J Henderson

I recently completed an order with Amayama (my first) and was quite satisfied with how it went on their end.

I went through about 7 days worth of status updates before my parcel was eventually shipped. I believe they can/will source parts from different locations before shipping the complete order from Japan, so that might explain the delay. As I recall, one of my items was sourced from their UAE warehouse.

It then took about 3 days to arrive in the country...BUT, the parcel then languished in the hands of HMRC and Parcelforce for well over a week before they sent me notification via snail mail that I had an import VAT charge to pay before it would actually be delivered.

This is terrible service compared to companies like UPS or FedEx who will let you settle a charge like that before your package lands in the UK, or even just bill you at a later date.

Anyway, hopefully you will receive your goods soon. Luckily my order was only for something cosmetic (illuminated scuff plates), so I wasn't in too much of a hurry to receive them.

It's kind of a hidden feature. Only the very bottom black-coloured part of the screen where the wipers are parked is heated. It should work in conjunction with the heated rear screen/door mirror switch.

Approved Lexus car with low-ish miles, plus a 2 year warranty according to the eBay listing so it looks like it would be a solid buy. Nice colour too.

The only thing I will say is that it doesn't have the optional Navigation system which probably isn't a deal-breaker, but it's a nice thing to have.

Does any one know where i can purchase some more under bonnet clips.

eBay

Replaced all of mine with these when I changed bulbs last week.

Probably a IS250 that's been listed as a 220d by mistake. The ad mentions that it's a petrol a couple of times, plus it has the correct PWR ECT SNOW button on dash. Although I guess that could've been changed too if it has indeed had a tranny swap.

Decent winter tyres and a bit of weight in the boot.....

This.

I always negotiate the winter months with a large and heavy tool kit strapped-down in the boot. Even on summer tyres it can make a noticeable difference. A shovel and some de-icing salt aren't bad things to keep in there either for some extra weight, plus a warm jacket in case you do get stuck...

As stated, the "Snow" mode just dulls the throttle response, which in theory makes you less likely to spin the wheels. It's possibly more useful on an automatic car than it is on a manual, but personally, I preferred not to use it and trust my ability to control the throttle & clutch on a car that I drove every day, rather than deal with a lethargic pedal that felt unfamiliar...

Also, when setting off in slippery conditions in my IS200, I would actually turn off traction control most of the time as I feel you can often make better progress and build momentum quicker with constant (but controlled) wheel-spin until you find some grip, rather than have the TCS cut-in and kill your momentum.

Genuine Lexus window visors are available from Japan but they are ludicrously expensive (like, £400 or something...)

Alternatively, Climair ones are supposed to be very good and cover all 4 windows.

http://www.climairuk.com/search.php?mmy_mode=apply&fmake=38&fmodel=1328

If you can't find the part locally, just go ahead and order it from Lexus Edinburgh. I drive past there on the way home from work every day and could easily pick it up for you. I could then post it to your address no problem.

As a fellow 4T5 owner, I'd be glad to help out. :)

http://www.mufflebox.com/collections/lexus/products/lexus-owners-club-sticker-pair

Had one top centre of the rear screen on my old car and looked very nice.

The higher road tax rate is only an issue on cars with manual transmission. All automatic 250s will cost £290 to tax.

I was amazed by that fact, but apparently the manual version has worse fuel economy/higher CO2 output and is therefore placed in a higher tax band.

I stand to be corrected but I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter what type of lights are fitted. There should be a step or rise in the pattern on the near side for the purpose of making road signs, pedestrians etc more easily visible.

Whether the "step" is legally-required or not, I'm unsure to be honest, but I do know the general shape of Billnick's beam pattern (higher on the left), is quite normal, even with projector HIDs.

An MOT tester chiming in would be handy right about now. :)

Whether your lights need adjusted or not, that beam pattern is not unusual. The near-side cut-off line will always be higher in a RHD car.

As an alternative, there's also a sensor on the rear suspension (passenger side), that can be adjusted to alter the height of the headlamp aim. This might be quicker/easier since it'll affect both lights at the same time.

I would probably stick to using the adjustment screws on the lights themselves though in case that sensor underneath is rusted solid, or ends up getting broken.

Hi everyone,

Some of you may remember me as I've been a member of the site for a while, albeit I was mostly active in the 1st Gen section and haven't been visiting much at all in recent times.

I'll be a lot more active now though as I just bought an IS 250 a few days ago and I'm delighted with it.

I don't have any pictures yet, but it's a late-2010 F-Sport with the auto box and ML Navigation system. It has the Baransu / G-Spider wheels, which I'm kinda undecided about, so I might try and change them for something else at some point. Sometimes they look great, but I dunno...I think I prefer the Hoshi-style wheels that most F-Sport models of a similar age seem to have.

Anyway, that's nit-picking because the car is brilliant and a joy to drive. My old 200 was always in good mechanical order and felt smooth & refined to me (and well-equipped for that matter), but the 250 is on another level altogether.

It helps that the newer car is much younger, and has done way fewer miles (only 21K), but considering there's only 7 years difference between them, I'm amazed at how much more advanced it feels and the level of technology and equipment it possesses - I'm constantly finding something new every time I get behind the wheel!

I'd love to tell you what colour it is, but I don't actually know the name. The car was advertised as "grey" so I thought it might be Cadoxton Slate, but as soon as I went to view it I could tell it was clearly something else. The paint code is 4T5 and I don't think I've seen another IS in this colour. A google search suggests "Truffle Mica" is the US name, but since Lexus paint often has a different name depending on region, I'm wondering if anyone knows what the colour is called on these shores?

Cheers,

John

No problem. Did you get them diamond cut?

http://www.wheelproscotland.co.uk/

They have 2 branches in the Glasgow area and I was very pleased with the work they did for me a couple of years ago.

Price-wise, you'll be looking at around £50-60 per wheel for a full refurbishment and powder coating. A diamond cut finish will cost extra, I'd imagine.

They're about £20+VAT each from the Dealer.

P/N: 42603-53110

RE050A is an ancient model dating back to the '90s, I wouldn't go near those. If it was my money, the choice would boil down to either of these;

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2

Michelin Pilot Sport 3

Continental Sport Contact 5

They're all reasonably new designs, and the ones that consistently score highly in all the tyre tests conducted every year.

Next time I need some rubber, I'll probably lean towards the SC5 as they're supposedly better in every department than the older Sport Contact 3, which is what I currently have on my car, and have been very impressed with. I previously had Hankook V12 Evo's on, which rode better and were quieter, but the Conti's are considerably more grippy in the wet or dry.

Regarding 215 vs 225. I've run both and the wider tyre obviously offers more grip, plus the ride is a little more compliant due to the taller sidewall. On the down side, the steering response isn't as sharp, plus acceleration off the line is also slightly worse. 225s are a better fit for my wheels (8" wide) though, so I'm happy to accept the slightly compromised performance.

The Battery should cope fine if it's in good condition. The biggest concern would probably be the potential for the calipers seizing up - if there's any underlying problems with them, a long period of inactivity might finish them off.

That's what happened in my case when I was unable to drive my car much over the winter and had to leave it parked-up for long periods.

When it was MOT'd in December, a slight fluctuation in the braking performance was flagged-up as an advisory, and sure enough, when I could finally drive my car again on a regular basis (in March), the brakes were sticking and the pedal was juddering, which, in turn, LED to a pair of warped discs and ruined pads.

The bolts are fixed in place on the top mounts, not loose/removable.

Probably Bilstein or Koni Sport if money was no object.

I thought about getting those but, apart from the cost, I was a bit concerned how stiff they would be as I mostly just use my car to commute to and from work. Went with OEM-spec replacements (KYB) in the end.

Yep, great little mod this. Done it to my car too but I sprayed the panels satin black before applying the wrap on them.

There's pre-cut kits available on eBay if you don't fancy doing the cutting yourself.

Haven't tried them but I remember hitting google about those orange Koni's when I was in the market for new shocks and a lot of the user reviews I found were pretty negative.

Grey 11-spokes on a Black IS.

Looks good, but I think a finish with a bit of contrast and more "pop" like Shadow Chrome would look even better. For centre caps, get IS-F ones.

I think you'd have to roll the wheel arches to make those fit without any rubbing, maybe even roll and pull them.

Yeah, the SportDesign. Same colour as my car but they call it Thunder Cloud Metallic over there..

Forgot about the headlamp washers, lol