New To Just About Everything

teknojunki · October 23, 2006

Things that I am new to:

- this fourm

- IS200s

- the UK

Things that I am not new to:

- working on/fixing cars

- modifying cars

I'm looking into buying a used IS200, 2000 year with relatively high miles ~120k. It's been through 2 owners as far as I can tell. The first put a lot of miles on the car, almost 80k in 2 years so I assume mostly motorway. 2nd owner then only used it locally, 40k in 4 years. Lexus serviced until 2nd owner, then to an independent garage where all work was done on it including a cam belt when they first picked it up. The reseller is asking around £5200-5500, how does this car/price sound?

I imagine the car needs some servicing mostly basic stuff, but I'd like to have the diff oil changed as well as having the brakes bled. Though I would prefer to do all the work myself I do not have the tools necessary. So, at the moment I have two options: leave it with the reseller to have their garage work on it (not too excited about this prospect), or pick it up as is and find some place on my own. However, being that I'm new to England I have no idea where I would go to get this work done without getting screwed. Any one have any suggestions in the Milton Keynes/Bedford area?

Any additional advice would be great. Other things to look out for on used cars or have taken care of when I service the car. The front headlamp has some condensation which seems common enough, and yes I've done a search on the forums. I'll probably pop them in the oven and reseal them myself.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: The car tracks left a little, something else to get checked out. It is a Sport model in case people were wondering.

Bazza · October 23, 2006

hi and welcome mr teknojunki

sounds ok

might get a slightly lower mileage if you keep searching, although it may not be as good as the one you have seen in other respects

cant recommend anyone local as i am not from around there

but why not consider buying a few tools and get the work done by yourself

that way you might save some money, gain some tools, and you will know its been done right

Halfords sell almost any tool needed for most general servicing

post any questions you might have, i am sure you will find the answer here

where abouts have you come from ?

:)

peter026 · October 23, 2006

Hi, and welcome to the club :D

I'm afraid I can't help either, as I am down in the South West quadrant

Robin H · October 23, 2006

welcome to the club

there's a few members from around the MK area, so they maybe able to help when they come along

all the best with your car ;)

spikes · October 23, 2006

hi teknojunki,welcome to loc :D

Mike_B · October 23, 2006

but why not consider buying a few tools and get the work done by yourself
that way you might save some money, gain some tools, and you will know its been done right

halfords sell almost any tool needed for most general servicing

:)

Welcome to the club teknojunki...

Bazza is right - get to Halfords and get some tools. Their Professional range is excellent quality and not that expensive. Since you are not new to car maintenance I'm sure you'll be able to do at least as good a job as a garage.

For the tracking, get down to Watford, Wheels Inmotion wil sort you out, they have for a lot of guys on here. There is a main dealer in Milton Keynes, but I guess you were really asking about a decent independent!

Mike

teknojunki · October 23, 2006

thanks for the welcomes

i've come over from the states, california (san francisco and san diego) to be exact. i guess short of hearing about some garages in the area, when it comes time to get work done i'll take care of things myself. or perhaps if there's some one else in the area who's rather handy we can meet up.

are there any issues with getting the gear shift into reverse? the first time i managed to do it on accident, but it seemed that if i actively try to push it over it didn't want to go. the guy was saying to make sure to push down and over, but i didn't feel any kind of distinctive drop in the lever before moving left.

derekyau · October 24, 2006

thanks for the welcomes
i've come over from the states, california (san francisco and san diego) to be exact. i guess short of hearing about some garages in the area, when it comes time to get work done i'll take care of things myself. or perhaps if there's some one else in the area who's rather handy we can meet up.

are there any issues with getting the gear shift into reverse? the first time i managed to do it on accident, but it seemed that if i actively try to push it over it didn't want to go. the guy was saying to make sure to push down and over, but i didn't feel any kind of distinctive drop in the lever before moving left.

Shouldn't be any issues shifting into reverse... you got to "throw" your gear lever to the left fairly swiftly to get into reverse. Definately no "push down" as such. You should also get the beep-beep-beep etc. noise once in reverse...

And welcome to the miserable wet UK! But the brighter and more chirpy LOC!

D. :winky: B)