ChumpusRex

I've been tempted to get it done myself, but it's very expensive, and I've not yet read a convincing testimonial (i.e. a car that failed on emissions, despite a thorough italian tuneup, but then passes after a teraclean). All the testimonials aren't particularly convincing, i.e. emissions fails on a barely warmed up engine, that is used as a city run-around, but gets better after a teraclean (no surprise as a teraclean involves running the engine hot for 1 hour). I can't even comprehend how this is supposed to do anything. The big problem with the IS250 is the carbon build-up on the intake valves, and there is no fuel based cleaner that can touch that. If you want to know more about the details of the procedure, here's the patent which gives a detailed description (which in my view is utterly nonsensical). http://www.google.com/patents/US7674341 The problem with the intake carbon build-up is that short of blasting it off with walnut shells, there isn't a lot you can do about it. Even the big fuel additive companies have essentially admitted defeat. http://www.oilem.com/turbo-fuel-stratified-injection-tfsi-direct-port-injection-carbon-build-up-problem/

I usually wash by hand but the wheels have been washed almost every week if the weather is warm enough. I've pressure washed them a few times, but from a bit of a distance - keep the nozzle about 1 foot away from the wheel. The recommendation from the refurbers was not to pressure wash them, but the powder coat is so much tougher than the paint/lacquer that was originally on them, that I can't believe that it would be significantly damaged unless you literally had the pressure wash nozzle literally touching the wheel or were using a hot water pressure wash. The thing that you do need to be careful with is industrial wheel cleaner chemicals - especially ones which use hydrofluoric acid - as that stuff will eat the powdercoat (it's amazing at dissolving brake dust, which is why it's used - but it will also eat pretty much anything else so you can't buy this sort of stuff of the shelf - it's only used at "professional" car washes). The trick with a refurb is that you have to get it done properly - the previous owner had had a cheap refurb done - basically just spray painted over the old peeling and corroded lacquer - so the paint just peeled off after a year or so. If you're getting it done properly, you need to find a place that will chemical strip and bead blast the wheels.

The traction control cannot be turned off. It will be deactivated temporarily by the button but will come back on again if there is no reason for it to be off, or if you drive faster than a snail.

Had mine powder coated in gunmetal grey. They look great. Considering they were outrageously corroded before the refurb, the finish is very good - not perfect, but only noticable from a few inches away. They look absolutely in mint condition after a few months. No evidence of fading, peeling, scratching or corrosion.

The ABS unavailable light is on as well. As ABS and VSC are the same system, the VSC message will usually come up if the ABS light is on. There is clearly a fault with the ABS system on this car. It would need the codes read and interpreted by someone with ABS repair experience.

i cancelled the earlier order and placed an order for these ones you just mentioned now can you clarify exactly where these bulbs fit in the car please? thanks The "T10" style bulbs will fit in (but note normski's post, who has found only the short "5 LED" style ones to fit in some places) Headlight side lights - open the high beam access doors to gain access. (Note, you will need to remove air filter, resonator, intake and washer fluid bottle to gain access) 1 on each side Front cabin dome light (takes 3 bulbs) Mirror puddle lights (takes 1 on each side) Sunvisor vanity light (takes 1 on each side) Bottom of door warning light (1 on each side) See here for video instructions on how these go in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZFtrx2RiaE The festoon bulbs go in the rear cabin dome light. (takes 2 bulbs). Above video shows how they go in. Note that you need 11 T10 bulbs for a full conversion, or 9 for an interior conversion. I find that these super cheap LEDs don't last very long in headlight duty. I've had a pair of http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141041903326 in for about a year - and they are super amazing bright. - Note, because these a big bastards, and the bulb holders don't hold very tight, you may need to use a removable glue to hold them in (hot melt glue gun glue works well).

These are the ones i meant to post in the first place for extra brightness. I think these should fit in the dome and mirrors, but I haven't tried. There should be just about enough clearance. These will fit easily in the side lights. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181145322788 If you're going to be doing the front dome light, then you might want to get these for the rear dome light so that they match. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171386108846 The above bulbs will also fit (with a bit of force) into the boot light. You'll need to bend the holder clips for the bulb with pliers, as these bulbs are 2 mm longer than the OEM bulb, and the design of bulb holder used in the boot means that it won't fit without a bit of frcing. The rear dome light will accept them without any force.

Yup. They can be used in: Side lights x 2 Front dome light x 3 Vanity lights x 2

There aren't any "normal" bulbs that are brighter than stock. The best LEDs to get are the new "5630" type - these are loads brighter than the older chips. I've got 5 LED version installed, and they are noticably brighter than OEM, but not by much. These are the ones I have http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400506199505. These would also be ideal for the front dome light and vanity lights. Edit: Oops. Misread the info. Those are exactly the same as the ones I have - brighter, but not monstrously so.

The auto is very good. Very slick and smooth, and always seems to know which gear you want - Like if you're giving a bit of welly through some country roads; when you let off for the corners, it won't change up on you, like all of the more basic autos I've driven. The paddle shifts don't work how you'd think they should. They don't choose the gear! They're like changing down manually on an auto - so if you select 4 on the paddles, that means "use 1, 2, 3 and 4 as appropriate for engine load, accelerator position and vehicle speed " not "use 4". What it means is that you can't change up with the paddles - the box won't change up until you press up, but it'll wait until it's good and ready. Similarly, you can't over-rev with the paddles - if you try, you'll just get an angry beep from the computer and it will assume that you didn't mean to press it. I don't think the paddles are useful in normal driving, except in mountainous or rural conditions - when you might want to manually select a lower gear for steep climbs where you want to avoid the gearbox constantly hunting for a gear due to changes in gradient, or where you want to pre-select a low gear on a road with limited overtaking opportunity. For example, I rarely use the S mode, but I do if I'm going across the A57 Snake pass.

It's not too difficult to get at the mechanism - it's putting the mirror glass back on that is the hard part. I had to push so hard to get the clips in that I honestly thought I would break the glass. In fact, the service manual specifically says not to push with your fingers, because the uneven pressure might break the glass - you need to push with the ball of your hand to spread the pressure. There are some dowels that are quite a pig to get out if you need to open up the motor mechanism, but it's easy enough to clean and grease the studding on the mirror, as they are exposed. The problem is the sensors are a major problem, and those I've now found out are a sealed unit. I don't know if you can get into it to clean and lubricate it.

The cylinder thing is the oil filter. The water pump is just behind teh pulleys you see.

Even the latest sat nav version is very out of date. Missing roads, roads which haven't existed for 10 years, or are completely impassable, missing POIs, POIs which have been gone for 10 years, roads misnamed; heck, I've even found a misnamed town. The data quality of the lexus maps is terrible compared to the maps from a company like tom tom. I'm guessing that the quality varies from region to region. But I don't know where the data comes from, because most of the big map data vendors usually do take feedback about map errors.

I don't think the Ultra has any real advantage. It is designed for extreme high temperatures, but otherwise it is a regular "class 4" fluid, albeit a premium one. You won't get anywhere near those temperatures in a road car. The ESL is a low viscosity "class 6" fluid. These types of fluids are supposed to be better for ABS systems/VSC systems, especially in cold weather because these type of fluids don't thicken up. My preference would be the ESL - it's a high performance fluid that is likely better than what toyota supply, but is designed for long life and maximum compatibility with brake components, so is unlikely to cause any unforseen corrosion or seal damage problems. In general DOT 4 fluids are higher temperature rated than DOT3 - but they can be thicker than DOT 3, and this could make VSC/ABS less effective. A class 6 DOT 4 is the best of both worlds.

The problem is that brake fluid manufacturers don't tell you about preservatives, and the DOT specifications don't require them. I don't know what year your car is - the master cylinder was updated with improved seals at some point, and there was a campaign to modify existing ones. So, you could just ask lexus whether your car has the updated master cylinder (campaign number; 0516K). The only niggle in my mind is that they found the faulty seal in the master cylinder; what's to say that there isn't another seal, somewhere else, that just hasn't been noticed yet. The Shell ESL fluid is easy to get and cheap, and makes a specific selling point about it's seal conditioners and extreme compatibility with seals and electronics. At least they actually make their own fluid; I'm fairly confident that Pagid don't make fluid/greases,they just buy it in, concentrating on their main business of making the friction materials and discs themselves. The other alternative is to get genuine Toyota fluid - but this is a DOT 3 lower performance fluid, and more expensive than the Shell.

Any DOT 3, DOT 4 or DOT 5.1 fluid is suitable. A low viscosity fluid such as a "super DOT 4" or DOT 5.1 is supposed to allow the VSC system to work slightly better - no idea how true that is. It's worth making sure that you get a fluid with seal polymer preservatives in it. Not all fluids have these. A design fault in the master cylinder used in the IS220d/IS250 means that the master cylinder can fail if you use a preservative free fluid. Note that DOT 3/4/5.1 specifications and SAE J 1703 specifications do NOT require preservatives - so just being a compliant fluid is not guarantee that the fluid is suitable. For example, Shell DOT 4 fluid is available in several versions - only the DOT 4 ESL fluid and DOT 4 Ultra versions have the recommended preservatives.

Nothing to do with the memory function. It's a worn out mirror tilt sensor. Turning off the auto-dip feature (select middle position on mirror select switch), or replace/repair the mirror.

The bulbs are easily available: Search ebay or amazon or google for "D4S bulb" (assuming you want one for a IS250). In general, big name brands like Osram, Philips, Harison (toshiba) are all of good quality and high price - possibly as much as £65 each bulb, for the more expensive Osram/Philips ones. There are lots of cheap bulbs around - I got some for £25 a pair off ebay. They worked fine for about 18 months, when one burned out, but they must have dimmed a lot by the end, as I replaced both with new philips bulbs, and they were tons brighter than the remaining working one. I didn't recall the bulbs to be much dimmer when new.

Well known problem - there was a TSB for this and the mirror was redesigned in 2008. The mirror position sensor wears out, so the computer can't put the mirror back into the correct position after selecting reverse. The lexus fix is to replace the mirror. I reckon it could be done by taking apart the motor unit, cleaning it and using a dedicated potentiometer cleaner to clean the position sensors. I've been meaning to do this to mine, but I just turned off the auto-dip function, and haven't got the time or motivation to try it.

I thought your sat nav was broken, that's why you got the diesel one. I don't quite understand what you have installed now.

They come with a CD. You need to hack the software, but the instructions are on the CD. You can install on a laptop but the laptop must have 32-bit windows installed. Most laptops with windows 7 or 8 came with 64 bit versions, and these are VERY difficult to set up the cable - it can be done, but it's pretty tricky.

I had a look through the factory manual for the ISs. The AC systems are different between diesel and petrol. The diesel doesn't have a smog sensor, auto fresh/recirc mode or electric auxillary heaters to assist cabin and engine warmup in winter. The buttons are part of the nav unit/radio - the nav unit controls the buttons/lights and then sends the appropriate request to the AC system. I could imagine that a diesel nav unit won't know about the smog sensor or auto fresh/recirc modes. No idea about the intrusion sensor. I didn't know you could control it. I didn't get an owners manual with mine, so I've only got a US manual, and it doesn't say anything about being able to control the intrusion sensor.

If it's the ballast, then it can be tricky. The ballast is not replaceable in some models of the headlight cluster. The only option is to replace the cluster, or break-open the sealed cluster, replace the ballast, and then re-seal.

The intrusion sensor is in the dome light. There's a compartment that looks like it might be a sunglasses holder, but isn't. Open it using a prybar on the rear edge (i.e. edge furthest from windscreen), and you'll see a bundle of wires and the intrusion sensor.

The bridgestone potenza that come with the car are the most ridiculously soft compound I've ever come across on a car. Personally, I find that Goodyear eagle F1 asymmetric 2 are substantially better in the wet and MUCH longer lasting.