Linas.P

Quite different - I may not be admitting that I am wrong, they are not admitting their cars have issues, even when they are quite clearly and openly suffering from them (we even have one Mushk preacher on this forum). So being protecting of yourself is not quite as being manipulated into blindly believing and protecting brand for no obvious reason.

Sadly most crank no start issues suggests fuel pump, but it is not the issue I have. I have code B2799 - this is immobiliser issue and it has nothing to do with fuel pump. So far I can't resolve this issue and I can't even clear the code, which is just not how the ECU should behave when it comes to DTCs. I have tried resyncing ECU for another 2 times (~37min and ~45min) and it made no difference, importantly it didn't even clear DTC and I can't clear it. Even assuming it is bad ECU connection to ID box , DTC must clear when ECU is instructed by scanner, if the issue remains then it should reappear, but it should clear at least for some time. In my case it just doesn't clear. I have few remaining options and none of the sound particularly good: I can make random speculative ECU purchase and see if different ECU acts differently ~£35, logic says this would be waste of money as there is no reason why ECU would suddenly stop working. However, DTC not clearing really question if ECU is even good. As well note that it somehow managed to lose it's VIN when I checked it with Techstream and in normal circumstances it should never happen. I can try to replace or at least disconnect O2 sensor which was throwing the fault when car was running (P0031), it shouldn't cause no start, but who knows (if fuel pressure sensor can short the ECU, then maybe O2 sensor could do it as well). I can make speculative replacement of fuel pump (~£350), but I am not fan of the idea because there is nothing to indicate fuel pump issue and all possible tests with exceptions of replacement with "known working" part have shown that fuel pump is good. Finally, I can take car to dealership, where I have confidence they will be able to diagnose it, but in my estimation that will be £1000-£2000 bill and car is simply not worth it.

"Irony - the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect." Is it?

Just shows how taxation impacts personal choice. Car tax is just crazy in Norway and fuel is most expensive in the world, so somehow I am not surprised. Now I am not necessary support when government forces people to choose what to buy and what not to buy, in my opinion that is sign of totalitarism and not of free and working democracy. In democracy servant goverment exists only to do what people tells the to do (never happens in practice), when the government tells people what to do that is no longer a democracy. As for improvement in range for BEVs, I think current "progress" is quite short sighted (even surprisingly to be honest), because the solution so far is to make larger battery. That is no different from having "gas guzzler" 60s amurican truck and "solve" it's range issue by fitting much larger tank. Having more capacity for fuel does not address the issue with efficiency of the vehicle and importantly, considering that up-to 90% of BEVs pollution comes from manufacturing, and majority of manufacturing pollution comes from batteries... this means we just building more and more pollution into vehicles which suppose to help us to reduce it.

Many Tesla owners are quite religious when it comes to the brand so they won't ever admit any issue, even very obvious ones. Perhaps Tesla is not hit at badly as Leaf, but they sill impacted significantly by cold. As other mentioned, if car is garaged then it won't be as bad as if it is left in -30C outside. As for Jag not getting even 50% of claimed range, it is kind of the same thing as most cars not getting advertised MPG. To get anywhere near the claimed range one has to drive BEV like absolute spartan, hence you often will see Tesla on motorway trailing the truck at 55MPH, with AC-off, music-off, lights-off, heater-off and then they have dare to have smug face after suffering for hours driving like in 1920s. Quite obviously, even ICE or PHEV range is affected by winter, but when running on normal fuel it does not matter - 2 min and you have another 300miles. And you can have AC, music and all comforts you want and still travel at 90MPH+ if laws permits. Other thing to consider is what sort of driving people are doing, if they have Tesla with 200+ Miles range and live in the city or in suburbs, which at most going to be 30 Miles of driving, then obviously nobody cares whenever total range in the morning was 200miles or 260miles. Finally, as for increasing LFP capacity - that is unsustainable, it basically means using even more lithium and other rare metal, and polluting methods. It is unsustainable as it is and even if we find way of how to put even more lithium into same space how that going to help when cars with even current battery capacity (and at current low numbers) will consume all the available lithium in 20-25 years.

I think it would be fair enough to ask them to fix it properly, if you asked to fix it and they just popped it in - that would be classified as miss-selling. But as for fixing it, my plan was exactly as Vlad described - use some sort of epoxy and glue in washer or some sheet metal tab to reinforce it and that would do.

How is the hole in the bumper looks like? Maybe it has been damaged so it now forces the corner out when fully tightened? I am not sure about solution, because genuine bumpers don't do this (or non-broken ones). Funny enough, my bumper is similar, but mine is clearly broken - my plan is to glue maybe plastic washer or make up some bracket from sheet metal to strengthen broken tab. here is how the tad should look like vs. how it shouldn't look like:

NX has always been substantially upgraded, small SUVs are now hottest market segment and it is very competitive, so Lexus really puts a lot of effort to make NX competitive. Now sure - it is generally speaking based on RAV4 and if you get the entry level FWD version then I don't think there is much between them, but Takumi or F-Sport+Takumi really comes loaded compared to competition and even other cars in Lexus range. I always used to complain that NX was much better equipped, more modern and even had more option that RC despite costing the same to buy. The truth is that RC was niche product and Lexus didn't care, where they really care for NX buyers. For example same year NX had wireless charger, better sat-nav, optional panoramic glass roof and optional 360 degree camera. Whereas RC had none of this. RC could even fit DCC even as an option (on F-sport) whereas NX could... and even when it came to optional DCC which was only available in "Premier" RC, the NX system was "full speed" (meaning it would work all the way to stand still and would start after stopping by itself) compared to RC which only got older system which would cut-off below ~24MPH. I have not compared new NX in detail, but I am quite confident that sort of thing will continue - Lexus most certainly going to continue to focus on this market segment and "pimp" NX to the limit. The only thing I was disappointed about is that Top of the range NX450h+ cannot be bought with panoramic roof, nor Mark Levinson premium audio, despite it being standard in NX350h on Takumi and available as an option for F-sport. This just doesn't make sense. Finally, RAV4 is outright ugly in my opinion, whereas NX maybe not the prettiest car ever, but still relatively nice for SUV. So yeah - in short I think NX is "best value for money" model in Lexus range and all thing considered substantial enough upgrade over RAV 4. I would not say the same about UX, which I really don't understand and can't see why it exists on top of Toyota CH-R... I still think it looks better both inside and out, but not different substantially enough to justify 2 separate models - just make CH-R not ugly and that would do.

My bet would be on alignment - have you hit any pothole recently (I assume car was not always like that)? If there is significant TOE OUT then it could be the case of car pulling both directions, because it would make whatever tramlining tendencies tyres have far worse. Most tyre however should not tramline provided wheel alignment is right and you not driving in truck tracks, but as others said some tyres are worse then others. As well note that you can't swap directional tyres (if there is arrow showing direction of rotation that means "directional") from one side to another to check.

Overall it is good overview of things to consider, however I would like to point out that JVC, Kenwood, Alpine and other big brands do make Android head units. The problem with them and Lexus IS250 is that Lexus didn't have standard 2din fitment for head unit, well the fitment is 2din, but head unit contains buttons for other functions and it is often more difficult to replace with standard 2din unit from big brands. It is not impossible, but one has to check that all the functions will work after installing one. In simple terms they are generic and only meant to be a head unit and not to house hazard switch of climate control buttons. The biggest benefit of model specific "chinese" head units is that they are made with specific model in mind and maintains all the functions for that model. Now it is true that some of them have better or worse spec. but most important thing is that even the very very worst and most horrible quality units will be at least 10 times better today, than what Lexus fitted to the cars in 2006. And it is not really bashing Lexus - technology simply changed a lot since 2006 and head unit is most noticeable part I guess where some criticism is due is that Lexus continued to fit outdated units all the way until 2013 and even the unit in mk3 IS is still relatively old-school with poorly designed UX. In summary just buying any model specific android head unit always going to be massive improvement in quality of infotainment system, it is almost no brainer.

Before attempting any work I would get codes scanned first. If indeed you get gearbox solenoid related codes, then ATF change would be my next step. I would not attempt it myself, quite complex process and to do properly it requires specialised tools and knowledge. I am sure there are few member with engineering background who can do it easily, but I would take the car to the dealership and not just to any garage either, because they are most likely not to follow the procedure (overfill or underfill and make your problem even worse). As Colin said, simplest option would be to drain say 1L of ATF and replace it with exactly 1L of ATF, this way you don't need to measure ATF temperature (assuming both are at ambient temp) and you should get same amount of ATF in the end. This is what is called "top-up" and that is what Lexus dealers usually do. However, it assumes you have right amount of ATF in the first place (which often is the case, but not always) and may not cure the issue. To get full refill (pan-out, replace the filter and gasket + ~4L ATF), you may need to persuade dealership in doing it, but most of the time they will try to talk you out of it.

Yes I understand that, just explained why there isn't much market for tow bars on IS250 and why dealerships would not have any such things for sale (as the car not suppose to do that). For IS250 there is alternative for roof rack, but I would not advise that either if you at all care about your car condition. Previous owner of my car clearly used roof rack and there are scratches on the edge and dents all over the roof. Obviously, some people don't care about that as the car for them is just appliance which gets replaced when faulty.

Yes it does:

I guess the reason why there are not much options for tow bars, because IS250 is not rated for towing and owner manual suggests it is not recommended, if Lexus would be selling tow bars and then say it is not recommended I think they would risk some liability. That said it is bad idea to tow with IS250, car is just not meant for that and there are many car which can be bought for less and are way better for towing. I would say mostly 3L diesels, because of low end torque which IS250 does not have.

That is true, sadly most people only come to the forum after purchasing their 220d and nobody comes to check about the cars before the purchase. As you said, with exception of extreme high miles (20k+) I can't see how IS220d could make more sense than IS250.

I have pulled all cables from ECU just to check, but not with the intent of clearing the codes. If I understand correctly, then disconnecting the battery only removes "pending" DTCs, but "current" and "historic" DTCs can only be cleared by what Toyota calls "smart tester" (generally any OBD2 scanner works, but note here - OBD reader does not even show B2799, which is odd by itself). As well there are other actions which should clear DTCs as by product, writing VIN is one of them, as well there is diagnostics mode which checks for DTCs more rigorously and activating/deactivating it should clear DTCs, that does not work either. And finally and quite obviously, procedure "G" should clear all the codes. I was almost thinking to stab in the dark and just buy used ECU and see what happens - they are surprisingly cheap on ebay (£29), worst think can happen is that I will have same issue again and will need to run procedure "G" to sync the replaced ECU with ID Box and write VIN. Obviously, this would be entirely experimental thing to do, because if the cause is bad wiring harness, then I will run into the same issues. But then again I can't understand how driving the car through car wash could impact the harness so much, even assuming water ingress, that should have dried out in more that 4 weeks. Today I will go and clean all grounding points I can access in engine bay and then repeat the procedure G again, for 45 min this time. Although I may still need to wait for another day until my battery is fully charged.

Hi Sam, You need to scan the codes, because VSC could be caused my many different things. At least in my experience intermittent VSC is related to gearbox solenoid related faults (assuming you have Automatic), they are most often cured by refreshing/replacing ATF, but nobody would be able to tell for sure without scanning what actual code it gives. Cheap OBD2 readers can be purchased for ~£10-£15 and then you can download the app which will read the codes.

Yes that makes sense, I am still baffled that my ECU had no VIN on it, or how that VIN have deleted itself. These are actual steps from TIS for the same thing as in the video: Note that instructions are asking to clear DTC, but I can't do this, nor I can read VIN. However, write VIN Function worked. I guess my next step would be to find the way to clear DTC and try to run this procedure again. Or perhaps just re-run it and hope that ECU now with correct VIN will work.

Ok, so based on above it seems to indicate that either the reset did not happen, or communication link is broken (which is kind of in line with DTC B2799). The other thing which comes to mind - reading some other threads about it, it seems to indicate that you should have "master key" for that car, which as I have said may not be the case in my car. I just don't know if the key I have is master. This still does not answer what happened and why would ECU lose VIN in the first place?! This fault is just weird.

Yes, sorry - I made sure I did it in right sequence, so it was off and pull the jumper instead. Yeah, I am pretty sure keys don't have VIN on them, so it must be some other place - maybe ID box... would be interesting to know where it is if somebody knows for sure.

According to video it is 30min, but could last a bit longer. I think in my case it was literally like 30min +45s. Yes it is push button start and the key was in the car the whole time. Regarding the battery, that was my concern as on IG on position car consumes 20A+, so my concern was that by the time this thing finishes the battery will be dead and I could not complete the reset before taking it out and charging again (which may invalidate the result), so I fully charged the battery before the start and as soon as 30min timer stopped I have pulled the jumper and switched the car off. But I had same issue upon restart. Battery still had enough juice to crank the car for a while. It would be ideal to keep the battery on the tender, but sadly I have no place to do that. When you say "write VIN" where does the ECU take the VIN from? On my car the win was never present from beginning (not displayed in Techstream), both before and after the reset. And now when I have manually entered it, the car still have same issue, so I wasn't even sure what it suppose to be.

I am still no further with my issue. I still have B2799 and I just realised I need to remove all dash to check the connector to ID Box... certainly not keen on that. So on one hand I am trying to find reasons not to do it, but as well to find something else I can do in mean time. As per maintenance manual I have completed individual active tests to all components (injectors, distributor, fuel pump etc) and all of them work as per test conditions. At this point I am fairly confident there is no problems with any parts, maybe with slight suspicion on fuel pressure senor, but it reports pressure fine, so nothing obvious. I have as well double checked all the fuses in all junction boxes and all of them are good and correct, except one. Somebody put standard 15A fuse in RH JS cigarette lighter slot, where they should have used low profile fuse - point is fuses are mostly untouched and all present and good. Today I have noticed two things which I thought were weird: Maintenance manual suggests to clear DTC B2799 before trying again and checking whenever it appears again, before checking the harness, replacing ID Box, Certification ECU or (Engine) ECU. The problem I have is that I can't clear it, no matter what I do DTC stays and as per my understanding that not suppose to be the case. I have even reset ECU (with 30 min jumper trick) and the DTC is still there. Besides as I have mentioned before it does not show on generic OBD2, only on Techstream, which is again bizarre - if there is DTC why wouldn't OBD2 report it?! One of the first things I have noticed in Techstream was that my ECU does no report any VIN. I am not sure how it should be on Techstream but I was under impression that it should be able to read VIN from ECU. I have tried scanning in separately via specific option within Techstream and it reported that "either VIN is not available or connection to ECU was lost". Can anyone confirm if VIN is by default available on IS250? I have then manually entered VIN via separate function which allows to write VIN to ECU (which by the way stated that all DTC will be lost in progress) and it successfully completed this function, and now VIN is available in Techstream... however dreaded B2799 is still present. In short, it isn't right that DTC does not clear at all and I don't know what to do about it. I am not sure if VIN read is at all relevant to this issue, but if ECU did not have VIN registered then I guess that can't be good. To add to this - I don't think anyone messed with ECU, it seems like it as untouched or at least not touched recently - all bolts holding the cover were very rusty and dirty looking, like it was never opened from new. As well, I am just confused how could any of the parts (harness, or any of ECUs) suddenly malfunction overnight without anyone touching them.

Just be clear - good HP summer tyres does this because they generally have "aggressive" patterns (i.e. deep grooves to prevent aquaplaning) and too much mechanical grip so that they can't just drag across surface and instead when cold and hard they start skipping on the surface. The only reason why budget tyres don't cause crabbing is that they simply don't have enough grip to fight each other at extreme steering angles and basically they are being noticeably inferior. So basically you have downgraded the tyres from excellent to tyres which may save your life, to budgets which are unpredictable and could suddenly loose grip unexpectedly at any moment and at any speed, just because of non-issue which only ever happens on few cold days in winter?! 🤯

Yes the studs on IS250 are very strong, they are commonly used on all Toyotas from Landcruisers to 1000HP Supras (not BMW Zupra - those have bolts as most BMWs). Don't quote me on this, but when I was looking for "upgrade" I have read that only 2 studs are enough to keep the wheel on, and the rest is just contingency. So it is indeed safe to drive on 4 studs, but I know the feeling - despite logic and specs indicating that even 2 studs should be enough to hold the wheel in place it still feels like the wheel will fly off at any moment. And other thing - there are no upgrade for these studs, these are highest grade studs for their size.

VSC coming on when driving in my experience is usually gearbox related (solenoids problems, shifting-up or kicking down) and they are as well intermittent at first, so simply stopping and starting again seems to solve them for the time being. The DTC logic is as follows - at first it is "pending" DTC and shown only until engine is off, if you start the engine and stop it without it being reported again, then it disappears. So it is possible to have one DTC for solenoid shifting into 6th appear when driving, then you stop, start and it is gone. The fault only records itself permanently if it is triggered 3 consecutive time in a row. I would still check what it was, because maybe it is time for ATF "top-up" or refill. As for codes popping up right after the start, they need to be scanned and then you can see what it was and why. Failing battery/alternator could throw random codes after cold start, as well it could be just that car was not driven for a while and battery was on low side. But you won't know without scanning. That said you kind of lucky compared to me, because mine does not start and gives no codes (well except for immobiliser one which I am not sure what to do about), so if car starts and gives some codes that is comparatively lucky indeed.