Steviewevie

It wasn't Kwik-fit was it ? I would be inclined to get a second opinion on the shock absorber and/or to clean it up yourself and see if it really is leaking (or they just sprayed some oil on it to make it look like that).

I'm guessing that there's probably a country where the IS200 was launched in 2000, and Tein have used that as the basis for the model years for the IS200 ?

Tein's own websites says 2000-2005, e.g. see here I'm assuming they've just got it wrong, since I don't recall anyone here saying there's a problem with Tein coilovers on 1999 models. But I don't know for sure.

See this thread

Do it, do it, do it ! :D

You should be able to save something from Lexus dealers with Gold membership. It takes a couple of weeks or so to get a membership card, I think they get made up in batches.

A group buy on something like this sounds like an excellent idea ! :D

I wouldn't have thought a front strut brace would make any handling difference to the car unless you were taking it out on the track. If my assumption is correct, then you may as well just get a cheap one that looks nice, yes ! :)

Can you post a link up to the eBay item ? Maybe folks here will be able to tell from that if you'll have any probs with the wheels.

Wow, I'm glad this thread got resurrected, it was before my time as a LOC member, and ToyotaGT are not very far from me at all ! :)

Thanks Stav. Doesn't sound as simple as I was hoping then (unless I pay to get a ready-made kit, e.g. ProLex, of course).

Will all those bits definitely do the job ? And can you confirm that I don't need any brackets, just those steel ball ends ? I'm certainly interested. Love the broom handle example though

Pretty sure Wozza got a complete set of late door cards to give his IS200 a full leather interior. Yes, the cards are all one piece, I think it would be a major job just replacing the Ecsaine section on one. I imagine these must come up from time to time at breakers.

Just did my first full tank with my K&N air filter installed. Did 465 miles, which works out at 33 mpg, well pleased ! :D

Don't forget the before and after photos to show us ! :winky: I guessed it would be possible to move them, but didn't realise there were already some handy holes to use, so it sounds like one of those mods that even I could do !

There's a posting here which seems to describe a very similar problem. It doesn't say whether the original poster solved the problem are not, but there are some further suggestions in there.

You can always paint the horns to make them blend in more. Or you can go the opposite way and paint them a different colour to make them stand out. I guess you could always move the horns too, if you wanted.

Nope, the sports grille is open.

Probably best to ask them direct or on the Gold forums here for that. If you're a Gold member, then you need to send a PM to Steve because you should have a "Gold" icon showing up against your postings.

I seem to remember some people reporting similar things. Try the "Search" function and you might turn up a few threads on this. I think that radio/electromagnetic interference was sometimes suggested, and also possible objects (metal items ?) left in the car ? Welcome aboard though, the people here are a great bunch.

I like that suggestion. You can try and sell it to her as you know that she's never met you before, so perhaps she'd feel more comfortable meeting you somewhere like that which will be safe for her. She shouldn't have a problem with it if she's genuine, as WylieCoyote said.

Yeah, but if she's supposedly an old lady, why is she using words like "wat" and so forth ? I've encountered non-native English speakers and the ones that I've known don't talk like that. To me it sounds like someone *trying* to sound "a bit foreign". Maybe I'm also just too suspicious, I'll be interested to know how it works out.

The wording seems to be about "mechanical failure" though. If your car catches fire on its own, whilst not being driven, then presumably that's probably down to electrical failure and not mechanical. I guess the insurance companies are trying to make sure they don't get involved in anything mechanical, after all, they don't cover breakdowns. I think it would be very difficult to get your own insurance company to have to pay out. I would have thought the best bet would be the seemingly rather large coincidence of the car just being driven away from the garage after having been worked on. I would have thought that a court would be very interested in this "coincidence". The problem is trying to prove this, since it may be expensive to get an independent report into what caused the problem. Thinking out loud, I wonder if Kwik-fit could be persuaded into some sort of cash settlement where they don't actually admit liability, but which ends up being better than nothing Might be worth getting Trading Standards involved, on the basis that you had work carried out and then immediately the car went wrong, so the standard of work doesn't seem like it was too good ? This might persuade Kwik-fit to start being a bit more cooperative. I do hope that it works out well though, sounds like a tricky one.

The timing belt is recommended for change at 60,000 miles or 6 years. So it doesn't seem like you really need to do it yet.

I agree, that email doesn't sound at all like a "little old lady". Sounds like someone who doesn't have English as their native language, but doesn't sound like an older person either. Still sounds a bit odd to me.