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You can buy self adhesive pads on line that stick on the rear of the pads, and in the past I have found them very effective. Also you can buy "pad goo" a special grease that does not dry out like copper slip. Both items can be had for well less than £5. John

not sure why the specialist wasn't advising you exactly what the issues are and the cost for him to fix or am I missing something here ? Malc

Wow...... been a while since an update, progresss has been very slow! Been away on hol, away for the f1, hard at work and enjoying the sunshine inbetween. Valve shims have now been fitted and clearances are bang on, still not got the covers painted, been messed about by 3 different companies now, will try and get these done within the next week. On a positive note ive ordered my cube short shifter for the r154 so once that comes i can throw all the interior together for the gear stick. Ive also managed to sort alot of the exhaust. I ordered 2 sets of 4" vband flanges with clamps then took these to megarweld in wolves again... done a cracking job of it, apart from 1 flange which was pushed a little too far on to the pipe when welded. It doesnt quite sit flush when put together, nothing a bit of grinding cannot fix. This exhaust is a beast!!! 4" straight through with 1 very small silencer in the middle, hard to see it unless you really look for it 😂.

nearly 209k miles here and 23 years and never had new calipers .............. just checked over and appropriately re-greased every year at the service and MOT I think it's just the correct attention to detail by your servicing guy tbh Malc

Oil in there is nornal, AC systems are loaded with a given amount of oil for longevity. When a system is regas'd the oil should be topped up, you often need to guesstimate the amount. Note that AC o-rings are a special variety, not common ones ;)

I’ll have to get practicing my 180’s. Far cooler than a 3-pointer! 😎

Hi everybody, I´m new to this forum (never registered before, but being reading you for a while). I own a IS200 2003 sportcross since 2 years ago. I can´t be happier with it. Perfect model for what i´m looking for in a daily car. Short story about the car... purchased with 169.000kms (about 105k miles), all stock. During this time I did some maintenance: flush coolant 4 times, change oil and all the filters. change gearbox oil, diff oil, all the rubbers from the steering pump (was noisy), spark plugs, clutch....and probably a few things more I cant remember right now.🤔 Since I purchased I tried the Enkei EVO VIII wheels on the lexus, as well as the Nissan 350Z touring V.1, that I have from other jap car. Didn´t like much..... so I finally ended buying a set of Lexus GS borbet TTE wheels, all of them on 8.5J (officially fronts are 8.5J and rears 10J, but couldn´t find them as a set, so I ended with that 8.5J configuration all around). I had to refurbished them as they were not looking that clean, I did with montana "plastidip", quite fast and they look clean now. Keep in touch guys! Regards, Tak!

Although I owned a LS460 between Oct 2015 and June 2018 the 11 year old 460 was sold to a keen trader chasing me for it on a straight cash purchase. I had contributed to the LS forum on a number of occasions and the LS was the best car I ever owned to date. Having owned 3 Jaguars in the past I thought I would go back to Jaguar and bought a 2017 XE on June 7th 2018 and have just agreed a deal to trade it in after 7 weeks for a 2012 GS450h in order to get back into a real car. The trader agreed a fair equity for my car which allowed me to buy the GS, it also allowed me to buy a 2 year Lexus extended warranty from his local Lexus dealer and 12 months road tax. He in turn has agreed the costs of a new MOT by the Lexus dealer, the service costs for it's sixth annual service including the hybrid check as part of that service. Not bothered about giving up a 2017 plate car for a 2012 plate car at all. The Jaguar was a mistake, end of. Really impressed with the GS, it just feels so good. Thought about the GS300h but for such a big car changed my mind and thought the V6 would be the wiser choice for me. The Luxury spec is just fine and has enough comfort controls for me. Lexus derby demonstrator originally and then bought by the last owner who serviced it religiously this making the 2nd real owner. The GS was all the money, even expensive by comparison to what is on the internet and dealers but I'm ok with it. Currently still viewable on Quality Cars Today of Sheffield. Black on black with 44K miles. Full Lexus Service History between 2 dealers and now a third Lexus Sheffield. Glad to be back

Lexus Derby are my local dealer also and have been very good for my occasional parts requirements, I used to get invited to the new model launches and an Open Road day but no longer, must be due to the fact I do nearly all my own servicing and Lexus vehicles tend not to need many parts even at 24 years old!

Hahahaha! ”Just popping out with the kids for a few hours”!!

That's huge 😲 It's wonky drainpipe. It may be too loud for some of the tracks too.

Absolutely awesome Lee. Thanks a million. As I’m sure you’ll remember it’s a minefield of choice for these things. Very much appreciated good sir! You’ll have to let me know which FIA approved helmets you use for them both on the track 😉

I see you are based in Sheffield. If you want an aircon specialist I strongly recommend Maltby Electrical Services (they are in Rotherham, not Maltby). They sorted out my LS 400 and really know what they are doing. If you want a Lexus specialist to keep labour costs down, I strongly recommend Lex Tek Autos of Sheffield, very knowledgeable chap, ex Lexus technician

Yes you should use 0w20 in both cars. John

I have a 2006 Lexus IS 220d and had spent £45 on a re-gas with another company who had said leak free. The AC worked lovely for 7 weeks then went warm. The passenger vents cooler than the drivers side vents. Apparently common as AC is set up for LHD car market. Had cool car in and put a bit of gas in and used his sniffing probe on all components and the tool alarm went mental when testing the condenser. Charge for coming out was £30. I had ordered a new condenser but damaged the stubs while fitting so ordered a new condenser so hopefully fitting it next Wednesday. The IS 220d condenser is £156 and is Nissens. IS 250 aftermarket around £70.00 https://www.adrad.co.uk/car-air-conditioning/condensers/catalogue.php?manu=LEXUS&model=IS James

Hi, Just want to confirm this is the best oil for the CT. Also can this be used on a IS300H F Sport? https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Lexus-Engine-Motor-Oil-OW20-AFE-1-Litre-Ltr-0888083262-/261976474875 Thanks

If you read the handbook carefully you will find it specifies 0w20 oil only. If this is not available 0w30 or 5w30 can be used but should be changed for the correct "0w20" oil after a maximum of 5,000 miles. This would double the cost of oil changes. You will also find as I did with the Prius "that uses the same engine, and transmission" you mpg takes a nose dive. This engine was specifically designed to run with 0w20 oil. John.

Yeh ive got a feeling the neighbours are going to dislike me 😂

That is going to be loud 🙉

And don't you start to rely on it? I didn't have one on my LS but I have one on my GS, now I wouldn't want to be without one. I did fit one on the dash of an LS400 a few years ago, just £20 from eBay and an amazingly clear image.

Well it's obviously not working then. Demisting the windscreen is almost a secondary use of AC, the primary goal being to provide cool (cold) air when the weather is hot and also to condition the air. If it was working properly you should be able to get the cabin very cold, in fact, too cold for comfort really - I seem to remember reading that it should go down to about 5C. My old Granada used to form frost on the AC pipes in the engine bay but I've never looked to see if this car is the same.

No problem. And press them to non-acid silicone, or maybe other option in the garage is any polyurethane agent (like this black glue for windscreens, it is good sticky stuff but "heavy", messy and risky next to camera len). In all cases like above, never use popular silicones (smell vinegar = acid = electronics next to this corrode) or acrylic agents (they are not good at all as outdoor sealants).

FYI I prefer cars worth less than four expensive ABS sensors, and I am deeply sad my current GS is worth slightly more, so I am not a target for any warranty, normal or extended, at all. Because I like peace of mind (and hate depreciation, but this is another story) and if anything is seriously wrong I like to scrap the barge and to buy another one. But as I said above: if you like peace of mind and have enough money, why not to extend warranty, it could be very smart bet, especially on expensive cars. And even if I think £100-120 per work hour at Lexus sucks (plus as above comments, don't forget expensive parts and modern cars are not designed for maintenance), I never think it's rip off or robbery, I simple never ever use Lexus garage or plan to use them.

I would suggest good quality non-acid non-coloured silicone (easy sourced from electronic shops and workshops). Clean the pieces before seal and apply silicone very tiny aroud the "glass", cable entry, and any suspicious places.

look at chapter 6.2 in your owner manual this section covers customisations if you dont have a manual then use this link https://www.lexus.co.uk/forms/manuals/owners-manual#

Thanks for the welcome chaps, it'll be great to be part of an enthusiast's forum with this car. Lucky I came across you guys, with these cars being so rare I wasn't sure there'd be much of a following. Good to know everyones comments regarding the warranty and check. I'll def go down this route if it all works out. Mike M has kindly filled me in on the car's background, its got a full Lexus SH and I'm confident it's been looked after nicely 😎. In fact everything is lining up so well it's really Arnold Clark's sale to lose. I'm also keen to experience the much famed Lexus reliability. Having had an M5 and M3 before and an RS6 and Evo8 briefly, I'm no stranger to unplanned big bills and costly maintenance. Looking at the costs of brake components and aftermarket HKS exhausts ill need the reliabilty to help me save pennies. I'm also a massive V8 fan, having had several so far. The S3 came along as a slight protest at fuel prices after running a V8 S5. Big mistake, although the S3 has good allweather ability and was rather point and squirt, it was/is totally soulless. I'd given up on looking for another V8 solution (F10 M5s can't put their power down) and so I'd settled on an F80 M3 competition. I suddenly remembered the ISF and well here we are. Will see how next week goes, quite looking forward to it. Keep you posted. n

Why would anyone one complain about slighly warmer weather 🙂 A specalist will save you money here. Don't bother with anyone else.

Same story with Fraudfords, used them for re-gas only because they are literally across the road. Did the performance test in winter when outside temp was 7C and said it is blowing blistering cold aka "IS250 A/C creates winter in the cabin"!. Checked myself with re-circulation ON and realised the A/C does not work... like at all. They were little embarrassed and after 2 days diagnostics decided it is high side pressure sensor which has failed. Still failed to the day.. because it is very expensive and I have no confidence it is real culprit of the problem. There are few other check you can do e.g. is your A/C light switching, is you A/C clutch engaging, does the compressor engaging at all. Could be many things, bad relays, bad compressor, bad sensors.

Really great diagnostic skills in evidence there. Take it to a proper aircon specialist such as https://www.coolcaraircon.co.uk/ or http://kevingreenaircon.co.uk/ for example.

Next stop before Lexus would be a Auto AirCon specialist, more knowledgeable than the tyre fitters and cheaper than Lexus! Not sure myself ( others may chip in) but TechStream software may shed some light on a malfunctioning AC system. paul m.

Hurrah, my car is back. Paintwork is now all good. Apparently the tailgate was totally repainted under warranty as corrosion damage at Lexus Leicester and the rear doors have been refinished to such a good standard you cannot see any colour variation. Likewise the rear bumper and the black textured area has also been properly refinished. Car looks amazing now. They have also supplied a new service book fully stamped up so all is as it should have been when I first collected it.

OK, this sounds much better to me, agreed. My overall feeling on "subject", included theory of "oldie toyota design cues" implementation in Lexus, is a bit different (and two fold). It is not exactly "austere design has had its day" but rather "if brands started as "luxury" and "elite" have a moment in their life they try to appeal to much wider and "popular" target base, they have to change from austere eternal luxury design to bling flamboyant with-strawberry-on-the-top design". IMHO this is a reason LS 1989 interior looks like, and LS 2018 looks like. Other words, toyotas in '70-'80 had to appeal to common people, but '80 Lexus flagship's interior was "austere" and NOT like contemporary toyotas, because she had to appeal only to people who real though about buy a big merc or jag or similar, and she had to impress their neighbours (BTW impress enough only, because shock-factors were tag price and quality). But now she has to appeal to masses, to crowd thinking about UX or CT (and their neighbours perception) too. Another "fold" of two-fold vision, is: who is socio-economical "elite" of society (as precise target for LS500, not for Lexus) and how the elite's taste and aspirations changed last 30 years, but it is pretty obviuos part.

Hmmm, 80's Crown, that's a bit of bling I'd be happy with!

The original LS circa 89 was lambasted for being plain and underwhelming in the cabin the upholstery was received with praise but not that much in the US as leather was an option and expensive .I am of the view that as the exterior of the present array of luxury marques is reaching the same evolutionary mode designers are moving inside to enhance the appeal of the high end market taking life style of prospective purchasers into the mix. The interior is fabulous but much too busy for my liking and is a tad overwhelming visually and is starting to go down the road of the 80s Crown from a bling point of view.

Indeed. Though, if you're at the dealer, let them do it for you. As with everything they do, they'll probably charge you for doing so.

I'm pretty sure the forum rules says no porn [emoji7] [emoji23]

I've been reading this with interest great work, when it comes to removing difficult engine parts, this vid is a must see....... Big Rat