lexus22

so did anyone take any photos???

The reverse sensors on my is300 constantly beep when put in reverse, anyone else had this problem?

Went to the Japenese day last Sunday but didnt take any photos! Has anyone posted any?

Only saw a few is200's there, and only my is300...were you guys parked out of the way??

Well Ive already bought them so will see how crap they are tomorrow after fitting them.

Hi chaps, just treated myself to a 2004 is300. Fancy getting the brakes better as not as good as in my is200 manual.

Checked out EBC greenstuff pads but they reckon that with cars with over 200php the redstuff should be used, anyone used these before or know anything good or bad about them?

So I thought it about time to change the oil and filter...took a few minutes to find where the oil filter was! Appears that the only way to get to it is from underneath the engine but even that looks to be a rigfht pain unless car is very high off ground. what is the best way to get to it??

Mines 10 years and still fine.

Well, I had another look at the car on saturday morning and gave it a good going over. It had been mot'd the day before and was noted that the tyres would need replaceing soon but passed ok. The bonnet and both front wings had been painted (not very well) which showed in certain light being metalic blue, this put me off as there was no record of this being done and no explaination from the owner. Last serviced 2 years ago but had only done 10k since.

So to sum it up the front end needed repainting, serviced, new tyres and poss wheels refurbed...lowest she would take was £3800, I reckoned £2800 so no deal, I walked away.

There must be a low mileage well kept example out there somewhere, so I will keep my is200 until I find it!

How come Haynes dont do a service manual for is200/300.. is is coz they dont go wrong?

_{Thank you for your time John, by the sounds of it you love the is300, my is 200 is fine but find i'm forever changing gear and needs "winding up" to get anywhere fast. I know that this is300 is due for a service but oil change etc should be no worries even if i do it myself. Appears that fuel is only a couple of mpg difference that the is200 and insurance only £11.00 more per year, seems a no brainer for the extra smooth performance.}

_{Love the look of this one in the metalic blue with full cream leather and Lexus areo kit/18inch wheels, does look much nicer. Have been looking almost a year for a low mileage good example like this, will check all you have said and give it a thorough going over before i agree to buy.}

_{How much do you reckon i should pay for a car like this?}

Hi guys, having a second look at a 53 plate is300 tomorrow. Car has done 45k from new, 2 owners, full history and has full spec ie. sat nav, full leather, Areo kit etc. Is there any points in paticular that I should look at that may be a problem? The car has just had a new mot so I guess that there is nothing going to fall off! Did notice that the hinged cover was missing that covers the hole in the boot through the middle of the rear seats, my is200 has one, is it the same on the is300? Had a drive of it and the autobox is so smooth, hard to know when is changing, and the up/down buttons on steering work fine. Really like the car but just a tad concerned that i need to check certain things that are "known" problems.

ps. any one want my is200 sport?

Yeah, it was a used box with 80k on it, but my box had only 38k on it...just seems a tad odd...maybe propshaft or the dreaded flywheel??

When I bought the car it had an annoying rumble noise when in 6th gear, most noticable at 80mph, drop it into 5th rumble noise gone.

Must be the box I thought. Few months ago I had another box fitted but it is still the same! cant be the box then...what the heck is it then? :eerrrmm:

5-30 mobile 1 fully synthetic

no knocks or bangs either cold or hot.

you need a serious oil change dude -

No ... my car is fine mate! I am just asking shall I put semi or full synthetic in when I do an oil change!!

Good advice re genuine oil filter and as there is no benefit to useing fully synthetic I will go with semi.

Dont get me wrong, the cost is not the issue, I use it in the Esprit as it is a small highly stressed engine unlike the is200. Reason for question is because I had a V6 Cavalier years ago which knocked and rattled from cold start when garage put fully synthetic in it, I made them come round and put semi back in! fine then.

Lots of is200 (older shape) advertised on Autotrader are reported to have "folding rear seats", my 2002 sport has'nt..am I missing something or are these people idiots?

Have bought oil from Opie before for my Lotus and as you say they give excellent service. I was considering useing fully synthetic but if the engine knocks/rattles when starting from cold then will keep to the semi, Does this happen to yours?

Car was serviced just before I bought it and oil used on all the previous services has been semi but if fully is better for the Lexus than I will change to it. Just dont want to buy it only to find the engine sounds like a bag of bolts when starting.

Can anyone recommend the best engine oil to use in my is200 (2002 manual) and should it be fully or semi synthetic?

This happened to mine. My local dealer (who I recommend without hesitation) told me it was a common problem, usually caused by a home-recorded cd jamming the mechanism. They told me it would be £1750 plus VAT plus fitting to replace but suggested I should look around for a specialist. I found one who offered to examine the unit but was not prepared to remove it so I went back to Lexus and was told it was a 30 minute job to remove it and would be around £50. I booked an appointment but in the meantime continued using the car, just using the radio and a "remote transmitter" from an MP3 player when Jeremy Vine starts to get on my nerves. Travelling back from London and prior to a roundabout on a dual carriageway part of the A303 just before the Exeter and Taunton roads separate, they have recently laid rumble strips that are both high and wide across both carriageways in order to bring speed down from 70 mph (which is about what I was doing) to a reasonable level to traverse the roundabout safely. The strips shook the car more violently than I have previously experienced and certainly slowed me down! About five miles further on, I stopped for petrol and when I turned the engine (and sound unit) back on a cd was spontaneously ejected from the player! I pressed the eject button five more times and all the remaining ones were ejected. On close examination, one of the cds had a slightly distorted edge and a number of marks that could have been caused by a jammed mechanism. I haven't quite had the courage to reload another 6 cds to see if it has fully fixed itself but before I do I will examine each one very closely and only use pre-recorded ones.

I hope this helps.

look on eBay, loads from breakers yards..

A quick update if anyone can help.

Drove to work 30 miles this morning and nothing. Drove back home 30 miles and just as i was pulling up and doing a 3 point turn in my street i heard it. Faint grinding noise when in neutral or clutch pressed. Once in gear or under any pressure from the clutch the noise is gone. Sounds right from the gearbox but cant feel any vibration from the gear stick or anywhere.

Anyone have a clue?

Actually its not a loud grinding noise. More like a whirring noise if that makes sense.

Does the clutch feel "stiff" when depressed? This sound like clutch bearing..if the clutch is original then I suggest getting a new clutch kit fitted.

find our 300 similar to our 1.8t vw passat , 20/25mpg town , , , +30 motorway , , , doesn't matter what you drive if you boot it , , they all like a drink

How many forward gears does the automatic version have? I'm thinking that without the manual 6 speed box the revs at 100mph must be a lot higher?

I have owned 2 is200 and currently have an is300 during normal driving the 300 feels slower than the 200 but this is just because the 300 is so smooth and quieter as it does not need to work as hard as the 200. however when you boot a 300 it is great fun and sounds lovely.

Try a 300 once you have you would not go back to a 200

Regards

Russell.

Thanks Russell, is the mpg a lot worse than the 200? I assume your 300 is automatic?

IS200= 153bhp

IS300= 211bhp

I know the stats but am interested in actual driving performance versus the is200, is it any better due to the bigger engine.

Is there much noticable difference in performance between the is200 and is300? I assume the car is the same apart from the engine size...?

Jesus, 37k!......Sounds like its been through the wars mate. I bought mine at 74k and it still goes like new! I'd say you've been unlucky fella :-(

Yeah, reckon so! I know a bit about cars (or so I thought) and the car was in superb condition. I took it for a test drive but clearly missed the gearbox whine and clutch judder. I also own a 1986 Lotus Esprit Turbo that I bought about 20 years ago but spends most of its life under a dust sheet in the corner of my garage, bought the Lexus to use every day for business as I thought they never gave trouble! Hindsight eh..

Picked up car from garage last night after having flywheel and gearbox changed. The original flywheel was totaly fecked. With the resurfaced flywheel fitted there is no more judder and gearchanges at speed are nice and smooth now..what a difference! As mentioned I also had another gearbox fitted because there appeared to be a slight whine in 1st and 2nd gears but it is exactly the same with this one! So at least I now know that this must be down to the way that the gears are cut and it is not a problem, just the way these cars are. So if anyone needs a genuine 45k gearbox let me know..

I've never suffered a leaky sunroof on the Lexus so I'm not sure of their construction but before you rush out and buy a new seal, open the sunroof and check if there are any drainage holes around the seal. Whenever I've had leaky sunroof problems on other cars it's usually because these drain holes have become blocked with grime. Poking around with a knitting needle or similar quite often dislodges whatever is in there and resolves the problem. Quite often these drainage holes run down the windscreen pillars and let the water out of the bottom.

Just a thought.

Good advise, many thanks.

Water is dripping in from the sunroof, before I bend over and buy a new seal, is there any adjustments that could be done to the sunroof as the seal does'nt appear to be damaged at all.

Also noticed an inch of water laying in the boot compartment above the wheel arch, there is a sort of small rubber gromet at the bottom, could this be the problem? Not sure if water is comming into the boot from the bottom or top...are these commom problems with the is200??