Help, No Service History!

[adzman77]

Dear All,

First off I am new to the forum so please go easy, I brought my first Lexus 2 days ago, 2000 IS200, when I went to see the car the guy told me that the car has no service history, normally I wouldn’t buy a car without FSH but I saw it and fell in love so brought it anyway plus it was a bargain.

The car is fine but is driving a bit rough so I am making an assumption it needs a service, I called lexus and they said because of the mileage (64,000) it needs a top service which will cost me £600.

So here is what I need help with

1. Where/ how do I get a new service book?

2. Is it worth getting this £600 service or shall I take it to a normal garage to do the “full service” (Times are hard)

3. Final thing just on a random point I would like it to get a bit more speed out of it and have read a few posts about remapping, any tips or advice.

Thanks in advance

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Welcome to LOC.

A new service book is no use to you without the service records. Try your local Lexus dealer and see if they can get some information for you either on when it has been services or who by.

If you have no SH as a minimum you need a service with a cam belt change, if the belt goes so will your motor.

I'd get it running right before you spend any money on it making it going faster.

Personally, a low mileage car with no SH smells a bit :( Hope I am wrong. Where did you get it from ( eBay, private, dealer ) ?

[adzman77]

Steve,

Thanks for the response, any ideas how much the service with cam belt change will cost me?

As depressing as it maybe everything you said makes sense, I brought the car Private (Autotrader) the guy really seemed legit but you never know, I did a HPI check on the car and it seemed all fine but I suppose it doesn’t really confirm the mileage.

I will get in touch with Lexus and see if they can help me.

Thanks again

[TigerFish]

In the end, if you have no history, it isn't worth spending top dollar on a service now. For oil/Filter/plugs, do it yourself and save a bomb, if you really cant do it yourself then just go to a cheaper local garage. Good advise regarding the cam belt, but a quick look at it should give some clues at least, and is only a couple of bolts to get the top cover off on the cam. If it HPI'd ok, and you are happy with the price you paid with no history, then just relax and have fun in your new motor. Don't spoil the experience with worry.

[adzman77]

In the end, if you have no history, it isn't worth spending top dollar on a service now. For oil/Filter/plugs, do it yourself and save a bomb, if you really cant do it yourself then just go to a cheaper local garage. Good advise regarding the cam belt, but a quick look at it should give some clues at least, and is only a couple of bolts to get the top cover off on the cam. If it HPI'd ok, and you are happy with the price you paid with no history, then just relax and have fun in your new motor. Don't spoil the experience with worry.

Thanks for this, bear with me here are you saying I can do the cam belt myself? because I know its an expensive job, I suppose that also makes sense about the service as even though I do it now when I try to sell people will always be suspicious about the previous absence of SH.

Where do I start with cambelt etc?

[TigerFish]

In the end, if you have no history, it isn't worth spending top dollar on a service now. For oil/Filter/plugs, do it yourself and save a bomb, if you really cant do it yourself then just go to a cheaper local garage. Good advise regarding the cam belt, but a quick look at it should give some clues at least, and is only a couple of bolts to get the top cover off on the cam. If it HPI'd ok, and you are happy with the price you paid with no history, then just relax and have fun in your new motor. Don't spoil the experience with worry.

Thanks for this, bear with me here are you saying I can do the cam belt myself? because I know its an expensive job, I suppose that also makes sense about the service as even though I do it now when I try to sell people will always be suspicious about the previous absence of SH.

Where do I start with cambelt etc?

The cambelt is do-able as a DIY job, but it is a big job and not for the novice I would say. What I meant was, if you just at the moment want to do oil/filters/plugs, then do them yourself and save a packet. If you want to tackle the cambelt, you will save a lot of money, although I'm not best placed to advise the procedure as I don't own an IS.

As far as inspecting the cambelt goes, that is a doddle, and just involves removing the top cover right at the front end of the engine. There are a couple of bolts, one either side of the cover i believe, undo them and the cover lifts off. You will see the cam pulleys with with belt running over the top of them. If it looks in good condition, then the urgency to replace it could be reduced. On some IS's on here, the cambelt was actually worn/shredded to half its normal width. If it was like that, then you would want to get a bit of a wriggle on to renew it.

[waveydavey]

Dear All,

First off I am new to the forum so please go easy, I brought my first Lexus 2 days ago, 2000 IS200, when I went to see the car the guy told me that the car has no service history, normally I wouldn’t buy a car without FSH but I saw it and fell in love so brought it anyway plus it was a bargain.

The car is fine but is driving a bit rough so I am making an assumption it needs a service, I called lexus and they said because of the mileage (64,000) it needs a top service which will cost me £600.

So here is what I need help with

1. Where/ how do I get a new service book?

2. Is it worth getting this £600 service or shall I take it to a normal garage to do the “full service” (Times are hard)

3. Final thing just on a random point I would like it to get a bit more speed out of it and have read a few posts about remapping, any tips or advice.

Thanks in advance

When i bought my IS300 a couple of months ago i called in at Lexus Sheffield and they printed off the entire service history / warranty work done on the car from new. It had never been to Lexus Sheffield but they share the same system as the Lexus Leicester dealership where my car had all of it's work done. Try your local dealership to see if they can shed any light on it's history failing that you can also contact Lexus UK and they can tell you which Lexus dealership originally sold the car so you should be able to then contact them and get at least it's first few years of service history etc....

Luckily mine came with it's service book and the only service not done by Lexus was this years 60k service which was done by Toyota Leicester so next best thing i suppose.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Dave.

[adzman77]

In the end, if you have no history, it isn't worth spending top dollar on a service now. For oil/Filter/plugs, do it yourself and save a bomb, if you really cant do it yourself then just go to a cheaper local garage. Good advise regarding the cam belt, but a quick look at it should give some clues at least, and is only a couple of bolts to get the top cover off on the cam. If it HPI'd ok, and you are happy with the price you paid with no history, then just relax and have fun in your new motor. Don't spoil the experience with worry.

Thanks for this, bear with me here are you saying I can do the cam belt myself? because I know its an expensive job, I suppose that also makes sense about the service as even though I do it now when I try to sell people will always be suspicious about the previous absence of SH.

Where do I start with cambelt etc?

The cambelt is do-able as a DIY job, but it is a big job and not for the novice I would say. What I meant was, if you just at the moment want to do oil/filters/plugs, then do them yourself and save a packet. If you want to tackle the cambelt, you will save a lot of money, although I'm not best placed to advise the procedure as I don't own an IS.

As far as inspecting the cambelt goes, that is a doddle, and just involves removing the top cover right at the front end of the engine. There are a couple of bolts, one either side of the cover i believe, undo them and the cover lifts off. You will see the cam pulleys with with belt running over the top of them. If it looks in good condition, then the urgency to replace it could be reduced. On some IS's on here, the cambelt was actually worn/shredded to half its normal width. If it was like that, then you would want to get a bit of a wriggle on to renew it.

Thanks alot man you have been a massive help your advice has been noted and will be implemented ASAP!!! I think I will go to a cheap garage to do the Cambelt.

[adzman77]

Dear All,

First off I am new to the forum so please go easy, I brought my first Lexus 2 days ago, 2000 IS200, when I went to see the car the guy told me that the car has no service history, normally I wouldn’t buy a car without FSH but I saw it and fell in love so brought it anyway plus it was a bargain.

The car is fine but is driving a bit rough so I am making an assumption it needs a service, I called lexus and they said because of the mileage (64,000) it needs a top service which will cost me £600.

So here is what I need help with

1. Where/ how do I get a new service book?

2. Is it worth getting this £600 service or shall I take it to a normal garage to do the “full service” (Times are hard)

3. Final thing just on a random point I would like it to get a bit more speed out of it and have read a few posts about remapping, any tips or advice.

Thanks in advance

When i bought my IS300 a couple of months ago i called in at Lexus Sheffield and they printed off the entire service history / warranty work done on the car from new. It had never been to Lexus Sheffield but they share the same system as the Lexus Leicester dealership where my car had all of it's work done. Try your local dealership to see if they can shed any light on it's history failing that you can also contact Lexus UK and they can tell you which Lexus dealership originally sold the car so you should be able to then contact them and get at least it's first few years of service history etc....

Luckily mine came with it's service book and the only service not done by Lexus was this years 60k service which was done by Toyota Leicester so next best thing i suppose.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Dave.

I shall call my local Lexus, I emailed the head office from the website but they probably wont respond so will give them a call,

Thanks again

[sprinter2012]

not specifically what your looking for but i found this DIRECT.GOV site that lets you type in your car registration and either your V5 document reference number OR MOT test number, and will give you the complete MOT history of your car, including advisory notes etc. and they dont charge you for it either. :)

[adzman77]

not specifically what your looking for but i found this DIRECT.GOV site that lets you type in your car registration and either your V5 document reference number OR MOT test number, and will give you the complete MOT history of your car, including advisory notes etc. and they dont charge you for it either. :)

I think it is helpful as at the moment I dont have anything

On another note I have been chasing up Lexus as advised above and am making progress seem like the car was last serviced by Lexus greenford in 2004, interesting, will follow the trail and let you know how I get on

[waveydavey]

On another note I have been chasing up Lexus as advised above and am making progress seem like the car was last serviced by Lexus greenford in 2004, interesting, will follow the trail and let you know how I get on

Glad you're getting somewhere with it. They do seem very willing to try and help provide history on a car as much as possible so hopefully you'll be able to get a lot of the gaps filled in. :winky:

Cheers

Dave.

[adzman77]

As far as inspecting the cambelt goes, that is a doddle, and just involves removing the top cover right at the front end of the engine. There are a couple of bolts, one either side of the cover i believe, undo them and the cover lifts off. You will see the cam pulleys with with belt running over the top of them. If it looks in good condition, then the urgency to replace it could be reduced. On some IS's on here, the cambelt was actually worn/shredded to half its normal width. If it was like that, then you would want to get a bit of a wriggle on to renew it.

Update thanks to tigerfish I had a look at the cambelt area and found a service sticker confirming the Timingbelt was replaced @ 54,000 mile in dec 2008 what a big load off my mind, now I just need to service it and I need to chase up as much SH as I can.

You lot have been a massive help

[TigerFish]

As far as inspecting the cambelt goes, that is a doddle, and just involves removing the top cover right at the front end of the engine. There are a couple of bolts, one either side of the cover i believe, undo them and the cover lifts off. You will see the cam pulleys with with belt running over the top of them. If it looks in good condition, then the urgency to replace it could be reduced. On some IS's on here, the cambelt was actually worn/shredded to half its normal width. If it was like that, then you would want to get a bit of a wriggle on to renew it.

Update thanks to tigerfish I had a look at the cambelt area and found a service sticker confirming the Timingbelt was replaced @ 54,000 mile in dec 2008 what a big load off my mind, now I just need to service it and I need to chase up as much SH as I can.

You lot have been a massive help

Good result. Happy motoring