is200 Newbie

They are squeelers apparently OEM are fine for the rears as its the fronts that do most of the work - I don't know the braking distribution between the front and back but I was once told it was 80 front / 20 back. I have Mintex all round on mine - With normal use fronts are dusty, rears are not. Doesn't bother me as I clean the wheels when I clean the car.

True .. In all cases if you look after your car for someone to come along and damage it then its not 'fair' on the owner of the damaged one to have it repaired (ideal world and all that it should be replaced with a new one - cant see that ever happening though!!!) I lost my IS200 in a flood, a 2004 LE, absolutely spotless and very well looked after - the insurers wrote it off. This was 3 years ago so it wasn't old for the car - the only thing going against it was the mileage which was just over 90k but the insurer saw this as a negative point and tried to settle with the first quote from them at a ridiculous £900 !! The final figure was (I think) 1400 after the 250 excess they took off. So while it would be good to have a new car after a write off you do really have to fight to get the value back on your car ... you will always lose out on what they offer - I definitely lost out on this as its the knowledge of people that own the brand that know what they are worth.

Touch the rear wheels when you have driven them - it they are hot then your rear calipers have more than likely seized. The two indications to me that would also suggest this are the squeal you hear and the smell. This would confirm to me that the calipers are seized or near to the point of.... have you aver cleaned and re-greased these? If your alloy wheel is hot then I would not recommend driving it until repaired as you could damage parts on the hub assembly such as the bearings / disc and the tyre itself ... depends how hot it is.

Looks nice and clean

It doesn't look good in years to come in the second hand market with cars with this feature as the cost in replacing/re-setting the parts could render the car a write off if the insurance thinks its not worth doing the repair due to the cost vs the value of the cars. How many people do you think will ask or know to ask if the feature is installed on a car Good for the pedestrian but a step backward for the driver I think...

Look after them and they are reliable - more than other brands. That's a bit too many miles but would be a bargaining point to bring the price down (which was ??) but don't forget re-selling it when you want to change - dealers / traders will not recognise the fact its a reliable car and mark it way down the scale. If you are unfortunate to write it off, forget about the car value as again it will be valued way down the scale. It also depends on how many miles you do in a year ... Ideally you need to look for something around 80k - its had the major jobs done at that mileage - ask around on the forum and I will bet other members have mileages around this bracket - mines on 85k (bought at 70k) I have looked after it and it still drives good, not like new, but better than some of the newer other brands out there. £6-7000 should get you a decent 06/07 model SE-L - take your time to find the right one and don't be afraid to travel to see it if it looks good.

If you have the master key you could try Timpsons as they can transfer the info from one to another but I am unsure if it will work with these types of keys .. or a good locksmith key cutter ... No harm in trying Let us know how you get on ...

Your dealer will know as its unfortunately the only option you have in replacing a key. Its expensive so sit down before the dealer gives you the price ...

Just been through this with my lad - 20 years old not long passed his test and this is his first car - he just needed a run around car to get him on the 'insurance ladder' We looked at all sorts - 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa 2007 insurance was £1300 / 1.0 Vauxhall Corsa 2004 to 2006 just under £1200 / 2004 Ford Fiesta £1300 Peugeot £1100 Adding the insurance to the price of car we were looking at was coming to around the £3000 mark. So we thought about a bigger engine older car as theres a better choice over what is out there, after all its a first car, very high probability it will get damaged etc (but hoping not) So ... figure this out ... just out of curiosity I had a quote done on a 2002 V6 x-type jag... just for a laugh as you do ... the insurance was £980 !!!!!!!!!!! the car was £1200 and I had a play with all the excesses that could be applied to the car ... this had 0£ excess but a compulsory one for £250 - this was with my wife as a named driver and my son as the main one - it went up by £90 if he was on his own on the policy. This is a first time driver - never been let loose on his own in a car before and a jag is cheaper to buy and insure than a 1.0 corsa?! To me that's ridiculous - ok it will be a lot dearer to run but still ...!! We spent a lot of time on compare the market ...So, after all the choices i went looking for a small car, he is not that fussed on what he wants yet, just wants the experience so i found a small Ford SportKA 2004 1.6 for £1300 and got the insurance down to £800 with my wife on the policy as a second driver and a box fitted. Ok ... its classed as a hairdressers car but to be honest its very nippy, bit basic, but for what he is achieving in it will bring his insurance down. There are a lot of them out there with low mileages - this one we found has 32k on it, couple of advisories but they have been put right now. He likes it and its quite a smart looking car Have a look at these as a first car ... by the way the quote i had for him on mine was between £2300 up to £6000 with a box fitted and a £700 excess !!

Heater or windscreen Has the windscreen been replaced recently and how much water are you talking about?

Seriously .... he would need to lower is price by half in order to make it a car to consider and even then knowing the faults and condition then I would not touch it. There are quite a few SR's for sale, just look through Autotrader or Ebay for a comparison. eg a 2009 model for sale at the moment for £5485 with others ranging up to £7k You are going to be in a whole world of pain if you buy this - its a lemon, walk away ...

My understanding of 'sidelights' is probably wrong I thought they were separate .. what do you mean by sidelights?

Sorry ... I thought you had bought it. In that case steer clear of it - there are others out there The price is too dear and you don't know what else could be up with it. Steer clear

As Normski above ... Its only a Lexus option - it has been on the forum a few times and its quite expensive for them to do - I think they can do it with a key you have but it doesn't reduce the cost any. I had it done on a key I took to a local locksmith a few years ago for an IS200 and it cost peanuts (£12 if I can remember) but the cars now are more advanced with their security.

wow - didn't realise how long that reply was !!!!!!!!!!

It is loud - it doesn't matter that the bonnets closed, the noise is still there just not audible. Lexus do stamp ... Lexus should hold the service details if there was one done for the car else how can they assess at what stage the service record of the car is up to other than making the assumption from the cars mileage - there is an issue with siome dealers not giving the information out (the nearest dealer to myself, Chester, wouldn't) I think I have read on the forum that there was an issue at some point with their records but cant be sure. Find the previous owner details then look for their local dealer. Chances are it would have been serviced there (if at all) and you may stand a better chance of getting the info from them rather than any dealer not associated with the car. From your description it does sound like its been abused and should not have passed any MOT especially with what looks like seized brakes and water in the lights. It sounds like classic neglect for all that can go wrong on this car if not looked after .. Brakes - they need to be inspected at least once a year especially the rear ones as they are prone to seizing (I check and grease both front and rear on mine every 6 months to ensure they are ok and haven't had an issue since doing this) This is a job you can do yourself - there is a chance that you can free the calipers if they are seized but if not then there are easily replaced but will cost (approx. £100 per corner non OEM or around £300 OEM) Pads can be done at around £40 for a set of rears but remember there are brake shoes on these also which are located inside the disc - due to the neglect on the car I would strongly advise checking these and also the state of the rear discs) FRONTS - not that prone to seizing but all the same they need greasing, again at the same interval as the rears as it will eliminate any further issues. Also check the pads and the state of the discs. Discs will slide off when the front calipers are removed. The warning on the sat nav is user input - you can set dates on the system as reminders of when or servicing work needs doing so you can remove this and update as nessesary - the user manual will describe how to do this but its easy to do through I think the 'info' button on the head unit. Air conditioning - a bit more worrying - need to know the issues with whats going on (more info) Fog lamps will fail with water in them - you can find these on ebay for between 40 and 80 £'s The engine cover poppers in the bay do pop out and do a runner so just buy some more and replace - approx. £4 on ebay. The main engine cover catch does break off it removed or replaced too many times - a lot of people leave if off so any issues with the engine can be spotted early - if all the plastic covers are there then they are easy to put back on using the poppers - let me know if you need a picture to locate them. I would leave them off for the time being so you can check out a few areas easier before they are put back on. Coolant - your car is at the mileage stage where the water pumps fail - not saying it is going to (mines still good at 85k) but its a good indication that its on its way out if the coolant level is low or a better indication is a white crust around the coolant expansion bottle area and around the belt pullys below the tank. Air Filter - checking this is easier with the plastic covers off - chances are it will need to be replaced Other than the fluid levels then theres no other real issues with anything under the plastic covers - sensors will go that are located in the engine bay but you have no indication that these have already been replaced so take that one as it comes. Fuse box cover is independent from the main engine covers - why would anyone remove this and leave it off - the cover is supposed to protect the fuses and relays from water and moisture - get this done ASAP due to the cost of replacing anything that water damage into the fuse box can cause. The wheels are notorious for corroding - its not a new issue or any issue that's specific to this model as it is associated to the brand from around 1999 and is still apparent on the later cars so its perceivable someone has tried to clean / refurb them doing a bad job. Tyres seem to be an owners choice - I have just purchased a set of Avons for the fronts at £63 each (mine are 17's) but you want to also get the alignment checked to see what's going on as to why they are wearing - possible wrong tyre pressures (these have high pressures I think its 35 on the front and 38 on the back) The sound is definitely your injectors - an oil change will not cure this the only way to quieten them would be to replace them Which leads to another task - make sure you do an oil change, best to know it has been done rather than guessing - if it has been mistreated then you don't know what oil has been used - better to start from scratch and get the proper stuff in from the start. AA majority of these issues can be resolved yourself to keep the cost down - I would imagine you would be looking at 3k for all this work if putting it into a dealer - around 600 if you are confident in doing it yourself. If you are still using it then I would get the brakes / fuse cover done ASAP / oil change / fluid check takes 5 mins

Its got to be a mistake - you can easily check these days as the mileage is usually stated on the MOT forms but I am not too sure how far they go back. Like mentioned above - what year is the car you are looking at?

So the power to the light switch stalk to the relay to the fuse is ok (there are quite a few fuses on this car) I would check the voltage at the light terminal - if there its then its got to be your bulbs .... coincidence that both have gone - maybe?

Wow - that's noisy They do tap a bit but that's loud - whats the mileage of the car? What damage could this do if any - will it just be a case of a failed injector, misfire maybe or possibly limp mode?

I will give it a try at the weekend - need to dig out the spare key and check the battery anyway cheers

On a similar theme - can you lock your keys in the car or the boot?

Been under the car tonight messing with the exhaust - boxes had moved since their install and the tips weren't central in the bumper - moved the boxes back in position and re-clamped, job done. I noticed when I was doing this that there was a lot of muck, dried dirt / stones bouncing around when I hit the plastic, in one of the plastic panels that's located directly under the boot area between the exhaust boxes - I toyed with taking it off to clean but didn't want to due to the time it may take Can this panel come off anyway? I didn't try but noticed a few clips in it.

Got 5 bids so far .... mentions a price at the bottom which seems to state a guide price for the car or is that a bit of "subconscious" advertising ?.... wow, good luck with that

The IS has a tappet noise but apparently this is just noisy injectors which they all have - not that noisy to be concerned about but audible

With Chester being the closest dealer to myself and having only used it twice - both occasions they were very unhelpful I would not use them again. There must be a good one somewhere .....?