wharfhouse

Yes F Sport is slightly harder ride than other trims as different sports suspension and wider / lower profile tyres (though in UK top of the range Premier also had wider wheels / lower profile tyres but AFAIK normal suspension). Some prefer the cosmetic differences of the F Sport (different grille and the sliding instrument cluster and seats) but other than the suspension and wider wheels there are no other performance benefits.

Could be country related then?

Apologies - my car has actually covered 154k miles - makes more sense of my later comments

Isn't the IS 300h just a normal differential - even the F-sport as the drive train is the same as all other IS 300h trims - so no LSD?

These cars are very reliable - mine is a 2014 reg IS 300h and has now covered 144k miles (I purchased it in 2016 with 40k miles on it) and nothing serious going wrong in all that time (main items have been new front wheel bearings at 80k miles and one new rear caliper at 150k miles). Changed front discs and pads at 80k miles (as the front wheel bearings were being done) but the disc/pad would have lasted quite a bit longer. Changed the rear discs and pads at 150k miles as the sticking caliper had unduly worn one side, otherwise they would have had another 100k miles of wear left in them. As all discs tend to suffer from corrosion and pitting over the years, they may need replacing just for that reason before they actually wear out. Rear tyres I replace every 20k miles and fronts every 40k miles. Make sure you service it according to schedule (every 10k miles or 12 months, whichever comes first) and the items you mention above will be covered (see the service book you should get with the car for the details of what needs changing when). In general it's the usual interim service one year / 10k miles (mainly oil and oil filter) and major service the next year / 10k miles (includes additional checks / replacements). Spark plugs should be changed every 60k miles (though Lexus tend to change them every 6 years even if the car has done less that mileage). First engine coolant change is at 100k miles (possibly 10 years if that comes first I think) and first inverter coolant change is at 150k miles (there may be a time based change as well for lower mileage). Differential oil, air filters and pollen filters have certain interval changes too that I don't recall at the moment, but it's all in the service book. E-CVT gearbox is down as lifetime fill by Lexus - so no change is scheduled (there is some debate on here about whether the oil in this should be changed or not - your choice - but it's not included by Lexus at any service interval). Cars have been known to go 250k+ miles with no problem. Mine has never been changed. The Lexus service activated warranty (Relax) when a car is serviced by Lexus is free with each service and is automatically renewed until the car is 10 years old or has covered 100k miles (whichever comes first). The hybrid battery can be kept in warranty until the car is 15 years old with unlimited mileage by continuing having the car serviced by Lexus or paying for a separate Hybrid Health Check with Lexus every 10k miles / 12 months (whichever comes first) and costs about £70 each time. There is also a Lexus 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty for cars over outside the Relax warranty that can be renewed annually for cars up to 15 years old / 150k miles (whichever comes first) at ~£500 per annum (which includes Lexus Roadside Assist) though dealers are often not well clued up about this... I had this in place until recently for my car after 100k miles as I have do quite a high mileage. I had the front wheel bearings and the rear caliper all done under warranty). Of course, the usual caveats over buying any used car apply, but find a good one that has been well cared for (serviced according to schedule etc.) and you should get many years/miles of motoring out of it. 250k miles without major issues would not be uncommon. Trim levels are hard to determine by the way as cars are not easily identifiable by trim. There were trim names from new but these did not always follow a simple hierarchy (did not always build on the features of a previous level) - then there were also options that could be specified. Main features probably most important to most people are standard or premium sat nav and audio, Mark Levinson top end audio, leather trim with/without electric seats. A few other gadgets etc may carry some weight with you but best to check each car for what it actually has rather the relying on general trim names (many cars aren't listed with a trim name for this reason). The IS 300h had a slight facelift in 2017 - nothing particularly major so I wouldn't worry too much about that. One thing to know is that cars that are pre-2017 have a VED of £10 (will be £20 next year) whereas post-2017 cars after the government changed to the flat rate have the full flat rate VED (around £190 per annum) - so if you are looking at two cars around 2016/2017 age worth bearing in mind if you want to save some money each year. I'm sure others will furnish you with some more info. Attached is a brochure from 2014 (so pre face-lift) that might be of help when looking at what is trim levels etc. IS300h brochure 2014 08.pdf

I have this one if it's of help. Lexus IS.pdf

Always an interesting discussion. I have a 2014 IS 300h that has now done 143k miles on original transmission fluid. The ecvt is different to a traditional auto box (much simpler) and so the same criteria don't really apply. I know of at least one IS 300h in this forum that did over 230k miles on the original fluid with no issues along with other Lexus and Toyota hybrids with ecvt that have done the same or more. I haven't heard of any ecvt failures in this forum. There isn't anything that can be done to prolong the life of the ecvt other than making sure there are no leaks etc. Changing the fluid is relatively straightforward - more like doing a manual gearbox - but you might struggle to get a Lexus dealer to do it however as they will stick to the lifetime fill advice. Personally I don't plan on replacing my fluid - I'm keeping the car for the foreseeable future and cover about 15k miles per annum. For reference I had a BMW 538i in 1997 that had a lifetime fill auto box - I kept that car 10 years and did 210k miles in it on the original transmission fluid and it never missed a beat and ran as well as ever when I sold it and so I am inclined to believe Lexus / Toyota's view on lifetime fill more than YouTube videos seeking views. But each to their own choice.

The OEM front discs and pads will last over 100k miles in normal driving unless you are very heavy on the brakes. When they are changed you will probably have to do discs and pads together. I did my fronts at 80k miles simply because the front wheel bearings were being changed, but they would certainly have gone further. The current replacement front discs and pads have now done 75k and plenty of life left in them. OEM rear discs and pads will probably last over 200k miles based on the wear rate of mine. Again pads and discs are best changed together. Unfortunately I had a seized rear caliper at 150k miles which meant I also needed new discs and pads so I wasn't able to see just how far they would go (although previous services had mentioned corrosion and pitting of rear discs but plenty of thickness left in the discs and pads). Chances are that you will end up changing discs and pads (especially rear ones) more because of corrosion and pitting issues, or sticking caliper, than actually wearing them out!

If it's the same as other Lexus hybrids then planting your right foot fully to the floor (in any mode) delivers full engine and hybrid battery power to the car (effectively a kick down for the e-cvt).

Service it with Lexus and and the service activated (Relax) warranty kicks in regardless of previous history - no cost other than the service itself. Lasts 12 months / 10k miles (whichever comea first) in line with standard service schedule. Renews with each Lexus service until car is 10 years old or 100k miles (whichever comes first). There is a 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty available afer that which costs around £500 per annum should you be interested at that time. Hybrid battery can be kept in warranty until 15 years old with unlimited mileage so long as an annual hybrid healthcheck is done every 12 months / 10k miles (whichever comes first) which is free with each Lexus service or about £70 each time if purchased separately. I've had a few things done under the extended warranty without any problems including front wheel bearings and a rear caliper. Overall though the car is very reliable - just keep up with the servicing and on top of any general maintenance (my IS 300h is a 2014 reg and has now done 154k miles).

As you are in Hampshire then Lexus Reading recently let me know they have a minor repairs / smart repair type of facility now in Reading so you could call them and get a quote for for repair. Otherwise smart repair companies can do some quite sophisticated repairs now - may depend on how much you want it looking as good as new.

I had someone stop in their Porsche outside my house while I was out in my front garden asking if I knew the independent Porsche garage (not the main dealer). I knew there was an independent near us but at the time couldn't put my finger on exactly where but pointed him in the general direction. Northway Porsche Ltd is on Beenham Industrial Estate (off the A4) and it's close to the Porsche Distribution Centre on the same estate and so I think that's why the guy who stopped was maybe a little confused. I mention it as he seemed to have come from some distance away so maybe another vote of confidence in that independent following David's comment.

It was me. Had a rear caliper replaced under the Lexus 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty (car was actually just under 10 years old but had covered 149k miles when it was replaced).

A proper full 4 wheel alignment won't be a lot cheaper if done properly. On two of my previous cars I used Elite Wheels: https://www.elitewheels.co.uk/ - they sorted out the problems that other tyre places had caused...! I've not had my Lexus aligned by Lexus (Jemca) Reading but had my wife's Toyota done at Jemca Toyota next door and so they probably use the same facility for wheel alignment and I was pleased with the work they did.

Had a similar experience when my wife was very ill in hospital over a few months a couple of years ago. If it wasn't for me going in, complaining about the basics of what they should have been doing, taking on it on myself to do some of those tasks, and in one case demanding that I be there when the consultant saw her and telling him that he had to do something about the deterioration she was suffering (which resulted in another operation or the consequences would have been terminal), I seriously wonder whether she would have actually ever got better and come home again - it was a scary time...

I worked recently on helping to develop an IT system for one of the NHS Trusts. The biggest issue was that no-one in the NHS IT team had a clue about how to write a specification for what they wanted. So, we would be delivering functionality based on loose specs so they could see how something worked and then they would decide whether they liked that or wanted to change it. The problem then comes as times goes on that they kept changing their minds about earlier features as we rolled out new features which meant that to make those changes we had to go back and undo a load of stuff that we had been settled earlier. The costs of all of this just kept compounding until they ran out of money and still didn't have something fit for purpose. The NHS staff (at least from my experience) are wholly in capable of managing any IT project. We kept trying to explain the consequences of their approach but they just wouldn't listen (or understand). We had meetings and meetings of loads of people, most who I couldn't work out what they did day-to-day. Most (if not all) just seemed to be there to fill their time from 9-5 each day and then go home and forget about whatever it was they came to the meeting for...

I had a LBX as a courtesy car a few weeks ago for a day while my IS 300h was in for some work. I drove it for a few hours and wasn't as comfortable as in my IS seats - difficult to describe but I felt I was leaning a little towards the middle of car at my hip level and certainly didn't feel as comfortable after a few hours as I do in my IS after a full days drive. I generally liked the car but would need to take another day test drive to see if what I felt with the courtesy car was replicated again and would spend a bit more time adjusting the seats. For reference the courtesy car was the Takumi trim but with the vegan interior which meant it actually was downgraded to manual seats in vegan "leather" rather than full eather electric seats (very strange). Mind you my 2014 registration IS Executive trim (now with 153K miles on it) has manual seats and I've found those very comfortable and still do even when spending all day behind the wheel.

Just to round this off - I'm pleased with the new Osram Xenarc 220 bulbs having now done a few long night drives. The illumination is certainly better than the OEM originals but that may be due partly because the original were 10 years old! Dipped beam in paticular seems to have a better spread of light - not so much longer as that has the same cut off but generally better lit and particularly to the sides making it easier to follow the verge and miss the potholes...! Personally I like the colour temp as I find it illuminates well but is not tiring on the eyes. Full beam seems a bit longer but TBH the original OEM bulbs weren't too bad on full beam, it was the dipped beam that always seemed a bit lacking in spread and illumination. Anyway - anyone thinking of new HID bulbs should see an improvement with these over OEM original HIDs.

Changed my original IS 300h HID bulbs this week - car is 10 years and one of the original OEM bulbs finally went out. I went with Osram Xenarc 220 D4S. On removing them, the OEM were marked Osram Xenarc. I looked at the reviews on the Philips ones too and they also looked very good. My new Osram Xenarc 220 bulbs are certainly an improvement over the original OEM bulbs but perhaps not surprising given the original were 10 years old.

When I checked about my wife (following no cards being issued) if she breaks down in her own car I was told that she needs to quote my registration number (for verification that we have LRA) followed by her car and registration number (to enable the AA to locate her).

After looking around for a bit and some reading up I went for Osram Night Breaker 220 Xenarc - apparently for HIDs 4300K is actually the best colour temp for visibility with anything higher (or certainly over 5000K), although whiter/bluer which might suit personal choice, is scientifically (slightly) less good (given the same power etc.) for absolute visibility... They were £109 for the pair - 3 year guarantee on them but hope they do a bit more than that. Fitted them this morning and they look whiter than the ones I took out, which were original OEM and had been in the car 10 years before the first one expired. The OEM I took out were stamped Osram Xenarc on the base of the bulbs. The side next to the windscreen washer fluid was relatively easy to fit (after removing the washer fluid filler nozzle) although the plugs were really hard to get out of the socket as the tab to be pressed on the plug wasn't in an easy place and after 10 years they were well stuck! For the other side next to the air box I couldn't get enough leverage to open the case with the air box in place so had to unbolt it and pull it up to have it floating free to give me enough room to get my hands in and have enough leverage to rotate the case. Again, all probably easier when everything is new or recently opened, but after 10 years it needed a bit more effort... Anyway, all done now - will see if they are any different when next out at night. Thanks for all the advice and thoughts.

Thanks - I'll have a look at those.

One of my HID headlight bulbs gave out over the weekend - car is 10 years with 152K miles so I've been expecting that I'll need to replace them before long. Does anyone have some recent experiences of what replacement HID bulbs currently deliver the best performance (and what is the colour temperature of the OEM bulbs if anyone knows, I have seen in other posts 4300 kelvin?). The price on Lexus Parts Direct for a pair D4S Xenon OptiWhite bulbs is £238.70 so I'm not planning on going to the dealer for replacements. Also don't want to switch out to LED bulbs - so just interested in HID. Thanks

It's all net-zero posturing - when a company actually tries to build something it's a lot harder than all the sounds bites that come from politicians mouths: ExxonMobil: Firm backs out of CO2 pipeline project - BBC News - whether you think this carbon capture project is a good idea or not, it would have had a (small) positive impact, but the upheaval to those people in the path has proven too much.

Always difficult to predict the future but I can say that I bought an IS 300h in 2016 - it was a two year old (2014 reg) with 40k miles on it. I still have it (so it's nearly 10 years old now) and it's done 152k miles. Regular maintenance by Lexus and nothing serious has gone wrong - only the front wheel bearings at 80k miles and one rear caliper at 150k miles. Nothing else other than maintenence so very cheap motoring. Car still drives like new. I was looking to change it earlier but Lexus stopped selling the IS in the UK (and Europe) late 2019 / early 2020 (and so why there are no IS cars after this on the market). I couldn't find anything else I liked in the Lexus stable so have kept running it. BTW the hybrid battery can be kept in warranty until the car is 15 years old with unlimited mileage. I came from a string of BMWs (3 and 5 series) and the IS is a different car but I certainly don't regret the decision - as per how long I have kept the car already. It's a great long distance touring car - no matter how long the drive I always arrive feeling refreshed. On depreciation, I paid around £17k for the car in 2016 (2 years old and 40k miles) and you can see what cars are worth today - so depreciation has been minimal. Also as Linas says mine is £10 (soon to be £20) VED per year as its pre 2017 - which adds up to quite a bit over the time I've had it compared with a post 2017 car.