Lex_utor

Rear tyre:

About the wheels, I have been just following the manufacturer's recommended tyre pressures on the door jamb for my 19" as well. Does the IS-F has different recommended tyre pressures for its 19" wheels? My front tyre kind of looks a bit underinflated. See photos of my tyres thread wear bellow. Front:

But really, how can you not drive it hard? 😄 You guys don't step on yours? I'm addicted to the engine sound and it's smoothness. Must be the sound of the multi valve kicking in? I can't emphasize enough how much I love driving it. I find it the perfect mix between suave comfort and sportiness. Not as floaty as a Jag, not as harsh as a bimmer. Perfect daily.

You're a braver man than I. I'm not sure I would risk getting stuck on the road without fuel. :)

I just got a new MOT, so don't think it's the brakes. But I checked yesterday after getting home and the wheels were not hot and put my hands near the callipers and felt no heat. About tyre pressure, I have aftermarket 19" wheels. 225/35 front and 255/35 rear.

First thing I checked. I see no leaks or smells. Sensor, I don't know.

Thanks for all the replies. I was afraid that could be normal. I almost bought a 350Z as my daily driver instead of the IS250 when I bought mine. One of reasons I didn't was that I thought the IS would be much more economical. 😁 But I'm still suspicious something may be wrong. I will keep a watchful eye. That half a tank, the computer initially said it would last about 225km, if the computer is to be trusted, now it will barely reach 170km. Maybe it's the AC. Or my driving style. I like to floor it sometimes, just to hear how it sounds above 4K RPM 😄 But if that's normal, I would say quite much for a 2.5 liter. Specially being Japanese, I expected better economy. Let's see. I will keep watching it. LOVE the car regardless. Love driving it and have been loving owning it, apart from the petrol. Funny how many looks it gets. Surprises me really. I catch guys in new Mercedes, Audis, BMWs and Porsches twisting their head to look at it on the road. I guess it's because you just never seem them around here.

I have been noticing that my petrol consumption seems to be up lately. Granted, it's high summer and I'm driving always with the AC on. But still. And it seems to be getting worse. Now I have had my fuel tank replaced recently (see thread here: I was wondering if there is anything they could have messed up which could be causing the car to use more petrol? Could be just all a coincidence. But I put half a tank of petrol and now 130km later the computer is saying I have 49 km left. Before that, the first tank I used after replacing the tank didn't even last 500km. Or is this poor mileage expected with the IS250?

Another thing about the Vlands is they come in different styles. Mine is fully monochromatic, which suits the black car really well. But they also have them with amber indicators and I think some other styles.

Yep, Linas is right. Vland. They came with the car. I'm not sure I would have bought them, as they are not necessarily cheap for the pair. But I love them. IMO looks way better than stock and also illuminates way better than the 2005 stock ones at least. I think only the very late 2011 and newer can compete in illumination. The Vlands make the car look like a current car. Most people can't even figure it's 15 years old. It also has the "Audi" style indicators, which again makes the car look very modern. It helps that my car is black, so they blend in and look like the LED portion is the whole headlight. But I saw them on a silver car recently and it didn't look as nice. As you can clearly see the contours of the large light housing, which looks more old fashioned. I had thought of buying the Vland taillights. But I probably won't. Style is a matter of opinion. I go back and forth between the Vland and the last facelift headlights which also have the Audi indicators. The Vland makes the car look more modern, but the last facelift ones are also very nice looking. The second gen IS still looks great and the styling still looks modern. One thing which dates the body are the early headlights.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you have managed to put it right. They are great cars.

I think you misunderstood me. :) I meant this is what will kill the IS250s which are left. Meaning cars like mine. Second generation, which are now getting older. The spark plugs are not cheap. Then it's very hard to change it yourself and expensive to have it done at a garage because it's labour intensive. So many owners will just neglect it and sell the car on. This eventually will cause the engine to burn oil etc and then engine failure.

The problem is that even if you don't want to do it yourself, the time consuming labour makes it more expensive to have the spark plugs done in a garage as well.

Everybody has a theory about the tank. One is that the car has lived part of its life parked over a loan or grass. Plus frequent trips to harsh winter places. I'm still glad I bought it. I'm still watching and there hasn't been any other IS250 for sale around me since, which I would have liked to buy. They were all the wrong spec, wrong interior or wrong condition cosmetically and so on. This means had I not bought this one I would still not have one. They have now treated the rust and sealed the whole underside of the car, including floor plan differential, suspension etc and then put wax over it. Should be protected for years to come. Cost me a lot. But if nothing else goes wrong, should be worth it.

Yeah, I walked away as it was filling up to stretch my legs and when I looked back I had to take a photo. The light was so cool.

Indeed. I don't find it underpowered at all. Nippy enough is right. It goes well when you step on it. It goes even better if you drop a gear. Like I said, more of a nice to have than a must have. But the ISF is a bit too much for me in a daily driver. So a IS350 would be the sweet spot and the IS250 is good enough. Lots of fun!

Thanks to everyone who has helped me along my Lexus journey so far! 😊

This is way overdue. But late last summer I got me a 2nd generation IS250. I did so after help from the community here in answering questions and clearing up doubts I had. I ended buying a manual IS250. In Black. Car is fully loaded. I might have every single option or feature available, apart from the better cruise control. Not sure if that was available in Europe or only in the U.S. though. But I have leather, navigation, heated and cooled seats, sunroof etc. Really lovely. I didn't drive it a whole lot because of lockdown, home office etc. But now after almost a year, well kind of, and after having had a few minor issues, none the car's fault, I think it's time to write my impressions of the car. Keep in mind this is my first Lexus. My first Toyota in general. The short story is that I love the car! :) Very few things I wish was different. The pros: Well everything really. But specially: Loving the Lexus quality. Car feels so solid and well built Smooth as butter. Smooth engine, smooth power delivery and I even find the shift smooth, despite reports of otherwise. Comfort Interior Looks. I think it still looks fresh today. Specially with the updated headlights, which came on the car. Some people can't even figure it's a 17 years old design and think it's a new or newer car. The drive. I just love driving it! I love shifting it! I enjoy it as much as some of the sports cars I have had. The handling is really nice. It's a heavier saloon after all. The cons. These are not really negatives IMO. More like nice to haves: A bit more space. It's actually quite a small car. Specially noticeable when it's parked beside new cars. Next to a Mercedes A it kind of looks smaller even though it belongs to a larger class. A bit more power. The IS350 with a manual would have been the perfect IS for me. Wouldn't even need an ISF for a daily. Wish it had a LSD A better engine design. This is the only real negative here. What were the engineers smoking? What a total stupid design to work on. You need to take the whole intake manifold to change the right side spark plugs. In its defence, many or most modern cars seem to have little regard to making it easy to work on. Those days are gone I guess. This is bad for the IS as because of that most owners don't change the plugs. Labour is expensive. This is what will kill these cars. But as I said, in general I absolutely love the car. Love driving it. I have no idea what I will replace it with yet when the time comes. No idea! I want to keep it all. RWD, manual, 4-doors and not be a BMW. I'm in trouble and spoiled! Recently I had a big expense with the car. For those who haven't seen it: IS250 fuel tank replacement? - Lexus IS 250 / Lexus IS 250C Club / Lexus IS 220D & IS 200D Club - Lexus Owners Club But I had to replace the fuel tank, heat shield and bands. BIG expense! Wish you never have to do that. But honestly, I don't mind that much. I think this is the first car since my Alfa Romeos where I don't mind spending money on to keep it on the road. Probably because I know I would have a very difficult time replacing it, unless with another IS250 or letting go of one of my requisites, RWD, manual, 4 doors no BMWs. Although I must say, I expected to spend money on the Alfas but not on a Lexus. But I hear this is a very isolated problem. Now the car has a new tank and is fully MOTed again. Ready to keep on going:

Update: Fuel tank is in. Car has a new MOT :)

Indeed. I'm positive that the red part is the tank. It's definitely not on the shield but on whatever is bellow it, which I would think can only be the tank.

To be honest, I was also surprised.

P.S. if you zoom in on the photo, I think I see deep rust and a crack on what would be the tank. Seeing through the hole.

The hole is definitely on the shield. But from up close they can see parts of the tank and I guess by they experience they judged it needs replacement. I don't see a reason for them to lie. Specially that I might just ask to see my old tank after they replace it. And arguing with them would probably bring little benefit as they said I need to replace it to get a MOT. No tank, no MOT. Which basically means I need to bin the car.

I did a bit of digging and found this old Fifth gear video: It tests both, diesel in a petrol car and petrol in a diesel car. The Petrol car running on diesel started jerking a bit after a while. But once petrol was put again in the tank again it went back to normal. Even mixed with the leftover diesel. And here we are talking about 5 litres of diesel in the petrol tank. Instead of a few "possible" drops or possibly only the fumes. The video seems to imply garages are ripping people off when they say you need to replace the whole fuel system including lines, pump, filter and tank. Both cars went back to normal after they were filled with the correct stuff. About seeing my tank, I only saw photos of under the car. I wasn't there when they lifted the car up. Here are the photos. You can see a hole on the heat shield:

According to the screen capture above, the tank is the same for all second gen Lexus IS?