Leaderboard

Today was the big day after waiting for 6 months for these wheels. I went down to Kwik-fit in the RX to get the Michelin 4 S tyres fitted. When I opened the rear tailgate the guy went Wow they are sic wheels. Then all the other tyre fitters came over to admire them. The Kwik-fit guys were great despite the reputation the company seems to have. I had put tape around the rims to protect them and they put even more on as they were as nervous as I was about fitting. An older more experienced guy came out of the the office to fit them while the others watched. Even he said he was nervous about fitting the tyres and put the tyres on from the inside rim of the wheel rather than outside. So I came back home fitted them on the car straight from the RX and finishing them off went to get the centre caps from the garage only to find the spigot rings I hadn’t fitted so they all had to come off again. Anyway all done now and I am pleased with result. The styling I know won’t be to everyone’s taste, my wife even said they look a bit bling. They fill the arch’s out nicely and I am sure if I was prepared to lower the car they would look even better. I just have hope they don’t get stolen. I have fitted two types of locking wheel nuts one set from the US which were expensive however I can’t believe that anyone can purchase something readily available from Halfords that will remove any locking wheel nut with ease. Doesn’t seem right to me. I went out for a drive and I was pleasantly surprised how good the ride is still. Definitely a little bit firmer but still a comfortable ride. Far and away better than my previous last 4 BMW’s with M Sport suspension and run flat tyres I owned.

So i got my new drive shaft fitted and the click has gone! So far so good. I got a used part for £33 and took it to Albin B Motors in Croydon, who was very good. He charged £209 for labour and threw in a lexus drive shaft nut for free.

I know but at least I’ll try to settle the peasants 😂 putting up a post just now explaining it wasn’t a FB organised meet and in future i will pin a meet post so all can see and get involved if they want….. either that or we get a directory of everyone’s address and sent them a flipping personal invite, with a rsvp and self addressed return envelope 🤦🏼‍♂️😂 had i of been on my toes i should of put something up awhile ago but didnt think about it at the time

So I thought I'd create this thread as there isn't much info on here about IS350s. Well, certainly ownership in the UK. I thought I'd share mine that I am in the process of modifying. Current mods: - RAYS Homura 2X7s - HCmotion rear lights - Flappy Paddle extenders - OEM Wind deflectors - K&N Panel filter - Heads Up Display - Powerflow Exhaust (muffler delete) My other planned mods for the near future is the 4is front bumper conversion with either Vland or HCmotion headlights. I have an Instagram account for my car so feel free to follow and reach out to me - @jdm_is350_uk

This is a very interesting video from the states and this guy is an authority on Lexus vehicles and a Toyota master technician. Be sure to watch the video all the way through as there is a update featured for the touchscreen that replaces the oem version and is a vast improvement. (3) New Toyota Problem I've Never Seen Before! More LS430 Goodness! - YouTube.pdf

I meant to post this last month, however life got in the way. Whenever we go on holiday, we always take the wife's car. She has a Tiguan which has loads of space, and I have the 'smaller' NX. This year with a baby in tow, we had a bit more than we normally take. Usually, we put one case in the car, one on the back seat, however this year we had a bit more to take. I tried to get the cases in to the Tiguan, and it wasn't having any of it. I went to switch the cases with my parents as they have smaller cases. To my surprise, the NX's boot swallowed both cases side by side. A quick change of registration for the parking, and the NX was loaded up. I was utterly amazed on how the NX took everything so well. We tethered everything so that it wouldn't move and made our way to Southampton. Just for reference, there are two large cases, a normal size case on top, a carry on flight case, holdall and a backpack. I could have probably still fitted a bit more down the sides too. The Tiguan is definitely bigger, and had more leg room, but cargo space, not a chance. Well done NX!

I gave it another chance, Set off to Leeds ok and it was going fine down the M62, it was even warning may of lane closure's that were accurate. I thought its actually ok but then once i arrived at Leeds it was telling me to go a different way to what i had jotted down the previous evening. I just ignored it and went the correct way, it then kept on telling me to head to the M1 At that point i just wanted turn it off. Its terrible, the worst i have ever used. Hope the new cars have something better. Got a new phone now so will just use that in future. Thanks all!

It seems the post itself overall was well received and sparked some interest in future meets, which is superb. As always some negative nancy's - where was my invite... can you do a non F car meet next time... I did explain as clearly as I could that the club itself did not organise, it was a members idea and of course there is nothing stopping other groups organising their own meets... can't please everyone these days! I do like the idea of more 'F meets', as well as an 'All Lexus' meet, can bring the slammed NX... (kidding), but the LS's could see some daylight!

Love a nice 350! Not many of them around. I'm sure many of us here are jealous as we can all agree that 250 could do with a little more power considering its weight. I'd love 4IS bumper but they're still well over a grand at the moment... I think I'm going to just treat myself to 3IS bumper as they're sub £600 delivered. (+ paint on top) High five for the wheels! I'm also on RAYS - GramLights 57CR

I can't remember the last time I saw a car over here with those yellow deflectors stuck on the headlights.

That's easily corrected, when going down on rim diameter one goes up on tyre section thereby maintaining the original rolling circumference. The speedometer will not see any difference. This is normal practice even the manufacturers do when offering different wheel sizes for a particular model.

I would say the rear set up at 285 30 19 on 10.5 is 'spot on' perfect for best grip/handling, 9.5 width rims at the front may be a tad too wide for a precise steering feel and it will tramline a bit in lane 1. With such wide rims and low profile tyres it's always going to be quite a harsh ride on all but the best road surfaces and until the ARBs are upgraded, it's going to grip but sway around the curves when pushed. As said above, that's the compromise but it will look amazing.🙂

Yup needed a second jack. The wheel jack worked fine and it hasn’t been used to date…spotless and I had to wrestle it free from the mould! It went under the cross member and did the trick. Knowing that Razor61 had to use a second jack took a lot of stress out of getting it to fit.👍😉 All back in, bar one bolt. I managed to get an appointment at a local garage where the specialist visits - he would not do a mobile visit as he’s quite rightly given up crawling under vehicles. I know the mount replacement is going to make a big big difference…I’ll keep you posted on the bolt thread repair. Will be a week’s time.

How many times do you read of repair jobs that take folk minutes…and your experience points in a different direction? This is a long story… Having bought a gearbox mount from I can’t spell it Aramera or whatever as usual I got a bargain for a bit over 30 quid OEM. Jacked the car up, propped gearbox with the Jack and dinner table place mats in a bag to spread the load and set about the job. My newish fabricated Y exhaust section is a bit off normal location so the big bolts had to come out with a spanner and even then one bolt: longer front one on one side would come clear so I manoeuvred the alloy cross member about to get clearance to the mounting bolts. Nothing. To buy more space I took the Jack away from the gearbox noting minimal drop but… Back around to other side of car…wiggle and bolt drops out…cross member free so I have clear albeit close access. No idea how that happened but it’s a result. But not good. Big faff. Time ticks. First bolt out ok. (Securing mount to gearbox.) Now for second…snap. That was enough for one day so I ordered a new set of bolts and went to screw fix for drill bits, punches, extractor bits. So. Get broken one sorted in situ now or try other bolts? Called a bolt removal specialist: sorry trade only, please? No trade only. Another mobile mechanic failed to call back and another thread man doesn’t do my patch. Classic garage I know said they do t do that sort of thing. Right. Next day and a rest: sprayed the remaining 2 bolts that looked in worse condition…so slowly and gentle small movements commenced their undoing. Luckily it wasn’t my undoing. They came free and so did the mounting. Mounting looked ok and I wondered where the vibration and slight noise was coming from, everything else in ok order. Now looking closer…after 22 years and just about to hit 100k…just have a look at this… pictures below… Snapped bolt: Drilled a pilot hole after punching a hole. A bit off centre I drilled and after ages cut a small hole. Tried the extractor: nothing useful happening at all. Drilled more, tried again: no result. Sprayed top end of the bolt - it’s hard to reach. Pipes are close and I can’t smack anything with a hammer. Upsized drill bit after ages drilled through the bolt. Tried extractor: useless. Tried again: useless. Don’t want to break it. Upsized drill bit again and that’s the limit: drilled though the bolt. Managed to chip out lower piece of the bolt from one side but the threads seem mostly covered by the husk of the old bolt. I can’t tell if some shoulder damage is old bolt or shoulder… Ok now tap and die time. But I’m trying the thread specialists again now I have everything exposed…so to speak. I’ll take it to them…I’ll remove the mounting…whatever…I’m not doing any more. 10 minutes…🧐

Thank you McShmoopy. I think they are awesome vehicles. Such a joyful drive and refined ride. Anyhow I appreciate the time you taken to reply and will be taking it to a local Indy Lexus Specialst near Keighley, closest one near to me and get her checked out. Once again guys I really appreciate your advice and insight.

Update to my build project. Work Emitz 19” wheels which are Front 9.5J et35 and Rear 10.5J et35 are now fitted. Tyres are Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S 255/35 R19 and 275/30 R19. They fill the arch’s well and I have no rubbing issues. I am surprised how much gap there is vertically between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch. It would look better lower but I am not going down that route because the value in a low mileage car being stock. My wife also has mobility issues. Having now driven the car I am happy how it drives and comfort level with the new setup. So that’s it for now as I have now done everything I wanted to do to the car. The only issue I am still not sure about is the exhaust in that I don’t mind it being loud outside the car I still find it a bit louder than I would inside the car. I will think about it next summer as to whether I spend more money trying to get it right.

Your 2002 series I didn't have electric power steering, whereas the series II does - I think that is what the dealer meant. But I cannot recall many people complaining of this so I don't think it is a 'common' issue. Hopefully others with a similar aged vehicle can confirm.

Hi Sean. I'm assuming you live East of Leeds. M62 then M1 but only for about a mile then the M621. Anyway you gotta here. Hope you had a good visit and it was worth the trip.

No they don't, apart from a couple of rare examples - CT200h cruise control functionality funnily enough is one.

The way I see it, there are 4 main options. 1. Pay someone to do a proper job - £600 to over £1000. 2. Do a reasonably decent job yourself, cleaning the underside and wheel wells and using something like Dynax UB/S50 for underside, wheel wells and cavities - less than £100 but several hours work spread over a couple of days. 3. Spray the underside annually with something like ACF 50 - 25 quid and about 20-30 minutes. 4. Do nothing and fix when required - No initial outlay of time or money, but potentially costly repairs later. I went for option 2, which took a weekend and wasn't too bad. Also, for those of who are fans of Bilt Hamber products, I recently found they also do something called Atom Mac. It's a rust prevention/protection product, as opposed to a rust treatment. Unlike ACF 50 though, it's water based rather than oil based, so is less messy and can be applled to all brake parts, including discs. You dilute it at 5%, so the 500ml bottle makes 10 litres. I sprayed it on my brakes, hub, wheel nuts, exhaust and in the engine bay.

I'm still none the wiser .... maybe ask the Mod on here for some input ! Steve2006 . he's got decades of experience with your age car Malc

Hi guys Put a deposit down today on a blue F-Sport, I couldn't find one with Mark Levinson but I did at least get the premium nav. It's not sold by Lexus themselves, but it is from a Toyota dealer so at least I have a little more 'return insurance' compared to buying privately. Full Lexus service history, currently has Relax Warranty running from it's previous service for nearly a year, spoke to a nice guy at my nearest Lexus dealer and he said they will collect the car despite it being a 25-30 mile drive as they have people who live out my way who can drop it off etc. Looking forward to it, hoping to pick it up on Sunday! Thanks again for the help, I haven't seen the car yet so there's a small chance I will have to reject but it looks in good condition from what I've seen.

So I got it from a person who personally imports cars from Japan and he had a switch fitted where the rear shade button is (circled in red).

Another thing to check: How is your dashboard? Does it still light up correctly? When mine began to fail on my LS it gave all kinds of interesting additional problems...including preventing the remote lock/alarm from working - I wonder if it's possible you have a failing module and it's causing immobiliser issues?

https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-e10-petrol

Their build allocation do seems to be all over the place @dog3665, I guess I'm one of the slightly lucky ones that took delivery already. I ordered rougly a month after @Marlinleg, alomost identical spec I think, so base 350h AWD with premium pack plus the 14inch screen, at the end of December 2021, and all mine timeline seems to be rougly following rougly a month after @Marlinleg. So my dealer originally quoted ETA was June-22, then got pushed back to Aug-22, finally arrive at dealership early September and collected last week. Hang on there for those you still waiting, it's worth it! Just been through London rush hour traffic this morning (proper traffic with a HGV broke down in the middle of the Hanger Lane roundabout for those of you who knows the area!) and the hybrid system is working its magic!

We should target JapFest 2023 as a club and then try some regional bits (like Saturday) in between. PS your car sounds insane mate! lol

Fine by me 🙂

Fine by me.

Fine by me

So - why do I think that the fuel economy of Lexus GS/IS hybrids is more down to the CVT gearbox and less to the hybrid power train? That's not the popular perception of hybrid cars but that's because of politics and marketing. Let's like at what fuel consumption is - it is based on the transfer of chemical energy into kinetic energy in the vehicle. In hybrids, regenerative braking and spare engine power transfer some kinetic energy and chemical energy (petrol) into chemical energy in the traction battery. That can then be used later to boost the kinetic energy in the vehicle, either by reducing the amount of petrol needed at any one time or to add to the power available from the engine to aid acceleration. But the hybrid battery capacity is very small and you can watch its power reserve plummet quickly when called on for acceleration. (And equally you can watch its power available increase rapidly - even from near empty to near full when descending even a small hill.) The amount of petrol being used at any one time depends on a number of things - the capacity and design of the engine, throttle opening and engine revs. Politicians and the green lobby want us to reduce the amount of petrol consumed and car manufacturers have gone about building this requirement into their ice vehicles in various ways. Current fashion is to use every small engines, which intrinsically use very little fuel on cruise. But then they add forced induction (mainly turbo charging but also supercharging or both) to increase power when needed for acceleration. Mondeos (RIP) and Range Rovers with 1 litre engines, anyone? I suspect that long term durability is very much an issue. Lexus took a different approach - use a relatively big old lazy engine and run it at low revs and small throttle openings. You don't need much power (and therefore petrol) to trundle a vehicle along at 30 mph - my wife's Seat Mii runs at about 1750 rpm at 30 mph - (that's not even on the power curve even on its little 1 litre engine) and is probably making about 20bhp or less. That's all you need - a GS is going to need a bit more but not much, until you open the throttle to accelerate and then the revs go up and the petrol starts pouring in. See current fuel consumption on the dash display! It's true that the amount of petrol required at that point is reduced by the boost available from the hybrid battery, but see the comment about how small the hybrid battery capacity is. The revs all depend on gearing. The great benefit of a CVT gearbox is that it's always in the 'correct' gear. If you engage S mode on a motorway you can observe your engine revs - and you will find you can cruise at 70mph at about 1700 rpm on a level road. That is remarkable and not achievable with a manual or normal automatic gearbox unless you had many more available gears than is practical. (Not many people would want to drive an 18 speed manual as in Australian road trains etc) But at 1700 rpm and a moderate throttle opening you are using very little fuel - and that is why CVT gearboxes enable impressive fuel economy. You will observe 50-60 mpg instantaneously in cruise. At 70mph on a motorway the hybrid battery is doing little or nothing - but it will help some when you come to a hill or need to accelerate after a slow down. Meanwhile, more recent hybrids (and plug-in hybrids) have a large capacity traction battery and can achieve substantial range on that battery. The GS and IS hybrid ranges are now 15-20 year old designs (from the drawing board) - you might argue that the origins are even older in the Prius. Electric vehicle technology has moved on by leaps and bounds so I'm afraid our cars are now rather outdated (but well proven technology). Which isn't to say that I won't be keeping my car for a long time yet!

Will do, thanks so much for all of your help Mr Vlad

Just sold the IS250 today. If I wanted better speakers I'd upgrade them and it's on the bottom of my list for mods.

You might get a free umbrella like I did. Plus my showroom has a special side room with cool lighting to unveil your new car in private, so I got chance to get a good look over before taking outside.

No it doesn't have ML, thats about the only. After some research before buying it I've found two things that are rare on JDM 2nd gen IS... Mark Levinson and Sunroof. My IS250 SE has ML and comparing it to my IS350 it's not that great of a difference in my opinion. Thinking about it that's a good idea, I'll start a new thread about the IS350

The car went straight from the dealers to be ppfed !

I got it from a person who personally imports cars from Japan. It's a 2007 SE-L equivalent with some added JDM extras. Currently got 46k miles so very low (just like my IS250). Here's a picture of it. You can follow my Instagram page for it if you wish @jdm_is350_uk

I have started noticing Prius taxis with 'This car is fitted with a cat cage' on the side, it is a shame that dishonest people (polite term) feel the need to nick what is not theirs.

Yesterday in Cranbrook Kent I hailed down and parked up and chatted with the owner of this early Ls400 ......... a guy from Benenden who assures me he's not yet on this Forum Needless i encouraged him to now join ! he told me it's one of only 2 1989 cars left in the UK, he had bought it some 8 ? years back from the ( widow ) owner who had it many years prior and spent £6k on wheel mods etc .... ( yuk ) This new owner had it part resprayed a few years back and the finish now is terrible, worn-out and clearly a bad reaction to the original paint finish and paint that he tells me is a different type of " compound " to original, older paints A blue/ grey but mottled and cracking and lifting and well, just awful He's probably going to have it properly resprayed . she's done 125k ? I think he said and he's recently done the cambelt etc . he has a few older cars and a mechanic guy himself too Only does a couple of thousand miles a year and loves the car to bits, been all over the north and west country in sublime comfort ( all as we of course know ) So if you're that guy and read this, do tell us more about your very rare beast .... she sounds as quiet as a mouse ( of course ) AND if my conversation hadn't revealed his imminent respraying quotes gopinmg-on I'd have probably offered him a bundle of old used £50 notes to start the process myself .......... Oh to have one of the originals eh ! Malc

I remember some cars had a foot button on the floor to dip the lights.

Hi Vlad, Thanks for your reply, first no lexus history just indipendant service by myself. Alternator had issues which was checked by electrician and replaced origional new parts, got new battery same time from Euro car parts with 7yrs warranty gud type, which i also took back to be retested as was on warranty, but came back good. got mechanic to scan the code i got was C 1554, so tried to change the ECM. but no joy. still the same. Thanks Naikey

First reason - simply because it is old car. As the times goes by people want some change and IS250 can't just be used forever. Yes they are amazingly reliable cars and comfortable cars, good value for money, well equipped, but with little bit of neglect they are starting to show signs of wear and tear as well. Overall model was released 17 years ago and most of tech is easily over 20 years old, not even facelift helps. Second reason (at least for me), IS250 is comfortable car, but fast it isn't - for 2005 car it was borderline acceptable, but many want a little bit more umphhhh... I have argued that around 5-6s to 60 is sweet-spot... and that has always been the reason why I was trying to find something else. Still looking... Third reason - practicality is lacking as well, for example for unknown reason IS250 does not have folding seats, boot is not massive and opening isn't even allowing use of what it has easily. Rear headroom and legroom isn't great either (thought that never bothered me much), so I could see that some cars are upgraded when family grows. Cost of ownership... I kind of doubt it. I guess it depends - for me it was never an issue, but I do a lot of stuff myself or at least I figure out what needs doing myself, so service guys can't upsell me for what I don't need, less car savvy owner my find it difficult when every service bill is £1000+ if you just let it be. Fuel economy is good for the car it is, but for with current prices it could be concern, ever increasing tax does not help either. So I would say - cost of ownership shouldn't be the reason, but for some owners it may be. IS250 mk2 key strength is amazing value for money and it does everything well, but nothing exceptionally (maybe except of reliability). When I tried replacing my IS250 I really struggled to find anything that would do... sure for me RC350 was that car, but we don't have it here. GS450h would be my next choice.

Just noticed that the dynax S-50 I suggested is from Bilt Hamber Laboratories at Billericay, so maybe very similar Adrian.

If you do go down the DIY route like Barry I can recommend Bilt Hamber. It leaves a clear film and provided good protection. I used it on my last car when I got an advisory regarding the brake pipes. Once I cleaned off the surface rust it was simple to apply and I had no further advisories while I had the car. The flexible nozzle works great and I also used it on my wheel arches which appeared to work well. As ever it's a case of "pays your money and takes your choice" but compared to some of the costs above I think it's a good budget option. As with all these products access is the real issue and you really need a lift to be able to apply the product effectively (Although I did manage with a jack and axle stands last time). Overall I've always been pretty impressed with all Bilt Hamber products, as they do a whole range of car detailing and rust prevention solutions.

I have had various quotes varying between £95 and £1250 eeek! and some companies who cannot be bothered to reply? I had mine washed and waxoyled last year for £100 and intend to have it done every 12 months they did not remove arch liners etc but I know someone who paid £850 and they didn't either!!! The garage who did mine (I live in wales) suggested old engine oil and sheep poo! 🐑 apparently it contains Lanolin😆

Thank you for this info. I agree with your opinion regarding cleaning and hoping for the best. I now have a quote from South West Rustproofing unfortunately the cost has increased quite a bit since 2ddesign had his SC done. I am now thinking it over but will probably get it done as it looks like they do a proper job, although I am surprised they only offer a 1 year guarantee?

so was there an MOT Advisory for rust ? or is it just normal surface rust colouring effectively ............like all exposed metal areas would have hiding it all up won't stop it is my thinking, especially if it's left to fester and get worse being hidden and not breathing My preference is to just leave it all as is and when there's specific MOT Advisory issues then start to address those specifically BUT I'm possibly in a minority on this issue tbh Malc

Hi had my SC430 treated at https://www.southwestrustproofing.co.uk who had the car for 2 days, cost £670, rust removal and dinitrol treatment,

Back in the day I would agree... Now I think, first of all inspect or get someone to inspect, to identify any rusty components first and then decide what to do with them, before... covering them up, as it were.