bartkat

I think I'd try another dealer. Seems to me the car ought to have a rev limiter which should prevent over reving to the point of destruction. I suppose dumping the clutch at high revs might to it, but the clutch plates should show some signs of damage as well. Don't know for sure your driving style, but if you're not just downshifting at high revs and letting the clutch out too soon, I don't see all that damage no matter how the fly wheel is constructed. If it's designed to protect the transmission I would think the threshold would still be pretty high. Stuff like that doesn't get torn up in routine driving.

I have the Conti Extreme Contacts on my IS350. When I went Ohio last month there was freezing rain. The streets and roads were icy. I just took it a lot slower starting and stopping and had no problems. VDIM kicked in on turns a couple of times, straightened the car out quicker than I could and just kept on going.

Lots of people use Mobil 1 without any problems. It's your choice but that should do just fine.

Yep, the title just about sums it up.

Please try to be patient. There's not a lot of traffic here, especially on the weekends. Pehaps you'd get more activity in General Discussion forum. Just a thought.

I don't think anything is legal in California.

Thank you bartkat! Do you also own an IS 350? You seem very knowledgeable on the topics.... Yep. I got the first one come into Hunsville in Oct of 2005.

$650 for 30K maintanence seems outrageously high!! Why does the brake fluid need to be changed at 30K???? Why can't the cabin air filter could go longer? Brake fluid is precautionary as it can pick up moisture and lead to component corrosion. I change the cabin filter whenever I think it needs it. That's one of those YMMV items.

Just leave it on, and it will go out when you close the lid. I believe the switch only has two postions, off and come on automatically.

You're right about one thing.

Buy the filters from irontoad.com for less than half what the dealer chargs.

60 miles away pickup service was pretty rare I'd say. I drive to the dealer and they give me a loaner if it's going to be very long.

Disconnect the negative black wire for 10 min or more. YOu don't need to pump brakes. This puts your ECU to the original default settings. Reconnect and go out and drive round town a while and then on highway awhile varying your speeds.

Search for navigation hack. I think there are some for 96 models.

I would never downsize from the OEM tires.

I did oil change and all the filters myself. I had Lexus do the brake fluid flush and inspection. Cost me $95 for the dealer part.

Isn't the Mercedes E a midsize car while the IS is a compact? There's a trick to getting in the back seat of a 2nd gen IS. I do it every time I clean the back window or the seat leather.

I had the front brake pad TSB done at 17,000 miles and the rotors were in fine shape. No mention of even resurfacing. They're still in great shape.

There's no logical reason to debate this and no reason to test it. It's a known fact.

Lexus OEM low dust front pads. $49.95 each. http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/parts_detail.asp?id=90160 Other brake parts. Found everything exept rotors. Front http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/assembly....06&year=168 Rear http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/assembly....06&year=168 I don't know what all they intend to replace but I can't see $800 in parts. I expect the Goodyear guy buys the parts from the dealer at a small discount. That's not the way to go.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...intenance+light

Continental Extreme Contacts give a good ride and long mileage at a good price. I tried mine in some freezing rain this week and they did really well. I like them much better than the OE tires on my IS350

They probably have them at parts stores where they sell tint and stuff like that.

It's not an easy project. Some professional installers even do a not so good job. I'd suggest going to one of the manufacturer's sites and find an authorized installer in your area. That way the job and the material should be guaranteed.

The kits usually come with one.