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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............................

Stolen from Bluesman on other post, but worth starting? " The only time electric cars will be a serious mode of transport( this is just my opinion) is if you can charge them up wirelessly. Something the battery car lot seem to have forgotten What happens to all the cars that are plugged into their charging points and late one night along comes little Johnny, drunk and as high as a kite with his mates out come all the charging cables. If you have a nice private drive with gates or garage then you will be OK but for huge numbers of people who live in the inner towns and cities, you won't have a chance in hell of the electric car succeeding." Not to mention all the other related topics such as ...Cost. Scarce supply of rare metals.....the comment I read that having only two cars in a street plugged in would cause voltage drop.....so infrastructure needs expensive upgrade (more Windmills! Yippee). And, taking Blues' point, if they need contactless charging, that's even MORE costly! Imagine great huge plates set into the street. No, it's back to walking with only the rich owning cars! Though I guess the possible answer to the Urban street hassle is that folk need reliable bus services? And no car expense.

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.

Taken from Autocar The brand is offering £3500 off the CT or IS, or £4000 off the NX and RX SUVs when a petrol or diesel model of any brand registered before the end of 2009 is traded in. The traded-in car must have been registered to the current owner for more than six months.

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.

I would double on what @johnatg said. What I tend to do myself is to let the car idle for 10-15s (seconds not minutes), so that it can circulate the oil on things like valve lifters etc. before pulling away. Then drive rather carefully until engine gets to optimal temp... if I can.

isn't this a reason why Toyota are thinking that Hydrogen Power will be their future for cars ............ the trial 80 taxis in London just on HP ( hahahahaha ..........not sauce nor batteries nor baked beans ( wind/fart power ) BUT hydrogen power ) Malc

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

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.

I think some pictures or, preferably a video guide, would be useful information if anyone felt able to oblige

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.

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.......)

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

All done. Four new Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres, plus the kerbed alloy refurbished. Total bill £709.92. Apart from a minor grumble about not returning my car when agreed and nearly causing me to not collect my offspring in time, it was very good service from Lexus Cambridge. I am MUCH happier not having budget tyres on the car, from both a safety and an aesthetic perspective. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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.

Try one of the 'Tar Remover' products. They may work.

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 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.

Mine just had front dealer fit ones, I guess because the rear was covered by the reversing camera. There was a small switch fitted under and to the left of the steering wheel to switch them off. There was no link to the computer.

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

That Tesla sounded Epic... Said no one... ever ;-) I was having a chat to my next door neighbour who is buying a Model S (He had a Prius) and I mentioned the noise to him. I likened it to comparing ACDC with those pipes you hang in the garden that make an odd noise when the wind blows (ISF being ACDC in case you were wondering) I then noticed he had a hearing aid. Which explains why I always hear his wife shouting at him. Mind you... I don't have a hearing aid and my wife shouts at me so not sure I have any logic to go on here.

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.

It is a good idea to disable the function - they do get frozen up especially if its rained before. The PO40 feature is a good piece of kit (I have it on mine) but consider its an optional fitted component - not specifically designed by Lexus as the designer of the mirror. Theres nothing wrong with the PO40 kit at all and works great but there would have been no consideration built in to the mirror functionality at the manufacturing stage for this as it was not an installed item as such by Lexus. If you strip the mirrors down you will see how they can be damaged - there are plastic cogs in there which control the movement, especially the mirror movement, if they struggle to move it they will sheer off or wear quickly if they are straining to move. I replaced one of my motors and cogs and had presumed this was what had happened as it makes sense. If its icy then turn the mirror heaters on and pour cold water over them to free before use

I've driven a few IS300h's as courtesy cars. With regards to performance in every day use it feels no different than the GS. 0 to 60 times are irrelevant in my mind unless you plan on maxing it every time you pull away. Where I live you'd probably end up rearing someone! The GS is generally more refined which suits me fine.

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.

So once it was back in the garage i got it up on the stands ready to remove the gearbox. The power goals i have in mind would blow the standard tranny to pieces so the best option for me and what i want it for was to convert to manual transmission. This modification over in "merica" is very comon amongst the IS comunity, this is where i have got all my research, plans and ideas from. The best choice would be the v160 from mk4 supra but these are very rare and eye watering in price!! Other option was to used the cd009 from the nissan 350z with and adaptor plate but i wanted to keep this original with a toyota transmission. So this led me to use the r154 found in jzx10, chaser, mk3 supra....... list goes on. Very robust, proven to take big power, bit clonky and noisey but its good for the job and bolts straight up to the 2jz! So i didnt mess around, instead of going 2nd hand i just brought a brand new 1. I figured trying to get hold of a 2nd hand 1 and the price of a 2nd hand 1 just would not be worth it, it would need a refurb and even worse it coud be a completly shot gearbox. The dogs not to bothered 😂 Gearbox coming out.... Clap of the hands and this happens....... Once this was out i just trial fitted the r154 to see what would have to be done to make it work, this is when i hit a few road blocks. Firstly the rubber mount from the auto box on the cross memeber does not fit the r154. So i got myself an uprated megan racing rubber mount designed for the w58 gearbox this bolts straight up to the r154 and the original auto transmission cross memeber (good old toyota 👌). This now makes the cross member sit too far back! Then i noticed the gearstick is to far back to come through the body. This is the 3rd revision of the r154 and this particular 1 is for a jzx10 so its using the tripod style gear stick support. This would need changing to center the stick up This is what it would look like in relation to the trims when fitted... Not to worry as i have another option for this. Another reason why i trial fitted the r154 was to get the measurments for the prop shaft. Measured from gearbox rear seal to diff flange. The auto prop will not fit and the only real option is a custom made jobby. This part i ordered from america from a company called the driveshaft shop. Great customer service and did not have to wait long either. This work of art turned up..... Fits absolutly perfect, its alloy and weighs about 7kg, and can handle over 650whp! Game on, more to come shortly.

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

I believe the pricing may go up but maybe by £250-500. I wouldnt expect a lot and as its a facelift, the discounts of £3-4k will still be present. Nevertheless I agree with you on the power front and believe they should have included the 300h. However, I think they're going to replace it with the SUV soon so maybe they didn't want to spend too much on design etc