ianm2012

Thanks All for your replies, i will rspond in one: Thanks Steve, Cable clip seems logical by the potential original shape, i will lie under car and look at the other side to compare and check out the clips. It looks like a hole but is actuallly an indent and there is one on each end Thanks Andrew, When i took off the rear disc it fell out so was trapped between the handbrake mechanism and the inside of the disc Thanks Hugh, i will look into this and maybe take of the NSR rear this weekend and compare

Hi All, Does anyone know what this could be in the pictures that was rattling around in rear brake disc? I was driving down the road the other day in my 2002 IS200 travelling about 30mph and suddenly there was a crunch sound folllowed by some scraping. I pulled over straight away as was worried it was a prop/drive shaft issue and checked car over and couldnt see or hear any issues. I returned home about 2 miles and didt hear any issue until about 100 metres from home when i went over a bump and rattling and scraping sound started again. I then recall some years ago having a bent and loose brake shoe spring so thought it may be that again so i took off the rear disc where the issue was previous and this part fell out. On inspection of the discs shoes and caliper setup i cant see where this part would of come from and wondering does it actually belong to my car or was i unlucky and picked so road debris? Any thoughts? Thanks

Hi, Sorry as I know this has most probably been covered many times. I wife has a 2010 IS200D advanced and she quite likes even with its annoying manual gearbox. Her daily school drop and commute to work is about 10 miles and this can be in traffic. The Car around town currently gets an average of 29MPG. I said it would be better for her to get an automatic 250 Advanced petrol as the urban MPG would be no different and come to think of it the motorway too. Although the yearly road tax is more the cost of diesel is more so in summary by changing car she would have a far better driving machine that wont really cost any more. Can anyone comment on around town driving MPG for the 250 advance Auto or just 250 auto. Most probably looking at a 2010 - 2012 model. Thanks

Thanks for the replies but i have had some good news - 1 month after losing my keys in the adventure park, i had a phone call and they have been found and this week i received in the post and all working so i quickly reprogrammed aspare transponder and got a new key cut so now have the full set again. During my time without them and only with the Grey Valet (Sub Key) i was concidering my options and thought they may be of use to some other people that get in my predicament and dont want to spend the £150 on a auto locksmith to reprogram he ECU. Firstly i have to state that from what i see comparing the Grey and Black keys physcially is that they are identical exclusing the raised line down each side of the black master key. I asked the local key cutters and they said that they would be able to cut a new master key from the grey (valet key) so that would solve 1 issue. Its also worth noting if like my 2002 IS200 that both black master keys have 3 buttons but the grey valet key only has 2 (mssing the boot). If you actually take the key apart as if you are changing the battery the 3rd button is present but missing the raised button part and when pressed hard does open the boot so that brings me to the other options you have. So you can get a new master key cut as above and then take the grey key to a local key cutters and see if they offer the transponder cloning like mine did. I was quoted £25 for this service which is a lot cheaper than getting the ECU reprogrammed. Yes you will have effectively 2 valet keys and no master but the new key cut will work all doors and the transponder turn off the immobiliers and open all doors so who cares about having a proper master key? Checlk with you key cutters on this and how it works before agreeing as i never used in the end but was concidering. For people with a master key and need a second, just pop onto the well known auction site get youself a second hand transponder for approx £25, a new 35mm balnk key for approx £5 with cutting an additonal £5 and then use the instructions found on here for self programming. It took me about 5 attempts to get the process right so overall about 10 mins and i was done. You must have a master key for this and it will not work with the Grey sub (valet) key. To know if your is a master, stick the key in he ignition and if the security light stays on for a few seconds rather than straight away then that ket is a sub (valet) key and cant be self programmed from. Good luck and thanks to all

Thanks Steve, I have seen several posts on here with people showing pictures of the 3 keys - 2 master and 1 sub (valet) key and they all look the same length? although the Valet as I mentioned above does not have the raised line down each side. The 2 black masters i used to have had 3 buttons and the grey valet key only 2 buttons, obviously cant compare the blade length. I was on the understanding that it was these raisd edges that allowed boot and glove box access and not length?

Hi, On a recent trip to an adventure park with the kids i have lost the only master key i had, my missus binned the first when the key snapped not realising that the electornic bit should of been kept. My car is a 2002 so understand the ECU can be remapped/modified to program some new master keys which is fine and Lexus Guildford can supply a new cut master key for £100 plus VAT but cannot program and said i would need to seek an autolocksmith with knowledge in this area but obviously cannot recommend this type of job. To keep the cost down i can buy a new uncut genuine lexus key with transponder for £50 and can cut for £5 althogh only have the grey sub key. I understand the master keys have a raised line down each egde of the key but can anyone confirm if there is any other physical differnces between the master and sub key? Are the longer? Lexus menioned the ends of the key are different but was'nt sure? If no i can get a key cheaper and then pay an autoelectrcian to recode te ECU with the new master keys.

Thanks FA, i will give it a go and post the results

Hi All, My missus has a 2011 IS 200d Advance and when she uses the Bluetooth telephone i can hardly hear her speaking. She can however hear me loud and clear. Does anyone know if there is a setting to turn up the Microphone volume? thanks Ian

Yea your most probably right. We are happy with the car, after all her old car which i have inherited is an IS200 sport and you only get 20mpg round town but still a great drive after covering 106k miles. If i had the money i would of bought a 450h and hoping they will bring out a 250h in the future

An update to me earlier post. I asked my missus on a trip to Manchester last week which is 230 miles from our house to keep out of 6th gear unless doing over 90 which is unlikely and to use cruise control on motorway and she said with some minor traffic and about 30 miles local road driving in the journey that she averaged 41MPG and roughly the same for the return journey. Quite crazy if you think that the car is not even returning the urban figures on the motorway. I understand the MPG tests are done on a rolling road in a room that is 18 degrees (64f) starting the car from cold although 18 is not really cold and it is one journey without start/stop but you would think that a car with a book urban figure of 44mpg that you would get more than 41 on the motorway. I will write a letter to lexus head office and ask how they accomplished the combined figure of 55.4mpg because you do feel a little let down by getting quite a lot less than specified. Funny thing is my friend drives a newish ford transit van and gets better MPG and he drives it hard.

My Missus purchased a 8 month old 200d advance with 10k on the clock in december11 and i would agree with what has been posted over the years by the 220d drivers. You hear branded around that the is200d has a new engine but that is not true, they have re-engineered the old engine by re-designing the combustion chamber, changed injectors and changed the turbo i believe which gives the car more torque. they have also lowered the bhp to 150 from 180 to bring the car to lower EU levels thus bringing vehicale tax down to 115 a year. I personally like the car, it comes with every gaget conceivable, dont have a major issue with rear legroom and i am 6ft2 and find it really comfortable but gearing of the car is awful. I fiind 6th gear useless unless driving over 90mph which is near never and the car struggles to coast round small junctions in second gear which you can with most pertol cars, you have to drop down to 1st. Regarding the mpg. I have named my missus lead foot as she drives like she has one which is not the best for the 200d, (she moved from a is200 pertol) round town in traffic communte she is getting 28-32mpg. The other day she drove on a 220mile trip mostly motorway up to Manchester and she said the computer read she was got an average of 38mpg for the whole trip which i think is pretty shocking however i do blame some of this on her driving style and heavy foot. If i drive the car i have got 40-45mpog on the motorway. She is going back to manchester so i am going to use some advice from this forum for the 220d and to test keeping out of 6th gear and trying to use crusie control and i will update you all. I have also ready on the forum that people mentioning resetting the ECU by disconnecting the battery for 24hrs. I may give that a go if after this journey the MPG is still bad. Failing that i will we will sell the car next year in favour of a more economical petrol. Other points to note is that currently temperatures are in the 0-1 degrees so not ideal for diesel and also that if you compare the price of this car to a bmw or audi, we were happy to take a hit on mpg in favour of a more comfortable, more highly specified car that looks good. It just would be good to get late 30's mpg around town and late 40's on the motorway.

My wife purchased a used 2011 200d advance that had done 12k miles about 2 weeks ago and it is getting about 32MPG around town with careful driving. The book states urban of 44mpg, i understand that with it being winter therfore colder that would would lose some MPG but i would expect 35 mpg plus. Do you think there is an issue with the car if it is only returning 32mpg around town with careful driving?