Pot Hole Nightmare!

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Driving home from work tonight and BANG! Hit a massive pothole, covered by a puddle. Right in the middle if the road. I hit it drivers side!! I was only doing 45mph on a 60mph limit road as it was raining heavily and foggy. I Pulled in at an petrol station a few hundred yards away, that's where my good fortune ended.

Got out and saw straight away the back tyre completely flat! It wouldn't take any air so I thought I'd blown the tyre. So I went to work removing the back wheel. When I had the wheel off the tyre looked fine but after a minute or two I realised there was actually nothing wrong with the tyre and saw the that the wheel was buckled! What are they made of? Butter???

To top it all off yesterday I took the spare to the alloy wheel refurb place. I'm getting them to do 1 so I can see the results. Anyway bottom line is no spare!

I tried to bend the wheel back into shape with a hammer with some success. I bent it enough so that it took the correct PSI without leaking and fitted it back to the car. Checked the front tyre and it looked ok and hadnt lost any air.

So I proceeded to drive home at 30mph. It was the worst drive ever! I was experiencing some slight steering wheel wobble before but now it was really bad. I think I might have buckled the front wheel as well although obviously not as bad as the rear or damaged some suspension components or finished off the suspected failing ball joints.

All in all a pretty awful night. Gonna take the car to a local tyre place that's open Sunday's tomorrow (not s*it fit) to have a look for me and get it up on a ramp. My mate has a spare Aero wheel luckily and is lending me it to put on the car to replace the badly buckled wheel until mine comes back from the refurb.

Getting a bit fed up with the Lex now to be honest. It's just one thing after another! I'm jinxed with this car and I just may be wound up now but I'm so close to getting rid of it and buying an Audi S3 that's been up for sale at the bottom of my street for a month! It looked very tempting as I limped into my street just now.....

[petayV8]

I understand your frustration. I seem to have had more problems with my IS in 5 months than i have had with all my cars combined just niggles hear and there. I had my Focus for 2 years and all i ever did was service it. I guess its the pay off for having a semi luxury car... still nothing compared to ownership of a GS or LS.

About the pot hole I nearly did the same about 2 weeks ago, but luckily i saw the pot hole at the VERY last minute and swurved, i looked behind the the merc mimiced me! A bloody nuesence they are. My dad screwed up his entire suspension on his Passat because of a pot hole. Thing is you would have done the same in a S3 which also run slicks. I wouldnt mind running 16s on the lex regardless of how ******* it may look, quieter, robust and cheaper tyres. my dad took off his 18s on his ZT for the same reason for his 20 mile commute each day on a country A road.

Its a bummer youve got the Aeros, pricey to replace! well hope you dont leave us m8, never liked the S3 tbh, but its just because i dont like hatchbacks lol good cars though....
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[bluenose1940]

You've got the photo of the wheel, you now need to pop back to the location of the pothole and take a picture of it and submit a claim to the local council. Explain exactly what happened including the time and date.

There was a brilliant article in the Mail on Sunday a couple of weeks ago all about the amount that the councils are paying out in compensation for such damage.

I was going to keep the article for future reference and as help for fellow members who find themselves in this situation but unfortunately my wife had binned it.

Go for it!

[BarneyTT]

As Geoff said, make a claim. My wife did much the same to her then Ka, I went back took pictures of the offending hole, sent a letter to the council and to cut a long story short the clain for a new wheel and tyre was settled. It's hassle but worth it, and they repaired to bloody great pothole!

[Stuart Aspey]

Indeed. As the previous two posts have said, contact the council, get them to sort out the damage. I know the government are restricting the amount of money they are giving them, but they need to be carrying out the necessary work to make the roads safe, if they don't they should be paying out to repair the damaged vehicles.

Sorry to hear the news. I know you've had a couple of repairs now. Hopefully, there won't be anymore issues. But then again, what reg is the Audi?

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Thanks for the replies guys...

Yes I will indeed be taking a picture of the offending pot hole and I will be fighting this all the way. The car is in the garage now, getting a look at. Got my mates spare wheel so that's going on the car as well.

Going to try and get to WIM in Friday so Tony and his guys can have a good, thorough look at everything.

As regards to the Audi Stuart its on an 07 plate with 65k on the clock, full Audi service history. It needs four new tyres however and has no MOT. It's just about affordable for me and am giving it serious consideration.

[Stuart Aspey]

Do you know if it will need anything to get through the MOT? I think we all reach the point where we need to upgrade, amd a car that is costing more in repairs, becomes less financially viable than replacing it. If we could all run two cars, most of us would have a Lexus for please and something else as a daily driver. Few of us can afford to run a Lexus as a daily driver. . . . .

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

It just needs tyres for MOT, or so the bloke says.

Yeah I've got a big decision to make I think!

[matt-c]

So what has the IS cost you in terms of repairs and problems? Cos a buckled wheel can happen, and does happen, on any car; regardless of factory wheels, steels, or aftermarket alloys.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

I understand that Matt but I've just had more bad luck with this car than any other...

In the last year,

2 siezed callipers

Leaking power steering fluid hose leaking onto steering rack

Lower control arm suspension bushes

Leaky fuel injector causing the car to run on and throw up mis fire codes (took a week to diagnose this correctly)

O2 sensor

Brake fluid leak

Now considering the Lexus reliability I think that's a lot in the space of 12 months.

Not to mention cambelt change, 100k/10 year service, new aux belts, new Battery, 4 new tyres, 4 new brake discs, 4 new brake pads.

[matt-c]

It's unlucky it all came in a short period of time, but at the end of the day, the car is 12 years old. None of those items are unexpected or out of the ordinary. Sure, Lexus are known for building reliable cars, as are Toyota, but they can't all run forever without needing a part or two here and there!

[petayV8]

Yeah i was a bit worried going from a 10 year old car to a 13 year old, sorta a downgrade really... and wasnt sure if ide run into any problems. but the age has never overly bothered me, also because i only do 5 or 6k a year. Saying that the issues ive had have all been just wear and tear type stuff

12 years old sounds old, but in america its nothing. ppl are quite happily running cars from the 80s, 90s with 300k+ on the clock and this is the norm. Strange how it differs here. For example my wifes first car 6 years ago was a 89 Accord and ran it to 360k until the tranny packed in, then it wasnt worth the repair

[matt-c]

There's plenty of cars over here from the 80s and 90s. I think generally we don't clock up as many miles per car as that (300k) but my first 4 cars were all 80s, the next 3 all 90s and the IS is the first 00's car I've had.

Point is, regardless of mileage (to an extent) it's still 12 years old. Which means most of the parts on it are going to be 12 years old too. This means the bushes, nuts, bolts, suspension components, engine parts, etc etc. Chris' car has done nearly 4 full trips around the globe, so sooner or later, it's going to need parts replacing! There's nothing on his list of parts that seems out of the ordinary to me, and nothing that's major. It's not like it's needed new chassis rails, or wishbones, or a gearbox, or even a steering rack.

One of my Escort's needed a new engine, and that had "only" done 87k! I'd have been chuffed if it had only needed an injector, rather than a complete new engine!

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

I now it's nothing out of the ordinary Matt, but I've spent more on this car which is 12 years old than I ever did on my Nissan Primera (95 model owned in 2005) or my Nissan 300zx (91 model owned 2002-2003)

The only thing that ever went wrong with the 300ZX was the turbo's both went so I had to get rid but the Primera never had an issue in 13 months of motoring and i bought that with no service history. I ended up putting that Primera into the side of Dartford Tunnel and wrote it off....

:(

I've calmed down a bit now since last night. The car is back on the road albeit with a horrendous shake which comes through the steering wheel and floor at speeds above 50mph. I'm going to get Lexus Bristol to diagnose it for me on Friday and go from there.... I'm thinking maybe damaged the prop shaft or ball joints gone or wheel bearings??? At least If I pay Lexus for a diagnosis I'll know exactly what's wrong with it.

[matt-c]

Well, there you go, you just said it; you spent more on this IS than your ZX, but you didn't spend anything on the ZX cos you got rid, and the "only" thing that went wrong with it was BOTH the turbo's went - that's a pretty major failure! Slightly different league than an O2 sensor, a couple leaks and some calipers!

Primera was good, but could easily be luck. My little Rover was good as gold, and wouldn't have cost me a penny if one of the brake callipers hadn't seized. Just one of those things. On the other side, my last Escort didn't actually cost me that much (I did the discs n pads, and it needed some welding; it would have cost a lot more to get through the MOT's if they weren't "shady" ;) But had I fixed every other problem with it, it'd have cost me twice what the IS cost to buy in the first place! Things constantly breaking, bits fell off, and it had a habit of not even working (fuel pump had an intermittent wiring fault). But considering the car cost £280 and I was supposed to only keep it for 6 months, I reckon the 2 and a half years I had it wasn't bad. Right up to the point the engine seized thanks to a cracked block. That was a 1996 car with 101k on it. I also had a 1993 Escort saloon with about 95k on it, and that never cost me a penny to get through MOTs or in parts.

It's just cars....

Lets not talk about the '84 RS Turbo, '85 RS Turbo or '87 XR3i - they all cost me stupid amounts of money. But that's cos I couldn't leave them alone and modified the hell out of them ;)

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Yeah I know Matt, it's cars. I just prob expected more after buying one with a full Lexus history etc....

In regards to the ZX, yes both turbo's went but the point I was trying to make is I didn't get these little probs with those 2 cars. No sensors failures, no breaks seizing, no puddles of fluids under the car in the morning. I knew when I bought the ZX that it was 9 nearly 10 years old and I was aware that the turbos notoriously went around that age...

But yeah your right maybe I'm just feeling a bit sorry for myself lol!

My last car, an 08 Honda Accord was Superb, that never had a thing go wrong but it was a lot newer!

At the end of the day I've formed a stupid attachment to this bloody Lexus, and I'll guess I'll keep throwing my money at it because when all is said and done I still have a little smile when I walk towards it and I get compliments on how nice it looks all the time. Also when I meet other IS200 owners a lot say to me "wish mine looked that" :)

[matt-c]

I got the same attachment. I love it everytime I drive it; be it a short journey or long one!

[Raymond.]

Only just noticed this thread Chris. Bad luck, bad luck indeed.

You might drop on another Aero single wheel. You never know when luck turns...

I'd stick with it and mainly because you mentioned an Audi. They are not as good as they used to be, same for VW, BMW and Mercs.

It's a lovely looking car (should have been blue tho) so think twice before getting rid!

Thinking of selling mine just because I don't like the ride and interior. Absolutely love the look of the exterior. Timeless design. Looks like another 9.3 vert for me for a bit.

Good luck with the wheel drama. they might be able to repair it anyway! B)

[BenIS]

Yeah I know Matt, it's cars. I just prob expected more after buying one with a full Lexus history etc....

In regards to the ZX, yes both turbo's went but the point I was trying to make is I didn't get these little probs with those 2 cars. No sensors failures, no breaks seizing, no puddles of fluids under the car in the morning. I knew when I bought the ZX that it was 9 nearly 10 years old and I was aware that the turbos notoriously went around that age...

But yeah your right maybe I'm just feeling a bit sorry for myself lol!

My last car, an 08 Honda Accord was Superb, that never had a thing go wrong but it was a lot newer!

At the end of the day I've formed a stupid attachment to this bloody Lexus, and I'll guess I'll keep throwing my money at it because when all is said and done I still have a little smile when I walk towards it and I get compliments on how nice it looks all the time. Also when I meet other IS200 owners a lot say to me "wish mine looked that" :)

Thats what its all about mate. The compliments and the heads they turn driving through town. I get far too attatched to my cars and dont plan on ever selling my IS. Only other car I really want is an impreza sti but I will save up and have that as a weekend thrash etc. As for my lex, i will run it until the engine conks and then swap to a 2jz and carry on but with an even bigger smile on my face !

[Noreen is200]

Chris that looks messy. Shame you're having doubts about the Lexus.

Have you gone to a Lexus dealership before? Is there a fixed price on having a diagnostic test done?

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Yeah Ray it's been a rubbish couple of days, but I've calmed down a lot and totally forgot about the S3. Bit of a chav car innit! Lol... The wheel Refurbers who did my spare say they can sort out the buckled wheel so not too much drama. And you're right I wish it was blue! :)

Ben, I know mate. It's the best looking car I've ever owned and the car that's given me most pleasure if I'm honest. So I'm going to get it fixed up.

Noreen, I was having doubts but they were while I was angry. I have had a few issues with this car, more than I anticipated but at the end of the day it's a lovely car!

Yes I have plenty of experience with Lexus dealers and am known to Lexus Bristol. They always answer the phone greeting me with my name and I get on well with Nigel the service manager. He has a blue IS200. Lexus Bristol did my cambelt, aux belts, 100k service and I bought 2 new front brake callipers from them and some trim when a fence fell on my car (see how I think I'm jinxed with the Lex?)

My car is also going back to Lexus on Friday to have a good look over after my incident. The car is driving with a steering wheel wobble and a vibration through my seat so I think I've done more damage. And no it's nothing simple and basic like wheel balancing. :(

A diagnostic is about £60 at Lexus but they've waved that fee if I then have the subsequent work done there. I also bought a spare key from them and they coded it for free as a goodwill gesture as I'd put a lot of buismess their way.

[Noreen is200]

Chris, it sure is a great car. Have always wanted a Lexus as a teen and finally after a corolla, fiesta, yaris (in that order) I now have one!

Its good to see you now have hope! :D

How much did they charge to replace the front 2 calipers because I think that's the issue with mine. Unfortunately I'm based in herts so my closest dealership is in Hatfield..:S

[petayV8]

It really is stressful when this stuff happens, and your driving along constantly in worry, whats going to happen next and forget about just relaxing and enjoying the car. Ive been there, but after a few weeks its all forgettable

[The Transporter]

Looks like another 9.3 vert for me for a bit.

Ray, do you think that you will be able to fit me in to have my hair styled...... :winky:

[Raymond.]

Looks like another 9.3 vert for me for a bit.

Ray, do you think that you will be able to fit me in to have my hair styled...... :winky:

Haha and feck off!

Boiler seems to behave OK BTW