My new Lexus IS250 is now 7 weeks old and it’s not yet up to 200 kms. But it’s already had an experience that I haven’t had for over 20 years.

Yesterday I called Lexus Roadside Service (read RACV) to check out a flapping noise, which seemed to come from the rear passenger side wheel. In the end the RACV engineer walked alongside my car while I drove it slowly, and he discovered that the problem was actually with the front passenger side wheel. It turned out to be a large bolt and washer buried in the tyre tread.

The RACV guy kindly fitted the space-saver wheel, as shown above, and I drove the car to Lexus where they fixed the punctured tyre, and replaced the wheel.

To put this in context, if this is the worst problem I’ll have this year, I’ll be very grateful. But the whole thing was very disappointing and disconcerting to have to call roadside service and take the car for urgent repairs while it’s still on it’s first tank of fuel.

That said, my initial impressions of the car are that I am enjoying the actual driving experience more than in any other car I’ve had since my 1957 Holden FE, and later, the 1960 Humber Super Snipe that I inherited in 1964. These are cars in which I drove about 10,000 miles a year – not a mere 6,000 kms in 4 years.

One thing that has surprised me is that I’ve noticed the new car has a noticeably more comfortable ride.  The 2006 car had a very hard and jarring ride in the local suburban side streets as it passed over minor irregularities in street surfaces (but it was quite smooth on main suburban roads).  The new car travels smoothly on the same suburban side streets.  I mentioned this to the young lady who was arranged the tyre repair on Monday, and her reply surprised me.

She explained that my 2006  Sports Luxury was fitted with Bridgestone tyres, whereas my new car is fitted with Dunlop tyres – and that is the reason for the difference.  So how’s that?

As I drove my four year old 2006 Lexus IS250 Sports Luxury into the Lexus of Brighton delivery area this afternoon, the odometer reached 6300 kms exactly.

My new car was awaiting me in the showroom.

That’s me with Bernard (accent on the second syllable, please, as he’s originally from France) in front of the new are. It’s Bernard who managed to convince me to make the changeover, only 12 days ago. I had taken my car to Lexus of Brighton for its annual service. When I returned in the early afternoon to collect my car after its service, I wandered over to the showroom to see the latest IS250 model. I said I was “just looking” but Bernard explained to me how I could upgrade to the latest IS250 for a relatively modest cost (far less than I expected).

The thing is that 2006 there were only 3 Lexus IS250 models, and the top model Sports Luxury was the only model with the features I most wanted – satnav, reversing camera with parking guides for all types of parking, and front and rear parking sensors. So I had to buy the Sports Luxury to get those features. It did of course come with a wealth of other luxury features, but of en help you get from A to B. In 2010 the base Prestige model can be optioned up with various packages (EMV). I chose the EMV pack with the satnav, reversing camera and parking guides for all types of parking, and front and rear parking sensors.

Bernard and me. The lovely Jessica, the delivery co-ordinator, took the above photos with my Canon 5D MkII and L series 24-105mm lens.

Bernard took the photo above.  He chose an interesting angle to take the photo, which I like.

I’m trying to help Bernard create his own blog site, as he has many more interesting things to write about than I do.

For the record, part of  the delivery process included spending time with Mary who looks after the finance process (bank cheque in my case) and she arranged the car changeover to my motor car insurance.   I get a $148 refund from AAMI.

Then, young Josh spent about an hour with me explaining all the features of my new car, the differences between the new car and my previous car.

Finally, I was presented with a huge bouquet of flowers, and a bottle of Box Stallion 2008 Red Bar Pinot Noir.  So tonight I’m drinking the  bottle of Box Stallion 2003 The Enclosure Pinot Noir than I was presented with when I took delivery of my 2006 Lexus IS250.

You might be getting the message that owning a Lexus is an experience.  I now have another four years of Encore Privileges - theatre tickets, valet parking at the Arts Centre, sports events, dining events, magazine, free loan car when my car is serviced, and a monthly car detailing inside and out, by appointment. And I won’t have to pay for a car service until June 2012.

Now for some photos of the car taken next day – 30 June 2010.

The turn indicator lights on the side of the car near the front have now been moved to the door mirror housings.

At first glance the tail lamp assembly looks the same as the 2006 car, because it has the same overall outline, but in fact it’s a completely new assembly.

The interior colours are very different to those of my previous car, and the materials used are different to those in the Sport Luxury. Not a sign of polished wood veneer in the Prestige EMV.

The rear view camera has higher resolution. The parking guides shown above are for reverse parking into a kerb parking space. There is a choice of other parking guides for different situations. Some show where your car will end up based on your current position and the way you are turning the wheel, and will also show if your car will fit in the space.

This shows the satnav screen in night conditions, with a black screen background to make it easier to view at night. In daylight hours it has a white screen background suitable for daylight viewing.

Here’s a photo taken on 3rd August 2006 at my Lexus dealer’s showroom when I took delivery of my IS250 Sports Luxury with more amazing features than I could poke a stick at (as the saying goes).  And as it turned out, than I could use.  However in 2006, it was the only IS250 model that had the features I really wanted.  (That’s not the case in 2010.)

I was thrilled with the car, but also very nervous about driving it. Here’s a photo of the interior – which is the same as the car I took for a test drive. I’ve really liked the interior colours in the 4 years since I took delivery of the car.

I hope you can see why I liked it so much.

I’ll finish off with a photo of the driver’s door.

I’ve never been good at reverse parking, and sadly, over the past 4 years, the alloy wheels on the passenger side (the side next to the kerb) have suffered some scrapes which happened while I was trying to get used to the rear camera parking guides.  The dashboard has had an infrequent rattle over the past two years which I didn’t report until my last service, 10 days ago.  It will take two days to fix, as the dashboard has to be removed to fit new clips.

The 4 year warranty will expire next month, as will the Lexus Encore Privileges.

Time to upgrade?