is200 Newbie

J Once you have the car I would definitely check the caliper slide pins - if the previous owner has not had it serviced on a regular basis it may be better, just to be on the safe side, to check them yourself. Its not on any service schedule from Lexus to check them and I think initially its hard to spot if they are needing greasing until its too late and you need to replace the caliper itself. Maybe someone can chip in to state any tell tale signs they need greasing Hot alloys / pulling to one side along with smell of burning and also squealing can all be signs they have seized

I was thinking it looks quite black - could do with an oil change - or a new engine !

Post should be BMW not BMV - I need to go to spec savers !! Noticed how the ISF kept on coming and then kept on going (passed the BMV !) after it seems to sound like the BMW hits top revs

A friend has pointed me to this link on you tube for an ISF v BMW (BMW blows its engine) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s92oZHgdWQk

Anyone else notice the difference in prices... I usually alternate between normal unleaded and V-Power (2 fills of normal to 1 fill of V-Power). Today I filled with V-Power. I noticed the price of that was £1.15 against a price of £0.98 for the normal lower ron. Is it a misconception that when petrol prices come down that its just the advertised prices (for normal petrol) - I have only seen the normal prices advertised along with the diesel and some times the LPG is also up there on the garage sign and its that price you can see going up and down... does the higher rons stay high because not a lot of people use them. If that's the case, how long can petrol last before it degrades in the forecourts tank if its rarely used?

Good spot Normski - I never considered the age.

Nice colour ... bear in mind that its recommended to do a bit of work when you get it home for peace of mind. I would as a precaution and to put your mind at rest that it has been done ... change the oil (easy job) ... check the caliper slides are greased ... dealers sometimes mask problems with wheels so check the tyre rotation indicators are the right way round. Also - may not be of interest to you but if you are planning on keeping the service history going then you need to be aware theres a big bill coming on your next service due to a spark plug change which is on the service schedule (in the UK at least) for 60k miles As the dealer doesn't seem to know a lot about the car then it could be a bargaining point due to the plugs to haggle the price down a bit? Also - make sure the exhaust is sound asyou will need to visit the hospital when you find out the dealer replacement price is.

This is the socket I use and have done for a few years now since ownership - its not that dissimilar from yours - the inner socket itself is the same - the outer is different but wont have an effect on the cap removal. Bought from a dealer on Ebay. You need to bite the bullet here and take to an indie to remove (or loosen) the cap and then ensure its put back on with less pressure applied - cost wise, wound be a 5 minute job should it get on a ramp and come off easy. Get them to loosen then you can change the oil yourself and ensure when changing the oil in the future then tighten to right spec yourself. Its the same situation as the wheel locking nuts when an air hammer is used to tighten them by tyre fitters. Make sure these can be removed after having your tyres fitted else they do tend to seize on.

Oil change every 6 or so months due to low miles and short distance - I am happy doing it as it cant do the car any harm. Like a lot of people here I have had a stuck on oil filter cap and like you when I tried I could not get it off due to the space required to get enough leverage. You have just been unlucky with the socket breaking - the cap must be on very tight. Fortunately my local garage let me put mine on their ramp and loosen it but I had to do it myself due to liability. It moved surprisingly easy having the extra leverage. I loosened it and drove hone (half mile) and changed the oil. Its an argument for doing easy jobs like this yourself - you will take more care than a garage as its your car - in doing the oils also then you also know whats going in. There is a good post on here about oil filters - have a look at that before buying one and make your mind up on what brand to buy. I don't torque the cap up on mine - maybe I should, but I have always done this by feel, hand tight then a nip up with a socket. If you are doing your own oil then I would recommend a set of ramps as space between the pan and the ground is very limited - car will drain approx. 6 litres of oil so make sure you have a big enough catch can to hold it else you will be spilling oil everywhere. I put mine on a 6 inch plank of wood on the two rears and ramps that are approx. 12 inches on the front two and that does me (enough clearance and angle to drain the oil)

I have never replaced the seals on the calipers - have been fortunate to (with the 2 lexus cars I have had) get the pins oiled as soon as I got them although I have replaced two calipers on this one - too far gone when I bought the car but no problems since. I have heard of people buying seals from "Bigred" brakes but never done it myself. I usually clean and re-grease the pins approx. every 6 months - I do them when changing the engine oil as I do this on a 6 monthly basis as I don't do a lot of miles and what I do is in general short runs. I don't find cleaning the pins takes that long - would quite easily finish all 4 corners in an hour. Also - there is an anti rattle rubber washer on one pin on the front callipers (think its the top one?) I have in the past bought these from lexus but they, for what they are, very expensive. Since I have used the rubber grease on the pins the rubber parts have remained tight around the metal components. I put up a "how To" on this last year or the year before - think you can find it on the first page of the forum. An indie garage can easily do this for you no problem but would charge around £80 - I would rather know that the pins are done properly as a replacement caliper is in excess of £350 so for the sake of around 10 minutes work on each caliper cleaning and re-greasing then I think its worth it. Also while I am in the wheel arch I also spray WD40 onto all the moving parts (suspension/rubbers etc) have always done it, don't know if it has any effect on the but have had no issue so will keep doing it. I want to give the arches a good clean this year after the winter (a bit OCD I know !!) but they are caked in salt etc...

Greasing the pins is an annual job - no way round it I am afraid as they do need doing - leave them and they will corrode and seize over time. I do mine every 6 months and use the Toyota rubber grease on them as this lubricates the pins and does not attack the rubber dust seals on the callipers. Once you do them a few times it doesn't take as long to do all 4 corners

Nice - Exhaust tips fit well in the spoiler ... also, to add to your mods you need to install the auto close wing mirrors which is a good option to fit and easy to do

Chaz - I had this last year - I have looked for the post I made on the forum but cant find it ... I came to the conclusion after doing a bit of snooping around on the web that it was condensation within the gearbox that the sensor picked up. I am pretty sure it was on a couple of USA posts I found. It led me to look at if it was possible to change the gearbox oil but there wasn't a clear answer as to whether this could be done. I have wondered about the oil again as I saw a gearbox on a Porsche on wheeler dealers being done (I know its a different car) but it made a hell of a difference to the car when it was in "auto" mode. Anyway - I drove mine a bit in the manual option and the fault disappeared. Every cars different but may be worth you giving it a go.

I had used the BG44 for quite a few months when I experienced the car "shivering" which I found out was a symptom of carbon build up. I can only report on the use of it on my car and I definitely had good results while using it. So far it has not returned so that's my reasoning why I think it has helped (probably not cleared it totally but helped a lot) I have on occasion since using the BG44 added some Redex into the fuel, maybe two bottles within two years. I would use a few cans over a few months as I don't think one "dose" will clear it. What symptoms are you experiencing?

Never seen or experienced it before - I think it would suggest the sensors goosed. Although you could check the connections but I would think its hard to get at it from behind the bumper - might be work tapping it lightly to see if the error clears. Maybe reset the ecu and then see if this clears the error. Get someone to walk past the sensor with the engine running if it does clear just to make sure it beeps.

Hi Jack Do you have a USB cable connected to your unit that's fully working. Is your unit a Mark Levinson system?

Would be a good find but looking at the ebay listing it states its not compatible with the 2007 model year if you put your details in. It may be worth taking the unit off and seeing if the socket is there on this model and if so giving it a go. The unit comes out quite easy. If I can remember correctly its 4 clips in the centre air vent and 4 screws in the centre head unit itself. You will also need to remove the two silver edging strips from the gear selector area.

That's a good post - explains the differences very well which takes out the guess work. Puts the Toyota one in a good light. I always use an oem oil filter just for the fact that there's so many makes out there and getting an oem one I know it will fit as I don't want to find I have the wrong one when doing a service when the oil is drained. I do however use a lifetime K&N oiled filter and have done on a few cars over an 8 year period - my wife and kids have one fitted too.. Personal choice I guess as it can be cleaned and re-used over a few years. I like the idea of bulk buying the oil filters as users in the post have done as I change the oil twice a year.

2011 still with brake issues ... !! Its a bit disappointing from a quality "marque" such as Lexus that they have not resolved the brake issue after all these years, with it being an problem since 1999 with the early IS its quite surprising that they have not manufactured the issue out. If this was resolved then the posts here would have halved. I have never had this with other cars so there must be ways to eradicate it.

Recently come back from a holiday overseas. Spent a month in Australia and left the car in the airport carpark and I was expecting to come back to it not starting due to it being stood still for over a month. Was quite surprised (not complaining) that it started first time. Don't know if its on the original battery but 9 years on its still going strong ... touch wood. I have noticed though that the airbag indicator light seems to stay on a bit longer .. probably the same as before but seems to stay on a bit longer. We hired a Nissan Pulsar while on holiday - a nice nippy automatic car but was glad to get back into mine. The difference was unbelievable in the drive between them both (obviously)

Not long returned from a holiday to Australia Noticed a lot of IS's in Sydney and Perth - saw a lot of small model differences compared to the UK models and I also say a lot of them with an "X" logo on the side wing by the indicator ... what does this "X" indicate? Just curious ...

When I has my is200 I read posts that the cars could not be converted to LPG due to the engines used. Maybe someone can come along to confirm this - did the problem start after the conversion or was it experienced before?

A relatively low mileage at 90k from me 3 years of ownership has seen exhaust / brakes and sensor replacements - expecting the water pump will be next but no indications its on its way out yet.

Bought a new battery today and replaced the one in the fob. Came home and parked in the same spot ... same thing happenned ! The street light is an old one - gives off a yellowy light. Cant remember it ever being replaced. I live in a small cul de sac though and i can pick up quite a lot of WiFi signals at home from other properties. Maybe an issue with both but i guess as it works fine in the drive (streetlight is at the end of the drive) it may point to interference from the street lighting or both in combination?

I changed the rear discs not that long ago - wasn't a hard job and didn't take long. I had no issues with any seized parts so found it easy to do. I uploaded a how to on this forum showing the steps you need to do to take the discs off.