clay1

I was going to do the same thing - I live in the northeast. Dealer told me they would only do 18 x 8 front and rear on the AWD.

The brake TSIB is valid throughtout the 4 year/50,000 mile warranty period. Just take it in and complain about the brake dust and squeeking. If they don't offer to replace the pads under warranty, tell them you saw a message on the internet about a brake technical service bulleting from Lexus and ask them if they can look. If they still say they won't do it, ask them to call Lexus. And if that doesn't work, YOU call Lexus and complain about the brake dust and squeeking! Thanks I did what you said... no problem at all. I was surprised that you have until 49,999 miles. Mostly seen people on the boards talk about replacing around 15K to get the wear out of them, so I thought that was the unofficial cutoff. thanks again.

Car has 25K, with the original factory brakes. how many miles have you all gotten on the brakes. They started to squeek yesterday - I know there is a TSB for both dust and squeeking - but at 25K I would think I am beyond getting that for free. Also do you think they are squeeking because it is so darn cold in the northeast yesterday - or is it wear? If I do need to replace - what should I replace them with?

All those above....I have no clue what noise you all are talking about. I have a 07 250AWD with 25K on it - I am in the car four hours a day. It has it's fair share of rattles and snaps when the car is moving and going over bumps. But I do not hear a gosh darn thing wrong when I start the car and it is in park or moving over smooth roads, that being said, I can not imagine how this noise is normal for this vehicle.

And I'll have you know that since my recirc is now working, I have more rattling in my dash.....I know, I'm just never happy.......... Doesn't that just drive your nuts. Such a beautiful car... and all we seem to do is drive back to the dealer every 3000 miles or so with a new tick, rattle or pop and hope that they don't think us nuts. I think it is a life lesson for me ...that nothing is perfect...still p-sses me off though.

My mistake...LEXUS can do the 350 rims... but they would order two sets of the fronts at 8" wide - not staggered.

Thanks GordonW and Knightshade. LEXUS said the 18" ISP Alloy" will work on the AWD and they are staggered, so I assume these will work, but will ask. This configuration is for "summer only" not for winter driving conditions - in that weather they say use the 17" stock wheels/tires with all the same tire. Anyone else in the Northeast using a Stagger configuration on the 250 AWD for Summer Driving?

I have the IS AWD with the 17" Stock Rim/Tire setup. Want to do an 18" summer rim/Tire setup. Two Questions: 1. Does anyone know what they call this rim - see link ( http://www.lexus.com/models/IS/). It has 5 sets of "double spokes" and does not appear to be the "ISP Alloy", "G Spider" or "F Rim" configuration and is not described anywhere on the LEXUS site. 2. Also anyone have thoughts on the "18" Michelin Pilot SPORT SP" Tires for this set up...Good or Bad? Thanks.

Good luck. I wouldn't count on any incentives (beyond the "fake" winter sales, And financing options) from Lexus on this vehicle or their entire line for that matter. Forget paying invoice in the Northeast on this car or the Infinity G35. Maybe $500 - $1000 over invoice at the end of a slow month with the right dealer on an in-stock or tradable from another local dealer vehicle. That amount would probably offset having a car shipping from CA. The cars are just in demand, it's not a Chevy Impala. If you get it at or below invoice I am sure everyone on the boards would love to hear the story.

Lights will not turn with the steering wheel unless you are moving a certain MPH. It's either 5 mph or 15 mph - check the manual.

9 miles - but I wouldn't worry about it - they may have had it driven over to their lot as a trade from another lexus dealer.

I have had the car 10 months and worn thru the heel portion of two drivers side matts - there is a bit of a flaw in the design. The first set they replaced free - filed it under warranty item. I like the look but man two sets already! I put duct tape on the back to stop the hole from growing

Congrats. There are Technical service Bulletins to fix the cracking and treplace the rear view mirror - yours for the asking...

I live in Boston. If you drive in heavy snow I personally would forget the 350. The 250 AWD is good - but of course a little underpowered compared to the 350. Cars supplied to the northeast by LEXUS - at least the IS 250 AWD - comes only in a couple of standard packages. With and without Nav. and with and without Mark Levinson Package. There is no auto tilt mirror to my knowledge. Now you can get anything interms of options but you have to wait and pay - because negiotiating will be harder on a special order. Sat. Radio is not standard and you can now choose XM or Sirrus. - expect about $470 - and it is dealer installed so they can add to any car on the lot. You can pay between 3 and 4 grand less then sticker. Negoitate on the web, get the internet sales managers e-mail (every dealership within 100 miles - doesn't matter if you don't want to drive that far - just get a number from all the dealerships)- tell them EXACTLY what you want and ask for their best price. The best prices I found at IRA Lexus and Lexus of Northborough (Richard Kostigen is the internet sales manager at Northboro)- couldnt get a comparable price from Chambers. Do not negoitiate the deal at the dealership until you have it in writing on the internet including all fees, etc. ALWAYS nego. and buy at the very end of the month...like the last day..it makes a difference. Also don't talk trade until you settle on price of the IS. I found the sales and service in Northborough to be excellent. Very happy that I bought the Lexus over the Infinity - but the car does have some technical service bulletins - so be aware there may be some warranty work that MAY eventually be done (just search these forums). But I find Lexus is very good with service. Hope it helps...

Going thru this with my car - I damaged a sidewall on one tire... the pressure is good but I am concerned about the integrity of the tire and don't need a blow since I drive 3000 miles a month. Chief Tech at Local Lexus says I can replace two tires (with Dunlop to match existing) not all four. The Mechanics of the AWD on the Lexus is different then the Subaru quoted above. Surprisingly the price is within $20 of Sears and they give me a loaner. My car has 20,000 highway miles with surprisingly very little wear on the thread.

Lexus also produces the car with a Dunlop tire. That is what I have on mine. Not sure why you would need to replace four in any case. Could just change out two as Michelin (the front two - should be the brand new tires) How much milaege do you have on your tires? $170 is not bad. Sears quoted me $190 for the Dunlops.

Where do I get these "pins"? Can I use some other kind of household item instead of that? pins are in the toolkit that comes with the car -look next to the spare

Glass replacement is usual no charge thru insurance. I can tell you that this vehicle apparentl because of the slope of the windshield seems to get more then it's fair share of rock hits on the windshield, and I really avoid driving near trucks.

Did you try ejecting it? YOu have to take off the face plate where the clock is first. You accidently ejected the desk which is internal - my wife did the same thing with my car the first week.. There is a tool kit next to the spare with a couple of metal toothpicks in it. Those toothpicks fit in holes left and right of clock and you can pry off and gain access to the dvd. Once Dvd is reinstalled follow directions to recalibrate - which amounts to driving in circles. Conversely just drive up to Lexus and I am sure they will do it for you.

I think you are correct Barkat. But this can take a substantial amount of your time and energy and will undoubtably lead to just more of the same. I dealer I go to does a great job. I have been dealing with issues (albeit minor) since maybe 3,000 miles. It is the game of "Wacka Mole", once one thing gets settled another pops up. Unfortunately the dealer is trying to make the best of a flawed product. They actually encourage me to come back if I am unsatisfied. Things do get silenced down for a bit , but within the next 3000 miles another noise rears its head. I know this had been argued back and forth, and don't get me wrong I think its a great looking design, but the fact is (by reading the threads on this very forum) that these late model LEXUS products (at least the interior combination of materials) are poorly selected and assembled. And with this third generation very little has changed in the assembly or factory fixing of TSB items from earlier generations. Its really sad as I think this is the best looking car on the road.

Oh I had that problem. I actually could squeeze the area between thumb and forefinger and a buzz would occurthis happened for me after the dashboard TSB was done. I marked up the area with blue painters tape "PUSH HERE" , what they do in service is use felt tape and reassemble. The funny thing was on the IS loaner they gave me with 750 miles on it - it did the same thing. To date I have done all TSB's related to buzzing and rattle... that's good news the bad is that something always comes back, just give it 3000 miles. Now it's wind noise on the passenger side and the moon roof still buzzes again.. Love the look of the car -- but it's snap, crackle and pops are ridculous and really diminish my enjoyment of the car. Love the dealership and the are very helpful. But I can not deal with going back and forth - I have to work for a living - so I just wait till the next 5 K service.

Could be a couple of things. One is known as the "Dashboard Rattle" although the TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) for this warranty fix is for the 06 (search this forum) - I had it done on my 07 at no charge. Second area is the surround around the NAV and other areas. I think it's called the "bezel". The snap. crakle. pops and rattles are common in the car. But the fix generally is Felt Tape to cushion the noises. It can be frustrating, but Ihave had some successes with the dealer on these issues. They try hard to fix - but some are design problems indicative of late model Lexus vehicles - apparently such noise were few and far between years ago in the Lexus and now they are all too common.

The noise is my only pet peeve with this vehicle and it really annoys me.. For the "rattle" noise at the door. ask them to "Lube the door seals" That seams to have worked for me for 3000 miles - now it needs to be done again - same goes for the sunroof.

Does that remain true for both O2 or Nitrogen? My tires have Nitro in them - which I was told was inert and didn't expand or contract to the same "degree" as air. They said I would get better gas mileage. After a few months - I really do not see an improvement in mileage. Nitrogen may be a little less sensitive, but not really significant when it comes to temperature changes. The big claimed advantage is that it doesn't permeate through the rubber as fast and won't lose as much pressure over time. It also has a big advantage of not containing moisture, which can degrade tire materials. The fuel mileage is from maintaining pressure over two to three months, thus keeping rolling resistance down. I you air up your tires once a month or after major temperature changes, the only real advantage for nitrogen is the lack of mosture. Here are the claims. If you read carefully you'll see what I mean. http://www.citytireservice.com/nitrogen.htm Thanks.....

Does that remain true for both O2 or Nitrogen? My tires have Nitro in them - which I was told was inert and didn't expand or contract to the same "degree" as air. They said I would get better gas mileage. After a few months - I really do not see an improvement in mileage.