Paradroid

This is my current "lottery winning" car, I really like them :) Plus I'd have change for a few other motors too! Good detailing job, it looks great.

Consider getting your geometry done, and if you need them get a full set of 4 good tyres, I did this and it transformed my IS200, I thought the handling was poor at first, now it's pretty good :)

Glad you got your car sorted and on the road, it sounds like it's spot on now :)

My IS200 had a service today, I had the gearbox changed and got some Slick 50 in there too. I'm surprised to say it's made a bit of a difference actually, the box is still notchy but it is easier going into second, the crunch has gone which is good because that was starting to annoy me. Has anyone else tried this? What I don't know is how much difference the additive made, maybe some fresh oil on it's own would have helped the same. Either way I'm quite pleased. Thinking of a K&N panel filter next :)

Wish I was nearer, I'd snatch your hand off!

Sport model gets hard to find on later plates from what I saw when looking for mine. Most are the SE. Be careful of suspension damage, the components are quite lightweight and seem easily bent. It's not a really common problem but but did catch me out. Centre the steering wheel and then make sure the front wheels sit centrally in the arches i.e. not too far backwards, make sure both sides are the same.

To be fair it's not just Lexus, there's quite a few six speed gearboxes out there with this problem. I've known people with BMW M3 (manual not the SMG obviously), Madza RX-8 and Hyundai Coupe V6, all with this issue. My Hyundai Coupe had exactly the same second gear problem as my IS200, although it wasn't as bad. I've always driven manuals but I must admit I'd go for an auto if I was going for the IS250. The tax and the better drive make it sound like a good idea. Some Slick 50 is going in the gearbox of my IS200 at the weekend, which is known to help, so I'll report back on whether that helps :)

Mine does exactly the same thing, and is affected by exactly the same weather - fine rain. It's getting a new set of spark plugs this weekend so I'm hoping that cures it. It's definitely not the battery on my car either.

Yeah, and the funny thing is that insane tax hike is now on hold for older cars, but values will never recover. And they still won't say for sure whether it will be retrospective, or just on new cars.

Check this out, from 4Car web site on the new Merc E-Class Coupe (new CLK): 201bhp and 139g of co2 from a diesel - flippin eck! Petrol: 287bhp, 32.5 mpg and still only 203g/km so not in the silly band. Incredible. Car itself is a bit ugly though imo...

V-reg??? It looks mint!!!

Well on the MG forum I used to go on until I got my IS200, a couple of people actually did get rid of ZS180's because of this. It was unacceptable to massively increase the tax on existing cars retrospectively, but they left it so long before changing things I imagine quite a lot of people panicked and sold up. Look at what it's done to the value of cars too, which will never really recover.

Some of the prices are crazy. One reason I got my IS200 was that it wasn't 100% mint (but probably average for 4yr old car), but I thought I could buy a few bits of interior trim and sort it out myself. I asked for the leather gear and handbrake boots at a Lexus dealer, they wanted £80 and £100 respectively. After driving an MG where parts are cheap I was a bit taken aback.

Sorry to hear about your car, shocking. That's really sad it being in a breakers yard. It doesn't seem like the type of car I would expect to be stolen for parts.

Seems to be a bit of an obsession with short term results these days in football. Look where it got the banks! OK so Big Phil has had 15 months, but I wouldn't call 4th place in the best league in the world bad exactly. Too much impatience at the top.

It could be legit but then one thing doesn't add up. Why's it got LPG if it's only done an average of about 6k miles a year in it's life??? Great looking car but I'd be suspicious.

Well spotted I got confused with the part numbers, I've actually got the IFR6T11 like you. Didn't realise they were SK20 equivalent, thought they were IK20 equivalent. Hmmm.

If it's definitely the same car you should report it to eBay mate, clocking is well out of order!

I've got the sport but haven't heard anything from the diff on my car, what noises does it make and when! When the traction control on my car really kicks in it's under the bonnet I hear the noise from, which is mentioned in the owners manual. It's quite so I can only hear it pulling away in snow. If it kicks on on the road from powering out of a corner I don't hear anything.

Yeah these are the IK20's I've got on order. Hoping to gain another 0.5bhp Will be sure to keep an eye on them - if they don't last 15k that's a bit worrying!

I see so you waited till the fifth year for belts, but then the mileage was only 60k then. Mine is at 60k now on 4 years old. I'll speak to my mechanic on Saturday and ask him to take a look at the cambelt and we'll take it from there. Answering my own question about spark plugs, I got a set of NGK Iridium plugs off eBay for £40 posted, so will be using those. Hopefully that will improve the situation where it sometimes doesn't like to start when the cars's been out in the rain and the wind is blowing a certain way.

For a 10+ year old design I think the IS still looks very modern, especially when it's in a back-in-fashion colour like that white one. I think it looks really smart. Especially the front on view.

Sorry to start another thread about the 60k service, but I have some slightly different questions :) My car is a IS200 Sport, September 2004 on 60k miles. Lexus dealer has confirmed that with the car only being 4yrs old they will inspect the belt but not change it unless there's signs of wear. I think spark plugs are done at 60k, if so is it worth getting a set of NGK Iridium plugs, any good reports? I thought it might be worth getting gearbox and diff oil done too. With my car being out of warranty I'm going to go to an independent mechanic as I have one that I trust, is that what most people do or do you always stick with the main dealer?

Interesting to see your service details. So at 60k they inspected the belts but didn't change them, that's what Lexus Bolton were proposing when I spoke to them. How old was the car at 60k? If my belt inspects ok I am considering leaving it until the next service. My car is on 60k but is just over 4 years old, not 6. If there's no indication of wear on the belt I think it might be a bit premature changing it this time round.

Bear in mind though that the reason the Arcam DVD player is normally around £1000 is because it's very carefully designed to be an excellent CD player. The original model, the DV88 was always said to sound as good as a £400 Arcam CD player. I'm sure the DV135 is the same, mine sounds better than my DV88. If the DVD playback (very nice upscaled HDMI) is no use to you, then you might be able to get better sound for £300 with a dedicated CD player but it will be close. I'd say the Arcam is still worth an audition if you get chance :)