matt-c

I got the same attachment. I love it everytime I drive it; be it a short journey or long one!

Well, there you go, you just said it; you spent more on this IS than your ZX, but you didn't spend anything on the ZX cos you got rid, and the "only" thing that went wrong with it was BOTH the turbo's went - that's a pretty major failure! Slightly different league than an O2 sensor, a couple leaks and some calipers! Primera was good, but could easily be luck. My little Rover was good as gold, and wouldn't have cost me a penny if one of the brake callipers hadn't seized. Just one of those things. On the other side, my last Escort didn't actually cost me that much (I did the discs n pads, and it needed some welding; it would have cost a lot more to get through the MOT's if they weren't "shady" ;) But had I fixed every other problem with it, it'd have cost me twice what the IS cost to buy in the first place! Things constantly breaking, bits fell off, and it had a habit of not even working (fuel pump had an intermittent wiring fault). But considering the car cost £280 and I was supposed to only keep it for 6 months, I reckon the 2 and a half years I had it wasn't bad. Right up to the point the engine seized thanks to a cracked block. That was a 1996 car with 101k on it. I also had a 1993 Escort saloon with about 95k on it, and that never cost me a penny to get through MOTs or in parts. It's just cars.... Lets not talk about the '84 RS Turbo, '85 RS Turbo or '87 XR3i - they all cost me stupid amounts of money. But that's cos I couldn't leave them alone and modified the hell out of them ;)

There's plenty of cars over here from the 80s and 90s. I think generally we don't clock up as many miles per car as that (300k) but my first 4 cars were all 80s, the next 3 all 90s and the IS is the first 00's car I've had. Point is, regardless of mileage (to an extent) it's still 12 years old. Which means most of the parts on it are going to be 12 years old too. This means the bushes, nuts, bolts, suspension components, engine parts, etc etc. Chris' car has done nearly 4 full trips around the globe, so sooner or later, it's going to need parts replacing! There's nothing on his list of parts that seems out of the ordinary to me, and nothing that's major. It's not like it's needed new chassis rails, or wishbones, or a gearbox, or even a steering rack. One of my Escort's needed a new engine, and that had "only" done 87k! I'd have been chuffed if it had only needed an injector, rather than a complete new engine!

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/69388-what-problems-would-you-advise-others-when-buying-a-is200/

It's unlucky it all came in a short period of time, but at the end of the day, the car is 12 years old. None of those items are unexpected or out of the ordinary. Sure, Lexus are known for building reliable cars, as are Toyota, but they can't all run forever without needing a part or two here and there!

So what has the IS cost you in terms of repairs and problems? Cos a buckled wheel can happen, and does happen, on any car; regardless of factory wheels, steels, or aftermarket alloys.

Just thought I'd add a couple pics. The car is actually a Rav4 but the sensor isn't hugely dissimilar to those on later IS' and other Lexus' The sensor; The gel pad (excuse my grubby hands - ran out of blue gloves!) And the gel pad in place;

I always take mine to the local Eastern Eurpoean hand wash place. Not the cheapest at £12, but they do a really good job, and I've not seen any marks from anything they do there. I can't be arsed to do it myself, and I don't have access to a hose where I park anyway (I did think I'd get an outside tap fitted when I moved in, but then remembered I hate washing cars! That said, I did wax it myself the other day after returning from getting it washed. I noticed a mark on the bonnet and on closer inspection turned out to be a particularly stubborn spot of bird crap, and after picking it off, I noticed there was a mark in the paint where it had been. So I gave it a little T-Cut and it came out perfect, then spotted I had a bottle of liquid wax/polish, so in a moment of madness I decided to give the whole car a going over. To be fair, it looks great, feels great, but it reminded me why I hate doing it, lol

Originally, I was looking for blue with cream, then I went off cream when seeing how grubby it could get, then I decided I liked silver with the black interior better anyway...

Been around a while, Google searching it shows less than favourable reviews/experiences with kits from them

Reasonable maybe, but not worth it to me. A tenner, and I'd buy it, maybe even £15. But it's simply not worth £20+ to me is all.....

I have seen one, on eBay, but it ended up going for over £20, and I ain't spending £20 on one. My exhaust bugs me a bit, cos it's not as clean as the rest of the car (when it's clean) but it doesn't bug me THAT much!

Took the IS for it's monthly bath today, and since it was such a nice day outside (for a change) I even waxed it this afternoon - yes, me! Actually waxing! HAven't done that for a good ten years! (and remembered after why I hate doing it) Anyway, the exhaust tip is peeing me off. I get that it's stainless steel, but I really can't be ar$ed with getting on the floor and polishing it (I don't do bufty anymore) and I'm certainly not taking the back box off the car to do a proper job on it (on one my cars years ago, that I used to do owners club shows with, I actually took the rear bumper off the car just to polish the tailpipe - since the modified exhaust I'd fitted 1) had a welded on back box, rather than clamped and 2) the larger tailpipe gave only half a cm clearance in the bumper cutout) So, I wanna dress it up. But I don't want it to look like it's been dressed up. The whole car is OEM, and I don't want it to look like I've obviously stuck a chrome tailpipe Halfords special on it! I know Lex/Toyota did a tailpipe trim specifically to fit the IS exhaust, but these are rarer than me waxing cars, so aftermarket seems to be the only real option So has anyone fitted an aftermarket tailpipe trim? I measure the OD of the tailpipe to be 80mm, and I'm not looking to go larger, so I was looking at this; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-CHROME-EXHAUST-TRIM-ROLLED-EDGE-TIP-80mm-BRAND-NEW-/170962686483?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item27ce2b9213 Now naturally that'd be too long, so I'd chop it down. Ideally, I'd like it to fit snugly over the original tailpipe, and be not noticeable longer; just so the standard tip hides up inside the rolled lip of the chrome one. Of course, cutting it down will lose the screw fitting, but I guess it's not a big deal to drill and screw in a short self tapper out of sight to secure it in place. If I can get one that;s snug enough I have to tap it on with a rubber mallet, that'd be even better (so as to eliminate any buzzing that may occur, and also keep it nice and tight, with just the screw to stop it moving. Just looking to see if anyone else has done the same?

It's exactly why I chose a black interior. Cream is nice to look at, but it'd be a bitch to live with, and unless it's been owned by a clean freak prior, it's not gonna look "as new". My black interior on the other hand, looks like it's barely been sat in!

Yeah will do Matt. It'll be a Monday most probably as that's when I'm normally off. Only weekdays I get off are Mondays now, however I only get one a month off, and today is that Monday! Yeah you're right Stuart but I actually want Tony to set my car up, after meeting him and chatting to him. What he doesn't know about car geometry isn't worth knowing! Likewise. When I had mine done, it was at the MK site (which they no longer operate from I believe) and it wasn't Tony that did it, but the guys that did do it were very good, and of course it was done on their HawkEye machine, so it was spot on.

Chris, let me know when you plan to, and I might meet you there if I can

http://www.elitedirect.com http://www.blackboots.co.uk http://www.blackcircles.com http://www.etyres.co.uk http://www.camskill.co.uk Or try some local tyre companies to see if you can get a cash deal

Quite possibly; I've really not spent any time with an IS that doesn't have an LSD. All I know is I can push mine really quite hard through bends and round roundabouts, and it is actually quite hard to make it unstick. That is, until you turn the TRC off, haha.

The best setting is in the bin! Replace it with one of Patrik's black boxes, as found on "the other site" - (o.u.t.l.a.w.jap.c.l.u.b )

LSD or not (which mine has, not sure if the SE's had them?), the TRC should stop it from losing the back end in the wet. I've pushed mine pretty hard in the wet on roundabouts, and the TRC always holds it. The only time I've ever lost the backend was when I turned the TRC off and gave it a bootfull in 2nd on a wet roundabout. Even in the snow, being over zealous with the loud pedal, the TRC stepped in and righted it within seconds. I'd be looking at the tyres, and also the tyre pressures, myself...

I know a few languages other than my native English - the trouble is, I only ever seem to learn the bad/offensive/abusive words/phrases! You should see some of the things I can say in Turkish ;)

Hou jou bek is shut up/shut your mouth, and piesang is banana. Obviously the former is understandable, but I don't quite remember why piesang stuck in my mind enough for me to actually remember it and it's translation (unless I'm wrong on it). I think it's probably cos of the pronunciation, makes it sound like the English slang term for urination :D There was also fok jou, hehe....

I think only the LE's Panya. Far as I understand, they came with all the little extra's as found on the 300, for the last year/18mths of production - with the addition of different colour paint(s) and the 11 spoke wheels. Could be wrong though

Never had auto dimming mirrors, so it's not something I've missed. Also, with the rear glass tints, I've actually found the glare from headlights behind to be much better than most cars I've had. Panya is going to go on and on until he lists all the differences between an IS200 and an IS300, lol (still can't get 24hr time in an IS300 though!)