Another Pranged Lex

Moffet · July 14, 2005

Well, I had my IS200SE for 2 months and it needed a service and two new rear tyres (bought it privately so not taken care of at the dealer). Just to be safe I went for the Lexus OEM Dunlop SP9000s. Collected the car and all was fine on the short drive home.

Next day, road was a bit wet. First roundabout I came to, the back end went walkabout. Caught the slide but snapped back the other way and I ended up spinning across the inside lane into the kerb. Would have hit the crash barrier if it wasn't for the kerb but don't know if that's a good thing or not - saved some body work damage but under the car didn't like it!

The rear offside wheel buckled under the car, damaged the suspension, wheel, chassis (apparently), axle and probably the diff as well. It should be fixable but the insurance claim hasn't been approved yet. I'll post a couple of pics when I get home (if I can figure out how), although it doesn't look too bad on them.

Luckily I'd had to pretty much stop at the roundabout so wasn't going very fast at all (only around 15mph) so I dread to think what would have happened if I was flooring it! I think I would have been better off on my old tyres which never let me down once, even though the tread was getting a little bit...er...illegal.

To cap it all off I have to drive a Corsa courtesy car until they make their mind up about my Lex!

Kazi · July 14, 2005

Bad news mate, least you're ok and nobody was hurt. Good luck with getting the damage sorted. Take a close inspection to the road, may have oil etc which might have casued it to spin and you may be able to claim against the council responsable.

Lex-aholic · July 14, 2005

Sorry to hear the bad news mate. I mean, having to drive a Corsa must be terrible.....

nah, just joking. Glad yer okay.

whiteman · July 14, 2005

you may find that you did not run the tyres in, when they come out of the mold they have some sort of silicone on them to stop them sticking to the mold. So for the first few miles you have to take it easy especially in the wet..

That is probably why you lost it in the wet, any way glad you are ok :winky:

Moffet · July 14, 2005

I was taking it easy. I was in 2nd gear just getting to 15mph which is hardly pushing it. I think it was the sideways force as I turned at the apex of the roundabout (there's also a drain there which I may have touched). Surely the traction control would have kicked in if I was accelerating too hard?

As far as the oil suggestion goes, the policeman said there was a truck on the same road that forgot to put his fuel cap back on after filling with diesel and there was a trail left on the road. Didn't come as far down the road to where I went off though so I don't think it could be that. The roundabouts on that road tend to be quite slippy at the best of times anyway.

Only had it a little while and am yet to drive it in bad weather so I may be a little nervous when the winter comes round. I've heard they really don't like the snow!

Still, just got an email from the insurance company saying the repairs have now been approved with the garage so I'm hoping to get it back sooner rather than later. I've been without it a week now and missing it already!

Thanks for the support.

Lex-aholic · July 14, 2005

you may find that you did not run the tyres in, when they come out of the mold they have some sort of silicone on them to stop them sticking to the mold. So for the first few miles you have to take it easy especially in the wet..
That is probably why you lost it in the wet, any way glad you are ok :winky:

←

Uhhh ? I'm not saying you're wrong or anything, but what a daft thing to do to the tyres. Does that mean you shouldn't buy tyres if it's wet outside ??!?

That's kinda like storing brakes in grease so they don't corrode.

MartinC · July 14, 2005

You'll find a lot of moulded plastic and rubber parts have a 'release agent' applied to the mould to aid the ejecting of the product.

I'm 99% sure this is still the case with new tyres, you just have to take it easy for the first 100 or so miles

Oh sorry to hear about the car , its a real bummer when your pride and joy gets smashed up.

Moffet · July 15, 2005

A couple of pics. Sorry about the quality - they were taken with my (now rather old) phone at the scene:

As you can see it doesn't look too bad because there is no bodywork damage (although I came pretty close to the barrier...) but there seems to be damage done underneath to the wheel (obviously), suspension, axle, chassis and possibly even the diff. So the garage say anyway...

SHAHZ · July 15, 2005

Ouch....hope its sorted soon

Lex-aholic · July 15, 2005

That's a real tear-jerker. Pretty amazing how you didn't hit the barrier.

I'm still surprised that I've never been told about tyres being coated before purchase. That's a real health & safety issue surely ? There must be somewhere that you can claim from for this.

Ash 200 Sport · July 15, 2005

Good to see that you’re ok. The car can be fixed.

I ride bikes and get told by the garage to scrub new tyres in for 100 to 200 miles before letting it go. :P

With the recent weather conditions (heat) and few spells of showers, the road gets greasy so easily that you can't tell what it's like until it's too late. :shutit:

Anyway, hope you get back behind the wheel of your pride and joy.

MartinC · July 15, 2005

Wouldn't have been happy about having those manky old straps put round the car first thought would be 'scratches'

Looks like the rear one is bending the door skin inwards :o in the 3rd pic from the light reflection

Moffet · July 15, 2005

I never spotted that! I did look at the time but it didn't look like it was bending. Suppose it must have been the angle of the light at the time.

I'll certainly be have a hard look at where the straps were when I go to collect it. Looking at it now the front strap seems to be putting some pressure on the wing mirror as well!

Tony9r · July 15, 2005

You'll find a lot of moulded plastic and rubber parts have a 'release agent' applied to the mould to aid the ejecting of the product.
I'm 99% sure this is still the case with new tyres, you just have to take it easy for the first 100 or so miles

←

Deadly on a sports-bike!!!

Jolliffee · July 15, 2005

I'm a bit worried reading this, I've not had my IS out in the rain yet. From the sound of it the IS a bit tender in the wet? Is this what others have found or what?

Moffet · July 15, 2005

I think it was the new tyres to blame as much as anything because they hadn't been worn in yet. There is also that 'releasing agent' coating that doesn't help.

It had stopped raining and was starting to dry a little so the road was really greasy rather than properly wet. I find that tends to be more slippery than properly wet roads anyway.

Andy_F · July 17, 2005

This is a pretty similar incident to one I had recently - writing off my car. Hope yours is fixable and its good that that car did its job and kept you safe.

squarehead · July 18, 2005

The IS is no different to any rear wheel drive - you just have to learn how to handle the car (not being patronising but I read a lot of bad press about the IS' handling).

I'm running Dunlop SP9000's and have been since I got rid of the OEM potenza's and have never doubted the handling. Admittely it is a bit twitchy on roundabouts in the wet and DSC would probably help a lot but that's only on the IS300.