wrxhoon

I will have mine for sale in the next week or two when my new car arrives. Bought new in September 2013 sport luxury, silver/black interior 53k ks .The car is as new, never damaged or painted. I'm in Sydney pm if interested. 

You won't get import approval unless the car is 30 years old as they are sold new here. 

It depends on your driving style, can be very frugal in stop start compared to none hybrids, not a lot of difference on the open road to another car with similar size engine. On a loan IS300h when I picked the car was showing 5/100 after about 100 k's she went up to 9/100. Take one for a drive you may not like it because they feel funny.

I think you will find the IS350 is good for 13 second pass, I don't know what the GS will do.

Your headlights are always clean no reason to go on.

You will find the tyre speed rating and size in your cars placard.

For your info my IS350 has 225x40x18" front and 255x35x18" rear , identical to my old BM335I.

I'm ex 335I owner.

If you like driving, handling and turbo power go the BM at the expense of much higher maintenance, oil leaks etc...

I prefer the BMW's handling, ZF gearbox because the converter is always locked, and the turbo power.

On paper the is350 has more power and should be at least as quick but in reality it is slower, BM goes around corners a little more neutral than IS.

The H/light washers look stuppid on the IS.

On the plus side much cheper with many more features some you can't even get as an option on the German car ( well not German built, SA built).

The leather is much better on the Jap car unless you option up the BM, fit and finish better on the Jap, service way better on the Jap.

Over 4-5 years ownership Lexus will cost much less but you don't have the propeller on the grill.

Why not go to your local BM dealer and ask them to give one for a long test and do the same with the Lexus, You can be the judge.

If fuel consumption is an issue buy the BM, lexus uses at least 10 maybe 15% more fuel..

Both good cars , you will be happy with either.

Let us know what you end up with.

I replaced my 335I with a 350 sport luxury, very happy with the choice.

Service from Lexus is outstanding even well after you part with your money they even give me a free car wash once a month for as long as I own the car.

I would assume they are much more reliable than the Germans, much more features for a lot less money.

I have to say I prefer to drive the BM, she was quicker and better handling car but the IS is not far behind.

As for discounts, I don't know about VIC but you can get good discount in Sydney, I bought mine when they first came out and still got a hefty discount off the normal retail price.

Don't trade your current car, sell it on carsales.

Good outcome, how is the colour?

Before you decide on the aftermarket warranty make sure you read all the fine print so you know what it covers and the limits poer item if any.

I have seen some warranties that have so many exclusions and limits , they are not worth it.

If you are concernd that the car uses a lot of oil why not have a compression and a leakdown test done before you buy . Leakdown test will show the condition of pistons and rings as well as valves, a comp test will not show if rings are a little warn because the oil takes up the slack and you can have perfect copm but slightly warn piston rings .

Of course you can expect some maintenance issues with a 6 yo car and anything you do on these cars is not cheap, that goes for any luxury car, like on the above post $2k for a water pump!

Well you can't get anything from a bankrupt !!

I don't know why you would take your car to a jo-blows car wash.

I can get one free cae wash per month from my Lexus dealer as long as I own the car, thye do it while I'm having free coffee on them. I don't intend to use their service, I prefer to wash her myself.

Insurance already told me there will be no excess payable and they took the carwash details.

I'm not concerned,.

If thats the case well and good.

Taking someone to fair trading is a pain and it doesn't mean you'll get your money even if you win.

Fair trading judgement is final and binding on all parties.

Putting it through insurance, they can deal with them.

I wouldn't go through insurance if I was you, they may just not bother with the carwash and you will end up paying excces and may loose your no claim bonus, very costly!

Get a letter from Lexus to say in their opinion it was damaged by using acid, armed with this ask ( in writting) the carwash to pay for them to be repaired, DON'T give the wheels to them to repair.

If they refuse or don't reply your next step is fair trading, it will only cost you $50 for the claim.

Your only other option is a Lexus warranty claim, assuming its still under warranty.

Good luck and let us know how you go .

I don't get it with you guys.

Lexus servicing is 12 months or max 15000 kms, that is dealer servicing and it doesn't mean you don't have to do other ( none dealer) stuff yourself or if you don't like to get your hands dirty get someone else to do it .

These include but not limited to:

Check oil level on a weekly basis,

Check tyre pressures on a weekly basis:

Check engine coolant level.

Windscreen washer fluid level.

Check all lights :

I'm sure if you read your book all the above and more will be listed there .

DON'T wait to get an oil warning to check the level, what if something fails and you don't get the warning? Goddbye engine!!

Just because you have to top up the oil it doesn't mean you need to change it more often, sure do it if you want or if you lots of hard driving, very short trips etc.. and always after a track day.

The quility of oils these days is so that you can have 15 ks and 12 months service, not the case 30 years ago, some Euros specify 25 k k's service under normal conditions, I don't think I would let oil in my engine for 25 k's unless I was driving 1000 ks per week on the freeway.

Oil use is not unique to Toyotas, all engines will and should use some oil, it's normal, some will use more than others, a lot depends on how hard you drive them too.

ecceptable.

I don't know about Lexus IS250 but on most cars when the oil light goes on (if it measures level) the oil level is a little bellow the low mark.

The only sure way to tell how much oil you are using is this:

Park the car on a level ground say in your garage, turn the engine off, wait 10 minutes, pull the dipstick out and wipe it, put the dipstick back in pull it out and check the level. Should be right on the full mark , if not add oil to bring it to the top mark.

Do the same again after you do say 1000 km and note the difference, keep doing this every 1000 km, when the level goes down halfway between the low and high marks add half a lt and see if this will take it to the full mark, if not add a little more until it gets to the full mark. This is the only way to measure oil consumption ( or fuel for that matter).

NEVER wait for the light to go on regardless if it measures oil level as well as oil pressure, doing so you are living dangersously, I'm sure if you read the owners manual it will tell to regularly check oil, thats normal with all cars. It's a sad fact these days that some cars don't have a dipstick and rely in electronic means to measure oil level ( more and more as time goes on) because of lazy owners/drivers.

Some people never lift their bonnets, some don't even know how to), they wait for the annual service to get their washer bottle to be topped up!!

Whats more some cars have 25k k's service intervals !!!

Years ago we never had any oil consumption issues because we had 2000 km service intervals, then 5000, then 10000 and so on, suddenly we have oil consumption issues.

As to the brand of oil you use, it makes no difference its more the viscosity and quility of oil you use and most manufacturers have all.

I wasn't refering to the actual built date of his car, I was refering to when the car was first in the market, that's almost 10 years , a lot of things change in that time.

Do you own your car now? If not Is that figure on the top of what you are paying now? If it is that is a lot of $$$$.

That will depend on the exchange figure. You have a very old car there almost 10 years old , the new car is much, much , much................. better car and going from a bottom spec to the F-sport is an upgade in itself.

Why not take one for a drive do the sums and then decide, thats what I would do.

Hi folks,

Glad there is an existing post about this..

My 07 IS250 just gave me another warning light, so I might change back to Castrol Edge 5w30.

I'm not an expert, so please go easy on me. Here is what I found:

20/07/13, 155,755km: Oil changed, filter was not changed to Nulon 5w30 full synthetic (first time changing oil. Thought belt type universal oil wrenches would do the trick after draining old oil out). Old oil was Castrol Edge 5w30. Since last oil change: 14,826km, 10 months (NOTE: this was achieved on an oil purchase of 10L, and after filling up the car, the remaining oil was topped up).

21/11/13, 120,598km: Oil and filter changed, again using Nulon 5w30 full synthetic. Since last oil change: 4,843km, 4 months.

08/02/13, 123,689km: Now hunting for oil again. Since last oil change: 3,091km, under 3 months.

On average, it seems that Nulon is only giving me around 662km/Lt only, compared to 1,483km/Lt offered by the Castrol.

I'm going to try Castrol again, and if I still get that problem, there might be something terribly wrong with my car =(

Your maths don't add up, obviously you made a mistake with the k's on 20/7/13, my guess 105 755 km ? So you change the oil after 14826 km I assume you used the balance of 10lts for top up right? Assuming you used 5ltrs? on the change you added another 5 in 15 k ks that to me means you used 1lt per 3000 km. Not an unresonable ( a little high) consumption.

On the last oil change you done 3000 ks and the level is down by 1-1.5 lts again consistant with the previous use.

Sorry to say but going on your maths I'm not sure you filled it to the correct level, did you check?

My observations, you think that there is no oil in the engine when the oil light goes on hence your opinion she used one lt per 662 km. WRONG, if there is no oil in the engine she will not last one minute!!!

I don't know about your car but in most cars the oil light is not oil level warning its low oil pressure warning, its there to warn you to stop the engine so you won't stuff it, you can have full oil and the light goes on ( not saying this is your case) i=f there is a problem and the pressure drops, in your case the pressure dropped because the level is low, very dangerous .

If you read your ownwers manual you will find it tells you you have to check the oil level regularly and top up when the level drops on the low mark on the dipstick, usually 1-1.5 lts between the two marks ( I don't know what it is on your car, I don't even know the oil capacity for your car, I know my 350 is over 6 lts, yours could be the same?).

I make sure my cars oli level is always at the top of the dipstick or very close to it, I also know the usage on all my cars so I don't even need to check the oil every week. You should do the same check every week and top up as soon as she goes halfway down between the high and low mark.

I am still a bit sceptical on how an abrasive i.e 1200- 1500 grit can make plastic as clear as new, Polish maybe.

I don't think you understand, when you finish with the 1500 you have to polish it off with compound, the compound with take oof the fine scratches the sandpaper leaves.

Much the same as you do with cars paint, cut back and then buff.

The end result is mirror like finish.

I think you could have a problem, something is discharging your battery.

Is the car driven daily? Are you doing very short trips? If you have a multimeter keep checking the battery before you start the car and note the voltage readings.

I'm sure the NRMA guy would have checked the charging system in your car.

I can't see how the NRMA load checked the battery, you can't do that unless the battery is fully charged.

wrxhoon......

Please tell me what you would have done to fix scratched plastic as I am quite interested to know .

That would depend on the extend of the scratches, very light ones would just polish off with a fine compound ( machine much easier than hand). Deep scratches may require rubbing with sandpaper, again depending on the scratches as to what grade you use , you may have to start with 320 and finish with 1200-1500. I have seen even glass polished that way.

Cluster is very small and wouldn't take long to polish.

Scratched plastic is near impossible to make clear again....

I totally disagree with you but I don't know if he wants to fix his own or buy another for $100, I know what I would have done in his shoes.

You can make it look like new again .

Look at the owners manual. Normal consumption is one litre per 1000kms.

The sumps on today's cars, including Lexus, are very small....about 5 litres. So if you don't check the oil regularly it may run very low. Certainly a few times between services to be safe.

Definitely not normal consumption 1lt per 1000 km, if any of my new cars were using that much oil under normal driving conditions ( not racing at full rpm around the track) I wouldn't be happy and I would be asking for another car. However one lt per 5-10 k k's is normal.

The reason car nanufacturers say up to 1 lt per 1000 km is to cover themselvesfor the above conditions.

Chip 51,

If you want you can buy up to 8 cars for the price of one IS350!!

Not everyone wants to drive a Rolla ( nothing wrong with them) or a Hyundai I 20, Suzuki Alto etc... some people pay $100s of thousands for one car, others pay $12 k, each to their own.