Paradroid

Can't see you getting all that, you'll have to compromise on something! I had a Rover 45 2.0TDi for a while to do mega miles to work (100 a day). Paid £3750 for it @ 3years old, sold it with 30k more on the clock for £2650 18 months later. It needed brakes thanks to neglect/abuse by previous owner but apart from that it was 100% solid. It's kind of Japanese reliability because it's heavily based on a Honda Civic. Has to be said though, being 32 yrs old I did not enjoy the image. Especially because it was black. I don't like black cars with lots of chrome.

It's worse with more weight in the car i.e. passengers. Could it still be the pads? If it's too early for the car to be needing ball joints then I'm well happy, means the geometry can be done, but I'd not heard of the pad issue before

Sorry I'm sure it's been done to death but... How long do they usually last? My car is 54 plate with 55k miles on the clock. It drives great but sometimes when I turn the wheel at low speeds (usually on an incline) I hear a quiet clonk from the front end. I think the ball joint(s) need doing then? Don't really want to get them done unless they really need doing, but I want to get the geometry done, and don't want to do that if the ball joints will have to be done...

Grrrr. I'm glad I read this. My car has quiet clicks/clunks from the front when I'm turning, which must mean the ball joints are getting ready for changing. So I'll have to get them done before getting my geometry sorted. More expense!

I've not had my IS200 long, when it was new it had no rattles but it has developed one, that is quite annoying. I think I know what it might be - it's a metallic rattle on rough roads, and it seemed to start around the time when I adjusted the steering column to suit me better. I can see two screws either side of the steering wheel, will these get the plastic surround off, or is there anything else hidden that I'll need to undo too. Would be nice to get this one fixed as it's a bit of a wind-up in such a quiet car :)

That's very interesting, I thought on the IS it was originally 100k/10years, then they moved it down to 60k/6 years. Mine is not far off 60k, but it's only just 4 years old. So I can wait 2 yrs according to this?!?!?! I thought I'd need to get it done at 60k.

I once heard that Anthony Hopkins has (or had) a SC. Can't remember where I heard that though.

First two sound the best to me. I got Vredestein Ultracs on mine - £80 a corner fitted, from a local place. They look smart and are renowned for wet weather performance, which I though would be useful on a RWD car :) Great in dry too. Possibly a bit noisy although I've not tried any other makes of tyre yet, but the Lexus is well soundproofed so it's not bad.

I can't remember ever seeing an IS300 about, not unless it was debadged anyway. One thing I've always wondered about the IS300 is do they sound any different to the IS200? One thing I like about the IS200 is it sounds like a proper six cylinder motor even though it's small capacity. It sounds much like like a sixpot than the 2.5V6 that was in my ZS180. Although that engine does sound a lot better in the bigger ZT.

Why don't they just bite the bullet and get a world class diesel engine together? Honda did it no problems. It would really benefit the IS, and they could use it in the Avensis too. I wonder how many sales they lose to BMW because of the IS220 engine (from what I've read) not quite being up to the standard of the rest of the car.

That's exactly right. I bought my 54 plate IS200 sport for £7850 which I thought was a deal, I was chuffed and thought it wouldn't cost me that much to change if I sold my other car privately. Then it's taken me over 2 months to sell my immaculate MG ZS180 (the mk2 one with the side fins), 54 plate, and I only got £3750 for it. Cost to change - around £4k, which is the same as if the market had been good, I might have got £4.5k for the MG but then ended up paying £8.5k or £9k for the Lexus.

If you want a site building for you please send me a PM with some details, I should be able to do that for you - and hosting/support etc as well if needed :) I work full time doing web site development but do the odd bit in my own time too - smaller low budget jobs usually.

Can't remember 100% but I think about £27. I've tried a TRD one - the circular one with TRD lettering on the top, I liked the leather but have decided to go back to standard as I've just got the car and want it standard for a while. Will probably eBay the TRD one. I think the reason why I've got confused about the finish of the standard gear knob is that the one that came with my car was so badly worn and scratched on top that I though the top part must have matched the bottom part originally, but had just worn off!

I ordered one from my local dealer, it arrived but I'm not sure it's what I was expecting. It's the metal ball, the lower half is dark gunmetal coloured, the top half is bright chrome coloured. Are they all like this? Don't know if I'm cracking up but I thought you could get them where the top was gunmetal coloured too instead of bright chrome?

Was this before being WIM'd? Suspension does seem to get a bit too soft at high speeds on my car too. Hopefully the WIM treatment will sort it. Getting close to being able to get it done now...

Chris, I quite like the current Golf in GTI form, but even so, it's not as nice as your stunning red IS200, I really liked it when I saw it at the Haigh Hall show. Puts my IS200 to shame condition-wise. Why would the Golf be cheaper to insure than the Lexus? That's not right as it's a much quicker and higher group car. Just shop around you'll get the IS200 insured cheap. I went on Moneysupermarket and got a quote off them. I got a ZS180 (not a cheap car to insure) covered for about £350 a year, Moneysupermarket had that price but it was with Swiftcover, who are not worth touching, but then I phoned Adrian Flux, and they matched the price...

I like Auto Express for all the gossip and news - quite a bit of it untrue, including the spy shots on the front cover! On the monthlies I like Evo best, they seem to rate cars by how they drive and aren't too obsessed with the badge on the front and residuals etc. A bit like the opposite to What Car!

Yeah mate, if it fits an IS I'd be well pleased with one. Want a PM with address details? Where do you work?

Plato=IS-F Tiff=M3 Hmm, right. The M3 must be a lot quicker then if Plato was driving the IS-F. Either that or Plato had a big wad of bank notes off BMW in his back pocket! I really don't know what I'd choose (given the chance). I think the IS-F is the classier looking car, and if it's got an engine with good accessible power across the rev range then I'd prefer that over the M3, which is more hardcore and would need a bit more revving. On the previous generation 3-series I always thought I'd prefer a nice 330Ci over the M3.

O2 sensors cause power loss problems in lots of makes of cars, especially diesel engines. I don't know how much the IS200/300 are affected by this kind of problem, but why don't you just replace the O2 sensors, the car is telling you to do that!

Who was driving the M3 and the IS-F? I've seen a few tests on Fifth Gear where cars should have won didn't, because Tiff was driving, and Plato was driving the other one!

Has anyone seen Deathproof? Wasn't sure on that one to start with but well worth watching till the end! More about characters than cars though really. What about Crash (David Cronenberg) :lol: Being a bit more serious, I like the first Fast and Furious :) I also like Smokey and the Bandit. Never thought Gone in Sixty Seconds looked any good but I might give it another go seeing as everyone rates it.

Mine's on 35 psi, I noticed a very marked improvement going from 33psi (although I found the fronts were on 30psi which the tyre place had done the week before). Vredestein (who makes my tyres) have a website, and they have recommended pressures for various makes of car. I checked and for the IS200 they recommend much higher pressures, 41 psi I think.

British won 2 world wars but we never bought their cars lol. Blueflame exhausts, from Skem near me in Wigan? Heard good things about them, bet it sounds stunning on the S4 :)

You could try for the lock-up too :)