smw

I was just outside the 30 day exchange - by 1 day - point is though should never have been an approved car. I have even agreed to reduce it's value slightly due to the miles I have put on it - I'm suggesting £300 - so I paid £12950 and want £12650 against another car or a refund. Dealer still saying £10 500. Ho hum.

Well it's a shame it has come to this. The dealer who sold me a car for £12950 a month ago will only give me £10500 towards an exchange car. This is despite the car they sold me having a repair to the wing and an e mail from Lex GB confirming that cars poorly repaired will not be in the Lexus approved programme. I gave the dealer until 6pm tonight to reconsider and he hasn't even bothered to respond. I have therefore issued a claim against them for £2450 plus £130 costs in the small claims court. the summons should be served on them within the next 5 days and they have 14 days to respond. I'll update ya . . . .

Hmmmm. . just got mail back from Lexus GB who know nothing about this offer. Methinks man at Motor Show full of :tsktsk:

Yesterday I went to the Motor Show at Birmingham. Toytota stand was impressive – very large and well laid out. I got chatting to the guy there are he let me through to hospitality where I got some nice coffee in a purpose built area of the stand with an excellent viewing gallery of the show. Almost immediately next door was Lexus and a very nice concept on display. The salesman here also said that all new IS sold from July in the UK would come with a complete styling kit as standard – nice. Has he got this wrong ?

This has got me thinking - how many IS bits are from other models ? I recognise the indicator stalks and mirror adjustment switches from Avensis and fuel gauge from Corolla. What else is there ?

My pet hates: 1. That the spare wheel is upside down so to check pressure you need to take it out to access the valve. 2. Location of coolant level window 3. Volume knob on the right 4. Wing mirrors move at different speeds

Right bit of an update. Took the car to my local Lex dealer to look at the blotchy wing, misted fog light and off centre steering wheel. Fog light - no problem warranty issue just need to book in Steering wheel - can be done but chargeable - about £60 . hmmmmm. Wing . . wait for it . . reckons it looks like a respray / repair not done by Lex WTF. Bought this car just a month a go from main Lex dealer. My local guy noticed some over spray inside and also what looks like a small line of filler showing through WTF AGAIN ! So . . contacted selling dealer - to be fair I was dealt with straight away by the top man - he can't explain it, all cars are RAC checked etc etc. Anyway wants me to get it to a dealer in his group (bit hassle) if they then confirm it is a repair I can either get it fixed or change the car for another - good. If I decide to change it we haven't yet got into the value of my car - my view is that yes I've put miles on it and another owner but I am changing because it was not what it seemed - so I should get a 'value' of what I paid for it. BTW - Mrs SMW is saying get the full value back and add to it for a brand new one (tempting have to say).

Brilliant - many thanks. where did you get these bulletins from ?

I was thinking of getting the alignment done here http://www.r-tecautodesign.com/ anyone used them ? No chips in fog lens so could get a replacement there. I have tried all sorts on the wing , Mer (spelling ?), T Cut etc.

I have a 2001 IS 200 SE Auto – I bought it Lexus approved from the Nottingham dealership recently. The original manufacturers warranty expired January 2004 but I bought it with one year warranty in April so it is covered until April 2005. I'm not sure if the warranty you get with an approved car is the same as the warrantry with a new car (I guess it probably has less cover although I don't know what exactly). Anyway I have noticed 3 little problems with the car but I’m not sure if they would be covered under the warranty or not and would appreciate your advice. 1. The front off side wing has discoloured (the car is black) it looks like the sun has ‘bleached’ it – patches of the wing are a brown colour but it is all below the surface – i.e. it won’t just polish out. It can only be seen in bright direct light but now I know it's there it's annoying. 2. The front near side fog light has got permanent condensation inside and the light housing and bulb are starting to corrode. The front offside sometimes has condensation inside but corrosion has not yet set in. 3. The steering wheel is slightly out to the left – although the car does drive and brake straight – I have has the alignment checked and found it to be OK – can the wheel just be slightly adjusted ? It just needs moving a slight fraction to the right. So . . . are these faults common and covered under warranty – if they are not warranty items anyone care to indicate likely cost. Thanx.

In case it helps - I've just got a black SE auto 2001 X from a Lex dealer. 45K FLSH. 1 Year warranty, 12 months tax, new mats £12950.

BTW - car has done 45 000 miles - FLSH. Last serviced Jan 04, MOT April 04.

Right - it's not related to braking - just taking fairly sharp corners at say 20 mph - happens every time I turn into my road. Very slow or fast corners - no noise

Had my 2001 SE Auto for about a month now. Couple of things bugging me - 1. Sometimes when taking a corner slowly I get a slight knocking sound - car had new MOT recently and is from Lex main dealer so assume shocks / bushes must be OK - is it just a 'trait' ? Anyone else get this ? 2. Previous owner has had a very minor scrape on the wing and there is a very small hairline fracture. The paint on this wing seems to have discoloured / faded slightly - I assume because it is no longer sealed. So what are the chances of getting a new wing or respray under warranty i.e. the paint is defective but only because it has been knocked. Thanx.

Basically 0 = roughly UK summer (March - August) and 5 = roughly UK winter (September - February) - followed by last number of the year. So a 51 car was first registered in the winter of 2001, 03 car would be the summer of 2003. It gets confusing between Jan - Feb as the car still carries the 'winter' ident and previous year number - so a February 2003 car would have a 52 plate. I think . . . Going for a lie down . . . .

Fired an e mail of to my local friendly dealer not expecting to hear anything really -wrote back next day and has posted a cap to me 1st class. Should be here tomorrow. Good stuff.

Right - thanks Tony. Mine are the 3 hole type - anyone got a spare cover or know where to get one ?

Well they are meant to have covers. Mine sound different to yours - my locking nut has small round plug holes rather than a wavy pattern.

36 here - could never have afforded the Lex at 22 - think I had an XR3i then.

Slightly but not worthy of starting a new one just for this - Does anyone know how I can get one of the plastic cosmetic push fit locking wheel nut covers for the standard IS SE 2001 Alloys. It's probably worth about 10p and apart from buying another set of complete locking nuts I can't see how I can get one ?

Yeah I thought it might be for when they recharge the air con - add refrigrant / whatever. Never seen one before though - even on cars with air con and also what is the 'H' for ?

Can anyone help identify an engine (1G FE) component for me please ? It is obviously some form of one way valve or bleed control but I’m not sure exactly what it serves ? If you can’t make it out on the photo the engraving on top of the plastic threaded head is ‘H’ (for hot / hydraulic ?) It also has an observation window but again I can’t make out why you need this. It’s located just to the right of the grill close behind the front off side headlight. Pic below. Ta. Click Here for Photo

Right - I've put the 9000 back on the rear so I now have a pair of 9000 on rear axle and 2000 on front. As happened the other day (and it's only very slight) but the steering wheel is now slightly left. At least I have tread patterns right. I'm hoping it's just 'cus one is new - I do about 500 a week so I'll leave it for a week - get some miles on the new 9000 and see if the steering straightens a bit once it has 'bedded in'. If problem remains i think I'll get Lex to take a look - can't have a car that only goes straight when you mis match treads !

Well I thought so as well. Lexus supplied the car like this ? ? ?

Thought if I just moved them - shouldn't effect balance ?