Norv

Did you like the packaging mate? Hehe, I couldn't find anything suitable to use to put them in! Decided the foam from a sprinter steering rack should do it, along with tons of duct tape and electrical tape!

Glad you got them and fitted over the weekend. Car is a different beast all together isn't it! Like I say, just be careful with the back end being that much stiffer, don't want it to end up like mine!

Mark.

Nice work mate. Would add a nice 'glow' to a set of yellow ARB's wouldn't they.....

I STILL haven't got round to getting them off mate. Weather is better now though. Hangover dependant, I may have a go on Sunday. If not it will be soon!

Sorry to mess you about!

K and N filter is sold, sorry.

Cheers Ormi, I will be meeting my niece Wed eve, can't wait now!

Mark.

un cut 3 button key how much mate?

I paid £65 for the 3 button key with all the inards. £60 delivered? Just need to get it cut.

Mark.

what else you got mate?how about a wee list?remember though roll bars are mine!! :winky:

ps hows your sister?

I have decided to buy it back from the insurance then going to put it on eBay as a cat c write off. Will be interesting what it sells for. Too good for spares, so hopefully someone will rebuild it who has the time and space for it!

So I will just sell on the mods I have done and then advertise it.

Ormi you will def get the ARB's!! Still haven't taken them off yet, but will do soon. My sister had the baby at 01.45 this morning, both of them are doing fine.

Still got xe-01 rising sun dials, Lexus badge from air box, floor mats, plat ice sport grill, 16" alloy spare wheel, k and n panel filter, nearly new bosch Battery (biggest that would fit in the tray), un cut 3 button spare key.

I will try to think if there is anything else.

Cheers,

Mark.

Just been on the phone to the insurance company. They are giving me £3,250 for it and want £487 to keep it.

So I'm not sure what to do with it now! I don't think its worth trying to fix it up again as the damage was quite severe.

Think I will whip a few bits that will go unnoticed from it and go from there.

So any more bits and peices anyone wants pm me!

Mark.

Looking for £250 plus shipping for the ARB's, only about 3 months old!

Nothing is on eBay yet as I need to take everything off it and replace it with the standard stuff.

Plat ice sport grille, fan washer jets, rising sun dials xe-01, floor mats, tool kit, k and n panel filter, timer relay for auto folding mirrors.

Hoping to sell these to fun a few mods for the golf!

Really miss the Lex though!

Hi there,

A few weeks ago I wrote off my Is200. Was toying with the idea of buying it back and fixing it up, but that doesn't seem likely so I decided on a new car. As much as I loved my Lex the fuel economy was just too big an issue.

I have finally bought a Gold GT TDi 150, it's quicker than the Lex and does double the mpg! I do miss my Lex though.

I have a while before the insurance is sorted so I have a platinum ice Lex which I can swap bits off with anyone if it helps. I have fan type jets which I can swap etc...

Is there any bits that should take off to sell separately? I will sell my TRD yellow ARB's, rising sun dash dials and a few other bits and bobs on eBay. So if anyone wants anything as a swap then let me know! Based in Salisbury if that makes it easier!

Cheers,

Mark

Yeah its the Battery. If its only showing 9v then its on its way out completely. It shows 14v when running as the alternator will be working hard tryign to charge the Battery.

Its an easy job to replace the Battery. Hope this helps.

Mark.

I am a Mercedes Van and Truck technician who has qualified with them and done various training courses. I challenge an independent mechanic to do a job as efficiently as I can. I can do the job in much quicker times keeping the labour charge down, okay, they charge more per hour but when there is much less time on a job savings are made.

I understand that some people don't realise that servicing is fairly straight forward and they could probably do it themselves, but why risk having something done wrongly? Would all independents know that some newer vehicles require low ash engine oil? If they used normal oil and the Diesel Particulate Filter got blocked up would they pay the £800 for a new one? Does the independent garage know to check everything at set intervals?

This is a two sided arguement, I will always service my own vehicles, but for big jobs, the dealers do know what they are doing as they have probably done the job countless times before.

Mark.

I finally got the outcome of the inspectors report. Basically they said its a Cat C write off. The inspector said he thought it was £3000+VAT worth of damage.

Not sure if its worth trying to buy it back as it will be a lot of time and effort to sort it out. I'm no body work repair man so it will never be spot on again.

The car is at my workplace yard at the moment, they have asked me to send the v5, MoT, Insurance certificate and the keys to them recorded delivery.

There are a few things I wouldn't mind from the car really, do you think I could get away with taking the ARB's back off it to sell? Not sure if they inspect the car again after declaring it a write off. But the ARB's are £300 and less than an hour to take off! The lowering springs are too much hassle though.

Now I need to decide if another Lex is practical or not!!!! God I loved that car!

Cheers, Mark.

It's a 2001 Y plate, odometer says 36,000m but its done about 130,000.

Not had any other smashes as far as I know. It's hpi clear and the paintwork doesn't look different at all, must just be the photo taken from my phone.

Hopefully not a write off as its a pretty tidy car.

Any idea how much they want to buy them back if they do decide its too far gone?

Cheers, Mark.

Hopefully that picture worked...

Insurance seem happy with what happened. I suppose its a refreshing change for someone to be completely honest with them with something like this!

Still waiting back to find out if it is repairable or a write off, hopefully won't be a write off but the inspector seemed to think so going by the rear axle damage.

So, does anyone know for an IS200 in Platinum Ice with rear end damage? I need a bonnet, o/s/f wing, o/s headlight, a front bumper and the under trays.

Not sure about the rear axle damage, hoping ORMI could give me a clue as to what normally goes wrong when the wheel is at 40 degrees!

Cheers, Mark.

As a Merc mechanic who deals with a terrible parts department an awful lot. 99% of parts man have no clue what so ever. The rare partsman who know there stuff are worth there weight in gold!

Might be an idea to ring Lexus Birmingham Service department and get them to correct parts!

Lets hope so! First ever claim on insurance so have no idea how it works or how long it takes them to get it sorted.

I'm hoping that no additional premium means they aren't too worried about it.

Time will tell!

Mark.

Well basically what happened was, I was in the workshop where I work and finally fitted my TTE lowering springs and TRD ARB's (and stainless dials).

I went for a quick road test around the industrial estate and came round a corner where a cat ran out from the trees, I swerved and braked to avoid it and lost control. The car span round and hit a post and the curb. The o/s/r wheel is pointing at about 40 degrees to the left and the front bumper, bonnet and o/s/f headlight are broken.

I haven't had a big look at everything yet.

I rang the insurance company and explained the situation, I had just modified it and on private property etc.. so not intending to drive on the public highway. I also have a works van mon - fri to use so didn't need to use the car. The guy on the phone seemed fairly happy with it and said as it was only some springs and ARB's he didnt think it would cause a problem. As I'm insured through a broker I told them about the mods and they didnt even put the premium up.

Just waiting to hear back from them.

I will put a picture up later.

Ormi is it usually anything in particular that gives way on the rear axle? Looks like it would be the panhard arm, but not sure.

Cheers,

Mark.

Hi there,

Bit of a complicated one here. Where would someone stand if they had an accident with the car which happened on private property on an industrial estate which didn't involve anyone else. If the car had just been modified and road tested on private property when the accident happened, where would that leave it?

Obviously the modification can't be declared until it has been done. But as it wasn't on a public highway would it count as invalid insurance?

Hoping someone on here is an insurance person!

Cheers,

Mark.

I went for a Bosch Silver in the end. Toyota wanted £54+ and I got this Bosch for £60 all in. Got to fit it soon.

cheers for the advice!

Mark.

Hi there,

My Lex has started to turn over very slowly now its a bit colder and is only just firing over now. I'm pretty sure the Battery is faulty.

As its my Mrs car mainly I want to rest assured its not going to let her down so ideally want to fit a hefty Battery to it.

So do any of the deep cycle batteries fit? I have found that the cheap factor batteries don't tend to last well. The car is used frequently so it isn't being left for long periods or anything.

Cheers, Mark.

Mine arrived today, will get on and fit them in the next few weeks. Looking forward to seeing them fitted.

Well impressed,

Cheers.

I may be interested, how much are you looking for?

Cheers, Mark.

No rush for me what so ever Jason, you get yourself sorted before you go worrying about the dials!

All the best.

Mark.

Hi there,

I bought a blank master key for my Lex as I only have one master key and one valet key. Now I haven't tried programming it yet as I can't find anywhere that can cut the blank for me!

Now can I ask someone a really big favour and possibly send them the valet key and my blank (along with some beer money) who passes a decent key cutting place?

My other options are to drive to Southampton to find somewhere that can do it, but all the places in Salisbury I have phoned say they can do it, some even have a picture of a Lexus badge on a sign saying we can cut keys, but still say they can't cut it that fine? Or does anyone know of a place in Southampton that has cut one for them?

Cheers, Mark.

Don't touch the ABS unit again. Once you get air in there its a nightmare to bleed out!

Are you bleeding the brakes by opening the blled nipple as someone else pushes the pedal down then closing it before they bring the pedal back up, repeat about 15 times? After every 5th pump of the pedal keep the nipple closed while they pump the pedal a few times and hold it down, then open the nipple.

If you are really struggling you can try back bleeding it with a little oil can full of fluid and put that on the bleed nipple, obviously the fluid level will go up so make sure you can catch any overflow, sometimes this can help if the system is being stubborn.

Failing that you will need a pressure bleeder, you can get some which use the air pressure of a tyre to push the fluid through, or some are Battery powered and keep the fluid going through at a constant pressure.

Hope this helps, Mark.

Pull one fuse at a time to isolate different circuits. If your e-Manage has it's own fuse pull that one out.

But a Battery will never hold as much charge if it has been drained for a long time, so I'd get that tested too.