I Hate My Is200

[ediko]

I just can't stand this car anymore. I tried to love it, I still kind of do. It's really pretty and interior is really nice, though really small in the back.

However... during this year... I don't remember a week when something wasn't broken. I'm doing all the maintenance myself because this being lexus the work costs obscene amounts. Even the freaking parts cost 10 times more than a similar car from the same year, I don't see what I'm paying for.

My TRC and ABS light constantly come on, meaning some sensor is broken, or some electrical wiring crap is broken. My lights above the number plate didn't work properly due to the wires being thin and made of crap that made them rust from inside out, same with the connectors. My headlight connectors rusted out. The air con motor is making a horrible whining noise despite all the belts being brand new (and cost a ******ton) meaning the bearing in it is dead. All the belts are making some noise. Oil level doesn't drop which means it's not leaking but the gap between the engine block and that top cover is oily which means it leaks somewhere. I've changed the radiator once(my own stupidity) and the new one is seemingly fine but my coolant is constantly disappearing somewhere. The sensor for temperature in the radiator had it's connector rusted out and I almost overheated the engine in the middle of the city in a huge traffic jam. Coolant was evaporating from everywhere.

My radio stopped working completely, first the screen was working fine but no sound(even that stupid beep when searching for radiostations) now even the screen doesn't come on. My second(!) alternator is seemingly broken since all the warning lights come up- the low fuel light is blinking (half a tank), oil lamp comes up (red one, full level of oil, even a biit too much and changed recently), Battery light, temperature gauge stops working, then fuel gauge stops working, then snow mode doesn't work and all the other crap. Can't figure out whether it's the alternator again (checked the voltage, seems a bit low so quite likely) or the stupid wiring somewhere in this whole wiring crap mess.

My interior temperature is stuck in full heat all the time, I can't control what wents my air comes from, I can't control the blower unit. I checked the motors and all of them seemed fine, disassembled the aircon console and it seems fine as well, except those little pesky clips that turn with the wheels looked quite old and worn, not like I have anywhere I could buy them, need a whole new console and a new radio console.... and just so much more... Fuses are ok, I check them pretty much daily.

Theeeen the ball joint failed on the right wheel, my fender is bent a bit, the rim is damaged and the bill was huge, changed the other side just in case as well. There is water leaking from the mirror in the interior , no freaking clue where it's coming from. Water is leaking in the boot constantly due to a big gap from the bootlid. Rear bumper is cracked, not from hitting anything no.. age or heat or something. And it doesn't hold on properly because the mounts for it have rusted away.

My rear tires are R18 225 40 and if I have passengers in the car they are rubbing against the fenders! I had 240 ones before and changed them just to solve the rubbing. Front is much lower than the back (stock suspension) and I had to change one spring because it broke the lower ring, how can a spring even break.... Front right side had a bad wheel bearing.

EVEN THE STUPID WHEEL STUDS ARE BAD. All of them, all 20 wheel studs are bad. Not even a single on of them is usable anymore. I bought new open ended lug nuts since my old ones were worn down, I can't even get them on. Need to change all the studs.

I can't do an alignment for the back at all, front took a whole day for the service people to do since it all corroded together and wouldn't come apart, they still had to replace some steering joint or whatever it was since it was bent-from normal driving. They couldn't do the back one at all, told me they need to cut all the bolts off since they don't move at all. 20 euro's for 1 bolt and 15 euro's for a nut for the bolt... and that wasn't even the final number- for 1 BOLT!

The calipers at the front were seized, had to rebuild them all myself. The stupid rebuilding kit cost 20 euro's for one side, just for some rubbers.

When it does work right... what's the point? Yes it looks cool, but is pretty much the slowest car on the road nowadays. The car judders if you don't release the clutch in a special and caring way, second gear sounds like it is being engaged with a hammer. It doesn't feel stable on the road at all, feels all over the place. I can't relax driving it, have to be concentrated all the time or it starts going all over the place.

I've driven a WV Bora diesel(yes I know it is hideous) from 2003 recently (I've driven maybe in some 20~30 cars) and even that thing felt quicker and it only used 5L/100km , whereas mine is 10L/100KM minimum, it's impossible to get more out of it. Full tank lasts me 600km of careful and slow driving without needless acceleration, if I want to have some fun it's even less.

My mates 2004 Volvo S40 2.0D uses 5L/100km, and it's twice as quick, more roomy and arguably looks better.

I can't sell this piece of crap since I wont get even 1/10th of what I invested in it already. I know it's an old car and needs maintenance. This is ridiculous though, it's supposed to be one of the most reliable cars out there and mine just constantly breaks. How I wish I had some money, would put a 2JZ-GTE in it and make it a drift/track car. At least I'll have some fun while everything breaks.

Sorry for this really long post, I've opened my boot yesterday to get something out only to find it all wet and sitting in a puddle, topped up the coolant a bit. Started up the car and all the warnings/gauges went crazy again. Turned on the radio only to have it break on me. I almost started crying.... this was my dream car.

[Graham Gardner]

Oh dear mate, what a long, long tale of woe and misery, I feel for you, I really do, you invest a lot in your choice of vehicle, both money and emotion, when it all goes wrong, it make you feel awful. Most people have been through this at sometime, I know I have, I would cut my loses and get rid of it personally, it's a very tough decision to make though?

Very best wishes

[steve2006]

It sounds like it has either been parked in a field for most of its life, involved in a flood or had some very uncaring previous owners.

Given the amount of problems I can see your point, there are good ones out there and like yours also bad ones.

[janet]

Oh dear m'duck, its rotten when you put money into a motor that's bad, I too have in the past (thanks British Leyland) and you know that if you get rid, the money is wasted....but in the end if you really have lost the love...it might be time to 'man-up' (as someone said to me last week!)

It must be a pain the wotsit reading smug quotes on here when your Lex is on the floor......

[ediko]

Oh dear mate, what a long, long tale of woe and misery, I feel for you, I really do, you invest a lot in your choice of vehicle, both money and emotion, when it all goes wrong, it make you feel awful. Most people have been through this at sometime, I know I have, I would cut my loses and get rid of it personally, it's a very tough decision to make though?

Very best wishes

It sounds like it has either been parked in a field for most of its life, involved in a flood or had some very uncaring previous owners.

Given the amount of problems I can see your point, there are good ones out there and like yours also bad ones.

Honestly I'd like to get rid of it finally, but there's so much time and effort and of course money invested that it's not feasible right now. Besides the best I could afford after selling it is some hideous WV or a BMW which will be the same story really if no one took care of it right. Also... I'd feel bad to give it to someone else, it just doesn't feel right knowing that everything will break eventually.

It has 214000(wouldn't doubt if there was more) km on the clock now. When I bought it everything worked, the belts were brand new, the oil was brand new. No problems except the rubbing issues on the back tires was present, so I doubt it was parked for 14 years.

How much neglect does it need to endure to become like this..

I'm just really surprised, everyone is always going on about how reliable it is, while I have all the possible tools in my boot when something goes wrong and it always does it seems.

[andyk134]

There are some really good independent garages out there who do a great job at a reasonable price. Most parts are Toyota so not that expensive. I would take it to someone and ask them to go through the whole thing and make a list of what it needs to put it right and go from there. There are 2 things that affect reliability, how it was built ( or luck!) and how it is looked after. I have owned mine for 5 years and not a thing has gone wrong and the overall rating is good but there will always be unlucky ones.

Good luck sorting it and it is a great car, the best I have ever owned and I have had more than a few.

[ediko]

You can look after it all you like, interior heating controls and radio and alternator and the radiator and the water leaks will still occur/fail when they want.

I do my own work, learning on the go. Services here are mostly a waste of time and money, no one cares enough. I'm just ****** at the electronics now since I got no clue how they work, I just take them apart, clean them and hope for the best. It's just that once I fix 1 issue, another 5 pop-up. I'm tired fixing it all the time, engine is pretty much the obly thing I haven't touched yet, need some spark plugs and check to see where the oil/coolant seaps through on the block.

[Graham Gardner]

You can look after it all you like, interior heating controls and radio and alternator and the radiator and the water leaks will still occur/fail when they want.

I do my own work, learning on the go. Services here are mostly a waste of time and money, no one cares enough. I'm just ****** at the electronics now since I got no clue how they work, I just take them apart, clean them and hope for the best. It's just that once I fix 1 issue, another 5 pop-up. I'm tired fixing it all the time, engine is pretty much the obly thing I haven't touched yet, need some spark plugs and check to see where the oil/coolant seaps through on the block.

Ah!

[doog442]

to be fair mate its got how much on the clock ?? , nearly 140,000 miles and what year is it? How much did you pay for it ?

I know you're comparing it to a mates Volvo but many, many cars would be looking at a scrap yard at that mileage..If you break your original post down into separate issues and deal with each issue on its own and one at a time things might become easier.

best of luck

[ediko]

Price is rather irrelevant, I've got it some time ago when they were a bit more expensive.

Honestly it's not just the volvo,it has more miles on it than my lex by the way and the owner doesn't put in even 1/10th of the effort I do in taking care of it. I've had an nissan almera which was oldder and had more miles one issue- MAF sensor, everything else worked perfect. Golf 3- no issues, golf 4 no issues, audi 100 C3 some air got in thhe brake system all the time, but it was from the 80's so I'm rather surprised. Bora, avensis from 2006, peugeot 306 I think(ok this one was bad, who thought to put the air intake so low?). bmw 7 series from 99, 1 issue was a short in the wiring, thats it. I can go on and on, all of them had the same or more miles, a lot were older as well. Not even close with the amount of issues I've had with the one of the most reliable vehicles out there.

I've fixed the air con now, well the temperature gauge doesn't work but at least I can switch between hot/cold now.

Radio...kinda fixed, stops working sometimes and needs to be hit slightly, magically starts working again.

Water leaks...no clue, not the most important now. Alternator kinda works for now, voltage output depends on the cars mood. Abs/trc failure I can live with. Wheel studs... well waiting for the salary. Going to take the engine apart a bit when I have the time to check for coolant/oil leak.

For some reason the belt for the water pump starts screeching whe air con is working, never there when it's not though so now I don't use it. Fun all around.

[andyk134]

Maybe you were just unlucky and the previous owner didn't look after the car. Every car needs to be looked after properly no matter what it is and with that age and mileage, I know people with 20k on the clock who have problems and those with over 200k who dont. its a combination of luck and care really.

[clifton 94]

Hi I've been in the trade forty years and never heard of anyone having as much trouble as you have had with your car. maintenance is the key to any cars longevity .The trouble often comes when owners just don't bother to look after them when they are so reliable then when they start going wrong they sell them and some poor sod gets all the problems

[asharb123]

I agree with Tony. A used car is only as good as the person who owned it before you, regardless of who they are. For example I bought my IS from my uncle who bought the car new. In my opinion the car had the best car in its first 5 years as it was serviced by Lexus annually regardless of mileage. After this it was in my uncles opinion serviced every year by the garage that did the MOT at the same time. When I bought the car from him, his sons had been driving it for 2-3 years. When I started to look into the service history by contacting the garages, I found the car had not been serviced for at least 3 years. Even though I bought the car cheap, the bills started to add up. I had a full service done. Changed everything including the belts. Then had to do lower ball joints as these had play, track rod ends as the rubber bushes had split and same with the drop links. Touch wood so far so good. The only issue I have is some clonking noise from the suspension but that's a common problem.

I'm sorry to hear the position you are in as I've been there. Have you thought about breaking the car? I thought about it to see if its practical and what you could make on the parts?

[ediko]

I'm dying of laughter now. Car is down again. So I had a sticking caliper on the front left 2 months ago. Flushed the fluid and rebuilt the caliper myself, cleaned it and put new seals on. Same thing just happened again with the right side this time. What makes me even more lucky is that one of the pistons was so stuck even an air compressor couldn't get it out. After some brute force and an adjustable key I have it out- only to find it completely rusted out on the front. Seal was good though so no idea why it happened. Guess it's just my luck again :D

[ediko]

Great. Just great, got t-boned 3 hours ago. Both right doors and fenders destroyed on the right side aand the wheel is turning differently than the left one, not drivable. Luckily everyone is fine and well. Will be visiting insurance tomorrow, looks like it will get scrapped... was almost finished fixing it. I'm so out of luck

[Gruntfuggly]

Sorry to hear about the accident - that's never a good thing. Glad nobody was injured.

It might be a blessing in disguise though - I expect you've been put off the is200 (and Lexus) for good, but I can't believe you could possibly find another one as much trouble...

Hope you find a decent replacement car - whatever you go for!

[ediko]

Thanks. I'm really sad now to be honest. I miss it now, so much money and time spent on it. Worked on it every weekend, it didn't deserve this. You grow used to it after 3 years, it's my first car after all, even though I've driven about 5% of my total mileage with it.

Still feel bad for it.