Paradroid

the drain pipes run down to the rean down the pillars and then to the boot ( its the black pipe you can see at either side of the boot wells(dont know if thats what you call them) then to under the can where they exit.

I see :)

So if they get blocked how does the water end up in the boot, do the pipes split or something?

I can't work out how the sunroof drains being blocked can put water in the boot. Where do they drain to normally?

My car had some water in the boot too, and some green sludge, probably because it's never been cleaned out properly. I've cleaned it all out now, but want to fix the problem for good.

I can't speak for the IS200 specifically, but I've done this on other cars.

What I'd expect is:

Use a screwdriver to remove the cover over the screw on the door handle.

Undo the screw

The handle should now come free but don't put much force on it, try to look behind, where I'd imagine you'll see the door release rod, and a plastic clip which clips the door handle to the rod. You'll need to unclip the rod to free up the handle so it can be removed.

I've found on some cars the clip can be brittle so be careful you don't break it!

In my opinion a panel filter is not a mod, you're changing a replacable item with an equivalent compatible item, just from a different manufacturer.

What if an independent garage changed your Lexus oil filter for a generic-make one - would that count as a mod?

I'm only talking about panel filters in the original airbox here, obviously cone filters and full induction kits are a mod!

Normally with a project car people are trying to put in more powerful engines! Stick a Lexus V8 engine in your IS as a project, and get a daily driver with a small diesel engine :)

I'm afraid to say that I took exactly that approach when looking for one, i.e. only looked for ones pre-March 2001 to be on the safe side.

I can completely understand that. The crazy thing is though that we're now in turmoil really with the road tax, everyone has gone mad about it being applied to cars already on the road, so will that useless excuse for a Chancellor amend things in the November pre-budget announcements. It's just like how he messed up denying they were looking into stamp duty waivers, and now the housing market has ground to a halt too. Nice one, slick!

I don't really think it's possible. I've tried a few times over the past few months. Mine's on an '05 plate and the best offer I've had for it is £6500 - no one seems to be interested.

I suppose the irony is the older pre 2001 cars are probably more sought after at the moment.

Tell me about it. I have TWO Celicas and a Vitara to sell. And an R6 and a Mito (Motorbikes.) The Celicas have now both run out of MOT and Tax as it took so long, now I can't afford to fix them up, MOT and Tax them, meaning they are worth even less! Had them on this forum, the Celica forum, even fricken MySpace and not any interest!

Seems like it has to have a 1.4 diesel engine to sell these days.

That's nothing! My MG has been on Autotrader, Pistonheads, and an MG forum for 4 weeks and not a single serious phone call.

Would you consider lowering your price ? Sounds like it's priced too high. There are buyers out there. I bought my IS200 just a couple of weeks ago, and found a real bargain after shopping around in Auto Trader. There were some way-overpriced (IMHO) models out there, particularly (but not exclusively) from private sellers.

Price has already been lowered, but think I will have to slash it further, to be honest. I suppose you rarely get what you want selling privately. My IS200 was a bit of a bargain too compared to a lot of the prices out there. A Lexus dealer had a similar car to mine and wanted over 3k more!!!

No it's not possible! I have had mine on sale for about a month and still not much interest, it will be going on autotrader next month so will see then.

That's nothing! My MG has been on Autotrader, Pistonheads, and an MG forum for 4 weeks and not a single serious phone call.

But let me know how you get on with selling your IS, in case I have to do what I really don't want to do :(

Guess its like anything, if the price is right it will sell. Not a good time to sell if your after top bucks though.

I know what you mean. My thinking is that there's a bigger market for a Lexus than an MG though. The thing with the MG is it's a high performance car that's cheap to run, so they've always attracted people on a budget. And people on a budget aren't going to want 400+ a year VED. With a Lexus there might be people with a slightly higher budget for running costs.

I only just got my IS200 Sport and love it, but I have a problem. No, the car is great, but I opted to sell my old car privately and am struggling. It's a late model MG ZS180, in the same tax band as the Lexus.

There's no way I'd put the Lexus up for sale unless it was the last resort, because I've really grown attached to it, but I can't keep both cars.

If I DID have to sell the Lexus would it sell? Or would it be just as much a struggle as selling the MG at the moment? My Lexus is a 54 plate so it's at the higher end of the IS200 price range.

So they're interested in road SAFETY and they want us all driving low rolling resistance tyres, even on sports and performance cars. Another clueless idea then, just like turning road tax into a dishonest green tax.

Nice pictures!

It was a good show - I only got there later but nice to meet a few of the LOC people :)

I've had nothing but trouble with the Richbrook type in the past - falling off, needing an allen key to change the tax disc. I had one that was twist release instead of allen keys which wasn't too bad.

I got a Lexus tax disc holder from my dealer and that is great I think. Just a circular magnetic ring and a piece of very thin metal. Works a treat and is much thinner than the Richbrook type.

Also I was impressed with the price, only about 6.99 I think.

Not really my finest effort but it'll give you an idea

Nice one thanks!!! I think they look pretty good :)

I was never mad on Lexus lights (whether the standard IS/Altezza ones, or the crappy aftermarket ones fitted to other makes of car).

But now that I have an IS I've started to like them. I think it's when you get up close to them i.e. cleaning the car, you realise what a work of art they are.

Having said that I'd love to see what that aftermarket set look like fitted.

Nice move.

I did mine a week or two ago. It was a really warm night, I struggled like hell with the middle clip and ended up with a right sweat on!

It does look a lot better though with the sports grill. The three bar grill just doesn't quite look right. The older four bar grill looked better.

Sorry for poor quality it's a mobile phone piccie

The finishes are authentic too aren't they. On that sort of alloy I always thought you could get anthracite or silver finishes as standard?

This looks great, what's the catch?

I would get some for mine at that price! Just wondering whether to have silver or anthracite... On a platinum silver car I'd not want them too dark. But even the standard silver has a slightly dark sheen to it. I can tell because two of my wheels have been refurbed at some point and are plain silver, they look flat and not dark enough.

I have a cap over my lighter socket, taken from fords, cost a couple of squid off ebay, couldn't steal one from the scrapper

no one is allowed to smoke in my car

How does it look - any chance of a picture (sad I know)!!!

I've been thinking of doing something like this because I think the cigar lighter looks a bit ugly to be honest. I've also been thinking of spraying the inside of the ashtray with rubber paint so it can be used as a small storage area for coils etc, without rattling when driving :)

Those new light clusters definitely look more upmarket that's for sure :)

Welcome to the forums. Car does sound nice.

You're another former MG/Rover owner like me, I just changed from a ZS180 to a IS200 :)

Just thought I would include a thread I found on the web while googling something else tyre-related

The page was http://www.launch-control.co.uk/index.php

Following suit of professional Formula 1 race teams, and the engineers at NASA, more and more performance car drivers are waking up to the benefits gained from filling their car tyres with Nitrogen, rather than compressed air.

Nitrogen gas is dry, non-flammable, and non-combustible. It stabilises inflation pressures, meaning that instead of losing roughly 1 to 2 psi of pressure per month, it is possible for tyres filled with Nitrogen to remain at the correct pressure for over six months! This is because Nitrogen molecules are smaller than oxygen molecules, and therefore pass through the rubber up to 400% more slowly.

Ah ha - ah ha - ahahahahahaha.

How can something smaller pass through a porous material more slowly than something bigger?

I can really see a benefit to the country if people leave the North in droves to head to the overpopulated south areas.

Areas in the North with problems need more people and business to make more money from tax, not less!!

Look what happened to Detroit after the riots when all the people in the suburbs moved away to other states and cities. That really messed the place up good.

If it helps, I had grip problems at the rear with my weird tyre combination, and changed to a new set of tyres, moving my budgets to the front.

The stability is much improved especially in the wet. I think I'm happier with the set up of more grip at the rear because the back breaking away can catch you out easier than understeer I'd say.

The front of my car is ok even with the budget tyres, but I think the handling of the car will be much better when they are replaced too - this weekend hopefully.