MPH slower and be generally more economical with your driving and probably save more then there is between the trims. What you can't do is to replace digital dash, or retrofit leather interior or some other major feature you realised you are missing after you got the wrong trim for your liking (at least not in economically feasible way). I certainly much rather have Premium audio and digital dash... and nicer looking car with better resale potential instead. Obviously - it is your money and your choice, I am just putting out the stats out there to make it easier for you to decide.

MPG has no real bearing to real-life as that is just theoretical number for comparison reasons based on standardised test. The reason higher tier models have lower MPG/higher CO2 is mostly due to F-Sport, Premier and few other trims having 18" wheels with 255mm rear section in contrast with lower tier being on 17" 225mm in the rear (if not mistaken... I believe only IS250 had 245mm). So yes - larger wheels and wider tyres will have negative effect on MPG, both in theory and in real life. I am sure once Phil includes the brochure (perhaps there is missing link @wharfhouse?) it will answer all your questions. But in short you have No Trim>SE>Sport>Luxury>Executive>F-Sport>Premier from the worst to best in that order (despite the order it appears in brochure) before the face lift. I think highlight is F-Sport as that gets LFA style digital dash which is must in my opinion and makes you feel like you driving actually modern car, the rest feels like quite ordinary hybrids from the era. As well F-Sport get electronic dampers and few other more sporty bits, but Premier would be sort of top-model and most comfortable. Other thing to mention - I would avoid standard Lexus audio for IS, it is just horrible. So you better of looking for the car that has at least "Premium" Audio. Some cars have updated ML system which is very good, but not strictly necessary (Premium sound is good enough). Premier trim gets ML as standard. As well lower tier models have what looks like leather, but it isn't so for that again you would need to go for F-Sport or Premier. All that will be clear in the brochure.

Yes - it doesn't need to. It is not like electric car where x%=x miles range. On RC you have maybe 1 mile of all electric range, so the battery is just more for storage of energy when you are braking etc. Meaning that if it would use engine to recharge it to 100%, then it would have no capacity left to store energy from regenerative braking and similar and that would be a waste. And yes ready mode is almost like ACC mode on petrol car, but instead of being not started engine only runs when needed - so if car is parked, then engine will only start if hybrid battery is too low (not exactly sure what is deemed "too low", but basically it is automated system and will look after itself), or if it is required for like AC or similar.

Yeah that is good point as well, taking another example of IS250 - there is grille on Non-ML car for central speaker in the ML speaker, but no wiring. So in case anyone wants to retrofit the speaker the positive is that they don't need to cut the dash as there already is bracket and place for speaker, but they would need to run the wiring. So if we adapt that to this case - place for sensor would be good start, the wire would be even better story, but not everything.

The fuse boxes are identical on all models, but there may be no wires actually coming to the fuse box. To be fair I don't know what is situation with automatic lights, for example my IS250 has wiring for distance ECU and sonar sensor, despite not being fitted with one. So it could be both ways, more often cars don't have extra wiring just dangling around, but in rare occasions they do and that needs to be checked by you i.e. wiring diagram will not show the wires which are not used.

Yes - RC is really decent for it's price point and in comparison, definitely feels more special place to be in than say 4-series. And the seats are indeed probably one of most comfortable ones I had, drivers position as well very ergonomic. I am just saying if you think Sport+ makes a difference then it doesn't, it just makes car objectively worse. Now clearly that is not an issue for you as you have other cars to fill that need. Hybrid battery is tiny anyway, so I doubt you would feel the difference whenever it is low on power or not, your drive home should have well and fully recharged it. Whenever it loses charge - yes it will lose charge as any battery over the time, in couple of weeks probably not, but in few months it would. Bigger issue is the starter battery - it is relatively small for the car because it is hybrid and they are known to deplete quickly, being AGM type they are as well expensive to replace. So if your starter battery wasn't dead on the dealer lot I would estimate it stood for less than 1 month. To maintain the starter battery you just need to put the car in "ready-mode" once a week and it will recharge it from the hybrid battery, if hybrid battery get's low then car starts the engine to maintain it. Although that shouldn't be an issue with regular driving, but 4-6 weeks is about the limit.

Well I guess this is where it is important to manage the expectations, because there is nothing to really be discovered, for me personally that was an issue as I wanted the sports car, but it isn't an issue if you want GT. But don't expect that there is magic button which transforms the car from one to another. It is quiet and comfortable car, lovely to cruise in and that is it. You can turn other modes of driving to take some of the benefits out, make it less smooth and less comfortable, as at least in pre-FL you can't individually set modes for suspension and engine, so Sport+ automatically sets suspension to hardest mode and on our broken roads that is not fun. As well as I already mentioned - the Lexus hybrid loves the being driven slowly and smoothly, then you get pleasant and relaxing experience... but if you try to launch it hard and drive it hard, then it just feels broken, the transition between hybrid and ICE becomes hard, engine rattles (it is 4-pot in the end), the CVT starts feeling like mush and rubbery and it is just not pleasant. What I am saying - on RC300h the other driving modes are kind of gimmick, they cannot add anything to the experience and they just takes away from the benefits of the car. It would make sense if instead of Sport and Sport+, Lexus had something like Comfort and Comfort+. The only issue - the suspension can't be dialled any softer and for RC I think the softest Normal/Eco and on 19" wheels with super thin tyres is already as hard suspension as is acceptable on horrible british roads. Sport and Sport+ just makes it even harder and therefore I really can't see the advantage of adaptive suspension (well adaptive suspension is good, just not the harder settings). So as it stand for the engine the modes are basically Unresponsive/Quiet/Too keen/Rattle+, for gearbox it is Lazy/Smooth/Lumpy/Harsh+ and for suspension it is Hard/Hard/Harder/Hardest+. In summary: Forget "Eco" mode, it is waste of time, makes gearbox lazy and unresponsive and actually uses more fuel, because anytime you need to get moving there is too much delay and then you basically press accelerator too much not knowing if it will ever accelerate or not, then car lurches forward and you need to start braking again. The "Normal" mode is probably where I would keep the car all the time, that is most economical and most smooth, and suspension is still in it's softest hard setting. The "Sport" mode is where I would like to have the engine set for little bit more response, but because they can't be adjusted individually before FL (2019) you get downsides of gearbox not knowing what to do with it, just randomly keeping high revs for no reason and you get harder setting for suspension which is not great, Sport is usable if you have very smooth, quiet and twisty A/B-road, something that you would get maybe in Spain or France, but rare in UK (now they even have speed traps on NC500 - what a waste!). As I mentioned car does not like to be pushed, so you can carry the speed smoothly in the slight bends, then smoothly accelerate out and that is probably where you can use Sport mode. But you better make sure the tarmac is smooth as glass. The "Sport+" is just fundamentally opposite to the character of the car and totally pointless. You instantly feel all imperfections of which we have plenty on our roads, but it doesn't really make car handle sharper or anything, perhaps it keeps it more level in the corner, but that is about it, RC is not really the car you will be doing a lot of Gs for that to matter. The engine just revs out to 4000rpm and stays there for no reason, even when you let-off, so it sound rather horrible and that is where you discover CVT drone. As well if you driving slowly it just becomes harsh, it seems like hybrid system disappears altogether and the engine transitions between CVT ratios about as smooth as teenager dumping the clutch at 3000rpm on every gear. I guess the only other benefit of Sport+ is that it will keep the ratios you selected on paddles ~somewhat, so it almost feels like DTC gearbox for a few seconds as ratios changes nearly instantaneous, but then randomly after some time it just back to auto. Anyhow - for the car like RC300h I just can't see where it would be useful in normal day driving. Perhaps if you have best twisty road closed for your personally and you can go across both sides of it to straighten the bends, and you can always stay pretty much "pedal to the metal" all the time then sure. That is part of the learning to live with RC300h - it is not sports car and should be driven like limousine, at that is fairly good... imagine you have Queen in the back (well... or I guess King now) and you just chauffeuring her around. Great car at that, but for throwing into corners not so much.

The IS250 is real headache... if you ever need to replace it. I struggled for a while to find worthy upgrade, RC wasn't it (at least not 200t/300h, 350 would probably have done it for me), I guess GS450h mk4, but those are rare and keep values as well. Obviously IS250 mk3 exists, but I just see no reason of paying twice the price for what is fundamentally the same car. So indeed - enjoy it as much as you can as that is really good car.

Definitely not recommended. Just get a 5L or 10L can next time you get your petrol and put it in the shed or whatever. The risk simply does not justify the gain of 10 miles drive. Can you disconnect the line going to high-pressure pump - sure, but you will need to crank the fuel pump in the tank for it to deliver any fuel that way. Cranking fuel pump for more than 10 seconds can damage it and that is £600 expense. As far as I know siphoning the fuel via filler tube should not be possible, but again same applies - ok you maybe be able to do it, apart of having mouth full of petrol you as well risking to damage something in the fuel pipe or went and for that you will have to pull apart half of the car which will cost £100s if not £1000s... Simply said - don't do it, you risking £1000s of damage for 15 minutes drive and £5 worth of petrol can. Now sure I guess petrol can in the shed is a fire hazard, but so is the whole process of siphoning the petrol from the car, so I really can't see any upsides of doing what you intend to do.

Sorry to hear, but as well it is great to know you are alright! That is what matter! As for airbags - that is interesting and not first time I am hearing it, I know in roll over they don't deploy as apparently that is not needed, but you had a shunt before that so one would expect they would have deployed then. In your own perspective do you think them deploying would have helped or would it actually hindered the exit? It would be interesting to know what they offer for the car nowadays when the prices are so high, I assume buying it back is not an option either if it is so badly damaged?

As well forgotten to warn you - this is the only car in which random people on the road would stop me to compliment about it's looks. I am not sure if it has faded away by now, but that certainly was the case ~2016 when it launched. And it looks completely at home parked in front of the hotel next to AMG GT and Porsche GT3, nobody even has a clue the difference in 0-60 acceleration between the cars is longer than it takes the other 2 to get to that speed.

I think I know the car - it was offered by private owner for a while and first was listed at ~92,000 miles last year, later 96,000 and then disappeared ~3 months ago just after getting relisted with 104,000. Price was as well all over the place - first listed at £15,500, then going-up to £16,999, before coming back down to £15,999. I would expect it to be at least £2,000 more from trader. I just have e-mail reminders for every RC listed from autotrader since the days I was looking to get one myself. Yes, as long as it is not "Standard" system it will be good - I don't remember exactly who made which one of the systems (it may be Prioneer indeed), but if it has mouse pad, but no ML badges it will be what is called Lexus "Premium" audio. It is very decent system with 10 speakers and 90% there compared to ML. So that is definitely on the positive side. I had ML in my car and it was great, but to be fair at normal listening sound there is little in between the systems, ML only shines at higher volumes and when driven from good quality source. You are most welcome to ask, but to be fair the car is really straight forward, there is not much weird about it (being hybrid). I guess CVT works slightly different from normal auto, but I quite liked it even with fake ratios on paddle shift, many people hate them and I understand why, but if you get used to it I would say it is almost highlight of the car. I would say you need to learn to drive it differently, in more relaxed way and then it is quite rewarding, quiet and comfortable, it just does not like being pushed to the limit. If you drive it like big GT barge it is - then it is great, but if you start driving it like sports car it looks then it starts whinging, CVT starts droning, engine starts rattling, front starts understeering etc. After a while it is really relaxing to drive, whereas normally I trying to get to the next light first, change the lanes to move quicker... in hybrid I just stay in my lane and stop carrying about the world around me, in that sense I guess it is good car for commuting, as the horrible driving and roads in UK would drive me mad everyday in normal car, but in hybrid I would come to my destination relaxed even if it is 15 minutes later.

I cannot see any valid reason for them to know about it, so I would not mention it at all. If they would ever ask or had any issues about it - 1) I would say I have no idea about it - they are just brake lines fitted in place of brake lines and thus not a "modification" and 2) it is simply OEM+ - old lines perished and were replaced by new, braided or non-braided who knows, they were right specification so were fitted. Nowhere in the insurance contract does it say that only genuine parts should be used, only that car has to be road worthy. What counts of modification is really grey area and unless specifically mentioned i.e. "braided brake lines are considered a modifications under our underwriters policy" then I would always default as considering them NON-modification. Obviously some common sense applies - there are many things that insurance does not mention specifically but are known to invalidate the cover - good example are tinted lights. As well "appeal to ignorance" argument works quite well - "they were there when I bought the car and I thought they were original, how do I know that is mod"? Not telling them would invalidate the contract, but they can't invalidate your contract for not knowing what is under your car. Now again and again common sense matters - it is valid argument to say you don't know the difference between braided and non-braided line, but it would be thought to argue that one didn't notice 5L V8 instead of 2.2L engine under the bonnet, or solid black headlights which do not emit any light and have no place to be on any car ever. And as well, they will never check mods unless you are involved in accident with "casualties"... at which point such details are least of my worries (in my opinion). That is not something they going to routinely check, nor they going to do it as part of evaluation if somebody going to bump into the back of you. Same like I see no reason to tell insurance that I fitted Michelin PS4 tyres over much worse Bridgestone Turanzas (arguably magnitude of times more impactful improvement than braided lines), nor people tell insurance when they put on china-shaite-town-30000-ditch-finders-fast-speed-guarnteed-death-road tyres on their cars, which are outright terrifying and makes car impossible to control at any speed above walking pace. I can see where lowering springs could be considered a modification, as poorly done they could unsettle the car, same for any mods that adds power, speed etc. same for ridiculously out of spec too large or too small wheels, but something minute like brake lines, especially where they are higher than OEM spec isn't even a mod. Now sure I can see argument that if your brake line explodes that most likely not going to help you stop in time, but braided lines kind of reduces that risk, not increases it. And if not for bright lime colour I doubt many would even know. So perhaps getting black braided lines would be advisable if insurance is of any concern. In short - everyone to their own, but myself I tell insurers strictly as little as they need to know and not a word more. Before doing that, make sure to read the contract to know what "as little" actually is.

I would be careful with premixed dye, unless you repaint entire seat... which then has implications of it's own. Sure sending sample should take some guessing out of the game, but this being nearly 10 years old seat... who is there to tell that little sample from under the seat represents fading from UV and other wear effects of the front of the seat. So to achieve really good match I feel it is more reliable to use the kits that provide base colours to be mixed, to achieve the exact match of the area you are fixing. Although mixing colours yourself could be challenging first time. Considering risks I am very happy to do my own cleaning, but I generally would go to leather specialists to do the fixing... and for ~£100 per seat (and probably less if you just need small scratches fixed) I just can't see the reason to risk anything. But water 10:1 with APC is pretty much as harsh as anyone would ever use on leather?! I would admit I had some particularly nasty stains where I used APC neat on a small area following it with water, but that was rather exception and not a norm. Most leather cleaners do not come anywhere near as strong as APC... unless by "harsh" you mean literally something like bleach.

It seems like you have already decided... 🙂 One of my concerns would be the performance, but you said you have already tried it and you feel it is adequate to you, so apparently not a concern. Second issue would be standard audio (which can be recognised by rotary dial instead of mouse pad) - that audio system is outright trash and doesn't belong in any car, nevermind Lexus, upgrading it would be very difficult so I would avoid any car unless it has at least what is called "premium" audio. Apart of that I don't know any other issues related to Lexus RCs - in all other aspects they are great cars. There are few interior bits which are quite cheap and plasticky, but again they will be better compared to BMW and probably even better or at least on par with similar year MB C-Coupe. Overall, I think the driving comfort and build is closer to E-Coupe, expect no option of convertible nor panoramic roof. As for reliability, none of the issues have cropped-up in the forum apart of standard wear and tear, hybrid battery does not have any issues either, especially if it has hybrid check passed that shouldn't be an issue. I personally had driver seat motor failing and that would have been costly if not for warranty, but that 1 out of 1 example, so I can't say it is common. What mileage it is? Because I can't remember any Blue RC300h with over 100k miles recently being listed. There was one with 137k miles from dodgy dealer in Birmingham with fake ML stickers, but that one didn't have sunroof. So just to note here - Lexus now gives 10years/100k miles warranty if serviced by them. In this aspect I would say - if anything going to brake out of warranty it will be costly on Lexus, so if it is over 100k miles I would make sure I negotiate extra discount from a dealer on this basis alone.