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Don't let that get to you, I can just picture him now after the test drive.. .... "great car but it's Fookin silver"...

I made my own using an empty small propane bottle, a 12 volt solenoid, a grease gun flexible hoes, a brass "T" piece, and made my own timer. John.

On the GS300 there was a recall for this because on a number of cars the vibration from the timing sprockets at startup was enough to undo the four bolts holding the front plate one or more of the bolts falling into the timing chain. Lexus investigated this, and found that with the GS300 having a normal type starter motor the startup speed was lower extending the duration, and severity of the vibration enough to loosen the bolts. The recall replaced the timing sprockets with an updated design. On the hybrid GS450H because of the high speed of the transmission motor starter did not suffer the bolts coming loose so did not recall these. There has however been one reported incident of this happening on a GS450H here on LOC. There obviously must have been more than this one isolated case here in the UK, and other countries. My car suffers from this noise at cold startup or if the car has been standing long enough for the oil to drain out of the sprockets. I checked both the valve and the filters, but both were clean. I did not wish to dismantle the cam timing mechanism as this is a long job. Fitting a pre-lube system has removed the noise completely, and was very easy. It also has the advantage of reducing engine ware because oil pressure is there before anything begins to move in the engine at startup. John.

@emjay82 Yes I know what you mean the parallel for me was @Mark G test drove my car before I bought it 😳 🐀

I've not long returned from my annual trip to Scotland and covered 1887 miles in 10 days. I had no problems with seat comfort but when I first got the car it took a fair bit of time to get all the adjustments done - height, rake, lumber support and the steering wheel. One of the main things I found was the steering wheel adjustment to suit the seat adjustments.

Oh no, really.....I need to go out and get one quick.......................

Again, good for you. And without sounding too precious, especially as you're carrying children. The expense is always extremely painful but worth it for the peace of mind I think.

@Mark G And you won’t even have to change the exhaust- result ! 🐀

Really like the GS-F, in blue of course, I can see myself in one of those............................

Was this measured on an engine dyno or a chassis dyno? The only true way to measure engine BHP is on an engine dyno, anything else is an estimate, and those estimates are a lot less accurate when the car has an autobox like the IS-F.

John@Britprius, which pre lube system did you use? I had a very quick scan yesterday and mainly found suppliers in the US.

You may need to take the centre console out and inspect for any extra wiring left in place and see if it can be removed . sounds a big job but it’s not ....lift centre glove box lid get fingers under the heated seat control lift out and unplug, then get fingers under the end of the center console and lift up, have a look for and wiring that doesn’t look original .

There are two lines of thought with this query. Firstly, the original diagnosis - cam gear wear. IMHO, this is very unlikely unless the car has done a stratospheric mileage and not been maintained properly, especially after the Lexus SH. I don't know about it being common - not in the UK it's not. It may be in the USA - for some reason different problems beset cars there - not sure why - different climate, driving conditions, servicing, oil - who knows? But often different problems get prominence compared with UK. Now I don't want to be rude and I appreciate that you're concerned about the noise and have the opportunity to reject the car. BTW - fixing it, if it is cam gear wear, will cost way more than the car is worth (at least to get it done by a Lexus dealer and I'm not sure that I would entrust a V6 engine strip to any old garage). But I'm afraid, other things being equal, the cam gear diagnosis is automotive hypochondria. The noise is much, much more likely to be hydraulic valve lifter chatter - it is very common on all cars with hydraulic tappets simply because oil changes are too infrequent when carried out according to manufacturer's intervals - those intervals are geared to fleet maintenance costs over a limited mileage (less than 100K miles). Your choice whether to reject the car - otherwise proceed on the basis of doing some oil flushes and oil regime procedures as Linas says. Lexus do approve the use of 0W-20 oil on all IS250 engines but it's pretty damned expensive and probably not necessary, but it might clear the noise more quickly.

I guess that the reason why the dealers have "never heard of that as the cause" is because intermediate shaft replacement costs £700 and the bolt I replaced cost me nothing. However, my 2011 CT had a low tensile bolt in it which i replaced with a high tensile bolt. There hasn't been a clunk since. If you kneel by the side of the car with the drivers door open, you can feel the top joint between the steering column and the top clamp of the intermediate shaft without having to remove any covers , or wires etc. If you subsequently sit in the car and turn the shaft to the right position, you can gain access to remove the bolt and replace it with another and torque it up. My £700 saving fix took me 15 minutes using simple tools. Most of those minutes were spent finding a new bolt of suitable size, length and tensile rating ( head stamped 8.8 as opposed to original bolt not stamped at all) The car has done 70000 now and still has no knocking from the intermediate shaft. The choice is yours. I cant see any modern independant mechanic wanting to own up to such a simple fix when there's the potential for a week or two's wages in the balance but there again, I really don't trust modern day fitters anyway. 50% of what I have been told about my Lexus by professionals isn't strictly correct but does somewhat coincidentally err on the side of profit.

well, just approaching 200k miles and sheer bliss still Malc

It is my destiny to make it onto such a list

Or maybe an analogue version using a peg and a piece of card just like I did in my youth with my bike!

Sorry to all the 460 owners on here ho have had good experiences....but this is my Story.....and nothing has changed....I am looking for another 400 mk3...... Apologies also to those who remember reading this before. I had my 400 MK3 for 6 years and it had 120,000 on when I bought it....I did another 90,000 of the happiest motoring I had ever experienced in 30 odd years of driving... The main reason I ended up going for a 460 was a bit of rust on the 400....around the arches and the windscreen....I panicked a bit over nothing....if I had the chance again....and know what I know now...I would have spent as much as it cost treat the 400 to a full Top Notch respray....and still own the best car I have ever owned. Fact is..... a friend of mine has always admired the car....and when I was set on a 460 I gave it to him as a gift. the 460...was a one owner car with 9,000 miles on....I did not even test drive it....went on the train from Cumberland to Turriff....near Aberdeen....and drove it back through the night... I knew in the first mile I had made a mistake....but I thought wait a minute....this is a 460...ten years younger than my old 400....with only 9000 miles on....it MUST be Me. We set off for Venice a few days later....drove there non stop...took 26 hours from Cumberland....and every mile was full of thoughts of what a pleasure this would be in the old 400....and what a poor experience it was in this 460....BUT I still ...over the next year or so....tried to convince myself I was mistaken. What I didnt like about the 460 : Brakes are almost impossible to judge....like you have no real connection to them....terrible. Steering was a mystery....some days it was OK ish...other days it had a a mind of its own....over one bridge I regularly crossed ...it would dart around as if the Mysterons were driving it ! The steering also felt like an old car with worn out Track Control arms ....worn ball joints etc....wandered around over road irregularities....awful sensation through the steering wheel. Cruise control was so bad I gave up using it...and oh boy did I try to master it....but it mastered ME in the end....far too complicated for its own good.....slightest bit of dirt on the Radar in the badge and it would tell you on the dash that it was not available to use anyway.....is someone washed their windscreen if front of you it would say Not Available to use. When washing the windscreen with a hose.....water would pour out of the side winkers on the wings...Lexus Carlisle said it was normal. ? Wind noise around mirrors.....better if you put the window DOWN a few mm ?.... I did the JMc Raney fix that is on the Net.....and took a Caulking gun to the mirror mounting plates......I remember thinking....what am I doing....this car was nearly £70.000 New......it didn't really help...but tried to "believe" it did.....for my own peace of mind. Tyre noise is a given....and was expected with the quite frankly "Stupid" on a car like this ....low profiles rubber.... Engine lacked low down torque....needed to get it revving to make progress...again....in a car like this...Stupid IMO. Far too many gears....always hunting around... And Mark Levinson my arse....the 400 Stereo was better too. But I remember there was someone on here who was a disappointed as me....and it was a relief....I thought I had imagined the whole thing. Things I didn't like about the 400 MK3.....can't open the boot with the engine running.....that was annoying....but that's IT. Again..... just my opinion.....but that 400... is one of.....if not The Best Car ever made.....and to think you can waft around in one... for less than the price of one years depreciation on any new car on the market....well....quite frankly.....if you don't have one....your Crackers..... err...hang on....I have not got one right now.....excuse ?...need a Jeep for the muddy Hounds to jump in the back of. At this point I must again apologise to anyone who is enjoying their 460....I am not here to upset anyone... Things I liked on the 460....the looks....it is a Great looking car....with a great looking interior.....and the rear view camera was a Godsend. Sorry for long post lads....but hey lads......who else would listen ? ?

I've not long returned from my annual trip to Scotland covering 1887 miles in 10 days. The trip from Leeds to Aviemore return was mainly motorway/dual carriageway to just north of Perth. The remainder of the journeys covered were class A and B roads with many miles of single track roads with passing places and also some pretty hairy inclines! From filling the tank to the brim at the start and end of the complete journey the NX returned 41.3 to the gallon. I'm quite happy with that figure. Most of the journeys were in "normal" mode with "sport" mode used for some of the steep climbs.

@Mark G Now as and when you are ready I have a list of pictures and videos of Blue ones you may not want to drop your dollars on 😂 🐀

Nice job, the car looks brilliant. I do like the protection strips. They don't look right on some cars but on the NX they look good.

Customer demand to switch it off? Seems like a backward step to me. They could have given you the option to switch it on/off. That would keep everyone happy.

A subject for separate posting perhaps, but you're right. Me, I have cul-de-sac off-street space AND a garage...da-dah! (And lovely view across Avon valley to fields.......)

A little off course again, of course! But never coarse-a man of refinement and taste!

@mike m I heard they were going to discontinue the blue due to poor sales........ cough.......cough.....😏 🐀

Did someone mention Blue . .

I think they look quite nice on the NX.

Careful, gents. The rate the GSF’s been selling, there won’t be enough to go round!!

Excellent. VSC Off aka @Rusty Crobar commute mode

True but couple of jobs need doing. Sat nav screen blank, rad leak , steering column adjusting motor went. She needs tyres and motor tax (motor tax in ireland aint cheap) plus when you get the bug to change its hard to shake it off.

If you want to clean it you need something like a toothbrush to get underneath but I never did this in fear of damaging the paint. They annoyed me and I found it a genuine PITA to clean them as much as possible so just removed them - looks much cleaner IMO And no stone chips on this area after 4 years by the way - Im very very skeptical about this little piece of PPF - the place that really needs PPF is probably the front bumper than this area. Additionally, this particular car was bought from Lexus Chester - cant complain with the service I got, and the deal on the vehicle too.

Why change? It's not compulsory to keep moving on. You might regret it. if your car is running well, stick.

Thanks guys, that’s it working fine now, thought it must of been something else as the same was happening with the spare key, changed batteries in both keys and both are locking and unlocking the car fine now! Dippy Debbie strikes again lol cheeers again

I would second that piece of advice, low fob batteries do strange things.

I would be looking at replacing the battery in the key fob as the first course of action, do you have another key fob to try and see if that works properly?

Spot on @Fsport Mind you, even though it may look a bit boring it is still more interesting than either the VW Golf or Audi A3.

This is not a particularly serious problem and it won't raise a fault code. It is annoying and a bit worrying though. It is due to the hydraulic valve lifters (tappets) being bunged up due to insufficiently frequent oil changes - Lexus service interval is 10K miles and oil needs to be changed more frequently - preferably 5K mile intervals. No point using a dealer for a 9 year old car. Go to a trustworthy indy and get them to change the oil to a good quality fully synthetic 5W-30 (I use Dexos2) and use an oil flush additive at every oil change. The noise will eventually get less and go away altogether, but don't expect instant results.

at all the garages i've worked at the mechanics always agreed with this. they said that one thing people don't think of when letting their car warm up(engine), is that when they then pull away, is that nothing else is at a similar temp, most importantly the gearbox. a little mechanical sympathy for the 1st part of the drive is a much more effective way of warming the engine and gearbox

Haha! Anyone heard of irony?! But to answer the original question - it's better to go straight away - that warms the engine up more quickly, which is better. An IS250 engine will take a long time to warm up at idle with 10 litres of coolant. But drive gently until the engine has at least started to warm up according to the temperature gauge - use light throttle and keep the revs down. You may have noticed that the auto box doesn't use 6th gear until it too has warmed up.

No, letting it warm up for 15 minutes is not something I've ever heard of before. Is that what you do with yours? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think It will depend on the make that has been fitted. The only way to tell is to try them out. As has been mentioned they are a dealer fit rather than a standard system, so the operation could vary. Let us know how you get on.

Hello and welcome to the LOC. Generally when the 12 volt battery is replaced the engine ECU is reset and then it needs time to recalibrate itself, how many miles have you covered since the battery was replaced as it does take a little time.

Doh, sorry - just realised that I didn't include the link to the previous topic

From my own experience of having lived in Germany for 9 years: Together with the warm coat: wellies or walking boots, gloves and hat. A soft brush (the type you get with a dustpan). Much better than a scraper for removing snow. Torch and spare batteries. Spare phone charger (I recommend Anker ones, they're good). A bag of salt or grit. (Sprouts with no salt taste foul) Don't over-inflate your tyres: you want as much contact with the road as safely possible. A cloth of sorts or tissues to keep you lights clean back and front. You want to see, but more to the point you want to be seen. When you park up, stick you wipers up so they don't stick to the glass Lubricate the door rubber seals with silicone. A flask. With schnapps. (Coffee will eventually get cold!) One thing we used to do - and I don't know if you can do that with a Lexus or a car with key less ignition, was to start the car, lock it with the spare key, and go and have breakfast. The car would be nice and warm by the time you'd be ready to go :-)))

Yes, I agree. I swapped to the Bosch and regretted it ever since, although they work fine on my the car. Will be going back to the Denso ones.

Phil: your post is a summary of the reasons why many owners remain loyal after buying their first Lexus. My current Lexus is the sixth I have owned in seventeen years whereas my previous eleven cars, company ones for the most part but all of them personally chosen by me over a period of twenty-five years or so, consisted of seven different marques. Although I admit to having become lazier and more set on my ways than I once was, my loyalty to Lexus rests mainly on a continuing tendency to tick customer satisfaction boxes far more emphatically than I ever did with BMW, Audi, Jaguar and other producers of "executive saloons", my only big regret being that for one reason or another I have never owned an MB or had use of one other than as a short-term hire. Certainly, where I would once never have chosen a car without first testing several alternatives, I have latterly gone straight to my Lexus dealer armed only with a few on-paper price comparisons to help negotiations but confident in the knowledge that I will get a good deal for a good car supported by good service. Maybe I have been lucky, but I have experienced none of the major reliability- or dealer-related problems occasionally described on this and other LOC Forums. I am aware, of course, that quality and reliability gaps between competitors have narrowed over the years, as have prices, and that I may therefore have missed out on a lot of great alternatives by sticking with Lexus. On the other hand, when I continue to see good reviews for competitors alongside poor or tepid ones for Lexus, and knowing from my own experience that many of the latter are rubbish or, to put it more kindly, based on performance comparisons that have little or nothing to do with the practicalities of everyday motoring, my degree of loyalty tends to increase rather than diminish.

Welcome to the enlightened minority.

Hi Guys My car, fingers crossed, may now be sorted at last, very early days yet but thought I would share. This week, as my MOT is due at end of Sept anyway and I knew it would be a fail because of the steering wheel wobble under braking, which over the last 6 months has got progressively worse, even at 30mph. I have now had the car looked at by my local garage who work on all car types, and which is a different place to where I used to take the car previously, which was an Independent Lexus outfit! First thing they did was take it for an MOT and guess what it failed, which we knew it would, but they wanted to make sure there was no other work needed for the MOT before starting work on investigating the wobble. "Front brake excessively fluctuating" was all the MOT station put, nothing else. Anyway, I asked them to check over the whole front end suspension, bearings and braking system, including checking the run out of the discs while on the hub. Findings for the run out were both sides were way out, one side read 6 thousandths of an inch and the other 4 thousandths. They called to say the discs were warped and they would need replacing, but they knew from what I had told them they needed to carry on checking for what the root cause of the wobble issue was, as they agreed with me that it was probably suspension related and not just the discs / brakes, as they had had previous experience of a similar problem on BMW's many many years ago, which they identified as suspension bushes. Got the car back today after 3 days in garage with new MOT and wobble cured. They found the bushes on both front suspension tie rods had gone, proper split, however they had to replace the complete rods as the bushes are not available separately apparently, they spoke to Lexus Milton Keynes who confirmed this. Next challenge was actually finding the parts, Lexus / Toyota don't stock and lead time was going to be about 4 days to order in. However my garage did eventually manage to find a set with another parts supplier who had a pair in stock which had been sitting on their shelves for a few years, they were ordered in for a client who then never purchased them. I attach some piccies of the culprit... along with schematic of the front axle arm and steering knuckle. the circled part is what has been replaced. To cut a long story short, I have also had fitted new front discs (tolerance now both sides is 0.001), new pads, 2 new front tyres Continentals (as one was near the limit), and the tracking done as well which was also a bit out. Car is a real pleasure to drive now, so I am hoping that at last the problem is finally resolved, only time will tell so I will post again when I have done some miles. Hope this info may be of some use to everyone else, at least it is another are to look at in finding faults on your own cars. Best Damo