is200 Newbie

Would like to come back to Lexus - had 10 years ownership of IS's and sold last 250 a few years ago. I have been looking and just happened to check through FB Marketplace (wouldn't normally look through that) but there are a few NX / UX models ranging between 2018 to 2019 at really cheap prices under £9000 with relatively low mileages so its got me thinking too good to be true. But thinking on the other have are people getting rid of these types of cars now for smaller ones .... all large engines, 2.5, V6 etc so not sure if people are getting rid of these for smaller engined cars but suspect they are scams?

I have used a Turtle Wax product on our vans headlights and this was last year - the lights have not faded as of yet, 8 months of use ... (i did however spend a bit of time polishing them with various grades of sandpaper but used the turtle wax as a final process. I can recommend it as it has worked for me Turtle Wax Headlight Cleaner & Sealant 300ML | Halfords UK

Was it bought from a dealer?, if so then take it back from them to resolve - its so easy these days to buy a car that has existing issues with and masking them by clearing the codes with an ODB II scanner for them to return a day or so after taking it off the forecourt or after changing hands ... Someone with a bit more knowledge on this will answer it better but that issue seems a bit more than wear and tear to me?

I have used the torque app - yes its basic but it will give you an idea of the area to focus on

Have you got a code scanner - it will point you to the area of the issue if nothing else so you can narrow it down ...

It is probably the rear shoes binding to the drums - parked up when hot in cold weather they will bind to the inner disc until the force of the forward movement releases them... it happens to quite a few makes of car

Could this be a possible issue with air intake? Blocked or dirty air filter or maf meter needs cleaning?

Can't you look at the rear calipers yourself - arguably the easier caliper between front and rear to service - look to see if they have seized and if they are not too far gone then you can free them, grease and put them back together - no need to remove them from the brake system on the car to do that. Use the correct grease on them, red rubber grease from Toyota which can (the last time i bought it) be bought from Toyota for £10 (toothpaste sized tube) or eBay. Doing the rear brakes, even if it takes an hour or so and you get them greased etc will save you almost £500 and it will give you an idea on how to maintain them in the future as they do need regular maintenance (greasing) Also - if you look on eBay then you can source two new genuine rear calipers for around £244 - you can also source non OEM ones for around £60 each and as the garage will not fit anything other than OEM then have another garage fit these ...

Age and mileage of car - usually after 70k both banks become ready for replacement. As you will see when you remove the old one, its just wear and tear. You will probably see that its blackened with dirt and heat damage - its not an indication of other issues but i would certainly consider looking to change the bank 2 sensor at the same time seeing as they were both probably installed into the system at the same time. Also, don't consider the cheap ones on auction sites as some (not all) are fake. Denso are the ones to go with as you don't want to be changing these all of the time. The part number should be on the walk through i posted which you have linked to and they are easier to buy from the states. If i can remember correctly i drove mine without issue for a few weeks until i received the order of the two sensors from the states.

I had this on a couple of IS's i owned and to be honest it didn't cause any issues over the 10 years i owned them but managed to reduce the noise quite a bit. What i did do tho was i always changed the oil on a 6 monthly basis (this was back a few years when oil was relatively cheap) and during the oil change i would always run an engine flush through at the same time (Wynnes engine flush, smelt a bit like paraffin?) - 20 minutes at a higher rev than tick over. Whether it was placebo effect, it did reduce the times it rattled, but as it's a noticeable noise i would say yes it was effective reducing it down to once or no rattles at all in the 6 month period between changes. I seem to remember it did not remedy it immediately as it was over a long period of changes but i had always used an engine flush on all cars so carried on with the IS's. Yes, petrol and oil have cleaning additives but i was used to doing it for relatively little expense. I always used Castrol Magnatec which then changed to start /stop.

£20

Anyone from North Wales interested in a 4L tub of Castrol Magnatec Start/Stop 5w/30 A5 spec - i dont have the car anymore and bought this to do a service on it

The centre resonator from an is200 fits as i fitted one myself to an IS250 a few years ago when i made an exhaust for it. I am not sure if either left or right side (compared to the 220) but look at the OEM Rover MG ZT exhaust back box - i used this for mine but its a twin exhaust, pretty sure i needed to adjust the pipe but it wasn't much but just check as it was a while back i done this ...

..... also, not sure if you know ... there are brake shoes that operate in the discs themselves and although these generally dont wear as quick as the pads themselves, it may be worth asking the garage to check them out also just to put a stake in the sand to say that the shoes are not the issue. They dont have a lot of meat on them and thats normal.

Have you tried taking the dashcam out and using the sat nav on its own - does it still blow the fuse? Also, on the other hand, have you tried using the dashcam with the sat nav off - does that blow the fuse? If either of the above scenario's blow the fuse then as above, i agree that there's likely something else at fault. I would still recommend plugging it into the centre console armrest socket - just adapt the dash cam plug to fit and leave it plugged in. No issue with that as its pretty useless otherwise.

My 2007 IS 250 had a socket inside the armrest which when used (when a plug was inserted in it) the armrest would not close because the plug was too big ... so i adapted a dash cam plug and fitted it into the socket. Dont need to touch it as its not much use really. No need to hard wire it in. Quite easy to wire in as you can follow the plastic trims from the armrest up to the mrror.

Wow - some dealers dont know the market !!! SE-L - it doesn't even have the ML sound system or sat nav system or hands free etc - how can that price be justified .... Lexus wont even put it on a warranty plan as its over 10 years !!

Brake calipers aren't an issue really if you doa regular clean and re-greasing of the pins - once a year or sooner if needed is fine but always use the recommended grease that does not attack the rubber boots (Toyota Red Rubber Grease)

I used to work for a company in the UK who blended and packaged this for Toyota / Lexus on a call off, needless to say it is the same thats used for most other car manufacturers - the company done quite a lot of these from the same batch for the likes of Volvo, Ford etc so they will mostly be the same but some will have the premium price !!

So if you can tell that the plugs have been changed, can you tell if the upstream oxygen sensors have been changed (located in the engine bay on the exhaust) - could be they are on their way out as they will, together with the downstream ones determine what the fuel/air mix is by the ecu and could, as you are saying its not that noticeable an issue, be causing it?

Last year i sold my IS250 and its the only car i can honestly say i was sad to see go. I retired early (wife already retired), we had two cars, so decided to reduce to one as we don't need two anymore. Wife has bad knees from working years in the NHS so we went looking for something that was easy to get in and out of - her car was a bit low and she would not drive mine (which was the reason for me selling it)! So was looking for something with a bit of ground clearance. Sadly to say we went back to Vauxhall and bought a 2017 Mokka X. I had a Vx for years and years before Lexus and swore i would never buy another one after major issues i had with the Vx which went unresolved and this was directly before i bought my first Lexis (IS200). The only reason going back to Vx was that the Mokka had the ideal height to get in and out of the car. Well, 6 months of ownership, although the wife drives it a lot more than me, and i can see the experience of owning a Vx again turning sour after issues last week with it that Vx will not entertain and are requesting we pay for something that should have been applied while it was under warranty (a TSB) Anyway, i did look at the RX models before the Mokka. I keep finding ones that are well over 100k miles, and i know theres not a lot that go wrong with them over the 100k, can vouch for that after owning two that exceeded this but not having an RX before are they easy to live with. What in general goes wrong with them assuming they come with a FSH. The ones i have seen are Hybrid, i dont want a diesel so am looking for Petrol / hybrid etc but want something reliable. Is the mileage an issue providing they have been looked after. Looking at between 2010 to 2014 for a model and will probably do around 4k a year in it and would like to keep for a few years .....

Two images of mileage i had out of my first 2007 IS 250 and this was after replacing O2 sensors, a complete service (oil and filters with brake caliper service also) and a good engine clean (MAF etc) with fairly new tyres on the car. So the 540 mileage was taking it to the extreme and i would never do that usually but was just curious at the time as to the differences in fuel types and mileage comparisons, knowing the car was pretty much, as servicing goes, all good. ( I am sure it was on around 80k miles approx at the time) I was using the V-Power fuel from Shell at the time to see if there was a difference in the two types of unleaded ... the second picture was pretty average mileage on 95 ron so the difference was quite substantial with a difference of around 80 miles per tank ...

.... and you have used the Toyota Red Rubber Grease when rebuilding them back?

It was probably from the rear pads as they can get stuck on the two pins (each side) if they are not completely slotted straight on them - with the pistons forcing them onto the brake discs then they will have levelled themselves out - would have sounded like something metal tapping the brake disc i would imagine?

It sounds like you have freed the actual slide pin bolt (from the calliper itself), hence the calliper can move in a limited arc both up and down - afraid it does not sound like the pin is freed from the actual calliper - peel back the rubber boot on the slide pin and give it a good spray of WD40 inside then leave overnight. I would even go as far as wrapping it in a towel to prevent any moisture getting in and to just keep the cold from it if its forecast frost .... in the morning i would heat it up with a small torch, avoiding the runner boot which is quite easily done but as the bolt is actually freed you may have a lot of trouble removing it....