Old farts first Lexus - IS250C

[Mike Compton]

After an Alfa Spider, Mini convertible and various other cars just bought myself a 2010 IS 250C with 44K on the clock. (Pictures to follow - Gunmetal Grey) Wonderful car but have some questions

There was a dreadful rattle from the hood when the roof was up. Garage reckoned it was the "parcel shelf" - and they half fixed it and I fiddled around in the boot which seems to have fixed it. Anybody any experience of this. Also there seemed to be a rattle from the front door. 

It didn't come with a spare tyre - is it worth getting a run flat one - any idea of cost.

It's quite cold at the moment and I was thinking of a Wind Deflector - anybody had any experience of one?

[Mr Vlad]

Hi Mike. Best pur your questions in the IS section of the forum. Quite a few have the convertible so you'll find answers soon. Welcome to the forum by the way. Oh since your car is  2010 then post questions in the gen 2 IS section. 

[steveledzep]

Hi Mike, welcome to the forum.  I ran an IS250C for a couple of years, had two great summers with it around our coastline in south west Wales.  The wind deflector is a necessity in my mind, makes for a very relaxed drive with no buffeting.  To eliminate rattles in the rear, I bought some rubber door stop wedges from B&Q and "wedged" them in where it could rattle.  Very successful solution it was too.  Can't help with your rattly door.  Enjoy your car, wish I still had mine for the good weather.

[Mike Compton]

Thanks Steve. Dids you buy a Lexus Wind deflector or an after market one? Funnily enough my Lexus seemed to have been in Wales once - it was serviced by Lexus Cardiff in 2013. I will go out and buy some rubber door stops!

[Beamish]

 

Hi Mike,

Have you seen this video:   

 

This is a common problem.

The wind deflector is well worth having. I managed to source mine through Ebay in Germany but they are not very common. You will also need the "fitting kit" which will only be available from Lexus at around £70 if I remember correctly.

I have fitted a space saver spare wheel and securing bolt from an IS250 saloon.  I have removed the plastic wheelwell lining and padded out the well with some carpet underlay and made a new cover out of 6mm MDF.  I finished it off with a Lexus original boot carpet mat which I sourced on eBay.  You could possibly modify the plastic liner to accomadate the spce saver wheel but I chose not to go that route.  I only paid €40 for the wheel and they should be readily available.

Hope this is of some help.

Dec.

[Mike Compton]

Thanks so much Declan. Most helpful

[LenT]

On 4/18/2021 at 6:12 PM, Mike Compton said:

It didn't come with a spare tyre - is it worth getting a run flat one - any idea of cost.

A run-flat would be a full size tyre/wheel so it would have to match the others to be used as a spare, because you can’t run different full size tyres on the same axle.  So that presumes that the other three are also run-flats.

I sure you’re probably well aware, ‘run-flat’ only means that the tyre can withstand short mileage at low speeds in order to get the tyre replaced or repaired.  There’s still the possibility of damaging the rim.  They tend to give a firmer ride due to the less flexible sidewalls.

My apologies if you already knew all that!

What you need, as already mentioned probably, is a spacesaver.  They can be run on either axle irrespective of what the other tyre is.

I’ve had occasion to use mine and it solved the immediate problem.  

[Mike Compton]

Thanks Len - yes its a spacesaver