ChrisIS200SportTTE

Hi and Welcome to LOC. I've never heard of that before sorry hope someone can help you. Is it wired up correctly. Does the Radio and Tape deck work or is it completly dead? My CD player works sometimes and then other times get the error code. Has a mind of its own and its not too much of a problem for me to be honest. Good luck, hope you get it sorted. Chris.

I was watching some old Top Gear episodes over the weekend. The episode with the LFA, fair enough they love that but Hammond keeps slating the Lexus brand. Also in another episode they ask the audience what they think the most reliable car of the year is and someone answers Lexus and Hammond replies "Lexus don't break but we wish they would" Anybody know what their problem is? Just curious lol...

What a bunch of W*nkers mate! Exact same thing happened to mine when I lived in Bristol a couple of years ago. Mine was completely ripped off and they seem to have nicked it. I also went to Lexus and got quoted £410! I went to a breakers who had 2 IS200 write offs both in Platinum Ice (seems to be the most popular colour and the colour of mine so it matched) Paid £35 for it, the full unit with all the wires etc. Took it to an auto electrician £50 to fit it while I waited, took him about an hour and half. Good as new, heater works and folding works. Could try that route, more hassel but saves money. Good luck sorting it.

Are you sure you've actually got a problem? I mean how much smoke are we talking? no lights on suggests it's not the sensor. Mine produces quite a lot of white smoke when it's cold or when it's been raining a lot. It passed the MOT emissions test no problem, tester said it was mostly condensation evaporating. On hot days I have very little smoke and cold days a lot!

The performance is completely identical for ALL variants of the IS200 and essentially cannot be improved by chipping, re-mapping or after-market bits and pieces. The "Sport" version is just marginally lowered, has a few cosmetic differences & goodies. Not completly true sorry.... You can supercharge a IS200 but it will set you back a cool £1500-£2000 for a power gain of about 70BHP. It is the only power gaining mod tho so I'm told. Changing exhaust etc will do absolutly nothing! Lol

We Never had a LE model in Uk until 2004 so I'm told by my mate who works at Lexus. S..... SE.....or Sport. The Granite Sky colour one was LE 2004-2005 and had full leather and was fully loaded. They sold these as Lexus knew they were launching the new IS in 2006 so they fully loaded them to shift them.

Agree with everything said before except the SE isnt the Bog standard version, thats the middle of the range. The bog standard in the UK is the 'S' which didnt even have leather heated seats, they were cloth and it came with 16 inch alloys which look cheap and tacky! Also no electric adjustable seats on the 'S' The Sport version comes with lowered suspension and Limited Slipp Diff which improves the handling but performance is same across the range. The sport also has tinted rear windows and a lot of them came with either the TTE Kit factory fitted or the TRD kit.... both look mint! And both Sport models ive owned have 18inch wheels and very wide tyres 225! Not cheap £120 per tyre for mid range. The sport is also fully loaded, the only difference between that and the top of the range Granite colour one is that the Sport has half leather seats and the Granite one is full leather. Also this model was only availiable after 2004. Also the IS200 after 2003 comes with xenon headlamps. Also check the brakes on a good test drive. They are prone to sticking callipers. I've had 2 IS200's and they both suffered sticky brakes..... (not cheap to repair £350 per calliper) The tell tale signs of sticky brakes are the smell of burning brakes when you get out of the car and the offending wheel will be caked in brake dust. Also feel the Alloy wheel, it will be hotter than the others after a good few miles. Good Luck Chris

Welcome. Nothing wrong with Nissan! I used to have a 200SX and currently own a 300ZX as well as my Lex. Lexus still the better cars for me tho! :)

Unfortunately keeping it, ****ting up and pleading ignorance is not gonna work if they find out. I had the same thing as dave1. I was overpaid one month a few years ago. Instead of £2,200 they deposited £22,000! I couldn't believe it. I wanted to keep it and shut my mouth but I contacted Citizens Advice and they said the same as Dave, pay it back. If you keep it knowing it's a mistake then that's theft. Shame really, I don't know if the situation is different as it was a bank that deposited the money and not a company with you?

Hi everybody. Last month I had the common sticking brake calliper on my 2001 IS200 drivers side. Paid Lexus Swindon £350 for a new calliper. I also had them put new discs and pads on. Total bill £600. I've now done 2000 miles since then but today when I got out of the car I could smell brakes again. Exactly the same smell as when I had the sticking calliper. I touched the wheels and the drivers alloy was hotter than the other wheels. I don't have any brake judder or other symptoms that I had last time. I jacked the car up there and then to see if the wheel moves freely and it does just with a slight grinding noise. On the drive today I did have to brake from 70mph to a stop very hard as a caravan pulled out in front of me and then stalled and to be honest I have been driving the car pretty hard all day! I also have the very bad habit of sitting at the lights with my brakes on. I think this is the start of the return of the sticky calliper but surely a brand new one shouldn't stick straight away or after just 2000 miles however hard I have to brake?? Should I take it back to Lexus and demand they fix it for free? Thanks in advance Chris

Seized callipers seems to be the biggest problem. I bought mine with a seized calliper. The smell after driving it home and the wheel was red hot being a dead give away! What is it with the IS brakes??

Hi mate. First of all yes your rear glass is legal so no worries about that as long as it is factory tinted. If its aftermarket then I dont know as the rear windscreen has to let a certain % of natural daylight through to be legal. It sounds to me as though you do have a master key. If its got 3 buttons and can remotely open the boot then yes it is. The 100% certain way of checking tho is when you put the key in the ignition the security light should go out straight away. If its not the master key then the light will atay on for 2-3 seconds. The way of coded your own keys is the infamous pedal dance! the routine is in other threads on this forum, just search and you'll find it. I dont know if the dealer is telling the truth. Put it this way, i have 1 master key and bought a blank key off ebay and I tried to code it using the pedal dance but I would get through 90% of it then it would re set itself and I'd have to start again. I lost patience and took it to the dealer (Lexus Swindon) and they charged me £60 to code it. Its only £180 if you buy the key through them as well. Hope this helps.

The vibrating rear view mirror is a recall apparently. Lexus Cardiff who sold him the car called him to bring it in and get sorted about 6 months ago. Completely free and it took about 45 mins. I drove it today and can confirm the rear view mirror doesn't vibrate one but :)

Hi, and Welcome to LOC. Everything sounds normal in regards to your Lexus. My brother in law has a 220D so ive driven it many times. It is a sluggish machine low down but so are most Lex's Ive found. My IS200 doesnt go anywhere till you hit 4000RPM... Ill ask him about your vibrating mirror, i didnt notice that to be honest. Yes you will def feel a difference in power between a Golf GTi and a lexus Diesel. Your lex is fitted with a lot of heavy components and all the electrics etc.. Its a ton and half of car! its not built for speed but for refinement and luxury, whereas a GTi Golf is all about performance! Its designed to get you from A to B in comfort not get you there quick! lol..... Enjoy your Lex, Chris

Well the lights never came back on until today! Done 1895 miles since they last appeared! Just started it and the engine light is on again with the flashing trc light. Turned it off, left it for 10 mins and now their gone again and the car drives perfect! I know I need to go and get the codes read but I'm away working all week and I'm an event caterer so im working 8am - 11pm for next 7 days so I have no opportunity to take it to a garage and I need to drive 30 miles per day. Am I doing damage to my engine? Really worried. Lexus dealer told me that if the engine light is flashing then that indicates a more serious problem but if it's just on all the time then it's normally nothing to major. Does this sound right to you guys? It's going in in 8 days to get read.

The 200 and 300 are the same car with different engines. So whatever would fit into a 200 will fit into a 300 :)

Don't get me wrong I didn't mean to disregard high mileage but make sure they've been serviced and maintained properly. I looked at 4 IS300 and all were above 100,000, one was even at 215,000 but they hadn't been maintained properly. No service history, smelt funny on test drive, sounded rough etc.... That's what I meant by saying good luck finding a good 1. I gave up and bought a IS200 Sport. Plenty of good examples of these about. I got mine, 2001 with 75,000 on the clock, full service history, timing belts done etc... And it drive like a dream on the test drive. As you say a well maintained Lexus just keeps going forever, it's why I bought one :)

Hi mate. I used to have a 200SX also, sweet car if looked after! If you go straight from that to the IS200 then you'll think the engine is broke first time you drive it lol! The power difference feels alot! You have to keep the IS at 4000rpm and above to get any performance. The power gap can be overcome with a supercharger (super expensive!) or go for the 3.0 IS300. I looked for the 300 but every one I saw was high mileage or been thrashed to bits and sounded like a bag of nails. Good luck finding a good 1. If you go for the 200 then try to find a sport. Fully loaded with all the extras that came on a 200 plus limited slip diff, lower suspension and 18inch wheels. It handles like its on rails in the dry, absolute pig in the wet! Great fun turn the traction control off and see :) Even though the IS200 is the slowest car I've had in the last ten years it's still my favourite and I love it! Always looking for an excuse to drive it. Running costs are high, drinks petrol like you got a leak, get about 320 miles from £75 less if your town driving. The extras are brilliant and the refinement unbelievable but if your used to power you may be a little dissapointed with the performance.

I had the exact same problem. As soon as I broke from over 60 mph really bad judder! It turned out to be a sticking brake calliper. If the judder started off small and has been getting gradually worse then it could be warped discs but if the judder suddenly appeared then its more likely to be a sticking calliper. A sticking caliber will also smell quite badly and you'll notice it when you get out of the car. Also feel your alloys after driving. If 1 is hotter to touch than the others the there's your sticking calliper. The calliper cost me £370 fitted from Lexus! Ouch! I also had to get new discs and pads as the sticking calliper had warped it! Total bill at dealership £600! This is a common problem, I have 2 friends with IS200 and we've all suffered from the sticky calliper!

I had the same problem with both my mirrors mate. Hot soapy water and a good spray of WD40 and their working fine. If you can't hear the motor working when you press the button then it's probably the motor gone. Hope this helps :)

Hello everybody. I only have 1 master key for my IS200. I want a spare just in case as I've read that if you lose all your keys then it's gonna cost over £1k to have a new ECU put in by Lexus plus the hassle of getting it to the dealership with no way of driving it! Lexus Swindon quoted me £180 for a spare key. This seems a little steep to me so was just wondering if anybody knew of a cheaper way of obtaining a spare. Any help would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance Chris.

HaHa.... Love this thread and just had to contribute. I too have owned some shockers! 1997 :- MG Metro 1300 Turbo 1990 model 1999 :- Nissan Sunny 1.6 1990 model (piece of utter rubbish) 2000 :- Nissan Primera 2.0 EGTE 1996 model. Brilliant car, quick for a 4 door saloon, 18 inch rims and a real head turner! Never once went wrong! Wrote it off tho into a brick wall! 2005 :- Nissan Maxima 3.0 V6 1996 model. Super luxurious, this is where I got a taste for comfort and refinement! Lots and lots of toys to play with! 2008 :- Honda Accord 2.0. 2006 model. Excellent car. Only reason to change it was I really wanted a Lexus!! But I still have this car! 2010 :- 2001 Lexus IS200 SE. Bought for £1000 as it had 147k on the clock and failed on pretty much everything on the MOT (brakes, suspension and emissions plus the engine light was on and it had 20+ fault codes stored). Also had a few heavy dents and scratches. Was in a right state. Made it into my project car to do up and sell. My wife loved it tho so when I finished and got it back on the road she sold her car (99 Fiat Punto) and kept the Lex. 2012 :- 2001 Lexus IS200 Sport TTE Kitted! I love this car and bought it as soon as I saw it even tho I was looking at a lot newer IS 250 models with lower mileage but saw this and it was love at first sight!! Lol... I promised my wife I'd sell the Honda but now I'm keeping the Lexus in the garage and using the Honda for my everyday car! When she finds out I'm a dead man!

Hi Everybody. I recently had a CT200h on a 48 hour test drive and I have to say that I absolutely hated it! There are some nice touches such as the sat nav system with the mouse thingy and I like how you turn a dial on the dash and it goes from blue to red into sport mode and gives you a rev counter instead of a blue dial which measures charge and EV mode but that's it! When I first got in it I felt as though I'd stepped into a fiesta or something equally as tacky. It just all felt really cheap and not the usual Lexus refinery. the best way I can describe it is plasticky, like a Kia! It doesn't go anywhere when you put your foot down, even in sport mode.... although being a hybrid I didn't expect much but it was really poor. I love the look of it on the outside and the wheels were stunning but get in it and I don't feel as though I'm in anything special. I was really going to buy this car until I drove it but honestly for £23k no chance! I'm guess I'm just really disapointed. Just expected a bit more from a Lexus! I have a IS200 sport on a Y plate and every time I get in it, it puts a smile on my face and I know I'm driving a special car. I never felt as though I would have that feeling in the Lexus Kylie Minogue! Such a shame! I was always keeping my IS200 but wanted something for everyday commuting to ease on the petrol. God knows what I'll buy now!

Hi everybody. I live in Chippenham also. Rico is that your blue IS250 F Sport I've seen around Chippenham? Really nice motor. I have a Y reg IS200 Sport, might see you guys around

Hey thanks for the reply. No I didn't tell him lol... Didn't want to upset him! I guess that would be the test but he's gone abroad for 6 months so apart from trying to find a fat person to sit in my car I guess I can't test it! I was just wondering if anybody else had this problem of the lights coming on for such a short period and then everything being fine. Guess I was hoping it was common for the ECU to have a funny 5 minutes! I guess I'll just leave it and pick him up from heathrow in 6 months and see if he sets it off! :-)