DarrenJBird

Hi Guys

Not a very active poster on this forum, but an avid reader.

I have 55 Plate (Dec05) 250 SE MM, and have had nothing but problems with rattles/squeaks/knocks since day 1

So far I have had (and still have some of them!)

Centre Speaker Rattle

Offside Front Pillar Rattle

Seat Belt Pillar Rattle

Seat Belt Adjuster knocks on rough roads (Still Present)

Driver seat squeaking

Passenger seat squeaking

Rattle/knocking from behind SatNav like something loose (still present)

Instrument Cluster replaced due to abnormal noises at startup

And now, in the last few weeks, I've noticed rather loud strange creaks/groans (dont know best way to describe it ) coming from the front of the car when applying the brake when cornering.

The two current interior rattles have been present for a few months now, but same as Jamboo, I just couldn't be bothered to go back to dealer, as I have spent enough time in there getting the other rattles fixed, as well as fighting to get bumper resprayed after workshop damaged it, all that on top of the regular servicing (have done 54k, I think need to check service book to find when speedo was replaced ) but now that I have a potential problem with the brakes, and its also due for a service, and its getting near end of warranty, i'm going to visit the dealer personally rather than phone to book it in.

I'm considering going direct to the dealer principle with a view to getting Lexus GB involved as well, as I also wanted to keep the car for 6 years, and can't really afford at the moment to change the car, so am looking for some guarantee that ongoing rattle issues will continue to be covered under warranty.

I'll let you know how I get on...This is my 2nd Lexus (previously had is200 for 3 trouble free years) and the shine really is starting to come of the brand. I cant even be bothered to keep her clean anymore with all the problems i'm stil getting

Darren

Some more info from Toyota Europe

http://www.toyota-europe.com/Images/iPodki...m280-567246.pdf

Read this in Auto Express the other day. Interesting to see how it works or if it works with the IS200.

Not sure if it will work with the is200, as the article says it will work with all current Lexus Models, and the IS200 is no longer current

Just found this

http://www.leftlanenews.com/toyota-release...ration-kit.html

According to the report it is apple approved and works with all current Toyota and Lexus Models.

Will need ask local dealer about availability and price.

Has anyone else heard of this?

Darren

If it's auto have you tried park or neutral? And have you tried another DVD?

Steve

Yep, it is auto and have tried park and neutral. And have tried more than one DVD.

So I probably agree with Jamboo - dodgy sensor maybe.

Cheers

Chris

Are you pressing the "picture" button on the MM display once you have selected the slot with the DVD in?

Sorry if this seems like an obvious thing to do, but just checking :)

I had done 25k in mine when it was changed, and the dealer did not note it in the service book that it had been changed.

Should be an interesting scenario when I come to sell it.....Be honest or act dumm about the milage

I really feel for those that have them. By the way I have a petrol car are the rattles confined to diesels?

Well I have a IS250 SE MM and have had loads of problems with rattles. I got my car in Dec 05 and it has been in 6 times for rattles so far

• Centre Speaker Grill
  Behind the Satnav Screen
  Offside A Pillar
  Offside B Pillar
  Drivers Seat
  Passenger Seat
  

I have also has new alloys under warrany, and had to have the rear bumper and panels resprayed after the dealership messed up a scratch repair on the bumper.

I had been running rattle free for a few months, but now have two new rattles.

• The cover over the stearing column (just behind the stearing wheel) buzzes like hell. I've noticed that there is a lot of movement in this. Does anyone else have this?
  A knocking noise from behind Sat Nav screen when I go over bumps/small potholes
  Ohh, and my steering rack in creaking when making manouvers at low speeds (prob does it all the time, but just can't hear it)
  

All this really does spoil the enjoyment of an otherwise great car

That's to keep you Lexus and LOC cards safe, in case you should need them :)

I use that to keep my receipts in :)

Guys,

I have the IS250 petrol auto, I find the engine is really really ticky, I have checked the oil, however I think this may be a fuel pump type of tick than a tappet noise. Anyone out there have the same noise from theirs?

only noticed this the past few days but when I start the car up there is a rattle/ticking coming from the Instrument panel.never noticed it before anyone else had this? rather post it on here first rather than make myself look a prat at the dealership!

I had the noise from the instrument panel too...it sounded like a rachett noise when the dials move around quickly at startup. I had the instrument panel replaced under warranty.

Take it in a let the dealership have a look :)

I have all my albums on the hard drive in folders (all MP3) and using simple drag and drop in Roxio 8/Data Disc I create a CD and it works a treat.

Have a 2006 is250; I've used a CD burner (Sonic) to do this and noticed that only the first 8 characters of the track appears on the display, even though the file name is the full name of the song. Any ideas on why this happens?

I just bought Neil Young's Live at Massey Hall and it displays the full CD name as well as the full track name - so I know the display is capable of showing more than 8 characters.

thanks

You need to change the file system settings in Sonic. You have it set to use 8.3 names which is DOS standard i.e filename.txt, you need to use a filesystem that allows long file names (255 max)

not sure where the settings are within Sonic, as I use Nero Now, have a look at the online help

Darren

I have all my albums on the hard drive in folders (all MP3) and using simple drag and drop in Roxio 8/Data Disc I create a CD and it works a treat.

Thats what I do as well, except I use Windows Media Player 11 to arrange them all into playlists etc, then burn them, using the data mode in WMP. Works a treat, and even supports mixing WMA and MP3 files on one CD.

So far i have 5 1/2 CD's in the car, about 1000 songs. :D

last time my car was in for a service, the dealer replaced the alloys without me even requesting it. They noticed the corrosion during the VSC and just done it, so some dealers are aware of the problem

Got a new Blackberry 8800 today, and got it setup with the MM system, and it works perfectly.

I get signal strength and Battery level indication, and it auto connects everytime.

It also supports sending the entire address book to the MM system, and also supports multiple numbers for one person. I have 4 numbers stored against most of my contacts (Home, Work, Mobile & fax) and they appear in the MM system as 2 entries for each contact, with the home & mobile in one entry and work & fax in another entry. The MM system has even put the correct icons next to the numbers i.e picture of little house next to the Home number.

I had a Blackberry 8700 before, and it worked really well apart from the address book transfer (just would not let me do it).

So if your looking for a new smartphone that works well with your MM system, you should consider the Blackberry 8800. It even looks quite good, although some might say its a little big, but hey it is a smartphone, so that is understandable.

Hope this info is useful to someone.

Darren

Just got the car back a few days ago from Lexus after it was in for a few days getting warranty work done (hopefully all rattles now fixed :D ) and Lexus had fitted 4 new alloys under warranty, so as the car was looking so clean outside after its visit to dealer, i decided to clean all the interior leather with some special leather cleaner. I actually used some stuff that I got from DFS for cleaning the sofa's!!! It has brought it up lovely and clean and has refreshed the interior quite a bit. It had started to get a bit grubby, with it being cream and having done >40k.

So if anyone is looking for good leather cleaner, pop along to DFS, although it was a bit pricy @ 60 pound, but it is worth it as it feeds the leather to stop it cracking, which I think looks terrible in a car.

Anyway, i noticed when doing this, that all my nice shiny metal dustcaps had been removed. They were there on Thursday when I picked the car up, so some cheeky bar steward has had them off in the last few days.

Does anyone now off some good looking ones (I have standard 250SE alloys) that are also harder to remove?

Cheers

As is my standard practice, it seems, I have managed to slightly curb the nearside rear alloy.

It's only very minor, but I was wondering what I could do about it.

In the past I've had them refurbished.

However this doesn't look normal.

It doesn't seem like they're powder coated, but the finish would seem to indicate otherwise (It's too shiny to be polished alloy, I'd say) ?

Has anyone with the new IS had a wheel refurbished either through lexus or otherwise?

Thanks

Gareth

They still have not sorted out the corrosion problems with the alloys (legacy from the is200)

I have just had mine all replaced under warranty due to corrosion on one of them.

So have a look to see if you have any corrosion, if you have get the dealer to replace them under warranty, that way will save you have to get it refurbed.

I done this 4 times with my Last IS200. :D

Thanks Guys for all the advice.

I think I will speak to the DP again and insist that they fix it, as last night me and the other half racked our brains to try and figure it out, and the only explanation was "it happened in the dealer" as the car has not been left anywhere else long enough for it to have happened anywhere else. I mean RAC autoglass have fitted 4 new windscreens to it, but only had the car for a couple of hours each time. Granted they could have damaged it, but no way would they have time to repair it!!

So looks like i'll need to battle with Lexus Brighton to get it fixed.

The car is booked in for 3 days at the beginning of April to hopefully get all the rattles fixed, might tell them to keep it for the whole week and sort the paintwork out and if its not done when I pick it up, they can keep the car (and i'll keep the RX400h loand car) until they do fix it.

Again, thanks for the advice.

Did u have it from new? Have u only just noticed it, how long u had it, have u taken any photos when new ..... etc. etc. just thinking it may have been sprayed b4 u got it. Ask for jobsheet at lexus ;)

Had the car from New, and although I haven't got any photos, i know it was not there when i got the car, as I always check cars all over before i accept them, as i had a bad one once and had to fight to get it fixed under warranty (wasn't Lexus BTW)

Not sure where to go from here, can i claim it through insurance? NCB should be okay as it is protected

Well, i have been well and truly stumped by this one.

I had a meeting with the dealer principle today about service issues/rattle issue.

One of the points I raised was concerning my rear bumper being a different Colour.

Last may I scratched the passenger side corner (wasn't paying attention when reversing :duh: ) and had it repaired by Lexus who done an excellent job. This is the only body work that has been done, and even this was only minor.

I have now noticed that the drivers side bumper, the bit you see from a side on view is a different colour, its darker. The dealer principle and service manager looked at it today, and told me that it had been badly resprayed.

Now this is the strange bit. I have never had it resprayed. As I said the ony work that was done was on the other side, which was not a respray, just a touch up, and that was done by Lexus.

You can actually see (once pointed out) where a screwdriver has been used to remove the bumper (its left a mark on the bumper and rear bodywork panel)and can see/feel where a really poor respray has been done.

I just can't understand how this has happened... I mean, has someone damaged my car and then managed to get it quickly resprayed before i noticed. :o

I have never left my car in Valet parking, or in long term car parks.

How strange is that, i am at a loss to explain this, and I felt like the dealer did not believe me and I was just trying to get a free respray.

Anyone any suggestions????

Interesting read. Anybody with a Petrol 250 going to add anything to it?

I agree with the paint comment though, it's very easily marked so it's a good job I've got a Porter polisher for the slight scratches but it's no help at all for the stone chips on the bonnet and front valence .

Talking off paintwork, my rear bumper is now a slightly different color to the rest of the car :duh: . Its gradually getting worse over time.

I have had my 250 SE MM for 15 mnths now, and its just had its 40k service....which was a nightmare ... which has made me write a letter of complaint to the dealer principle about the level or service and I also mentioned the build quality, because I have had, and am still having all the rattles that everyone else has described - Centre Speaker, drivers seat, passenger seat, A pillar and seat bel height adjuster. I will wait on the response (been 3 days now!) before I say anymore on here. :shutit:

As far as running costs, there have been the usual 10/20k interval services as well as 2 new front tyres and at the 40k service new front brake discs and pads. The rear tyres will also need changing in a few weeks.

I have also had 4 new windscreens due to cracks from stones, and 2 sets of wiper blades.

Not bad considering the milage :D

I'm getting about 32mpg on average, and drive the card hard most of the time, making full use of the paddle gear changes on the Auto box which is excellent. :D

Overall I am pleased with the car, although feel a little deflated about it at the moment due the the bad Lexus experience @ last service. Fingers crossed the dealer principle sorts out my issues quicky and re-inflates me...so to speak :P :P

The MLS is designed for DVD Audio. That is somewhat different to cramming a DVD full of MP3's etc, and I heard DVD audio in the 'states for the first time a few weeks ago - it is awesome in the right home entertainment system...

I know one or two people have used "TOAST 7" etc, but not sure exactly how, and unfortunately I seem to recall the DVD Nanny rules out any chance of seeing what track you're listening to once you let that Handbrake go down and the wheels start turning...

All a bit disappointing really...

It would have made more sense to have a USB connector in the car, or a mini SD car reader slot or 3.

Shame really, I would have thought that someone would have found a way of turning off the nanny features that doesn't involve cutting wires etc. After all its just software thats controlling it all.

Thanks Buzz, what a bummer you can get a lot of mp3's on a 6.5gig DVD

Cheers for the update

Hello John,

you can use the following program to use audio files on DVD.

I've got it from the German LOC site.

http://www.audio-dvd-creator.com/de/index.htm

You can try it for free 30 days. after that you can buy it for 39,95 dollar.

Greetz from Holland

P.s. I can't wait to get my IS220d next tuesday.

Has anyone tried this yet? Does it allow for song names etc being displayed on Display, like it does when you burn MP3 to a CD?

Cheers

DB

and don't just trust everything the machine says, then it's fine.

That reminds me a news story this week.

A women turned left down the tracks at a level crossing and he defence in court is going to be because her SatNav told her to

So lets take her to a cliff and get SatNav to tell her to drive off it.... Would She???

If you are looking for new tyres for an IS250 (17") and are looking for Dunlop Sport Maxx, then be careful of the type you put on.

My car came with factory fitted 225/45 R17 90W at the fronts. I need new ones, so search for replacements.

It is very difficult to find these tyres, but came across loads of Y & ZR Rated tyres. After a few phone call, including a few to Lexus and one to Dunlop, it turns out that it is not wise to fit Y or ZR tyres to an IS250 as it will mess up the ride, and could severly affect the handling.

Just out of interest, i called Kwik-Fit :duh: and asked for a price for 225/45 R17 90W and was told, yeah we have them and they are £155 each. I double checked with him that these were 90W rated, but they were ZR rated. He insisted that they would be OK, and said that Lexus and dunlop were speaking rubbish. He then offered me the 90W at £173 each, but within 2 mins this price fell to £130.00 :duh:

So beware guys, make sure you get the 90W type, and don't be talked into putting another type (Y/ZR) on your car.

Hope the info is of help to some of you.

Darren

PS etyres.co.uk can do Dunlop Sport Maxx 225/45 R17 90W fully fitted for £115.90, but no stock until Mid Jan

Well finally got the new fronts tyres fitted. Got them to Check the rears as well, and they have still got 4mm tread on both sides.

So, all in all not to bad considering my mileage, got 30k out of the fronts, and should get about 40k out of the rears.

The dunlops are much better than the bridgestones I had fitted to my IS200, where i used to get about 18k per tyre.

Had a look at mine earlier, I'm shod with Bridgestones. I've got W90 on the front and W95 on the back. Now I'm confused.

yeah the rear tyres are bigger on the IS250

225/45 fronts & 245/45 rears.

So replacing the rears will cost more than the fronts

Kwick fit are muppets, don't listen to them. Ive had wrong tyres put on I dont know how many times! find a nice local garage and you may find they'll match thier prices or come close enough.

Dunlop told me that the 90 was to do with the load rating and something to do with the sidewall of the tyre. They did tell me in full detail, but I can't remember it all, but the important thing i remember was he told me I should not fit the a ZR or Y tyre to an IS250 as the ride will become "jumpy"

I have ordered them from Lexus Brighton, as they have given me a very good price (maybe something to do with all the rattle problems i have had, which they are still trying to fix) hopefully they should be in tomorrow morning, and I can get them fitted tomorrow afternoon