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So...if it drives well and starts reliably, that sounds like a good car to me. If you get problems when trying to do an OBD scan then your OBD reader could be faulty. If you have a laptop then buy one of these miniVCI cables from eBay They usually come with a pirated copy of Techstream, which is the exact very same diagnostic software used by Toy/Lex techs in the dealership workshops, so you won't get a better diagnostic tool than this, especially as it shows sub-codes as well. For instance, P0AA6 covers six different areas with only the sub-codes to differentiate between them. Of course, we can't be seen to condone software piracy (that's a matter for your own conscience) so the legit way would be to download Techstream from here and then pay for a block of time to use it (€5/day or €10/week etc). Whichever way you decide to do it you'll need that VCI cable anyway. If all else fails, I strongly suggest taking it to a specialist auto electrician. It's a skill and a trade in its own right and you wouldn't employ a painter to install a whole new central heating system in your house, or a carpenter to do some plumbing work, so why expect a general mechanic to be able to sort out auto electrical problems? I don't think Lexus dealerships will employ their own auto electricians because I just can't see them having enough work in that area to keep someone in a full-time job.

After owning my UX for a couple of years the five things I really like and use! Number one:the hands free boot release,once you get the knack it’s just so easy,for my sins I play golf 3 or 4 times a week and walk my dog every day so I’m always loading and unloading so this is a great feature. Number two: the Mark Levinson sound system with CD player,I know it’s old fashioned and I do have music on usb sticks but a I have large collection of cds(I still purchase Vinyl and CDs! but it’s a bit hard to play the vinyl in the car!) Number three: the heads up display,this is just so useful and easy and the fact that you never have to take your eyes off the road has got to be good thing. Number four: the heated and chilled seats,I’ve never had chilled seats before but when we do have a nice hot sunny day wow they are fantastic! Number five: this one will be contentious but I use the sport mode and paddles when I’m on a nice bit of road,I know it isn’t a sports car and I know it doesn’t have a gear change but it still puts a smile on my face. What five things do you like and more importantly use?

Well, it looks like I need new front wheel bearings. My front left wheel is making a horrendous grinding noise when rotated (jacked up) and the front right is making a hissing noise. When driving the noise is easily heard from inside, even with the windows closed and at certain speeds generates a beat-frequency. It was all fine during our few days in York and North Yorkshire Moors but I think the endless 6 hour trek home down the A1/A14/M11 in the pouring rain surrounded by tailgating morons has finally done for them. I can't complain as the car is nearly at 138k miles. I'll be getting a garage to replace them as my back issues means I cannot do them myself.

Dear oh dear. So sorry to hear of your ES being stolen. I didn’t realise that the ES was a target until now. Mine is a locked garage, but still could be got at when parked elsewhere. With all the electronic expertise around, surely Lexus can come up with a fix/ deterrent? Specially taking in to account all the superfluous stuff they have incorporated into the ES. I think legal action should be taken out on Lexus.

Frustrating though it is, sometimes you have to concede these jobs to physical maladies; I have an old back injury that meant I struggled to do much in the way of DIY for a few years (doing wheel bearings would have crippled me for a couple of weeks after). Remember, you're helping to keep someone in a job!

Juan Thornes the administrator of the Facebook Group Lexus SC430 Club UK posted this last month which seems like a good deal and might be of interest to someone needing this done. “Evening all! Lexus Sheffield after sales director Gary Hudson called me this morning to say that the £499 cambelt and water pump replacement including labour and coolant offer will have to end due to price inflation on parts and sundries. Good news!!! Lexus Sheffield will still offer all Lexus SC430 Club UK members the same excellent offer with a slight increase to £599. This £100 increase is still GREAT bargain. Take advantage of this wonderful offer and also book you SC or any other Lexus vehicle in for a service with Lexus Sheffield. Thank you all. Iooking forward in see you all at this year's workshop and car show in June. Best wishes. Juan.

Excellent advice Herbie!

Well mine is a quite old charger but works brilliantly, I have this in a distribution box next to my car under the carport, I have 2 leads permanently wired to my battery that go to a waterproof din socket under my front bumper and connect to my charger! Stew

Any motoring journalist that over-dramatizes the functionality of the NX's door handles as Clarkson has done (to the Nth degree by the way - "stuck in the car until 4am; blah; blah; blah") loses all credibility in my opinion. Anyone that can't use them (or understand the logic behind the technology) shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel of a car, let alone review one. He also makes reference to the "beeps" when using the infotainment system. Is he not clever enough to work out that you can turn that off in seconds via the settings? Has he not driven a modern car before? I'm sure he makes things up for shock value - he's just walking clickbait. I'm not trying to be defensive on my choice of car and I'm not saying the new NX is perfect (I know that others on here have had some not inconsiderable issues with aspects of it) but at least review it in a reasoned, rational, way and not use it as the latest attempt to "get noticed".

Jonny welcome to this forum Has yours been changed in, say, 2013 ? If so you're probably OK for this next trip to Europe .... 5/6k miles is it to be ? 10 years / 100k miles whatever arises first is the way to go .. anything different and the gods need to be with you do you do the lottery 😅 Malc

A while back I posted a thread looking for info on an RCF that was for sale, well, after a bit of grief getting my previous car sold I was finally able to buy it a few weeks ago and join the F Club. It turns out the previous owner is also a member here, so it's nice that it's staying in the forum family. I've previously mostly owned BMWs, my last car being an M2 which I absolutely loved, but I just had the itch to try something new and having never owned a car with a V8 I feel like now is the time to own one while it's still possible. It came down to a Mustang vs the RCF, but in the end the RCF won as it just felt like the more special car. It already came with a Quicksilver exhaust and the wheels powder coated in a darker shade, I think the only other mods I'll be looking to do for the moment are some spacers to make the wheels fill the arches a little better, and a de-chrome. Great to finally have some good weather this weekend to properly appreciate it!

Some interesting points made by all 👍 Personally, I like the oddball outsider cars but I do have a soft spot for the older BMW's out there. As such, I think I would prefer the LC500 over the 850, all things being equal.. However, as Linas points out, things aren't equal and price is a strong factor in any car purchase. So, my only point from my original post is that the used 850i's I have seen represent a considerable cost saving compared to when they were new and can be considered a 'bargain'. Whether you think there are better cars out there for the same price is somewhat irrelevant since I am speak of the BMW in isolation. Having said that, when it comes to BMW, I do consider the M850i as an unusual choice, especially when you consider that a similar price would get you an M3 or M5. Based on nothing more than my opinion, I think that the majority of people would opt for one of the full fat M cars over the 850; by extension, this makes me reflect on the 850 as the odd-one-out and actually makes it more appealing to me! Strange logic I'm sure but that is what my brain is telling me 🙂

Interesting discussion, thanks. I'm not greatly invested in car makes, nothing against BMW. Equally, not really into Mercedes or the others. All I said is that the impression I get is that the new BMW 8 appeals to people who probably were attracted to the marque to begin with. I'm just trying to boil down what a car has to offer, how it stands out if you like - even if it stands out by not standing out too much given what it is (eg. DB9). I probably should have said I get the E31 generation 8-series, it has that instant cool factor to it, captures an entire era in industrial design. Re reliability. It's a running joke among real car people (not like me), that as a BMW owner your mechanics will know you by your first name soon enough, and will give you a call out of a genuine concern if you don't come by for a while. Which? data rates BMW 3/5 stars based on owner experience with reliability, compared to Lexus 5/5. Of course, it's heavily weighted to mainstream models. High-end BMWs might be better, no clue. Yes, I chose Lexus for the combination of comfort and peace of mind. We drive across Europe several times a year, I don't want to, mentally cannot, deal with a breakdown, particularly not on a random European motorway hundreds of miles away from either endpoints of my journey. Very low tolerance for any issues, and I don't trust garages either. I realise I haven't much to contribute...

I think we need to clarify the meaning of "broader appeal", because it seems quite clear that it is the one thing BMW does not lack. Now I get what you saying - you don't see "what appeals others" and it just sounds like you simply don't like BMW as a brand... I for example don't like Audi and whatever they put out I could never understand why people so obsessed with it. For example I would say exactly the same thing about Audi R8 - I just don't get what is the appeal of it, but I am sure many people see something in it. Likewise I can see why someone would choose LC500 over M850i, as I said money being no object I would probably do the same. LC500 seems like more original design, has it's genuine benefits, but has genuine downsides as well. Practicality being one and price another big issue - I think the way they are positioned LC500 is direct competitor to M850i and when one could get 2 years never car, with half the miles for £10k less... LC500 just doesn't compare well. Just little advise to better adapt to the community - in Lexus world BMW is considered very unreliable and troublesome, which compared to Lexus they probably are (conditionally), but compared to rest of the cars they are decent. There little bit of partially justified snobbism between Lexus owners, because Lexus reliability and build quality is second to none, but in other hand it really only becomes important when cars are 10 years old and have 120k miles+. If you take brand new BMW and brand new Lexus, I am sure they both will give you 5 years of trouble free experience, yet Lexus could give you 10 extra years... whenever it is relevant or not for most buyers that is another question. So as I said - many on here would NOT consider BMW as the car that "starts every day, never breaks, is solid and quality made", there is some truth in that, but overall people tend to oversaturate the issue and apply conditions that are likely not even relevant for most buyers. Sure Lexus LC500 will go for 200k miles and 20 years just with minimal service and without any repair work outside of what scheduled in the service... very cool! But how many people on here are planning to spend next 20 years in LC? Probably none...

Record player? Pah! I'd like an on-board gramophone! 😉 I do think either would be an incredibly odd but desirable option to have! Yes - I have nothing much against the Toyota C-HR either. I've grown used to it's looks over the years. It's quite funky. It was just the dark and plasticky-feeling rear seat area which put me off it above all else. I generally get a feeling from just sitting in a car whether it's worth considering further consideration (such as a test drive). As someone who tends to carry a back seat passenger or two at weekends, I just knew they wouldn't be happy with the small window area. I knew I wouldn't - and it wasn't even me who was going to be sitting back there! Believe me, Barry... You aren’t missing anything with that hands-free boot release. It may very well be my feet, but mine is literally useless! I’ll admit it would be nice to have the additional facility of chilled seats (I just have heated fronts). I don’t listen to much in the way of music so I know the top spec Mark Levinson sound system would have been wasted on me if I’d had it.

Absolutely ridiculous that in 2023 this is a problem. Like going back to the late 80s and early 90s.

We had a new CHR Dynamic top of the range for 3 years and in that time it was faultless apart from two annoying faults,the first was in those 3 years it had 2 new batteries replaced by Toyota f.o.c and the second fault which the Toyota service manager said was a known fault was excessive moisture in the car/windscreen,I’ve never had a car with so much moisture in it,the windscreen would ice up inside frequently in the winter.The car was very economical returning over 60 mpg at times and was a joy to own (apart from the 2 faults mentioned).It’s hard to have a true comparison because at the end of the day there is a big price difference but the CHR is a very capable and smart looking car,it’s very well equipped and the boot is much bigger than the UX,as for comfort the seats in both cars are good with the UX edging it.It’s a hard choice but I think your wife would be happy with either.

wouldn't recommend Artago 870, it can be defeated in seconds using a simple tool - there is a video in the Amazon reviews somebody demonstrating it.

I'm now using a steering wheel lock. Lexus are supposed to be looking at a plate to protect the cabling on the RX, but it seems the ES and probably the NX are vulnerable and they won't do anything about those models unless the owners raise hell. The thing about this is that the equipment to carry out the CANBUS attack is not cheap so the thefts are carried out by organised crime not the local crack head. If a pro wants your car he's going to take it. The only thing you can do is put a visible deterrent on the car that makes it a less easy target in the hope that they move on . Ghost could be OK but they won't find out until they've damaged the car and I'm not convinced they won't eventually find a way of circumventing this or any other immobiliser.

Agreed, I've enjoyed my 6 series, the 8 is just newer, the 650 (and therefore the 850) I liken to an armchair rocketship, it's comfy, it's fast, it does everything you need, build quality is exceptional, never had an issues or expensive costs, the adjustable suspension is lovely it's all good. (I have no warranty either) What does the Merc give you for 10k more? The Maserati is gorgeous, the gran cabrio I'd get but it's under featured it's a 20 year old car at this point plus servicing and quality seem somewhat debatable. Do we need to talk about Ferrari ownership costs? You could buy it for free and it would still be more expensive. I realise many of you are owners and everyone has a soft spot for their car and the LC500 is clearly a more interesting car than an 8 series but in terms of value the 8 is an absolute bargain.

That probably insulates you from electric shocks.

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but I'm struggling to grasp what the current problem is. You say that the car's running fine now, so what's the issue?

I feel your aches and pains, I did this quite a while ago and the gymnastics needed to lift the strut outside the car while getting the top mount in and the nuts started make this a interesting one man job. My biggest struggle was lining up the OSR lower shock bolt, I had to recompress the spring to rotate ever so slightly and even then it really didn't want to go back into position to put the bolt in. Really happy to hear that you've got it sorted 🙂

Hi Callum, Welcome to the forum 🙂

Back up for sale: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145029372439

Good choice, Anthony. And for next Christmas, you could ask for this CTEK accessory connector. It has a traffic light indicator system so that it gives a fair indication of the battery charge at a glance https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/accessories/car-accessories/indicator-eyelet-m6

Thanks it's interesting I have replaced the belt & coolant now more as preventaive maintenance, I am hoping to get at least 100k before the water pump needs replacing. To be fair 90k is reasonable service life, its not a diifficult job as the engine is mounted sideways it seems accessible to do a DIY job. Will report back...

Hi Jonny As you are probably aware the SC430 engine is not a safe engine and if the cambelt breaks the repair costs would be colossal. I would imagine that very few garages would take the risk of selling an SC430 without doing the job or having proof and a receipt of it having been replaced by a trustworthy. I would worry that a visual inspection can not forsee belt deterioration that may start in the next few miles. I'm sure your auto engineer, irrespective of how good he is would want to guarantee it. It is also good practice to replace the water pump and consider tensioner replacement at the same time. This is not an area to take risks with, good luck. Anthony

5L would comfortably cover the radiator/engine drain. The inverter took 2L. When they remove the water pump most of the coolant from the engine block will have drained as well. It depends if they decided to drain the radiator down in which case it would be a full drain down. Dont check the reservoir when its hot I have noticed the level sits just below the B mark when hot as the coolant expands, when cold its slightly above the F mark where it should be. They probably overfilled it to prevent a customer from returning. For Toyota/Lexus models its probably safer to 'slightly overfill' than underfill. You will notice on the reservoir there is a black rubber tube that will automatically drain the coolant away into the engine bay if the reservoir reaches its maximum capacity after a couple of heat cycles it will settle down. See pic. In your case it sounds like it was way overfilled its best to suction a little bit out to release some pressure. Also out of interest what age & mileage was your waterpump replaced at? & what tell tale signs are there it needs replacing?

Turns out that the obvious issue was the fix and that, indeed, Lexus don't design spare wires into their throttle connectors 😉 I reseated detached wire today (with battery disconnected obv). On turning car back on, no code, stable throttle. Relief...

Seems a bit strange that the guy couldn’t “find any voltage going to the wire” Bit too much of a coincidence that before the work was carried out all was well electrically/electronically but since then a wire has broken causing a fault don’t you think? There are basically three types of wire, supply voltage (12/5 volts)ground and signal the latter 2 having no discernible voltage present one being at ground so 0 volts and the other carrying either a specific waveform signal only viewable on an oscilloscope or a variable voltage. If you want to see great examples of proper vehicle fault diagnosis take a look at “Diagnose Dan” on YouTube.

I’ve previously purchased Weathertech rubber cargo liners for a number of my cars, they fit perfectly. I contacted them in the US (as Weathertech Europe don’t have them), ordered two, then after a while they canceled my order (as they don’t like customers using freight forwarders?), instead they quoted to send them to me themselves and it virtually doubled the price!! So the reason for this post is, that I have found a UK based company (www.simplycarmats.co.uk) that Custom makes cargo liners and thought I'd share. I sent them a template and recently took delivery. It’s a reasonably thick, heavy, black rubber mat and whilst not quite as fancy as the Weathertech, it does the job well and I really like it. It cost me £37 & P+P (total £50), which was a shedload less than Weathertech :o) My contact is Dan, you can email sales@simplycarmats.co.uk

Hello from East Sussex. IS 220 2008

Brilliant. Thanks Vlad

Hi Miles. I'd ask in the gen 2 IS section of the forum as this thread is in the new members. You'll get a better response.

Can anyone shed any light on fuel filters being seized? I've just spoken to my garage today and they explained there are two fuel filters and one of them was seized so unable to extract without potential breaking the housing. Does anyone know if this part is easily sourced and whether or not it is costly? Many thanks Miles

I never thought about a diesel engine as fit for a race horse; more like a horse like these, strong and able to continue like forever:

Yes, I too had only ever heard reliable things about Toyota's D4D engines, they make three variants as far as I'm aware 2.0, 2.2 and 3.0, all with different maps. My IS220D is the 2.2 and that comes in a 148bhp or 174bhp version, neither of which I think is suitable for the Avensis or IS220D, 208bhp feels much better suited. Here is a review for the engine in an 09 Rav-4 ( https://www.greencarguide.co.uk/car-reviews-and-road-tests/toyota-rav4-xt-r-2-2-d4d/#:~:text=The engine feels gutsy%2C but,gear changes in this car.) and attached is a screen grab of an excerpt from said review, I would agree entirely the gearbox is not one for rushed changes and really is the only genuine fault I can identify with this car

Morning Vlad I guess the car is returning decent mpg figures, It's just I'm an optimist and had in my mind that mid 50's would be achievable. That is super impressive re: ZX1. Its demos like the one such as you experienced that go a long way to shutting up doubters and getting customers on board. I'll take your knowledge on board and with my own experience and continue to use ZX1 happily. That's a shame that you got off put off buying an IS220D. I'll definitely be sticking with mine for years to come. Thanks for dropping in 🙏🏼

I think the engine is the same as in some Toyotas and have friends working with Toyota in Denmark and they never told me anything about a bad diesel. Heard only that the D4D was superb. Why it has a bad reputation here on the forum could be because some bought mishandled cars and such cars never become friends with new owners. This engine? https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/toyota/avensis/2009/

Okay so update on the remap. I have since done approx 500 miles and the ECU should, in theory, have learned the map and adapted it to my driving style by now. I have to say I'm incredibly impressed with the increased power, but less so by the mpg gains; on Thursday I completed a 90 mile journey, approx 90% Extra Urban/10% Urban and averaged 51.5mpg. Today I completed a similarly sized journey, approx 60% Extra Urban/40% Urban and averaged 47.2mpg. Not bad, and seemingly considerably better than most achieve from the IS220D but not as good as I had hoped for. Maybe the map will continue to improve and adapt, maybe not, maybe that's all the old girl can offer and I was just overly optimistic on figures/gains, who knows, only time will tell I guess. On another note I purchased some ZX1 from Halfrauds just to see if would make a discernable difference. Since Vlad kindly informed me of the product, I did my own research and found it split opinions. But I have to say that after adding 225ml to the engine oil and 25ml to a tank of fuel, I can genuinely notice a difference in how much quieter the car is at idle, far less tappity and it just feels smoother under load. I've noticed absolutely no difference in power/mpg gains. The car is booked in with DW Detailing who will be performing a full enrichment package on the car including a ceramic coating this coming Thursday. Really looking forward to seeing what it'll look like afterwards. Will post photos in due course. One final thing, can I invite anyone and everyone to offer their opinions on which diesel they favour most. I've always used Shell.

I'm nearly 61 going on 25 lol

Bet you felt like a big kid when you took the car for a spin after the remap lol. I remember that feeling when I got my first mondeo remapped. 👍

So had the remap today, first impressions, every one who owns an IS220D should have a stage 1 remap. It literally brings the car to life. The difference between 174bhp and 208bhp is very noticeable in the higher gears (4th, 5th, 6th) and the added 45lbft makes 2nd and 3rd gear an absolute joy, in the blink of an eye you've made your way from 30-70mph, whilst being firmly pinned back in the seat, gone is the sedate linear power delivery replaced by an expressively torque driven power band that ends around 3900rpm where the increased bhp takes over. Two things to bear in mind with a generic map (even if it was originally dyno created) it will not cure the turbo lag, which is more severe than I've experienced on any other TD before and it won't remedy the 6th gear issue on the motorway, it does however make the car labour considerably less in 5th gear at a slightly lower speed than the UK motorway limit (70). Naturally I spent most of my time exploring the new power bands, and thus the mpg figures I returned for the 100 Miles I covered post map weren't anything like as good as they could have been, but despite being a 50/50 mix of urban and extra urban driving, the return was 46.1mpg, and I'm confident another 10% can be yielded once my normal driving style resumes. On top of this, it takes the ECU approx 500 miles to learn and adapt to one's driving style, and as a result, average mpg gains from a fully adapted map range from 3-5%, so all in, I think there could be another 15% increase in mpg to come after the next tank of fuel, which would equate to 50mpg plus on a 50/50 split of urban/extra urban. All in all, well worth the expenditure and totally transforms the feel of the IS220D.

Hey Vlad Will do. Its a 2.2ltr. I'll make sure to follow guidelines

Does anybody have any experience with replacement/upgrade air filters for the IS220D. My neighbour who I mentioned who had the remapped IS220D, just messaged me to say he has an aftermarket performance air filter that I can have of I so wish (https://www.rtecshop.co.uk/k-n-air-filter-for-lexus-is220-2-2l-all-year-2006/prod_200878.html) My local garage said the only thing that wasn't pristine in the engine bay of all the replaceable service items they changed, was the air filter, so I'm wondering whether or not I should I take my neighbour up on his offer and stick one of these in. Apparently they can be reused and have a 100k lifetime. Thanks in advance

Hello Miles and welcome to Lexus ownership and the best Lexus forum there is. My word you've copped yourself a rare beast. A car that has been looked after and by a Lexus technician owner. I see you've had a titanium x mondeo 2.0. I had one too some years back. After a remap and dpf gutted it was superb. Not as good as the 2.2 diesel titanium x sport (had one of those too both manual and auto). Nice to see someone advocating Archoil. Ruddy good stuff. I used it for years until I found Millers Oils stuff. Enjoy your steed and it'll be Interesting to read your summary of the remap you're going to get.

Can anyone shed any light on what exact model this is? I assume entry level, no leather, no electric/heated seats etc. Thanks in advance

Pictures as promised

Hi Steve Thanks for the warm welcome, yes of course I'll take some tomorrow, the light is a little dim now. All the best Miles