Razor61

Found the car below for sale 15 mins away from work which I'm looking at tomorrow afternoon. I've checked with Lexus UK and they tell me it's been serviced at Lexus Croydon from new until a couple of years ago then Lexus Liverpool twice and the last service is missing from Lexus system but the vendor tells me it has been serviced at an independent garage. Not an SE-L which I wanted but an SE with extras, well maintained, in excellent condition and drives as it should. I'll find out if all that's true tomorrow. It has parking camera but not parking sensors, satnav, Mark Levinson audio, 2 keys, heated/cooling seats. Be interested to see what you think and if you think it has most of the desirable stuff. Lexus IS 250 SE https://ebay.us/T68iTt

That is exactly what I planned to do next year and purchased everything needed whilst still available (including the CARRIER SUB-ASSY's - 42304 and 42305 on the diagram) all OEM Toyota/Lexus parts. This won't be happening as I no longer have the car and all the parts I accumulated are now for sale, apart from the rear UCA's which I sold last week. Some bits are listed separately and there is a list of everything in another post in the Buy and Sell parts forum. It's not a sales pitch and I'm not desperate to sell them, just wanted to let you know in case you were not aware.

Thanks Dave it does look ok. Not my ideal colour but it has everything that I want and if I wait for the ideal colour I’ll probably be waiting forever. I have a list of the normal things to check, service history, check all electrics work, front/rear discs/pads/callipers and if they need doing it’s a bargaining point, 2 x keys, didn’t know about the airbag recall so will ask about it. I’ll give it a full service straight away anyway if I buy it unless it’s all just been done by Lexus and I can verify it. Full service kit from LPD is about £190 including delivery, not worried about doing the service itself at all but the cost of replacing suspension components if worn can soon add up even when doing the work yourself but at 63,000 things should hopefully be reasonably good. Rust I hope shouldn’t be an issue. If there is anything else generally or specific I need to check then please let me know.

Found a 63,000 miles example, link below, and it’s very close to me. What do you reckon? it looks good to me and MOT history is pretty good as well. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202011045782156?atmobcid=soc4

Ah, I see. Thanks and now I know what to look for.👍

Thanks Linas, very good information and very objective. What you have said is what I normally do when buying a car. The reason I initially looked at the low mileage IS250 examples is because I didn’t have much knowledge about the IS250 and how it stands up to the mileage. Now that I know it’s not really an issue I’ll widen my search to include newer well maintained higher mileage examples.

I've searched and I can't find anything (apart from this topic), I may be doing something stupid but I don't think so.

You are correct, that was my car👍 There are a lot of good and new parts on the car, boot seal was a new Lexus one, antennae was new, 2 x new front tyres, the audio system worked fine, new timing belt and water pump a year ago, new oem front discs, new track rod ends, new drop links all round last year, new arb bushes all round last year, front strut rod bushes last year, new ac compressor, alloys in good nick and coated with Gtechiq stuff. The list is endless........................😭

Thanks Texas, I did notice the 17k one didn't have the infotainment which was on my 'must have' list but it's only done 17k......and is very close to where I live. I didn't know the 40k one doesn't have ACC, how can you tell from the pictures? I prefer the light interior to be honest and most of the time it will be me driving. My 'favourite' one was the one for sale by South West Lexus, the interior is like new and I really like it but then I saw the F-Sport in Pearl White............yes it's got a black interior, done a lot more miles but I really like the colour and it's a newer model. So, a bit of thinking to do and I will do a search and read up on South West Lexus😉 Also I know the prices are at the top end, probably because of the mileage, but from what I can gather higher mileage is not an issue. For a higher or high ish mileage example you cut £8k in half or less.

All good advice thanks.

I bit the bullet and replaced the timing belt, water pump, tensioner and idler pulley a few weeks ago. I did get a quote from Lexus to replace the timing belt and water pump, £660 plus another £160 quid for the tensioner and pulley. So I purchased the water pump, tensioner, idler pulley and arb bushes (while I was at it) from Amayama. Timing belt and a complete service kit from LPD. I forgot to order the thermostat and gasket but I have now ordered it and will fit it when it arrives. Timing belt had been replaced but it needed doing because it was well over 6 years iirc. I did enlist some help from a mechanic round the corner from where I live, I wanted to do the whole thing myself but chickened out a bit😄 This is my experience of doing it after reading as much I could on the internet and watching YouTube videos. I've probably forgot a few steps so please don't use it as a definitive guide. Started as soon as got light on a Saturday (I was off work all the week after just in case I screwed up big style), put the car on my new Rhino Ramps, removed the undertray, air intake etc, spark plugs, drained the coolant, removed the radiator, removed the v belts, upper timing belt cover, power steering pump (bottom bolt on the bracket took a bit of removing as the coolant had leaked to this area and rusted it) and a few other bits like water pump pulley ready to remove the crank pulley and lower timing cover. Set the crankshaft pulley to the timing mark. I couldn't get in with my impact gun to remove the crankshaft pulley bolt and I didn't want to use the 'breaker bar wedged on the ground and turn the engine' method so I was a bit stuck. I should have thought about this before hand. This was the point where I went to see the friendly mechanic round the corner, explained the situation and he came to have a look and brought with him a lump hammer and a 'Powerbar crankshaft bolt removal tool'. I did wonder how the 'Powerbar crankshaft bolt removal tool' was going to help/work, if you don't know about these (as I didn't) it's worth looking on the internet. He took one look and said that removing the crankshaft pulley bolt will be a piece of cake. 2 mins later the bolt was off and the pulley removed with a bit of tapping and levering. Yipee, that saved my bacon and after a suitable payment I asked him if he wouldn't mind checking the timing etc and if I've done everything correct once I'd finished, he said 'no problem, by the way the water pump is leaking'. I didn't know it needed replacing until I took the upper timing cover off but I had bought a new one to fit anyway. So on with the job, removed lower timing belt cover, marked up the crank and camshaft as per instructions and removed timing belt, tensioner and idler pulley and water pump. Cleaned the water pump area, fitted new water pump and gasket, pulley, power steering pump and idler pulley. Now it was time to install the timing belt, I started doing it but chickened out because I wasn't sure about the correct way to fit it and then install the tensioner so it was all lined/timed up and tensioned correctly. Back to my friendly mechanic..............I explained the timing belt was ready to fit and he said 'did you chicken out?' and I said 'oh yes!' 😁 He locked up the garage/unit and we walked round the corner to my house and after a bit of messing about and a coffee, watching a youtube video and reading the 'manual' we got the timing belt on and pulled the pin on the tensioner, then rotated the engine a few times to make sure the timing was all correct. When a YouTube video or instructions say 'fit new timing belt, tensioner and remove the pin', it's not quite that easy (I'm reasonably sure I could do it next time now though) All looked well so I continued to re assemble everything (and fit new spark plugs), by this time it was around 2pm iirc and I had intended to get as much done as I could and then carry on the next day. But at around 4pm I'd got to the point of re filling the coolant so just carried on and finished it but didn't re fit the undertray as I needed to do an oil and filter change the nest day. Now for the big test of starting the engine and finding out if we had done everything correct, put the key in and turned.........................it fired up and ran fine. Off the ramps and took it for a run with the heater on full heat to get the coolant running round and system bled. That was a big relief, gave myself a pat on the back and bought the mechanic a bottle of nice whisky a few days later to thank him again. I had to top up the coolant a couple of times after but once it settled down the level stayed on max when checking in the morning when cold.

👍

I'm looking for a good IS250 SE-L or maybe an F-Sport and would like some advice if possible please on the few IS250's I've found for sale which meet my criteria. I have searched this forum and others to find out the main things to look for and from what I've read the main things (apart from the general stuff for any car like 'does everything work') are: seized callipers, crust around coolant expansion tank, water pump?, exhaust corrosion. I recently purchased an IS200 as a second car/car for the Mrs (I did a topic on this) and at the time I had a 1996 Mk3 LS400 which I spent a lot of time and a fair bit of money to get it in the best condition and working as it should. Unfortunately a few weeks a go I had an accident in the LS400 and it's been written off, I'm not going to buy another LS400 because I don't want to go through all the work, time, effort and money again getting another one to the same standard. Been there, done it, got the T shirt and everything else that goes with it. I do want another Lexus though and have decided on a good IS250 auto with all the options and features possible is probably the best option for me. I spent a year working on the LS400 so I now want something that I can run, enjoy driving, is fairly quick, comfortable and carry out normal maintenance. I did consider a GS430 but I don't want another big car because the Mrs will not drive it so it's an IS250 plus the IS250 uses a timing chain rather than a timing belt which is one less thing to be concerned about. So after all that, below are the cars I have found and I'd be interested in what people think and would also be grateful for any advice as I'm not familiar with the Mk2/Phase 2 Lexus IS. Links to the cars I've shortlisted: Lexus IS250 F Sport 20th anniversary https://ebay.us/sCQ0cS This is very close to where I live but doesn't have SatNav - 2007 Lexus IS 0.0 250 SE-L 4d 204 BHP Auto Saloon Petrol Automatic https://ebay.us/9Hk1C5 LEXUS IS 250 SE-L VVTI AUTO SALOON VERY LOW MILEAGE FULL SERVICE HISTORY https://ebay.us/Od2hQi Lexus IS 250 2007 (57 reg) 2.5 SE-L 4dr https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011146106800?sort=mileage&advertising-location=at_cars&price-from=6000&include-delivery-option=on&transmission=Automatic&seller-type=trade&model=IS 250&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used&radius=1500&make=LEXUS&postcode=bb33jn&year-to=2010&price-to=8000&year-from=2007&page=1

Thanks John, still don’t know what happened but such is life I suppose. There is worse things happening in the world at the moment.

Cheers, lucky is was early in the morning so little traffic and could have been worse. My LS400 ownership is at an end after 12 months but was enjoyable, shame for the car as it was a good example (after all the work I did).

Yep and £100 plus delivery from LPD. I replaced it my LS400 (soon to be ex LS400) and it cured the leak into the wheel well. Why 'soon to be ex LS400' you may think, well I had an accident in the LS near work yesterday morning and it will be a write off....................I had a spin on an uphill motorway entry slip road and ended up front first into a barrier. Plenty of damage to the front and it was recovered to be assessed but I know what the outcome will be. I have no idea how it happened as I was going 25-30 mph max on entry to the slip road and then suddenly big spin and crunch. Quite a few people at work said the particular motorway round about and slip roads where I had the accident are notorious for being very slippy and especially when wet, apparently because it's a busy junction for HGV's there is always oil and diesel knocking about on the road surface. Typical, it wasn't my normal way to work and I only went that way to avoid a traffic jam on the M62. Anyhow, only damage done to the car and not me so onwards and upwards. I plan to look for a good IS300 sport cross or saloon if I can find one that is.

Same here, I'm near Blackburn if you need any help from me.

It looks like the correct one to me, it just clips on in front of the battery.

Thank you, that's what I suspected. In any case the wheels are in good condition so probably worth buying.

I've seen some IS200 17 inch alloy wheels for sale which are in good condition but they are a gun metal colour and have the Lexus logo on them, pic below. Does anyone know if these wheels are/were a genuine colour/option with the Lexus logo or do you think they have been refurbed?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154154276292 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164461662977

I think the £730 includes fitting, otherwise it is extortion

Probably not, which if true is disappointing as I’ve been very happy with my local Lexus dealer with work on the LS400.

It depends where it is of course but I’d hazard a guess at the bottom of the rear arches and maybe the rear subframe🤔 it is repairable though if not too bad. I’ve recently bought an IS200 otherwise I may have had a punt on it. The timing belt and water pump would cost £500 (that’s what it cost me at Lexus last year) plus anything else that would need doing on the running gear and the cost starts to mount if you can’t do stuff yourself. As a side note I got a quote from Lexus to replace the timing belt and water pump on the IS200 I bought as it needs doing, £660 plus another £160 for the tensioner and pulley. I expected £500 ish so I’ve ordered the bits from Amayama and will do it myself. Water pump, tensioner, idler, camshaft bolt kit, front and rear arb bushes as well from Amayama and the timing belt from Lexus. All in £400 I reckon.

I hadn't looked at the MOT history, usually it's the first thing I do, and does look a bit iffy. Advisories for last MOT don't bode well, maybe not such a good price then..............