Linas.P

recently I seen quite a few offers for Castrol Edge, haven't tried myself but at least "on paper" it looks good deal (4L-5L for ~£25-£32): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CASTROL-EDGE-5W-30-4L-LL03-Engine-Oil-WAREHOUSE-CLEARANCE-VW504-50700-15668E/154039296453?_trkparms=aid%3D1110012%26algo%3DSPLICE.SOIPOST%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200420083544%26meid%3D9aae7d07a75648c8be1893c5cde0fc62%26pid%3D100008%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D162803236913%26itm%3D154039296453%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DPromotedSellersOtherItemsV2WithMLRv3%26brand%3DCastrol&_trksid=p2047675.c100008.m2219 0w40 and 0W30 are also available if you look around. And if you check the seller it seems like genuine WV parts outlet, so not completely dodgy.

I don't mind it either as proper "utilitarian" vehicle, in theory that is what U stands for in SUV. G-Wagen has good off-road capabilities, especially combined with good all-terrain tires, low range diff and large low-revving diesel engine. If I would have escape estate somewhere in woodlands and marshes that would be my to go vehicle for trip there. But what I find hilarious, if not a little bit stupids is "guchyied-out" G-Wagen, with track tyres and high revving petrol engines driving around towns or on motorways - the thing handles like a literal brick on it's ladder chassis, the wobble in the corners can make anyone sick, the fuel consumption is horrendous and the wind noise is hard to live with at any speed over 30 MPH. G-Wagen is basically a fashion accessory and very stupid one at that. Maybe one day we will have fashion to wear these to "black-tie dinner": ....and they will be exactly as fitting for purpose and as silly as G-Wagen G63 AMG as family vehicle to go around the town.

Seems like up-sold you for what they wanted to sell. But Vatra is not bad battery, just don't feel it is worth £50 extra over Bosch, hardly even the same price. The failures on Bosch batteries are not common either + they have 4 years warranty, so should be solved by that (in my case I just didn't have receipt). What is important to note: acid batteries are fundamentally outdated technology, they should not be "cycled" and should never run flat, even getting acid battery discharged once can damage it, keeping it dead for a while will almost definitely damage it. So can Bosch S4 die because it got flat and was left flat for a week - absolutely... any acid battery will do the same and this is not specifically issue with Bosch, it is an issue with the battery technology itself. Anyway, I am sure what matters is that car is alive now!

I think in current circumstances this will be common issue 😁 The best solution is as always preventative, if you not driving the car often - unlock the car, lock all the doors except of drivers, remove the battery, then lock the driver door with key. Store battery in warm dry place. Otherwise - be prepared to listen for alarm for 5 minutes and ideally don't do it late at night as neighbours won't appreciate it.

I would probably approach the exhaust "specialists" themselves first and give them chance to fix issue. Trading standards would be last resort measure.

The above is incorrect. First of all there were no RC200t Luxury (at least in UK) - only F-Sport and Premier, both are mechanically identical. RC300h has smaller brakes, RC200t and IS350 shares bigger brakes (sadly not the engine). That said you are correct - it seems that sellers in UK are trying to sell you RC300h discs. The part number for correct disc seems to be 43516-30061 for left and 43512-30371 for right disc. This part is shared with GS450h, so perhaps looking for GS450h discs will be easier as it is more common car than RC200t... Although, be careful because I am still getting 296mm results when looking for GS discs https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/parts/lexus-gs/lexus-gs-phase-iv-2012-2018/lexus-gs-4-brakes-transmission/lexus-gs-phase-4-fsport-front-brake-discs/

I always assumed that entire window is heated and antenna is the shark fin. Really not sure why it would be anything else than that.

I am sure one of these options should work: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Android-Stereo-Navigation-10-1Inch-Mirror/dp/B07TJ94BF4/ref=pd_di_sccai_6?pd_rd_w=Vha03&pf_rd_p=f45e6bfc-40b0-4749-aceb-1ea1cd205758&pf_rd_r=K7ES5KFPEDWTAK6V2PQJ&pd_rd_r=8c89dc3a-9b16-4251-ab48-f8b9f4628d13&pd_rd_wg=yN3e8&pd_rd_i=B07TJ94BF4&psc=1 They certainly made versions for both ML/non-ML and no SatNav at all. I think the difference is the loom itself, so these should be adaptors which should allow fitting this to each version of the car. Obviously, best way to know is to reach out to seller and see.

What GS we are talking about here? mk2 GS300? Straight-six 2JZ? That will sound glorious with almost any system, including cheap straight pipe. Or is it mk3 GS300 with v6 3GR? Not sure how it sounds, but again it seems that comparison is not like for like. Specifically on IS250 many owners have regretted fitting SS, because SS as material just naturally drones more. This is certainly not the first time this being discussed. Next issue which is often overlooked is that SS pipes tends to have larger ID and thinner walls for same OD pipe. Below just illustration only, but I guess you get what I am trying to say - it is clear which one will drone more: Besides most exhaust places seems to work on assumption that "larger is better" and mostly stock 2in+ pipes... Sure that is good for 1000hp Turbo Supra, but massive overkill for NA IS250... if it adds anything then it is just heaps of drone. I absolutely agree with you that exhaust "specialists" completely ignored what OP asked for, hence I suggested they should remedial work for free. If they would have listened MS would have been better choice. I am not expert, but it seems it is much harder to do quiet SS system - probably possible, but you need somebody to know what they doing (clearly not these guys). I assume they kept original layout and fitted large resonator before Y. Yet even that won't be enough - as most drone in interior will be coming from long straight pipes in mid section, hence suggestion to fit additional resonators to remove drone exactly there. I must admit this is little bit stabbing in the dark (as most aftermarket exhaust sound tuning), but the only other alternative is to rip everything out and replace it. As well it doesn't really matter what rear silencers looks like, silencers literally just does that - silences the exhaust (well unless they are something like "cherry bombs" specifically designed to amplify the sound). Silencers are quite simple - the bigger and more restrictive will be quieter, the smaller and less restrictive will be louder. Resonators on the other hands are very complex - they need to create frequency which is exactly opposite to the drone. This is why aftermarket systems are not such a good idea - they do tend to sound louder, but they tends to drone. This is indicative of resonator not being well suited for the system. And what it takes to make resonator "suited" - well that is job of specialised labs and years of development to make sure resonator removes drone at every possible RPM and engine load (literally millions are spent for each OE system to achieve exactly that). Not something you will find in local exhaust shop for sure. Regarding loss of power - my assumption lack of back-pressure (bigger ID pipes, less restrictive system overall) results in less low end torque. Car probably makes more top end horsepower, but it will have less low end torque. IS250 is already not great with low end torque (below 3500RPM) and this is just made it worse - as result it will feel down on "power". This is again very typical for aftermarket systems (even good ones) - they will always claims whatever "+20HP + 5NM", but what they fails to say this is "top end" and it is at the expense of low end numbers.

Yeah... that is what I mean by saying " no reasonable means" - £600+ (including shipping and customs) for what will be very compromised experience on original mk2 system. In such case I would rather fit something like that https://www.amazon.co.uk/Android-Player-Multimedia-Bluetooth-Navigaton/dp/B07G5XGB2S Obviously, it has no apple carplay and probably not even android auto, but it has built in android systems which would provide about the same experience as you would get from them. Adding grom to original system in my opinion would be waste of money.

Yes sadly that is in line of what you can expect - in IS250 SS exhaust will cause droning on motorway. So really the only option is to either have it made in Aluminised steel (like OE) or go all out with bangs and whistles and have aggressively sounding SS system. If you want quiet car sadly mild steel is the only way. Now in your position it is kind of too late... unless you wanted to replace all system again. To begin with I would argue exhaust specialist should do remedial work for free - if you asked them for system "like stock" they should have told you to go mild steel and not SS. Secondly, if you feel car is down on power then they messed something up - it should not be down on power if they kept dimensions and layout. Have they used bigger diameter pipes (bigger pipes would result in lower low end torque)? Finally, the only advise I could give - they can try to play around with different or more resonators. I assume they kept everything like stock layout (big resonator before the Y). If so maybe adding small high-flow resonators on the straight mid section could reduce the noise and add little bit of the lost back-pressure back. Either way I would insist they do this for free and the only thing they can expect you to pay for are the actual parts e.g. 2x resonators (like £80). The work cost is on them as they certainly mislead you here.

In IS mk2, you cant have it... well via any reasonable means. You can obviously get 2-DIN full replacement system which supports it, but Lexus does not exactly have standard DIN fitment. I do not actually use apple carplay, as I am more of android guy (android auto). But for cars which supports it it is great - you get google maps navigation (yes even apple uses it) and full phone integration - basically your car infotainment screen becomes sort of phone screen, just with focus on features which are more important in car. Different style menu which is easier to read whilst driving etc. But either way this tech is not really for mk2 and even on mk 3 is very difficult to get it working.

Except mk2 is ground-up dedicated Lexus model and does not share platform with Toyota. It does share some parts with larger Toyotas like Avensis/Avalon, but it is "true" Lexus. If you compare them side by side e.g. top of the range Avensis and Lexus IS250... there is no comparison. Lexus materials, build quality, equipment level is on completely different level. IS is ground-up RWD performance car, Toyota Avensis is ground-up FWD economy car. So no - IS mk is not an "overpriced" Toyota Avenis (not corolla for sure) - it is dedicated Luxury car, built on it's own platform. It is sad they found reason to fit it with engine which was not good even for Toyota... yet they found no reason to bring IS350 here. Real shame that is.

Yes it seems we knocking off some rough edges. I think HJ had in mind straight six from mk1 IS300, that is certainly on of the most reliable engines. IS250 has v6 which is still good, but it has some shortcomings - like no port injection meaning there are issues with carbon build-up on intake valves in particular. But this issue is far overblown by US experience due to trash petrol they use there and far less of an issue in UK. Obviously, ideal solution would be to have port-injection like on IS350 (2GR-FSE). Clearly... So we kind of agree on this one, how comes you just said IS220d is "probably even better"? Regarding the speed it is just simply not true, you really trying to tell me that 177BHP car is "just as fast" as 208BHP car?! No it is not... IS250 does easy ~7.5s 0-60, IS220d does not even break 8s, even chipped ones. Equally, 215WHP is not realistic on IS220d - yes TD are highly unable but your claim of say 260BHP is just outside of reality. I would say ~10% more power would be good yardstick - so 190-200BHP whilst still improving economy and reducing smoking is achievable... but it has to be solid engine to begin with, everything in order etc. Certainly not the case for majority of used IS220ds. 215WHP/260BHP - get out of here man! Equally you overstate fuel consumption on IS250 by a lot! I used to live in metric country as well and I had 2 IS250s before I came to UK. One was brand new 2012 F-Sport and second one was ~40k miles US import IS250 AWD and have never seen 14l/100km... never! If you really launching at every traffic light.. 12l/100km is as high as it gets and even that was AWD model which I really didn't like, it was just sluggish and fuel consumption was much worse than RWD. In UK I have never seen fuel consumption below 22MPG... this is absolute minimum! I guess you can get below that if you deliberately trying, but not in normal circumstances. Although, I never looked at "current" fuel consumption as it is just not reliable - so my all claims are for brim to brim, full tank. If engine burns 1l per 1000km then it is only good for scrapping... this is not normal and definitely not the case with most IS250. This is territory of Mazda rotary engines. if you say 1l per 10k.. then I would believe it. Again I owned 3 different IS250.. one started with 68km on the clock and I sold it at around 23k km. Second one 43k miles - 92k km and last one was UK car - bought at 122k miles sold at 192k miles. It was burning some oil, but it was ~0.6l/10k miles... what you saying is that apparently I should have been driving with bottle of oil in the boot and adding 0.5l every other time I filled the tank! Certainly not the case. In UK nowadays is hard to find IS250 below 60k miles (because that would be extremely low mileage for 15 years car), so with your claim of 100k+ km this means almost all IS250s in UK should be burning oil... again not the case.

I am just teasing you, but fact is that even worst HIDs are better than best halogens... I am still surprised that OSRAM didn't improve the matter as they are usually considered a panacea for cars with halogen. Do you know what bulbs were fitted to the car?

These topics always have tendency to blow into massive mess... there will be as many opinions at as blown-up IS220d engines 😁 But heck why not throw my own in the mix and see how it works-out! To start with... I did like ~12 oil changes in the time I owned IS250. 6 were Catrol Magnatec 5W30 A5/A1 (C2/C3 are for diesel, although truth to be told I doubt there is much difference). 5 Changes were "Lexus" 5W30 (whatever they use in dealership), sometimes they said on invoice it is EDGE, sometimes just Castrol, sometimes "Lexus essential service oil kit". And once Mobil 1 ESP 0W40. I was not impressed Castrol Magnatec, but in my opinion that was already overkill for the car and you can get it relatively cheap with 50% discount (just check the dates). Car did burn some oil, but it was not excessive - ~0.6l 10k miles. About where one would expect 120k+ engine to be. One issue with Magnatec is that oil is kind of "dark" - it has metal polymers which suppose to protect engines better and perhaps that is what gives it the dark almost metallic tint. Further - after 6k miles it would usually be completely black, as well I would get sticking valve lifters issue around the same time indicating oil changes is needed. At least, Magnatec was better than "Lexus oil", which would have same issue just in 4-5k miles. Few times I wasn't even convinced they did oil change, but it being dealership I highly doubt they would skimp on oil. But often after few hundred miles the oil would look just as dark as at the end of 6-7k miles. I was told that in dealerships they perhaps use oil extractor instead of draining oil at the bottom, which leaves more residue of old oil and basically does not drain the dirt from oil pan as well. This is just a guess, but it could explain why the oil was so dark so quickly and needed replacement sooner. The only oil which was noticeably better was the Mobil 1 ESP 0W40, I put it for certain occasion - I was doing Euro-trip in winter, so I knew that I will be both doing extended top-speed runs on autobahn, yet at the same time I will have to start car in arctic conditions in the morning (both of which happened). As such I wanted more protection on both cold starts and for oil not to become too thin at long high-speed driving. 0W40 seemed like perfect solution to extend effective range and Mobil ESP was on sale.. I think I picked it up for 6L £36. This was the only time I really felt like oil is substantially better - it stayed clean, it did not burn at all and I ended-up replacing it after 9k instead of 6k. Although, I covered 5k in 2 weeks - so I guess it worked out roughly the same in terms of service intervals. Oil was still relatively clean when I was replacing it... if anything brand new Magnatec looked darker than old Mobil ESP. Mechanic asked me why I am replacing perfectly fine oil and was surprised when I said oil covered ~9k. Only one other thing to note - Engine Flush made a huge difference for me when it comes to oil staying cleaner and valve lifters not sticking.

Am I sensing that non-SEL version come back to bite you after all?!😁 I never considered IS250 to have the brightest lights, but standard HIDs in SEL are reasonably good. I still replaced them with OSRAM Night-breakers, but it was more for colour change and one of bulbs was getting pink tint (on HIDs that means "dying"). The halogens on IS250 was always known to be a bit inadequate, and people were fitting OSRAM bulbs as upgrades, this is where my knowledge ends... maybe there are few patterns of OSRAM bulbs depending on the lens/reflector set-up?

This is one of the most ridiculous statements on this forum for a while: I am sorry to inform you that literally nobody going to agree with you on this. IS250 is not the most reliable car ever made, but it is not even in the same universe as IS220d. IS250 is probably somewhere towards the top of most reliable cars of all time, not top 10, but probably somewhere in top 50. IS220d is exactly opposite... not the most unreliable car ever made, but for modern car it is very close to it. And as a matter of fact IS250 is faster than IS220d as well, so you just wrong and that is not a matter of opinion either. Now I probably should end here, as your statements clearly shows that it would be hard to reason with you, but I have silly habit to always answer in full... so here we go: 1. IS mk1 was overall successful model, reliable and competitive for it's time. How it is worse than IS220d? Yes mk2 is 8 years never, so it will be more modern, but apart of that I am really struggling to understand what definition of "worse" you are using? 2. Head gasket issue was accepted by Lexus as design flaw and they extended the warranty for it, but it wasn't unconditional 180k km. To start with you must have FLSH and extended warranty for it to be replaced for up-to 160k miles. Otherwise, they have extended it to 100k/10years instead of standard 60k/5year. 3. All issues you mentioned with 4GR-FSE are exceptions, or non-existent until you get to very high mileage... and I am talking 100k/200k miles, in some cases 300k miles and more. So they are not design flaws like in case of IS220d, they simply indicate that we live in reality and in mechanical system there is such thing as wear and tear, some parts will last longer than others and things you mentioned are probably the areas where issues will start showing up first: VVTI cam gear fail 200k miles+ (it is TSB in US, but not here), not seen any IS250 in UK failing prematurely because of this issue. The issue itself is actually mostly about engine getting noisy, but otherwise no a serious issue. Carbon build-up is an issue with all DI, but that does not destroy the engine and again it only becomes meaningful at very high mileage and more relevant in US Burning oil like "crazy" and stuck piston rings - this is not backed up by anything, there may be engines with poor maintenance which are worn out on any make or model, but that is not generally common issue with these engines. I am yet to see a person who had to rebuild 4GR-FSE under 300k miles. Fuel pumps do fail on all cars regardless of the make, we need to realise that IS250 is getting to 15 years now and fuel pump failure is realistic age related issue. Is it common issue? No it isn't, but it does happen and yes they are pricey. Auto boxes failing, you mean AISIN A960E? No they are not, they are as reliable as any autobox... Yes Lexus "lifetime" fluid is only good for ~100k miles, but that is not a "weak point" regardless how you look at it. Except of what can be considered basic maintenance there are no other issues with this box. Overall, up to 120k miles 4GR-FSE +A960E can go without any maintenance except of oils, filters, fluids and other things included in standard maintenance schedule e.g. water pump, spark plugs and similar. It is truly reliable combo and it is known to easily run 200-300k miles if maintained properly. That is about 10 times more that IS220d is known to last without issues... there were blow head-gaskets reported at a little as 12k miles. And you trying to compare them?! Obviously, now it would be time to do reverse comparison to IS220d, but it is pointless - we all know for every weakness IS250 has, there will be 5 issues with IS220d and they will be serious issues making car completely undrivable, not just noisy cam gears. Besides, just looking to manual box you have issues related to that alone - DMF issues, clutch related issue, gerbox oil changes every 40k miles. All expensive jobs which completely do not exist on Auto model. 4. Fuel consumption again is great for 2.5L petrol V6 automatic. It is not exceptional, but that is as much as you can expect from the combo. On motorway you can easily reach 40MPG and in the city on would be able to achieve ~26-28MPG. Yes indeed in IS220d you can get probably around 50MPG on motorway, but there isn't much difference in the city, maybe 30-32MPG on good day. If I am not mistaken then 4MPG difference is not "double". At this point I have a question - have you even driven IS250? I am not expecting you own one, but at least driven? 5. What I said about remap, was that if you map it to what you claim (215hp) it won't last long, so my assumption is either that you are exaggerating the power or reliability. And even then 7hp not going to make IS220d exactly fast car, just barely keep-up with IS250 at best. Apart of that I am not against remapping - they usually can reduce consumption and increase power a little bit, if we talking about the engine which is solid to start with (at this point 1.9TDI comes to mind). 6. Regarding EGR, as I said you just assuming that everyone will be wrenching on their own tractors - I agree it is 30min job if you do it yourself. However, DYI is out of question when it comes to comparison - take it to service and you will pay a lot of money for it to be done and that adds to maintenance costs. As well it only lasts 12k miles if you are on motorway as I said before. If you driving it in the city, then expect it to be dirty in half time. It is clear that you coming from some sort of diesel forum where everyone are looking for reasons to justify and exaggerate their chip-tuning prowess, but we don't need this heresy here. Even Lexus learned that their diesels sucks and dropped it from their cars forever, so it is about the time to accept it for everyone else.

Not only that, but as well it actually requires oil change (40k), clutches and dual-mass freewheels are expensive and the greabox rations themselves are kind of weird, not really suited for the engine and for driving in general in UK. Auto gearbox, is simply bullet proof, well suited for engine and more fuel efficient as well. You may eventually need to change the fluid (which is ~£250-400 job), but that is not until at least 100k miles. I don't think it would have made IS220d much better, but I am still confused why Lexus never offered automatic on it.

Nice to see reasonable comment from you Bill, cannot disagree with anything above. The only thing I wanted to point out - after spending £3k for repairs which I think is fair assumption on used IS220/200d and spending money on "maintenance" of EGR and DPF what is the saving? In comparison one can get 120k miles IS250 very cheaply and drive it another 60k miles with next to no investment, apart of usual consumables oil, filters, tyres, brakepads and so on. And then you as well getting AT box which itself is much more reliable and maintenance free compared to manual. So as I said again - it seems that one needs to have exceptionally good case to justify owning IS220d instead of IS250. And that is before even mentioning that IS250 is LEZ and ULEZ compliant whereas IS220d is not, and with LEZ zones increasingly popping-up around the country that may be reasonable concern as well.

I am not hater, but objectively diesel is not great fuel for application such as private vehicles (especially in the city). I still think that diesel is best fuel for long range driving, but it needs very specific conditions i.e. long continuous journeys at consistent speeds. That is why it is great fuel for trucks and long distance freight in general. However, the reality majority of population are clueless and ignorant, they choose diesel because of headline MPG figures which are neither achievable nor matter. People do not consider the use of the car and these cars ends up doing 5 mile shopping trips which literally kills the engine withing 20k miles - DPF, EGR, turbo... and these are just diesel cars in general. Lexus IS220d/200d is by far the worst car Lexus ever made - there is no discussion about it, so don't think this something we can argue about, it is a fact. On top of normal diesel issues in Lexus you get head-gasket issues and injector issues as well. Comparing it with IS250 is pointless and stupid, IS250 is bulletproof car without any reliability issues and on top of that requires almost no maintenanc (where it does e.g. brake calipers - that as well applies to IS220d) And the maintenance aspect is important - yes you can run IS220d by cleaning EGR every 6k miles, probably cutting out DPF (which is illegal and I think should be criminal offence), upgrading head-gasket etc. Yes all cool if you can do it yourself, but average owner can't. This means either car is going to grenade itself or you will have to have it in service twice a year for £500 EGR clean and DPF regen at least. When you add this £1000 of extra maintenance on top of you fuel costs, the IS250 turns out to be cheaper to run... and on top of that it sounds better, runs 10 times smoother and is more responsive. There are exceptions where IS220d/200d could be better if sound, smoothness and response is not important for you, but they are rare and far between. So in short, if you really can justify diesel (i.e. you doing 30k+ miles a year exclusively on motorway) then just simply get any other diesel car, almost anything will be better than Lexus in this case. Surely, I don't know all diesel cars and there may be other risky options, but common options from BMW, Audi and MB are far far better. So in the ends I am not diesel hater, but you are certainly delusional diesel apologist. I would not be surprised if you stand to gain something from it (maybe next thing you should offer is chip-tunning), otherwise I don't see reason why you would be so hellbent to prove that worst Lexus ever made is good choice for somebody.

Let me just summarise it in very short sentence - just don't. If you want reasoning just read few pages on this forum and you will see why. Simply said - IS220/200d is worst car Lexus ever made, so if you fond of the brand it is bad place to start. Lexus stands for reliability and that is main strength of the cars - diesels are just not reliable in general and in form of IS220d is terrible. I used to participate a lot in discussion about IS220d issues, but nowadays I just ignore the threads - if you see thread about any Lexus fault it will be 90% related to IS220d and just from the title I know it is engine issues and uneconomical repair. Further, when it comes to fuel consumption IS250 is not that much more expensive to run than IS220d... Unless your you spend 99% of time on motorway and doing 100miles+/day. In such case yes - the saving on fuel will cover additional maintenance expenses. If you do 10k miles a year petrol car will be cheaper to run, yes you will spend little bit more on fuel, but you will save thousands on maintenance. Obviously, if you definitely need diesel for whatever reason - just look for another brand. Well, that is unless you want to have list of never ending issues to deal with, none of which are very straightforward to identify or cheap to fix. In the end of the day it is your money - you will have to decide where and how to spend it, but you been warned 🙂

what is worse that they don't even take cash now... even if you have it. so recently I had several transactions on my credit card for 76p 😁

...and based on the customs here I have to call you a **** and opinionated I guess?! 😁 Nah... you will need to try harder. Some people just likes to take offence, that is all... I don't... I would really need to go out of your way to offend me.

or even V8 engine under the bonnet whilst paying £20 tax @BalKang34 - you sure it was quad and not twin? Because IS200t have quite exaggerated exhaust. But obviously it would have been 2013-2016 car, not 2018 then: