Sportcross In North Europe

[Andrei Tuch]

Hello,

New owner here, just got my '03 IS200 SportCross a few days ago. :) Thought I'd join the owners' club, even though I live in Estonia - I got a lot of useful info out of the UK club for my previous car (Ford Puma).

Anyway, the car's blue, manual transmission, and has only 90 thousand kilometers on the odo (a bit over 50k miles). According to the seller, it belonged to a lady doctor who bought a new RX and let this one just sit for a year before putting it up for sale at the local Peugeot/Toyota/Lexus dealership, which is where I got it. Paid 6000€, which I think is a very good price - there's a similar silver one on sale that's 9500€!

Plans include a repaint of the wheels - they're corroded and need attention anyway, so I figure I'll have them sandblasted and painted white when it's time to switch to winter tires. I also want to install cruise control on it. From what I understand, even though the manual never came with cruise control from the factory, it's just a matter of installing the switch - so I'm waiting on a dealer quote for that right now. If that fails, I'll just get an aftermarket cruise control system - I had one on the Puma and liked it. Probably more expensive, but more functional as well - the kit I used had three memory presets, which I calibrated via GPS to stay at just below the speed camera trigger level. :)

There it is:

[TigerFish]

Welcome to LOC B)

Not sure on the laws in Estonia, but the cruise control should disengage if the brake is pressed, or the clutch. As only autos had cruise, the clutch won't have that trip switch on it, so at the very least, it would need that. I would be a little surprised if the whole accelator/actuator stuff was also installed as standard on all cars, even when it didn't have cruise.

[Andrei Tuch]

Well, I know that on VW Group cars it really is just a matter of electronics and it can be easily retrofitted. And the IS has electronic throttle control anyway.

You have a point about the clutch actuator - perhaps there's a sensor there already for some reason... oh well, that's why I went to the dealer. If they can't retrofit the factory one, I'll have to get an aftermarket one.

[afterburner]

Please let us know how you get on, as I'm sure the mod would be of interest to others ... such as me!

[Andrei Tuch]

Just picked it up from the electrician today, used the directions in a thread on here to fix the headlight leveling sensor issue.

Price of a new sensor at the local dealer: 495 euros.

Price of full rebuild & cleaning of both sensors, restoring the car to full working order: 53.45 euros.

Smug self-satisfaction: Priceless.

Haven't gotten around to fitting a cruise control system yet, it does seem that the automatic's parts can't just be retrofitted to a manual, which is a shame. It's also still on the original stereo... but with the headlights fixed, it's barely distinguishable from a brand new car. Shame about the fuel consumption, though, but all things considered I can live with it.