ColinBarber

It's common for the GS series II front brakes to wear and start to clunk. It's not dangerous but new calipers are needed if you want to get rid of the noise. That's assuming you don't have cheap, badly fitting pads or missing clips/shims.

You need a master key to be able to program in another one. You don't program the key, you program the vehicle to work with the new key so you cannot mess up the key.

they start to knock long before they actually fail.

They used to be around £150 from dealers, I don't know if prices have changed recently.

Check the brake calipers aren't sticking and make sure the wheel nuts are tightened to the correct torque otherwise they will just warp again. If a garage takes a wheel off then when you get it back undo the nuts and tighten them back up again correctly as they will certainly be over tightened. There is nothing wrong with the stock discs. They are the same as fitted to the series II GS430 which is heavier, more powerful and an auto which means it should be much more demanding on the brakes than a manual IS200.

I think there are 3 sensors in total. One for each exhaust branch and then one after the main cat. The bank x sensor x format is a OBD-II standard and has to allow for all engine designs.

What year is your GS430?

Lexus dealers have always had very big margins between trade in price and resale. Normally trade in values are well below Glasses guide etc.

Bank 1 refers to bank that includes cylinder No.1. Bank 2 refers to bank that does not include cylinder No.1. Sensor 1 refers to the sensor closer to the engine body.

The ECU shouldn't lose its immobiliser programming by just disconnecting the battery.

Have you looked on ebay.com? Search for bushing rather than bushes.

It's worth checking the earth connections are clean and tight but I think everything is normal. An alternator will produce 14v at idle if the battery requires charging but when you turn on headlights etc. you start to draw more amps than the alternator can generate at idle speed so the voltage will drop. Above 2000 rpm and the voltage should rise. Only if the voltage drops below 12v (really 12.4) do you have a problem. What size battery did you install?

congrats and welcome to LOC :)

That site gives details for US vehicles. The wiring colours and pinout will be the same for the UK vehicles just need to remember that locations may be different between LHD and RHD.

Have you tried another disc first? Replacing the laser unit shouldn't affect the working of the main unit provided you don't damage it during your attempted repair. The new laser unit should be identical to the old one, if when you open it up you find it isn't then don't try and replace it.

What is the cost of a new vehicle in country? It may well be more than the UK which could explain the higher used cost.

If you are using 93GB per month then you may well fall outside of most providers fair use policy, unrestricted or not. I've heard good things about Zen for business /high domestic users.

The windscreen is bonded and needs to be left to set for a few hours. Failure to do this will produce wind noise. You need to take it to somebody that knows what they are doing but it doesn't have to be a main dealer. My local Lexus dealer just sends them to a specialist anyway. MOTs are fixed price. A main dealer cannot charge more than the price fixed by the government. Service costs are around £150 for minor and £250-350 for major depending what needs doing. Only when plugs or cambelt need replacing do the service cost go very high.

It's not uncommon for Lexus to have yearly updates. They are minor changes like a new exterior colour option. It's also more common on new models as things are improved. The SC430 had suspension changes in the 1st and 2nd year of production in an attempt to improve ride quality.

That's 7 more years than they give for the 430 engine, they must be confident of its reliability. I suppose with the stress shared by two types of propulsion, it provides an easier mechanical life. bill I think it is more to reassure customers of the hybrid system. I can see them having to replace quite a few batteries in the warranty period. The car is probably priced to include another set of batteries.

Hello, welcome to LOC You may also wish to join the US site: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php

Does your average mpg go down when you are at a stand still? I don't believe it does and therefore it is taking it into account. When I have to wait in traffic in my non-hybrid vehicle the average goes down and down. It's just your instant mpg figure that isn't accurate.

If you're just passing through I guess you won't see the replies but hello anyway :)

I would imagine the same brakes are used across the IS range, including other countries. If that is the case they can handle the IS350 which has over 300bhp. I know about the performance enhancement of the 220d (should be around 220 HP and 0-60 mph in 7.5 sec which is even better than the second gen IS300) , but I have not heard anything regarding the 250. Could you tell us more about this? Here is the answer I got from TTE last week: We have a performance kit for the 177PS D4D models under development and try to introduce it within this year. Unfortunately we do not have any datas for you so far. I would imagine if they are going to do anything with the IS250 it will be a turbo/SC add-on. Very little can be gained by tuning a NA engine.

it may be worth cleaning the throttle body. Also try posting on the US forums - many more LS owners on there than in the UK: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php