tex2670

where is your 2nd key? could it be in the car or trunk? the car wont lock if the key is inside.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm married and have a 3 yr old, so I'm not concerned about adults in the back, just 1, possibly 2 car seats. My only concern for adults, is like maybe once every 6 mo if we have to drive with my wife's family and another short person needs to get back there. (Everyone in our families are short). Nav: I'd like to get it, since I have it on the TSX, but I really don't use it that much. I like how all the audio controls are on the touch screen etc. Plus MPG info, past fill up MPG history, predicted range etc. I dont know if the lexus one has all of those featuers. I'd also like to get an extended warranty, I don't think I could swing both, so I'd have to pick one over the other. I love the finish of the TSX, i'll hold judgment until I test drive the Lexus. Anyone bought a lexus via the Costco program? Another question: I read some review of the IS250 from England, and they get real time traffic info on their nav? Does the IS here in the US get that? I do not have Costco, but I do have AAA. They did not have a special price. My insurance co has a price negotiations service, but when I told them the price I had (about $700 over dealer invoice), they said that they could not do any better--they shoot for Edmunds True Market Value Price. Nav does not offer Nav Traffic. If I were you, I'd put the money into the nav rather than the extended warranty. I got the warranty for my 2000 TL from Honda Finance (not some 3rd party), and it was a total waste. First, it wasn't a true "bumper to bumper" warranty--there were a lot of exclusions (they wouldn't cover my auto-dimming rear view mirror because the warranty excludes glass/mirrrors, even though it was the stuff inside the mirror that went bad, and even though I ended up reading later on a TL owner's forum that this was a common problem that the mirror maker took care of for FREE). There was a $50 deductible. And, frankly, I didn't have $1200 worth of stuff go wrong. The one thing you should be careful about is the "possibly 2 car seats". If that means maybe another one in the future, facing backwards, I think that's going to be really tight. The IS has, on the dash, MPG (immediate, average and tank average), range, avg speed, outside temp, current gear.

Check out Lexus.com--ML is not "standard" in any IS. In some areas of the country, you need to special order to get ML (definitely in the NE for a 250). Check out the threads--special order is 3-4 months.

I wanted Breakwater/Cashmere, but it would have had to be special ordered with the Lux Pkg. After 4 weeks, they were able to locate a Tungten/Sterling. I spent the next 5 days scouring the internet for pix of Sterling. Each one I found looked like the gray was almost white, and I almost made the dlr snap photos and email them. In the end--I love the Sterling interior, and if I could have obtained a Breakwater, I may have opted for the Sterling instead of Cahsmere. But--ask 3 people and you'll get 3 different answers.

Lucky you--you have encountered a salesman that doesn't know what he's talking about: http://www.lexus.com/models/IS/features/pricing.html Maybe he means that the sport pkg isn't available in your area? I doubt it. You should surf the lexus website, along with edmunds.com, and the autos section of msn.com, and call him back. Also, I would talk to the internet sales dept at as many dealers as you can. Good luck.

As far as colors--are you getting pix of the old IS300? That had red, yellow and a bright blue as colors. The 2nd generation does not--much more conservative, Lexus-like colors. I don't think the coupe is coming soon, if at all. I haven't seen any stories or spy photos indicating it would be an '08 model. As to electronics, the base IS stereo system is pretty good and you can upgrade to ML. I think you are always better going with the mfg's nav (at least for Japanese cars). If you can swing the $$, get it. The Lex nav also gets you Bluetooth and a back up camera.

There are tons of cars out there with TPMS's. I can't imagine that Pep Boys can't handle it. Call 'em and ask--soon before your problem gets worse.

Do a search on eBay motors or cars.com--you will find one if you do a large enough search.

It's the only way to get Bluetooth. You use the Nav screen for the audio and climate control too, but there are some basic functions for those systems that you don't need to use the nav screen for, like on/of, temp setting, volume, scan, preset change. MPG info is not thru the nav screen--it is on the display b/t the tach and speedo. While you are driving, you cannot input an address (but you can use many of the other functions), and if you want to make a phone call, you can only do it thru your preset speed dials--you can't manually dial a number on the screen (although you could do it on your phone). It's not like the screen is locked. It varies by region, so I'm not sure about SoCal, but I'd be surprised if you could get nav only w/o having to get wood trim and a few other "lower cost" options. You could always special order, but I've read a number of special order horror stories--waited 4 months and it was totally wrong. W/o nav, you still get MPG and TPM. I have a convertible infant car seat (facing forward), and a toddler booster in my back seat. There's a lot of kicking on the back of the front seats, but there's room. I'm not sure how well if would fit in the middle seat, since the back seat isn't flat. When I test drove, they let me test out the car seats in the back, and the stroller fit in the trunk. Also, I had a !Removed! of a time getting the lower LATCHes to click. If you have a rear-facing seat, good luck. Maybe delay your purchase until baby's 1st bday. I used to have a rear-facing seat in the middle of my TL's back seat (b/f bottom LATCHES), and it would tip over around curves because the seat wasn't flat. So I had to move it to the side. Yes, they can fit. It's no LS 460L, but there's room (although, maybe not with the car seat in back). The wheels get DIRTY. My car's silver, so the dirt on the car itself doesn't show up so much, but within a week, you can notice how dirty the front wheels get--but probably no worse than EVERY German car you see on the road. There is TSB for Lexus to fix it (although it appears not all service depts are aware of it--better if you have a copy and give it to them). Allegedly, there is some decrease in braking performance, but I haven't read from anyone that it was noticeable. There's nothing wrong with the brakes, though. Don't know, but here in the NE, they are currently running a leasing special for 250AWD @ $369/mo, so there might be. Not sure--I wouldn't bother getting one for a Lexus. Invest the money in a CD instead. I've driven a TSX--the IS is much more luxurious. It's quieter, the leather is way better, I think the styling is much better, the V6 engine has much less buzz than the TSX's I-4. The TSX has a bigger back seat, though, and feels more spacious inside, since there's not a significant tranny tunnel with the FWD.

Some have been able to convince the dealer to disconnect them. I just wish they'd turn off when the car is in Park.

I tried it last night. It worked--even when the AC was off. I said "72 degrees" and the AC came on. Then, filled with confidence, I tried to tune the radio, and it tried to find the nearest state park...

Nice pics. Nice color combo.

Another way to see various color combos is to go on cars.com and search the used stock (use a big search radius), or check ebay motors. Better sellers have lots of pix.

Not Cashmere--there's some black trim on the front console on the tranny tunnel, but carpets are tan. Carpets, tranny tunnel and seatbelts are black on Sterling.

My old TL was that color--it's awesome when it's clean, which is infrequent. Acura only offered it with the tan interior (which was similar to Cashmere), and I think that worked great. I have a Tungsten Pearl IS with Sterling interior--I bet that would look great with Black Saphire exterior--the seats are gray, but the carpets are black. I'm really happy with it. Sorry--no pics.

I don't think anyone is really sure what is coming in '08. I haven't seen anything that states a significant change. That's a great price in the NE/Mid-Atlantic region.

Yes, that's correct. That's also called an "Automatic" transmission. If I wanted it to automatically select another gear for me, I wouldn't put it in manual mode. If I'm not hurting the engine, and I give the car a little gas (I stress "a little"), in manual mode, the car should not downshift. Ever. Manual mode is not solely for "performance", it's to have full control over shifting the transmission. I serioulsy doubt Audi's DSG would do that.

It's not the greatest system. My TL's sport shift was better. The Lex system overrides the manual control too often--like if you give the car a little gas, it downshifts. It shouldn't autmatically down shift unless you are going so slow, the car just won't go.

I don't disagree that buying during an "incentive or sale time" is good. It's just that isn't necessarily conveyed to the public (eg. "July 4th Sales Event") The only incentive times I know is end of the month and end of the model year (August31/Sept30). What other "incentive" times do you know of and that can be used as general info to newbies... especially if shopping between wo different cars cross-brand (say Lexus and BMW at the same time) Lexus also runs the "December to Remember" sales event. That's about all I know of. Winter months are also usually a good time to buy anyway as sales are usually slower. The summer promo is the "Golden Opportunity Event". Note that, if you want the Lux Pkg or some other option which is hard to find, the longer you wait, the harder it may be to obtain it.

My understanding is that the NAV system has not changed at all, and the antenna is still not exposed. The shark fin antenna is for the sat radio, as EVERYONE was complaining about the after-market antenna being installed with the sat option. where is the nav antenna, anyway? There is no exposed Nav antenna. the dealer told me that all IS's are coming with the Sat antenna pre-installed. I was a little annoyed about that.

New batteries in the remote took care of the problem. What a pain.

I had a somewhat similar experience. I negotiated down to $700 over invoice on a base IS250AWD. When I went in to do the paperwork, the dealer's invoice was a few hundred dollars higher than what I saw on Edmunds.com and Cars.com. They included some Lexus advertising fee in their invoice. I was a bit irritated, but there were a couple of extras they had thrown in that I wasn't expecting, and I think I was still getting a really good deal. I bet you can get a better price unless there is only one dealer in the area. I think they made about $1400 on me factoring in the holdback + $700 over invoice. They have to make something - otherwise, we wouldn't have fancy dealerships around to give us free coffee and overcharge us on maintenance. What I don't understand is why they're making me pay the dealer holdback in the first place. They're going to get that back from Lexus anyway, so why make me pay them first? After adding up all the extra fees + profit etc, their final price is $5500 over invoice (if you don't include their extra fees in the invoice) and $2000 less than MSRP. The actual invoice price for the car is $36,500. According to them, the "real" invoice price for them is $38,000 (incl the extra fees). On top of that, they want a $3000 profit, which makes their price $41,000. That's $5500 over invoice. Quoted MSRP is $43000. All in all, this sounds like terrible to me. Sounds to me like you are getting ripped off. I just bought an IS 250 AWD. Invoice was $35,372, MSRP was $40,502. I bought for $36,150.

You must not have rolling codes, which require pressing a button on the opener itself, and re-pressing the Homelink. Gonna buy new batteries for the remote and try again.

1 is most sensitive--check the Lexus website in the "Owner's" section. You can print a pdf of all the LPS. I don't think you can change it. I asked for a "1" when I picked up the car, but I don't think they set it. I'd love to know if you can set that yourself (and if you can set the auto headlight shut off after the car is off).

You can always go somewhere else (other than for warranty replacement/service), but Manolo1's right, if you don't keep good records, and you have a problem later, you can't establish that you didn't ignore or neglect proper maintenance. If you do it at Lexus, they already know. Have you priced out service at a Toyota dealer?