The Transporter

Surly, walking away from a car on a PCP has got to be the worst idea ever.. And walking away from a Lexus is the worst thing to do. Calm down, collect your thoughts and talk it over with your dealer. I doubt that they deliberately misled you but I would guess that they sold you the wrong package by mistake, an error on their part, I agree but the failsafe for such errors is the customer who agrees to the package has to read and be sure that it is what is right for them. Perhaps the dealer can suggest a deal to help you out... They want to sell a car and you need a car so they will do whatever they can to put your bum in one of their cars.. They don't react well to ranting... No one would Although the value of cars like yours has dropped, is not the sale value still higher than the value of the balloon payment? in which case, sell the car and settle the payment, Inconvenient, yes but not the end of the world... Since you were of the belief that the car was on a PCP, then you will have abided by the agreement that you thought you were signing with regard to millage limits, care and servicing, so you should still have a very nice car to sell on... Provided that you took care of it!

Lexus clearly dont think its important as they sell so called 'approved cars' without full 'dealer histories' , (ie missed services) a Lexus approved history doesnt mean a 'full service history' according to them.... I usually get a car serviced at a dealer for the first 3 years from new then either do it myself or go independent If genuine parts are used and the recommended fluids are used and the manufacturers schedule is followed, then what does it matter what is embroidered on the mechanics overalls? Now the car is out of warranty, I do all my own servicing... Changed the axle lube for its 20K service... Was quite surprised to see how much swarf had collected on the magnetic drain plug, so that job can be done every 10K... Think I'll drain the gearbox in the light of what I found in the axle

The drivers floor pan looks soooo empty without a clutch pedal Automatics with heavy bodywork and relatively small engines do not a street burner make...

I really like the Satnav on my 05 Is 200 despite the lack of Postcodes, nice big screen and makes it clear which lane you need to be in on an unfamiliar junction.. The big plus over the Tom Tom in my van is that it is fixed in to the dash of my car so it is not so easy to steal unlike my Tom Tom which needs to be hidden when I park up.. Already lost one, smashed window and dented door

With all due respect, The large oil manufacturers spend a fortune in ensuring that their product has the right package of additives for the vehicle for which it is intended so any quality oil with the right spec for the car is more than adequate. Messing with what the chemists have designed with additives from a second source will do no good. I remember when Slick50 was first launched, they said that once treated a car could run with no oil in the engine... To prove or disprove this claim, Motor Mechanics magazine tried it out and yes the car ran for many miles with no oil in the engine... Trouble was so did the test car that hadn't been treated. These additives are trying to second guess what very experienced chemists have already finely honed

Good grief!! The Bavarians are light years ahead of you there.... Rather than restricting speed, they restricted range... Ask any mid nineties BMW driver about his Nikasil problem. Don't let him kid you that he is using patches to cure it Modern times call for modern ways to gum up the plumbing, so BMW introduced the Piedrive.. A system so confusing that most drivers never get to leave their own driveway :winky:

Helium would leave you with four flat tyres very quickly indeed.. It is great for finding tiny leaks in air conditioning systems but the detectors cost the earth... I'll stick with using Nitrogen and a sniff of pipe freezer.

Hmmmm.. I think that moisture is the real problem with air from a compressor.. Anyone who has ever had an air compressor will have had to drain the receiver tank periodically will have seen how much water has to be drained from them.... Paint sprayers have to use air driers to ensure a dry supply of air to their spraying equipment and bearing in mind that many operatives at tyre bays have to use air wrenches to make sure that they have attached your wheels tightly enough, it would seem to me that in many cases, they are not the kind of guys who would pay too much attention to the daily requirements of their air compressor... So I would suggest that you do have a high risk of them inadvertently introducing a lot of moisture to the tyre air, thus causing the wide fluctuations in tyre pressures due to temperature that has been reported. Here is a theory on the F1 guys, and it is only a theory... Nitrogen is a handy material to have around for blowing stuff clean, non toxic (But it is an asphyxient) Non oxidising, so it is safe to use where grease and oil are to be found and allows brazing of metals where oxidation would cause a problem, relatively cheap. and is supplied in bottles (Easily transportable) with a known moisture content so that the engineers know exactly what the pressure of the tyres will be at any given temperature... IE it is the perfect mechanics gas for doing all kinds of things.. A bit like WD40 but with a heavier bottle :winky:

No I think that all cars have speedos these days .... In the US they call them trunks :winky: If you back off the throttle a bit whilst driving, then the MPGometer will show a higher MPG.. They are not accurate but useful to help train you to use a lighter throttle position than you normally would. Audis of the eighties used to have these gauges, they measured the vacuum in the manifold.. the lower the vacuum the further open the throttle was and the more fuel you were burning

Oops... Double post

The last of the bunch of the IS200 got a lot of very nice toys thrown in... Lots of car for little money.. The IS is a bit like Marmite.. you either love it or hate it but in my opinion far nicer car than a 3... The biggest fault with the IS is that it does like a drink though.

Yep, used mine as a wedding car... Black car..Black suit... Black glasses.. The bride loved it

Mine has done 25k on the tires that it left the factory with and there is still loads of tread left, no sign of wear on the front insides

Air Con of course... But on a trip to Bavaria the sat nav was very good

If otherwise the car is in good condition, it puts a smile on your face, it suits all of your day to day needs and your Mrs likes it, then keep it.. Yes fuel prices have increased, but 6k a year is pretty low mileage, Yes tax has increased but break the increase down to cost per week.... Others know that the tax will be high and this will show when you sell it... Then consider what else you would get for the money... Diesels are good but they are also very fragile these days, they have lots of electronic gizmos and are highly stressed.. The IS is a pretty laid back lazy engine with a good tough gearbox... So my theory is that what you save in fuel over the Lex, you will pay in increased maintainance and spares on something like a Golf. My 05 IS has done 24k, I love it to bits..I dont usually get enthusiastic over cars, but I shall keep it until the wheels fall off because to replace it with a car that is cheaper to run would actually cost me money both short and long term.

If your system is not running at all, then you may well have lost your charge through a leak in which case you will need to repair the leak before you charge the system... Also the use of death kits (As your countrymen call them) means that there may be air in the system or the act of charging the system will introduce air to the system. Air in your ac system is not good as it does not compress and condense like refrigerant does, this causes the system pressures to be higher, which does put an considerable strain on the compressor, speeding wear and premature failure, and also increasing your fuel consumption considerably for the return of inferior cooling.. Find a good independant ac shop as they are much more switched on to car aircon... you could ask for advice on who is good in your area Here

Yep Rob... He's using a death kit.. SDK.... Yep its got a greeny blue (I'm colourblind) cap on it... It may even have an "L" on it as opposed to "H" for the High side service port.... Tim at Arizona air can help you with the kit you need to do the job right... He can supply you a new compressor if you don't.

Either on the compressor manifold or if you follow the suction line from the compressor to the bulkhead and you will find it, from memory it is quite low down and a bit of a trick to reach..... You will be be using a vacuum pump won't you?

The air con system contains a refrigerant and a lubricant which is carried round the system by the refrigerant, so the ac compressor is lubricated rather like a two stroke engine... The lube used is a PAG (Polyakelynglycol) Excuse my spelling.. The issue of differing temps is a curious one as I would expect this issue to be more associated with vehicles with split temperature zones, but it is either low on refrigerant, so that th air coming from one side of the evaporator is colder than on the other, and the air does not mix greatly after that (Which I do not feel is likely) or as has been said could be the blend flap letting a little warm air pass I have never needed to repair an IS200, so my knowledge here is limited, but would hope that the flap motors are accessible without ripping out the dash.... I would also anticipate that there would be a water valve to cut the flow of water through the heater matrix.... Try clamping off the heater hoses and see if this improves things..

Check the sightglass under the bonnet with the aircon running (And has been running for a little while) If there are lots of bubbles visible, then you could well need your ac recharging, if then there are only one or two every now and then or the sight glass is clear, then the charge is fine. Blend flap may be passing a little hot air.. If your ac hasn't been looked at for a little while then it may benefit from a check over, don't forget to change your pollen filter. Cleaning/ freshening your evaporator is a cinch in a Lex, you can either use one of those "Bombs" in your footwell with the heating set to recirculate, which is fine for milder odours, or spray a stronger cleaning agent such as Aircon Stericlean into the airstream once the pollen filter has been removed but block the slot with gaffer tape to make suer that the cleaner is blown directly on to the evaporator.. Try not to breathe it in or you'll be as high as a kite :winky: Also worth while making sure that the condensate pipe is not blocked with gunge and can drain out under the car..

So is that the other little dome by the sensor for the lights. I wondered what the extra was for.lol. I bet il be noticing it everytime I go into the shade now.lol. does that effect with the solar sensor only occur on 'auto' vent function? If the fan speed is on a set speed, then the only other thing that the HVAC can do is to drop the vent temperature but whatever the set point, it will try to drop the cabin temperature by a degree or two. To be honest I find this feature, and automatic temperature control in general to be annoying and I much prefer the manual air con on my van, but as I said, any Toyota/ Lexus AC, especially the fixed displacement compressor systems will leave any European car for dead when it gets hot but not so good on cool, humid days as the compressor does cycle on and off a bit too often

As has been said, the climate control with the AC off is simply an automatic heating system, the system will do what it can to maintain the set temperature in the car but with the AC off and no refrigerated air entering the HVAC system then what it can do is limited. Refrigerating the air does a number of things, most noticeably it cools the air to just above 0 centigrade, It also removes a large amount of humidity from the air which on close, "Muggy" days is a relief, Dust and other particles which find their way through the pollen filter will also be further filtered when they stick to the damp evaporator coils. The HVAC system will then direct the air to the vents, or heat a portion of the air and blend it with cooled air to maintain the set point as is directed on the controls... The Lex also has a Solar radiation sensor on the dash which will cause the vents to blow either cooler or at a higher volume of air to compensate for solar gain through the glass which make you feel warmer than the cabin temperature actually is... you may notice this as you drive in to a shaded area, the vent temp/ volume of air (Fan speed) will change By modern standards the IS200 HVAC system is pretty old fashioned but it is superior to any over engineered European system when the heat is really on. Windows open or AC on? Generally speaking below 40mph it is cheaper to drive with the windows open but as speed increases, open windows add more and more drag to the point where it is more cost effective to use the AC

Practicalities aside... It used to be a legal requirement that you always applied your parking brake... Not sure if it still is I never used to apply it on my old 5 series and the mechanism seized up, so it does pay to use it now and then...

Itchy, If there is no leak and there is sufficient refrigerant in the system, then I can't see what changing the condenser would do.. the only reason that I would change the condenser (The matrix that sits in front of the radiator) would be because it leaks... so I would get someone to give you a second opinion. If the refrigerant is in there and the system still aint running, I would be looking for an electrical fault.. You may need to have its fault codes read as the flashing light is stating that a fault has been detected I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with the AC system on the RX or any Lex come to that as they are about as reliable as you can get so I rarely have to fix them

To me it has to be "Rexton"... You just know what the name will be bastardised to...