is200 Newbie

Thanks John

You might drop lucky with the colour of the lights - mines a 2007 and they are white not green.

One question about a failing car battery ... last month a message flashed up on the display saying low battery. I have not long replaced the key fob battery so was sure it was not that so just dismissed the warning. The key fob battery is still fine a month on but I noticed at the weekend that there was a noticeable drain on the battery, car was taking longer to start and at a lower pitch than normal - its a Panasonic one so I presume its the original one with the car. With the cold weather coming I guess its time for a new one so ordered one but .... Does the display indicate a low car battery also as well as the key fob?

I did look at their site this afternoon but they were only showing Exide batteries. Ordered the Bosch one now

Black Friday prices at Eurocarparts Bosch S4 068 battery - £78 ! - Only 5 hours left - offer only lasts until midnight tonight. The usual price is £116

Yes - I agree with the above, its my choice - I do it when I am changing the oil etc - got into the routine of doing so.... probably OTT but for the sake of an hour max I like to keep them in check. Like I said in the original post - probably go a year at a push without checking them but as I am doing the service on the car then I will do it every 6 months or so and that way its all done. It so happens it was approx. 8 months this time since I checked them last - a couple of reasons I reckon its good to check them .... 1. Before the winter when there's salt and grit on the road getting in the rubber seals if they are shot 2. before the summer when its wet (our summer I am talking about here!!) so its good to know the condition of the rubber seals which is where the issues stem from - why do we all put winter tyres on in the winter...as its safer to drive, well flip this around, the checks I am doing in a different respect are the same. Exactly my point on having to check the brakes - Lexus should have taken the responsibility in recalling these to resolve the problem when it was first realized there was an issue ------ safe to drive on the road..... mine is completely safe.... why?... because I do the checks. I guess its personal preference and having the time and space to do it.

Sorry, cant help with that one. There are owners on here though that can help and I am sure some will be along with their views soon ......

A quick check against the car reg number shows the tax was up in August this year - MOT is up to March 2017. The MOT history of the car is good as it has passed all tests required, no advisories or failures. 60k miles will see a requirement for a £600 cost for the spark plug replacement if done through a dealer. Look through the following post as it will give you an idea of what to look for when viewing - there shouldn't be that much of a difference between the mechanics of the car between 2007 and 2010 but the spec will be different. Look for the pinned post below at the top of the IS forum page What to look out for - Lexus IS250 (2007 model year) The add doesn't give you a lot of information or pictures and viewing is by appointment only - not sure what that means (a private dealer?) You can add the K&N filters etc but the car cannot be chipped or ECU modded / remapped

Calipers seizing on the IS models (not sure of other models) is a known problem (both the Mk I and the Mk II's) - its not part of the service schedule undertaken by Lexus, it should be but it isn't and its a known problem so the first sign something is wrong is when the brakes have seized and you come to use them and theres nothing there when you try to stop (extreme case) Either way you are goosed. Its a disappointment Lexus did not take heed of the issue on the MK I IS's and resolved the problem when they released the Mk II's. If the dealer finds the problem in due course through a service then its a replacement part at a cost of £350+ whereas a bit of attention during the life of the part should see it last certainly for the life of the car if looked after at zero cost, just a bit of time to keep them working. It takes 10 minutes, at most to do each corner - not a big deal to secure peace of mind and its also a good opportunity to check the pads and other rubber boots etc in the wheel arch that are open to the weather. The only option for some owners is to put there cars into the dealer when there is an issue with them and take the hit on the cost of the replacement caliper - they will not replace individual components such as the pins, just the complete part which in the case of a seized caliper, would be the complete unit at a cost and if you consider 4, again an extreme case, seized calipers, that's a cost of over £1000 to replace for the sake of an hours work. I like to look after my cars and find out how parts like this works. Pads on mine were last changed 2 years ago on the front and still have quite a bit of meat on them - rears (both pads and shoes) more recently and I am pretty sure that the ratio of use between the front and back is different (shoes i am sure were original ones from the factory) If I had left the greasing of the pins to coincide with the changing of the pads etc then they certainly would have been seized by the time I came to do it ...so 6 months for me, a year at a push, is enough time before i will check to see if they are working as they should be and enough time to identify if there are any issues with them. However, I know there are issues with them and ignoring it would be both false economy and would be placing myself at risk. As it is, I don't know how long if left unchecked, it would take for them to seize but I am not about to find out. Its good advice for any owner of an IS to check them periodically as there are issues with them which most IS owners know about. In my opinion, problems with the brakes on cars should be on a recall until the issues are resolved as it puts risk into using the vehicle not only for the driver but other road users also but for what ever reason this is not the case for these cars? The manufacturers would soon resolve the issue if they were faced with all owners issuing them with failure reports on their brakes.

The garages wont do the flush as a given as part of an oil change unless you stipulate it and even then I would be dubious as to whether they do it at all - one of the reasons I do the services myself because I know exactly what goes into the car. If a flush is done by a garage - either a dealer or indie - then you should see it on the invoice and depending on how "scruplious" they are there should be a labour charge of around 20 minutes indicated which is the time it takes to cycle the flush properly through the engine before dropping the oil and doing the change. Granted, the flush is put in the engine and then the engine is run to around 2k revs and left for 20 minutes so there's no real labour involved in that but how can you prove it has actually been done as there are no initial indications that it has unitl a year or so down the line when you are still experiencing problems.?

I have been lucky to not need to buy any slide pins - always stuck to cleaning and re-greasing every 6 months or so - I would rather spend an hour doing this than replacing the calpiers at what would cost £1k+ I very much doubt that your slide pins are worn and loose - possibly if the rubber rattle shim is missing but I cant see the pins wearing? I have even taken off the rubber shims in the past on my is200 as they had split and it didn't make any difference with them off. A wrong choice of grease would be worse as if using the wrong type then it will lead to seizure with the rubber seals also goosed. How did your mechanic come to the conclusion the pins were worn - did he take them out of the calipers to check them? You can try and get a cost of a set of these from Lexus but I think it would be cheaper buying a bar of gold ...!

Just cleaned these today as well and doing the obligatory fluid changes (oil / filter etc) Pictures are of the two sets of front slide pins (before and after a clean. I clean these every 6 months (ish) just so happens this time it has been 8 months since the last clean. No problems with the fronts - grease still quite clean although a bit dirty on one pin - all the rubber seals are fine. The bottom rear pin recesses on both sides still had grease in them but not that much to be honest so I think I caught these just in time - also the rubber recesses on the top of the caliper were a bit lacking in grease - guess they take more of a beating to the front pins. Definitely think a 6 month check on these is worth while... Before and after - pins were the same on both sides TOP BOTTOM

Just done my oil / filters and slide pins today - Everything ok. Black Friday prices on a Saturday !! £58 for the oil and filters.which cant be bad. If your oils black its saturated with dirt / contaminants etc and not working as it should - stick with the flush for the next few oil changes and you will definitely see a difference in the colour of the oil when its changed - may take a few but you will definitely see a difference. How often do you change it? I change mine every 6 months or so (8 months this time round) and with a flush every change, the oil is never black now when I change it - its dark be not black. It definitely quietens the engine down some after a change. You may find once the oil is changed that you get a rattle - I have had this on most changes and have put it down to the reservoir filling up after it has been emptied so no real issue.

Is there a cut off date for having recall work on a car? .... that's what I meant to say

I have the recall for the fuel seal and the airbags but not taken it in yet - is there a cut off date to do this ?

He is right in stating there are two grades of ss metals used for exhausts - I have read that ss is quite hard to weld. I am no welder but have done some welding recently and I can quite believe it, its definitely an art. I would, if you are going for a stainless exhaust make sure the supplier can guarantee no drone - making it as quiet as possible (wont be as quiet as the oem one though) After a time, it would be prudent to check the welds just for peace of mind. I would not go for a ss one again - I will try and keep to mild steel as it absorbs the noise better than stainless but I an banking on not having an issue again due to the fact that I made my own, touch wood !

I was given a lifetime warranty on it - for the cat back - problem for me is the distance to get there, while its not that far away at all, its not open on a Sat and only open office hours so I cant get there outside of my working day. Found them not very helpful in accommodating the issues with the exhaust. I replaced the exhaust last month with, dare I say it, a DIY one. Got the pipes and boxes and made my own - turned out spot on and has got rid of the drone that the stainless one had. Very happy with it and its got its power back and its like driving a new car. I was very surprised at how easy it was to make one from scratch, Just need to add a diffuser which I have but not ready to fit yet. Pic is of the car with the exhaust on - minus the diffuser - still need to align the tips a bit but will do this before the diffuser goes on.

I would not recommend this company - had to replace my stainless system recently which I had fitted by them almost 2 years ago - too noisy / welds came apart and the system was not put together well at all. Customer service was not that good either..

With the speeds and conditions you are stating you will be driving to I would have expected to see more consideration to other areas of the car than just the oil While I am in no doubt that the car can reach that speed, sustaining it for any length of time considering the oem setup of the car would be risky. Tyres, brakes, coolant I would have thought all come into play - not to mention a decrease in performance (MPG) through using the thicker oil and also consider recent work, if any has been done, involving any work around any of the engine seals. It may be worth you resetting your ECU after the oil change so it can "learn" the new driving conditions.

Makes sense - I do believe the gearbox is cooled. Air vents pointed at fingers when using paddles = in the cold weather, especially after defrosting the car, but keeping the car planted on the road = when getting it warm through using the paddles !

There was a post on here a while back, I have had a look but cannot find it - it turned out to be failed cats in that occasion and the indication of that was a smell of rotten eggs from the exhaust. Just googled it and it can be a result of this. Also a fuel sensor that's on its way out. Try changing the fuel brand and see if that helps as it seems to have happened after the fuel was changed. It you get concerned about the cats they take it to a garage to have an emmissions check and that will rule them out as being the culprits.

Anyone else noticed that the heater comes on a lot quicker (heats up quicker) if you use the car with the paddles when its cold instead of in auto? The heater works fine but I have noticed it heats up quicker and hotter while using the paddles.

Battery? The reason I have mentioned this is that when I was doing my exhaust recently I had disconnected the battery while welding on the car. With the battery re-connected and when initially starting the car, it started, spluttered and died. Starting it a second or two later its back up and running as normal. Every time I disconnected and re-connected the battery this happened. So it may be a loose lead, water around the terminals, old battery? Just a thought on what it could be...

The seat should not move in the way you have explained - if too much play its an MOT failure ! My wife has had this on her car (not Lexus) and it has an advisory for loose seat and there's not a lot of play in it. Guess each testing station is different. There's been no posts on the forum to indicate this is a common problem so stick with getting it resolved through the dealer or garage.