vinnyh

Purchased a set of new front shocks for my IS200 Sport (53 model). Local garage has quoted me £75+VAT per side to fit (£180 in total). Does this seem like a fair price? Sounds expensive to me but I'm not a mechanic!

Cheers - did it today and it was indeed fiddly, ended up taking out the rear seats, C pillar covers, and parcel shelf to get to the hinge bolts. The ones nearest the windscreen are a real pain as you can only reach them with a spanner which is slow work. Changed one hinge a time like you said which made things a lot easier. Boot is working like a dream now, very pleased indeed! Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Vinny

Cheers for the tip! Got the bits from a breakers, to do the swap, it looks like I need to remove the bolts which go down into the weld nuts on the hinge. It's looking like the only way to get to these is to remove the rear parcel shelf, which from memory is a lot of faffing around. Did you have to do this as well, or is there an easier way I've missed? Vinny

Boot has been slamming shut with the slightest wind for the last few months. Last night heard a huge clang, and opened the boot to find that both hinges had broken in half. See photo - driver's side has completely fell to bits, and passenger side (inset in photo) is broken as well. What's my best option for dealing with this - can I just buy an assembly somewhere and fit it? Also what are the options for putting some spring back into the boot? I read about gas struts.. is this a good way to go and does anyone have photos of one they have fitted, so I can work out what's required?

Further to my previous post re overheating brake and flat tyres! (link here) After taking the brake caliper off, one of the pistons will only retract with considerable pressure from a g-clamp. The other retracts easily. When trying the brakes, the good piston extends but the bad one just stays put. Is it worth attempting to overhaul, or should I just get hold of a new caliper with pistons? If new is best, where is the cheapest place to pick one up?

Thanks - these are great - I will check these out. However the mystery deepens. The spare tyre has now gone flat as well after approx a 2 mile trip. Brake caliper is red hot as well. I thought the first tyre was co-incidence, but perhaps not. I can't understand how a sticky brake would cause 2 tyres to go flat? Actually it's all making sense now. The caliper was smoking when I got home and the tyre rim was also very hot. Probably the temperature increase is heating up the air in the tyre and forcing the air out if the tyres have slight leaks. I've pulled it off the road for now and will wait for recovery to the garage - I dare not drive it again in case something melts at speed.

Thanks - these are great - I will check these out. However the mystery deepens. The spare tyre has now gone flat as well after approx a 2 mile trip. Brake caliper is red hot as well. I thought the first tyre was co-incidence, but perhaps not. I can't understand how a sticky brake would cause 2 tyres to go flat?

Had a strange incident the other night on the motorway, all of a sudden the steering wheel started to rattle and it felt like I had a flat tyre. Pulled over to check and all 4 tyres had good pressure, however there was a terrible burning smell. Limped back home off the motorway and all seemed OK. Then yesterday it happened again. I noticed that the front driver's side brake caliper is getting extremely hot after only a couple of miles, while the others are still cold. Could the caliper be jamming? How could I free it? The front driver's side tyre was completely flat this morning, I had to put on the spare. Don't know if this is just co-incidence though or whether the overheating has affected the tyre in some way?

Hi Folks Could you give me a rough idea of a reasonable service cost on the IS200 Sport - 70K service? I've had: £282 (Lexus dealer 1) £195 (Lexus dealer 2 - 20 miles from Lexus dealer 1!) Dealer 1 blamed their labour costs, but dealer 2 said it's only an hours work so labour costs don't really come into the equation!

Thanks, doing some reading up on the forum and the must-dos seem to be 1. Put some heavy weight in the boot (e.g. bags of sand) 2. Lower rear tyre pressures Also read: - turn off traction control - not sure how this would help - use snow button - although it's debatable how useful this is

I'm in Liverpool and it took me an hour and ten minutes to do the usual 8 minute drive to work. Got stuck on the way and had to dig myself out. Then stuck again in the works car park which wasn't gritted - another digout. Then after going home couldn't get the car up the drive which has a very slight incline. Spade out again to clear a path - what a nightmare! The snow button is useful on ice but next to useless in snow. The IS200 seems to be more prone to wheelspin with the snow button on than off. Anyone had similar experience? I read earlier that putting a lot of weight in the boot of a rear wheel drive car can help the rear wheels grip better. I may try this tomorrow, assuming I venture out again.

I got a quote from a Lexus dealer, which is around 420, including the tensioner. But they've told me they will inspect the tensioner first and only replace if it's worn, bringing the cost down to a possible 340. I will ring another dealer to see if there's any difference on price.

My IS200 sport is nearly on 60K and it's approaching the dreaded cambelt time! I haven't obtained any quotes yet, will probably take it to a Lexus dealer, could anyone give me an idea of the kind of money I'd be looking at. I've also thought about changing it myself, roughly how long would this take (I'm fairly competent and should have the tools), what would be the likely saving (assuming I source the timing belt from a Lexus dealer.. and indeed, should I source it from a Lexus dealer)?

I got some leather cleaner / restorer I got with my suite from DFS! Works a treat although the leather is a little cracked on the drivers seat (wear and tear getting in and out).

Does sound like something has come loose. Hard to say what - I would get it up on ramps before something flies off. I did my back brakes last week and the things I can think of are - Loose caliper (not bolted back on correctly, or bolts worked loose). Pin which holds on the clips (which in turn holds the pads in place), could the split pin have snapped and it's worked loose? Could the 2 spring clips have snapped / come loose? Did you fit the anti-squeal plates back on the pads? I nearly threw them away when I fitted new brakes, thought they were junk! I used Mintex pads back and front and have no probs with them.

Cheers for the help. Just back from Mothercare where we tried a number of different seats. Hope the following info is useful other IS owners. Mothercare suggested 4 seats that may be compatible with the IS (Britax Eclipse, Maxi-Cosi Priori XP, Maxi-Cosi Tobi, Maxi-Cosi Priorifit), we tried all 4. The Eclipse and Priory XP were not compatible due to the possibility of buckle crunch. This is where the seat shell can press down on the belt buckle in an accident and release the belt and the seat. It's difficult to see how this will happen until you see the seats fitted - once you do you can see there's not a lot of clearance between the seat and the buckle. We found that either the Maxi-Cosi Tobi (belt secured) and the Maxi-Cosi Prioryfit (belt or Isofix secured) both fitted with no issues. In the end we went for the Prioryfit - more money but the Isofix connectors seemed easier than messing with seat belts. We did notice that the Isofix connectors on the IS are rather off-centre to the seat which makes them a little difficult to find. So the seat ends up pressing on the central hump of the seats. However once the support leg is adjusted correctly the seat squares up. I would definitely recommend some kind of seat protector as all the seats left marks on the leather. If anyone is reading this at the time of posting, Mothercare had a sale on so we got the seat cheaper than internet prices.

Ah yes the dreaded pollen filter - forgot about that. Can I get these online? I seem to remember they were around £30 from Lexus Liverpool.

the treatment they talk about is a foam you spray down the vents which is left to disolve.£99 for a a/c service did they have black masks on?? :D They probably did wish I could have seen down the phone! They also said they couldn't guarantee they'd remove the smell (currently quite nasty) and it would maybe need 2 treatments. Definitely black masks!! Can I do get foam treatment myself? I've used the carplan spray tin a couple of times (the one that you put in the car and leave on).. but the smell comes back after a few days.

Lexus Liverpool recently quoted me £134 to recharge my IS. This did include a bacteria treatment as well though (which I assume is a can of £5 cleaner run through the system). I left it a week and phoned Toyota (right next door to Lexus) and they quoted £99 for exactly the same job, I'm sure it was the same guy I spoke to, part of the same group I think. How they can vary the price so much is beyond me. I may try the place in Widnes - I wouldn't trust Kwik Fit, half the staff are in my local one are too young to drive never mind service a car, the one's I've dealt with don't have a clue.

I'd heard that some of the Britax seats were a good fit for the IS. Do you know the model of your seat?

Hi I'm looking for a Group 1 car seat for my IS200 Sport. I've read all the various threads and here's what I understand - EDIT - see post #6 below for the car seats we found compatible with the IS. A popular choice of seat for the IS seems to be the Maxi-Cosi Priori XP. However I read on some threads that there's a risk of buckle crunch on this model and Mothercare / Halfords don't recommend it's fitted in an IS. Another option is to use ISOFIX compatible seats to get around the buckle crunch issue, however the placing of the ISOFIX locking points on the IS means that the seats end up lopsided because of the central 'hump' in the rear seats. Information on seat manufacturer's websites seems sketchy at best with no clear recommendation on which seat to go for. Can anyone offer any thoughts on this - what seats are you using and what issues (if any) do you have with them? Cheers Vinny

I was told the same thing, aircon service every 2 years. Surely every 2 years cannot be right? My old Ford Focus never needed the aircon recharging once in the 5 years I had it. Sounds like Lexus overkill to me. The last time I let Lexus do anything with the aircon was a sanitisation - for which I was charged 30 + Vat for running a tin of £5 carplan aircon spray through the system. I was fuming when I found out I could have done it myself.

Works fine, it's not as cold as it used to be but then I've not had it regassed since I bought it 4 years ago. It is a little smelly but like I say I can cure that fairly easily. In fact I think they've recommended a regas the past 3 years I've took it in. Maybe it's a moneyspinner for them. They also recommended I have the engine 'desludged' to improve performance.. whatever that is!

My IS200 is on 50K and Lexus have recommended a regas / sanitisation of the system for £135. The aircon is a bit smelly but I know this can be cured with a tin of the old Carplan spray for a fiver. Do I really need to get this done, what will be the benefit of the regas? And is this a good price or should I be looking elsewhere to get it done? I would rather avoid the usual outfits (Kwik Fit et al).

Cheers - will try an ECU reset tonight. Will have a look on the way home for an oil patch - maybe that was all it was...