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Those of you following the 'Safety Recall' topic will have noticed that 'corroded rear discs' is a recurring theme in the visual safety inspection report. In my own case, they said 'Urgently required - rear calipers seized, discs corroded, pads worn - replacement estimate £530' So when I got home I checked myself and agreed that the discs and pads needed replacement but there was absolutely nothing wrong with the calipers - sliders were smooth and free and the piston moved in and out easily. I ordered these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310945970419?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EBC-UltiMAX-Rear-Brake-Pads-for-LEXUS-IS250-2-5-2005-/311494286662?hash=item4886819d46:g:mxcAAOSwA4dWNfkY Total cost £54.64. Make sure you order the correct discs and pads - these are solid discs - most IS models 2007- use vented rear discs. And 2013- pads are different (and cheaper). Here's the work: Remove the wheel, then remove the guide pin retention spring - you can see that peeking out to the right of the outer pad. It locates in holes in the pins. http://tinyurl.com/ho4bwkn Now remove the pins - mine were quite well stuck and needed some gentle tapping to extract them, recover the anti-squeal spring and winkle the pads out. They come out fairly easily but you may need to use a screwdriver in their holes to lever them out a little at a time. The inner pad (right) shows the effect of corrosion on the disc - it has worn away the pad on both outer and inner edges http://tinyurl.com/hwos25n Now remove the top caliper support pin (/bolt) and rotate the caliper out of the way of the disc. Note that you need to ensure that both the bottom pin and top pin are clean and greased prior to reassembly. The trickiest part of the whole operation is locating and turning the parking brake adjuster - actually, because this brake is not used when the vehicle is moving (much!) the shoe linings should not be worn and there should be no significant lip on the bell, so you can usually remove the disc without backing off the adjuster. To remove the disc screw a M8 bolt into the threaded holes provided (if it won't just pull off by hand). http://tinyurl.com/za28lsc Now clean up the parking brake shoes etc with brake cleaner. You can see the adjuster and how it works. The bottom fork has a pin which turns freely in the body and the top fork is threaded into the body. The adjuster is located at the 3 o'clock position on the left hand side (nearside) and at 9 o'clock on the right (offside). You will need to adjust the parking brake at the end of the job - the adjuster is a bit to the outside of the bell relative to the hole and you turn the notched wheel with a screwdriver towards the front of the car (on both sides - the right hand adjuster has a left hand thread) to expand the shoes and towards the back to contract them. http://tinyurl.com/zvswmvy Comparison of the old and new discs - corrosion has set in from both the inner and outer edges of the back face of the old disc. Why this happens is beyond me - you would think that as the inner pad is in contact with the caliper piston, it at least would be pressed against the disc and keep it clean. But it doesn't - and it happens with most cars, that the inner disc face suffers more than the outer. When inspecting brakes you need to remove the pads and take a good look at the inner disc face! http://tinyurl.com/jdxd5wh Nothing much wrong with the outer disc face. http://tinyurl.com/gottv2x Reassemble with the new discs and pads and adjust the parking brake as above. You screw up the adjuster until the disc is locked, then back off 7 clicks and check the footbrake (/handbrake) operation - it should go down 7-9 clicks) There are two shims on each pad and the inner one should be coated with brake or copper grease on both sides. You should check the run out of the disc with a dial indicator, but I must admit to just doing a visual check that the disc was running true. (I always check front discs with a dial indicator though) And job's a good'un! http://tinyurl.com/zw5kx8g Although I use Redstuff pads on the front, I reckon that Ultimax pads are OK on the rear because the rear brakes don't do much and there's really no danger of fade. They probably will wear more quickly than normal as Redstuff need higher pedal pressures, but Redstuff rear pads are a silly price. Overall, this is an easy job which should take no more than 30 minutes per side, even with time for cleaning the caliper etc.. It took me quite a while as I took the opportunity to power wash the underside of the car and change the brake fluid as well.

Hi guys, Over what was 2 days we (niece and I) fitted a new timing belt, water pump and various pulley wheels, armed with a youtube video on my phone a load of tools (not enough) and bags of can do attitude we started on bank holiday weekend just gone. Now in hindsight maybe just maybe saturday on a bank holiday weekend might of not been the best idea. We started taking everything off and were happy enough putting everything into neat little piles, until we hit the main pulley wheel I had thought about buying an air wrench but then I would need a compressor and would need to drive it all up to my mother in laws to do the job (not so nice a job if done roadside in london I thought) so an electric wrench was on the cards. I did a bit of research and the clarkee one looked good so I bought it, bah i'm rambling. The problem was the body off the wrench is was and always will be too long to fit between the bolt and the aircon rad thingy so I took the radiator off (don't worry there was no gas in there as if it's a ls430 and what kind of self respecting 430 has gas in the aircon and lovely vent holes in the pipes ever so conveniently placed behind the fuel tank) gained a few inches but a few was not enough as there is a metal strut running right slap bang in the middle right at the spot I needed. (small amount of subdued running around screaming happened). I then started to look about in my in-laws garage and garden so something to use for the bump start method (all the shops being closed, this may have been the moment I used the hindsight thing. very useful that). Luckily I found some scrap garden chair they were not really using at the time, ok my wife may have been sat on it but there was others but I cut that up and used it with my breaker bar eyes closed I turned the key and as if by magic the bolt was loose. (Insert small amount of victory dancing) Everything kinda went ok until we needed to tighten up that very same bolt (the compressor was looking like a mighty good buy now). It was late so i left it alone I had to work out some way of holding the pulley still (no i didn't buy the tool and yes i'm an idiot). Next day I am dragged to a car boot sale where I found a tile breaker for 50 whole penny's which I drilled apart then combined with a stick and 3 bolts to make something to hold the pulley still. It only bloody worked didn't it. Everything else got put back together and is working like a dream (insert much larger victory dance). To be honest without this forum I don't think I would have tried it, and ok it was very trying in places but only because I didn't have all the tools I needed so thank you everyone for this forum and all your posts.

Hi Guys, Great forum and comment, Well I was going to go away from Lexus having had in order. An IS200, IS300, IS250, IS250 Sport, then an IS250F Sport, because I didn't really like the drive of the hybrid, then I drove the 200T WOW! that changed my mind. I have only had two test drives but it is much more powerful than the 250 and handles far better, seem Lexus have the Centre of Gravity spot on? Anyway loved it so much... Yes you guessed it Lexus number 6 arrives on Friday IS200T FSport in White :) will let you know how I get on Col

Prior to purchasing my car I did see the "blisters" in the plastic chromed trim of the driver's door lower moulding and was surprised to see it nevertheless. A minor defect and reminded me of my teenage years fighting acne. All the other chromed plastic trims in the door/wing mouldings were perfect but for some reason the chrome plating had lifted and bubbled. Pin holes I thought and moisture getting in behind the chromed trim. I had agreed the price of £14000 with Lexus of Carlisle who had already carried out a 60K service, fitted new discs and pads front and rear, 3 new tyres and given it their 12 month Lexus used car warranty within that price. They said they couldn't spend any more money on the car prior to sale as the margin on the car made it just profitable for them to retail the car. I accepted their argument and ultimately went to my local dealer in Leeds to price a new moulding hoping the chromed bit might be separate. Alas no, the moulding was a one piece part and is £300 incl vat. After picking myself up off the floor I went home and got straight onto E bay. Found one in the USA in black and bought it for £42 including shipping. No import duty or extra taxes so got a real bargain. I'm just about to have it painted in Siena red after wet sanding some light scratches out of the black paintwork. It's obvious now that the main body of the door moulding is painted prior to the fitting of the chromed trim and the small lugs holding it all together are fused with a heat gun or hot iron, hence not being able to buy the chromed section separately. Not sure if this problem is a common fault or just a one off. Anyway that's just about the last job I needed to do to this lovely car. You can just make out the bubbling effect in the chrome compared to the second hand part. Moreover I'm able to press the bubbled area and they move about suggesting moisture is trapped under the chrome strip.

Hi ,if you wish to use the supplied pump on its own ,you can dismantle it and remove the bottle of sealant .I have done it with mine, the 2 halves of the plastic casing are held together with 10 small self tapping screws ;the bottle can be removed then the inlet and outlet hoses joined with a short length of metal pipe with two small jubilee clips ,and the whole thing fastened back together without the bottle ,its a bit of a faff but only took me 1/2 hour + bits from my junk box . For peace of mind on continental trips I have bought a spare alloy off E bay ,it takes up a lot of the boot space but is not a problem as there are only 2 of us and I can put this in the car when the hood is down Dave

I did all the servicing on my Mark 1 which I had for 16 years did'nt make one jot of difference in the service records as the vehicle was scrapped the year after I sold it .The Mark 4 I have now has three Lexus dealership stamps in the service record one for pre-delivery and one free 500 mile and one for annual service whilst they owned it.The previous owner to me had it serviced at an independent but he only put 9k on it in 13 years .I have serviced it twice in four years and have put 16k on it so there are three entries in the service record for Lexus two for me and thats it on a eighteen year old car with 33k on it . Service bills at a minimum and car as good as new, simples.

Bought for a couple of reasons but one was as a commuter, I do a lot of miles and wanted to enjoy them. Car bought in February, serviced immediately and is due for its next service in less than 1000 miles. That'll be 10k in 5 months. Makes me smile every mile...

Success, hold down memory buttons 1 and 2 together this clears the old memory and allows you to set new position.e

35 will lead to a 1mph error which isnt too bad. The main problem is, the ride height will go down by almost 1cm and considering the CT is already pretty low and can scrape the door on high kerbs as well as the front fascia, it'll mean OP will have to be VERY careful. Of course, if this is not too much of an issue then thats fine. 40 is better. Error is too small to notice and the ride height gain will be 2mm which is hardly anything and unnoticeable. OP if you are keeping the same width wheels (7J), go for ET35, itll push it out and fill the gap. Current wheels are ET45. The main issue is going to be the sidewall - itll look like this: In other words, the sidewall is going to be 215 x 0.4 (aspect ratio) = 86mm 86mm/2 = 43mm!!

I was running a Yaris 1.4d4d as my daily drive and F was a weekend toy. It wasnt because of the mileage going, simply because after a hard week of graft at work i wanted to get into a machine that would. . . Lets say put a smile on my face. All my sports cars have been weekend or special occasion drives. I think if i drove them daily id get bored very quick (thats just me).

So, great day at Tuner Fest South today at Brands Hatch. Even more so after I was announced 'Car of the show' in the Kleers show 'n' shine!! Here's some photos I took. And I saved arguably the best photo till last!

I personally think main dealer skills are massively over-rated and would much prefer my car was looked after and serviced by a competent and trusted independent mechanic. I think when your car is new it is good to have it serviced by a main dealer because of your warranty but when it is out of warranty I wouldn't entertain a main dealer. My experience of dealing with Lexus Cheltenham/Swindon in the past doesn't fill me with confidence-I asked both branches for a price to change the automatic transmission fluid on my car-both said it is a sealed unit and cannot be changed?! I took it to an automatic transmission specialist who changed the fluid. When my dash lights started going out ( a common fault) I was quoted a stupid price (£1000+) by lexus to replace the whole unit as they said it couldn't be repaired-yet I had it repaired for about £50(simply replacing a few diodes) and it is still working perfectly 3/4 years later. Lexus Cheltenham were also responsible for wrongly diagnosing a gearbox fault on a LS430 as being a wheel bearing noise-resulting in the gearbox totally failing. I have heard it said and I agree that main dealers don't employ mechanics, they employ "fitters"-as in that they are capable/willing to fit new parts but unable/unwilling to try and "repair" your car. Most independent mechanics have to have the skill to repair your car whereas main dealers will just replace parts without any concern for the cost. When I have my air con serviced/topped up I take it to an specialist as to me they are much more skilled than a main dealer is. My other car is a 1991 Cadillac and I regularly speak to a guy in USA who was the foreman of a cadillac dealership for a number of years before leaving and going independent and he is always advising people who have problems with their cadillacs to never ever go to a main dealer but go to a competent local garage who will most times be more capable of repairing your car and at a sensible price. I've had my Lexus 8 years now and I don't think Lexus could service it any better than my independent garage has in all this time??

I use this kind of puck. eBay item number: 171804313683