Kiriyama

Same thing happened to my Audi 80. It was a very low spec car with hardly anything on the dash and no air bags yet the garage had to keep it in over night even though I dropped it off at 10am! To be fair, he'd never done one on that model but still, it's not a job I would consider trying, especially with no Haynes manual. Let us know what kind of quote you get, I suspect it's going to cost you a fair bit

Hi mate. I can't offer much info as I'm a Lexus noob myself but personally, I'd like a HiD conversion before long. Welcome to the forums, hope you find them as useful as I have :)

Same here. I took it to Timpsons and they said that their drill wouldn't be fine enough to get into the groove down the centre. By the way, anyone know how much it is for a genuine replacement key? Lexus never bothered phoning me back. I know there are several posts about buying blanks and swapping the innards or reprogramming a key from another car but my master key is glued together and I wouldn't be able to get the innards out in one piece and it seems that if you change the blades to another case, they wobble about because the originals are moulded in.

Excellent, thanks all. I can stop feeling guilty about the outlay now B)

Ok, so maybe I should have asked BEFORE ordering but just out of interest, anyone got any opinions on these tyres? Any comments good or bad? I've got 4 coming tomorrow from Camskill.co.uk and I've just maxed out my credit card paying £300 for them. I needed 2 new tyres anyway so decided to go the whole hog and get 4 good ones instead of trying to make do with budget tyres (false economy in my experience). Now as I sit here anticipating their arrival, I'm just wondering if I chose the right ones. I also looked at the Toyo Proxes T1 R but some people have reported that they wear down a little too quickly and can feel a bit 'soggy' so I went for the Goodyear.

Yeah, it's definitely a 70 litre tank, I filled it from empty on the first week I had it. I soon learned that the IS200 drinks like a fish if you push it so I take it steady on the way to work and back now. I travel from Stoke to Derby and back 5 days / wk then Manchester and back twice at the weekend. It's almost entirely dual-carriageway and motorway and I can get 400 miles out of a tank, easy. I can imagine that for those of you that drive mainly around town, you wouldn't manage that much.

Probably but as it says in the descriptive thread, you can adjust the pressure and rate at which the rods extend so on the first few attempts, you'd just have to keep hold of the lid to make sure it doesn't snap open. Once you've released the right amount of gas then it's not going to damage the boot lid and you can always add rubber grommets to control the 'bounce' that some people have mentioned. If I thought there was any chance of damaging my car then I wouldn't do it. As for any 'butchering' (lol), there is already a hole in the arm that supports the boot lid so the only thing you need to do is attach the bracket to the back of the seats which just requires a couple of self tapping screws. If you decided you didn't like the strut and took it out, nobody would ever know it had been there. With regard to ordering from RS, I didn't read through it fully but it sounded like you only got free postage if you were a member but I haven't checked what's involved with that. Tell you what, I'll order the parts anyway and have a look for TWO brackets, then I'll get back to you all and see who wants one :winky:

PS - I've had a price for new springs instead and they're about £23 each + p&p so you may as well go for the strusts!

The springs on my IS200 Sport boot lid are too weak and it only opens about half an inch when the locking mechanism releases. Some ever-so-helpful members have directed me to this thread Boot Lid Needs Viagra detailing where to find gas struts to use instead and how to fit them. Looks a fairly simple job, even for the likes of myself! The thing is, you only need one strut but have to buy in pairs so if I ordered two, one of them would just go to waste. Anyone interested in going halves on them? Here are the parts : Gas Struts They're £41.19 + about £5 postage so if anyone wants to go 50 / 50 on the total cost including P&P, I'd be happy to forward one strut to you for free (UK mainland!). Thanks, Steve.

Ahh, n1... thanks :winky:

Couldn't find it I'll have another look tomorrow when I get home from work.

What sort of price would I be looking at and are they easy to fit for someone with VERY little mechanical knowledge?

Really? I was told it was supposed to open so that if you were approaching with heavy shopping bags, for example, you wouldn't have to put them down. Also, I've seen some Mercs where the boot opens wide when you press the key fob

Yeah, I've had a live request on there for a few days with no reply but I'll keep re-submitting it, thanks. Will do, thanks.

Googled 'Lexus owners club'

Hi all I've been reading through these forums since I bought a Lexus a week ago but now I've had my account validated, I figured I should introduce myself before reeling out the questions. Me My real name is Steve but I use the name Kiriyama on several forums and it's a name taken from the Japanese film, 'Battle Royale'. I'm 29 and from Stoke-on-Trent. I've read some posts referring to Lexus Hanley (Hanley is in Stoke-on-Trent) so I'm guessing I'm not the only one from around here. I found it amusing to read someone complaining about the road signs around here. My Car Having separated from my wife just over a year ago, I'm going through a mid-life crisis at an early age and when a friend / colleague told me about a Lexus someone was selling, I was straight on the phone to the bank! Last Wednesday evening, I picked up a 1999 IS200 Sport with 81,000 on the clock and although it's a bit thirsty when I play about in it, I'm absolutely loving it so far! I travel approx 50 miles / day in the week and then about 100 at the weekend but it's almost solely dual-carriageway and motorway so I've already found out that by cruising along at about 70 and not being an idiot, the fuel consumption isn't all that bad. My previous car was a 2 litre 1992 Audi 80 and that drank fuel almost as quickly anyway. At least now I'm travelling in luxury. Plans I don't know much about cars at all and for the time-being, I'm not too concerned with modding my Lexus, I just want to restore it for now. The things I need to sort out are: * A very small and shallow dent on top of the boot. Difficult to see but now I know it's there... well you know. * 'Gap' in the drivers seat. Where the side of the seat (nearest to door) is supposed to be tucked under the plastic side air-bag cover, it's come undone and so there's a gap which at first glance, looks like an unsightly split. I've looked inside and it's not because the air-bag has blown... phew. * Centre headrest missing from the rear seat. If anyone knows where I can get one in beige, it would be a big help! * Boot doesn't open properly. When I unlock the boot, the locks work perfectly but it only opens about half an inch whereas I'm sure it's supposed to open almost fully so you can get in without dropping whatever you're carrying? Again, if you have any suggestions about resolving this, they would be very much appreciated. * P-mould pealing away from drivers door slightly. Should be able to fix this quite easily when I've got hold of a suitable adhesive. That's about it. It's got a full service history and the engine is sweet, extremely smooth and quiet. So that's it. I've already gathered a lot of very useful information from these forums before posting and I hope you won't get sick of my noobish questions!! Pics Yes, those ARE my kids in the back!