New Member - Is200 Se

[uncleterry]

Just joined the forum, thought I'd say hello.

Bought this exactly a year ago. Bought on ~65k, put quite a few miles on it so far - almost 20k I think, and absolutely love it.

Dark green SE model, black and tan half leather interior. I got hold of the altezza grille from gumtree for a bargain price, have this on most of the time - it looks a bit classier than the UK spec three bar black grille in my opinion, and Ive never seen another car with it on around here. Also change the gearknob over occasionally, Ive got a selection of aftermarket ones from previous modified cars ive owned. Doubt I will do any major changes to this though, but who knows :)

Changed the numberplates today (back one was delaminating and got an advisory on the MOT) and Ive currently got a lambda sensor heat circuit code - waiting for a direct Denso replacement to come in this week hopefully this will sort it!

I also bought a spare airbox which I drilled and was running a K&N panel in - sounded really nice but I put it back to stock when the code came up just in case. If everything returns to normal after the sensor swap and code clear than I'll put the drilled box back on :)

Bit about me - I'm an automotive design engineer based in Essex. Owned a modified vw for about 5 years which i learnt a lot on. Rebuilt the engine in my uni living room with a friend, not many original or stock parts on it by the time I sold it! Owned a Toyota Corolla before the Lexus, so a bit of experience on the brand.

Not sure if there are any meets down here in Essex?

Thanks!

[IHgs300]

Nice looking IS Michael, Welcome to the club.

[uncleterry]

Thanks for the welcome!

Just spotted the meet details in your sig - I'm up that way occasionally, might come along.

[petayV8]

Hi. nice example you got there. very clean. this meet is up your way isnt it?

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/82055-southeast-kent-essex-meet/page-2#entry824670

[IHgs300]

Thanks for the welcome!

Just spotted the meet details in your sig - I'm up that way occasionally, might come along.

Would be ice to meet you if you can make it.

[uncleterry]

Hi. nice example you got there. very clean. this meet is up your way isnt it?

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/82055-southeast-kent-essex-meet/page-2#entry824670

Hey thanks for the info and welcome. Yes it is, hadnt spotted that... unfortunately I will be flying out of the country on Saturday for a few days, will have to try and make the next one!

[steve2006]

Hello and welcome to the LOC.

Nice looking IS you have there.

Plenty of information and advice always available on the forums, with your job we may be asking you some questions :D

A meeting around your area is being organised at present, you would be very welcome to attend.

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/82055-southeast-kent-essex-meet/#entry818702

[uncleterry]

Hello and welcome to the LOC.

Nice looking IS you have there.

Plenty of information and advice always available on the forums, with your job we may be asking you some questions :D

A meeting around your area is being organised at present, you would be very welcome to attend.

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/82055-southeast-kent-essex-meet/#entry818702

Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah Im mostly an interior trim design engineer, also an ergonomicist and stylist... never worked in powertrain or chassis though which most people are likely to ask about! Do work with a guy who used to design accesory drives in powertrain who I can always ask questions, and I know a thing or two about both anyway, just no expert.

Im also a member of the Automotive Artists Guild who often display at places like Gaydon.

Some of my more recent work, if anyone fancies taking a look

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Traditional-Motor-Art-(2012)/4888373

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Hi and welcome :)

Nice car, got an altezza grill too in the bottom pic and Lexus grill in the top pic?

[uncleterry]

Thanks :)

I saw you have recently put an Altezza grille on yours in your thread too.

I noticed on mine that the original Lexus one has a blanking plate on the back which closes off most of the grill aperture. The altezza one doesn't have this, so I put the Lexus one back on over winter to see if it would stop excessive cold air getting under the hood during warm-up. In reality it seemed to make no difference, but I like to change it every now and again just to see how it looks!

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Nope no tezza grill here. I've got a TTE front bumper so mine looks like the sport grill.

You're confusing me with IanS200 I think :)

I prefer the Lexus grill btw

[uncleterry]

Nope no tezza grill here. I've got a TTE front bumper so mine looks like the sport grill.

You're confusing me with IanS200 I think :)

I prefer the Lexus grill btw

Whoop sorry haha. Shows I don't read a damn thing just saw the silver sig car :p

Ah I do like the TTE front bumper. My car looks more like an exec (with the tan half leather) so I think its more fitting. Definitely considering the L badge onto the altezza grill mod, and then spraying it all satin black as I move it over to more of a sport look...

But yeah, still have both. So itll be back to the original 3 bar Lexus while I modify the other one :)

[HoodRich]

Your car is in great condition. Looks really neat. Welcome to the club.

[uncleterry]

Thanks for the welcome.

It looks great in pictures - there are quite a few scratches though, mostly on the hood where someone has closed the hood with what appears to be a hand with rings on every finger, and some stonechips on the centre of the hood. Just looked up the paint code, guessing this is 6R4 Glenarvon Pine? Will have to try and get hold of a pot and do a test...

[tues2bee]

Hello to you I am a new member as well. Your car looks good.

[HoodRich]

Here in SA, the IS200 did not sell well (at the time there were no Lexus dealerships in SA and they were imported by Toyota). Its quite a rare sight to see one on the road here. I saw a green one like yours over the weekend. That colour looks awesome "in the metal".....I got really excited when it drove by, much to the annoyance of my wife.

[Youngiceman87]

Where abouts in Essex are u uncleterry? Another owner at a future Bluewater meet wud be good :-)

[uncleterry]

Here in SA, the IS200 did not sell well (at the time there were no Lexus dealerships in SA and they were imported by Toyota). Its quite a rare sight to see one on the road here. I saw a green one like yours over the weekend. That colour looks awesome "in the metal".....I got really excited when it drove by, much to the annoyance of my wife.

Haha fantastic, yeah I can imagine she wasn't too impressed. Did they not do the IS300 in the dark green? Thanks for the welcome and glad you like it :)

Where abouts in Essex are u uncleterry? Another owner at a future Bluewater meet wud be good :-)

Hey, Witham. Was just in our local motorfactors and theres a guy ive met a few times that works in there who has an IS as well, much more modified than mine looked really good today. Keep forgetting to mention this forum to him though! Assuming he's not on here already anyway.

[Youngiceman87]

About 40 miles to Bluewater then? (according to google maps lol). Maybe if theres another meet u and the other guy cud tag along?

[petayV8]

I find it kinda strange how Lexus only ever sold a decent amount of cars in the UK compared to any other European country. I once out of interest searched for IS200 on eBay.fr (France) and there was one! in a country the size of france there is one IS for sale when there is at least aways a couple of hundred in little old England lol. Seems the same anywhere in Europe.

[Stuart Aspey]

Welcome to the group Michael. Very nice looking IS200. Good way of changing the cars identity every couple of weeks. Lol.

[LexIS200Sport]

Im also a member of the Automotive Artists Guild who often display at places like Gaydon.

Some of my more recent work, if anyone fancies taking a look

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Traditional-Motor-Art-(2012)/4888373

Welcome to the club, Michael, and some amazing drawings and sketches you have there! :)

Do you spend much time working in Dunton by any chance?

[uncleterry]

About 40 miles to Bluewater then? (according to google maps lol). Maybe if theres another meet u and the other guy cud tag along?

Yeah, sounds about right. I will have to go and ask him. I still go to some local VW and non-make specific meets, don't get much attention though in a stock Lexus :p

Welcome to the group Michael. Very nice looking IS200. Good way of changing the cars identity every couple of weeks. Lol.

Thanks for the welcome :) Yeah got a few other bits planned, got the feel for doing a few things now the weather is good! Got some main beam bulbs on order, should come in this week, and I plan on changing the steering wheel in the next month or so. Trying to get a definitive answer on the airbag resistance so ive got all the bits before I start!

Im also a member of the Automotive Artists Guild who often display at places like Gaydon.

Some of my more recent work, if anyone fancies taking a look

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Traditional-Motor-Art-(2012)/4888373

Welcome to the club, Michael, and some amazing drawings and sketches you have there! :)

Do you spend much time working in Dunton by any chance?

Hey thanks. I used to be in and out of there quite a bit, work for a consultancy though so never had my own permanent desk. Still have a few friends working in there though. Why do you ask?

[LexIS200Sport]

I used to work in Dunton, and noticed that you're an automotive design engineer based in Essex. So I had to put the two together and ask :P

[uncleterry]

I used to work in Dunton, and noticed that you're an automotive design engineer based in Essex. So I had to put the two together and ask :P

Yeah guessed that haha. What area/dept did you used to be in there if you don't mind me asking?

On another note, finally fixed my Lambda sensor issue today. Denso took ages to get the part through, but its top quality part and so much cheaper (£50) going directly compared to going via Lexus (£150?) for the same part...

Also got the proper sized socket for it and a set of thread taps for lambda sensors now, just in case I need them again in the future. Hopefully not!