true blue

Hi a full service should not reduce your fuel consumption ,most people would expect quite the opposite . How many miles have you covered since the job was carried out ? I would take the car back and get them to check for any fault codes ,which may show if any mistakes were made with the belt timing etc . The only other thing I can think of is they would have disconnected the battery which would re-set the ECU when reconnected ,This learns your driving style ,so will restart from a default position ,re learning it over time .I do not know how long this takes so if you have not done many miles it may improve Let us know how you get on Dave

Bonjour Laurent , and welcome to the forum , Great to hear from owners on the continent , you are correct we have recently returned from a 4 week tour in france and only saw 2 other Lexus is 250 . Our 250 convertible had a lot of interest when we parked it up ,especially from Mercedes owners ,most had never seen one before.What part of France are you from ? PS I am old but still enjoy this forum !! Take Care Dave

Hi Its a personal thing really ;this may not help but on silver cars I have owned ,tried gold ,black ,silver all O K but I liked light blue best !! wheels were always silver . Dave

Hi ,Thanks for that information Keith , not too far from me ,I have made a note in case of any problems I can't cope with in the future. Dave

Thanks for the heads up on the Denso blades ;went out yesterday and purchased a set from ecp ,(it hasn't stopped raining since so a good test ) .They seem an exact replacement for the originals ,quickly fitted using original clips .Very efficient and very quiet Dave

Thanks for the info and link ; I do not think there is an issue in this case as the material is not being sold ; but care is always needed on the forum Dave

Hi ,excellent post from shahpor , I am interested in where the diagrammatic instructions came from ,is this an official manual ,or CD ,as I am looking to purchase one myself Thanks Dave

Hi , if this pin has snapped you will need to purchase a new caliper and carrier ,as I don't think you will be able to remove the broken seized pin unless you are very lucky ! There is an excellent post from Shahpor further down this forum under caliper replacement ,which shows how it all goes together .I think the caliper will be available from a motor factor at a reasonable price but the carrier will be a Lexus part.I would add that as you are dismantling the hydraulics on the braking system ,if you are not fully confident that you know the correct procedures ,give the work to a trusted garage . Let us know how you get on ,as this caliper issue is common on this car, I have seen many seized but not one broken while on the vehicle Dave

Hi yes ,no need to remove that nut , back off the handbrake shoe adjuster with the star wheel behind the rubber plug on the drum ; the 2 smaller holes you see are threaded M8 from memory ,screw a spare bolt in each hole and tighten evenly ,this will remove the brake disc unit without brute force .Don't forget to re adjust the handbrake on re-assembly Dave

Hi Normski hope you are enjoying your hols we are touring Brittany and have not seen a Lexus all week currently in Carnac in the sunshine Quite a few people looking at our 250 with the top off when we leave it great way to travel. Dave

I think you will have to bite the bullet and visit Lexus ; this crops up regularly on the forum and I don,t think there is a cheap option. With hindsight you should always insist on 2 keys . When I bought my IS from a none franchised dealer ,I insisted on 2 keys or no sale. He was convinced he could easily get a key through trade contacts but ended up paying Lexus £320 for a key + programming . Try not to lose a key once you have 2 !!! Dave

Hi some engines burn a bit of oil -some don't it depends on their usage history ,just check on a regular basis as although there is plenty of oil in this engine ,you don't want to let it run for too long on low oil .Good advice from madasahatter ,I do all my own work and have found some shoddy work from main dealers on 2nd hand cars I have bought .If you lack the ability or confidence find a good independent who does the work himself is my advice . Dave

Hi Normski ,you should be able to find a good MX5 for around your price ;The prices have dropped a bit with the Mk 4 ND coming out .I have had MX5's for over 15 years brilliant cars ,the one I have now is a 6 year old 2 litre retractable hard top bought new as a keeper , my advice is to go for the 2 litre ,a small price premium but worth it in my view .It might be worth a look over on the MX5 owners club site as you can get some nice cars on there from like minded people good luck Dave

Hi I had another look at my wheel sizes ,all 4 wheels are lexus and marked 8 J ; 18 inch I think they may be from a different model ,according to the paperwork I received when I bought the car they appear on the check sheet at the 3rd service 3 years ago so my rears are non standard not being 81/2 J Dave

Hi back to the original question ,I have 245 x 40x 18 on the rear of my is250 dunlops but not winter pattern they where on when I bought it ,I've done over 6000 miles and I,m quite happy with their performance. Not wishing to confuse the issue I also have 245 on the front as well .When Lexus did a check on the car they listed these sizes on their sheet . I asked their advice and they said some people fit 225 all round but they had not come across 245 all round before .but it would not be a problem .4.5 m/m left then is it 225 F 245 R ; 225 F 255 R or 225 all round ? Dave

Hi I,m afraid this was also my experience,buying my lexus from a main Volvo dealer when we came to the final check having agreed all the aspects ,he said he only had one key , I insisted on a 2nd to close the deal ,he agreed saying they would ' sort it ' without any problem .after trying for a week he had to reluctlently go to Lexus the bill was in the paperwork ,£320 including 1/2 hr labour for programming Dave

Hi I agree with rayaans I fitted a set of rainsport 3 to my IS200 Sportcross before I sold it last year, they have excellent grip but the side walls are very flexible ;the tyre fitter said it would help if the pressures were increased by 2-3 psi all round on Lexus recommendations .I am looking at tyres now for my IS250C which is a heavier car ;and think I may give the uniroyals a miss . Dave

Hi ,I have had a generally good experience with black circles the fitting garage had a separate form detailing any wheel damage noted and inpected at the start and finish ,which I signed ;I presume this was passed on after the event .What did supprise me was that mine where fitted by ATS who claimed they could not better the price I paid .I would contact black circles with a view to negotiating some compensation as the tyres were fitted by their approved agent Dave

Hi , the 1.8 engine is fitted with a timing chain Dave

Hi sound advice given ,the problems are well documented on here .You can remove the top plastic cover and inspect the belt ,if it looks frayed at the edges don,t wait . The tensioner can also give problems ,mine on my sportcross gave up at 53000 ,fortunately the EML came on as it had jumped a tooth so no damage done ;even if all looks OK get it changed ASAP as if it fails it will bevery expensive Dave

Hi ,seems a bit strange is the wear uniform across the tread or inside or outside only ? if this is the case what was the wear like on the old tyres . What make tyres have you purchased ;what pressure are you using . sorry to post questions in answer to a question but this is very relavant .The size section difference is normal on some IS 250 and should not affect the wear . Dave

Hi ,if you wish to use the supplied pump on its own ,you can dismantle it and remove the bottle of sealant .I have done it with mine, the 2 halves of the plastic casing are held together with 10 small self tapping screws ;the bottle can be removed then the inlet and outlet hoses joined with a short length of metal pipe with two small jubilee clips ,and the whole thing fastened back together without the bottle ,its a bit of a faff but only took me 1/2 hour + bits from my junk box . For peace of mind on continental trips I have bought a spare alloy off E bay ,it takes up a lot of the boot space but is not a problem as there are only 2 of us and I can put this in the car when the hood is down Dave

Hi glad you are enjoying your open air motoring Steve ;we have just returned from a holiday on the lizard in Cornwall , top down weather all week . Went down through the Wye valley and on to M5 ,back motorway all way 1000 miles approx at 32.8 average based on fill ups not computer .A really nice way to travel even if we do have to put some luggage on the rear seats to make room for the hood .It is a heavy car,takes some stopping on those cornish inclines even using engine braking in 2nd and 3rd .The front is covered in flies and brake dust so a big clean up next ! Dave

Hello and welcome to the club I do not know any tyre fitters in the cambridge area ,but as far as I am concerned a visit to Tony at WIM will be a good investment 1 1/2 hours is not too far ,I went down from Lancashire to have my MX5 set up by him ,also the IS Sport cross I recently sold ,He is well respected and knows what he is doing ,unlike a lot of traders I have previously tried Dave

Hi thanks for the information, I will pay a visit to that website ,as I need to spuce up the paintwork . The dealer had it detailed by a local outfit ,and it looked very nice, but that effect has worn off by washing ,and I think the product they used had a lot of filler in it as swirl marks have appeared, Dave