Vynson

I test drove the desert sage metallic... the green color. It's truly beautiful in the sunlight. But the smokey granite mica with black interior won me over.

I've had my is250 for almost a year now and the brake dust on the front rims is a neverending PITA. But one I have gotten used to. I bought a decent lugnut brush and some "Mothers" wheel cleaner and I give my rims a good brushing before I go through the weekly laser wash. Still, 2 days later and the dust is back.

I'm not taking my car apart since it's a lease. However, I found a cleverly designed power plug at comp usa (I believe it's by Monster) that has a low profile design with the wire coming out the side of the adapter plug rather than the top so that I can easily close my console. It also has interchangeable tips so that I can charge a variety of electronic devices from cell phones to ipods to my rio carbon, etc. I notice that when I charge my rio while it is playing, I get some kind of interference noise. I thought this was inherrent to the rio which has had feedback issues anyway due to the metal body and a flawed insulation issue at the headset plug. My daughter's ipod nano, on the other hand, sounds fantastic (except. of course, for the actual music itself, but that's a matter of taste). I would like to be able to control it from the steering wheel buttons, but really, how big a deal is it to pick a playlist and head out? Besides, the stereo will play mp3 cds. 6 of those loaded up is a lot of music, all at the control of your steering wheel buttons.

It's my understanding that the next gen transponder will be about the size of a credit card. It doesn't have a traditional key at all, but will allow you to operate the car based on proxemity just as the smart keys do. I don't know if it will have buttons like a smart key, but frankly I never take my key out of my pocket. I can open the doors, the trunk, and start the car without it... and even lock it with the doorhandle lock buttons. So I don't care about the buttons and if they can offer a smaller, wallet-friendly "key" then I would be for it. I like the idea of only needing my wallet when I leave the house. Um... which would, of course, mean that I need one of these for my house too so I don't have to carry a house key. Damn. :)

I have a Samsung A920 from Sprint. Works great in my IS 250 and my RX 330.

I was offered the IS250 in several of those colors. The trick is getting the color you want with the Nav and Luxury packages, where it becomes rare. I opted to not rush it and after a few weeks got exactly the car I wanted with the colors I wanted... SGM over Black and with Nav and Lux. I love my car. I'm very happy. And another issue a lot of people had with the bluetooth was quite simple to figure out. I love Lexus. Can't wait to see what's next.

Buy vs. Lease. Always buy appreciating commodities. Buy a house. Buy a classic collector car. But with a depreciating commodity, a purchase is not a given. In fact, if you want to keep a late model sedan under your butt, leasing is a smarter option. If you want to pay it off and be without a payment for a few years, fine, buy... but at the rate they're adding bells and whistles, a driver who wishes to keep new wheels is better off leasing.

Lexus provides what appears to be a subdued pallet, but when you see these colors on the car, you realize that, while subtle, they are far more attractive than the impression you get from print ads or the internet site. I test drove a Desert Sage IS. You have to see this color in person to appreciate its beauty. I loved the color, but it is rare and the arrival time much longer than other colors. I liked the Desert Sage over Cashmere, but it was my second choice. My first choice was the Smokey Granite Mica over black. Which I took delivery on Thursday morning and was stunned at how beautiful the car is. Wow! The black interior has just enough metallic and wood trim to offset the darkness. I absolutely love it. And the SGM is like gun metal. Great color. Dark, but with more depth than flat black.