T2000

I went to Lexus woodford today. Code in hand and withing 5 minutes i had a new wheel nut locking key for the great price of £19:99 :hocus-pokus: After 3 more hours (im not a fast mechanic) i had wheels off, new rear discs and pads all fitted. Ive saved myself a small fortune. Especially if i went to the garage and paid £600 for them to remove a nut. Oh and Lexus said they would remove all 4 nuts it i had lost the key for £120. Not bad for a dealer. Well so much for my local garage. I live in a small town (population about 1000) and everyone knows everyone. I'll be spreading the word to not to use that garage and will be calling them a bunch of rip off cowboys

If its £20 i will go around to those other garages and wave it in their faces like a winning lottery ticket. :hocus-pokus:

I knew my rear brakes was getting on and need changing. They started to squeal today. Stopped off at euro car parts and got new discs and pads for £112 within 5 minutes. The day is going great. All i needed to do is change them. What can go wrong....... THE DRAMA STARTS......... Notice the locking wheel nut key is cracked. Probably happened when i got new tyres put on. I did my best to see if i could loosen one but no luck. The inner part is slightly uneven. I then goto a garage to ask them if they could help me by hammering the middle flat and then giving it a go with their pneumatic socket drill thing. Im thinking abit of pressure on the back of it might free it. Also to see what they would recommend. Garage 1:- 'No mate. Its not as easy as that. We might need to drill it out. We had one car and it took us 3 days to remove the nut. It could cost you £600. We are busy today but come back tomorrow'. Me:- 'I'll phone my breakdown company first and see what they say'. I make my escape with disbelief. Garage 2:- 'Here try this lexus key, it might fit'. One look at its shape and i say 'stevie wonder would know that its not going ot fit'. ' The mechanic said well we might have to weld a nut on or something. £120 to remove them all'. I then left. So now ive left a voice mail for lexus and they will get back to me tomorrow and give me the result.........What do you think the outcome will be? I have the locking wheel nut code so fingers crossed i can get a replacement for a price that wont make me look like this..... I'll let you know tomorrow.

Sorry i missed your post. I was away. Oh and many thanks for the offer. The noise is intermittent but as i drive to manchester alot, the last thing i need is to break down so i'll get the car sorted very soon. Ive got a part time mechanic who's a friend of a friend who said he will change the clutch and release bearing for me. He has done clutches before on many vehicles but not a lexus so is wondering how hard it will be to do. He has told me to buy the clutch off ebay to cut costs. I will get the Exedy type kit. Im just trying to get a diagram or something to show him how to do it to make things easier for him.

Update:- It's the clutch bearing. Release bearing or throwout bearing....well whatever it's called. It's got worse with the cold weather. I called a garage in North London and they said it was that. They then said it would cost about £900 for a whole clutch change.....eek. However they just told me to keep driving with it and as I just do motorway driving they said it will be fine for a while. So now I need to find a cheaper place to do the work between Watford- st Albans area. I may buy the parts needed off eBay and see if that works out cheaper.

A quick update if anyone can help. Drove to work 30 miles this morning and nothing. Drove back home 30 miles and just as i was pulling up and doing a 3 point turn in my street i heard it. Faint grinding noise when in neutral or clutch pressed. Once in gear or under any pressure from the clutch the noise is gone. Sounds right from the gearbox but cant feel any vibration from the gear stick or anywhere. Anyone have a clue? Actually its not a loud grinding noise. More like a whirring noise if that makes sense.

Hi Guys, Lexus 2004, 108000 miles. Last main full service at 80,000 miles - 2 years ago. Just got in my car, been fine all day driving but when i was just about to leave to drop my wife off at work i pressed in my clutch and i could hear a very slight grinding noise. You wouldn't of been able to hear it outside the car. It felt like the driveshaft of something spinning but you could hear it perfectly. I released the clutch and it seemed to go but appeared when i pressed the clutch pedal down again to change to second gear. After that it had gone. I drove 2 miles up hill and used all gears and nothing. Dropped the wife off at work and then by the time i was about to change into second gear again i felt it very faintly. It was like all the gears not having any oil/grease and you could feel the movement of everything spinning. The car does just does motorway miles and has just passed its mot. Its a pretty good car and drives just like brand new. Never had a problem. Is it the clutch about to go? didnt slip once though. Last gearbox oil change was probably done on the 80,000 mile. Should i get that done? Any ideas what it sounds like?

I have a Lexus is200 2004 and on 105,000 miles. Its in great condition and i wont be selling it at all.Its still drives and looks like new. I will drive it til it dies for good or atleast the next 4+ years. I do only motorway driving every day and nothing else. A nice relaxed ride aswell. Its had lexus full service history all uptil 80,000. Ok, Its mot is due in 4 weeks. Last couple of times i had the mot, they said the front shock absorbers were slightly leaking/mist coming from them. So im expecting it to fail i guess and will have to get them changed. The ride however feels great. Its had regular oil and filter changes done by myself. Break pads are ok as i did those by myself. Timing belt was done on 60,000. So to the big question? should i get a 100,000 mile service done? or should i just get the mot done and get the timing belt etc all changed in 12 months where i will be close to 120,000 miles? What about coolant and gearbox oil? Ive not had them done since 80,000 miles which was just over a year and a half ago. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ah, i never really thought about it being done at some other place. It doesn't seem that long ago that it had alot of stuff replaced. I looked at selling it not so long ago but the prices on cars 2 litre and above has just gone nuts. I might aswell just hold onto it and run it for another 100,000 miles. There is no other car that is better on fuel that has the same luxury as an is200 for a decent price i feel. I do mainly motorway driving if that info helps. Thats why it has the high mileage. So should i just look at getting the following done by a small garage?:- The front shocks Oil and Filter changed Timing Belt Anything else?

Need some advice from the experts here. I have a Lexus Is200 sport. 54 reg. Its coming upto 100,000 mile The good old car has never let me down and still drives and looks like its brand new. Its never missed a service. Last service i was told that the front shocks was leaking a small amount. I said ok and about 6 months later i had its mot and i was told the same thing. So i guess i better get them changed. The question is, should i get them done with the service or will i save a fortune in getting a local garage fit them this week and next week get the servicing done by lexus? I havnt got a clue when it comes to prices, but im thinking that if everything is done under £1000 then i should?!?! be happy Thanks for any advice given.

Cheers, i'll be taking it for the servicing etc in the next 2 weeks. I'll let you know what they say.

It was done at Woodford (North London). Its typical, why do things go wrong after a warranty period of just a few weeks.lol. If it is a 12 month warranty, then ive gone over it. It doesnt look too bad and i would never pay for it to get re-done. Well not yet anyway. You never know though, maybe the manager will get it looked at if im putting alot of money for other work over the counter.

Hi all, Ive got a Red Is200 Sport 2004. A year ago a woman didnt put her handbrake on her car on a hill and it ploughed into my bumper :duh: She paid for my bumper to be resprayed by lexus workshop in september 2009. Ive just noticed bubbling on it now. Its only a small amount near the headlight, but im just wondering if there is any warranty lexus gives on their resprays. Anyone know? Its going back in the Lexus garage in the next few weeks for an 80K service and i have alot of white smoke when its cold, so as it looks like im going to pay upto a grand for all this work, it would be nice to know if they could redo the bumper for free if its under warranty

I bought some today from Halfords and they are on the car now. They look great, but upo very close they did a real **** job. They wont last for a few years i dont think. Then i saw this post. I'll order a better set of plates from Demonplates like you said. They are alot better and you can have a nice border and slogan which is road legal. Nice find, cheers.

just buy another set from Lexus ! Thats not a bad idea. Tonight, i was walking to the local pub in London that i now live at the moment. Every modern car was legal. I go up to manchester every week to see my folks and the football. I'll give the local Lexus dealer a call tomorrow and see if they can make some plates for me. I'll let you know how i get on.

Im a manc, but live in London for work. Its not too bad where i live as the car is tucked away in a cul de sac, so not many people see it. It should be ok. Dont make me worry though, ive had sleepless nights thinking about this. You should never touch another mans car, thats just wrong comes to mind. Great saying from john travolta in pulp fiction.

Ah, thats interesting. So MOT centres are turning a blind eye to them. Thats good to hear. I know its a £30 fixed penalty for wrong plates, and ive heard that most police are cracking down on people with them. They are mostly getting people with the letters incorrectly spaced or made to llok like something they aren't. My reg is very unique because i bought it for my football team. I dont have to alter it to make it look different, but all i wanted was for the bottom of it to have small letters of the name of the ground. Nothing serious. i.e. and dont give me abuse for this :winky: UTD in big letters Old Trafford at the bottom center in small letters or possibly Sir Matt Busby Way. But you never know, someone might just fail it as they might be a city supporter or something. So, the metal plates are a No then. Ok, i'll think of the normal plastic ones. Vti, sorry mate, but i actually know a place close to me that does the plastic plates straight away, if i go with them and i can actually draw them what im after and get it done there and then. But thanks for the offer.

What type of plates do you like? I got my 3 year old lexus not so long ago, all the paperwork for my private reg has all gone through for transfer, i just need to buy new plates for the car. You have to have the BS AU 145d stamp on it, else it fails the MOT also it must have the name at the bottom of it where its made....i dont want HALFORDS in big letters, the car will depreciate over night . So buying from websites is a no no. i have 2 options. Option 1. Legal plain simple reg plates from a car shop. Option 2. Legal pressed plates. What do you think/prefer? These are the pressed plates.

Just phoned adrian flux today to tell them that the dealer says its Cat 2, but all othe lexus drivers say Cat 1. The women replied, thats ok, aslong as it minimum Cat 2 its fine> She the said, Cat 1 was better, but we just want to know if it had minimum Cat2 or better security. Why could they not tell me that before.lol Thanks all, i feel i know everything about alarms etc now. :D

Thanks MacRS200. The original owner of the car who bought it and has all the work done at the Lexus garage, just called the garage up. They said it was Cat 2. Thats what the insurance company thought it was. So if they need a certificate, it shouldnt be a problem. I'm with Adrian Flux. They are never easy are they! Thanks again.

I was hoping you didnt say that. They said it had to be a cat 2. Ba...insurance company's

I'm just sorting out my insurance for my new Lexus i'm picking up tomorrow. Its a IS200 sport 2004 model. Is the alarm thatcham approved and if so what catagory?

Thanks. Soo as i get it, i'll post a few pics of it.

Just to let you all know, Ive bought one :D I bought an IS200 Sport. 2004 model. It comes with full leather seats, the new 2004 alloys and has full lexus service history. Its done 60k miles and just had that service done too. Its had 1 women driver from new and i cant even find a scratch on it. I pick it up on Wednesday. I cant wait. Thanks for all your help in giving me advice on Lexus. Oh and by the way, its RED

I saw that. Poor car hasnt been run in yet :P I'm seeing one with 60k on the clock, but has had all the lexus servicing done by lexus, including the 60K one. Plus i love the full leather seats and wheels on the newer cars.