Maffison

Agree with Parthiban. I just got an iPod Touch and the Grom kit to fit in the IS200. I replaced the iPod earphones straight away with good Sennheisers and sound quality is still poor. Plugged into the Grom sound quality is the same but a slight tweek of bass mid and treble helps things a little. The Grom is a great bit of kit. Well worth the price.

I totally agree Kam. I have owned the car 4 months now and have only used genuine parts on it, and don't plan on using pattern parts. I want to keep the car for as long as possible and using genuine parts will hopefully keep her running trouble free for longer.

Well I decided to do an oil change as it was due and the old filter wouldn't tighten any more. When I removed the old filter I found it was a German part with a flat seal so not too surprising it leaked. A Toyota filter has now been fitted, 4 litres of 5w/30 Magnatec to fill up and a new sump plug washer and the leak is no more.

Thanks for the quick response Lance. I have cleaned up around the oil filter as best i could, layed a sheet under the car with the covers removed and ran it till warm and as suspected its dripping from the oil filter. Difficult too see there but i ran my finger round it and theres freshly leaked oil so mystery solved. Service is due so will keep topping up oil till then. Thanks again.

I recently found a rather large oil patch under my is200 after a 75 mile motorway run. I got the car jacked up and under tray off. Theres oil all along the transmission tunnel but guess that could be due to high speeds blowing oil back under the car (its pretty messy under there!). The oil filter has some oil around the seal and thats the furthest forward of the engine bay i can find oil so would i be right in assuming thats the leak? Is there any way to check if thats the leak? I cant tighten the filter by hand so should i use a chain to tighten it further or do i risk overtightening? Quick answers will be greatly appreciated! Thanks for any help.

Headlights are around £130 if i remember correct. I had the same problem with both of mine (common fault on older IS) so decided to fix it while fitting angel eyes. One headlight stayed clear but the other fogged up again. So took it back out and opened it back up, resealed with more silicone, reassembled and refitted. Moisture is back yet again! So think i will be getting a new pair of units too. If its not bad on yours you can try removing the two sponges in each unit and drying them. There are two flaps on the rear of the units which are probably difficult to open whilst on the car (one top and one bottom). Might be a decent temporary fix till warmer weather comes.

Thanks True Blue, that would make sense. Will get the car jacked up when I get home before dark! The hand brake doesn't work great so probably worth changing the shoes anyway if this is the problem. So am I correct in thinking the hand brake system works independently from the foot brake? That would explain why the disks were not getting hot.

Hi all. I used my car on a 70 mile motorway run at the weekend and when I returned home I noticed smoke coming from the rear wheels. It smelled a little like clutch but there was no smoke from the front. The brake disks were only warm so don't think a caliper had seized up. Any ideas what I should check for? Not had a chance to get under the car yet to have a look. Thanks for any help.

As I mentioned on another thread my car is only used at the weekends, with an occasional short drive to go shopping once or twice a month. The rest of the time it sits outside on my drive. I have had no problems other than the battery drain, but it still starts every time. Only problem I may get is rear callipers sticking but this can be avoided by not using the handbrake and leaving the car in gear instead. Once I start the car I let it idle for a minute then drive slowly, keeping the revs low until the engine is warm.

Choice and condition of tyre will also make a huge difference to how the car performs in snow. I have Goodyear eagle F1's which is maybe not a great pattern, but they have a lot of depth in the tread which definitely seems to help. There have been a few ramps I struggled to get up but braking has not been a problem for me. Overall, considering the car, I have been quite happy with its performance on the slippery. stuff. Although my car is only really used at the weekends so probably have not come across the types of obstacles many of you will have been facing recently. Safe driving people.

Thats exactly right. Also the wide tyres dont help things. Its the same with BMW's and Merc's.

I found trc on made the car too unpredictable on ice. On wet or dry roads it works very well but ice seems to confuse it a little. The snow button is great though, toning down the throttle response makes pulling away so much easier.

I couldn't agree more! I think buyers of this car will be people who already own/have owned various exotic supercars. It will only end up being a collectors piece and sit in someone's showroom rather than some millionaires one and only weekend car, which is bit of a shame. As far as I could see its only fault was its price tag! I can't help but feel Lexus jumped in at the deep end by building it, rather than competing with the likes of Nissans GTR and 911's and making a car that would be remembered better by your average driver. Let's hope Lexus will commit to building another racer that will be more likely to be seen in public.

Agreed it shares similaritys with the Veyron as they are both engineering milestones, albeit in totally different classes. But i do think you would be mad to buy one. That money can buy you something much more special. The "Only a Lexus" comment was partly a good one as its like saying I might buy a Ferrari or a Lexus, there's no racing heritage with Lexus. Last nights show was pretty poor overall so fingers crossed they do a challenge using the Lexus next series. I think the car will make a much better impression if they get time to appreciate its engineering.

Excuse the thread hijacking, but am I correct in thinking the existing dash bulbs are white with a removable coloured cover? If yes, is it possible to just change the bulb covers to a different colour?

Not sure if used car prices differ up there from south England, but sounds like a good asking price if the car is in good nick. Your bound to knock a few quid off too if you try. Old Lexus are very good for the prices used cars sell for. My only advice is don't rush into buying. Waiting for the perfect car and being quick to view them can get you an amazing deal. Best of luck!

how do you turn the TRC off? By pressing the TRC button It's next to the snow button. TRC will light up as a warning by the speedo when its switched off.

I have seen people use vinyls on there car before and it has a horrible plastic look to it. Maybe there's better types of vinyl, but from what I have seen I would say its one to avoid.

Snow button worked great for me driving on untreated roads, but preferred to drive with trc off as it made the car a little unpredictable when it cut in. Only problem I had was I couldnt get the car up the drop kerb to my drive. I really don't like leaving my baby parked on the roadside!

See HERE

AAAHAHAHA! Thats fantastic Jay!! Its like a woolly condom.

That sounds as a very reasonable explanation :) As for comaring Lexus and Corsa - Corsa benefits from FWD and relatively heavier front axle because of the engine. Think i would prefer to wrestle with the Lex on the snow rather than look like a girl driving a Corsa :winky:

Could possibly be the front windows were tinted with film but its been removed and the swirls are the residue from the adhesive.

yeah you are right. The car doesn't worth more than 2K now. rather than spending 300+ quid on the belt I would gamble on it. Keep in mind timing belt is designed and made to run for more than 100K miles so in my opinion a 2nd timing belt is a waste of money. There can be one exception which is for classic cars. Rather than wait for your car to die you can check the belt yourself. If it looks like is worn or damaged then just sell the car and let the new owner know the belt needs doing. Saves killing a car, plenty of buyers would be happy to spend a couple hundred changing the belt. Better than just waiting for it to die and scratching a few quid back in scrap money.

As you can see I have a black is200se. The alloys are a little scuffed so a refurb is planned for next year. Problem is I'm having trouble deciding to keep them silver or go for black. I'm happy with silver but do like the idea of black alloys. But what I don't want is to give the car a drug dealer look and end up getting pulled over by the police every journey with black alloys. So I would like some honest opinions to help me decide. Maybe you can suggest some other alternatives to the standard silver or black? Thanks for the help.