KentIS300

Well I heard it all today ...

apprently my number plates which I have been using since 2006 more less are illegal as of today.

My number plate has only 4 letters and 1 number in two groups

X0 XXX lets say ...

Today I was told from the MOT station my car has failed due to having too much spacing between the groups!!!

My response was what?? I would have thought that having 1 space more ... would have made it be clearer to read than misrepresenting or amending letters....

So now I need to go down to Halfords and get a pair of cheapo plates to pass my MOT.

I have written back to the place I have ordered my plates originally ... stating that they have not notified me that having two spaces instead of one between groups would make my non road legal and they mentioned that their website clearly displays the following statement

To mis-space or mis-represent the digits on number plates is an offence under the Road Vehicles (Registration & Licensing) Regulations 1971. Be sure to enter your registration number correctly because the finished number plates will be made to the same spacing you enter here.

Which as I said in my reply ... I would have thought that mis-spacing would be to have too few than too many in my understanding as too many are out there making two letters look like one etc.

Still no response to my claim of getting a free replacement pair of plates.

Hi, sorry for the late reply! Just read thru your thread and glad to hear that you've got everything sorted out now :)

What bushes did you used in the end? Were they TRD ones?

Yeap the TRD ones and the car now feels planted on the road. A different car to drive :) :)

I wasnt aware these cars had lsd, but would benefit from it. Has anyone had one fitted?

All the IS300 as far as I know have them as standard kit ... and as I tested today in the snow mine has it as well :) :) lol

It may well be. Though 1-2 seconds does sound a little long to me for the combined time that it takes the LSD to tighten up and for the suspension arms to take up any deflections in the bushes.

If I'm not mistaken, most moden cars don't like it if one wheel is severely under-inflated compared to the others, as it messes up with the stability control, traction control and ABS, due to the difference in wheel speed sensor readings. Did any of your warning lights appear during this incident?

I might exagerate a bit ... it felt to me 1-2secs.... but might have been much shorter, I was still trying in mind to figure out what on earth was happening.

Nope no warning lights on the dash, it would have been easy to notice as it was 10:00 in the night and in the motorway so pitch black.

I would have guessed it was around 15PSI ? maybe ... enough to be seen by the eye as something was wrong with that wheel.

Final update ... in case anyone comes to the same problem...

The car is now fixed and drives like on rails ... really pleased with it.

I have taken it back to the garage and they removed everything and reinstalled them ... the bushes were not the wrong way around ... (the diagram is universal for both sides of the car)

They have loosen up the front subframe and ... twicked it bit ... this has brought the caster spot on!

Took it back to STS where they have done the tracking once more all around ... and everything is now green, caster/camber and toe.

The rear camber needs adjustment ... but the bolt needs to be unseized ... something to do in the near future.

The toe in/out is identical on all around and not 1 degree different.

The car is surefooted now.

:) :) :)

im sure in lrts the boot is smaller on the sx

also the saloon has the lsd depending on the spec ie sport....

I thought all saloons were "Sports" by definition. Or did I get that wrong?

I'm not sure if ours is one sport or not even

I am sure if you look in the IS300 Saloon specs you will find the LSD is standard as well ... not an optional extra ;-)

IS300 Saloon Specs here http://lexusownersclub.co.uk/articles/UK%20Lexus%20Spec%20Sheet%20IS300.pdf

IS300 SportCross Specs here http://teamlexus.co.uk/articles/UK%20Lexus%20Spec%20Sheet%20IS300SC.pdf

All the 300 SportCross's have the LSD as standard ... and they only come with a 5speed auto gearbox with button changes on the steering...

The 200's SportCross ... some might not have the LSD and the gearbox is the "cheapest" less sophisticated option without button changes.

As for boot space in the sportcross at least you have the option to fold the rear seats (60/40) and also if that is not enough the front passenger seat folds as well... managed to do a really generous IKEA shopping ... where my old Laguna estate could just not do ... because of the passenger seat not folding.

Engine wise ... it has been proven that that engine can take a lot of punishment ... and can take loads of upgrades ... as it is the same block as the N/A Supra has ... looking in the Supra forums you will get an idea.

I must admit it is not the most economic car ... however no straight 6 engine I have driven is economic...

For example the Mercedes CL500 (5.0l V8) does the same cruise consumption on the motorway as the IS300 and that is around 30mpg ...in town they are not much different either ... that is just a comparison on my experience.

In my opinion ... the sportcross looks better purely because there are not many around ;)

Oh and yes I forgot to mention the 9th speaker (subwoofer) ... well hidden ;) in the boot

Hi Andy ... I think you have to edit you post for some reason it quoted me 3 times? lol

I have had mine since June and loving it to bits I must admit ... after replacing the bushes on the front it is even more precise and acurate steering.

I don;t know how bad is on the snow ... but I cannot imagine as bad as the Saloon ...

In theory I would assume the SportCross has a slighly heavier tail ... plus it has a Limited Slip on the rear ... (works well with a flat tyre on dump road as I found out)

Good Quality, loads of toys, and a good engine to play with, had it in my Supra so I already loved it...

The up/down button steeting shift control of the gearbox actually works ... and it is not slow changing either (well don't expect ferrari gearbox performance).

I will agree with others the blue with the factory tinted windows looks the business, ivory interior I thinik looks better to the black mine has ... but cannot have it all.

remember ... bargain hard and you will get it at a price you will not even believe it ... I could not believe the price I got mine ... and it is faultless, well one sticky caliper and worn front bushes, but I would not call that a problem.

Have you tried to remove the Battery again for 10mins ... and try to set again? :-S

I think you have to press it to go all the way down ...

then press it to go up ... not long enough to go to the auto function ...

once it is closed keep the button there for a few seconds ...

but make sure the button is not pulled all the way up.

Hello guys,

Some of you might have read that I am having a nightmare with my front lower arm bushes replacement.

Can someone take a picture of their front lower arm bushes I want to see how they are installed.

Here are my pictures :

The problem is continuing on this post in case anyone is facing the same problems with mine ...

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=75845

OK here is the verdict ... I have gonne to the Local Lexus/Toyota in Canterbury and I must admit they were very helpful.

They did mention that they do not change the bushes only as they are not Lexus Parts, the only change it as a whole arm.

But from what it seems on their system diagrams the Lower Arm 2 bushes are installed back to front as it shows about on the diagram 480809-C which is the same with the Toyota/Lexus one.

I contacted the garage which did the installation and they will have the car in to install the bushes the "right" way in this Friday...

One more tracking and that should solve my issues hopefully.

The Lexus Tech guy mentioned as a piece of advice to inflate the front tyres a bit more than 33PSI ie inflate them to 35PSI that will help to the natural tendancy of the IS's wear the tyres from the inside.

OK guys I think I have found the cause of the problem ... although the garage insisted they have installed the bushes the right way around .... I am almost sure they have installed the bushes on the Lower Arm No1 back front ...can you confirm this is the case as well?

On the diagram it shows clearly the support bush goes on the back of the arm (looking the car from the front) however they installed it on the front ...

This to fit properly... I can only assume they have fitted the bush back front ... in order for this to fit this way...

If the bush is fit the otherway around ... it pushes the support arm no2 a few mm's back hence pusing the wheel caster out of factory recommended settings.

Am I right?

See attached pics...

Pics are from the driver side of the car, while the diagram is from the passenger side of the car...

Once tomorrow day light comes up will check the passenger side and see if it is the same scenario...

OK here is an update ... I took the car today at a garage that a friend of mine has and put it on the ramps...

Shaked, pushed, turned and pressed everything underneith, there is no play no gaps and nothing loose!!!

I called the garage that installed the bushes and I will take the car back to them to check on it.

They mentioned incase the car had a "touch" with a kurb before my ownership ... and had something bend?

The car was riding better with worn bushes than with them replaced ... it is too bumpy on a "medium to rough" B road

I found a diagram of the whole suspension

I did not replace the bushes my self the garage did ...

so what could they have done wrong to mess up with that?

and how can I prove it is them ??? :(

From what hey told me I understand there were things seized ... but they were only meant to touch the Lower Arm 1 and Lower Arm 2 to replace the bushes ...

that will explain the fact the car feels more bouncy and ... a bit weird on the road :-S

P.S. I understand correctly you mean the upper arm ball joint ... not the lower?

Hello guys,

I have replaced the front lower arm 1 and 2 bushes and the tracking was all over the place... the steering had to be turned to go straight ... bizzare but that was the outcome.

I have just come back from having the tracking done.

See attached pic for the values and tell me what you think?

According to the tyre place that was the best they can do...

By the way a 2002 year Lexus IS300 Saloon and Lexus IS300 SportCross do they have the same settings?

Cheers

Vasilis.

Hello guys,

I have paid for Gold membership a few months now ...

and my logo on every post is not updated with the gold sig ... or anything else.

Does anyone know who to contact?

I have sent a couple of emails ... but they seem to get nowhere?

OK the bushes replaced ... however only when I left ... I realised that the garage did not replace or install the bush support part no : 48657-SE100 (2) where do these go?

I look on an exploded diagram of the front suspension and cannot seem to be able to see them :(

Hello guys,

recently I came across to the following incident ...

I had someone on the motorway right up my !"££$... lets say back while I was overtaking a lorry ... so I decided to give a bit of push on my throttle so kicked down and suddenly the car pulled to the right for 1-2 secs then it corrected it self and no need for me to compensate with the steering ... once I finished overtaking I lifted the foot from the throttle before I pull to the left lane ..and the car acted with the same strange behaviour and pulled left this moment for 1-2 seconds then corrected it self.

I must admit I was a bit scared and thought there was something wrong with my steering as I was due for front lower arm bushes replacement.

I did a few throttles presses and lets goes and same beheaviour and it was getting worse. I decided to pull on the side and have a look around.

My rear right tyre (looking the car from behind) was about 70% flat ... lost air hense all this strange driving...

I replaced it with the funny narrower spare (calling it narrow just because the sportcross has 225 rear and not 215 as the spare is) and everything came back to normal with driving.

Now my question is ... am I right to believe that the car corrected it self while full throttle was applied purely because it has LSD (Limited Slip Diff.) so it compensated the torque between the under-inflated/normal-inflated wheels ....

Is that correct and if so,for the LSD to come into action will take those 1 or 2 seconds?

£400 ... it's a good price :) :)

ooppss my mistake had a quick look it comes up to £505.00 incl VAT for all around for the combi's

However ... I would say no harm making a call and trying to get a quote... as also there is the discount too. :)

Yeah inwas thinking all round discs. It's workj g out around £400 for them all which I think is reasonable. Will just get help for my friends to fit them. I had a look on motor sport world for them and they have them in stock almost all the time

I think FenSport does them for about 3180 front ones without the discount... have a look on their website.

Also if you are a gold member on here you get a discount as well.

www.fensport.co.uk