Mouser

Sounds like a flat Battery to be honest. Charge it up, and follow the usual procedure to reset the electric windows so that they work.

At a guess you're looking at the same ebay auction as me.

Reading around, they will fit, but most people have some rubbing, so expect to do some liner reshaping. Tyres are also very expensive!

I've seen that eBay ad too. Quite expensive as a Lexus main dealer were selling a few sets last year all boxed and brand new for £400 and they didn't manage to sell. But maybe now as the ISF is over 5 years old there could be some damaged ones needing replacement. If they were cheaper i'd put a set of winter tyres on and keep them for the bad weather.

Now that the photos are up they do look overpriced, two cases of kerbing through to the metal isn't good, and should at least have a quick coating with laquer to prevent corrosion. Very interesting to learn about the boxed sets going for £400 though, wish those were available now!

Tyres indeed are looking about £800+ delivery, and I'm on nearly new Dunlops, so I think I'm out, and I'll put the cash in the pot for the new IS coupe.

At a guess you're looking at the same eBay auction as me.

Reading around, they will fit, but most people have some rubbing, so expect to do some liner reshaping. Tyres are also very expensive!

WBAC values are very age sensitive. It's amazing in general how different the age-value relationship is on this side of the Atlantic compared to the US, but silly services like WBAC take it to another level entirely.

As it's already been checked, I would expect the garage would be happy to stand by their word. Send some photos (up close to the springs and of the whole side on level ground) to Tein, and ask them to contact the garage if they need confirmation from a professional that there aren't any fitting issues / warped frame etc.

Realistically it's a pain for Tein, but given the number of numptys out there it's hardly surprising that they have suspicions about it being fitted correctly.

Mine was so much better. It was in need of a service, and was overdue by about 1k miles. I dropped the weight as it was winter time, and moved to Castrol Magnatec. All the slightly odd noises disappeared, and the car became much quieter. MPG increased according to the dash, but as my driving pattern was irregular, and external tempertures moved about I wouldn't put much stock in that.

The main thing with oil filters is to do it up properly - not too tight, and oil it generously. Also a good idea to take the filter apart to clean & inspect it.

Remember that waste oil is accepted at your local dump. It's used as furnace fuel IIRC.

I used the same sort of thing, took a ridiculous amount of force to break the initial friction. Remember to cover it liberally in oil before you pop it back in, and it doesn't need to be tightened up with a long socket. The adapter I have has a handle on each side, and these provide adequate torque to secure it well enough to seal fully.

Just to update on this thread, I had Lexus remove this grommet which cost me £76 and apparently was a real pain to do.

Anyway, after 300miles of flat out air conditioning, the car is dry with no wet spots so the removed grommet is certainly the cure to the problem should anyone else suddenly find themselves with wet carpets.

Carl

I'm imagining they got a lovely lump of slime out of it... eww!

Access looked rather restricted in the PDF I linked to, hope I don't have it happen, but £76 isn't the end of the world.

I've no knowledge specific to the IS250 about this, but that sort of problem suggests that the AC isn't draining condensed water as it should, so it's flowing along the lowest route it can.

Might be of some help:

http://my.is/forums/f154/where-ac-evaporator-drain-hose-located-431680/

One of the things you should do if you only use the AC infrequently, is to give it a proper clean to kill the bugs that can build biofilms that can block drains and cause smells. Easy to do e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Einszett-Car-Conditioning-Cleaner-250ml/dp/B0002Z2MKO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1373203060

Do you need a special tool to remove the oil filter and fuel filter?

Yes, I picked one up on eBay.

Fuel filter I've not done.

As a rule of thumb, if a car's out of warranty you'd be a fool to have work done at the main dealer - they tend to have a replace rather than repair attitude IME, and charge you through the nose for mundane stuff.

Search for IS250 breaking on eBay, get the parts you need in your colour and have them fitted, and the car serviced by a high quality local trader, then give the car a good clean. You shouldn't have too much trouble selling it on then. Aftermarket parts would see you spending a lot more money, and the car wouldn't be worth as much. £4,000 is a very low estimate based on prices near me for that mileage. Cars one year newer are up for a minimum of £7k, and most are about 8-9.

Air filters & oil are nice and easy to change. You do need a tool to undo the oil filter housing though, which is a reusable part. The oil filter o-ring and the sump plug felt gasket shouldn't be re-used though.

If you want to replace the spark plugs, you really should stick to OEM, plenty of tales of issues with non-OEM kit.

brake pads shouldn't be too challenging if you've not got corrosion issues.

Just a thought.....I'm wondering if the fact that you are in Scotland has a bearing on this. You will experience generally colder winters than me for sure (0W30 being suitable for colder starting).

It'll certainly be colder, but unless it's you live in the highlands it shouldn't be enough to demand it. We're talking -20 or -30 unless you do mainly short journeys, in which case you'd be well advised to do that. Most recommended viscosity grade charts don't even extend to show where 0W oils would be preferable (it would be very cold!). There's no inherent problem with 0W oils, but they are more expensive.

If you're actually interested in doing this properly, rather than than going with a generic approach, take a look at this technical run through which covers it in more detail than you're likely to care for. If you want to know whether your oil is appropriate for your car, temperature and driving style, the best way is to get an ODBII port reader from China off eBay for a fiver, and one of the apps for your phone for £3, then monitor the oil pressure and oil temperature. As per chapter eight in the technical discussion above, you may be surprised how light you can go with the oil for light driving, and it'll also teach you more about letting the car warm up before you thrash it!

Another part of that issue is that where we used to have 80 bhp cars being 'normal', 150 seems to be more like it now, with 200+ not even causing a stir in a family car. With such powerful engines, and broad enforcement of speed limits, there's little opportunity for sustained wide open throttle driving. You can do a bit of an Italian tune-up when accelerating up a slip road onto a motorway (when it's clear), but compared to how I used to drive some of my older cars I'd usually describe my approach as pootling around. If you never heat the engine up, and rarely go above 3k rpm, you start to see certain carbon deposition patterns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_tuneup

As for the oil for the IS250, from GSIC:

SAE 5W-30

API grade SM “Energy-Conserving” or

ILSAC, multi grade engine oil

Just lift it up its pretty darned tough

A previous mechanic / owner has broken one of the front clips on mine, so it can't be that tough. I'm looking to pick one up from a breakers when I get around to it.

As Normski says - lift at the back first, then pop the other two off, the front two are held in by what looks like a small ball in a socket.

Wow, looks an awful lot like my car! Even the same wheel colour, although I kept the chrome logo on them :D

Hope you are enjoying it. The paintwork looks in very good condition which is nice to see.

Picture of mine from the other day after I had the wheels refurbed & painted gunmetal:

Juddering really shouldn't happen, and is a fairly serious matter. The disks may need to be turned flat on a lathe if they're in poor condition, but it's fairly unusual. Do you get any wobble/vibration at speed which could be caused by wheels being out of balance?

It looks like a black chrome / high power silver finish. I've just had my alloys done at The Wheel Specialist and it looks like that. I couldn't have that finish on mine because of corrosion to the alloy itself (previous owners eh?).

GSIC says: H-LP UPR fuse from the engine room No. 2 relay block.

http://i.imgur.com/r5B5yvX.png (note LHD).

This PDF might help you out a lot:

http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM53839U/pdf/sec_04_03.pdf

p423 has fuses & such.

Did you ask about the spark plugs?

The IS250 is a nice easy car to work on for the most part. Changing the disks & pads shouldn't trouble you. Go for the OE low dust pads.

What tyres are you running? When I was looking at cars to buy I saw all sorts of ditchfinders fitted.

As it's done > 60k, make sure that the spark plugs have been done.

Everything I've read says OEM or don't bother.

You can buy 6 from Lexus Birmingham on eBay for ~ £80.

You need to open up the engine bay and have a good look/listen. The usual suspects are belt driven - alternator, water pump, power steering, air conditioning & belt tensioner. Likely course of action would be to replace the problematic part. Any local garage should be able to do the diagnosis in a few minutes if you don't fancy it yourself. Worst case scenario you have something wrong inside the engine, best case your oil is low.

There's a good US buyers guide out there, but I'd add to it:

See if there's a metal on metal sound when the engine is started (easy to fix, but good for negotiation).

Check for alloy wheels needing refurbishing (same as above).

Check the windscreen moulding.

Look for lights on the dash, and look a the avg mpg. A number below 28 would concern me, unless you're sure that they only do lots of short journeys.

Make sure they have the locking wheel nuts.

Test each parking sensor one at a time with your hand

As for reliability & mpg, I find it very good. Easy to work on, and I get much better than the official MPG.