Dean1309

Any news on your Lexus? Did you go to other garages to get quotes etc? Hope the insurance did not write it off

Took me ages to find the right IS200, mine is a 2002 52 plate had only done 61,000 miles when i bought it 10 months ago. Full lexus service history right up till 58,000 miles.

Hold on and the right one will be out there.

Dean I think that adds valuable knowledge though to the Thread's owner as it gives a full image of how most of the companies work, it is like a step by step guide :)

lol I hope the guy involved in this thread does get his car repaired. I was gutted about my car and it was my own fault. I really feel for him as it wasnt his fault.

Tonight has been a pleasure to drive my car once again, had to deliver it to the body shop which is less than a mile from where i stored the car. I love driving it, even if it was looking a mess.

Dean glad you got the car saved and not salvaged. :)

It all depends on the small print of the insurance so better before someone makes a claim have a look and avoid the risk of loosing a car they like to keep... assuming that it can be bought back. Best do some research to avoid many phonecalls afterwards :)

By the way I thought you never had the claim submitted with your insurance how on earth they arranged to pick up the car for salvage without it being a write off?

Cheers

Vasilis

The accident was my fault mate, I didnt have the funds to repair my own car and pay for the other persons. So I had no choice but to go through my insurance.

I had to get two quotes in order to take my car to a third party garage. First quote I got was from a friend who owns a bodyshop, he came out and had a look at my car and drafted up a quote for me to send off to the insurance if needed. In the mean time, I did not know of any other bodyshops to look at my car so I didnt have a choice but for the insurance to come and pick up my car and take it away to their garge.

They assessed it and deemed it a write off. However in the mean time I wasnt happy with this as I knew that my car could easily be put back on the road. Just a few parts and again on the road. So I sent in the quote my friends bodyshop gave me and insurance accepted it and payed out, minus my excess. So it was down to me to remove my car from insurance approved garage. Called in another favour and another friend with a mechanical workshop / car sales and used the recovery truck to pick it up and store it until tonight when im taking it to be repaired.

So even though insurance companies garage say its a write off, its worth getting a second opinion. Insurance companies look at it as, it needs this and this. Brand new parts from main dealer. Rather than replacing parts from another vehicle. The insurance report from my car, they were replacing parts that did not need to be replaced and was mnot even broken/damaged such as headlights, fog lights, wheel arch liners, the bumper reinforcement bar (which I know is not bent as I have previously removed the bumper to have a look. 4 things need to be replaced. Bonnet, bumper, slam panel where horns bolt on - middle bar unbolts, and radiator) the grill i have got my original standard lexus grill rather than the sport which will do for the time being.

As soon as the garage had said to insurance company its a cat D write off, the insurance automatically took control and arranged for the car to be taken away (without me even knowing) its only because I had an email come through from insurance company stating they arranged collection that I then got straight on the phone to them and said I will pick the car up. Very naughty of the insurance company to do that without the legal owners consent. I would have thought the insurance would have given you the choice to ask what you as the owner want done with the car.

Sorry for the essay lol. And I do appologise to the person who's thread this was, do not want to hijack your thread.

I will chip in with my experience too :(

sorry to hear about the accident ... not a nice thing to be faced with especially when you did nothing wrong.

2 years ago another car backed out and revered on a busy main road managed to hit me b-pillar and all the way back to the rear liht (I was still moving not stationary when that happened.) The car was my Ford Probe, which I had as a run around car at the time.

Since the car had a quarter panel damage that is when the costs go up ... and they will not repair it as it always goes to £1000s£ just because welding cutting is involved ... although the other driver admited fault at the point of accident later at their insurance said that it was not tjeir fault.

My trade insurance acted faultlesly and made them change their mind and in 2 months all around I had a pay off, but my car written off as CAT C. Mind you I was still driving the car in the mean time as it was fully drivable, it was only cosmetic damage.

Anyhow I was told the "common practice about buying the car back" has changed.

If the car is written off by the other party insurer they have not right to get the car from you as they never insured your car. So they pay you off and keep an amound from the pay off so you have the car.

If the car is written off by your insurance (where the car was insured on) it is a 95% of the cases that you will not be able to buy the car back from them as there is a clause in their terms and conditions that the car does not belong to you after the pay off. I hope this is not the case for you and things will be easy. But please check if you were planning to keep the car and claim, because the communication with the insurer will take for ages!

I was lucky by the fact that my insurer hired a 3rd party specialised dealing with my claim, it was all based in UK and all sorted very quickly and satisfactory, I was contacted always by them before I felt the need to contact them

I think that is not strictly true about buying the car back. Before my insurance reviewed my second quote for the repairs. They advised me that the car would most probably be declared a write off and that I had the opportunity to buy the car back from the insurance company at scrap value (20%) of the cars normal value, for a car thats worth between 2-3k.

But just make sure you get in there quick, when my insurance took my car. The report came back a write off and they automatically arranged pick up of the car by a salvage company. You have got to get in there quick if you wish to keep the car otherwise it will be collected and never see it again. I have been very lucky to keep mine and collect it from the insurance approved garage.

Mine is booked in for repair tomorrow and should take 5 days for the repair to be done, replacing bonnet, bumper, slam panel and radiator. Fingers crossed the radiator is replaced with another 27mm core rad. Cant wait to get it back next week.

Hi mate, I really feel for you having your car damaged like that.

I am going through the same pain at the minute, although it was my fault. My insurance was going to write my car off (Cat D, Uneconomical to repair) but because I got other garages to look at my car and give me quotes before the insurance picked it up. I managed not to have my car written off. My car is now waiting to be booked in and repaired.

The insurance will write it off if they get hold of it. Do your homework and go round to as many local garages to get other opinions on your car. If the car cannot be driven like mine couldnt, get them to come out and have a look at the damage on your car. They will not charge for it.

I wish you luck mate.

This is a really interesting thread to read. Has there been any update on the abandoned Lexus within the last month?

Have the Police / DVLA managed to get hold of the legal owners of the car?

There's no way I could just park my car up for months and leave it, I love it too much, such a pleasure to drive.

Have just come across a picture of the standard rear speakers for the Lexus. The speaker states the speaker is 4ohms and the woofer is 2 ohms.

Would it then be ok to keep the standard rear speakers, if the bypass cable to no longer outputs the signal to the woofer. As you are matching the head unit amplifer 4ohms with the speaker output of 4 ohms.

If you have them then that would be great mate, would be much appreciated :)

Might have to give that one a go, I have never actually seen the amp in my car, I know its behind the glove box and know I can see a part of the amp when glove box is open but have no idea what plugs are on it.

So if im reading that correctly when I connect the bypass cable to the amp and new headunit. I will lose the woofer, if that is the case then its not so bad as I have a sub and amplifier in the boot.

On the over hand, from the last statement you wrote saying about running 4 ohm impedence into a 2 ohm speaker will damage the amp and/or speakers, does that mean that rear speakers would have to replaced to avoid any damage?

How many people on this forum who have fitted these DVD headunits have actually replaced the rear speakers? From what I've read, (if im wrong im sure I would be corrected), people just remove the old Lexus stereo, run the bypass cable and install the new headunit. Is it safe to do this?

Hi Guys,

I am thinking of purchasing a double DIN DVD headunit very soon. I have no problems in understanding how to go about fitting the stereo. That part is easy.

What I'm really confused on is the speaker / amp wiring. Do you guys that have changed the headunits, change the rear speakers as well? My understanding is that a aftermarket headunit powers speakers at 4ohms. However the Lexus rear speakers are running at 2 ohms via the amp. The lexus rear speakers are two individual speakers (speaker and woofer) in one 6x9 speaker.

Now surely a 2 ohm speaker running from a 4ohm headunit will damage the headunit. If im spending £500 ish on a DVD headunits thats the last thing I want.

I have read that you can remove the loop on the bypass cable to only feed to the rear speaker and not the woofer. Which I thought about doing but surely the speaker as a whole is still running at 2 ohms.

I've seen its been done and really want to do this but do not want to damage either the lexus speakers or the new headunit that I am about to purchase.

Any advice would be much appreciated as I am so confused regarding the whole issue of Lexus amp / Speakers.

Thanks,

Dean

Well after much frustration tonight I have got a Auto-dimming mirror in my car (not wired up yet). What a nightmare that was. I originally bought a mirror from a Lexus GS i think it was, (thinking they would use the same mirror in any Lexus) I was wrong.

I then bought another one (at a cheap price off eBay) for the IS, it turned up, was grey rather than beige. So I then set to work dismantling the one I got from the Lexus GS. Compared the GS and the IS auto-dimming mirrors, could only see one difference. The arm that mounts to the windscreen. So off I go to my car to remove my standard mirror and set about removing the arm and fitting it to the GS beige mirror.

Finally done. Have a beige auto-dimming mirror with beige mounting arm. So if anyone wants a grey auto-dimming mirror. I have one spare.

I was gunna do the dvd headunit and stuff but may hold out for a while to see what the employment future brings lol. Ive had more of the major things done so far, wheels, coilovers, twin exit s/s cat back exhaust, tte illuminating door sill plates.

I know what you mean about the employment future mate. Just managed to get my first permanent job back in April last year, previously I had rolling temp contracts, not knowing if I'll have a job in 6 months time. I've done lowering before on my previous cars, they look good but the ride, I hated it. Although I wouldnt mind sports exhaust and new wheels, thinking of a set of 18's.

Oh fair enough, you mean take the power direct from the switch. Thats only a couple of screws to remove. I just want my mirror to turn up now so I can get stuck in wiring it up.

hi and welcome, had same problem with trd kit from lexus silly money so stuck it out on ebay

took 6 months but mananged to get trd rear lip, trd side skirts still boxed up never used

and tte front bumper but has said earlier you have to be very quick

I might stick it out on eBay and see what comes up, just have to have the money ready and snap it up quickly.

In Sheerness, not far away at all lol. I know what u mean about them selling quickly, i might just give them a miss for now and spend bits else where on mine.

Oh not too far away at all, thats what I've been doing so far, trying to get all the little things done such as the LED lights and HID's, now I'm getting to the point where thats all done and just leaves the head unit which I want to change. Go for a DVD head unit with screens in the headrests. And maybe new wheels then onto the TRD bumper trims.

Bit late i know but welcome to the LOC, If your is200 has a sunroof you can find a feed on motor, thats where i had my mirror supply on my previous is200.

My IS has got a sunroof, will have to check that out when the mirror turns up. Want to try and find the easiest place to wire it in without a lot of hassle of dropping the headlining to access things.

I'm from Chatham mate. Where abouts you from? I've seen a couple on eBay but they sell so quickly. All that's left is the fibre glass replica's. I have phoned Lexus but they want ridiculous prices.

BTW its 70% light you have to have coming thru by law. however, if your windows are lighter at the front your less likely to be picked out and tested regardless of this i reckon. i mean youd prob get away with 50,60%

I've always had medium smoke and been ok, not sure what that is in % however. But as I've always been ok, just thought I'd have it done again. If I do get pulled then I will peel the tint off.

Anyone know of where to get genuine side skirts and TRD front/rear trims? Ive been looking everywhere and all I can find is fibre glass copies. Dont really want to go down that road of fibre glass.

'Had to use a different company for the front as the previous company refused to tint them.'

I think that's because if it's too dark on the front you can get pulled over by our lads in blue. They have a light meter and if ithe tinting doesn't let a set percentage of light through, you can be looking at a fine and/or points!

Just so you are aware - in case you didn't know already.

As far as the spoiler is concerned, I like the subtle version on the black car - but that's just me.

Love the car.

Dont worry I am aware that it is illigal to tint them. I've had tints on the front windows of my cars for the past 6 years and havent been done for them. So I thought i'd get them done on this car as well. Gone for a medium smoke tint. not too dark but not too light.

I'll give it a go when the mirror turns up. It shouldnt be to hard, I took the mirror off yesterday to look if there was any existing wiring the I could plug straight into (wishful thinking) not quite that easy.

Will keep you all updated on the mods, I'm hoping its straight forward wiring in a 12v feed. Not sure where to tap into though. The easiest place would be the map light, but im not sure as I have already modded the map light, linked it to the dome light so it comes on when you open the doors.

Haha, i love the flat wipers, i was lucky my car come with them :P

The tint job was quite expensive, I paid £220 for the rear windows and £60 for the front windows. Had to use a different company for the front as the previous company refused to tint them.

That is one job I wouldnt do myself is tinting. Ive tried it before, oh my god, it went terribly wrong. I ended up with creases in the film. I would rather pay the money cos that is one of the jobs that can either really set your car off or make it look really crap.

These are the two spoilers I have seen, undecided on which type to go for.

Hi guys thank you for all the warm welcome messages. Thanks for the nice comments on the car, I do love the colour.

As for what spoiler am I looking for, I really dont know, I have seen a few spoilers for the IS. Im not after the large EVO type spoiler. Just a subtle small ish one on the boot.

As far as I can remember, I've seen two types of small flat spoiler. One that sits flush on the boot and is kind of up-swept a little with a brake light on it. and the other is slightly raised with a fin in the middle. Sorry for poor explanations of them.

Here's a couple of pics of my much loved IS200