wharfhouse

If I recall correctly the Luxury didn't have nav as standard in the earlier model years though it was an option but you may have one without nav?

Yes I'm with you on that - a SUV 4x4 may be the way for me to go in a few years as we may make some significant lifestyle changes then but at the moment just doesn't make any sense.

I'd planned to buy the face-lift (ver IV) IS 300h on release - had the pennies ready - but then Lexus in its infinite wisdom decided it didn't want my pennies. Thought about changing for another current IS 300h but having bought the current car for cash didn't seem worth all the cost to replace it with what would be pretty much the same car - so decided to keep my money and have some cheap motoring for a few more years whilst we see what delights the move towards zero emissions brings!

Only just seen this - I have a Pixel 6 which I have connected to my 2014 reg IS 300h which has the standard (non premium) nav. All works OK just the same as it did with my Pixel 4.

I really like the idea of the Toyota Mirai and hydrogen fuel cells. Unfortunately I just don't see the UK getting a hydrogen infrastructure in place even though there is already a petrol/diesel one that you would have thought it would be easier to piggyback onto that adding a whole new electric charging one. With such short-sighted non-technical governments (of any persuasion) the country is IMHO being led forward by ill-informed pressure groups. But back to Lexus vs Toyota...!

I purchased my IS 300h as a follow on to many years of German (mainly BMW) cars. I wanted something different as I had become "bored" of BMWs so was looking for something left field with a notable on the road different look - something a bit more "unique". However, reliability was also a key feature (as I use my car for business too) which ruled out a few of the other left field choices. The idea of a hybrid had also appealed to me for some time as well. After a day test drive, the IS 300h fit the bill perfectly and I bought one the very next day. I had also considered many other brands (including Toyota) but IMHO the IS 300h was much more than the sum of its parts. This is a difficult thing to put into words but I just didn't feel the same about the other cars I considered even though many of them had some appealing features. However, in buying Lexus it did swing my thoughts when my wife needed a new small car (mostly local use whereas my car does long distances for business and family outings) and we purchased a Toyota Yaris for her - yes, we could have gone for the CT 200h for example but in her case the Yaris was the better fit. So, IMHO it's all about horses for courses. When I come to change the IS 300h, given there is no natural Lexus replacement, I will be taking another look at what is on the market again at that time and will choose the best fit for my needs at that time. After 5 years and 70K miles I have been mightily impressed with the IS 300h which has certainly lived up to and even exceeded my expectations (being more than the sum of its parts) - so much so that I don't want to part with it at the moment especially given the lack of a natural Lexus IS successor. On paper (or even in the head) a Toyota would make good sense when I change (for many of the reasons we purchased the Yaris), but I just don't get the vibes from any current Toyota I had for the IS 300h. Will Lexus have something that ticks all those boxes again when I change, time will tell... Buying a car can of course be a completely rational pros and cons exercise - after all they all get you from A to B, but sometimes the heart also needs to have a vote which if allowed can lead one down a different path that can't so easily rationalised...

As John says above there are some changes in the new 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty you have been quoted compared to the previous Extended Warranty - I've just taken the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty on my car and so detailed on another thread the differences I found - for me still worth it - see below.

Glad that the Captain Tolley’s has hopefully helped - I know of the product from sealing leaks on yachts so can vouch that it does work. You can reapply a number of times to build up a "plug" although if the gap is too big it will never build up enough to seal it - it's more for fine cracks that are often hard to seal with the usual sealants (at least without making something of a mess) by working it's way down fine cracks through capillary action. Based on these threads I think I will check in my boot to see if I have any leaks - haven't had any dripping in the boot that I can recall but will have a look around the battery and puncture repair kit!

Has the car had a Hybrid Health Check in the last 12 months / 10,000 miles - if so then (assuming it had passed) the battery would be covered under the Hybrid Warranty which is "With each Hybrid Health Check, you receive an extra 1 year or 10,000 mile (whichever comes sooner) hybrid battery warranty extension, until your vehicle is 15 years old" - see: https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/hybrid-health-check

In the past with non-hybrid cars I have found making the connection for the jump start and leaving it in place for a short while starts the dead car more reliably than trying to start it immediately. Maybe the same for hybrids - leave the jump start battery connected for a while for things to stabilise and some power flowing into the dead battery before pressing the Power button?

I wonder if it suits the hybrids better for some reason given they run with the Atkinson cycle? I have noticed the biggest increase when the car is in the 40mph - 60mph type of roads but even on Monday this week when I did 150+ miles in rather a rush on dual carriageway and motorway (i.e. using strong acceleration to take advantage of when gaps emerged in traffic to make quicker progress than I would normally do) then compared to when I have done the same journey in the same manner of driving I was still close to 10% better mpg than I would have achieved previously.

Interesting that there does seem to be a few of us in that case.

I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing an improvement as i thought I must be missing something...! I am looking at the data from the car computer both for individual journeys (especially those I do frequently) and for overall mpg on each refiil of the car.

Ok - so I am going to put this out there. I have a 2014 reg IS 300h with ~108,000 miles on it. Since the introduction of E10 fuel I had been expecting to see a worsening fuel consumption given the fact that the energy density of ethanol is less than petrol - the general consensus predicted probably a couple of mpg down on the old E5. However, since the change to E10 I have found my fuel consumption has actually improved... I have held off posting this until I really was sure, but after more than two thousand miles on E10 comparing like for like journeys, speed and driving conditions, in addition to filling up in the same place as previously (Sainsburys), I am certain that the fuel consumption is conservatively 5% better - could actually be more. Now I know that doesn't make sense according to the science, but it is what I am seeing. My only thoughts are that the refinery has done something with the blend of the E10 fuel that is different to the old E5. Has anyone else noticed anything similar or different?

Prices seem to be all over the place at the moment - within a few miles of each other around our way petrol stations are 10p a litre difference between cheapest and most expensive (this is in normal town setting - on the motorway significantly more difference than that). No logical reason whatsoever except profiteering.

Just kicking the can down the road...

I was confused on this but on looking it up it used to be case the "luxury tax" applied to electric cars over £40k but it was scrapped in 2020 so zero emission cars now pay no road tax at all regardless of their purchase price (not sure if that applies to pre 2020 models though). This is expected to continue for the next few years (to be read as once we start and see reduced tax takes due to enough people buying a zero emission car we'll wop those with a tax too... In the meantime we'll squeeze everyone else as hard as we can until they do what we say...)

I've just renewed the tax on my IS 300h - £10 for the year - I am lucky to be in that window when hybrids had virtually no road tax (2014 reg car) 😊

I generally stick with whatever the OEM is for the car. There is IMHO not a lot to choose between the major brands these days. Had quite a few different brands across different cars that were OEM fit and always been happy with them. Since my Lexus dealer is cheaper than any of the tyre centres around us I always go there now and get new OEM ones fitted. I do think that some of the improvement some people feel when they fit a different tyre is down to them being new tyres - they are always quieter and a more complaint ride than the same make of old worn tyres which have perhaps <3mm tread and have hardened somewhat with age. Very difficult to be subjective unless you are swapping like for like tyres based on tread depth and age. As always YMMV.

Depending on the severity of the leak, if you determine where the water is getting through it could be worth trying Captain Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure. It works by capillary action and gets well into a gap before setting.

IMHO I think you are over-thinking the technology. You said you left the lights on which had largely drained the battery when you got back to the car but there was still enough power to open the car and as you say light the dashboard but dimly and then it all went out and the 12V battery could not get the car into Ready mode. Being able to do this a few times makes sense as every time the battery needs to deliver a bit more than it has left when it tries to finally get into Ready mode it does the same thing. Seems like a pretty typical nearly flat battery response and you would have eventually not even have been able to get the lights on the dash if you had continued longer. As I said in an earlier reply, I had the exact same thing happen in a normal ICE car (not hybrid) - I had left the headlights on and when I got back I could open the car and dashboard lights came on but couldn't start the car. However, after turning off the offending lights and left the car standing for around 20 minutes I was able to just crank over the engine enough to get it to start. If a 12V battery can recover enough to crank an ICE I'm sure that in a hybrid it can recover enough to boot the computers fully and get to Ready mode as that requires significantly less power. I have spoken to others with ICE cars (not hybrid) and they have experienced similar to myself, if the battery has flattened for something like leaving lights on, turn everything off and leave it for a while and there is a chance the battery will recover enough to crank the engine and start it. The time this likely won't work is if left for a long time (like days/weeks) and/or it is a small parasitic drain that has totally flattened the battery and for example the central locking isn't working and no lights at all on the dash. Personally I carry one of the glovebox jump start battery packs just in case - not had to use it on my car yet though I did use it once to help a van driver (not hybrid but a diesel) with a flat battery (as couldn't give him a jump start from my hybrid) and as it started his van I'm confident it will start my hybrid.

On my service plan I also get discounts at Lexus for MoTs and parts (can be maintenance such as tyres and wipers or for repairs - BTW Lexus always undercut the local tyre dealers in my area) which all adds up over the years. I am not sure whether this discount is specific to my dealer and the service plan I signed with them or across all Lexus service plans as it's not mentioned on the Lexus website so worth asking if you are thinking of getting a service plan.

My understanding is that even if the hybrid battery says it is empty on the car display it still has at least 20% charge and probably before that the ICE would have kicked in so it's virtually impossible to discharge the traction battery to a point it can't start the ICE (as above it's the traction battery that uses one of the electric motors to start the ICE and not the 12V battery).

From the website, depending on when in 2019 the car was registered and assuming less than 10,000 miles a year it will either be £435 (for 2 year 20K miles) or £235 (for 3 year 30K miles). The 5K miles is immaterial as if less than 10K miles a year then you have to do an annual service anyway.

As above - if you are looking at Lexus franchised dealers just check the Lexus website for prices - Lexus Vehicle Servicing & Maintenance | Lexus UK - scroll down the page and select your model to see each of the annual / 10K services for the 10 years / 100K miles. If your Lexus dealer is quoting more than this show them the website, or go elsewhere: LEXUS SERVICE PRICING Our Lexus Service Pricing covers all the services required on your Lexus during the course of its life. The price includes any labour required, genuine parts and VAT. No need to shop around With transparency in mind, you’ll pay exactly the same competitive price at any participating Lexus Centre on vehicles of all ages. Prices start from £235 on certain models. Life-long care for your Lexus From the Intermediate at 10,000 miles right through to the Full 100 at 100,000 mile and beyond, services include inspection items, adjustments and replacement of lubricants and filters at the specified time and mileage.