wharfhouse

Well that is certainly confusing on the website - I had my LRA renewed when I took the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty and I received a booklet (and plastic card) as per the new customer T&Cs on the website and then added my partner (who has a Toyota) who also received her own plastic card. According to the documents we received both my partner and I are covered for any car we are driving or in. I will be looking at any T&Cs very carefully come November when I would be renewing again.

Maybe post this again in the Lexus IS 300h, IS 250 and IS 200t forum (rather than this general one) and then you will probably get more feedback for this model and can make a decision based on the weight of opinion. However, I personally think the dealer is trying to pull a fast one. Maybe worth checking all the door rubbers in case there is a tear or something in one.

No whistling on my IS300h and personally never heard of it being a problem. The only thing I do notice is when it's raining there is a sort of vortex at the top back of the drivers (and maybe passenger) front window that makes a sort of low bubbling noise sometimes when water is in there but that's it.

Only if there was a design or manufacturing fault with them - normal wear would not be covered.

There was another thread on here that said something about the calipers on the IS 300h don't have the slider pins that afflicted previous generations of IS (and probably other older models) and so they shouldn't succumb to the sticking calipers due to non lubrication of pins. Apologies if I'm mistaken but maybe worth checking before asking a garage to lubricate something that may not exist. Found it - from @agent_dess "I have to say im impressed with the rear calipers... they have done away with the stupid single pin and spring mechanise that they had on the IS250 mk2." Maybe still pins to be lubricated in that case but hopefully not the same problems as owners of the previous IS regularly experience. I haven't had any issues on my 2014 IS 300h over the 115K miles it's covered and unless something was done during standard Lexus servicing I haven't done anything.

But they all have the catch-all clause...

I'm finding the same with E10 - variability between fill ups and what I also think is how long E10 has been in my petrol tank - I now think that the longer it's in the tank the worse the mpg is.

It could be an issue as I wouldn't expect the traction battery to lose that much of its charge being left a few days but can't see I've ever checked mine. I don't see why being a taxi should kill the traction battery more than any other driving - my car is now on 115k miles and others have done much more than that without battery issues. However if you can get it checked worth a look. If you have had the Hybrid health check in the past 10k miles / 12 months the battery can be kept in warranty by doing the hybrid health check every 10k miles / 12 months for up to 15 years of age with no mileage limitation.

Exactly this - there is no rhyme nor reason why some changes should make any difference to the insurance risk but it's just an excuse to raise the premium - they have the catch-all in the T&Cs that all modifications (no matter what) must be declared or they could void cover. Now, I did read somewhere that unless a modification that has not been declared could be attributed towards an accident it could not be used to void cover though of course any associated cost recovery for the undeclared modification would be declined but I wouldn't like to test that...!

Yes that's a good article - to be fair after a while you do get used to driving hybrids economically but still maintaining good progress. I don't max out the mpg by any means as I'm usually trying to get places to a schedule but I do tend to drive in a way so I don't use fuel needlessly!

Still could be to some degree as mixed tyres of cheap construction may be a bigger contributor than their rating - only changing them out would confirm though. But I would change them anyway for peace of mind of having a decent set of tyres. If you have been through the list I sent earlier today then other than a good full service not really sure...

I have had no issues running with E10 - I fill up probably 90% of the time at my local Sainsburys (and the rest of the time wherever I need to) and the car runs just as smoothly as it did in the past and I haven't noticed any loss in power - and in some circumstances seems to actually give better mpg, though as time has gone on, on balance I do think it's worse overall.

I have Yokohama BluEarth E51A (225/45 R17 ) all round which was the OEM tyre the car came with and I've put the same on each time. Just had a look at their fuel efficiency rating and it's D (never actually looked before what they were) so if you have E rating that shouldn't make much difference. Mind you with the tyres you have on there I'd be getting them changed out quickly for 4x of a reputable brand...

Wow that's even more worrying... I would have expected a few percent better fuel consumption from using Super Unleaded over the old E5 and then more still over the new E10 - in my case that would certainly add a few mpg to what I am seeing on E10. Keep thinking of trying Super Unleaded E5 again but as it's around 8% more than E10 at the moment I think it would probably end up costing me even more per mile than E10 as I'm not sure I'll get 8% better mpg from it.

In the UK at least there is a difference between our annual MoT test and the insurance companies. The MoT test has a written and documented limited scope for road legal / worthiness but the insurance companies are a law unto themselves and simply state they need to know ANY change from the manufacturers build and not telling them risks voiding the insurance cover even though the car may still pass a MoT and be totally road legal and worthy. Another example might be adding a rear spoiler - makes no difference to the MoT or road worthiness but the insurance companies would still want to know and may add a premium to the insurance for it (for any multitude of reasons they can dream up to extract more money).

You may well have checked all these things but if not maybe worth a look at: - brakes - are any wheels getting unusually warm - if so could be a sticking brake caliper - wheel alignment - is the car running true and straight as any issues may be scrubbing tyres losing efficiency - tyres - some tyres (as I think you have mentioned) are not so good for economy - and make sure you check tyre pressures with a good quality tyre pressure gauge when cold (not at a fuel station as they are invariably inaccurate) - under inflation seems to have a significant effect on mpg - if anything go a touch over (I go to 3.6 bar instead of the quoted 3.5 bar) - oil - was the car last serviced by Lexus or a 3rd party - if the latter and heavier oil than spec was used this can increase fuel consumption - air filter - worth a look as it's not always replaced at a service and see if it's particular dirty - 12V battery - have you had any issues there leaving it for a few days - if the 12V battery is weak the traction battery will be constantly recharging it leaving less power from the traction battery to help economy via the hybrid sysyem - you said the last hybrid healthcheck was all clear and plugs have been replaced as per schedule - I saw you posted in the thread about the battery filter and cleaned that so shouldn't be a problem there - there are mixed reports on the E10 fuel impacting mpg - I am still trying to decide what the impact is - sometimes I seem to see better mpg with E10 over what I had previously (though can't explain that) especially after just refueling but then at other times it seems worse like when it's been in the tank a couple of weeks - you could try E5 for a few fills and see what that does As a benchmark - if the weather is warmish (let's say 15C), the car is unladen (so just you and maybe one passenger max) the road is level, speed is reasonably constant at around 70mph such as on a motorway then you should easily get 45mpg+ (I can get to around 50mpg+ like this) and on A roads at say 50-60mph constant speed you should be seeing 50mpg and maybe more. Around town in similar conditions high 40s mpg is also quite achievable depending on how much stop start and how quick you need to accelerate. If you aren't getting these sort of mpg after the above checks then it may be worth also getting a full service done (not sure when your last one was done or who did it) possibly at a Lexus dealer? NB: All my mpg is measured on the car computer

Like I said you should be able to get better mpg than you are seeing and certainly on like for like journeys compared to your IS 250. The old figures that car makers quoted for mpg were never achievable in real world driving but the new WLTP figures are and for The IS 300h Lexus quoted around 48mpg which is what I have been achieving. Something does seem amiss with what you are seeing.

Yes you're right - after all the miles in my IS 300h I forget how bad the mpg was on my ICE cars on short journeys when cold! However short journeys from a cold start in cold weather do still negatively hit the hybrid mpg but it is still performing better than an equivalent ICE only car.

Yes short trips in cold weather doesn't let the hybrid deliver much benefit over an ICE - longer trips and/or warmer weather make a big difference allowing the hybrid tech to work much more effectively. My overall average mpg over 60k miles in 5 years and with a good mix of long and short journeys is around 48mpg (on the car computer).

Not sure why you are so low - with the warmer weather I'm now getting back to close to 50mpg average (measured on the car computer) on a decent run (50 miles motorway and A road) in my IS 300h. I do find the difference between 10C and 15C temperature is where the biggest gain is made so maybe it's warmer down here in the south than where you are. However even in the coldest weather I wouldn't be as low as 35mpg. Also tyre pressures do make a difference too - I keep mine around 2.6 bar (handbook says 2.5 bar) and mine are 17" wheels so I probably gain a bit on mpg over your 18" wheels.

Well it was £1.46 for a litre of petrol a few miles from me (Sainsburys supermarket) but £1.66 for a litre for petrol a few miles from me in the other direction (at both a Shell station and an Esso station - this wasn't on the motorway, just in a small town) - there are some filling stations really gouging it... At the motorway services a few miles from me petrol is £1.77 a litre... Now the £1.50 barrier has been broken I wouldn't be surprised to see £2.00 a litre at e.g. the motorway services in the next few weeks...

Agreed and I think when some sort of mass battery refub industry emerges and proves that it can indeed get back the majority of the factory claimed life of a battery pack for a significant (i.e. numerous years) length of time then the secondhand market (for cars around a decade old) will be well served and have confidence in the technology. My need something similar for the inverters and electric motors (not sure what the normal life of those is) but the rest of the car (given it has less components that an ICE) could last a few decades / 200K - 300K miles.

For long term use I clip an Ambi Pur air freshener to the air vent by the passenger side window and leave it on the lowest setting (the vent is always open to get a flow of air over the air freshener). Generally found that keeps the car fresh but without any overpowering "perfume" or "strange other" smell of others. A refill lasts a few months (set on lowest setting). I take our dog now and again in the back - sometimes not smelling so sweet (!) and it gets rid of those odours without any problems.

The issue in my mind is that manufacturers are guaranteeing something in the region of 70% of original battery range after around 100K miles / 10 years. Now I appreciate that may be low-balled so that they always get to that but an ICE wouldn't lose anything like that amount of range from what it left the factory with. Given the inflated quoted BEV ranges from new that means after some 100k miles / 10 years one could be looking at something like 50% of the quoted range when new - so instead of e.g. quoted range of 400 miles one could be seeing only 200 miles. Now, if batteries could be exchanged or even refurbished for e.g. £1,000 to get the lost range back that wouldn't be too bad but as that car will be long since out of production what's the guarantee that will be possible? I've run ICE cars past 200K miles with little loss of power or range for a tank of petrol. My current IS 300h at 114K miles has lost nothing to note of it's range or performance but it's only a small and under stressed battery - but even that would be some £3K to get replaced if ever required although the rest of the car would likely be able to achieve 200K+ miles easily. So, one currently has a car carrying a premium of some 50% over what the equivalent ICE or even hybrid with no real benefit (to the owner) that I can see. Second hand buyers a number of years down the line (or even the first owner if they want to keep it long term) will be getting a significantly inferior product. Anyway that's my view at the moment and I appreciate others hold different views and so only time will tell how it all plays out.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Jemca Croydon - if it was a number of years ago maybe things have changed - I guess any experience to some extent comes down to how the actual people on the ground deal with things.