p3ter

It appears that after applying a layer of paint sealent and a number plate holder to my boot, its open mechanism hasn't got the strength to pop the boot up anymore. Does anyone know if some sort of adjustment can be made to resolve this? I have tried WD40ing the joints but no luck.

Mine went through that phase last year, I rubbed some talcum powder around the boot rubber and it's worked perfectly ever since.

Morning Guys

I did bring this up some months back but it never really got resolved so i'm going too have one last stab before I head to lexus its only a small issue but one off those irritating ones

Whenever I turn left i'm getting a flapping noise comming from offside front as if something is stuck to the tyre its been checked a couple of times by local tyre fitters and passed its M.O.T no probs but when ive got the window down and turn left its very noticible its not rubbing any mud gaurds......... and was given the all clear buy Dr bones last month. So any suggestions or thoughts would be much appreciated

Ta

I know this may sound really silly, but switch of your heater fan in the cabin and try a few left turns with it off. I had a similar problem in a BMW 525. I had a number of BMW technicians trying to diagnose the noise which they all said like me ,was coming from the nearside front suspension. After many inspections and road tests it was solved by one from a different garage who had experience of the same fault. When the fan bearing gets worn it allows the vanes of the fan to slide to the end of the bearing shaft and rub against the mounting. I don't know if Lexus fans are similar but at least it costs nothing in tme or money to find out.

Good luck. Peter.

Hi all,

I'm starting to tire of problems with my (2000) IS200, and I'm on the verge of moving to Audi/BMW/whatever just to see if that brings any better luck. Basically, in my year and a half of ownership, this car has annoyed me more often than not. Given that I bought the car from a small dealer who I later found out doesn't have a great reputation, it's possibly a lemon. You be the judge:

1) For starters, I simply couldn't get rid of steering wheel wobble. Wheels were balanced and re-balanced at various places to no avail. I couldn't find anywhere on this fair isle who would even entertain the notion of balancing them while mounted on anything other than the centre hole. I've lived with steering wheel wobble for several months now.

2) I'm still convinced that from time to time, and sometimes for extended periods, then car doesn't drive as well as at other times. When brought it to Lexus they could find nothing wrong and the mechanic said it felt okay to him, but I'm sure I'm not imagining it. Sometimes it just feels "freer" than others. The give away is the car's response when you take your foot off the throttle. When all is going well, the car continues on as before and the engine gradually slows. On other occasions, merely lifting off the throttle feels like I've thrown an anchor out the back, as the car and engine suddenly slow. It's hard to know what mood it's going to be in on any given today. It can be "fine" for weeks, but then revert back to its sluggish behaviour for ages. It's not great for my sanity.

3) In recent months, judder on braking got worse and worse. A mechanic friend put on new discs and pads and also got another friend to balance the wheels. Surprise surprise, steering wheel wobble was greatly reduced (virtually nil except for a tiny trace around 100kmh) and it was great to have proper braking again. My happiness was short-lived. It's now about 8-10 weeks (and about 1000 miles) later and the judder is back. I haven't been doing anything untoward with the car, and I've been very careful not to sit on the brakes at traffic lights, etc.

4) There's a sound on turning left which suggests a damaged wheel-bearing.

5) My mates' cars (Saab 93, new Passat diesel, Volvo something or other) all feel quicker, more refined and sound quieter than mine.

Basically, I've pretty much had enough at this stage. Maybe I've got a lemon (quite likely, in fact) but the whole reason I bought a Lexus was because I don't want to visit the garage every couple of months. I think this car has to go, but now I'm left with the problem of what to buy instead. Budget is a priority, and definitely doesn't stretch to the new model IS. The thing is, I'm not sure I want another IS200, as I've kinda been put off. I'm tempted to look at a beemer 325 or the like, despite the fact that I never wanted to be a beemer driver.

So, there we are. I'd love to hear people's opinions on what I should do now. Should I look elsewhere for a while, maybe returning to Lexus when the bad taste is gone? Should I just pay up and get another IS200 and hope these problems were a one-off? What would you do?

Si

A number of years ago I had an identical problem to yours on a brand new Ford.Eventually after many re-balances the problem was completely solved by a tyre expert who had seen this problem before. Each tyre was removed from the wheel and between about half a pint to a pint of water was removed from each wheel.Apparantly tyres are filled with air at the point of manufacture not via the normal valve but via something that fits between the tyre and the rim. This enables a tyre to be inflated in next to no time by high volume air pressure lines. These lines pass vast amounts of air and they have water traps in them to remove the moisture from the air .If the traps are not emptied at the correct intervals ,hey presto, a tyre filled with air and water that produces exactly what your getting. I don't know if this is your problem but your symptons are so similar to the ones I had it may be worth a look.

Peter.

I just had some springs fitted and have a little knocking also. There can be knocking after springs have been fitted as the springs need time to "bed in". Shouldn't last more than a couple of weeks though.

I have been fortunate enough to own 10 new cars in my lifetime so far and 5 varying mileage secondhand ones. They have encluded Austin, Humber, Ford, Opel, Renault, Mazda and Honda and now theIS300.

But I have never owned one before where any suspension component has had to "bed-in" before it would stop clonking. Have I been lucky or is this just a feature of a Lexus IS?

sorry if this question was asked before, i did a research in the forum but couldnt find the answer.

i got my IS200 lowered 35mm by HKS lowering springs today, just after i got the car back from garage, i heard some knocking noice from the driver's side front wheel, it happenes when i turn the car.

as i searched in the forum, some members said the problem could be the worn lower ball joint, but i dont think it is the problem in my case, coz everything was just fine before i changed the springs.

many thanks

Simon

I have an IS300 with just over 10,000 miles on the clock .It has been in the garage a total of 6 times in the last year with the same problem as your experiencing. It has had upper and lower ball joints ,wishbones,shockabsorbers,front calipers and coil springs all changed under warranty. It still clonks

going really gently over road humps. I've now given up but I wish you the best of luck anyway.

Hi everyone, only just joined, first post and I'm about to mess up your averages.

70, with an IS 300 sat-nav.

Welcome!

Are you going to tell us what your first car was ;)

It was a 1955 austin A30, 803cc, 28H.P. (not sure how much of it got to the rear wheels) and brakes that would work for at least a couple of applications prior to getting so hot that braking distances might suddenly double. Four speed gearbox,not much synchromesh,so all downchanges had to be double-declutching.

Hi everyone, only just joined, first post and I'm about to mess up your averages.

70, with an IS 300 sat-nav.