true blue

Hi ,Just for a bit more info,I have had my is200 sportcross for 6 months now and decided to keep an accurate fuel record .Over the last 4000 miles I have averaged 31.36 mpg. A lot of these miles ( probably 70% ) are on motorways and I don,t always drive like a pensioner :winky: so I,m well pleased with the result.

Hi, as said you will be able to access the drain and filler plugs from under the car ,when on ramps ,there is not much clearance in the transmission tunnel so you can't use a socket on the level plug ;you will need a 24 m/m ring spanner.Remove the filler plugs first before the drain plugs

Hi, my opinion is £400 from a lexus dealer is a good price ;the genuine belt kit is approx £145 i did my own earlier this year.I would keep away from 'back street garages' as if the job is not done correctly it can cost £1000+ to rectify any damage ;A good independent mechanic is an alternative (if you can find one ) but I think you would only save £50-60 .I also agree at this mileage the water pump and bypass O rings should be changed at the same time because if they give trouble with the onset of winter it will cost another £400 to fix

Hi,Smokeybaz ,with reference to gently applying the hand brake , this will not elliminate a caliper dragging noise ,as the hand brake works with shoes on a separate inbuilt drum . I would guess a strip down and check of the caliper will cure it ; worked for me

Hi, I used the Hilka oil suction gun on E bay item 350288216682 £5.99 + pp good item worked well for me , One point I found is you need a ring spanner for the level /filling plug as there is not enough clearance for a socket 24 m/m from memory hope this helps

Hi no one on here able to help with this ? Surely one of you guys in the North West must have had a wheel alignment check done all advice appreciated

Hi I hope the 'bloke ' you spoke to was not a mechanic your IS 200 will have a BELT ,there are plenty of posts on here about changing it .I would advise a change at 60,000 miles or ASAP if you have not got a service receipt proving it has been done . I did mine 6 weeks ago and i'm glad I did as the belt looked OK but the tensioner was slack . :o

Hi as mattc says this is not an issue most modern cars do not use countersunk screws to retain the discs anymore; The 2 holes you have are so you can screw in bolts to 'jack ' the disc off should they not be as free as yours are

Hi Halfords sell a 'Laser' make tool for just under £20 I have one and it works well ;the only thing is you only get 1 adaptor ,some cars have a slot and some have 2 holes for a spigot to fit into. check the one you want ,you can always ring Laser direct and they will give you a part number for the correct one ;I had to buy an extra one for Volvo Hope this helps Dave

Hi I am just about to put new tyres on my IS 200 sportcross but I think a check is in order before I fit them .I know I should go down to WIM ( I have been in the past with my MX5 and tony is good with these great cars as well ) but I don't have time at present for a 500+ mile round trip . Can anyone recommend a good alignment place in the North West (I'm in Lancashire) who can do a good job ? Thanks

Hi sorry to hear about your problem ,look at the potholes .co.uk site ,plenty of advice on how to report ;claim etc .you can win but it takes a long time.Also get the tyre checked out properly before refitting ,this happened to me last year tyre looked OK but some plies inside were damaged so it was replaced for safety Good Luck

Hi thanks for that info , the synthetic is a good quality oil, been down and stocked up for the lex and kids cars as well as I am family grease monkey :winky:

Hi Richard and welcome to the club , I,m sure you will be able to cope with servicing the Lexus ,I am an engineer .and do all my own servicing, the Lexus is a very straight forward design .You now have the link for the manual , and if you look in 'Lexus workshop' under Replaced my timing belt today there is a very good walk through guide .I recently did mine £140 for parts and the only snag i had was the usual one -removal of the crankshaft nut . I don't put a lot of faith in service history,a lot of books get stamped but does the work get done ? I would rather sift through a pile of receipts for parts fitted by a knowledgeable owner ,I don,t think you will have any problem re selling a well looked after car I never have

Hi yes kam05 don't take any stick from a Merc owner :D the quality has improved now but 01-06 it was very poor.My daughter has a C180K ( I tried to get her to buy a Lexus but somthing about wrong badge ) I,m an engineer and do all the family servicing and repairs and belive me they are not easy and get more than their fair share of eletrical faults and even routine maintenance is not easy ( no oil drain plug for starters ) labour charge/hr at least the same as Lexus without the customer service

Hi as abbas has said it is not advisable to drive it with this misfire the unburnt fuel will damage the cat and also wash the oil from the cylinder bore on the cylinder which is not firing

Hi Thanks for the info on the online tyre people; my generation are not too savy on internet buying , but I will have a look and compare prices I'm ok for a couple of weeks-down to 3 m/m

Hi I do not think the oil usage you have stated is excessive ; any car can use oil it all depends on how it was treated when it was new and how well the maintenance has been carried out.Although in theory cars do not require running in ,if the car is driven for long periods at a set speed when brand new the cylinder bores can become polished and this can increase oil consumption ,as can driving the engine hard while not warm ;frequent short journeys ,although most modern cars do not use oil I have had cars over the years which burnt similar amounts to yours without any detremental effects and I feel dismantling the engine to rectify this will be very expensive; Just keep your eye on the level as running with low oil level will make things a lot worse

Hi I,m looking at tyres at the moment the best deal I can find on good quality tyres is at ATS Euromaster ;if there is a branch near you they are currently offering 15% off 2 dunlop or michelin or 25% off 4 Worth a look

Hi Just to take the guesswork out of replacing the plugs , the torque setting from the manual is 17.5 N Mtrs or 13 Ft lb

Hi when you are speed testing ( on a private road :winky: ) bear in mind your speedo will normally read 10% higher than your actual speed -so 140 = 126 ; If you have a sat nav set it on a steady speed for as long as possible (on your private road again)and you will see the difference to compare with your indicated speed

Hi don't forget you will need to take all your paperwork with you including your V5 document ;if you wear glasses to drive you are supposed to carry a spare pair with you also spare bulbs .If your number plate is the EU type with GB in the euro symbol at the end you do not need an additional GB plate .Try and buy petrol when the pumps are manned as UK cards don't work with all continental automatic pumps and it can be embarrasing not having fuel on sundays Enjoy your trip

Hi, after having headlight problems earlier in the year which I cured after good advice from you guys and pinching the wifes' hairdryer I thought I would try to find a better solution than WD 40, which I never consider to be a permanant solution. I found this www.contralube.com ,it works well and is supposed to be weather proof . I bought it from Maplin £6 but it also appears on E bay I think this could be a solution for other exposed multipin connectors as well as the ones by the drivers door hope this helps someone

Hi, welcome to the club ,I have not been on here very long and find you get brilliant information on here ; if I can help with your questions 1 you will need to have the code read ,when you have the number post back on here for further advice it is the only way to find the fault 2 The handbrake light you have checked the right areas ;check the rear bulbs again one may be loose or it may be the high level light

Hi early 60,s age is just a number :D I,m supprised at the number of young guys on here ! in my area they all seem to bomb round in noisy saxos and corsas and for braindead I also have a little sportscar low , hard to get in and out of , not slow or noisy brilliant rear wheel drive MX5 series 3 ( fresh air and fun )

Hi thanks to fil 4362 for the low down on the MOT; I have always understood it was a basic test and not put a lot of faith in a pass certificate on older used cars , but I did not realise in this age of safety and risk assesment the braking test was so basic. I have just checked a friends car which passed the test 3 days ago ,as 1 rear brake was obviously not working properly and the handbrake was very poor .the tester said the handbrake efficiency was poor but still a pass. I have rebuilt this side now and all is OK but I could not understand how it could pass the main brake test now I know ;thanks ;as they say you learn something new every day ;) ( the car was not a lexus and had rear drum brakes )