bigmick777

Here's my IS250 SE-L

Tango, what % are your rear tints? Any issue with the anti dazzle rear mirror or any other toys?

Finally, did you have them done yourself - if so, how much did you pay. The rears on mine are tinted more than the front as standard but I do think a darker tint looks better, especially on the grey cars.

500 quids?? I don't know how can they justify this price.

Got a quote yesterday for the SR (GFX) boot lip and front lip spoiler from Lexus Dealer. Unpainted:

front 176.23 plus vat.

rear 240.88 plus vat.

Thanks for the input. A difference of 4 seconds seems too much even with the gearing difference. I hope a few others will post data so we can build a profile. Thanks

Didnt do the test under any sort of controlled circumstances, no stop watch etc. Tried it again today and its 4 to 5 seconds. I was on the motorway after and can drive in 6th at 50mph. Dont need to change down to overtake under normal conditions, at around 52 + mph the turbo / torque just starts to kick in(this is at just over 1500 rpm).

I have had ALL the recalls done before, but he said there was a new ECU reflash 14/06/2010. I had the reflash done free of charge, but had the EGR valve REPLACED not cleaned!!! I picked the car up, drove it out the dealership, & wheel spun off! Couldnt belive it! It was like a new/different car, I gave it some stick all the way home & am still smiling! Was not cheap at £400+ but GOD ITS WORTH EVERY PENNY! The service & help from Lexus Coventry was second to none!

Car was in Lexus friday for two new HIDs (got them myself and Lexus fitted for free - excellent service yet again!). Anyway, why I was there I was talking to the mechanic and asked about the new ECU flash. He confirmed and said he was downloading the update over the weekend and they would flash mine next week.

He checked my version and said it was running 400, the one he currently had was 500 and the new one he is downloading is 600. No idea what the "fixes / updates" are!

ideally i would have taken out the lexus warranty, but it's v expensive - it's simply overpriced for the level of cover they offer, i would hope that being a lexus i'll never actually need to call upon it

When I asked for a quote from Warranty Direct the top level of cover was luxury plus which seemed to be inline with the Lexus Warranty. There were mileage limitations with this i.e you had to be under 60K iirc but when they called me back they said they would allow my car at 62K but it was still nearly 500 quid. This was the 2nd time they had contacted me so suspect it was close to the cheapest they were prepared to go. Basically this was just shy of the Lexus quote but you get the full AA cover for you and partner with Lexus which was worth the difference.

My lexus is so gutless below 2000r

In First gear its fine then i go into 2nd gear and but my foot to the floor their is no power at all,

And when iam in third gear going up a hill (just a little hill) it just won`t Accelerat at all

This has all happen just after 3 years after warranty, can any body help me!!!!!

Check your number plate with lexus to see if all recalls are done. Ask if the EGR valve and 5th injector have been done.

How is the performance / MPG above 2000 RPM? The gearing on the standard diesel isnt great TBH and you have to adjust your driving style to keep the power.

We all agree there is a problem. Can we measure it? In third gear on a flat road if I sit at 1000 revs and then put my foot down it takes 8 seconds to reach 2000 revs!! I know this is not how to drive but it demonstrates the issue. Can a few others try the same test and post the results? I would like to know if mine is better or worse than average so I can complain to Lexus with some data to back me up!

57 reg is220d

If I do the same it takes ~4 secs before the turbo is fully in and I have to ease off. I do have the sport tho so the gearing ratio does seem to make a big difference.

Three weeks ago took on a 2 year Lexus extended warranty at ~1200. £60 odd quid a month interest free.

I got a credit note for about 60 quid as I was given last years price which my local dealer honoured (not Lexus UK BTW!). To be honest, thats not what swung it. A similar quote (luxury plus) from warrant direct wasnt much cheaper and I got full AA cover for myself and partner with Lexus.

The fact I only have to deal with my local Lexus garage is the biggest plus. I am sure I could probably save a quid here and there but the hassle of trying to resolve awkward issues doesnt appeal to me.

Going to get the roof, bonnet and front bumper resprayed (bonnet fully stripped and re-done) in the next month or so due to stone chips (one on the roof going rusty!) - for anyone interested on price I will be paying £250 ish by a friend who has done a few of my other cars and he's first class!

Anyway, back to the point - seems like a good time to look at getting and fitting a rear spoiler and front lip so i can get it painted at the same time. I like the styling of the SR (think i prefer the SR to f-sport).

Checked the usual places, eBay, internet, dealer etc. Dealer @ stoke v. expensive but struggling to source. Any ideas?

I have seen similar boot spoilers to the SR on eBay (taiwan replicas) which could tempt me if anyone can vouch for them... not seen replicas of the front bib / lip.

I believe the SR kit is also known as the GFX? I would still consider f-sport styling if anyone can also help with that kit.

Thanks in advance.....

(Dont let car washers put that wheel cleaner on.)

So does that wheel cleaner affect the wheels? What alternatives should I use then?

Ta.

Ahmed

Hi, I have read a few times to avoid the wheel cleaners on the forecourts as they can be quite a strong acid, hence not help the corrosion!

I dont have a problem cleaning with normal car shampoo and wheel brush and a bit of elbow grease, hence dont need a cleaner. For protection, like I say I use normal car wax but am interested in what other products people use.

Unfortunately someone from Lexus who thinks he knows what he is talking about will always accompany you when taking an IS-F for a test drive.

On one occasion I was allowed to take it out of the showroom and back again with dead weight in the passenger seat nagging me all the way. On another occasion I had to be a passenger for several miles before the beast was handed over to me.

This wasnt the case at the day in cheshire. The driver was hired in so independent. He sell's himself to various shows and functions, silverstone track days etc so didnt get any sales pitch. He had done his homework on the car too.

He drive it for about 5 miles explaing the car, gearbox, power, etc. He also did a 0-60 test on a quite road before handing it over to me.

Can anyone recommend a good lacquer for the alloys ? just had two wheels refurbished under warranty and I would like to make sure they dont corrode again . Thanks

Be interested to see peoples views as I would like to maintain mine!

Got my 18's refurbished when I bought the car (by an independant garage). Came up really nice but want to maintain it. So far just cleaning with a wheel cleaning brush and standard car wash mix, then when applying wax apply it to wheels. Dont let car washers put that wheel cleaner on.

Just wonder does anybody use any fuel treatment like Redex in a regular basis. Is that recommended by Lexus? If you are using it in a regular basis, have you notice any improvement in fuel consumption and performance?

I use millers eco max diesel treatment. First time I have tried it and about 3 or 4 tanks worth used (although sometimes I forget).

Cannot say for definite about MPG but have noticed not as much smoke, although I tend not to use any other diesel other than Shell (preferred as low sulphur) or BP. Car used to blow a puff of smoke with supermarket diesel. Never had a problem with power have been very happy so far :-)

Not sure if this will therefore help to keep the EGR valve / engine in check.

I have a 220D and the rear doors / windows have a slight tint. Any ideas what % they are as I am also considering tinting them. Dont want to go too dark though as worried about rear visibility and the function of the anti dazzle mirror etc.

Hi,

I am having the same issues after having the ECU reflashed in January. They've apparently cleaned the EGR too. Any suggestions?

TA

I have a 56plate 66k, I was having the worst flat spot you can imagine, to the point of being dangerous when pulling out at junctions! Nothing until the turbo kicked in at about 2200rpm. I took it to my Lexus dealer in Coventry, the mechanic came out with me, told me straight away it was the EGR valve, & showed me the readings on his screen, instead of getting 97-98% it was reading 68%! a lost of 1/3 power output!!!

I have had ALL the recalls done before, but he said there was a new ECU reflash 14/06/2010. I had the reflash done free of charge, but had the EGR valve REPLACED not cleaned!!! I picked the car up, drove it out the dealership, & wheel spun off! Couldnt belive it! It was like a new/different car, I gave it some stick all the way home & am still smiling! Was not cheap at £400+ but GOD ITS WORTH EVERY PENNY! The service & help from Lexus Coventry was second to none!

14/06 - that was lucky, the day you go in. Will ask when I next go in to see what the fixes were and if I can get mine done - maybe someone else on here can find out?

To those who test drove the ISF- did they let you test drive it on your own or not?

I went to the Lexus Leeds Open Road Event last month and when people asked to drive the ISF they were accompanied by someone from Lexus- I guess they didn't want their ISF coming back with 4 bold tyres!

They put a professional driver in with us. He drove so far (giving it a bit too) then passed it over to me :-).

Went to the one in Cheshire yesterday.

Drove the IS-F first, wow! That engine sounds and drives mint! Got the chance to give it the beans a couple of times on the country roads.

IS250C next - felt very sluggish, first time I have drove a 250. I am guessing its sluggish because of the extra weight.

Finally the RX 450H - this was superb! I was really really surprised and instantly wanted one! My friend who came along with me also agreed. Couldnt stretch to the price tag mind but the engine / hybrid combo is fantastic.

What a nightmare......

Put the deposit down last week, find out over the weekend that I am being put 'at risk' :tsktsk: so I can't risk buying a car then loosing my job.

I just hope I can get my deposit back from the dealer....

Back to being an 'aspiring' owner for a while I guess

Good luck with the decision on your job fella!

Hi all.

New member and new owner. I have had my Lexus 220d SE 56 plate for 8 days.

Wonderful comfort and cruising machine etc etc as you all probably know.

HOWEVER....

the gearing seems to be very out of sync with the rev band of the engine. The engine has enough power & torque, as is evident when sitting at over 2000rpm in 2nd / 3rd, but at 1000 - 1500rpm in any gear, particularly 2nd & 6th there isnt much happening.n 2nd there is no go, flat spot. which is very frustrating.

driving in traffic therefore is a bit of a pain, and i now tend to stay in each gear to a higher revolution than i would in other cars, which isnt good for mpg.

Furthermore, shifting into 6th gear at 70 mph causing the revs to drop to about 1000 rpm which means extremely slow acceleration and a shuddering engine (plus cruise control struggles with 6th at 70mph)

i did not have any dramas such as this in any of my previous cars (BMW diesel, even citroen diesel, range rover etc)

has anyone had this problem ?

if so is there a factory approved remedy?

if not is there an aftermarket remedy?

Welcome to LOC and welcome to the IS220D. I'm afraid it's a "feature" with the 220D. Lexus did release a sport (which I have) which cures it. Its basically down to gear ratio and I'm afraid there aint much you can do (apart from adjust your driving style).

When I first test drove a new one (2 years ago) I spotted this issue straight away when approaching a round about slow in 2nd, I nearly got smacked in the side by the time the turbo had kicked in. I then did some research before going to a BMW, but as of 3 months ago got a Lexus. I knew it would either have to be a sport or a 250 auto and the sport came along at the right time, price, colour etc.

[Warranty Direct are excellent. Honest John from the Telegraph rates them due to having never had a letter of complaint about them. I've been with them years and have had to make a claim, it went smoothly. I'm covered in the Lexus for everything including ECU, mirrors etc. If all goes wrong I can even get it repaired at a Lexus garage. Get a quote online, wait and then they'll ring you with a better deal then the online quote.

What level of cover did you choose? When I looked at it I asked for the same as what Lexus said they covered. Which was pretty much as new car warranty but not serviceable items, i.e. filters, discs, pads, bulbs. Warrantydirect said for the full cover its Luxury care plus and it would be £580 iirc. This was after speaking to rep and discount applied so I hung fire as the Lexus cover was just over 600 with full RAC, interest free etc. I am still trying to decide but need to soon as I read a lot of 220D issues on here! Fantastic car tho IMO and I have loved it since I had it 4 months ago.

Well that will be two of us in that boat. Two weeks ago I bought a 220d with 104K on the clock. Bit of a gamble but Lexus FSH, last one being in December which was the big 100K service it does give me some confidence.

I've taken on a warranty with Warranty Direct which includes wear and tear cover (after 90 days) so they can't refuse a claim as it's done a high mileage. Covered up to full value of car and about everything is covered. Fingers crossed I don't need it but it's nice to know it's there if I need it.

So far got to say I love the car having had several 3 series and a C class in the past. Having said that my last car was a RAV4 - same engine but that was like a tractor compared to how it's used in the Lexus.

Hi, just picking your note up on the Warranty Direct cover. I looked into this as my IS is just out of manufacturers warranty. The things out of scope are the usual - bulbs (expensive if HID too), pads / disks (serviceable items) etc. They offer several level of cover with the luxury care plus being the top one.

For higher mileage cars / older cars they appear to only offer lower levels of cover (Extra care for cars <70K; secure care and major care for cars > 70K). They also only offer to pay a % of the parts cost for specific mileage bands. For instance, >100K they pay 50% towards the cost of parts.

I got warranty direct to give me a quote on the maximum cover (luxury care plus) which on the face of it is comparable to Lexus warranty. They confirmed they would normally only offer this on cars <60K and under 4 years old. They quoted me about £580 iirc which is just shy of what Lexus charge (plus full RAC cover included by Lexus) so I am thinking of going with the latter it may give me a bit more negotiation with repairs etc, although feedback on this site on warranty direct appears to be positive (although not sure what policies level people took out).

Hopefully one of the IS250 owners will confirm, but I believe the IS250 uses D4S bulbs, if you look around I'm sure you'll be able to get one for considerably less than that. As for replacement I'm sure it's the same as replacing any bulb but again hopefully one of the others can confirm.

Correct, the D4S bulbs are used on the IS's which have HID Xenon headlights, of which I think it's the SE-L and the Sport. Not sure about the later facelift models.

I believe Lexus/Toyota use the Philips 4300 D4S bulbs. Most people recommend you dont go for a cheap alternatives.

You an get replacement Philips D4S bulbs from the web much cheaper(eBay is about 55 quid delivered). Some people have suggested replacing in pairs as the light changes slightly as the bulbs get older.

Lexus informed me that labour for a bulb change was about 30 quid.

Cheers! appreciate it! I am hoping I have a solution now. Spent the weekend searching the net then monday making some calls.

The denso single DVD unit is a nightmare to get repaired, none of the audio shops would touch it as denso do not release the service parts!

I did send denso an email and then found out that they have now agreed a repair process with Lexus with a facility in Belgium. This didnt seem to be a well known fact even within Lexus (dealer and GB never heard of this facility). I had to email Lexus with the Toyota / Lexus denso repair procedure (which I got from denso after asking).

Left it with Lexus now to progress so hopefully it will get back to denso for repair. Worth bearing in mind as a lot cheaper than replacement plus a 12 month warranty. If all goes well I will pop up a post as I had to really delve around for this!

Well after a few weeks with it being back at lexus and then Denso I now have a working unit. They replaced the ECU and also said there was a broken cable. Cost for denso to repair was £640, then had postage out to them to pay plus the VAT from Lexus, best part of a grand to fix. Luckily done under warranty from the independent garage so they will be refunding me for the amount.

All appears to be working well, map disk, GPS, voice activation (none of which I could test before). I will now be on the look out to upgrade the map disk as on 2006 / 2007. Lexus said they update in November so will wait unless I get a cheaper one from flea bay.

Po, will pop your DVD disk back in the post! Thanks very much for your help!

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. As i've said, the car was just out of warranty and lexus would only offer a good will gesture of £600 towards the cost of the replacemet, which i think is poor considering the brand reputation etc. anyway, looks like a Tom Tom is the order of the day, and the next car (possibly another Lexus) will be without the built in sat nav if it only lasts three years!

Thanks again.

It's definately worth trying another disc. just make sure the part numbers are the same. Lexus should be able to do this with a disc from their stock cars.

Alternatively keep an eye out on eBay, a working unit from another car will set you back ~£500+ but you should be able to sell yours as spares. Sure someone has one with a faulty screen etc. Lexus charged me labour of £40 to take out / refit the unit.

Alternatively lodge a request on 247spares.com you may be able to get one cheaper. Its worth getting it done at some point as it will affect resale and its probably very frustrating!

It does appear that this is not a very common problem - at least I couldnt find much out about the issue when it first happened.

Good evening all. Im hoping someone out there can help me with a problem Ive recently encountered. My is220d has just passed its 60k and 3 year old mark (both within a week, spooky) however, at 62k and two weeks past its third birthday the sat nav has stopped working and the screen reads 'check dvd' I took it my Lexus dealer who informed me it was the dvd reader and this would be £1400 to fix, and beacuse it was 'out of warranty' wouldnt help out with the cost. i explained that I had purchased seven new toyotas and two Lexus' previously but the best they would do is reduce the cost to £800.00 and I would still need to pay the labour!! (they wont get my JD power award this year)

Anyway, the disc is in the unit and you can hear it spinning freely, the touch screen for all other functions (audio,a/c etc) works fine, as does the cd changer and dvd player (movies) so its just the additional dvd drive thats apparently not working. Can anyone help me, as I dont want to pay the best part of £1000 for what seems a small fix. could it be the disc?

Please help...

Kind regards

I can certainly help as I have vast personal experience on this!!!! I had what appears to be the same problem. You will need to check the disk tho. Lexus should be able to take one out of their stock cars and test it for you. I tried several and still had the same problem (you can search on my previous posts for the background!).

Anyway, first thing was Lexus sent to bradford, autosound - dont bother, they received the unit then send it back as they dont repair the denso unit. Denso units (which are in the toyotas and lexus) cannot be repaired at all within the UK due to the availability of parts.

At the time this left me with only 2 options, Lexus to replace (they said the whole unit @ £3600) or risk a second hand one. I wasnt happy with either so did some digging.

Denso is based in the netherlands and now offer a Lexus / Toyota repair service. My Lexus garage had not heard of this service although it has been communicated to Toyota Europe. Anyway, I sent Lexus the Denso repair procedure and they handled the return.

It cost 120 quid to send to Netherlands as it needs to be insured using Parcelforce Euro 48 (guaranteed 48 hours although it took 5 days and this was before the volcanic ash!).

Denso identified the problems pretty quick and emailed the following faults:

Broken cable on DVD unit

Faulty ECU

Repair cost 685 euro. I found after this did not include return shipping but they should have quoted with return shipping so I managed to negotiate with Denso and get it returned free.

All the other funtions appeared to work before the unit went off (although couldnt test a the navi as DVD didnt work, also speech recognition didnt appear to work). I was therefore sceptical about the faulty ECU but I have only had the car a month and the NAV has never worked so I guess there could have been a fault with the ECU as well.

Anyway, Lexus have paid the repair on my behalf and its on the way back as we speak. Total cost will be around £800 but as Denso manufacture the unit they are best placed if you want to repair and the work is guaranteed (if you fancy the 120 quid postage again!).

I got the car from an independent garage and pointed out the NAV fault before purchase. They will be covering the £800 for me.

If your car is from a Lexus dealer I would suggest a call to Lexus UK, they should do something as good will. If not, you can try the above process but due to delays in bradford, postage, parts for denso (due to flight bans), it has been a bit of a nightmare! For info, if yours just has a fault DVD (not ECU as well) then the cost is a couple of hundred Euros.