noby76

Start from front and work your way back. pop bonnet open and check engine oil condition note: oil should be golden colour so if its black then oil will need changing also make sure its sitting at the max mark if its too low will need a top up. check power steering oil level. level should sit on 'Hot' . most importnat check gearbox oil level and condition but this is done when car has been running for about 20mins and really warmed up, set the gear from P to R , N, D work your way down to low and then shift it all way back up again then remove the gearbox oil dip stik and check its level. should be sitting on Max and color should be pinkish redish its it dark brown or black it will need an oil drain and refill. Car shuold start up first time any hesitation when stating might be signs of spark plugs or starter motor on thier last legs so might need replacing when car is stationary do a full 360 full lock from side to side and make sure steering turns freely with no weird noise from steering any noise might be power steering or ball joint. test all4 electric windows , sunroof, electric folding mirrors, ac, heater signals , horn , lights front and rear fog lights to make sure they all runing. lock doors from remote and check to see if all doors lock and unlock. check all four tyres condition to make sure they have enough thread on them. take the car for a drive both in town and on an open road to make sure transmission shifts through all gears i.e. 1 to 5 so test at sppeds of 70mph aswell as that will be in 5 gear and rpm will be sitting at 2500 if rpm is above that at 70 then might not be shifting in 5th. check boot and under cloth to make sure there is a spare tyre. let car idle for about 5 - 10 minutes to hear then fan kick in. if all of the above are working correctly and fluids in good condition and correct level then you are a winner mate :hocus-pokus:

1996 Renault Cli0 1.2 2000 Ford fiesta 1.25 zetec 16v 1997 BMW 520i (the headache car) 2000 Rover 45 1.6 1999 Nissan Primera 1.8 S 1999 Ford Cougar 2.5 V6 2002 Lexus IS300 (Current car)

Guys...everyone has raised both pros and cons of running on LPG and we can all conclude it pays off if one will be doing a lot of miles and I mean a lot of miles..I mean Lazydocker was going through £150 a week so yes would really make sense and pay off quicky due to the miles being convered were as in my case I was going through £120 a month which confirms I wasnt covering that much miles for an LPG conversion to be viable so I guess if one goes through more than £100 a week then LPG would make sense but for someone like me going through £30 a week might aswell stick to petrol. so Chrigixer if your weekly expense is in the region of Lazydocker then I guess LPG will be the right way to go mate... I'm aware of the pros and cons of "LPG" what I am not aware of , obviously, is LPG on this particular model. Have you anything to add to that?...as the original question implies, I'm really looking for first hand factual experience. Thanks for your guess though. But as you say, the cost of the install, will take longer to return in fuel savings the less miles covered. Obviously, a fuel saving "formula" needs to be accurate when calculating this, or potentially for example a professional prins install costing in the region £2.500 will never return a saving at all if the car only covers 6000 miles a year and the owner sells it after two years. No brainer again. So, now you'll understand why DIY install offers further savings. Obviously. Payback in fuel savings will be achieved much sooner. Provided the install is not problematic of course. Hence my ORIGINAL QUESTION! Loooks like we all ending up at the same conclusion as I also mentioned in my prevoius post and i quote "LPG convertion does not always = saving money".....so like everyone one here is saying based on the miles one does LPG will be viable but for others it will be a waste of precious time/energy and some times money which in my case 3 years and an everage yearly miles of 8000 miles wasnt really worth the hassle but might certainly work for you Chrisgixer and thats also based on if the installation and flush and getting hold of live data goes to plan with no hicups We? Mate, please, give it a rest. Just try to be helpful thats all!! at the end of the day if i couldnt afford putting fuel in a 3.0 Lexus i wouldnt be buying one...and maybe still to a 1.4 focus

Chrisgixer I think you might need to have some discussion on guys from the RX, LS forum as some are really happy with thier conversions http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=69479&pid=773969&st=0entry773969

yeh on mordern autotrans there is a slight delay of a second sometimes a second or two before power is transmitted to the rear wheels when the vehicle is stationary! mine does do this occasionally but not all the time..I think it is to do with the ECT-i (Electronic Controlled Transmission -Intelligence) communicating with the ECU to work out what the driver is intending to do i.e. crusie, accelarate fast etc.. so ounce you dip the throttle i think signals are sent to the ECU with this data and the car works out what the driver wangt from it hence there is a slight pause to gather this data before it moves its to do with the fact that drive by wire is used rather than a cable linking to the throttle opening. dont worry it happens on BMW's, mercs and Audis too.. but if the dalay is severe i.e. 5 seconds or more then you might have to get it looked at hope this helps.

Guys...everyone has raised both pros and cons of running on LPG and we can all conclude it pays off if one will be doing a lot of miles and I mean a lot of miles..I mean Lazydocker was going through £150 a week so yes would really make sense and pay off quicky due to the miles being convered were as in my case I was going through £120 a month which confirms I wasnt covering that much miles for an LPG conversion to be viable so I guess if one goes through more than £100 a week then LPG would make sense but for someone like me going through £30 a week might aswell stick to petrol. so Chrigixer if your weekly expense is in the region of Lazydocker then I guess LPG will be the right way to go mate... I'm aware of the pros and cons of "LPG" what I am not aware of , obviously, is LPG on this particular model. Have you anything to add to that?...as the original question implies, I'm really looking for first hand factual experience. Thanks for your guess though. But as you say, the cost of the install, will take longer to return in fuel savings the less miles covered. Obviously, a fuel saving "formula" needs to be accurate when calculating this, or potentially for example a professional prins install costing in the region £2.500 will never return a saving at all if the car only covers 6000 miles a year and the owner sells it after two years. No brainer again. So, now you'll understand why DIY install offers further savings. Obviously. Payback in fuel savings will be achieved much sooner. Provided the install is not problematic of course. Hence my ORIGINAL QUESTION! Loooks like we all ending up at the same conclusion as I also mentioned in my prevoius post and i quote "LPG convertion does not always = saving money".....so like everyone one here is saying based on the miles one does LPG will be viable but for others it will be a waste of precious time/energy and some times money which in my case 3 years and an everage yearly miles of 8000 miles wasnt really worth the hassle but might certainly work for you Chrisgixer and thats also based on if the installation and flush and getting hold of live data goes to plan with no hicups

Guys...everyone has raised both pros and cons of running on LPG and we can all conclude it pays off if one will be doing a lot of miles and I mean a lot of miles..I mean Lazydocker was going through £150 a week so yes would really make sense and pay off quicky due to the miles being convered were as in my case I was going through £120 a month which confirms I wasnt covering that much miles for an LPG conversion to be viable so I guess if one goes through more than £100 a week then LPG would make sense but for someone like me going through £30 a week might aswell stick to petrol. so Chrigixer if your weekly expense is in the region of Lazydocker then I guess LPG will be the right way to go mate...

nice one there man! looks really clean for the year even thought its the basic model ...you really are not missing much without half leather, sunroof and electric seats to be honest...enjoy it

thats spot on cus most of the challenge and accelration was done at mid range so i guess the VVT-i is more responsive than double Vanos used in your 645 or the M5 as it took the M5 driver a while to catch up to me when i floored it on the M1 . I am guessing its the VVT-i which gives me that burst of rapid mid range accelration due to the Cam phase moving to allow more air into the chambers! Yes it definately no sports car but it never got the recognition it deserved for its capabilies i feel..

nope its a standard engine and i know a little bit about engines to know if its got the garret turbo strapped to it or not! my prevous car was a ford cougar V6 so yes am used to a car with a bit of ommph! was just a bit surprised at its performance against the competion which the IS300 was made to look like it didnt stand a chance...

thats true it was a real M5 Colin with 2 more occupants was really surprised by the baby lexus perfornance and just watched a couple of stock M5 dynos and guess what they put out around 360 to 420 bhp at the wheels so that tells me they have a huge drive loss percentage watched about 6 videos and none reaching or close to the 500bhp stated! but IS300 is definately not a slow car as painted by official car reviewers and I bought i because it was not as common on the roads as.. well we all know those three main brands!

I do agree a V8 4.4 litre has the advantage of bigger capacity and two more cylinders. but will let you in on a secret most people miss! sometihing called power to weight ratio..your 645 has 328 to be exact but weighs 1690kg which gives it a power to weight ratio of 194 bhp per tone IS300 has 211 and weighs 1500kg which gives it a power to weight ration of 140 bhp per tone so a 645Ci sounds like its got 117 more horses than IS300 but in reality on has just 54bhp as the rest of the horses are used to shift its huge weight of 1690 kg and if your 645Ci does not have a close gear ratio I might just hang on to your coat tails so definately no blowing me away! why dont you ask the two Audi 3.0TDI drivers with 240bhp and 500NM of tourque at hand and still couldnt slaughter a 2JZ-GE with a mere 211bhp and 288NM or tourque without a turbo strapped to it!

nice one! definately cant beat the japs on quality when it comes to cars....

sounds better than my local cinemas sound system! i bet you a 5ver Rolls Royces sound system does not sound better as this

Yes they are the same 2JZ-GE supra engine but I think Lexus has done something with the setup of the engine for the IS300 maybe they mapped it or gave it a different gear ratios cus the power of this thing is insane dont get me wrong its definatley no IS-F,ferrai, or GT-R but against cars I was expecting to walk all over me it held its on the they couldnt keep up! no wonder any engine tuner regards the 2JZ-GE engine as the best inline six engine ever produced in the world.. becuase they can hanndle powers exceeding 1000BHP with just slight modifications to thier internals!

yeh most I200 owners complain about the straight line performance which in a way I will agree being 153bhp but the IS300 even in automatic is ridiculously fast and I mean this was against cars that are held up so high by review companies and always beat down the IS300! not sure what Lexus has done but in ECT pwr mode the trottle response is instant the car picks up regardless of any rev am in without loosing torque and even feels like its got more than 5 gear ratios becuase of the way it shifts might be the VVT-i but havent lost to any bullying German car driver out there yet! Mine is complete standard from factory without any modifications to suspension or engine. was reading more about the 2JZ-GE engine and apparantly it does have a performance yamaha developed head and sport Cams where as the IS200's 1G-FE has an economy head and narrow valves for economy so mite explain why IS200 drivers get frustrated with its performance as the cars chasis can handle more power!

Hi guys I am a bit baffled by this I have owned my IS300 since January and I must say! WHAT A CAR…official reviews about these cars doesn’t do it justice or give it the credit it really deserves! These reviews paint the Lexus IS300 as being slow doesn’t handle as good as the German competition and was only offered in Automatic form which doesn’t select the right gears properly!! I tell you this… all these accusations are false and I wonder if these review companies were being bias in favour of German cars! Well I must say I like to have fun on the roads when permitted and safe to do so without exceeding speed limits or putting any one else in danger. I have been challenged by over confident cocky Audi A6 3.0TDI(240 bhp) , Sabb 93 1.8 turbo(150 bhp), Audi A5 3.0 TDI (240 bhp), BMW 530i (228 bhp), MG ZR (160 bhp) and none of these cars have managed to hung on. This was both in straight line performance and around the corners and yes these drivers had their foot to the metal! What surprised me was the fact that a cocky BMW M5 tried in vain to get past me on the M1 and yes this guy had his foot down though there were 2 other people in his car but come on 500bhp? I was expecting this guy to blow me into the hard shoulder. So my question is do Lexus lower the true performance figures of their cars or do the Germans over rate their performance figures but in real life the situation is different. Maybe it might be the fact that the IS300 has a Supra engine(2JZ-GE) not sure but I haven’t lost to anything that has flexed their muscles trying to bully me off the road yet. Has any IS200/300 drivers noticed these cars perform more than the figures and reviews suggest or am I lucky to have one which for some reason is performing above its capabilities?

not askin you or anyone to bend over for me mate thought i'll chip in my 5 cent as i also contemplated going down the gasing route but changed my mind and like i said I am happy with petrol so what ever floats your boat mate! oh and some work on he manors definately wouldnt go amiss

I do agree but my figures as you can see were accurate based on how much i spent a month compared to how much gasing will have cost me over 3 years and also how much sticking with petrol would have also cost me in three years. this can also be applied to diesel cars which are about 2 to 5 grand more than thier petrol equivalent and also dearer at the pumps! and will take some disel drivers 4 sometime 7 years to recoup the initial expense of going down the diesel route! but as you say I am happy with petrol so will stick to it! good luck with the conversion and keep us updated on how it goes. :zee:

will say go for it! cus Nissan really put thier heart and soul into buliding the new Infinit's to challenge the Germans! and we all know what the Japs are capable of it thier put thier heart and soul into building a car am guessing it will have more specs than a fighter jets cockpit! havent been in or driven one yet but I might think the drive and quality will be the same as Lexus if not bettter! ! oops did i just say that ...

I like those new Infiniti's am kinda eyeing the G37 in saloon but thats because Lexus for some reason did not introduce the IS350 to UK. oh why did you not bring this car to uk Lexus? :-( . Infinit's are nice cars and being a Nissan you can expect same bulletproof relaibity as Yoda. hope u enjoy! am eyeing that G37 in next five years when prices are reasonable for people like me to own :-)

If you read my previous two posts you will notice I used the word ‘example’ so no this calculations will not apply to everyone hence I said its fictional figures but my calculations are definitely accurate. Will use my self as an example to make things easy for you:. Before I got my IS300 it cost me exactly £100 a month to fill up my ford cougar V6 on upgrading to an IS300 it cost me exactly £120 a month to fill up on petrol for work. So this means my monthly fuel expense has increased by £20 a month after my upgrade to an IS300. Now I get a quote of £1000 inc VAT from an LPG conversion specialist to convert my IS300 to LPG so on getting back home I decided to work the cost of LPG conversion (£1000) against the cost of my increased fuel expense (£20) to see if by having the conversion done works out cheaper against me paying £20 more for petrol over the course of 3 years which is how long I am looking to keep the car for. So It will cost £1000 for an LPG conversion and £40 a month to fill it up with Gas. 12 months makes 1 year so for 3 years it would cost me 12 months * 3 to make 36 months * my £40 a month Gas cost which works out £1140. 12months*3yrs = 36months 36months* £40 a month = £1140 + the intial LPG Cconversion cost of £1000 = £2140. So as you can see it will cost me £2140 if I am looking to run my car on LPG for 3 years. Now If I decide not to convert to an LPG on the IS300 but rather pay the fuel expense increase of £20 at the petrol pumps after my upgrade to IS300 to make up for not having an LPG, will work out £720 over a 3 year period. So using the same formula as above, 12 months makes 1 year so for 3 years it would cost me 12 months * 3 to make 36 months * my £20 a month petrol cost for driving an IS300 over ford cougar V6 which works out £720. There you have it. It cost me £20 more a month to drive an IS300 over a ford cougar V6 which based on that amount works out to be £720 over 3 years but will cost me £2140 for an LPG coversion + cost of filling up GAS over the same 3 year period if I decide to fore go paying Mr.Shell £20 more for unleaded fuel and convert to GAS. hope this clears things up

I am definately not opposing you or being negative about having an LPG conversion done. I was only making you aware LPG conversion does not always = saving money. my figures in the first post were fictional figures and might not apply to your circumstance hence I said it was an example based on if the miles you are currently covering has caused your monthly petrol expense to increase by £20 more. the example shows that if you decide to keep the £1000(fictional conversion cost) in the bank and rather spend £20 more (due to increase in miles/fuel prices) from that money ,the £1000 will last you 50 months(4years 1 month). 1000/20 = 50 50/12= 4.1 so lets just say you were looking to keep the car for a maximum of 3 years by still leaving the £1000(fictional conversion cost) in the bank,and instead carried on using petrol which has worked out £20(example) more every month. works out £720 over the course of 3 years but this is based on if your extra monthly fuel expense still stays at £20 more. this is how the £720 was achieved. 12*3=36 36*20 = £720 . 12 months times 3 = 36 months. 36 months times £20(extra fuel expense per month due to more miles) = £720. so based on these fictional figures which might not apply to your personal circumstane, you will be saving £280 in the bank if you were keeping the car for 3 years and not forking out an initial lump sum cost of £1000 for a conversion + cost of frequent filling up of gas during a 3 year period.

LPG conversion will just spoil the fun factor of having an IS300 and more over you will be driving around with extra weight! as some guys have already mentioned work out how long you looking to keep the car for and the costs of carrying out the conversion against the cost of current petrol prices. Yes petrol prices have shot up but if it will cost you e.g. say a minimum £1000 for the conversion and lets just say your monthly petrol cost has increased by £20 more due to new petrol prices, you will be better off running this car on 100% petrol without the conversion if you are keeping the car for a minimum of 4 years. the conversion will only start paying for it self after 4 years. lets work this out based on the example above. 1000 / 20 = 50 . 50 /12 = 4.1 Now lets put some logic into the above figures. initial cost of conversion to LPG cost say £1000. extra cost of your monthly petrol expense has gone up £20 every month. so we divide £1000 initial LPG conversion cost by £20 (increased monthly petrol cost) which gives us 50 which means you can drive on 100% petrol for 50 months (4 years 1 month) if you decide not to fork out £1000 in one lump sum for a conversion. so if you will be keeping the car for 4 years or less, stick with petrol because based on my example above by spending £20 more on your normal monthly fuel expense you will only be at a disadvange after 4 years and 2 months. but if you will keeping the car for more than 4 yrs 1 month then LPG will be beneficial and cost effective. :hocus-pokus: . note: I have not even added the cost of frequent filling up with gas in my example ounce a conversion is done this was only based on initial conversion cost of £1000. In a nut shell, if you will be keeping the car for 4 years or less, running it on petrol will work out cheaper than an LPG conversion + cost of frequent filling up with Gas after converson. P.S I drive an IS300 my self and to be honest driven with a light right foot achievs the same mpg as any 2.0litre 4 cylinder petrol engine. but have the advantage for when i need more power .

cool guys! will try V Power for about a month and see how she performs on that if its no different from 95 RON will save the extra 5iver and keep using 95 RON.