wharfhouse

I've kept an extended warranty going on my IS 300h - now over 7 years old and 113K miles. In that time I'm probably breakeven with the claims that have made against it (even Lexus go wrong sometimes). Even if I'd never made a claim I'd have been happy with the peace of mind. I'll probably run the car to 150K miles now and plan to retain and pay for the Extended Warranty until I can't take it out anymore. However appreciate that everyone has their own risk levels and personal circumstances as to the value of such a warranty to them. It's great that Lexus offer this to those who want it though.

All those with premium nav (so with joystick thing - rotary dial control was standard nav) - premium nav was standard on some trim levels and optional on others and changed over the years so difficult to be definitive...

Yes, mine is a 2014 plate and has the same issue - once the screen is on not really noticeable but when off looks worse... The plastic screen cover can be replaced (not the screen itself just a plastic screen protector) - thought about doing mine but have never got around to it. This is from a US site all about it and removal and replacement Anti-Glare Nav Screen Replacement - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion - and here on Lexus Parts Direct is the replacement for the 7" screen Lexus IS Phase 3 7" Media Display Repair Kit — 86134-53030 ISP3 (lexuspartsdirect.co.uk) or the 10.3" screen Lexus IS Phase 3 10.3" Media Display Repair Kit — 86134-53060 ISP3 (lexuspartsdirect.co.uk).

It's anti glare coating but on early IS Phase 3 there was some issue with it. It was fixed in later cars and if you get a new replacement screen cover now it will not have a problem.

If it only started with the new tyres I would check wheel nuts are all tight - in fact may be worth lifting and loosening and re-torquing in case one of the wheels hasn't seated properly? If not that then swap wheels left to right and see what happens. If ithe pull changes side then something to do with the tyres - it's not unheard of to get a bad tyre or maybe something in the tyre being mounted.

I think RK1975 and diabolik you are missing the point of the Hybrid Heath Check though - by having it done at a dealer you are getting another 10K mile / 12 month warranty on the battery each time it's done up to when the car is 15 years old. Agreed that it's unlikely to fail in this time but occasionally some do and so would then be replaced foc by Lexus. Like any insurance policy though it's a risk vs premium and everyone has their own risk / premium balance.

Yes it was sent separately - I called them as it didn't come through at the same time as the Extended Warranty paperwork and they said it would follow a few days later and indeed it did. When it arrives if you want to take the partner cover then there is a form in the pack to fill in and return and then they will also receive a membership card giving them cover.

Unless I am missing something (which I could be) I don't see any significant meaning to the combination of letters and numbers other than to an individual whose initials it would match and so I would have thought if that were up for sale on one of the sites selling registrations it would probably be listed somewhere in the region of £400 to £600. What it would be worth to you actually selling it I think you would need to contact one of the sites and see what they say.

There are various online sites that sell personalised registration numbers (including the DVLA itself) - Google something like personalised car registrations - if you then enter the reg you have you will see similar ones and the prices they are charging - what you would get for selling your reg to them I don't know but a number of the sites offer a service to give you a price they will buy it off you for if you send them your reg number.

Although called private plates you don't actually own them as such. The plate is registered to the car. By you now owning the car as the previous owner left it then it is now in your possession. If you want to do anything with it then as above you need to put it onto retention (there is a fee) and then you will get another registration number for your car and new V5 doc with those details. The registration number on retention can then be placed onto another car. This can all be done online with DVLA. By "selling" the registration number you are simply transferring the retention certificate to someone else in exchange for an amount agreed between you. There are also businesses that purchase these too (which may be a quicker way to turn it into money). However unless it's a particularly desirable registration number you probably won't get much for it.

I thought this part was very interesting and what the CEO of Toyota said a while ago about using hybrid tec - if we use hybrid tech the rare metals (that are not environmentally friendly to mine) needed for battery production can go so much further and most of the reduced emission benefits, especially in built up areas where it impacts families health, are still retained: "The IEA found that hybrid cars save about the same amount of CO2 as electric cars over their lifetime. Moreover, they are already competitive with petrol cars price-wise — even without subsidies — and, crucially, they don’t have most of the electric car downsides outlined above."

I know this is from the Daily Mail (!) but maybe more people finally starting to wake up to the reality... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10483317/Are-electric-cars-new-diesel-scandal-Expert-looks-future-road-travel.html

That's why I've kept mine longer than planned - my plan was to get a new IS after keeping mine a few years but when they decided not bring the latest IS to UK / Europe I decided I'd just keep running mine - now just over 7 years old and 113K miles and still drives as well as ever.

I agree with you to a large extent - tax on cars / petrol / diesel I believe should go into the road infrastructure and not general coffers - the general coffers should be funded by eg PAYE. However given that has not been the case for some time and with the advent of EV we now have a very skewed system with EV owners contributing virtually nothing to the infrastructure they use nor the general coffers. So either the EV "fuel" has to be in some way fairly taxed like petrol / diesel, or we all pay by the mile, or we have a flat rate that everyone pays. One way or another the EVs have to be brought in line to fill the hole.

I've never bothered - just hit Start and move off

Not of much use to be honest - never worth using on the move. The only real use I have found for EV mode is after you start the car in the first few seconds press EV mode. The car will then stay in EV even whilst the engine is cold allowing you to eg move the car around on the drive without the ICE starting up (so long as you are gentle with the throttle). Not sure how long you get before the ICE finally kicks in though and if you do anything other than light throttle movements the ICE wil kick in too...!

It is once the engine is warmed up - in the summer you will see a noticeable difference but even then the first mile or so is needed to get some heat into the engine. For such short (less than 3 mile journeys) I don't think you'll see much difference between petrol or diesel or hybrid - well only PHEV if you run it on battery alone.

Before the cold weather set in I surprisingly found E10 was giving better fuel consumption in my IS 300h (I can't explain why either...! ). Cold weather masks a lot though - a fall in temperature from 15C to 10C has a big impact on fuel economy. Over 5 years and 70K miles and all types of driving all year my car has reliably averaged annually 48mpg (measured by the car computer) so will be interesting to see how it fares on E10 over a full year.

About time too - the idea of taxing petrol/diesel was that in effect you were paying by the mile and for the choice in how big a car/engine you chose. Electric cars still need roads and infrastructure, not to mention contributing to the general coffers, and so pay as you go is the only way forwards now as far as I can see with all fuel duty removed. It should be left though for the driver to still choose how they decide to fuel the car (so leave the choice of whether electric / petrol / diesel etc.) and not have it meddled with distorting the market and personal choice.

That sounds right from the Essential Care costs on the Lexus website for discs and pads done on all four corners.

If you are happy with Lexus Hedge End then no need to change - just wasn't sure if you had a particular dealer in mind so thought I'd let you know my experience of Lexus Reading. Not 100% sure but I think service plans are for within the same dealer network so probably not transferable to Lexus Reading (which is part of Jemca group).

The Yokohama BluEarth (E51) are the OEM fit tyres by Lexus from the factory - I have them on mine and have continued to replace them with the same at my local Lexus dealer and never had any issues with them whatsoever (my IS 300h is 7 years old and has done 112K miles). By the way my Lexus dealer is always cheaper than any other local tyre fitting places - when you look to change them worth asking at your Lexus dealer for a quote. In the second photo down that tyre looks more worn than the others but may just be the way the shot was done though shouldn't have a significant effect even if it is. Did you also check for any excessive wear on the inside edges of each (turn front wheel to full lock and have a good look). If all tyres have largely the same tread, no excessive wear on the inside edges and you have purchased a decent tyre pressure gauge and checked they are all inflated to spec (2.5 bar / 36 psi all round) then given the alignment all looked ok I would take the car onto a straight piece of motorway that has a decent surface and no significant camber on a day with no or little wind and run in lane 2 or 3 (not the inside lane or lane 2 if it's 4 lanes), switch off any lane keeping assist too - and then you should be able to relax your grip on the steering and the car should run true and straight at 70 mph. Mine does and as far as I know the alignment hasn't been touched since it left the factory. If that is all OK then the issue is the rutted inside lane issue which I do experience to some extent too (all cars I have had experienced this, some worse than others). By the way, I see you are listed as living in Hampshire, don't do the above test on the M3 in Hampshire as that has a significant camber to the left and the car will tend to drift left a bit. Also the M27 isn't great as it has quite a few bends and camber too. The M4 in Berkshire is probably the best one to do the test on, especially the newly surfaced 4 lane section from J12 heading towards Reading. If there is any significant pull then I think the only course of action may be a visit to Lexus (in case it could be something in the suspension) or a reputable alignment specialist (in case the KwikFit alignment wasn't done correctly). Lexus can also do 4 wheel alignment too. Not sure what Lexus dealer is nearest to you but I have always used Lexus Reading for all work on my car (I purchased the car there too when it was 2 years old with 40K miles) and have no complaints. In fact I have asked them to check things in the past and they have reported back with no problems when they could have easily charged me for work.

I've used a Ring RTG6 (around £15) for some 5 years and found it accurate (for comparison have checked the TPMS sensors through an app on the OBD port) and it had some reviews saying it was accurate - but there are many others - just make sure you get a recognised brand and you shouldn't go too far wrong - or media like Auto Express often have comparisons of tyre pressure gauges that measure accuracy and so would guide you in the right direction. The tyre pressure gauges at garage forecourts often misread and also your tyres may not be cold by the time you get there (tyre pressures should always be measured cold - if it's unavoidable you do it when they are warm then you can about 3 psi extra to get close to what they will go back to when cold, but always better to do them cold). If I use a garage airline to add some air for any reason then I always check with my own gauge and so know from experience how far out garage forecourt ones can be sometimes...!

If that's a check (rather than changes being made) I would have thought it would be OK. In my experience tyres can play quite a part in how a car behaves. What tyres do you have on each wheel and how much tread is left on them and are any of them unusually worn. If the alignment had been done in the past on part worn tyres it can make the car behave strangely as the tyres are worn wrongly for the new alignment. Also tyre pressures play a big part though I'm sure you'll have checked those with a decent tyre pressure gauge (not down the local petrol station as they are often inaccurate).

When the car is over 5 years old (so qualifies for Lexus Essential Care) should be around £300 for discs and pads at front and a touch under £300 for discs and pads at rear (just pads is about half that but usually pads and discs are done together).