marjohn

Had mine cleaned a couple of months ago, what a difference. it was done locally through a garage arranged by Prestige car servicing, cost around £280. They had the car for a couple of days though. It's running really well at present, which after all the trouble I've had with it over the last eighteen months is great, but it only has to be good for a few more weeks, then it's adios Toyota/Lexus, .

It's quite a while since I posted anything, but I thought I'd throw my pennyworth into the mix. I bought my IS220d SE-L in 2006, new out of the box, a lovely car,what more could you ask for, and I really did like it. It had the usual stuff done under warranty, 5th injector new water pump etc. In February 2010, it had done 51000 miles, and was almost four years old when, hey presto I'm told the head gasket was leaking, fairly obvious really as the expansion tank was blowing pink foam!, I was also getting whitish smoke, not always, but on cold mornings until it warmed up. Fortunately, it was under a Lexus extended and they replaced the short block and all appeared well. As the car was four years old a few weeks later AND had just had an engine rebuild I did not extend the Lexus warranty again, but took out a Warranty Direct policy. Over the next two years, it went back to the dealer twice for smoking issues, they could find no problem and told me it was quite normal for them to smoke!! Anyway, to cut a long story short, earlier this year it went in for it's 90k service, and I informed them it was becoming a problem to start when warm, and was sometimes tricky when cold and smoked like a chimney! This they could not replicate, basically because they did not bother to get the engine warm. I then contacted WD and told them of my starting issues and smoking. With WD, you can pay more to have all work carried out at a main dealer or just use their network garages which is what I chose to do. In the car went to a local garage who did all the checks, even one of the mechs taking the car home with him to catch the problems, which he did! Further examination proved it to be low compression on cylinders 2 & 3 due to worn cylinders. Now, if that was a NEW short block that Lexus fitted in 2010 would you expect the cylinders to be worn? I emailed Lexus UK and was basically told, tough, we only guarantee parts for 12 months. To cut to the chase, a FULLY rebuilt tall engine ( that's the head and the block ) is in the process of being fitted and it's cost me £1500, less than our dear friends at Lexus would have charged and WD are picking up all of the labour costs and half of the parts, only half of the parts as the car is now seven years old, I think you can work that out, in total the repair bill will be around £5k+. My thanks to Warranty Direct. I hope to get another year out of the car after this, and then it will be chopped in. I will NEVER buy another Lexus, in fact I will never touch a Toyota either. I have tales of attempted rip-off's by another dealer and just generally shoddy standards and after-care. It's a great shame as the IS220d had so much potential, a real threat to the executive German diesels, but Toyota-Lexus really screwed it up. Years ago, I had a BMW 320 that had a problem with the aircon thermistor, there was a shortage of them said the dealer they are on back order and they would call me. after 3 weeks I had heard nothing and called the dealer, still on back order. I rang BMW and spoke to their customer services dept who told me there was no shortage. Within ten minutes of that call, the dealer was on the phone to me begging me to bring the car in that day to have the item replaced. They did not want to do it as it was a time consuming job, but BMW UK made them jump, THAT'S what I call customer service. I think Lexus should have a little latin added to their logo...'Caveat emptor'

I've had my 220d since 2006; new out of the box. It's now done 84k, and had the usual issues, including an engine rebuild at 52k. Over the last couple of years, and since it's warranty expired, I'be been seeing increasing amounts of whitish smoke as the engine temperature approached normal, and sometimes when the temp was normal. It didn't happen on every journey, bit seemed to be about every 12 miles or so, this corresponded with my daily grind through heavy traffic, rarely getting above 30. I did ask Lexus to take a look, and they tested it and could find nothing amiss, in fact commenting that it was running really well; it did, apart from the clouds of smoke! To cut to the,chase, two weeks ago I decided to clean the egr valve myself; I was shocked when Itook it off, the inlet.manifold aperture was probably less then half of what it should have been, and the egr itself had a high build-up of carbon. I cleaned this.as.best as I could, as I had forgotten to get some carb cleaner first! Result... No smoke since, and increased. Mpg by about 10%. Wish I'd done it sooner.

Hi Ahmed, What is the controller interface you fitted to start with?

My 2006 220d has just had its engine rebuilt, new short block, and various other bits. Result is that for the fist time since I had it, from new, I am now achieving decent figures. Driving in London traffic, constant stop start, it now does 35mpg, on a long motorway run, cruise control on, set at 80mph, it averages out at 43. However, whilst on the M4, running through the 50mph sections, I reset the AVG, set cruise on at 53mph (I know it was that coz I have a roadangel) flat road over a 3 mile stretch, it said 62mpg. Tank refill and calculated gave a tank distance of 570 miles. Whatever they did when they rebuilt it, Lexus should have done from the beginning, it's also a lot quieter now than it was when new. Give thanks to a decent dealer!! My 57 plate had the whole new engine thing at 55k miles and most of the other gubbins under the bonnet at various times and, as you say, was a marked improvement. However this was short lived as after the usual 5000ish miles it began misbehaving again and economy plummeted again. Lexus had it back, messed around with the turbo settings (badly) and cleaned the EGR valve again - better. Seems to me that the key to these things running properly is a clean EGR valve. Never found out if it cured it as it was sold off 4k miles later and replaced with a VAG diesel - now that is good!! Yes, we have several Audi A3's and A4's on the company fleet, they are economic. However, they have also suffered from nasty engine problems; Do some research on VAG diesels 2005 - 2006, you'll find a lot of very unhappy owners. Our's arn't that old, but we've had two with Head Gasket failures. The other thing is the IS220d's engine sounds like a bag of spanners when you start it, but quickly get's quitens down; the VAG diesel on the other hand, at least the two litre varient, continues to sound like a bag of spanners. That's not me saying that, that's the guys here who drive them. The best diesels out there are BMW's and Peugeot's, although in saying that, I had problems with a BMW 320d I had some years back, I think it was to do with EGR valve... strange thing that. :)

My 2006 220d has just had its engine rebuilt, new short block, and various other bits. Result is that for the fist time since I had it, from new, I am now achieving decent figures. Driving in London traffic, constant stop start, it now does 35mpg, on a long motorway run, cruise control on, set at 80mph, it averages out at 43. However, whilst on the M4, running through the 50mph sections, I reset the AVG, set cruise on at 53mph (I know it was that coz I have a roadangel) flat road over a 3 mile stretch, it said 62mpg. Tank refill and calculated gave a tank distance of 570 miles. Whatever they did when they rebuilt it, Lexus should have done from the beginning, it's also a lot quieter now than it was when new. Give thanks to a decent dealer!!

I bought one, didn't work. They are not genuine. I can assure you that www.lexus-mapupdates.eu sell genuine Toyota parts - I've bought 5 sets of discs from them over the last few years and they arrived sealed with toyota part number stickers on them. If your disc didn't work then you either ordered the wrong disc or there is a fault with your system. As a side note: another thing to remember is that DVD-R copies off places like eBay will more than likely not work as a firmware update a couple of years ago stopped the drives from reading DVD-R discs Sorry, speed reading again! Yeah, the site I bought from was not on ebay, but I should have known better!

Hi Darren, I am also new to the site and the lexus. Not even picked mine up yet. I have looked around for the best place for the map updates and most recommend here http://www.lexus-mapupdates.eu/ to purchase new map updates. I bought one, didn't work. They are not genuine.

YES the 220d is a heavy smoker... I have the same problem with my 3.5yo, 2006 IS 220D (55000KM). After my engine block and head-gasket, among many others, were changed under warranty my car started smoking heavily on the motorway on a regular basis, especially when mildly accelerating to overtake (most pronounced around 2500rpm in 4th gear). At night I can see in my RV-mirror huge clouds of smoke behind the car made even more dramatic by the headlights of the traffic behind me. My CAT has probably drowned in the thick smoke and is laying dead drunk somewhere on the side of the road. I am going to the dealer today for the n-th time with this car, totally fed up, believe me. I have reported a long list of problems that I had before and were fixed, partly : just do a search 4 mee name if u fancy seeing it. I got a 2 year extended warranty for the power train but I don't sleep better... Good luck! U (we) needed it...it's not science anymore with Lexus, but pure luck ... Adrian Mine's been in the dealership now for about 10 days having the engine seen to, looks like it's the head gasket, plus other bits. Mine's the same age as yours and has done 52000m. Sadly it seems that the 2.2 D4D engine is not the most reliable in the world, although the newer version with reduced emissions is said to be a vast improvement. Maybe they'll just decide to replace the engine with a nice shiny new one :) Then again... maybe not. :(

Depends where you are, suspect you'd be OK where you are. We haven't got Sat because we have better local radio and national radio than the they do. Also, how many people are going to subscribe to listen to radio in thier car? A run from NY to LA takes you through some places where radio hasn't been heard of yet! That's the advantage of Sat Radio. Driving from Liverpool to Brighton just isn't the same. ;)

Not sure, but it talks on a common bus, similar to the ipod interface, so in theory it should work. The Antennae is just a screen sticky, very similar to the Pure DAB unit I have at the moment... As for the new MM system, not much change out of £2000 would be my guess. I think most people will be disappointed with DAB in a car. The UK system was designed specifically for fixed installation and not for use on-the-move where poor coverage and complete drop-out with low signals stop it from being suitable as the only Radio source. On a technical point, the Codecs used provide significantly worse audio quality than FM, and are power-inefficient to transmit. For these reasons, it is strongly rumoured that it will be abandoned and replaced with a different, better but non-compatible system before FM is dropped. Being able to have a huge number of stations none of which you can reliably receive doesn't seem worth spending money on. As I have said, I have a Pure unit in the car, works fine, just thibk it's ugly! Signal Depends where you are, driving from NW London across to East London is fine, driving up the M4 and M40 is pretty good too. M5 south of Bristol tends to be poor. I want it specifically because I like to listen to 5 Live extra for football cricket etc. Not available on FM. Oh another thing slightly off topic, my IS220d is in having some TLC on the engine at present, and I have a GS450h on loan, very nice too... However, there's no long wave on a GS450h, but there is a cassette deck!!

Not sure, but it talks on a common bus, similar to the ipod interface, so in theory it should work. The Antennae is just a screen sticky, very similar to the Pure DAB unit I have at the moment... As for the new MM system, not much change out of £2000 would be my guess.

Just read the Installation manual, there's a 12 pin and an 8 pin connector, suspect it will work. Now... if I can just get one at a reasonable price..

I was quoted £600 to repair a 1.5 inch scratch on my wing, did it myself with a pen I got from the states, if you look VERY closely now, you might see it. If you are fully insured yes, but I hope you have no claims bonus protection.

Here's one for the super techies.... I have found there is a module for the Prius and other models, namely the PZ473-T0210-A0 DAB module. Question is, can this be fitted to the IS220/250? Simple as that.

If you cannot get them under warrenty, and edgeware road said no when I asked them about that, and that was at 30k, although it appears some dealers wil, then get the pads and disks elsewhere and if you can't do them, get your local indy to do them, should cost you less then £250 total. EBC Standard discs and pads work out to about £175.

Sadly they are more expensive, but not drastically more then Edgeware. I live in north west london so my two nearest dealers are Edgeware and Park Lane. I don't think I really have another option. If I get the car collected from where I work in Canary wharf, then it's either Croydon or Sidcup... All part of the same group. Woodford could be a possability, drop it off on the way round the North Circular and pick it up on the way back, if they could give me a courtesy car. I'll bear it in mind.

Time to tell my story.... Not all Lexus dealers are good... shock horror! About 18 months ago, my IS220d went into Lexus Edgeware Road for its 30000 service. I was called by thier service rep to tell me the service was done, but it needed new front discs and pads. It needed new discs because they were lipped and below the minimum depth. I have driven many new cars over the years, dating back to the 1970's and my first Ford Escort 1300!! NEVER have I had a set of discs needing replacement at under 50,000 miles, and then only once. I pointed out to the 'Gentleman' at Edgeware road that ALL discs will lip, and explained to him the principles of friction and wear. I also said that I would not be requiring them to change said discs and pads now, or at anytime in the near future; or words to that effect. I changed my own pads about 4 months later with some nice EBC greens! , the pads still had around 9000 miles left on them I reckon. Around 6 months later, I took the car for its first MOT to my local indie garage, lovely people, did the MOT and it passed with no problems. I asked them to check the discs after telling them my experience with Fudgeware Road, which they did, and informed me that the discs were well within limits and did not require changing, this was at about 38,000. At 40,000 the car went in for service to Park Lane Lexus, who I again asked about the discs, guess what... NOTHING Wrong with the discs sir, well within limits! So there you have it. The car has NEVER been back to Kludgeware Road, nor will it be going to either of thier sister establishments at any time. There is also another note here. Remember the high fuel consumption 5th Injector problem. Well Smudgeware Road did that recall, improved slightly for about a month, then back to normal. I never reported the problem to Park Lane, as I'd just come to accept that the official Lexus figure's were bullsh*t. At the last service, 50000, and almost at the end of the extended Warranty (ends End of March 2010) I reported it. They gave it a service and called me to tell me they want it back ( next week now ), a loaner will be supplied for the duration, at least a week, as they are going to take the engine out and find out what's the real problem as it's using too much oil, too much fuel and too much water, can't say I thought it was using too much oil and water. However it appears PL Lexus ARE interested in trying to keep customers happy. Needless to say, I will be using PL Lexus for as long as I keep the 220d, and yes, I'll be extending the warranty for a while longer, although I'll not be buying a Lexus one, as there are cheaper more comprehensive alternatives. So vote with your feet, if they are trying to rip you off, go elsewhere and let everyone else know too, so we can avoid them as well. In these tighter financial times, dealers need to earn thier customers good will, and bye bye to those who try and shaft us :tsktsk:

Had smae problem with mine, see previous posting on the subject. Lamps not covered by warrenty (extended). Got hold of 2 genuine Philips lamps from the US, others have got them from Germany. Not diifficult to replace. MUCH cheaper to do it yourself. DO NOT BUY CHEAP ONES FROM CHINA OR HONG KONG ON EBAY!!! They do not work properly... I know from experience.

Whatever youj do, don't buy cheap ones off ebay. Get only Philips or Osram. I sadly thought I'd save a few quid by buying a pair of Lumenex 6000k HID's. They are rubbish. Now I've ordered a pair of Philips from the states for around £85. Reason for a pair change is the colour can change as the lamp gets older. Here's a link, maybe useful for others: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...RTQ:MOTORS:1123

My 220d is just approaching 3 years old, 37,000 on the clock and until Christmas I'd had no real problems, had a couple of intermittent probs like the O/S mirror not tilting, but that cleared itself. Then, on the Saturday b4 Xmas I was on the M4 when I had the xmas tree lights come on, and slowed to a crawl. After waiting for the AA for an hour, the Motorway Agency guys asked me to drive to the next services even at 20mph, and they'd follow, on the hard shoulder. As it happened although I had all the warning lights, I now had power back and sailed to the services at 70+. The AA came out and sure enough diagnosed it as the egr; took it apart and found nothing wrong with it, reset the compiuter and all has been well since. The guys from the Motorway Agency knew what the problem would be as soon as I described what had happened, they drive deisel RAV 4's, and get the same problem! In thier case it's apparently caused by the engine sitting ticking over for long periods. In my case the AA tech reckoned it was a computer glitch as the valve looked like it had just left the factory. Seems the problem is more likely to be that than mechanical. Just wish there was a way to reset the computer without resorting to one of the breakdown agencies. I think also the diesels are a bit of a 'black box' to Lexus UK. They really don't understand how Oil burners work, or it appears that way. Wonder if anyone in the Toyota OC group has reported similar problems. I'll get a petrol one next time!! As far as Lexus GB are concerned, I think they lost the plot a long time ago, too many platitudes and not enough 'sorting the problem out'.

There also appears to another box of electronics between the Washer bottle and the lamp cluster. Maybe it only appears on the IS220d, attatched to that is a loom running accross the front... It was the offside one that had blown, and I thought I'd be clever by changing both for white LED ones, however I think I'll just change the offside on for a standard lamp, then at least they'll match! I also now have to get hold of a few cover clips, as at least 3 shot off somewhere.... sigh!!!

Has anyone tried replacing the near side sidelight wedge bulb on an IS220d? If so how did you do it? My arms and hands are too large and won't bend to the angle required... :tsktsk:

I've got one on the way out, most times it start up, then it's OK. A couple of times I've had to power off the lights and back on to start it. Just looked on ebay as suggested, and I can buy a pair of 6500K's ( whiter than the standard fit ) for about £68 including p&p. Search for "D4S HID", the ones I'm looking at now are JDM 6500K Super White D4S HID. I think a new topic of 'We will not be ripped off" is in order!!!

Sounds cheap A certain dealer in London wanted £401 to replace my front discs and pads, this at 31,000 miles. They did offer to reduce it by giving me a 15% descount on the parts after I told them I thought it a little excessive; but no way would they think of replacing the discs under warrenty, which I think they should. Discs SHOULD outlast the pads, they have on every other car I've ever driven. Just had a quote come back for disks and pads from the Blue Print range, and I'll tag this in from the their site... "Only products of the highest quality make it into the Blue Print range, and as a result all new Blue Print parts are classified as “Matching Quality” under official European regulations. This means Blue Print parts can be used during routine servicing or repair without invalidating the vehicle warranty. " For front pads and discs, £150, that includes delivery.