Sapphire Cam

Its related to the subbie, but to me it sounds like a loose parcel shelf. I had a bit of an issue a while back on that, and the technician at my next service tightened a few clips apparently and the buzz went away. If you are running everything 'factory' I would surprised that the subbie would 'blow', as the speaker system is matched to the amplifier and crossovers and therefore should ensure that the capacity of the speakers is enough to handle maximum output from the amp.

My five cents worth..... After running with Potenza's for the first 50k, my next set of tyres are now Bridgestone Turanzas (16"). If you're after pure performance I perhaps wouldn't be recommending, but for a good overall 'compromise' between wet grip, dry grip, noise and durability, they're not bad...and at about $190 each, they make a good cost-effective replacement. They came endorsed by my dealer. I actually rang my dealership and asked if I were to replace the Potenzas for around the $200/tyre cost (I paid $190 fitted and balanced at Bridgestone), they recommended these.

Of course your car is still under factory warranty. The registration and VIN will be on Lexus' database, so each vehicle and its service and repair history will be on Lexus' files. The factory warranty is 4 years from date of registration and is fully transferable with the vehicle. I purchased my 2006 Prestige through Melb City Lexus and the factory warranty is expiring in a few weeks. So for $2,000 ($1,830 + GST), I've extended the factory warranty a further three years (up to 150,000 kms in total - ie. once/if the vehicle goes over 150k, the warranty then expires). It's a full factory warranty, provided by Lexus Australia (not some 3rd party provider) but excludes Encore privileges (including roadside assistance) and interior trim materials. Other than that, its a full factory warranty for a period of 7 years as the warranty is transferable with the vehicle. Handy if/when the time comes to sell the vehicle. Not bad value I think for two grand. Not sure if its offered across all Lexus dealerships, but Id be guessing it would be available Australia-wide.

My front brake pads were replaced at 60,000kms (had about 5,000km left on them). The technician said that was above average - typical for the front pads is about 50k. For memory $280 for Lexus to supply and fit (during scheduled service). Rotors did not need machining. Rear brakes have not yet been replaced (now at 65k). I'm not much of a 'brake rider' either and will use to gears to assist a little in deceleration too from time to time.

If people are interested, they might want to alert their local Lexus dealer to Melbourne City Lexus' current offer on rear IS spoilers. Supplied for $299. http://www.citylexus.com.au/online-shop/accessories/is-250-rear-boot-spoiler.aspx

During my very first initial test drive, the dealer (who drove the car to begin with) held it in gear and I saw it red line (and the dial light up red) for about half a second - it can be done, not that Id be recommending it too often, but a rare instance of a short-duration redline wouldn't do any harm.

Thanks for the well wishes - dis-lex-sic. Yes the IS350 will be a ripper, and if it wasn't for me heading back to one income for the time being, Id probably look into one! I'll be interested to see what 'sweeteners' they put into the vehicle for us. Surely it will be more than just a bigger donk. Any ideas from other forum members? What has anyone learnt about what the 350 is offering in addition to 250? What's the story in the US for example?

There's not going to be big numbers of IS350's coming into Australia. So I doubt the market will be FLOODED with IS250's. You made me laugh with that one Left hand drive in Australia???? What are you smoking? Also IS250 won't be getting cheaper. Again with the Left hand Drive. At run out on the RX stock levels in Australia were very moderate compared to prevous runouts. Well at least you're consistant.....its all way off Not smoking anything mate - its called sleep deprivation from having a 4 week old baby in the house!!! Thanks for your consideration!! :) You might want to check the hundred or so other posts Ive made on this forum and see how 'way off' I am!? I think it was pretty obvious I meant RIGHT hand drive. And of course the introduction of the 350 will relatively speaking bring more 250s onto the s/hand market than was initially expected, and WILL impact re-sale, esp. if Lexus also discount the IS250 once the 350 arrives, which is expected. Simple economics - supply n demand. And if the demand is there, the 350s will keep coming. From all the statements coming from Lexus to date, I havent heard anything about limited production. The Toyota Motor Corporation are all about volume at the moment arent they?! And yes the recent RX runout was a bit of a farce and the glut of old stock lasted nearly 12 months. These exact words coming from two dealerships (Melbourne and Blackburn). Guess both dealers must be "all way off" - as you put it.

It will be fascinating to see what they do with the pricing. It wont be good for the resale of our IS250s either way. People with the money to upgrade to the 350 will flood the market with 250s, and you'd expect the 250's will be given a form of 'runout' pricing, with an 'all-new' model expected (from what Ive heard) in late 2012. I think the ulterior motive of getting the 350 into Australia is to help with the runout of LHD stock. Australia has the most buoyant vehicle market of any left-hand drive market in the world. And by upping the volumes of IS's being sold with the 350 and a cheaper 250, it not only gets the volumes up, but raises the interest in Lexus, especially for drivers in that 80-90k budget who are looking for some performance - the guys who might go for a 325/330 or A4 Quattro, or C280 or Alfa Brera. That would also set them up for greater interest in the all-new IS range. And Lexus will be desparate to avoid the disaster they had with the RX runout - where they had far too much LHD stock to move and to offer ridiculous driveaway costs, 0% finance offers and the like.

Would be very interesting to do a price comparison, and see what the dealers 'mark up' is. The only benefit of going thru the dealer (if it is the same unit) is you'd get more 'grace' on workmanship/materials warranty etc. I never actually use my iPod unless on long trips. Sick of fiddling with the unit whilst driving (and I find more dangerous than anything to do with a mobile phone). So i dont bother anymore - unless the missus is with me and she can drive the iPod. Great tip 'dis-lex-sic' on the USB port. Given memory sticks are so damn cheap these days (you'll see 4Gb for $10 in bargain bins at Officeworks/Dick Smith etc.) Just leave it in the glove box and essentially have a hard drive music system. You would think this will be standard kit in the 2012 IS.

Here's another option - through your Lexus dealer... Unsure of the cost, so the Vasitech version might be the affordable option, but if people are serious about it, and looking at options, have a chat to your dealer. http://www.citylexus.com.au/online-shop/accessories/i-pod-integrated-system.aspx

"IS" used to mean "Inline Six" from what I'd heard from a dealer, even though the 200 had a '4' in it. But since the vehicle now has a V6 and no longer an Inline/Straight 6, I believe Lexus now say the IS is "Intelligent Sports". But I'm sure half a dozen people have other ideas. Be curious as to what they might be.

I have windscreen cover through RACV for about $45 a year (from memory, but its around that). I got a chip which gradually got a little bit bigger. Not to the point of a 'spider' or anything like that, but I lodged a claim with RACV (asked for a Lexus windscreen to be replaced - they will fit an after-market if you don't ask), then gave my Lexus dealer my claim number booked in a time later that week and they fitted a authentic Lexus windscreen at the dealership. No paperwork, no excess, no sweat! Based on this experience, I cannot stress the value of getting windscreen cover in your insurance policy, especially for vehicles that have expensive replacement parts. The good thing with the authentic windscreen is that you get a fresh set of seals and metal strips throughout. From my understanding you dont with the after-market.

Spot on guys....'orange' is preset by the user, 'red' cannot be preset and is factory set at 200km/h and 6000 RPM. A real pity that you cant set the red yourself, because I would love the red to kick in and say 110 km/h or something. Cevu will have to let us all know how you get preset the red. I've asked my dealer twice, and they've said it can't be done.

As a rule of thumb, the A/C will take about 10% of available power away from the engine. Claimed 0-100 for the IS250 from my understanding is 8.1sec - miles in front of an equivalently priced German (I think 11+ sec for the 320i!) The acceleration response with the IS250 engine is quite different - its very linear, in the fact that you might not get the initial zip from 0-30km/h, but you wont get the 'labour' that many cars get from 70-100km/h. The IS will just keep accelerating. This is probably typical of a heavy car - needs a bit to get it up 'on the plane', and then it takes off! So I will get done by any tin-can local Falcodore from start at the lights, but will match a WRX once at speed (not that that's what I do! Im not that type of driver - unless the 'hero' in the WRX is trying to box me in before a lane ends!) That is what I find scary with the vehicle. Im stuck behind a truck in a 70 zone doing 50-55, plant the foot to get away, and before I know it in a matter of 2 sec Im doing over 90! It does have a heap of toe at speed, far more than the lighter tin-can local 6's that I occasionally drive as a hire car. If Lexus put a different transmission in (the auto I understand is more 'mated'/geared to the IS350 - mid 5sec to 100km/h) to be better geared towards the smaller engine, it would be interesting to see what kind of acceleration improvements they might get off the mark. But I didn't buy the IS to be a 'speed demon hoon' around town. That I could've done with less than half the money.

From what Ive heard.....no Lexus vehicles affected globally. Full stop. Incidentally a Colleague of mine had a stuck acceleerator on his IS200 about 8 years ago or so.

Im in Melbourne - and we've had them for years, and nearly caused me to have an accident last week. Had someone right up my tail approaching an intersection with this type of camera. I was doing just under 70km/h in a 70 zone (wary of the camera ahead), Then the light turns amber. Either I speed up to get through on amber and get fined, I stay at the same speed and run the risk of entering on the red (fine), or I slam on the brakes and nearly get a Commodore kissing my back seat! Chose the latter and heard the 'squelch of fear' behind me - fortunately he pulled up in time. Sometimes the cameras cause more danger on the road than they're meant to alleviate. Word of warning - if you are already in the intersection waiting to turn right with one of these cameras (ie. blacked out arrow), and the light turns red, you have 1.7 seconds to complete your turn, otherwise you're deemed to have entered on the red (and fined), even though you may've been sitting there for 30 seconds waiting for the light to go red to make your turn. Too bad if traffic travelling in the other direction runs the red and holds you up! Another example of idealistic bureaucrats with too much thinking time working at VicRoads, RTA etc.

I too am dissappointed in the number of stone chips too. Mind you my car is nudging 4 years old now and is a dark duco (Sapphire Blue) which does accentuate the chips. Ive done some cotton bud the hairdryer then cut n polish to repair them - to varying success. And yes I even have a couple of chips on the side of the vehicle (over front wheel arch and on the door just in front of the mirror). I would think it just depends on how much highway driving you do. I only get chips when Im on the open road on day or weekend trips into rural Victoria. You're not going to get stone chips crawling along at 30km'h in Sydney or Melbourne traffic, but at 110 km/h behind ANY vehicle, but especially a heavy vehicle, they're inevitable. Front stone chips are on the increase across the industry based on three things (and this is according to a detailer friend I know and a VicRoads engineer).... 1. Generally softer duco used on cars today. 2. Asphalt companies are moving towards coarser aggregate on highways to cut costs when sealing long stretches of road - so when aggregate becomes loose, when flicked up each stone has more potential for duco damage 3. Less and less vehicles now have mudguards these days, resulting in more airborne material. Anyway there's my 5 cents worth. Its a frustrating issue, and not sure what can be done. There are mobile 'touch up' businesses out there that do an ok job and aren't too expensive that could sort out a few of the worse ones for you.

The only thing with respect to varying idle speed I've heard from the technicians is if the A/C is on and you're idling (whether in traffic, at the lights or pulling up to stop), and the RPM might drop down to about 500, but then the computer gives it a little kick start. This is nothing unusual I've heard - however your issue sounds a little more exaggerated. Get it looked at.

I've heard that the Lexus batteries that come out of the factory with the vehicle can last up to 7 years (subject to a whole heap of ifs and buts) so its a little surprising that's it gone dead. Modern car batteries rarely give you any sign that they're about to go. One day they're fine, the next they're dead. The warning message on the das that Danslex talks about, I thought was only related to the battery in the key fob. Definitely worth a call to your dealership however.

I just got an 'off the shelf' written quote from Melb City Lexus for a 3 year/100,000 km full extended warranty for my IS250 - $2,240. Same coverage as the 4-yr factory warranty, minus interior trim. Reckon you possibly could negotiate a little cheaper - maybe in the new year when things are generally quieter at dealerships.

I got a set of Lexus factory sensors installed in my Prestige (prior to pick up - was ex. demo), as part of my purchase. They have worked faultlessly for years - unlike stories you hear with "off the shelf" sets. See what your dealer charges for installation of the factory sensors - I think its about $500.

Easy, easy thing to do yourself. Lexus will charge $30 to do it I think, but you can do it in a couple of minutes - just follow the manual instructions. The battery type (don't quote me on this) is a CR1632, which is a little rare, but some Dick Smith stores may have it in stock. I looked far and wide for the battery type actually, and found it as standard stock at 'Battery World' (franchise of battery stores - Im pretty sure they are national). I got a twin pack (Panasonic brand) I think for about $7.

These personalised options are available from '05 right through to today. They may have added some more to the 08 upgrade. The Owners Manual states what you can and can't do with settings re. interior lighting, doors, windows, delay times etc. There is a factory default, and a personalised option/s with each of these. Just check your manual. As for changing these yourself, some can be done yourself - others you'll need to put a request into your dealer.

Don't want to come across as a wowser - but there will be ramifications to your Lexus warranty, and your insurance policy I would think as well. Best to make a couple of well placed phone calls before major modifications to your suspension - particularly as the performance of the suspension would indirectly impact upon traction control, ABS and stability control functions on the vehicle.