ChumpusRex

These are small pits from stone and sand imapct. No option to polish them out - technically you could polish them out with cerium oxide, but it would be extremely labour intensive and you wouldn't be able to keep the glass surface flat leading to optical aberrations. Only option is windscreen replacement.

Probably true, as it would mean replacing the ECU, security unit and door locks.

If you have a brand new key, it is possible to program it to the car. It's not that difficult but does require a subscription to the lexus technical software which is expensive, and not all garages/locksmiths might have it. The software can also deactivate lost keys. However, you must have a working, programmed key to do this. The programming process requires an already programmed key before it can be started. Second-hand keys cannot be re-programmed to a different car. If you've lost all your keys, then you have a BIG problem.

I took out the ciggy lighter panel from console. I spliced into the wires and added a new fuse/connector. I clipped off the ciggy plug off the dash cam and put a suitable connector on. The dashcam wire was then routed behind the dash into the centre console where it plugged into my new connector which had been spliced into the ciggy lighter wires.

The high beams and side lights are different bulbs (same chamber in the headlight unit though). The side lights are powered from the rather strangely named "front tail light" fuse and relay in the front-passenger side of engine compartment fuse/relay box, so it's worth a quick check to see if the fuse is OK - but more likely both bulbs have blown. The bulbs are W5W type - easy to get for pennies. If considering an LED upgrade, don't get cheap ebay bulbs, they burn out very quickly, I've been through several sets of ebay LED side lights, they barely get through 6-9 months before burning out.

You have to try. If you close the boot with the keys in a warning alarm goes off and the doors unlock. You can only lock the doors with a key in the boot, by pressing the lock button on another key. Freaked me out when I was moving house and forgot I had the spare set of keys in the boot - couldn't work out why the locks were going crazy and I was getting an alarm buzzer going off whenever I closed the boot. Similar sort of thing with a set of keys in the passenger comparment. Press the lock button on a door handle and a warning alarm goes off and the doors don't lock. You have to lock the car with a button on a different key. Also, just a word of warning, although the car should give you a warning when the fob battery is low - it doesn't always work, and I nearly got stranded once, until I worked out how to open the car and start the car with a dead fob. I got one "battery low" warning the day before, but the next day it started fine to get to work, then at the end of the day I couldn't get in. Changed the fob battery, and it's been fine since.

scrap yard?

It's only for the IS250C

I don't see how a terraclean could work. It's just a fuel additive, but it's injected using a fancy machine. The problem with our cars is that the detergents in the fuel don't get to the valves. I spent a fortune on bulk packs of BG44K fuel system cleaner and also archoil AR6400 fuel system cleaner and carbon remover - and as far as I could tell they did naff all, except the AR6400 left a thick deposit of iron-oxide powder all over the spark plugs. I tried water mist as well, and that did naff all - except I put a bit too much in and flooded a couple of cylinders, causing huge clouds on unburned petrol fumes to pour out of the exhaust and the engine to run as smoothly as ice cubes in a blender until the cylinders dried out

I have the same issue, it's even put the flashing engine light on a couple of times. I've cleaned and even replaced the MAF sensor on the air box, but it didn't help.

It's a V6 - one wideband sensor for each half of the engine. The post-cat sensors are present on all new cars. They are a legal requirement. They check if the catalytic converter is present and working properly. If it isn't, they put the engine/VSC light on, so that the car will fail an MOT. That's all they do, they don't do anything to help the engine run.

It was actually my mechanic who chose it, as it's what he had in stock. Synthetic vs semi-synthetic isn't really that important. The key limiting factor is the additives. Lexus specify a generic API SL or newer 5W30 oil. That's a very old specification, even the cheapest modern oils will easily meet it. The oil I used was a modern SN 5W30 oil which should far exceed lexus's recommendation.

4 O2 sensors 2 pre-cat wideband sensors 2 post-cat narrowband sensors

Thought I'd post an update. Oil changed again for a 5W30 semi-synth A3 oil, and the rattle was back with a vengeance. This time I tried a different additive - archoil AR9100. The MOA is a thick, treacly, clear liquid with a slightly sickly smell, but the AR9100 is a thin oily, muddy liquid which doesn't really smell of anything. Much to my surprise the AR9100 has completely silenced the engine also.

I thought the IS 250 had a 1500kg towing capacity. That's what my specifications sheet says.

I think they are too wide for the front and will foul the arches unless you roll them slightly.

Was meant to be a joke about catalytic converters.

Better to just gut them - less likely to cause legal issues that way.

The Hunter machines usually show each angle as 3 numbers Minimum / Actual / Maximum The numbers will be printed in red if out of range. They show that Argeno's caster angle is marginally less than minimum specification on both sides, and pretty well balanced. Nothing really to worry about.

That is correct. The IS only has adjustable toe. Camber and caster need to be adjusted by replacing the bent parts, by installing shims on the suspension components or by replacing OEM components by adjustable ones. This is pretty standard except for cars designed for the track.

I've found that the "flat" wipers smear horribly, and that traditional shaped wipers or "hybrid" wipers are much better. The problem is that the IS windscreen is too curved for normal aftermarket "flat" wipers to apply even pressure.

The OEM discs are OK, but they are cheap discs which are intended to be changed with every set of pads, whereas high-end discs tend to be made of a harder alloy. If you do mainly motorway driving and don't use the brakes much, then you might as well use OEM discs or a low-cost alterantive brand like Pagid. In terms of pads, the OEM pads are aggressive, very dusty and very hard on discs. Again, if you don't routinely do spirited driving through the highlands, then a low cost OEM equivalent pad would likely give similar performance. More expensive pads like EBC redstuff are supposed to be harder wearing and lower dust. My experience is that they are still very dusty, but maybe not quite as bad as OEM.

They mean that the VSC system is getting confusing readings from the yaw sensor and the steering wheel position sensor. This could be because someone has adjusted the steering tracking and not re-calibrated the VSC for the new alignment, or it could indicate a problem with a sensor. There is re-calibration procedure that you can do by connecting a wire to the OBD socket and putting the VSC into recalibration mode. If the code comes back after a recalibration, then it suggests a sensor is faulty. The exact procedure is a bit fiddly, but it is in the service manual.

Lots of things this could be, but the most likely culprit could be the engine temperature sensor. The engine needs different fuel injection parameters to start when hot and cold, and it won't start with the wrong fuelling. If the sensor is faulty, then the ECU may be delivering the wrong fuel. You really need a proper scan tool which can read all the engine sensors and see if they are all the readings are legit or some are off, to narrow the problem down to any one particular part.

That's what I ended up doing. Saving a bunch of screenshots. They've really made the IS300h manual difficult. Because instead of putting full instructions on each key topic, like the 2IS manual does, it just says "remove flange grobble - see chapter x" and then you have to screenshot a whole different page. If I was cynical I'd say they want to stop people keeping copies of pages, so that they have to subscribe every time they need to look something up.