Leozack

Most places will retest for free regardless of who does any work, as long as its within X days. In this case they've messed up getting stuff done and did the MOT before the work I asked them to do - so now I won't even get my car back til after Christmas but whatever I'm driving their CT200 around in the meantime 😐

For comparison I just got a quote back from Bond Motors locally near Bristol that was recommended on this forum in previous years, and they will do the b1s2 sensor and back exhaust fitted for £440 which is a damn sight less than Lexus genuine parts/labour for over £1000! The welding I don't have any bodyshop experience/contacts so I'll go with the ones they've quoted at £462 cos on it's own if it's the only welding that needs doing and if it'll look as good as new (or good enough to roll out the lexus garage with their warranty/reputation) then it's worth it to get it done and also redo the other side to match in finish quality.

Hey all - just got the 2nd ever MOT fail. This time it was the same sill rust, only offside instead of drive side. Combined with the exhaust back section corroding and coming off (sounds bloody nice now though) and an O2 sensor needing replacing. The local maindealer have it and I have a courtesy CT200 right now. The prices to fix it were nice n high as expected : "For the repair of the rear exhaust silencer corroded and detached from exhaust system the cost will be £682.42 all in. For the repair of the o2 sensor the cost will be £379.70, as previously said this is the first step of the repair, you may not experience any more issues with the light coming back on but it’s not guaranteed. Also the hour labour for the investigation which is £162.00 For the welding for just the mot failure all in is £330.00 or for the welding for the mot failure and the cleaning up of the previous repair would be £462.00" So yeah that's a lot. I looked up exhaust back sections and they seem to be about £80? I don't want a super cheap thing that'll break in 13m but £682 for the lexus one fitted is just way too much and I need to reel this damn bill in. For the O2 sensor I don't think I can get it cheap but lexus themself (and another garage) quoted about £290 to get it done in July and now they want £380? Wtf The fact they MOTd it as a fail BEFORE fixing these issues which I told them about beforehand has ****** me off because I don't want to have to pay for another MOT AFTER they're fixed. Also they said my modification to add brakelights in the foglights failed the MOT due to light interference or some crap about not seeing 1 if the other way on, despite this being the same for 8y and MOT'ing fine even by them! So they helpfully "fixed it" by removing my mod wiring apparently whatever that means and making it "normal and legal" again -_- All thoughts welcome as in the morning I should really tell them what I do/don't want them to fix so they can get their car back but then I'm stuck with my MOT fail car and no parts or fitters for anything I don't get them to do. And of course it's Christmas 😧

Yeah it's fine I am just after recommendations where possible as I know lots of people have good connections and that's worth its weight in gold. I've had this car for many years now so I'm not surprises the problems are mounting up I just want to be sure I don't throw money at the wrong things is all. Unfortunately I'm an IT engineer not a mechanic, so my skillset doesn't let me diagnose and resolve problems on a car in the way I'd like 😉 Infact I plugged a new ODB2 WIFI adapter in yesterday and couldn't get it to read me the fault codes but now my TRC and VSC lights are stuck on and the button doesn't have any effect, so I'm on a roll 😄

Ok I'm looking at finding a recommended bodyshop in the Bristol/Bath area but I still don't know what I could ask for other than to just look at what you've seen in the above photos and tell me how much damage to fix it in a noncosmetic way aka a "please stop this car dying" way. Combined with other issues the costs of keeping such an old car are starting to kick in, which feels bad man :S

I've been away/busy so not got this sorted yet so still driving around with the engine light on and a rattle (though strange that it rattles differently since I had the investigation work done while it was having a caliper replaced etc). I've no way to get under the car myself and no local matey mechanic so dunno whether to go back to lexus to get the sensor done or whether that is smart considering the problem may not be the sensor but the cat or some kind of fittings 😐 Of course it could be both?

I guess what I'm asking is considering the poor job I had done to it (seen in the pics) for about £90 to get through an MOT, what should I make sure I ask for/don't ask for if I wanted to get both sides cleared up so they look normal again? And is there any mod needed to stop it reoccurring? The bonnet chips I've got that have penetrated the paint are rusty, I don't know if that's ever going to be worth the challenge of trying to clear them up since when you do long drives at speed you inevitably get peppered with this stuff and it's as futile as trying to keep the car clean when you drive down country lanes every day 😐

When I bought my car I was promised a 2nd key and then fobbed off (no pun). I had to get the main dealer to give me a 2nd key for about £120 😞 Recently the plastic housing on one of my keys was broken by someone trying to turn it when the lock was on so for now I'm using the other key. If noone can machine the stems then I don't know why you can buy replacement keys in key shops?

I've not found a "trusted mechanic" yet as 1 of 2 local ones I tried gave me a quote the same price (or more) than lexus main dealer and the other hasn't got back to me with the quote (I guess good guys are always busy). I've no way to get under the car myself to check for even simple things like a lose bolt on the heat shield. The fact the sensor has gone may indicate a CAT problem but I've no idea how much it would cost to sort that out if that's the case. It would be nice not to have the buzzy rattling though, makes my car sound knackered 😞

Judging by the photos, what do people think I should be asking for and possibly what might it have cost if anyone has done similar work? Sidenote wht do people tend to do with chips on the bonnet etc, I've never had any kind of body repairs/touchups done on a car

Yeah well you can see on my pics above what I am dealing with 😕

Oh is BT quicker then? I'm not commenting on every BT adaptor ever made I'm commenting on the one I have, I'm sure they work fine for others 😛

Yeah I've just ignored that as it's passenger side so not really bothering me. The other scuffs/scrapes/chips I give up on trying to stay on top of 😕 But I can't afford the thing to rust away so if there is a recommended process to carry out on the sills and people have had it done then I'd appreciate an explanation of exactly what I should ask for and some ballpark figures on cost (and maybe some photos showing it ends up looking better than my hideous patch job they did to mine)

Yeah on ios no BT pairing, on win/droid BT paired but apps either don't see it or when it's selected they don't connect with it. I've asked them for a WIFI version now cos I'd rather have working WIFI than nonworking BT.

It's bluetooth not WIFI

It's true - but yet to find said mechanic locally. I'm more IT than mechanic - and like IT I'd love to pull it apart and fix it but that's an alternate life for me 😕

This is the side I've not got done This is the super ugly result of the side I had done - noticing the arch is pretty bad now too 😞 I also spotted the running strip is losing it's paint too - nice

The MOT repairs repairs on mine (which seems to basically be someone sticking a plate over the top and gluing it on with bathroom sealant) cost me about £90 which was a releif cos I was panicing about the cost just to get it through MOT when noone had ever poked holes in my car before and said oh look now there's a hole 😐 But yeah it looks crap. Might get a photo oh it. Never had bodywork done, never had scuffs or scrapes done, never had any recommendations for places to do this round here.

I tried it with someone's android phone last night and like my winphone it shows up and pairs ok, it shows up in the app, but then nothing happens and the app doesn't "connect" to it. So I guess I'll have to send it back and get another one. Android is the 1 OS I don't have easy access to atm. I may just get a bloody WIFI one since they'll work with anything as far as I'm aware and I don't really care if I can't be on another WIFI at the same time 😐

I'd love to say I have stands/ramp and tools etc but I really don't. I don't mind paying a mechanic to do a good job, I just don't like getting fleeced for it.

I should continue this here rather than threadjacking

Yeah the £900 odd was for the front exhaust system and possibly heatshield fitted. But 1 that's a lot for just front exhaust 2 it might not even be the cause. I mean the rattle doesn't even sound the same since it was in for the other work so poking around he obviously changed something already! The sensor seems about £100 looking online earlier but I wouldn't know the perfect one to get. Happy to consider DIY though I'm defo not a mechanic and the last time I DIY'd discs/pads etc things weren't ever quite right. But the thing putting me off changing the sensor straight up is what if it isn't the sensor's fault and it is related to the rattle/possibly the CAT etc 😐 Hmmm

Does anyone have an idea what it might cost if the cat is the problem with the rattle/cause for the o2 sensor reporting a problem? It would suck to pay to replace the sensor only to find it lights up again. I mean the main dealer thought the rattle might be the front exhaust/heatsheild and want me to pay about £900 to replace it @_@

Hi all - can anyone recommend a good OBD2 adaptor for my 03 IS300? I used a friend's WIFI one recently which worked fine but when I went to buy one he said "get a bluetooth one so you can still get wifi on your device and look stuff up while you use it" which made sense (unless WIFI doesn't work while using BT or something) so I looked around and tried this one yesterday https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0185GE8GM However I've not managed to get it working on iphone (doesn't show up), android (didn't work for my mate), or winphone10 (app can't see it after device pairing) So I thought I'd ask if anyone has recommendations for cheap n cheerful OBD2 adaptors?

My 03 reg IS300 had the engine light come on a month or 2 ago and I borrowed a friends OBD2 to see that it was O2 bank1 sensor2 at fault. We reset it but it came back on the next day. I've since had a bunch of expensive work done by the main dealer to fix other problems (caliper, pad, disc etc) but they had to wait for the sensor to come in stock. It's now come in stock but it was about £250 all in which I found too expensive. I've since gone to local recommended garages (Bristol/Bath) and the only quote I've got back was about £280 which shocked me. If it is indeed the sensor just off the side of the engine then it is very accessible and I'd be tempted to change it myself if I had the right tools. However I'm unsure if a sensor change will fix it since another issue I've had is a slight rattling (particularly when idle in drive) over a year or so that noone has diagnosed but now the local garages suggested since this sensor is related to the CAT that it may be the CAT that is rattling. This kinda scares my wallet a bit but it would be nice to sort it. Lexus said the rattle may be front exhaust/heatshield issues and wanted me to pay another £800+ to replace it!