Linas.P

can't edit... Sorry to disappoint - buy even I am not that much Lexus fan to have everything Lexus branded 😄

Not as well what is said above - ballast is high-voltage circuit which can kill, so only work on it if you know what you doing. Ballast is not part of the headlight housing (so no need to replace whole unit), it is kind of a box attached to the bottom of the headlight and connects. Have you checked the fuses? Right and Left hand lights have separate circuits.

When I was in China I have almost any imaginable object branded with Lexus logo, glasses, pens, shoes, phone chargers... you name. Somebody offering it in parking lot is more likely to have cheap trash from China, not even real Lexus branded watch. I see it this way - Lexus isn't watch maker, so even legitimate Lexus watches going to be just marketing gimmicks, they are like business cards for dealers nothing more. If you want watch then look for companies that makes watches, if you want power bank again there are companies whose primary business is to make power banks. Lexus primary business is to make cars, so that what they do... all other products which they offer are inevitably just marketing gimmicks - if you get it gifted to you for free when buying car or service plan then great, but paying any money is always going to be bad deal.

One - you are right, you don't need to worry about IS250 being stolen, they simply not sort of the car that interest thieves. They generally go after new and expensive SUVs, something at least £30k+, second category are performance cars - basically they buy wreck and registration on things like M3s, M4s, maybe RC-Fs and similar and steal identical car and then clone it. IS250 is just not desirable car and by the way thieves rarely steal random cars, they usually have list of cars on order. Note as well - the s.c.um. that actually comes to steal the car usually get paid just few hundred for it, so for you the car may be worth £6000, but for them them job is worth maybe £300 each. They just not going to risk stealing the car which nobody asked to be stolen and then trying to flip it somehow and obviously the longer they take to the higher is the risk to get caught. As to how it works - your can simply has antenna which scans the surroundings for your key signal and once key is close enough to the car (I believe 80cm from the door) it allows the car to be unlocked by keyless button on the door. Same for starting, if it detects the key inside it allows car to start. So yes - if you have your key in faraday cage or if keyless is disabled, then there is nothing to be amplified and they can't steal the car. The way thieves work - they have antenna which amplifies key signal fooling car into thinking that key is close/inside of the car. The car start and they drive off. Eventually car realises key is not inside, but generally there is no engine cut... and if car does not have start stop, then they can drive as long as the engine is running and it has fuel.

Assuming suspension is in good shape and there are no mechanical issues with the car... IS mk2 is kind of known to crash over certain types of road imperfections. I found it particularly hates lines going perpendicular to road, like joins on the bride-spans and similar - anything that hits wheels on both sides at the same. So obviously speedbumps are not your friend either. For this reason I sometimes choose to go over speedbumps at angle if possible. This is just compromise on conventional suspension with anti-roll bar. The next big thing on the list will be wheels and tyres, especially tyres and finally tyre pressures. I preferred stiffer car and therefore I was running it at slightly higher pressure and made a switch to 18" wheels. The difference isn't big but it is noticeable. So if you prefer comfort over control and response then consider getting 17" wheels and softer tyres. Apart of that car is generally absorbs bumps very well for what it is. Basically entry-level exec... I think it would be on par with MB C-Class in terms of comfort and is certainly better than BMW 3-Series and Audi A4. Any cars that are more comfortable are either newer model or class above (like GS or MB E-Class). I would say Lexus IS was class leading from comfort, so ride in IS250 isn't bumpy for it's class, quite opposite actually.

I have opinion of truck overtaking as well, but to be fair this is completely different topic which deserves it's own thread. The only other thing I wanted to say - the unconscious zombies on motorways are obviously "mildly" annoying, but they are outright dangerous on country lanes when road opens-up for limited opportunity to overtake and the xxxxxbag you overtaking starts accelerating as well. I know it is already illegal to accelerate whilst being overtaken (that applies to all roads), but when it is done on single lane road I think it should be prosecuted same as attempted murder.

That annoys me as well, both when driving and as a passenger. I have noticed this happening and I think it is unconscious reflex for some drivers. I personally don't have such issue as I generally focused when driving, I may be speeding sometimes, but I always look where I am going and at what speed. As such I never increase or reduce the speed unconsciously and I consider this to be "careless driving". If car changes the speed without cautious driver input (unless it is some sort of autonomy), then the driver is not in control of vehicle. The solution to this issue is very simple - use cruise control... and I have actually commented on this when my friends are driving and not using cruise control on motorway... it just pisses me off so much when speed varies for no reason other than them not paying attention or simply not being consistent with accelerator. I got few excuses over the years, some say they "don't feel in control" of the car when using cruise control, or that it "makes them drowsy", but I always had arguments about it and I consider this inexcusable. I am not saying people must use cruise control, but I personally believe that if driver can't drive at consistent speed or even worse - varies the speed unconsciously, then they should not be on the road.

I think in case of Exedy kit OP is referring to - it is made for IS250, so it is balanced right etc. Solid flywheel is cheaper, more robust, but probably will result in less smooth gear changes. As well, it is likely that only clutch needs changing, but considering overall effort required to replace the clutch it just makes sense to deal with flywheel as well at the same time.

Yes, this is one of the pitfalls of having manual IS250 - clutch work is expensive and works out around £800-£1200, same goes for OE Lexus/Toyota parts. So I think what you are finding is in ballpark of what it costs.

I think that damage from E10 is way exaggerated. I used to run E85 without any issues. The only issue I see is that E10 is objectively inferior fuel compared to 100% petrol or E5, yet it costs the same or even more than 95 Octane E5 it replaced. Simply said it is scam - you get less fuel, thus worse MPG and still pay the same or more.

I used run 225/245 on mk3 F-sport wheels... it definitely improves handling as 255 is silly for car like IS250, especially considering that fronts are 225 and just induces "fake-safe" understeer balance. If anything I would go even further for 225/235 or 235/245 to bring that balance back to more neutral. In short - it makes car handle better and more like RWD should, but probably still too much grip in rear, too little in the front.

Yeah I was about to ask what you planning to adjust in the rear - you can't adjust much. So usually what wheel alignment shops do - they adjust front, let the rear set-in, checks again and adjust front again... It is little bit tricky as basically they have to adjust front half-way to as get rear somewhat close, but decent alignment shop will do it if you get 4 weeks alignment ordered.

That is just poor excuse, next time try that with brake pads and tyres - "oohhhh I could not afford tyres, so I am just running on cords". If you could not afford to maintain car to the standard where it is road legal, then you should not own it. Same as you should not drive the car if you can't afford insurance, or MOT, or Road Tax.... or fuel. What you saying basically "I don't have money, so what I suppose to do... I am just going to to petrol station, fill-up the tank and drive-off". As well the inspection depends from country to country, some are lax, some are strict, but based on new rules if they suspect DPF is missing they simply refuse the MOT... Don't think MOT testers are that stupid, simply banking on DPF with some small metal object will render very different results. Sure you can replace DPF with just resonator and nobody will be able to tell, but that is like saying -"I am not murdered I made sure to hide the bodies well".

Not "safely", but illegally and immorally. Guy boasts of killing everyone around him by dumping untreated cancer from his tail-pipe and then calls other "haters". Yes - people should hate polluters who deliberately remove parts of the car that are designed to protect everyone's health. To put it simply - he is criminal. What he did is in no way different from changing your engine oil and just dumping old oil into the lake or the river, or throwing old tyres on the side of the road or in the forest. I am sure Ireland has similar laws to UK in this regard (it was mostly EU regulation) and what he did is literally illegal and would attract steep fines.

I am really just speculating here so don't read much into it, but I suspect this going to be issue with some sensors. Maybe lazy MAF or lazy O2/Lambda, or some other of million sensors in this car. Not to the point where they throw the code, but to the point where in colder weather they have delay responding to ECU and as result less than ideal air/fuel ratio get's sent. If it would be carbon, or hotspot in the cylinder, or even spark-plugs or injectors then it would be more likely to have engine running rough all the time, or particularly in higher revs, not in lower revs. I know this isn't much of help, but I am just trying to think through it logically in the process of elimination.

It is 2012... It depends really, lower mileage cars usually have worse rust problems in those areas. The other big reason is - letting idiots to do the alignment. This is the reason why mine got rusted, they were always fine until one time I took it to local wheel alignment shop which was *******. Basically, they needlessly heated the tire-rod ends with the torch until they got red hot... sure they got the adjustment done that year, but next year they were rusted into one solid piece of metal. Overheating the metal makes it susceptible to rusting and it as well burns off any grease on the threads which prevents them from rusting, so that may be the reason. The proper way of doing it would be heat it only to undo the tie-rod, then remove it completely and thoughtfully clean it from rust and junk and then apply thread grease so it is protected again. But if they heated the metal, burned off the grease and just left it "dry", then next year whole thing will be one solid piece of rust.

That is correct. Under statutory rights taking car back is the most they can offer, so it usually works other way around - dealer offers unsatisfactory repair and ultimately buyer has a right to reject it and return the car instead. In theory if OP believe and can prove dealer actions were done in bad faith, or negligent, and damage can be proved, then it is possible to make claim in court. In theory - anyone can sue anyone for any reason, but it will be very hard to prove these damages in court, especially as dealer has agreed to take car back. In "fantasy world" I can see somebody getting rental car and then suing dealer for costs and then Sunday Times writing sad story about it (more like publicity stunt, than realistic action). So I think it is fair to say here - that is not realistic course of action and I would not advise to use this option. I still think rational reasoning with dealer is best idea here. Even if they lose £500 in the end, it seems like in situation like this it would be reasonable for them to take responsibility rather than putting it all on customer, but one thing is very clear here - they will only do it in "good faith" as they are under no obligation here. So threatening them is unlikely to work.

Yes that is correct - I have mine done for exactly same reason, the track road ends were corroded and could not be adjusted, paid something like £40 for each in Toyota dealership, it is not Lexus specific part, so it isn't even expensive. I think all in it costed £160 with alignment. Somehow I can't see how ~£200 max job could make repair unviable. I would probably mention that to them and just say - "look, the parts are like £100, so there is no excuse not to fix it and the car return is not an option because I need it daily". Unless they are willing to give you courtesy car until you find something else (I doubt it). The only other consideration - maybe they know (have found) there is something bigger and the issue is not the track rod ends. I don't want to speculate, but maybe when tech started looking at what would have to be done to make fully satisfactory repair it turned out more work than one would initially think. Sadly, as inconvenient as it sounds, they have already offered to take the car back, which is generally considered as "nuclear option" when it comes to statutory rights. So "by law" they doing everything right... it is still sounds unreasonable that they would take car back rather than replace basically rusted bolt, but I can't see any other leverage here... apart of trying to reason with them. It is kind of sad that Lexus "used approved" really doesn't mean much anymore. This is not the first time people reporting that on here and I myself had less than satisfactory experience. Sure in my case they ended-up replacing everything free of charge, but not before I made a threat to take them to court for misseling. Basically, goes back to conclusion which was made on few threads now - buying used car from Lexus is the same as buying it from any independent place, inspection is must, test drive is must and everything must be agreed in writing, because whole "used approved million points check" is not worth the paper it is written on, it basically gets rubberstamped and marked all good.

No, there is no such security feature. Has to be mechanically damaged. Was it just very hard to press or completely not moving? Because if you have issues with brake system, master cylinder, air in lines, water in fluid or vacuum leak etc. It could be hard to press all the way, but I never seen or heard of one where you can't depress it at all. That is unusual. It is possible to "pump" the brake, that is press it multiple times with engine off until it becomes firm (basically you use vacuum stored in brake booster until it is gone), but I doubt it could happen by accident and even then you will still be able to depress the brake, just going to be very hard as it basically unassisted (no "boosted") at that time.

That is not much of the surprise really. The acceleration part is irrelevant, but braking is what impacts fuel consumption the most. Basically, you can drive fast and accelerate quite sharply, but looking ahead and avoiding unnecessary braking is what is most important for good economy. Cruise control is simply not smart enough to predict what will happen in front, so it will drive all the way up to the car in front and then brake, wasting a lot of fuel, whereas you can just let off accelerator way earlier and preserve a lot of fuel. In short - there is no issue with CC or ACC, it is the issue with systems being unable to predict what will happen next and making wrong decisions. On completely empty road I get same MPG with or without CC, I just use CC because I like to keep consistent pace. But if there is traffic then I can beat CC any time... although to be fair most of the time I choose not to do it.

Can you explain what do you mean by "stuck"? Like you can't press it down? Or it is stuck down and you can't pull it-up? Seems like mechanical issue with the pedal, or something is preventing it from being pressed. I mean even if there would be an issue with master cylinder, then it would still be kind of spongy/hard to press, but not completely stuck.

Aircon is ON when A/C button light is ON... normally it is sort of ~green. Just note - demist does not work very well without aircon...

I am sure they will be willing to travel further in country side. As I said my example was for Woodford which is in London. Besides It is probably quicker to drive 110 miles in country side than 15 in this hell hole. My point is simply that - there is a limit on how far they will go to collect the car.

Those options are distance limited, they had both "pick-up service" and "taxi service". It doesn't say anywhere officially, but I have estimated (by using different postcodes and Woodford Lexus) it is ~15 miles for pick-up and from my experience I know they only drive you to nearest station with taxi option. Maybe this limit warries from dealer to dealer, but they certainly wouldn't drive to pick-up car across the country. So basically if you are too far it simply going to say that there are no free slots for that service.

Not much to add. If you want to get more power from just a tune, then you needs to start from strong, healthy and well designed engine which has some safety margins. IS220d has no margins, if anything it is already beyond them, so the only way to go is downward and that is what Toyota did with IS200d. They realised that engine is unreliable at that power level and dialled it back down to 150hp. So that is actually good example of "safety margin" - engine can make at most 190hp and explode, it can make maybe 165-170hp and still be reliable and manufacturer chosen to set it to 150hp, for safety. Simply said when they released IS220d they just got it wrong and they tuned it way past the safe/reliable margins and 177hp is just not what this engine can handle. If you want to go past 170hp on this engine then it needs new hardware - gaskets, head-bolts, pistons, rings etc. and you are already at 177hp, so before the engine is completely rebuilt you have no margin to tune. I am sure some astronaut will come here and say they have reliable tune on 250hp with cut DPF, EGR and smoke screen on demand, but you been warned.