New Lexus owner - 2008 IS250 - advice appreciated!

[mattyt1991]

Due to needing to drive around in my wife's first ever car (2007 Toyota Aygo), I was soon searching on autotrader for something that wasn't a tiny tin box (albeit a reliable one!). I thought I was going to go for a proper 5 pot Volvo diesel (quite enjoy the other car we have, Volvo V40, with the Ford 1.6 diesel) but then this little beauty came up. Viewed it, drove it, and threw my £3k at the old owner as quickly as I could, I did probably rush into it a little as I am very impatient! Volvo and Lexus might be slightly left field choices for a 29 year old but I am delighted and looking forward to learning more about the brand. 

It is the automatic 2.5L V6 and has 86000 miles on the clock, I think it is just the SE spec, but still seems to have plenty of toys. I am already planning my route to a 2015/16 IS250 with Mark Levinson audio system.

I am just loving how smooth that engine is, fast enough for me as well. Car history looks like - 1996 Ford Ka, Honda Civic 2005 1.7 diesel, Ford Fiesta 2006 1.4 petrol, and then the two mentioned above. This just seems in another league.

Seems to have been looked after well with FSH. The previous owner has put in the F Sport air intake and air filter I believe.

I have a fairly rudimentary knowledge of maintaining cars to be honest and I don't have a driveway and need to park the car on the street (which is on a hill) so unlikely to be able to do much maintenance myself. Although any thoughts on what I could do myself would be appreciated, and any good resources for info on maintaining the car?

It seems to run like a dream at the moment but it is a 12 year old car, I would appreciate any tips on things to look out for in looking after it. I plan to probably keep it for around 3 years if it is reliable enough and then maybe get a newer version. Obviously plan on servicing it every year, I have read that the brake calipers should be greased yearly (is that going to cost a lot at a garage?) and that the water pump might go around this mileage (is it best to just let that happen or get it changed before it breaks? Again any idea of cost?)

Thanks for any advice given!

 

[normski2]

Welcome aboard!

These two posts are a good place to start. It would be worth your time to take a good read through.

They are, from my experience, very reliable and altogether rather splendid motors.

[bobmc]

Welcome to the LOC

The car looks to be in very good condition and even the alloy wheels seem to be in good nick (they have a tendency to bubble and flake) and 3K seems a very fair price to me, so it looks like you've scored a very good deal.😀

You know about the caliper issue, for the diy'ers it's a simple task so should be no problem for a garage mechanic and not expensive - the trick is finding someone reliable to do it as part of the service/maintenance. In my experience is they're not interested in doing it because they don't want the potential hassle of dealing with seized caliper pins - they'd rather just get you to pay for replacement calipers when they fail as the job is much more predictable. Calipers are not particularly expensive - I had one of my front calipers replaced earlier this year and the part cost was £110

It's a heavy car so brake wear can be on the high side but that will depend on your driving style I suppose.

Regarding the water pump, I wouldn't replace now unless there's any evidence of leaks or belt wear. The wisdom is to change the pump at around 100K miles but I would be inclined to wait until the next major service at 120K when the spark plugs should be changed. This involves some disassembly of the engine and that would be a good time to change the pump and belt as well. The pump and belt part cost is about £120

Other than that you should be good and enjoy happy many happy miles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mattyt1991]

Thanks for the tips so far guys.

So getting someone to reliably grease the callipers could be an issue then. What would be the signs if one started seizing?

[steve2006]

Hello Matthew and welcome to the LOC.

Signs of calliper pin seizure include the calliper rattling which goes away when you press the brake pedal and uneven brake pad wear.

There is a topic regarding this and a DIY video in the IS forums.

 

[KenMavor]

1 hour ago, mattyt1991 said:

Thanks for the tips so far guys.

So getting someone to reliably grease the callipers could be an issue then. What would be the signs if one started seizing?

Welcome and looks like a very nice one!!!

 

Well done.  I have a similar model.  The only thing that has gone wrong in 3 years is brake calipers seizing.  It is an easy job.  I did mine over two weekends.  Front then was going to do the rears.  Read up about them and what I would need to do a good overhaul. Replaced all the replaceable parts...discs, pads, pins, springs etc.  Took everything apart, carefully, and put all the new parts back in a greased everything up.  Had to push the caliper piston back in to accept the new pads.  Cleaned everything up as well.  Next weekend looked at the rears and one of the pistons was seized and I could not get it unstuck.  Even if I had managed to I would have needed to either service the caliper/piston or replace.  Booked it into a garage with all the parts I had bought and asked them to replace the caliper that had seized and check and grease/service the other side with the parts I provided.  Every service/mot I now get the garage to check and regrease as part of that service.  Takes them minutes as car is on ramp and wheels off.  Worth checking early in the cars life.

[bobmc]