ediko

Thanks. I'm really sad now to be honest. I miss it now, so much money and time spent on it. Worked on it every weekend, it didn't deserve this. You grow used to it after 3 years, it's my first car after all, even though I've driven about 5% of my total mileage with it. Still feel bad for it.

Great. Just great, got t-boned 3 hours ago. Both right doors and fenders destroyed on the right side aand the wheel is turning differently than the left one, not drivable. Luckily everyone is fine and well. Will be visiting insurance tomorrow, looks like it will get scrapped... was almost finished fixing it. I'm so out of luck

I'm dying of laughter now. Car is down again. So I had a sticking caliper on the front left 2 months ago. Flushed the fluid and rebuilt the caliper myself, cleaned it and put new seals on. Same thing just happened again with the right side this time. What makes me even more lucky is that one of the pistons was so stuck even an air compressor couldn't get it out. After some brute force and an adjustable key I have it out- only to find it completely rusted out on the front. Seal was good though so no idea why it happened. Guess it's just my luck again :D

Price is rather irrelevant, I've got it some time ago when they were a bit more expensive. Honestly it's not just the volvo,it has more miles on it than my lex by the way and the owner doesn't put in even 1/10th of the effort I do in taking care of it. I've had an nissan almera which was oldder and had more miles one issue- MAF sensor, everything else worked perfect. Golf 3- no issues, golf 4 no issues, audi 100 C3 some air got in thhe brake system all the time, but it was from the 80's so I'm rather surprised. Bora, avensis from 2006, peugeot 306 I think(ok this one was bad, who thought to put the air intake so low?). bmw 7 series from 99, 1 issue was a short in the wiring, thats it. I can go on and on, all of them had the same or more miles, a lot were older as well. Not even close with the amount of issues I've had with the one of the most reliable vehicles out there. I've fixed the air con now, well the temperature gauge doesn't work but at least I can switch between hot/cold now. Radio...kinda fixed, stops working sometimes and needs to be hit slightly, magically starts working again. Water leaks...no clue, not the most important now. Alternator kinda works for now, voltage output depends on the cars mood. Abs/trc failure I can live with. Wheel studs... well waiting for the salary. Going to take the engine apart a bit when I have the time to check for coolant/oil leak. For some reason the belt for the water pump starts screeching whe air con is working, never there when it's not though so now I don't use it. Fun all around.

You can look after it all you like, interior heating controls and radio and alternator and the radiator and the water leaks will still occur/fail when they want. I do my own work, learning on the go. Services here are mostly a waste of time and money, no one cares enough. I'm just ****** at the electronics now since I got no clue how they work, I just take them apart, clean them and hope for the best. It's just that once I fix 1 issue, another 5 pop-up. I'm tired fixing it all the time, engine is pretty much the obly thing I haven't touched yet, need some spark plugs and check to see where the oil/coolant seaps through on the block.

Honestly I'd like to get rid of it finally, but there's so much time and effort and of course money invested that it's not feasible right now. Besides the best I could afford after selling it is some hideous WV or a BMW which will be the same story really if no one took care of it right. Also... I'd feel bad to give it to someone else, it just doesn't feel right knowing that everything will break eventually. It has 214000(wouldn't doubt if there was more) km on the clock now. When I bought it everything worked, the belts were brand new, the oil was brand new. No problems except the rubbing issues on the back tires was present, so I doubt it was parked for 14 years. How much neglect does it need to endure to become like this.. I'm just really surprised, everyone is always going on about how reliable it is, while I have all the possible tools in my boot when something goes wrong and it always does it seems.

I just can't stand this car anymore. I tried to love it, I still kind of do. It's really pretty and interior is really nice, though really small in the back. However... during this year... I don't remember a week when something wasn't broken. I'm doing all the maintenance myself because this being lexus the work costs obscene amounts. Even the freaking parts cost 10 times more than a similar car from the same year, I don't see what I'm paying for. My TRC and ABS light constantly come on, meaning some sensor is broken, or some electrical wiring crap is broken. My lights above the number plate didn't work properly due to the wires being thin and made of crap that made them rust from inside out, same with the connectors. My headlight connectors rusted out. The air con motor is making a horrible whining noise despite all the belts being brand new (and cost a ******ton) meaning the bearing in it is dead. All the belts are making some noise. Oil level doesn't drop which means it's not leaking but the gap between the engine block and that top cover is oily which means it leaks somewhere. I've changed the radiator once(my own stupidity) and the new one is seemingly fine but my coolant is constantly disappearing somewhere. The sensor for temperature in the radiator had it's connector rusted out and I almost overheated the engine in the middle of the city in a huge traffic jam. Coolant was evaporating from everywhere. My radio stopped working completely, first the screen was working fine but no sound(even that stupid beep when searching for radiostations) now even the screen doesn't come on. My second(!) alternator is seemingly broken since all the warning lights come up- the low fuel light is blinking (half a tank), oil lamp comes up (red one, full level of oil, even a biit too much and changed recently), battery light, temperature gauge stops working, then fuel gauge stops working, then snow mode doesn't work and all the other crap. Can't figure out whether it's the alternator again (checked the voltage, seems a bit low so quite likely) or the stupid wiring somewhere in this whole wiring crap mess. My interior temperature is stuck in full heat all the time, I can't control what wents my air comes from, I can't control the blower unit. I checked the motors and all of them seemed fine, disassembled the aircon console and it seems fine as well, except those little pesky clips that turn with the wheels looked quite old and worn, not like I have anywhere I could buy them, need a whole new console and a new radio console.... and just so much more... Fuses are ok, I check them pretty much daily. Theeeen the ball joint failed on the right wheel, my fender is bent a bit, the rim is damaged and the bill was huge, changed the other side just in case as well. There is water leaking from the mirror in the interior , no freaking clue where it's coming from. Water is leaking in the boot constantly due to a big gap from the bootlid. Rear bumper is cracked, not from hitting anything no.. age or heat or something. And it doesn't hold on properly because the mounts for it have rusted away. My rear tires are R18 225 40 and if I have passengers in the car they are rubbing against the fenders! I had 240 ones before and changed them just to solve the rubbing. Front is much lower than the back (stock suspension) and I had to change one spring because it broke the lower ring, how can a spring even break.... Front right side had a bad wheel bearing. EVEN THE STUPID WHEEL STUDS ARE BAD. All of them, all 20 wheel studs are bad. Not even a single on of them is usable anymore. I bought new open ended lug nuts since my old ones were worn down, I can't even get them on. Need to change all the studs. I can't do an alignment for the back at all, front took a whole day for the service people to do since it all corroded together and wouldn't come apart, they still had to replace some steering joint or whatever it was since it was bent-from normal driving. They couldn't do the back one at all, told me they need to cut all the bolts off since they don't move at all. 20 euro's for 1 bolt and 15 euro's for a nut for the bolt... and that wasn't even the final number- for 1 BOLT! The calipers at the front were seized, had to rebuild them all myself. The stupid rebuilding kit cost 20 euro's for one side, just for some rubbers. When it does work right... what's the point? Yes it looks cool, but is pretty much the slowest car on the road nowadays. The car judders if you don't release the clutch in a special and caring way, second gear sounds like it is being engaged with a hammer. It doesn't feel stable on the road at all, feels all over the place. I can't relax driving it, have to be concentrated all the time or it starts going all over the place. I've driven a WV Bora diesel(yes I know it is hideous) from 2003 recently (I've driven maybe in some 20~30 cars) and even that thing felt quicker and it only used 5L/100km , whereas mine is 10L/100KM minimum, it's impossible to get more out of it. Full tank lasts me 600km of careful and slow driving without needless acceleration, if I want to have some fun it's even less. My mates 2004 Volvo S40 2.0D uses 5L/100km, and it's twice as quick, more roomy and arguably looks better. I can't sell this piece of crap since I wont get even 1/10th of what I invested in it already. I know it's an old car and needs maintenance. This is ridiculous though, it's supposed to be one of the most reliable cars out there and mine just constantly breaks. How I wish I had some money, would put a 2JZ-GTE in it and make it a drift/track car. At least I'll have some fun while everything breaks. Sorry for this really long post, I've opened my boot yesterday to get something out only to find it all wet and sitting in a puddle, topped up the coolant a bit. Started up the car and all the warnings/gauges went crazy again. Turned on the radio only to have it break on me. I almost started crying.... this was my dream car.

No one is hurt thank god. The airbags worked quite well...with the exception that the passengers one broke the windscreen, who though it was a good idea for it to go upwards? It's not UK, insurence works differently. You have the mandatory one which only covers you if it wasn't your fault, or covers the damage done to someone elses car. You can purchase full cover for the car which would cover, at least partially, cases like this but it was quoted to me as twice the price of the car. with me being as "rich" as I am it wasn't really an option. It's not just the money, is200 are really rare over here, I'm already thinking of ordering parts from UK, it will be cheaper even with postage. Too bad I'm broke as hell at the moment...

Insurance doesn't work that way here. They won't even pay for the fence that was hit. Besides I had to take all the blame on myself, since the girl needed to stay unnoticed in all of this.

You are kidding I hope Wish I was mate, wish I was. No clue where to get the money or the parts to repair it now.

http://s1317.photobucket.com/user/not_stated/slideshow/first%20driving%20lesson So I let a girl drive my lex last monday....

Interestingly it only touches on the outside of the tire. The car hasn't really been lowered, the picture is quite heavily edited, but you can clearly see there should be enough room for the wheels, but since it's sticking out outside a bit too much it get's to touch the fenders/bumper. Once I get some time I'll measure the rims and try swapping the back with the front. I hear it's possible to bend the fenders a bit as well?

My car might just be crap then, even the front ones are touching on heavy bumps. Maybe you have some pictures I could take a look at? Judging by the pic in your signature the rear tire sticks out from the fender and slightly outside the rear bumper just like mine, still no issues with it touching? Roads are really horrible here though ,so that might be the main reason I feel it so much. I drive like a drunkard at night, switching lanes every 2 seconds and driving in the opposite lane just to avoid all the holes on the road.

To be honest I didn't really think of swapping front tires with the back ones and checking whether they will touch. Rolling the inside of the arches doesn't seem like a good option, since the tyres touch the bumper and the fender.

My is200 has dotz las vegas R18 fitted on it. The wheels came from the previous owner, so I couldn't really check whether they will be touching or not. My problem is...they are. If I'm driving alone you couldn't notice it, however when the car is loaded with more than 2 people in it it begins touching. When it's 5 it's simply horrible, my back tyres are touching the body even if I turn at 30km/h. It makes this awful sound, damages the body and the tyres as well. Back ones are R18 245/40 and the fron is 225/40. Now as I said, nothing has been fitted by me. The car was sold like this and I only really noticed them not fitting after a month or so, when the car was fully packed. Is there anything at all that I could do to fix this? Maybe change both tires to 225/40? I really don't want to loose those wheels, they make the car stand out quite a lot.

Please do. It's the 1999 is200 sport. I did manage to find the original ones, by the asked about 400 pounds for them. http://www.dectane-t...p?detalii=59563 I can get these for cheaper, if only they were road legal. Thanks in advance! Edit after your edit. Latvia and all I can say is ******.... 350 each? Who needs headlights anyway, I'll just drive when it's daylight.... :(

Alright guys I'm completely at a loss now. This is probably the last cry for help before I decide to buy those illegal dectane headlights. I've had a bad frontal crash with my is200 and since I loved the car too much I couldn't let it go. Now I'm not from UK (did live there for a year though) and getting spare parts for the car is a nightmare. I ordered most of the exterior from UK and it is being shipped here as I type this, however the headlights.....I have a feeling these simply do not exist. It is possible to get RHD ones, for a unreasonably high price considering you won't pass the MOT with them. Getting LHD ones seems simply impossible, ebay is empty or offers 1 left headlight from 1999 for 150 pounds. Could any of you recommend something? Please I'm just about to give up but I already spent way too much money on the other parts. I tried searching in German sites to no avail. Local dealers have nothing at all. Maybe there are some cheap Chinese knock-offs anywhere? I need something. The only option I have now is to put those ugly dectane lights on it and borrow someone elses originals for the MOT.