rd27

For the headlining I use interior shampoo (Autoglym brand is good for the money) and a microfiber. As for the wood, I removed the main section, ashtray and cup holder and buffed it using a light compound with my DA machine polisher and waxed afterwards, looked loads better, no marks and the colour looks much deeper. You could probably achieve a similar result with normal bodywork polish that contain fillers to cover over the swirl marks, for instance Autoglym Super Resin Polish.

I've fitted the facelift inners to a pre-facelift car, details in this thread:

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=77674&hl=

Hope this helps.

Use WD40 with a nozzle on the can, spray liberal amounts inbetween the actual exhaust tail pipe and the chrome tip at each side. I wore a pair of thick gloves and wiggled the tip from side to side whilst pulling until it comes free. I'd recommend the gloves as the back edges of the tips can be sharp.

I use Autosol to polish my tips and then treat the finish with the same sealant I use on the wheels 'Poorboys World Wheel Sealant'. This keeps the polished finish lasting longer. I also make it a habit to wash the exhaust tips everytime I wash my car and because I previously sealed them, they still come up shiny. If you're really geeky, like me, you can remove the tips and polish inside of them so when you view them from the side profile they are all shiny as opposed to just the outer bits. Maybe that's too far? :P

My car had a rebuild back in 2010 when it was in posession of the first owner at 55k due to the piston slap issue. It's a 2008 '57 reg car, although since the rebuild it's covered 25k and all is still well on cold startup's. The repair bill was £4000 for parts alone, god knows what it would have been including Lexus' labour rates.

I always find my trip computer 3/4 mpg out, if you look on my Fuelly i've tracked over 6k in my IS250 auto and with each fuel up look in the notes section next to it and I quote indicated mpg.

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/rd27/is250

Thanks for getting back to me folks, I haven't had the issue looked at yet just keeping a close eye on my oil level. I can't actually see the oil leak from the top of the engine so i'm guessing they've spotted it with the undertray off? The mileage on the car now is 78k, the rebuild was done at 58k, two and a half years ago.

Hello folks, had my car in for it's 80k service today and they're telling me there's a large oil leak from the front of the engine on the vvti housing/cover. They said it's going to be 8 hours + for labour to sort it. However, my car had an engine rebuild 19k miles ago (just over two years) where at that point they would have had to remove and replace this cover as it had a new block and pistons, right? The chap said the new engine is only warranted for 12 months so this wouldn't cover it.

I did a little searching online and found there is a TSIB for this issue but on 2006 models (mine is early '08 registered).

What do you think guys, has anyone else had this? Shall I push for the dealer to either apply to Lexus GB to cover costs or help me out themselves, they did say because i'm on a service plan they would help with labour costs but it will still be £800 + (estimated!)

TSIB - http://www.google.co...y6vbMTQ&cad=rja

Thanks

As far as I was aware the tappy noise is just the mechanical fuel pump, completely normal. Mine's done it for my two years of ownership and it had an engine rebuild just before I got it.

Hello there, i've done both mods you've mentioned.

Here's a link for the spoiler I bought, £80, free delivery and I had to pay £20 import tax. I couldn't recommend it enough really, delivery time was quoted of up to 30 days but I recieved mine in 4, that's right, painted and delivered from Taiwan in 4 days - efficient. The paint job is also brilliant, good colour match and very few imperfections, I have a very keen set of eyes and I was pleased.

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1497.l2648

With regards to the facelift rear lights, I too have done this mod, the lights are interchangeable, the plugs for the wires and the bolts are in the same place. However, the shape of the bootlid behind the lights is a different shape, requiring some cutting of the bootlid behind where the lights sit - not for the faint hearted. I've replaced just the inner lights so far (with the flick shaped reverse light section) these seem hard to get hold of, taking me a good few months of checking eBay to find them. I'm not sure how interchangeable the outer lights are, i'm still waiting for some to come up, using a combination of new and old is fine for the time being but the shut lines aren't exact and i'm very anal about shut lines (typical Lexus owner, the persuit of perfection and all that)

Hope this helps. =D

Pictures:

No mate, they're standard, it's an SE-L so has xenons as standard.

Hello, I have changed both the Foglight bulbs and sidelight bulbs, the sidelight bulbs in mine are amber 501's so I can't advise about LED bulbs unfortunately. My fog light bulbs are JDM yellow Luminics bulbs, again not LED.

Looks good, I have looked at these and seriously considered them, my only worry was the paint job, what's the quality like?

Ashpilot did have his kit on eBay a few months ago, but i'm sure it didn't sell. It maybe worth searching for him on here and sending him a private message, he's a nice guy and will be keen to help.

Wow, Meadowhall doesn't look very busy in the picture for the festive period.

Hello and welcome, i've had my car for nearly a year now but mine is a 2008 IS with high milage for it's age (65000 when I bought it) but I don't do a lot, so it didn't concern me. Mines a petrol and i've had no issues what so ever, touch wood.

Hope you enjoy your car.

Your car looks really nice mate, it sits so much nicer on the lowering springs. B)

Looks like it's bloody brand new! Well done mate! I'm in need of detailing my car too. What procedure you used to get such a deep shine? Love it completely! Nice car too, sometimes I wish I went for IS250 for its smooth engine sound...:)

Thankyou very much, to get the level of shine I washed, clayed, polished with Autoglym Super Resin Polish, sealed with Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection and finally waxed with Autoglym HD Wax. HD Wax is an excellent product, adding great depth to shine. If you shop around online it can be purchased for around £25, cheap considering Halfrauds charge over £40.

With regards to calipers I can only recommend you paint them silver, It adds a nice contrast from the dark body and dark wheels, which was my reason for choosing it over black, the stand out but are still subtle. Black will blend in too much and reds and yellows I feel are a little chavvy, especially for the kind of car it is.

Hope this helps.

BTW, I love your wheels 'grandb3rry' I think they are really good looking and really rare on an IS.

I do find it reassuring to be honest, especially when people mock and call it a posh Toyota, they're not laughing now. :P

My wheels are the same and I find that they chip quite badly. Can you recommend a good touch-up paint, one I got from Halfords isn't the best of silver match.

I have one chip on mine, near the wheel nuts. I can only presume that a mechanic slipped once when he was taking them off. I'm yet to look for touch up paint yet tbf, although i'm sure I read somewhere that Lexus don't officially supply the colour. Maybe you could have a company custom mix you a touch up stick of paint? If you do, post details, i'm sure many members, including myself, would love some.

looks nice man!!

did the alloys come with the car? are they 18"? if alloys didnt come with the car, where did you get them from?

thanks

The alloys are 18's and were already on the car yes. It is SE-L spec but the wheels are the same as an F-Sport. IIRC they are available as an official Lexus accessory. Hope this helps.

That looks brilliant. Good guide, nice write up and a very tempting mod. Many thanks. B)

Try selling your car to an independant garage or car supermarket first, these places have less profit in their retail cars so are able to offer a better price. From previous experience Evans Halshaw offer good prices and would want a car like yours. The same with small independant garages, they would love a Lexus for their stock, i'm sure.

I find that in town I achieve 28mpg average with lights, stereo, a/c etc on. On the motorway with lights, stereo, a/c and on cruise control I achieve around 35mpg average.

I chose an auto as I wanted to climb into my car after a hard days work and waft home, relaxed. This is why I initially ruled both the diesel and manual petrol out. I am often criticized by both my friends and work colleagues for having an old mans car/gearbox when i'm only 19 (this is a very stereotypical view of automatics). It doesn't bother me though I adore my Lexus and it's auto box and i've been so pleased with how nice it is to drive.