mcwatson

Marcus, Can I ask how hard it is to fit these bodykits? I had visibility of my car up on a garage ramp at the weekend so was able to look at the underneath. The front bummer seemed to literally just be bolted on along the front and probably a few bolts along the top in the engine bay. Admittately, I haven't looked too hard but do these things just bolt on? And what about the side skirts, how are they attached?

I agree, Limited Edition, nice marketing ploy to sell a few units before applying to the range but a rip off to the unsuspecting person. Bit like the only yellow IS300 with styling kit in the UK that one of the dealers is advertising on the Lexus site!! Probably loads on their way... Question: So does it make sense to sell a brand new car after 1 year? I always thought depreciation showed that a car is best to sell after 3 years unless you travel to the moon and back each year and rack the miles up! My car is 3 years old this coming Dec and I'm wondering whether to sell!! I got an 'invitation' (probably mass produced) through the door yesterday inviting me to Lexus Oxford this weekend to take advantage of discounts applied to 2nd user motors only available to Oxford and if I take the invitation, I get a further £500 of what ever I negotiate. Hmmmm, what an attractive offer, PROBABLY NOT!!!

Just checked out the website for the garage that did it and it says:- Police forces across the country carried out roadside surveys to check tyre pressures On average they found 75% of tyres checked had incorrect tyre pressures Road Traffic Accident Statistics show that 86% of tyres have incorrect pressures Tyres filled with Nitrogen will maintain their correct pressure for longer, because Nitrogen doesn't leak through the tyre's structure. Normal compressed air contains Oxygen and water vapour, both of which permeate through the tyre casing. Why use Nitrogen? Better road holding Longer tread life, up to 25% increase Reduced fuel consumption, up to 5% reduction No corrosion to the inside of the wheel

Hi Guys and Gals, Needed new tyres all round along with full wheel alignment and rear brake pads so booked the motor in at the weekend at Merit Tyres in Hazlemere, High Wycombe. Opted for the Dunlop Lexus Sp9000's MFS tyres as couldn't make my mind up between these and the Goodyear F1's. And received an excellent service from Merit's. Phoned up last week to ask for a quote. Was told tyres would be £126 all in, 4 wheel alignment would be £50 and rear pads would be £77. Phoned back two days later to confirm and when the guy asked what I was quoted, I said £126 and he said, I can get them down to £111 (rarely hear of a company actually 'trying' to get the price down unless specifically asked). Got the car down there, brakes ended up at £72, another £5 off and when it came to wheel alignment, he managed to get the toe adjustments and something else but the camber adjustments just wouldn't budge but he got an improvement. Still, he gave me a discount again cos he couldn't get it absolutely spot on. So all in all, excellent service and pricing (in my opinion). :D Only one thing that made me nervous, they have filled my tyres with nitrogen instead of air. Apparently, its better solution all round, less leakage and other benefits and they will check and refill FOC if required. Just not heard of this before. Is this a good idea?

Oops, yeah sorry, forgot to mention that!! Or at least thats my understanding of it all.

Changed my mind, I'm happy with 26mpg!!

Not sure of the exact terminology to what they are called but they were recommended to me from posts within this site and after reading reviews, they seem to be the dogs danglies. I was sceptical when I phoned up for them that the garage services would not know what I was talking about but sure enough, they had them. But they had to order them in which took a couple of days but I think will be worth the wait. A little more expensive than standard Dunlops my local place done me what i consider quite a good price. Search on Lexus Dunlop SP9000's and you should find a few posts about them!

I tend to shop around literally every place on the website and make a few phone calls if I can. I reckon I get quotes from at least 50 places before renewing. I renewed in December and the cheapest for me was with Morethan. I've just turned 29, no points (managed to lose the 11 I had), one claim of vandalism in Nov 2000 and drive an Is200 Sport 51 plate. Although I only have 4 years NCB, Morethan treated this as full NCB and also gave me lifetime protected NCB however this is only useful whilst you remain with the same company. My renewal was £500. Down from £800 the previous year with Central Direct. But it must be a very picky market cos who is great one year is crap the next.

Just arranged for my motor to go into Chiltern Tyres in Hazlemere (Bucks) on Saturday for new set of Dunlops Sp9000 (Lexus versions). They are supplying, balancing and fitting for £111 each. I'm praying that all the posts about Dunlops achieving 10/20/30 thousand miles is true cos I'm hacked off forking out for new sets every 12 months after doing less than 14k miles. Just for reference, I'm also getting 4 x wheel alignment for £50 and rear pads changed for £77 (cheaper to do myself but not very handy with car DIY!!)

Sad I know but I've been noting my fuel consumption since 6k miles and I'm now upto 31k. Average consumption is 26mpg. Over a tank of petrol (and I do hate going to petrol stations so I leave it to the last litre before filling up), I can get approx. 330 miles if I drive like a ****** or my maximum achievement is 435 from a tank but that was tip toeing along the roads. I thought I was going to break the 435 personal record last week but unfortunately got it wrong with my estimation of how much I had left in the tank and spent 2 hours on the side of the M40!! Not fun!! But I'd love to know how I could get 40mpg consistently!!

From my own experience, it is worth whinging to the customer relations if you ain't happy. It took a dealer 7 visits to try to fix a knocking in my motor and after getting the hump, I escalated to cust. relations and on the 8th visit, it was fixed cos they got some more technical afluent engineer involved. And cos I whinged once more cos they didn't follow up to ensure I was happy, I got a £200 voucher to use at my leisure which covered my 30k service. I only whinge when I feel there is a good reason too!!

Thanks 'RedLexus'. I had reached the same conclusion that my tyre pressures had been incorrect but unfortunately they have degraded beyond their life so replacement time but glad you confirmed it. And thanks ColinBarber for tyre type, I would have made the mistake had you not pointed it out! I only became registered today and nice to see how friendly this club is especially to the new-bies!! Checking out the GOLD member perks and look quite good so will get signed up shortly!! By the way, I'm extremely jealous of many of the modified Lexus motors being displayed by you all. I got excited seeing even the most basic of body kits but never realised what was possible until coming here. Its almost convinced me to keep my IS cos I was thinking of selling it this year (find the boot slightly to unpractical being a father) but might have to change my mind!!!

Hi Fargo, I live in Bowerdean Road (nicer part of it I must add!!), just east of the town but travel daily into Greenford for work. Seem to be spending more time sitting still in my car in Wycombe than driving around at the moment as your probably finding getting into Cressex although Handy Cross seems to be a bit better these days!! My IS200 is a standard sports so I'm not exactly noticeable driving around unless you like looking at IS200's which I do - unlike your motor!! Nice - I thought I recognised the bridge that you've taken the picture of your motor on! How much did you pay for your optiflex at Twickenham cos they want £160 sobs from me? Do you reckon getting a laser alignment elsewhere to save money is a safe option cos I don't want it messed up and I can't afford to replace my tyres again if it remains out of alignment?

I'm a new boy to this site and my 1st posting so apologies if I've done/posted something wrong! Has anyone heard of an Optiflex? Cut a long story short(and believe me, this is the short version), I had a 20k service at Lexus Bracknell. After collecting the car, noticed a knocking that felt like in the brakes when coming to a halt. 8 visits later, they had replaced the complete suspension, front brake pads, bushes and *** knows what else only to finally fix it by replacing the engine mounting brackets. To be fair to them, they hadn't had to replace these on any other IS200's. But I then took my car to Lexus Twickenham for its 30k service and was told my front tyres have 0mm on the inside and outside of the tyres but 5mm in the middle. Strange considering they had only degraded 2mm before the suspension was replaced. Twickenham said all my suspension was out and so need an Optiflex to correct and want £160 for the privelege. But no one else seems to have heard of this and nothing is mentioned on this site. Is it a fancy name for simply aligning the wheels which can be done somewhere else cheaper? Now that I need to change the tyres, going to do all of them and opting for Dunlop SP9000's? Any opinions? Finally, also need rear pads replaced. Been quoted £500 by local company to replace rear pads, complete front wheel alignment and replace all four tyres with the dunlops. Does this sound a good price? Any advice would be greatly appreciated especially on the Optiflex thing if nothing else cos I think I'm being fobbed off!!