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Got a pass with no advisories today - happy day. Members with long memories may recall that when I imported the car last year it failed its first MOT on the alignment of the nearside headlight. The garage sucked their teeth and warned me it's connected to the self-levelling suspension and could be expensive. I got it home, found an adjuster, lined the lights up on the garage door, went back and got my ticket. Today's inspector (different station) said it only passed after they discovered the reason the NS headlamp pattern was wrong was that the bulb was in upside down. Seems strange to me, but hey - I have a ticket! Good luck to all on their tests Jon

Hi all, For those that perform simple maintenance at home, I thought I'd let you know the Toyota/Lexus servicing promotion is still running :) Simply pop into your nearest Toyota/Lexus parts counter (usually attached to a dealership) and ask them about the promotion - it has been running for many years, and many items qualify, for example; oil filters, air filters, cabin filters, engine oil and spark plugs to name a few. I just picked up air, cabin and oil filters and 5ltrs of 5w30 synthetic oil for my 53 plate Celica VVTL-I and 53 plate RX300 for a grand total of £73! Bargain for all authentic parts and no cheapy blueprint crap. When you consider the cheapest place for a genuine air filter for the RX300 (Lexus Brum via eBay) is £25.50 and the Toyota 5w30 oil (currently on offer at £26) for just one vehicle is over £50, you really can't go wrong - plus the more you get from your local parts counter starts giving you discounts here and there on other bits you may need! It's well worth supporting the parts counter with your business - use it or lose it, as they say. Here's my receipt for today's purchases...

Sorted this ages ago, but forgot to update thread, - just in case anyone has the same, reasonably common, issue; - get in touch with Maple Audio in Bath, - they sorted it quickly and comparatively very cheaply - highly recommended, - has been working like a charm since :) Problem was a connection problem with one of the integrated circuit boards

Replaced a number of bulbs actually - all with LED The number plate lights, as said, - I also replaced the interior dome, both front and rear map lights (didn't do vanity) plus the puddle lights underneath the wing mirrors, - it's so cheap to do and looks a little more modern. A couple of my switches also weren't lighting up (PWR, Sport, Height and the passenger Temp control) - got the correct LEDs from Lexus, removed parts of the dash & replaced... plus the centre brake light which had also gone! :)

Well my little bit of frivolous expense has arrived for my 1993 Car. Looks very nice but I haven't had a chance to check it all out. You do lose the descriptions under the buttons and so will need to get those made up somewhere else or use alphabet kits if you can't recall exactly what is what. Looks nice and sticking loosely to backing greaseproof (or something) Guessing I'd better fix it on sooner rather than later so the sticky doesn't dry out. Cost £92.13 to import and add £21.98 excise duty (VAT).

A real positive on my new IS300h F-Sport...the optional Adaptive Variable Suspension that I chose when I ordered it. Try as I might, I simply could not find a demo car with AVS fitted, but I purchased it in the hope that it would make a noticeable difference to ride quality. I've had a bit of surgery on my back over the years and comfort is something I'm forced to take seriously these days. I often face the dilemma that Sports seats are by far the best in terms of support, but they're often only fitted to cars with firmer Sports suspension. With the IS I tried out several models and ultimately found that the benefits of the seats in the F-Sport outweighed the negatives of its firmer suspension. I must confess to being somewhat sceptical about the claims that some manufacturers make about AVS, but in the IS I have found it to make a significant difference. I'm less concerned about the additional Sports + option it brings (although that does tighten up the car's responses for sure), but the ride quality in ECO, Normal etc is very impressive with the AVS. Prior to the Lexus I had a Honda Accord Type-S which I found to deliver a more comfortable ride than the F-Sports I test drove before purchasing; probably a fraction softer than the Premiers I also tried. I traded the Honda in against the F-Sport and it was immediately apparent that the ride in my new Lexus was better than that in the Accord. I have to say, I am really impressed by this AVS option. It's not that expensive when you take into account the overall cost of the car. Of all the options I added (and I added quite a few, including the Premium Nav which is a mandatory option if you want AVS) I think this might be the best. Ride comfort is a pretty subjective thing - I know a lot of people find the F-Sport absolutely fine. If, however, you're are concerned that the ride feels somewhat hard, then AVS might just be what you need. The handling is sublime and you don't have to suffer back-ache as a trade-off. I hope this feedback is useful to anyone considering this option. Cheers, Rich

I know what you mean, been thinking of changing to led too. I had to change cigar lighter fuse last week and noticed them. I put a voltmeter on the 2 wires feeding the black housing around the orange led and it read 8vDC. I was surprised but may be worth double checking before you purchase. I was using one of those fluke hand held AVO meters- doesn't go to 1 decimal place In my last rx300 I put in patio LEDS which were about an inch in diameter and 12vDC. Bought in B&Q in a pack of four, looked quite nice. easy to wire to Lexus blue sill lights

glad it helped hard to give a decent perspective of the boot but honestly it took our suitcases and once you have a drive in one you'll want one regardless of the boot

I am sure going to try :-) I think the thing is I dont know what to believe on intakes, there is a lot of miss-information out there from both persepctives and the only way I can be sure is to do it my way and see what happens. What really peaked my curiosity is that Toyota/Lexus racing decided they could improve it on the CCS-R, I can only assume they dont do things for nothing. Maybe it is just to remove the breathers to make it more suitable for racing or maybe its more... Lets see if I can find out... I may fail spectacularly but if I dont try I'll never know and I'll always wonder. I'm only searching to sate my own curiosity and to be honest I really enjoy the process.

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in the good old US of A has done a test of 31 different cars headlamp performance, testing their illumination and performance as they come from the factory, with std dealer setup, as well as the various options available from the manufacturers. The IS passed with "acceptable" performance for the standard HID projector bulbs, with and without high beam assist. The LED Projector option available in USA was only "marginal". The only car ranked as good was a Prius with LED's. BMW 3 series and Merc C class were poor with std halogens and only marginal with LED top of the range options. Makes interesting reading, especially around adjustment. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/first-ever-iihs-headlight-ratings-show-most-need-improvement http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/lexus/is-250-350-4-door-sedan

My apologies - WD40 done the trick ;)

Yep, it changed mine too. Financially the difference in mpg doesn't really matter but keeping that green light on can become obsessive behaviour!

Thank you all for your suggestions, I'll talk to OVE but realistically I suppose I'll have to try and get the AA to transport the car to Lexus Oxford and bite the bullet on the cost. I will ask them if they will take it to Japex for me but its three times as far so I doubt that they will do so. Many thanks again.

Welcome back! Keep an eye on my posts regarding your H&S exhaust. Seems like the addition of an X pipe may help quieten things down, and also gain a bit more HP in the mid/top end area. My car will be going back to them soon for some further testing/evaluation. I'll pop something up once I know more. Enjoy lucky number 3!

I have now changed the MAF and so far so good although passing a field or three that had just been treated with some potent artificial fertilizer, that seemed to affect the system as I left the area the warning lights came on again and the readings were "too lean". after clearing the codes all seemed well again ... fingers crossed!

As you say they're only designed to fit one way. One possibility is that it was upside down and not laying flat, then just held in by its clips. In my last LS430 I was flashed (no not that!) by another motorist because one light was too high as the bulb had dislodged itself, presumably because it was fitted incorrectly in the first place, they are a pig to fit if you've never done it before.

The key word there is 'polish'. Its just a way of cleaning up your paintwork, you now need a wax to seal in all your hard work. I use Autoglym HD Wax.

I'm convinced she's happier after waxing or maybe I'm just projecting after spending quite a long time rubbing acres of black panels. Either way, she's a bit prettier this way. Does anyone recommend anything longer lasting than autoglym Polish?

hi,your rear brake light and parking light bulb is a double filament bulb,if your brake lights work and parking lights don't it means that the filament that works your parking light is broken.All you have to do is buy yourself a new pair of bulbs - t20 double filament bulbs,hope this helps

Good news, and strange news! I didn't think the bulb could go in upside down.

Always good news a straight pass with no advisories, mine has failed twice in 10 years, once on lower balljoints and last time on corroded rear brake pipes but never had any advisories,can't grumble for a 22 year old car, most at that age have been crushed by now. A couple more years and it may hit the 100,000 mile mark.

Ive managed to order one. Spoke to a guy on ebay who was breaking a lexus for parts to sell and I've persuaded him to part with the trim for £35 inc postage. The item number for the car is 291718630362 and then just message him and ask him if he could sell you the "driver side rear quarter window trim" and he seemed very cooperative.

+1 for Raj, that's a typical eBay scam where a 'legit' car dealer has been hacked and placing nonsense adverts to scam you out of the cash in advance of seeing or collecting the car. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, was the sensor. The screens been replaced at some point (Lexus logo still present so they must have done it) and the gel was missing from the sensor. The lights don't auto-level like they do in the 250. It's set by how many are in the car (presumably isn't automatic). got they to quote for dash cam fitting as well. My anxiety driving around and more so when parked is off the scale. I found myself parking at a supermarket car park yesterday waiting for the car beside me to drive off before I went inside :/

I did 5 sprint type track days and 4 laps of the ring in my Is-f, and never had a hint of understeer. It was pretty impressive I thought given its weight, just wished I d managed to get to Donnington in it.

There are loads of adds like this where they don't have a phone number and the description is of the same style and the car way cheaper than all the other of a similar spec/age...they are scams!!!!

Yes, weight and understeer. Ruined a good set of tyres in a day!

I must be a bit of a gambler! No warranty for me! I put £50/month into a separate account that I can raid if the worst happens. As opposed to an old Mercedes SL500 I had. I had a warranty with Warranty Direct and probably paid about £1000 in 3 yrs into the plan. I must have had at least 7-8x that back. Great car, but monumentally complicated and unreliable! I'm probably blacklisted from WD for life!

People are so concerned about stamps. Many of these stamps get stolen or false ones get made. Just because a book is stamped doesn't mean it's been serviced so be aware. The best history for a car is to keep all the invoices.

Find my exec very comfortable on the 17's bit of extra rubber/air does make a noticeable difference.