Just thought I’d say hello as I’m new here

[grev02]

I just thought I’d say hello as I’m new here. 
 

I bought a 2005 gs300 3rd gen a month ago for £2500, only 112,650 on the clock. Three of the shocks are leaking so it’s a bit bouncier than it should be, the brake discs are worn, and the exhaust is knackered so I’m getting a bespoke one fitted in two weeks (cheapest option by the sounds of it), and the alloys look fairly grotty. But the engine sounds as good as the day it was built and the auto shifts are still very smooth. Fingers crossed I’ve got myself a bit of a bargain.

[Mr Vlad]

Hello Greville and welcome to Lexus ownership and the best Lexus forum there is. Well done on posting a pic of your bargain steed. Great price you paid but knowing you've got some spending to do, only to be expected on an older car but once worn items replaced you'll have years of happy motoring ahead.

[grev02]

Thanks, Vladimir. I just ordered a Meguiar headlight restoration kit to clean up the yellowing headlights. Sounds like it takes a fair bit of elbow grease, but most of the reviews on amazon say that it works.

[grev02]

Also I accidentally gave myself a heart attack a week after I bought it! 

I’ve driven nothing but diesels for the last 17.5 years, so the switch to e10 completely passed me by. When I bought my gs300 I filled it up at the nearest garage… almost certainly with e10. Which I later discovered the 3rd gen gs300’s can’t use. 
 

About a week later lots of Check VSC warning lights came on, which obviously caused me to fret. Then a couple of weeks later, after having topped up a few times with e5 and gradually diluted the e10, after I filled the tank up the Check VSC warning lights disappeared for a while before coming back on. I topped up again last week… and the Check VSC warning lights vanished, never to return.

 

I can’t prove it, by I’m 99% certain that they were caused the e10 fuel. It can’t be a coincidence, surely? I know that the Check VSC warning lights can be caused by a faulty O2 sensor or an I’ll fitting fuel cap.

 

[Mr Vlad]

That's bazaar re the VSC light coming on after fueling with E10. That's more to do with a sensor on the rear suspension both sides. Maybe you went over a bump a bit hard and it upset the sensor and did it again and it kind of re set itself. I put E10 in my is250 but with Millers Oils petrol ecomax with no I'll effects. 

[JDM-Fiend]

On 10/9/2021 at 10:34 PM, grev02 said:

I just thought I’d say hello as I’m new here. 
 

I bought a 2005 gs300 3rd gen a month ago for £2500, only 112,650 on the clock. Three of the shocks are leaking so it’s a bit bouncier than it should be, the brake discs are worn, and the exhaust is knackered so I’m getting a bespoke one fitted in two weeks (cheapest option by the sounds of it), and the alloys look fairly grotty. But the engine sounds as good as the day it was built and the auto shifts are still very smooth. Fingers crossed I’ve got myself a bit of a bargain.

Congrats on the new car, I had one a GS300 recently and it was a great car for the short time I had it. I only sold it due to finding the V8, which I'd been after for a while.

Mine had similar issues, except the shocks. Any questions, drop me a message.

On 10/9/2021 at 11:14 PM, grev02 said:

Also I accidentally gave myself a heart attack a week after I bought it! 

 

I’ve driven nothing but diesels for the last 17.5 years, so the switch to e10 completely passed me by. When I bought my gs300 I filled it up at the nearest garage… almost certainly with e10. Which I later discovered the 3rd gen gs300’s can’t use. 
 

About a week later lots of Check VSC warning lights came on, which obviously caused me to fret. Then a couple of weeks later, after having topped up a few times with e5 and gradually diluted the e10, after I filled the tank up the Check VSC warning lights disappeared for a while before coming back on. I topped up again last week… and the Check VSC warning lights vanished, never to return.

 

I can’t prove it, by I’m 99% certain that they were caused the e10 fuel. It can’t be a coincidence, surely? I know that the Check VSC warning lights can be caused by a faulty O2 sensor or an I’ll fitting fuel cap.

 

I had a Check VSC light on mine that came up. I bought a cheap OBD Bluetooth reader off of amazon and check the codes using the Torque app.

Apparently, it was an exhaust sensor that was faulty or needed replacing on mine. Also, I've heard not tightening the fuel cap can trigger a similar warning on the dash. By tightening, I should stress that it's 'one click' to tighten the fuel cap and no more!

[grev02]

I’ve heard that VSC warning lights - when not caused by an actual problem with the VSC - are usually caused by either a faulty O2 sensor or the fuel cap being slightly too small. I tried fiddling with the fuel cap a few times but it made no difference. But like I say, the second time I filled up with super unleaded, all the VSC warning lights instantly disappeared for 30 mins. And the third time I filled up with e5 the warning lights vanished and haven’t returned. 
 

It could just be a coincidence… but the fact that the VSC warnings can be caused by something as ridiculous as a fuel cap that’s slightly the wrong size still makes me think that the e10 fuel could still have been the culprit, and maybe the e5 eventually diluting down the remaining e10 stopped triggering a sensor. Maybe.

I chucked some redex in for good measure a few days later, but by then all the warning lights had already disappeared. It’s a mystery. But at least it appears to have gone away.

[JDM-Fiend]

30 minutes ago, grev02 said:

I’ve heard that VSC warning lights - when not caused by an actual problem with the VSC - are usually caused by either a faulty O2 sensor or the fuel cap being slightly too small. I tried fiddling with the fuel cap a few times but it made no difference. But like I say, the second time I filled up with super unleaded, all the VSC warning lights instantly disappeared for 30 mins. And the third time I filled up with e5 the warning lights vanished and haven’t returned. 
 

It could just be a coincidence… but the fact that the VSC warnings can be caused by something as ridiculous as a fuel cap that’s slightly the wrong size still makes me think that the e10 fuel could still have been the culprit, and maybe the e5 eventually diluting down the remaining e10 stopped triggering a sensor. Maybe.

I chucked some redex in for good measure a few days later, but by then all the warning lights had already disappeared. It’s a mystery. But at least it appears to have gone away.

Read my post just before yours 😉

[grev02]

If anyone’s interested, I gave the Meguiar headlight restoration kit (amazon £30) a go and I’m really impressed. The driver’s side headlight cluster was very foggy and yellow, so I masked off the bodywork with bog standard masking tape, applied the cleaner, rubbed it with a supplied scouring pad and was amazed how quickly the yellowing came off. Washed the cleaner off, dried the headlight and then sprayed on the supplied polish, and I’m really impressed with the result. 

[steve2006]

Hello and welcome to the LOC.

Car looks nice and a good price too 😀

Health and Safety alert.....if you have to look up the parts prices from Lexus make sure you are comfortably seated, you seat is in the fully upright position, your tray table is stowed away and your seat belt securely fastened.

You’re doing the right thing going custom aftermarket with the exhaust which should cost you less than a genuine back box alone.

You can buy OEM parts a lot cheaper from Japan or the UAE and there is Rockauto over the pond.

[grev02]

Thanks. I found a garage in Brighton that fitted a bespoke Powerflow stainless steel exhaust with a lifetime guarantee for £731. It also turns out that the garage specialise in Toyota and Lexus’, which is a bit of a result.